Gathers accurate data on student performance and keeps comprehensive records of student achievement
Keeping records of student performance can be a difficult thing to do during the busy day-to-day workings of the classroom! Realizing that it is very difficult for assessment data to get misplaced or put aside for more immediate tasks, I created an excel spreadsheet to keep track of student performance, especially in relation to standards and benchmarks for each subject. In this spreadsheet students are tracked throughout the curriculum and then I can use that information when completing the report card.
Classroom Environment: Working with ASB Guidelines in the Classroom
Consistently enforces the ASB discipline guidelines as outlined in the student handbook
I think that it is very important for a school to have a consistent discipline policy and expectations for children. The more aligned the classroom expectations are to the school expectations, the more clear the message is to students about how the they need to behave and present themselves within the learning environment. As an activity at the start of the year, my students created their own set of classroom expectations that they wanted for themselves and their classmates to follow. Students worked in teams to illustrate the expectations so that they would be able to reference examples of appropriate behavior all year. We have references these expectations often throughout the year.
I also feel that it is very important to hold my students to a very high standard for both their academic work and their behavior inside the classroom and around the ASB community. I have tried to promote, encourage and expect responsibility among my students for both each other and their own learning. I have tried to develop a safe place where they can feel free to explore because they are very clear about where the limits are. They know, however, that when they go past the limits, there are consequences as well as grace for their mistakes.
"The students have grown in responsibility. You really promote self management and they feel capable and empowered as learners and people because you have turned them into problem solvers capable of finding solutions. They are focused on learning and that is what they are here for." Ros Greehy
For images of students participating in the classroom environment please visit: https://moodle.a-s-b.com/course/view.php?id=540 and click on the lightbox gallery!
I think that it is very important for a school to have a consistent discipline policy and expectations for children. The more aligned the classroom expectations are to the school expectations, the more clear the message is to students about how the they need to behave and present themselves within the learning environment. As an activity at the start of the year, my students created their own set of classroom expectations that they wanted for themselves and their classmates to follow. Students worked in teams to illustrate the expectations so that they would be able to reference examples of appropriate behavior all year. We have references these expectations often throughout the year.
I also feel that it is very important to hold my students to a very high standard for both their academic work and their behavior inside the classroom and around the ASB community. I have tried to promote, encourage and expect responsibility among my students for both each other and their own learning. I have tried to develop a safe place where they can feel free to explore because they are very clear about where the limits are. They know, however, that when they go past the limits, there are consequences as well as grace for their mistakes.
"The students have grown in responsibility. You really promote self management and they feel capable and empowered as learners and people because you have turned them into problem solvers capable of finding solutions. They are focused on learning and that is what they are here for." Ros Greehy
For images of students participating in the classroom environment please visit: https://moodle.a-s-b.com/course/view.php?id=540 and click on the lightbox gallery!
Classroom Environment: Building a Classroom
Organizes physical space and displays student work appropriately to enhance learning
My classroom is living, growing, and expanding every day and students are a part of the evolution of the environment. Around the classroom you can see student work displayed, especially student work that can be used as anchors for students to use in their assignments. Students are also a part of making anchor charts that are used for everyday learning in every subject. These are all a part of the students helping to create their environment that they are learning in each day!
My classroom is living, growing, and expanding every day and students are a part of the evolution of the environment. Around the classroom you can see student work displayed, especially student work that can be used as anchors for students to use in their assignments. Students are also a part of making anchor charts that are used for everyday learning in every subject. These are all a part of the students helping to create their environment that they are learning in each day!
