Science Break Out Session

February 2009New Teacher Support

PIMSERLexington, KY

Characteristics of High Quality Teaching and Learning

• Knowledge of Content

• Instructional Rigor and Student Engagement

• Instructional Relevance

• Learning Climate

• Informative Assessment and Reflection

Criteria

• Rigor– Standards Based– Higher Level Thinking– Real World

Connection– Challenging, yet

obtainable– Inquiry based tasks

• Student Engagement– Meaningful and relevant

to the student– Authentic (has value

outside of school)– Designed to maximize

enjoyment while mastering content (variety to choice)

Examples of Rigor

• Open Ended Questions

• Student Friendly Learning Targets

• Plan With The End In Mind—Backward Design Model

• Learning Experiences Are Designed And Sequenced To Learning Targets

• Real World Application

• Challenging, Yet Obtainable

Higher Order Questioning

• Indicator of rigor—both on formal assessment and normal classroom discourse.

• Promote deeper thinking about concepts that extends beyond the level of recall.– This means that the learning expectation for every

CCA standard is that students have knowledge of that content to (at least) the level of application or basic reasoning.

How often do you ask students to think at those levels?

Let’s Examine

Your Assessments!

“When choosing instructional approaches, think about what is

needed for learning, not just what is comfortable for

teaching.”-Wiggins and McTighe,

Understanding by Design, pg. 242

How do I help students organize their learning?

Regular Notes

Combination Notes

Symbols, Pictures,Or

graphic

Summary

Deconstructing Standards

Learning Targets

• I can describe and identify the 4 types of learning targets

• I can compare and contrast strong and weak models of deconstructed standards

• I can practice deconstructing state standards

What’s the Target?

Learning/Achievement Targets

Statements of what we want students to learn and be able to do.

“Teachers who truly understand what they want their students to accomplish will almost surely be more instructionally successful than teachers whose understanding of hoped-for student accomplishments are murky.”

-W. James Popham

CLEAR TARGETSAssess what?

What are the learning targets?Are they clear?Are they good?

Are the student learning targets stated and easy to find?

Are the student learning targets focused—are there too many?

Are they clear?

Are they appropriate?

Do the stated learning targets reflect a bigger plan to cover all important learning targets over time?

Educators & Students must be able to answer……

• Where am I going?• Where am I now?• How can I close the gap?• How will I know I’m getting

there?• How can I keep it going?

Is this a Target?

What do you think?

• Complete a senior project

• Build a bird Feeder

• Use a band saw safely

• Analyze a lab report

• Construct a diorama

An Example

• Science

• Chemistry• Page 152 in the book• Mystery Powders Lab• Observe chemical interactions in

order to identify materials

Subject

Topic

Assignment

Activity

Learning Target

The single most common barrier to sound classroom

assessment is the teachers’ lack of vision of appropriate

achievement targets within the subjects they are supposed to

teach.

Rick Stiggins

Learning Targets

• Knowledge

• Reasoning

• Performance/ skills

• Products

Knowledge Targets

Mastery of substantive subject content where mastery includes both

knowing and understanding it.

Knowledge Examples

• Identify metaphors and similes

• Read and write quadratic equations

• Describe the function of a cell membrane

• Know the multiplication tables

• Explain the effects of an acid on a base

Reasoning Targets

The ability to use knowledge and understanding to figure things out and to solve problems.

Reasoning Examples

• Use statistical methods to describe, analyze, evaluate, and make decisions.

• Make a prediction based on evidence.

• Examine data/results and propose a meaningful interpretation.

• Distinguish between historical fact and opinion.

Performance/Skill Targets

The development of proficiency in doing something where the process is most important.

Performance/Skill Examples

• Measure mass in metric and SI units

• Use simple equipment and tools to gather data

• Read aloud with fluency and expression

• Participates in civic discussions with the aim of solving current problems

• Dribbles to keep the ball away from an opponent

Product Targets

The ability to create tangible products that meet certain standards of quality and present concrete evidence of academic proficiency.

Product Examples

• Construct a bar graph

• Develop a personal health-related fitness plan

• Construct a physical model of an object

• Write a term paper to support a thesis

Clear Targets

Clear targets help us:• Recognize if the formative assessment

adequately covers and samples what we taught.

