Prepared Especially for the Professional Learning Network of theBROOKWOOD CLUSTER

by Dan Mulligan, Ed. D.August 2011

THINKING GOES TO SCHOOL:DEVELOPING AND NURTURING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Craig ES

Brookwood HS

Alton C. Crews MS

Brookwood ESR.D. Head ES

Five Forks MSGwin Oaks ES

Premise of the Session

As the United States continues to compete in a global economy that demands

innovation, the U.S. education system must equip students with the four Cs:

1. Critical thinking and problem solving,

2. Communication,

3. Collaboration, and

4. Creativity and innovation.

epals.com

The value of teacher teams analyzing student achievement data to improve TEACHING and LEARNING is dependent on the VALIDITY and

RELIABILITY of the assessment used to generate the achievement data.

Mulligan, 2011

4 – second partner

Find a new friend in the room. Introduce yourself and share what you ‘do’. Find 2

comfortable seats and relax.

Grade 2Academic Knowledge and Skills

a. The number of cavities the sixth graders have?b. The number of people in the sixth graders’ families? c. The ages of the sixth graders’ mothers?d. The heights of the sixth graders in inches?

MOVING from ETCH-a SKETCH Learning

to Each STUDENT UNDERSTANDING

Don’t let the ‘what’

overshadow the ‘how!’

The Power of Our Questions

QUESTIONS TO EXTEND THINKINGpage

5 – 7

There are three parts to any research-based

lesson:•Beginning – ‘check for’ and ‘build’ background knowledge of each

student; (BL)•During – teach and actively engage each student in new content – making connections to prior

knowledge; (DL)•End – check for understanding - provide each student with an opportunity to summarize (in their own way) and practice the essential knowledge and skills conveyed in the

lesson. (EL)

SAMPLEPre-assessment

that includes differentiation

“If you don’t know where you are and you don’t know where you are going, anything you do will get you there”

HUNT for SOLUTIONS

Record your response to each question…

1. The % of Non-Poverty students scoring EXCEEDS on the Grade 3 CRCT Reading test in 2010.

2. The % of Poverty students scoring EXCEEDS on the Grade 3 CRCT Reading test in 2010.

3. The % of Non-Poverty students scoring EXCEEDS on the Grade 6 CRCT Reading/ELA test in 2010.

4. The % of Poverty students scoring EXCEEDS on the Grade 6 CRCT Reading/ELA test in 2010.

5. According to the Silent Epidemic, the percent of U.S. dropouts who would have stayed in school if learning was more interesting and real-world.

6. According to the Silent Epidemic, the % of U.S. dropouts who felt they were ‘too far behind’ by the end of elementary school.

7. The % of ALL students scoring Graduating On-Time in Class of 2010.

8. The % of ELL(LEP) students Graduating On-Time in the Class of 2010.

62

44

67

44

80

51

46

At the Brookwood Cluster:

SOLUTIONS: 44, 44, 46, 51, 62, 67, 80, 94

94

Self RelianceThere are three types of

baseball players--those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happened.

Tommy Lasorda

teachers/administrators

Minority Student Achievement in Suburban Schools~Toward Excellence with Equity, Ronald Ferguson, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, 2007

• Survey of all students in 15 middle & upper income districts in 10 states;• Examined family characteristics, opinions about quality of instruction,

achievement motivation, course-taking, effort, comprehension, GPA and other factors;

Asian Black Hispanic White0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

53

6672

4853

72 74

57

AdvantagedDisadvantaged

When I work hard, it is because my teacher tells me I can do well.(“Yes,” instead of “Maybe” or “No”)

Mission Statement

The mission of Gwinnett County Public Schools is to pursue

excellence in academic knowledge, skills, and behavior for each

student resulting in measured improvement against local, national, and world-class

standards.

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

*Setting objectives & providing feedback* .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

HIGH-YIELD STRATEGIES

21

Identifying Similarities and Differences

What processes can students engage in to identify similarities and differences?

Comparing

The process of identifying and articulating similarities and differences among items.

Classifying

The process of grouping things into definable categories on the basis of their attributes.

Creating Metapho

rs

The process of identifying and articulating the underlying theme or general pattern in information.

Creating Analogie

s

The process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts (e.g., relationships between relationships).

Similarities and DifferencesAnalogies

putter

putter is to a set of golf clubs

as 2 is to the set of primes

2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, …

What is the common relationship?

Conceptual Knowledge

Students demonstrate conceptual understanding when they:

• Recognize, label, and general examples and non-examples of concepts;• Use and interrelate models, diagrams, manipulatives, and so on;• Know and apply facts and definitions;• Compare, contrast, and integrate concepts and principles;• Recognize, interpret, and apply signs, symbols, and terms; and• Interpret assumptions and relationships in a variety of settings.

Research has solidly established the importance of conceptual understanding in becoming proficient in a subject. When

students understand concepts that frame a subject, they are able to use their knowledge flexibly. They combine factual

knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conceptual knowledge in powerful ways.

Standards in Classroom Practice, McREL, 2002

Hey…This looks familiar…

Which of the high yield

instructional strategies do

you see in this structure?

page 8

4 – second partner

WHY ACADEMIC VOCABULARY?

Find a 4-second partner Tell them who you are and one summer joy; Find 2 seats.

Briefly share what you know about photosynthesis.