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| Anchor charts for science help to remind students of each step in the scientific method. |
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| Students were able to display how they thought they were growing this year and then their work was left on the wall so that we could reference it when talking about our growth throughout the year. |
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| Students helped to create anchor charts for grammar that they could use throughout the year! |
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| Students wrote multiplication stories that were posted on the wall throughout the unit. They were then used as a way for us to reflect on the students' understanding of multiplication at the beginning of the unit and the end! |
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| Students are able to access their own books by using theme labeled bins in the classroom library. They decided how to organize the books and they decide if new categories need to be added or how to file new books. They also have a recommendation list for other students to use. |
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| Independence is a major theme in 3B! Students file their own homework and classwork in their boxes. They then pick up their work at the end of the day. If there are special things that they need to keep track of, they also use their mailboxes as storage for those things. |
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| The classroom environment stretches beyond what goes up on the walls! In 3B students feel comfortable with their teacher and their fellow students. The classroom runs as a cohesive unit, with each person doing their share to make it function well! This note from a student to me is an example of how students communicate with each other and myself throughout the day! For more images of students enjoying the classroom environment, please visit: https://moodle.a-s-b.com/course/view.php?id=540 and click on the lightbox gallery! |
Assessment Strategies: Using Standards and Benchmarks for Assessment
Aligns assessment strategies with standards and benchmarks.
This year the goal of the school was to progress toward more standards based assessments and aligning assessments to common benchmarks among grade level classrooms. This was also a personal goal of mine as I have not been involved in the process of writing assessments for mathematics prior to this year. In my last school district, Everyday Math was the adopted curriculum and the tests were mandated by the district expectations and were aligned to the standards by the mathematics coaches. Writing my own mathematics assessments this year has been a difficult, but rewarding experience that has helped me to understand the standards more clearly and more purposefully align my instructional strategies to the benchmarks.
As a way to make sure that all assessments are aligned to the standards and benchmarks for third grade, I spent time going through each standard for a given area and then writing assessment questions specifically for that standard. The assessments then have the standards listed above the questions, allowing me to very clearly see which standards a student might be missing or needing more help with. I have also utilized an assessment standard checklist after the assessment to check student progress in each standard within a strand of mathematics. For example, in my Multiplication and Division unit, the student summative assessment had an attached checklist for student progress in each standard that aligned with the questions on the test.
This year the goal of the school was to progress toward more standards based assessments and aligning assessments to common benchmarks among grade level classrooms. This was also a personal goal of mine as I have not been involved in the process of writing assessments for mathematics prior to this year. In my last school district, Everyday Math was the adopted curriculum and the tests were mandated by the district expectations and were aligned to the standards by the mathematics coaches. Writing my own mathematics assessments this year has been a difficult, but rewarding experience that has helped me to understand the standards more clearly and more purposefully align my instructional strategies to the benchmarks.
As a way to make sure that all assessments are aligned to the standards and benchmarks for third grade, I spent time going through each standard for a given area and then writing assessment questions specifically for that standard. The assessments then have the standards listed above the questions, allowing me to very clearly see which standards a student might be missing or needing more help with. I have also utilized an assessment standard checklist after the assessment to check student progress in each standard within a strand of mathematics. For example, in my Multiplication and Division unit, the student summative assessment had an attached checklist for student progress in each standard that aligned with the questions on the test.
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| Each test states the standards associated with each question! |
Assessment Strategies: Student Ownership of Assessment Criteria
Provides assessment criteria for students in advance and ensures student understanding
Provides guidance and timely feedback to learners on attainment of concepts/skills
One of the basic fundamental foundations of my instructional style is that students should have an opportunity to take ownership of their own learning and that they should be expected to be responsible for themselves and their own work. When students are merely given a grade on an assignment, without any knowledge as to how they will be graded or how their project measured up to the standard, they do not learn how to monitor themselves. It is for this reason that I believe very strongly in giving students rubrics for assignments as soon as assignments or projects are introduced to the class. Many people feel that third graders are not mature enough to understand rubrics or how to evaluate their own work, but I think that they have to be taught how to have this skill, it does not come naturally! I taught students how to use a rubric with our first big project, the Jumanji Game Board. We looked at the rubric together as a class and discussed what each of the indicators meant. We then discussed what game boards that fit into the various scores would look like. As students were working on the games for two weeks, they had to have their rubrics out on their desks. At the beginning and end of each working period, they had to check on their rubric what indicators they were planning to work on and what they had added to their boards. Then, when the projects were completed, I graded them with the students so that they could see how I looked at the rubrics while I was grading. They helped to determine their grades on the projects. I gave them verbal feedback on their boards then, as well as written feedback on their rubrics. This process was carried out throughout the year with different projects, with the level of my involvement in coaching the students through the use of rubrics decreasing over time as the students' ownership of their projects increased.
