Assessment & The English Language Arts Curriculum

1. Assessment & The English Language Arts Curriculum University of Manitoba January 21, 2013

2. Goal • Reflect on and explore ideas, methods, and purposes of assessment and the English language arts curriculum

3. Outcomes • Build understandings of the big ideas, structure, and entry points of the English language arts curriculum. • Reflect on planning for rich learning. • Consider effective assessment practices.

4. Curriculum Landscape

5. A Gallery of Principles As a Table Group: • Read and discuss the statements at your table • What do they mean to you? • What might they look like/sound like in the classroom? • What do they make you think/wonder? • Decide on 3 responses to add to your posters & post on the walls Individually: • Read & reflect on each of the principles and table group responses • Add your thinking to each of the posters (in response to the principles and/or the table group responses) • End the gallery at your own poster and reflect on the written “conversation.”

6. Big Ideas and ELA Curriculum Reflecting on Learning Communicating Meaning (speak, represent, write) Making Meaning (listen, view, read) General Learning Outcomes: Explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences Comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, literary, and media texts Manage ideas and information Enhance clarify and artistry of communication Celebrate and build community Critical Literacy

7. Literacy and ELA • 6 strands: viewing, representing, listening, speaking, reading, writing • Interrelated, integrated, overlapping, supportive • Vehicles • Multimodal Thinking & Multiliteracies • Processes & Products

10. Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen carefully (Littlefoot’s mother, Land Before Time) Learning through Rich Contexts and Multiple TextsExample – Whom Am I (MY) • Human identity is the most fragile thing that we have, and it’s often only found in moments of truth (Alan Rudolph)

11. Rich Contexts – Some Examples • Inquiry/Driving Questions: • What makes or breaks relationships? • Is multiculturalism real or just an artifice in Canada? • What is the real cost of fame? • What does it mean to be a man? • Issues/Themes • Gender and equity • Identity • The real cost of war

12. Rich Contexts –More Examples • Personal and Philosophical • exploring loyalty, love, & relationships; beginning & becoming; discovery & disillusionment; rites of passage • Social, Cultural, and Historical • conflicts, challenges, issues, & choices; in search of justice • Imaginative and Literary • indigenous narratives; imagined worlds • Communicative • listen to the music; popular culture; telling the story - newsmakers • Environmental and Technological • building a better planet; turning points

13. Selecting Resources • Same text for all – increase scaffolding and structures • Different texts – provide different information/lenses/challenge on a same topic and pool the knowledge

14. Text Sets • A wide range of oral, visual, print, and multimedia texts on a topic or theme • developmentally and culturally appropriate • non-fiction and fiction texts • more than one point of view • Think: vertical and horizontal

15. Planning for Quality … Knowing Where to Start 1234 What do I want my students to know and be able to do in this learning experience? What will the evidence of student learning look and sound like? How will I design the classroom contexts and processes to facilitate learning? What GLO(s) will be my entry point into the ELA Foundation for Implementation? Four Steps in Planning with the End in Mind (adapted from McTighe)

16. Entry Points Scenario 1- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to be able to access and organize information from a variety of sources. Scenario 2- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to explore and to see value in different viewpoints and make connection to their own opinions/ideas Scenario 3- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to reflect on how text might marginalize certain voices, individuals, or culture Scenario 4- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to be able to experiment with and reflect on purposes of language and techniques used in a range of persuasive text. Scenario 5- Teacher’s Goal: I want my students to explore creative processes in order to design communications in various forms.

17. Collecting & Documenting Evidence Conversations: over the shoulder, conference, peer, journals, book talks Products/Processes: journals, portfolios, projects, skill applications, process pieces, reflections Observations: focused, around the room, individual/partner/ group, checklists

18. Insert pic of environment from Reading and Writing in Action

20. Date: Sept. 14Course:ELA 10F Unit: Identity Focus: Comp. Strats.

21. Date: Sept. 14 Course: ELA 10F Unit: Identity Focus: Comp. Strategies

22. Giving Effective Feedback • Describe what the sample shows the student knows and is able to do (STRENGTHS). • Identify one or two areas for improvement (CHALLENGES). • Offer feedback that directs and motivates better performance on the next attempt. (GOAL SETTING FOR NEXT STEPS)

23. Conferencing: Some Thoughts Adapted from Kittle, Penny. (2008). Write Beside Them. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Importance of feedback during the processes Teacher to student(s), student to teacher, student to student, Author’s Chair, chosen audience, colleague to colleague Can’t confer with every student every day...or even every week If it takes longer than 10 minutes, it may need to be a minilesson for a small group or whole class. Not just for students who are “struggling” Conference focus often stems from observations or need to learn more from student

24. Writing Conferences • Early on • Writer identity and goal setting • Finding a topic/ideas and focus • Making decisions about topic, format, and audience • Drafting • Are my ideas focused? Are they developed? • Does the writing flow logically? • How effectively am I saying things? • Editing and Polishing • Voice: a personal tone and flavour • Word choice: a thoughtful approach to word choice • Sentence fluency: a rhythm and flow to the writing that helps it convey the message. • Conventions: grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and usage. • Reflecting and Goal Setting Peterson, Shelley. (2003). Guided Writing Instruction, Strategies to Help Student Become Better Writers.

25. Listening in What moves does Penny make? How does she build student ownership?

26. Setting Goals Source:Kathleen Gregory, Caren Cameron, Anne Davies

28. Reflecting on Learning What did I see/notice? What do I think/feel/ wonder? What did I read/hear? What are my next steps?

29. Image Credits • http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5292150656/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewomensmuseum/3707554617/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/christinielsen/64372218/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/rustystewart/300021362/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/34281632@N03/3842472527/ • http://www.flickr.com/photos/verylastexcitingmoment/3119328322/ • http://www.cartoonstock.com/blowup_stock.asp?imageref=shl080425&artist=Hilburn,+Scott&topic=identity • http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173381758l/280313.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/280313.The_Rough_Face_Girl&h=475&w=370&sz=38&tbnid=LcP9hJFe_L28pM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=75&zoom=1&docid=RSSB-eXChsym0M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fGmMT7iWFNPgggeFvpzICQ&ved=0CCUQ9QEwAA&dur=2746 • http://readingthroughlife.ca/i-d-stuff-that-happens-to-define-us-review/ • http://www.amazon.ca/Define-Normal-Julie-Anne-Peters/dp/0316734896 • http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://literarytreats.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/giver.jpg&imgrefurl=http://literarytreats.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/review-the-giver-the-gift-edition-lois-lowry-illustrated-by-bagram-ibatoulline/&h=2038&w=1240&sz=515&tbnid=Lvqt3Sn-oCIL-M:&tbnh=82&tbnw=50&zoom=1&docid=hp_52wpp0mqmRM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=3mqMT8GAIsS9gAfjyN3uCQ&ved=0CCkQ9QEwAQ&dur=858 • http://www.buzzle.com/articles/african-last-names.html • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7BQRGXFLJs