• Correctly identify what students know/don’t know, and their level of achievement.

• Plan the next steps in instruction.• Give meaningful descriptive feedback to

students.

Clear Targets (continued)

• Have students self-assess or set goals likely to help them learn more.

• Keep track of student learning target by target or standard by standard.

• Complete a standards-based report card.

Classifying Learning Targets

• Lay out the four learning target category cards—Knowledge, Reasoning, Performance/Skill, and Product—in a row in that order.

• Sort the learning target example cards according to which kind of learning target it is. Lay these cards in columns under the appropriate category.

• When you have finished, walk around and look at what other groups have done.

Classifying Learning Targets

• What were some considerations for how you classified the samples you had?

• Is it always clear how to classify a statement from the standards? Why or why not?

QUESTION

What is the difference between a

STANDARD

and a

TARGET?

An Example

• STANDARD: An excellent golf swing

• TARGETS:– Proper placement for feet (stance)– Proper grip while maintaining stance– Swing A, B, C (3-parts to swing)

• ACTIVITIES:– Watch videos of great golfers and imitate their

stance

When should these be added and/or developed?

“By setting out clearly in their own minds what they wanted the students to learn, the teachers would be in a position to find out what the ‘gap’ was between the state of students’ current learning and the learning goal and to be able to monitor that ‘gap’ as it closed.”

--Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice

Deconstructing StandardsInto Learning Targets

Students who can identify what they are learning

significantly outscore those who cannot.

Robert J. Marzano

Are the Standards Clear?

• Can your content standards stand alone and be used as learning targets or do they need to be deconstructed or ‘unpacked’?

• Deconstruction involves taking a standard and breaking it down into manageable learning targets—Knowledge, Reasoning, Performance/skills, and/or Products—so that students and teachers can accurately identify what students should know and be able to do.

Standard/Benchmark:

Produce writing to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Type: Knowledge Reasoning Skill Product

Learning Targets:What are the knowledge, reasoning, skill, or product targets underpinning the standard?

Knowledge Targets

Skill Targets

Reasoning Targets

Product Targets

Know what a sentence is

Understand concept of word choice

Distinguish the uses ormeanings of a

variety of words (word choice)

Hold a pencil correctly

Print letters correctly according to DN methods

Space words

Use lines and margins correctly

Stretch out sounds in words to create a temporary spelling of the word

Write sentences with varied

beginnings.

FIRST GRADE

Creating Targets for “Driving a Car with Skill”

What knowledge will students need to demonstrate the intended learning?

What patterns of reasoning will they need to master?

What skills are required, if any?

What product development capabilities must they acquire, if any?

Driving a Car with Skill

KnowledgeKnow the lawRead signs and understand what they mean

ReasoningEvaluate ‘am I safe’ and synthesize information to take action if needed

SkillsSteering, shifting, parallel parking, …

Products(not appropriate target for standard)

Deconstruction Models

• Find a partner

• Look at the STRONG example– How would this help teachers?– How would this impact student learning?

• Look at the WEAK example– Would this be beneficial to teachers?

• In order to deconstruct effectively what skills/knowledge are needed?

Practicing Deconstructing Standards

• Working with a partner, use the standards provided to deconstruct.

• Think about what knowledge, skills, reasoning or products students will need in order to meet that standard.

• Start with the skills column, then move to understanding and last to core content.

• Do NOT think of how you will teach the standard or how you will assess it, ONLY about what students will need to know and be able to do.

Group Debrief

DHow did the process feel?

What is the value of going through this process?

What support materials are needed to facilitate the process?

Without Clear Targets We Can’t Do Any of the Following…

• Know if the assessment adequately covers and samples what we taught.

• Correctly identify what students know and don’t know and their level of achievement.

• Plan next steps in instruction.• Give detailed, descriptive feedback to students.• Have students self-assess or set goals likely to help them

learn more.• Keep track of student learning target by target or

standard by standard.• Complete a standards-based report card.

For Next Month

• Bring a selection of standards that you will be teaching next.– Not just core content,

but skills and understandings as well

• We will begin to deconstruct those standards.