Provides guidance and timely feedback to learners on attainment of concepts/skills
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| Students complete independent book projects for the books they read in class. They were given an assignment sheet that detailed the grading criteria. We then looked at examples of work from each grade so that they would know what to expect. |
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| Students were given a rubric for their Jumanji Game project. |
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| After students completed their projects, they were given feedback on each section of the rubric. They used their rubrics as checklists while they were completing the projects. |
Assessment Strategies: Variety of Assessments for a Variety of Learners
Utilizes various assessment techniques to allow for differences in student learning styles
Provides frequent diagnostic, formative and summative assessments of student learning to ensure understanding
In my classroom there are many different assessments given to students throughout units. I think that it is very important that students are given many opportunities to show their understanding, through written, verbal and creative means. I believe very firmly in the importance of allowing students to complete long term projects and using their work throughout as well as their finished product as an assessment, instead of having every assessment be a summative written test. In order to allow students to complete assessments in many ways I have developed projects that allow them to be creative and think critically.
One such example of a project in which students were given multiple assessments was in our Fairy Tale unit in Language Arts. Students were taught the various key elements of a fairy tale throughout the unit through mini lessons. Each lesson I reviewed the element that we learned in the previous lesson, and asked different students each day to describe the previously learned element and its importance in fairy tales. I then kept a record of their responses so that I could meet with them to discuss the element if they didn't seem to grasp the concept taught. Students were then given a variety of projects to complete as another way of assessing their understanding of common literary elements. Students worked on character trait charts where they had to identify characters in fairy tales, their common traits, and whether their traits were inferred or stated directly in the book. These tables were then collected and assessed. The students also worked as a class to analyze the settings of fairy tales and they kept track of the settings that they discovered in their books. They described the settings that they found in their notebooks, and then shared verbally with the class. Then in partnerships students worked to create the setting of a common fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students worked together to brainstorm the setting elements, and then made a design plan for their parts. They then created their setting elements with their partner and added it to the whole class mural. Students were assessed on their ability to clearly and logically organize their plan, their ability to create setting elements that matched with the story, and their ability to create new setting elements that were not mentioned in the story but that fit with the story's theme. Each partnership created at least 2 elements that were mentioned and two that were not mentioned in order to test their understanding of this element of literature.
Provides frequent diagnostic, formative and summative assessments of student learning to ensure understanding
In my classroom there are many different assessments given to students throughout units. I think that it is very important that students are given many opportunities to show their understanding, through written, verbal and creative means. I believe very firmly in the importance of allowing students to complete long term projects and using their work throughout as well as their finished product as an assessment, instead of having every assessment be a summative written test. In order to allow students to complete assessments in many ways I have developed projects that allow them to be creative and think critically.
