Issue 41: Mar 23, 2009 Connections Newsletter

Preparation for Summative Writing Assessments

Brenda Hill
Mar 23, 2009

In the spring most states across the country administer grade level specific writing tests. Though the targeted grade level and the required writing genre vary from state to state, there are several similarities among all. In most cases students are asked to plan or pre-write (Graphic organizers may be developed by students as part of the pre-write plan.), elaborate on a topic from a prompt, edit and revise as needed, and demonstrate a knowledge of the required genre. For example, if the required writing is a persuasive composition, students are expected to include an introductory paragraph that includes a viewpoint and then give reasons or justifications throughout the passage to support that point of view. In order to have students effectively demonstrate their writing capabilities, it is imperative we prepare them for the task. Often much time is devoted to having students practice writing from a prompt by developing a plan, organizing thoughts, and revising and editing work. This is important, but by placing so much emphasis on the writing process, we sometimes fail to adequately prepare them for other key testing factors. In preparing our students for summative writing assessments, we need to provide multiple opportunities for them to write within an allotted amount of time, select and independently choose a graphic organizer, assess written products with rubrics, and have a thorough knowledge of writing genres.

Writing within an allotted time frame is an essential factor to successfully complete summative grade level state assessments. Students need to understand and apply the writing process within a frame of time similar to the test taking experience. Preparing students for writing using an allotted amount of time helps to alleviate unnecessary frustration and anxiety when taking the state assessment.  Students write throughout the year for different reasons and for different purposes. A variety of graphic organizers may and should be used. Using many graphic organizers prepares students in the selection of an organizer that best suits their writing needs to adequately address the writing prompt on the state assessment. When students feel comfortable using a variety of organizers, this helps prevent wasting of valuable time during the pre-write process.

Writing prompts consistently and pervasively used, as we model with think alouds, prepare our students for the state assessment. In addition, a rubric to assess and provide specific feedback helps students improve writing performance and allows them to set clear, precise, reasonable writing goals. Teachers may collaborate within grade level teams to score individual student work, so that writing expectations are the same within every classroom across the grade level.    

As we prepare our students for summative assessments by modeling strategies and creating learning opportunities throughout the year, writing quality greatly improves, and students' anxiety gradually diminishes. Multiple, varied writing experiences develop confident, competent students who effectively write for assessments and who become successful lifelong communicators. 

See the Learning-Focused Literacy Collection for more writing ideas.



School-Based Coaching and the Text Based Seminar

Toni Enloe
Mar 23, 2009

The responsibilities of school-based coaches are often broad and specific to a school's needs and culture. After interviewing many coaches and reviewing the roles and responsibilities of the coaching position from various school districts, Learning-Focused researchers have identified several common goals. Those include:

  • Assisting teachers in efficient, effective instructional decision making through reflective practice and planning

  • Accelerating the use of exemplary practices in instruction

  • Promoting teamwork and the use of data for planning

  • Accelerating positive change through collaborative relationships based on trust and mutual respect
    (Learning-Focused School-Based Coaching)

The use of Text-Based Seminars is an excellent way to provide professional development, create an on-going dialogue about current topics and exemplary practice, and encourage reflective thinking.
What are Text-Based Seminars? The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement describes the Text-Based Seminar as a 45-60 minute discussion in which "a team examines an issue in a short article or excerpt from a book that is related to teaching and learning and then talks about it together." The purpose of the discussion is not to persuade but rather to deepen the participants' understanding of the issue or practice. Once teachers become comfortable with the protocol, it can easily be used in the classroom with their students.

How do we begin? As the Instructional Coach you initially take on the role of facilitator for the discussion. Your responsibilities include:

  • Identifying relevant text that will either address the observed needs of the school or the interests of the faculty

  • Creating a framing question (Essential Question) on which the discussion will center

  • Creating follow-up questions (Key Questions) that will encourage the participants to raise their level of thinking and increase their understanding

  • Refocusing the participants when they stray from the text

Why have ground rules? They help facilitate the smooth flow of discussion. The Center for Collaborative Education (2003) offers the following suggestions:

  • Listen actively.

  • Build on what others say.

  • Expose/suspend your assumptions.

  • Do not step on others' talk. Silence and pauses are OK.

  • Emphasize clarification, amplification, and implications of ideas.

  • Converse directly with each other, not through the facilitator.

  • Let the conversation flow without raising hands, as much as possible.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  • Watch your air time for how often you speak and how much you say when you speak.

  • Make references to the text, and encourage others to do the same.

Using this protocol will also give the coach an opportunity to model the Acquisition Lesson. The Lesson might look something like this.