Tell a chain story about the process of photosynthesis…

…without using words that begin with:

P, L, T, S

Research on Imagery as Elaboration

637 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who kept repeating definitions.

421 percentile pts. higher

than… …students who were using the terms in a sentence.

Students who used imagery to learn vocabulary, on average, performed

# of studies

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort & providing recognition .80 29

Homework & practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

*Setting objectives & providing feedback* .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

The average student talks 35 seconds a day.The student who is talking is growing dendrites.

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Sara Palin

Organizing Theme:

Things someone would say…

Hillary Clinton

Michelle ObamaU.S. Women’s Soccer Team

Lady Gaga

The Queen of England

FAMOUS WOMEN OF

2011 EDITION

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Science

Experiment

Hypothesis

Energy

Electron

DissolveAtmosphere

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Health/PE

Wellness

Equipment

Body Mass

Nutrition

EnduranceMovement

50 POINTS 50 POINTS 50 POINTS

100 POINTS 100 POINTS

200 POINTS

Ways to make .25

Grade 4Math

Things that are parallel

perimeter

Types of graphs

area

Types of angles

page 9

Great Sites for Imageshttp://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort & providing recognition

.80 29

Homework & practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

Setting objectives & providing feedback .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

HIGH-Yield Instructional Strategies

Self-Assessment ToolSETTING OBJECTIVES &PROVIDING FEEDBACK

page 11

Kinds of Evidence – Continuum of EvidenceInformal Check for Understanding

Name a noun. Form a sentence.

Name a verb. Name an adjective.

page 10

“A pupil from whom nothing is

ever demanded which he

cannot do, never does all he

can.”John Stuart Mill

“No one Rises to Low Expectations.” Carl Boyd

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort & providing recognition

.80 29

Homework & practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

Setting objectives & providing feedback .61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

HIGH-Yield Instructional Strategies

Georgia Performance Standards Verbs PROBLEM SOLVING

Analyze Derive Discover Evaluate Explore

Predict Solve Survey Verify Investigate REASONING

Categorize Classify Compare ContrastDifferentiate

Describe Estimate Explain Generalize Interpret

Justify Order Hypothesize Predict Infer

Prioritize Rank Validate Summarize COMMUNICATION

Clarify Correspond Describe Discuss Demonstrate

ExhibitExplain Express Persuade Portray

RestateShow Speak State Write

VISU

AL 2

1st C

entu

ryBLO

OM

’S Taxonomy

http://visualblooms.wikispaces.com

1.Remember it. (Describe its colors, shapes, and sizes. What does it look like?)

2.Understand it. (What does it make you think of?)

3.Apply it. (What can you do with it? How is it used?)

4.Analyze it. (How is it made or what is it composed of?)

5.Evaluate it. (Take a stand and list reasons for supporting it.)

6.Create it. (Generate a new version of it. How is it an improvement from the original?)

CUBING 2010

page 12

Category Ave. EffectSize (ES)

Percentile Gain

Identify similarities & differences 1.61 45

Summarizing & note taking 1.00 34

Reinforcing effort & providing recognition

.80 29

Homework & practice .77 28

Nonlinguistic representations .75 27

Cooperative learning .73 27

Setting objectives & providing feedback

.61 23

Generating & testing hypotheses .61 23

Questions, cues, & advance organizers .59 22

Summarizing and Note Taking• Generalizations form the research:

– Verbatim note-taking is, perhaps, the least effective technique.

– Notes should be considered a work in progress.

– Notes should be used as a study guide for tests.

– The more notes that are taken, the better.

C O V E R

C O V E R

Allow students to personalize their notebook with a cover collage.Preserve with packing tape.

Tab

le o

f C

on

ten

t S

amp

les

MIND Notebook Rubric

KEY QUESTION: Why are common assessments so important?

“You can enhance or destroy students’ desire to succeed in school more quickly and permanently through your use of assessment than with any other tools you have at your disposal.”

Rick Stiggins, Assessment Trainers Institute

WHY do we ASSESS:1. INFORM INSTRUCTIONAL

DECISIONS

2. ENCOURAGE STUDENTS TO TRY

Talk to Me…page 15 – 16

Follow-up Debriefing

• Each pair should share with your other team members the method you used to graph the figure.

• Discuss with your team:– Which method appeals to you?– Is there another method that you would prefer?

• Prepare for a “pairs choice of method” with a new graph.

Key Question

Did your performance on the second attempt to complete the grid exercise

improve after having an opportunity to self-assess your initial strategy?

Formative Assessment

• Formative assessment is the process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust teaching and learning for the purpose of improving student learning.

Council of Chief State School Officers, October 2006

Notes:

Process rather than a particular test….

It is not the nature of the test itself that makes it formative or summative…it is the use to which those results will be put.

MOTOR MOUTH

MOTOR MOUTHThings associated with

schoolBooks

Report Cards

Teachers

School Bus

Cafeteria

Pencils

Erasers

Things associated with matter

Solid

Mixture

Solutions

Atoms

Molecules

Liquid

Gas

Things associated with fiction

Character

Plot

Setting

Foreshadowing

Dialogue

Metaphor

Theme

Things associated with triangles

Acute

Hypotenuse

Obtuse

Sides

Equilateral

Right

Angles

Reflection (summarizing)

What is structure or concept from today’s session that will assist

you with your students this year?

Thank you for all you do, for all the children!

~Dan