One such example of a project in which students were given multiple assessments was in our Fairy Tale unit in Language Arts. Students were taught the various key elements of a fairy tale throughout the unit through mini lessons. Each lesson I reviewed the element that we learned in the previous lesson, and asked different students each day to describe the previously learned element and its importance in fairy tales. I then kept a record of their responses so that I could meet with them to discuss the element if they didn't seem to grasp the concept taught. Students were then given a variety of projects to complete as another way of assessing their understanding of common literary elements. Students worked on character trait charts where they had to identify characters in fairy tales, their common traits, and whether their traits were inferred or stated directly in the book. These tables were then collected and assessed. The students also worked as a class to analyze the settings of fairy tales and they kept track of the settings that they discovered in their books. They described the settings that they found in their notebooks, and then shared verbally with the class. Then in partnerships students worked to create the setting of a common fairy tale, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Students worked together to brainstorm the setting elements, and then made a design plan for their parts. They then created their setting elements with their partner and added it to the whole class mural. Students were assessed on their ability to clearly and logically organize their plan, their ability to create setting elements that matched with the story, and their ability to create new setting elements that were not mentioned in the story but that fit with the story's theme. Each partnership created at least 2 elements that were mentioned and two that were not mentioned in order to test their understanding of this element of literature.
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| Students completed a mural with partners to show their understanding of the setting of a common fairy tale. |
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| Students completed a character map to show their understanding of inferred vs. explicit character traits. |
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| Students completed a multiplication story to assess their prior knowledge of the concept of repeated addition. |
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| Students also complete end of unit written assessments. |
Assessment Strategies: Sharing Assessment Information
Shares assessment information appropriately with families, colleagues and students
I think that it is very important that both students and families are given an opportunity to understand and discuss assessment results. With families, this often can take place in a impersonal way by simply mailing home test scores. I think that families often are left with many questions when this happens, and it is much better for them to discuss the assessment results throughout the year, instead of simply at moments when standardized test scores are released. I communicate students' assessment results regularly through sending home their rubrics and tests. When students complete a math assessment, they take it home with the rubric attached which indicated each strand in which the students were assessed and exactly where the students fall on the four point continuum for that strand. I also communicated assessment data with parents during meetings, including parent teacher conferences. I had very positive feedback from parents about the way that I presented information to them during conferences and that they left feeling like they understood exactly where their child was in their progression toward third grade standards. Assessment data was also shared with colleagues, especially on the SEN team during weekly discussion meetings and monthly SEN meetings. Students also received feedback about their assessments. After each assessment, students were able to look over their work alone, then ask questions as we went over the assessments as a class. They also received a copy of the rubric, usually one that they received before the project began and again after their work was assessed.
I think that it is very important that both students and families are given an opportunity to understand and discuss assessment results. With families, this often can take place in a impersonal way by simply mailing home test scores. I think that families often are left with many questions when this happens, and it is much better for them to discuss the assessment results throughout the year, instead of simply at moments when standardized test scores are released. I communicate students' assessment results regularly through sending home their rubrics and tests. When students complete a math assessment, they take it home with the rubric attached which indicated each strand in which the students were assessed and exactly where the students fall on the four point continuum for that strand. I also communicated assessment data with parents during meetings, including parent teacher conferences. I had very positive feedback from parents about the way that I presented information to them during conferences and that they left feeling like they understood exactly where their child was in their progression toward third grade standards. Assessment data was also shared with colleagues, especially on the SEN team during weekly discussion meetings and monthly SEN meetings. Students also received feedback about their assessments. After each assessment, students were able to look over their work alone, then ask questions as we went over the assessments as a class. They also received a copy of the rubric, usually one that they received before the project began and again after their work was assessed.
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| Email from a parent |
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| Students get feedback on their scores for projects. The feedback usually includes something they did well, and something that they could improve on. |
Assessment Strategies: Using Assessments for Planning Instruction
Uses students' results for planning instruction and reflection on teaching
It is often easy to get lost in the process of assessing and forget that the assessments actually have a purpose beside simply measuring student progress. They are also meant to help us plan for future instruction in the classroom. This year I utilized this important piece of assessment in many areas, but especially in my small group reading instruction. I had one reading group that was of an average ability level, although they often were very low in their contextual understanding and reading comprehension. I realized after having the students complete several writing assignments related to their reading, that they were not understanding much of the vocabulary that was being presented in the book. I also realized in my informal assessments during our book talks that the students in this particular group would often skip over their lack of understanding of specific words, and often they didn't even notice that they were lost! I used this information to plan a two week long student with this group on vocabulary in texts. I had the students make their own glossaries of important or tricky words in their reading. At first I guided them in this process, helping them to identify difficult words on the page. Then they were given the assignment to add more words to their glossaries on their own. We would then come back together to meet to discuss the new words and what the possible meanings of the words might be based on the context. I found this process to be extremely helpful for the students, and it also helped me to plan future small group lessons on contextual understanding and words with multiple meanings.