Acceleration/Previewing

Three to five days prior to the scheduled discussion, distribute a copy of the article or text that will be discussed. This will give participants an opportunity to look over the information. (NOTE: Since this may be the first time for many of them, start with something fun...maybe a couple of Learning-Focused Connections Newsletters.)

Acquisition Lesson

Essential Question:  Pose a framing question that will set the focus for the discussion. Make sure the question is both relevant and clear and encourages them to deepen their understanding.

Assessment Prompts:  Create a few additional questions that can be used to assess their level of understanding. These questions will be used periodically to maintain the focus and provided additional feedback.

Activating Strategy:  Give participants about ten minutes to go back through the text and make notes about anything that made an impression, caused them to think, or generated questions.

Teaching Strategy:  (20 minutes)  Review the ground rules for the discussion. To begin the conversation, have each participant take turns reading aloud a sentence or passage that spoke to them. They should reference the page number, allow time for others to find it, and then give the paragraph. The facilitator may want to refer back to the Essential Question before the formal discussion begins. Allow the discussion to continue, refocusing as neededand posing additional questions, when either the conversation begins to lag, or there is a need for clarification.

Summarizing:  (5 minutes) Have participants individually identify two to three main points and discuss them with a partner. The Text-Based Seminar allows teams to review current research and safely discuss difficult issues. In some cases you may have teachers who are reluctant to participate. Rotate the facilitator's role among the group members. This practice will encourage them to participate and to become comfortable with to protocol.

For more information about School-Based Coaching check out the Learning-Focused School-Based Coaches Kit. Variations on the Text-Based Seminar may be found by searching the topic.



The Building Blocks of Reading

Jennifer Partrick
Mar 23, 2009

In order to read fluently, all learners go through the same stages. So, the question is, what do we need to know and be able to do in order to read? Beginning readers need to know how to manipulate and play with sounds, match sounds to symbols, recognize chunks in words, memorize a large body of high frequency words, and understand how books work. Most importantly, learning to read is directly related to sounds; hearing sounds, producing sounds, and manipulating sounds. Without this part, phonemic awareness, many students never learn to become fluent readers.

Beginning readers must recognize that books are meant to be read. They must understand that books are organized in specific ways and that words are organized in specific patterns which work together to carry meaning. In order to read, beginning readers must be able to track words, read from left to right, move down one line at a time, move to the next page when finished reading a page, and read the words. In order to read the words one must break the code, the code being the alphabet. As beginning readers break the code, they are also memorizing a large body of words that are consistently used in most books. These words are often referred to as High Frequency words. In order for readers to become fluent they must be able to recognize and call these words accurately and automatically, so that time can be given to decoding unknown words. Simultaneously, comprehension is taking place. As the reader is calling or recognizing words, the words are translated to meaning so that the reader comprehends what is written.

Blended with comprehension and word calling or word recognition is reading rate. Readers read different books at different rates, and that must be considered, as students are expected and encouraged to read at specific rates in order to pass timed reading tests. If students can call words or read fluently but do not comprehend what they read, what is the purpose of reading? For whom is the student reading? Rather, as soon as students begin interacting with books, comprehension should always be the outcome and the purpose for reading. If comprehension is always the purpose when reading, then we should be able to eliminate word callers. How are word callers developed? For many students, understanding how words work is at the heart of their problems. They most likely do not fully understand that letters and sounds are related and that blending the sounds in different ways produces words. Also, memorizing sounds and symbols is often difficult for these students.  Add the layer of chunking to the difficulty they have with letter and sound relationships, and many of these students give up. How can we avoid this pitfall?

Much time must be spent on phonemic awareness. Students must be able to play with sounds to make words, recognize sounds at different parts within words, recognize and produce rhyming words, manipulate sounds to form different words, and add and delete sounds to form words. As students learn to read, they rely on their understanding of phonemic awareness to help them navigate the minefield of reading words. In order to decode, students must match sound to symbol. They must put sounds together to form words. They learned to do that when playing with sounds- phonemic awareness.  Students' ability to write or read a rhyming word is supported by their ability to hear the rhyme and translate the sounds to letters. Manipulating chunks that they learned in phonemic awareness supports students' ability to decode words by using chunks they know from one word to help them decode a new word.

Too often, phonemic awareness is overlooked or bypassed to the detriment of students. Phonemic awareness plays a vital role in learning to read. Phonemic awareness, sound phonics instruction, reading practice, and exposure to listening to stories supports students' ability to learn to read.

Refer to Learning to Read K-2 for more information and ideas.