Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Two for Tuesdays! 4th & 5th Grade Assessments OVER 40% off Today through Thursday!!!

Collaborating is awesome! Especially when YOU benefit! 



Today I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune to offer you the 4th and 5th Grade Scaled Assessments over 40% off today through Thursday!


CLICK HERE for the 4th Grade Assessment.


CLICK HERE for the 5th Grade Assessment.

       
These Common Core Math Assessments cover every standard at each grade level. Inside you will find a two-sided page for each standard that has tasks broken into 4 learning goals and scales or levels. These were inspired by Marzano's compilation of research, and my own experience,  suggesting that these tools have a huge impact on student progress!

Click on the 4th and 5th Grade tabs above to see examples.

You can also try a few pages for free by downloading the PREVIEW for each product in my store.


You May Also Like:

4th Grade Quiz Game

5th Grade Quiz Game

  





Sunday, July 20, 2014

Top 7 Reasons to Use Learning Goals and Scales!


My three year old amuses me with his innocent assumptions. "Mom, our house leans." What? I was thinking? There are some stress cracks in the wall, but I didn't notice that. Then he goes on, "When I spin around fast. Come see...see how it wobbles a little bit." :)

Children have their own perspective; it's adorable when it doesn't matter, and a little frustrating when the standards insist that they understanding something one specific way (i.e. rectangular fraction multiplication?!) Yikes! Kids don't know what they don't know; and sometimes their self-confidence or natural ego-centrism may lead them to assume that their thinking is correct.  It's our job to get them thinking critically, to whatever capacity they can at their age level, and lead them to a more accurate understanding of things. But, how can we do this in an effective and gradual way that works from where they are at?

Learning Goals and Scales can help!

My Own Experience With Learning Goals and Scales:

When I was first asked to use Learning Goals and Scales in my classroom, I thought, "Okay, the research supports it and it seems like a good idea, but who has time to do all that work themselves?" I wasn't sure where to start. Most of the teachers I worked with were constructing their own Learning Goals as grade level teams which worked great if you had a team on-site. I was traveling between two schools, teaching three-four grade levels of math in an hour and a half a day to a multi-age advanced class, fitting in consultation time with the lower grade level teachers, and managing testing referrals and data. Every other Gifted Resource teacher in my district was in the same boat; we made a good attempt to get together, and interest was high, but follow through tapered off over a few months because we had so much to do! Language Arts seemed a lot more manageable for me, but math, with it's plethora of implied skills and vocabulary, seemed trickier to keep organized. This motivated me to start here; I spent over 120 hours creating Scaled Math Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales for grades 4, 5, and 6, which I was currently teaching the most. I spent these hours reading, researching, and creating Learning Goals and scales for each standard that drew from previous grade levels and future grade level skills. Since I had taught so many different grade levels of math, I had a good idea where to look for standards that progressed.

My students had gotten used to seeing learning goals posted on the white board everyday. I asked them to write them down at the beginning of class, and record something they learned at the end of class.

Here's an example of posted Learning Goals and Scales. 




When I introduced the Scaled Assessment as a pre-assessment, they enjoyed the fact that there was no pressure to know everything right away. They completed as much as they could, and I graded it so I could share their progress with them. The next day I would return it so they could see how far they'd gotten. Depending how much time I had, I would either return it individually, let them peruse it for a few minutes, then move onto the daily lessons; or I would return it in small groups based on performance level (1s together, 2s together, etc.) and meet with them to go over the test and skills. I would usually spend time going over the next skills so they would have an immediate goal to focus on in class. I would only fit in a meeting with each group about once a week, but it was better than nothing. The kids seemed really motivated to progress and felt like they were 'cheating' because they got to see the test in advance.

I used the same exact test as a post-assessment, and the kids really loved being able to see the scales they'd already mastered and skip ahead to finish the test faster! Those who had gotten really far only had to complete scales 3-4. Those who had more to learn, had more work to do, but this was okay because it also helped me to manage the environment. I would have 1-2 "When You're Done..." activities up on the board for the kids I knew would be done quickly. I made sure there were quieter areas of the room for the kids who would need the whole period to finish.

I didn't feel like I was letting the kids "cheat" because first of all, there were usually 2-4 weeks between the time they took the assessment as a pre-test, and a post-test. It was very unlikely they were going to remember the problems. Secondly, kids learn through repetition and practice, and the more they get to see and hear the learning goals and examples, the more likely they will be conscious of their learning. When kids are conscious of their learning, they are much more likely to take ownership of it! THIS IS THE GOAL! Teach kids to realize that they have charge of their learning, not just me! 

I can't tell you how proud and happy they were to SEE their progress and feel like they had more than one chance to master it!!