It is often easy to get lost in the process of assessing and forget that the assessments actually have a purpose beside simply measuring student progress. They are also meant to help us plan for future instruction in the classroom. This year I utilized this important piece of assessment in many areas, but especially in my small group reading instruction. I had one reading group that was of an average ability level, although they often were very low in their contextual understanding and reading comprehension. I realized after having the students complete several writing assignments related to their reading, that they were not understanding much of the vocabulary that was being presented in the book. I also realized in my informal assessments during our book talks that the students in this particular group would often skip over their lack of understanding of specific words, and often they didn't even notice that they were lost! I used this information to plan a two week long student with this group on vocabulary in texts. I had the students make their own glossaries of important or tricky words in their reading. At first I guided them in this process, helping them to identify difficult words on the page. Then they were given the assignment to add more words to their glossaries on their own. We would then come back together to meet to discuss the new words and what the possible meanings of the words might be based on the context. I found this process to be extremely helpful for the students, and it also helped me to plan future small group lessons on contextual understanding and words with multiple meanings.
Instructional Strategies: Collaboration is Key for Students with Special Needs
Knows special education IEP processes and collaborates to provide appropriate experiences for student achievement.
I have found that the more a teacher can collaborate with support teachers, the more progress students with special needs are able to make throughout the course of the year. I must admit that it was a bit of an adjustment coming from a public school in a huge district with little funding, to a private school with more support teachers than I had ever interacted with before! I knew right from the start that I would need to be organized in my approach to collaboration with these teachers as it is very easy in the busy week to let this communication fall through the cracks. In fact, I made this one of my professional goals for the year. The first step I took to encourage collaboration with special education teachers was to share my online plan book and provide them with the ability to see what I was doing in my classroom at all times. This also facilitated conversations about long term planning and links between what students with special needs were doing in the classroom and in their pull-out services. It also made it easier for special education teachers to come into the classroom prepared to work with students with their current learning, without wasting time trying to figure out what the lesson was about.
"Over the course of the school year, Whitney and I had an excellent collaborative relationship. She began the year open to receiving SEN support in any way possible. Our weekly meetings to discuss student progress allowed us to evaluate and change interventions as needed in order to support the students to the best of our ability. She is an excellent role model for collaboration and team teaching between general education and SEN. Working with her this year and taking away new strategies and ideas from her expertise in teaching has been an enlightening experience." Kristina Passarella
I have found that the more a teacher can collaborate with support teachers, the more progress students with special needs are able to make throughout the course of the year. I must admit that it was a bit of an adjustment coming from a public school in a huge district with little funding, to a private school with more support teachers than I had ever interacted with before! I knew right from the start that I would need to be organized in my approach to collaboration with these teachers as it is very easy in the busy week to let this communication fall through the cracks. In fact, I made this one of my professional goals for the year. The first step I took to encourage collaboration with special education teachers was to share my online plan book and provide them with the ability to see what I was doing in my classroom at all times. This also facilitated conversations about long term planning and links between what students with special needs were doing in the classroom and in their pull-out services. It also made it easier for special education teachers to come into the classroom prepared to work with students with their current learning, without wasting time trying to figure out what the lesson was about.