1. Learning goals and scales help kids see a concrete progression of skills, instead of making their own assumptions about where they are going, and how far along they've come. An informal way of implementing this is to ask your students, "Here's our learning goal today...show me on your fingers where you think you're at with converting fractions to decimals...0...1...2...3...or 4?" This is fine if it helps you make an immediate decision about where to begin instruction or review. But, how reliable is a student's opinion if they don't have the same frame of reference that you do? Do they understand what concepts they've learned that have set them up for successful comprehension of this skill? Do they know where their going with it, or what its purpose is? How many of us as adult can evaluate ourselves when we don't know what we don't know!

2. Kids love affirmation! Don't we all! My experience in child development education and early elementary teaching has taught me that specific praise, is much more effective than general praise because it helps a child see their locus of control as internal, instead of external. Instead of saying "Good Job for getting an A on this test Janie!", and Janie walking away thinking, "Yeah, I'm really lucky! I wonder how I did that?!"; you can say, "Janie, on your pretest you could only add fractions with the same denominator using blocks, now you can add fractions with any denominator and explain how! Excellent work!" Janie can walk away thinking, yeah, I really learned something!"

3. Kids will know exactly where their learning and grades are coming from! After every single test, as if it were some unwritten ritual, students would brag, hide, and compare their test scores. Sound familiar? The most painful thing is to see those little jaws drop and faces turn red when they didn't score as well as they thought. "But, why did I get a 'C' Mrs. LiCausi?" (Even B's were a disappointment to those high-achievers!) I received a lot fewer questions from students and parents when I could point out the progression of skills that a student had mastered or not, to get them to that place. When scales are aligned to specific grades, students can make a clear connection to their level of mastery and their final grade.

4. Clear and specific guide for planning and assessing student progress. If you aren't lucky enough to work for a district that thoroughly plans your curriculum and mapping guides, then you know the painfully time-consuming process of sitting down with a year's worth of standards and trying to organize all those ideas, and break them down into manageable chunks for your students. The school year gets busy fast, and every time you switch topics and pre-assess your students, you're starting all over to figure out how to teach them where they're at, differentiating for different levels, and assessing again. If you've got learning goals and scales in order, the process goes so much faster because some of the thinking is done for you! You can move onto the fun part like planning and searching for awesome lessons!

5. Parent communication is greatly enhanced when they really know what their child is doing! How many parents remember what they learned in elementary or middle school math? How many skills or vocabulary terms are still fresh in their mind? I found that sharing the learning goals and scales with my parents, allowing them to see the student portfolios with their child's assessments and some key classroom assignments,  make things more clear to them . They were more cooperative if their child needed help, and more confident that they knew what their child and I were doing all day.

6. Administrator observations and evaluations go much more smoothly when you can show that you have a concrete plan of assessment and differentiation for the standards. How great would it be to have your administrator walk into your room and say, "Wow, you really have things organized!" or "Wow, I can see exactly what you are assessing your students on, and I will fully support you in doing what you want to get them proficient!" Most of us want to be more than competent, we want to be inspirational! We want to see kids light up with pride and enthusiasm, and be recognized for making that happen. I know I felt the most satisfied in my job when I was trusted enough to have the freedom to try new things, new curriculum, or new methods. In my experience, when I developed professional credibility, I was recognized and supported by administrators and peers in doing things the way I wanted to. I enjoyed teaching more, and felt more confident in what I was doing.

7. Research supports it! Check out some of the following citations...

"The starting place for all effective instruction is designing and communicating clear learning goals."

"If teachers aren't sure of instructional goals, their instructional activities will not be focused, and unfocused instructional activities do not engender student learning.

 - Marzano [2009]


"Our collective goal is that the largest possible percentage of our students get there. To reach that goal we must define for ourselves and for them where "there" is. "

- Stiggins [1994]

"Learning targets convey to students the destination for the lesson - what to learn, how deeply to learn it, and exactly how to demonstrate their learning. In our estimation [Moss & Brookhart, 2009] and that of others [Seidle, Rimmele, & Prenzel, 2005; Stiggins, After, Chappuis & Chappuis, 2009], the intention of the lesson is one of the most important things students should learn. Without a precise description of where they are headed, too many students are "flying blind."

- Moss, Brookhart, Long [2011] Knowing Your Learning Target. Educational Leadership.  
68 [6]. pp.66-69.



Who has time to waste on ineffective approaches? 











Saturday, July 19, 2014

Tracking Student Progress in Excel - Done for you!

Just updated my formerly lame and almost embarrassing tracking sheets for Common Core math scales to Super-Awesome and ready-to-go Excel spreadsheets. The values are color-coded so when you sort each standard you can quickly see your groups for differentiation by scale. The standard codes are linked to descriptions from the Common Core State Standards Initiative site.

  

How do you decide which students fall under which scale?