"Over the course of the school year, Whitney and I had an excellent collaborative relationship. She began the year open to receiving SEN support in any way possible. Our weekly meetings to discuss student progress allowed us to evaluate and change interventions as needed in order to support the students to the best of our ability. She is an excellent role model for collaboration and team teaching between general education and SEN. Working with her this year and taking away new strategies and ideas from her expertise in teaching has been an enlightening experience." Kristina Passarella
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| My online plan book from one week. This plan book is shared automatically with ELL and SEN and they have access to it whenever they need. This helps to facilitate conversations about ways to help students with special needs accomplish lesson goals. |
Instructional Strategies: Atlas Rubicon and Long Term Planning
Utilizes appropriate short and long range planning effectively with Atlas Rubicon
Throughout this year my teaching partner and I have added unit plans and amended prior unit plans on Atlas Rubicon. My specific focus this year has been on developing units for Math, in accordance with the new adoption of the AERO standards and the new curriculum. During the course of the year I developed 5 units for math including Number Sense, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division, Fractions and Data, Measurement and Geometry. In each of these units I developed materials and benchmarks through stage 2, including assessments, and through all stages in the Multiplication and Division unit.
Throughout this process I realized that it was beneficial for me to stop and think about the long term scope of my teaching. As a classroom teacher it is very easy to get stuck in the everyday happenings of the classroom, without stopping to think about the overall direction of the course. I also have never had the opportunity to develop my own curriculum for math as I was always in a larger public school district where the curriculum was mandated. Throughout this process I found myself challenged to stretch my thinking and expand my methods in order to develop a unit that had a clear focus, strong instructional strategies and a clear, concise final assessment.
For for detailed curriculum maps, please see http://a-s-b.rubiconatlas.org/Atlas/Develop/View/UnitCalendar?SelectedTeacherID=174&CurriculumMapID=1323&view=&
Throughout this year my teaching partner and I have added unit plans and amended prior unit plans on Atlas Rubicon. My specific focus this year has been on developing units for Math, in accordance with the new adoption of the AERO standards and the new curriculum. During the course of the year I developed 5 units for math including Number Sense, Addition and Subtraction, Multiplication and Division, Fractions and Data, Measurement and Geometry. In each of these units I developed materials and benchmarks through stage 2, including assessments, and through all stages in the Multiplication and Division unit.
Throughout this process I realized that it was beneficial for me to stop and think about the long term scope of my teaching. As a classroom teacher it is very easy to get stuck in the everyday happenings of the classroom, without stopping to think about the overall direction of the course. I also have never had the opportunity to develop my own curriculum for math as I was always in a larger public school district where the curriculum was mandated. Throughout this process I found myself challenged to stretch my thinking and expand my methods in order to develop a unit that had a clear focus, strong instructional strategies and a clear, concise final assessment.
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| Curriculum map for unit 3 Multiplication and Division |
For for detailed curriculum maps, please see http://a-s-b.rubiconatlas.org/Atlas/Develop/View/UnitCalendar?SelectedTeacherID=174&CurriculumMapID=1323&view=&
Instructional Strategies: Questions, Questions, Questions!
Uses questioning and discussion techniques effectively to promote the development of higher order thinking skills.
I think that is very important for students to receive opportunities to respond to questions both verbally and in written form, and that they are given many opportunities to use higher order thinking skills. Throughout the day students participate in class discussions, and this is something that I have especially tried to focus on in math. Each morning students in math students are taught a new strategy related to the skill that our unit focuses on. Then after the skill is taught, students are given a problem to solve in a small group or partnership. While they are solving the problem, they have to discuss with each other how they are choosing to solve their problem, and WHY they are making those choices. They then present their findings to class. Students are then given an opportunity to ask questions and compare their findings with each other. During this time I ask them to explain why they made the choices they did, what would happen if they had done something differently, and how they could solve their problems in a different way.
Students are also given the chance to explain their thinking during science. Each day I have a focus question for the lesson. Throughout the lesson, students are prompted to explain their observations and their new learning. Each lesson then finishes with a discussion of student observations and findings. During this end of lesson discussion, students are asking about what they saw, why they think that happened, and how they could plain their experiments differently to achieve different results. These discussions are a positive, engaging and challenging way for students to stretch their thinking and their assumptions.