There are informal and formal ways of assessing students. Informally, you can ask students where they think they are before or after a lesson. "Show me on your fingers where you think you are with this skill..." It works best if the kids have a posted learning goal and scale to refer to in the classroom. You could also make informal judgements based on your own observations during group work or whole class practice.

Formally, you could give a pre-assessment and align their score to a percentage scale. (See the Grading Tab for ideas of how to align them). Here's a sample page from the Scaled Assessment I used to assess and grade kids. The Scaled Assessments are already broken into learning goals and scales for each common core standard. I decide if a student has mastered the content in each section, then I assign scale grades (0-4) and align it to percentages for report cards. 


Find FREE SAMPLE PAGES by following the link below. 
Look for the PREVIEW download button.

Here's the 6th Grade Assessment I used with Learning Goals and Scales already done for each Common Core standard. Grades 3-8 are currently available at Mrs. L's Leveled Learning Store.



CLICK HERE or follow the link on the left to get your free copy 
of the Excel Spreadsheet. Grades 1-8.
Enjoy feeling a little more organized this year! :)






Monday, July 14, 2014

Top Five Lessons from the Teachers-pay-Teachers Conference!

Who says you can't take kids to Vegas? It worked out for us that my family lives within driving distance. My husband and I were a little unsure about how the kids would handle the drive, they are three, and nine months. We left at 5 am Wednesday morning so they would sleep through some of it.  Our three year old is still potty training, so we had three stops within the first hour.

We wanted to make the trip a memorable family event, so we planned some activities online ahead of time. First stop - Hoover Dam. We arrived around lunch time, and after taking the 1/2 hour tour my son said, "This place doesn't have hotdogs?! Are you kidding me?" So we left, unimpressed.

Thanks to so many hotels incorporating zoo-like exhibits, we had lots to keep ourselves busy before the conference - shark tank at the Golden Nugget, tigers and dolphins at the Mirage, and the bird house at the Bellagio. The Gondola rides at the Venetian was one of our favorites though. Our gondolier was actually Sicilian and sang some authentic Italian arias.

Professionally, the Teachers-pay-Teachers conference was an amazingly informative professional experience! What did I learn???  Below are some highlights.

Top Five Most Helpful Things...

1. Teachers are by nature collaborative people, so work together! Get feedback about what you're doing, what people need, and share each other's good ideas.

2. Product quality is tops! Someone may like your ideas at first glance, but if they dig deeper and end up disappointed, you're hurting your credibility in the long run.

3. Be specific and clear! There are so many tacking ideas out there, and people want to find them quickly. Describing and explaining your work well will catch more attention.

4. Rachel Lynnette from Minds in Bloom said, "If CONTENT is KING, then IMAGES are QUEEN." Things need to be presented well.

5. Stay Organized! Just as in the classroom we try to track student progress, so in life we need to track our progress in order to reach our goals.

Monday, July 7, 2014

FREE Letter to Parents about Grading: 4-Point Scale vs. Traditional Percents

Once Marzano's The Art and Science of Teaching became the adopted frame-work for our teacher evaluations, everyone was making learning goals and scales, and trying to figure out how to apply them to grading for students. My Grading tab gives a 4-point scale that aligns to the traditional grading system based on 100%. Your administrators may have instructed you to use something similar. The exact percentage alignments aren't as important as understanding the meaning of each scale, and being able to communicate that meaning to parents and students. Everyone knows what an 'A' or a 'B' means; but very few will know what the scales mean. As a college student I was graded on a 4-point scale, but no one ever explained the difference between points; I just knew I should be between a 3.0 and a 4.0 to do well.

The following excerpts are from the parent letter I developed to explain these differences to parents. This letter is available FOR FREE in an editable two-page MS Word document format so you can adjust it to your own classroom grading routines. Visit Mrs. L's Leveled Learning Store to download your free copy of the Grading Guide for Parents. Many of my materials are free, and I offer a few sample pages of the grade level Math Assessments with Learning Goals and Scales for free in the "Preview", so you may find other helpful resources. I hope you find this guide to be a useful time-saver! 






If your school does not use an online system, you can scan and insert images of your progress report forms so parents know what to look for!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

TpT Conference - Vegas, here we come!

The Teachers pay Teachers first ever conference is in Las Vegas this month. I didn't think I would be able to go with two little ones at home, but my awesome and very supportive husband surprised me by saying "sure"! We have to plan ahead because we've never taken the kids on a 5 hour drive before. My son is three, and my daughter isn't even one yet. We're planning on leaving early in the morning and making a few stops, including the Hoover Dam. For a there year old, the spectacle of Vegas should be impressive, but it will also be very very hot, and my husband will have to keep them busy for a whole day on his own.

I am excited to learn as much as I can and really really grateful to be able to go. I am particularly looking forward to the Blogger Meet-up where I might absorb some inspiration from energetic and engaging people!

Excuse me for the short post, but my son is testing his scissors on the couch pillows! Got to go-
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