I think that is very important for students to receive opportunities to respond to questions both verbally and in written form, and that they are given many opportunities to use higher order thinking skills. Throughout the day students participate in class discussions, and this is something that I have especially tried to focus on in math. Each morning students in math students are taught a new strategy related to the skill that our unit focuses on. Then after the skill is taught, students are given a problem to solve in a small group or partnership. While they are solving the problem, they have to discuss with each other how they are choosing to solve their problem, and WHY they are making those choices. They then present their findings to class. Students are then given an opportunity to ask questions and compare their findings with each other. During this time I ask them to explain why they made the choices they did, what would happen if they had done something differently, and how they could solve their problems in a different way.
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| Students are given a focus question at the beginning of science lessons and then they have an opportunity to discuss and write about their ideas pertaining to the question. |
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| Students were asked to determine what they thought the changed variable should be for their experiments that they created. |
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| Student Experiments |
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| Students planned a fair test to test their own theories that the temperature of the area around the ice cube would affect its melting speed! |
Instructional Strategies: Groupings for Great Instruction
Uses an appropriate balance of teaching methods including teacher-directed, student-directed, student-initiated, flexible groupings, and independent work, where students are actively involved in their learning.
Throughout each day students have a opportunity to participate in both small and whole group activities. I teach through a project based learning approach, which naturally lends itself to small group learning as students are usually working with 1 or 2 other classmates to complete an assignment. One example of such work is a project that students did during our Chris Van Allsburg unit. During this unit students were studying the writing style of this author, and using the author's style to interpret and analyze their thoughts while reading. In order to access students' deeper understanding of Chris Van Allsburg's style and their comprehension of the messages conveyed in his books, I gave students the project to create their own Jumanji board game. While reading the book together we charted themes and details that we noticed as a whole group. Then students split into small groups of 3 or 4 to create their games. They were given a rubric and assignment sheet of what their games needed to include, and they were expected to monitor their own progress toward their desired grade (1-4). The students used the rubric and assignment sheets as a guideline to create their boardgames, but they were given absolute autonomy in the design, content and rules of their games. Students created a rule sheet, game board, and pieces, and when they were finished they presented their games to the class and invited their second grade buddies to play the games with them. Throughout the year I have provided many other opportunities for students to participate in similar independent, small and creative projects, which I feel has helped them to take responsibility and initiative for their work.
For images of students working in different groupings, please visit: https://moodle.a-s-b.com/course/view.php?id=540 and click on instructional strategies.
Throughout each day students have a opportunity to participate in both small and whole group activities. I teach through a project based learning approach, which naturally lends itself to small group learning as students are usually working with 1 or 2 other classmates to complete an assignment. One example of such work is a project that students did during our Chris Van Allsburg unit. During this unit students were studying the writing style of this author, and using the author's style to interpret and analyze their thoughts while reading. In order to access students' deeper understanding of Chris Van Allsburg's style and their comprehension of the messages conveyed in his books, I gave students the project to create their own Jumanji board game. While reading the book together we charted themes and details that we noticed as a whole group. Then students split into small groups of 3 or 4 to create their games. They were given a rubric and assignment sheet of what their games needed to include, and they were expected to monitor their own progress toward their desired grade (1-4). The students used the rubric and assignment sheets as a guideline to create their boardgames, but they were given absolute autonomy in the design, content and rules of their games. Students created a rule sheet, game board, and pieces, and when they were finished they presented their games to the class and invited their second grade buddies to play the games with them. Throughout the year I have provided many other opportunities for students to participate in similar independent, small and creative projects, which I feel has helped them to take responsibility and initiative for their work.
For images of students working in different groupings, please visit: https://moodle.a-s-b.com/course/view.php?id=540 and click on instructional strategies.
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