Details and examples are one of those areas that students have struggled with when writing. Being able to cite details and examples is a skill that is valuable in reading, writing, thinking, and speaking. What are some of the things we might want to make sure students learn when we ask them to think about details and examples? We might want them to know what kinds of things are details: facts, quotes, statistics, firgurative language, the information in a visual, sensory details, and more. We also want students to know some of the things they can do with details: compare and contrast ideas, support a point of view, oppose a point of view, make a decision, describe a character, make inferences, make prediections, and more. As always, I’ve got a pdf copy for you – just print it out and share it with your students (and fellow educators).
Tag: curriculum alignment
Common Core Standards for Literacy in Science (Reading, 9-10)
I’ve been working on collecting ideas for content-area literacy. I began with the reading standards for science, grades 9-10 from the Common Core State Standards.
Download a pdf version of the 28-page document and see if there’s an idea or two you can use.
Informational Literacy Standards for Science – FRESH LINK, Updated September 27, 2011.
Informational Literacy Standards for Science, Updated 09.19.2011
Content Card – Solving Algebraic Expressions
Another one completed!
Click here to get the pdf. Don’t forget to run this on one sheet of paper for a one-pager (front and back) content card.
Write About Data in Graphs – Elementary
Writing is a tool for thinking and learning. It doesn’t matter what content area you teach, you’ll find many opportunities to help students think through writing.
This quick overview gives a couple of ideas for having students write about data from a line graph.
Download the overview sheet and examples of having elementary students write about data.
Analysis Questions – Line Graphs
In this pdf, I’ve included examples of analysis questions for two different line graphs. Both of these are for the elementary level. For each set of questions, I’ve also included a large size of the graph that you can project and/or give students as they work to answer these questions.
Download the pdf of the Analysis Questions for a Line Graph.
Remember the Success Sequence: Draw, Talk, Write. Have the students use the visual and talk about the answers – preferably in a structured way as you call out the question. Then have students write about the graph.
Content Card – Line Graphs, Elementary Level
This content card is for the elementary level. The content card shows the parts of a line graph, ideas for comparing data, the definition of a line graph, and common words for describing the amounts in a graph.
Content Card – Adding Fractions With LIKE Denominators
Fractions, fractions, fractions. For so many students, these are quite the challenge to learn. One of the first things that adults should do when students struggle with an area of the curriculum is to make sure we’ve clarified the content that students are to learn. As you know, one of the ways to do this is through content cards.
Download a full-size pdf of the fraction content card.
As always, please let me know if there’s anything that should be added to the card.
Know Data, Know Answers
I want to share a piece I wrote a number of years ago. I love the rubrics designed by the fine folks at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, but I wanted to unpack the rubrics. By unpacking the rubrics, I can get to data that allows me to see the specific parts of the problem-solving process in mathematics for which students need help. I hope you’ll read the article and add an idea or two to your assessment toolkit. Download the article here.
Download a copy of Northwest’s Mathematics Problem Solving Grid.
Content Card, Parallel (Elementary Level)
Our younger students learn about parallel lines in different grade levels in different states. But there is some key content that students need to know related to parallel lines. This content card provides key content. (If you see other things that need to be added, please leave a comment and I’ll update this. All of my content cards are a work in progress.) DOWNLOAD THE CONTENT CARD FOR PARALLEL. I’ve included a piece that is not in most elementary programs – and that is how to write a math sentence that shows two lines are parallel.
Remember that in curriculum development world, we still need to work on things students must be able to do with this content at the elementary school level. Do we want students to identify parallel lines in everyday things? Do we want students to distinguish between a parallel line and a perpendicular line? What about explaining what a parallel line is? What about explaining why a line that is not parallel isn’t? Do we want students to explain the difference between parallel lines and intersecting lines? These kinds of things become objectives in your curriculum.
For those of you in charge of developing curriculum, there are a couple of questions you’ll want to answer: What core content do you want at each grade level in relation to this concept? What do you want students to do with the content at each grade level? By the way, content cards are a good way to check vertical and horizontal alignment in a curriculum at the district level.
If your role is that of designing assessments, the content cards are a big plus as well. When everyone works from the same core content – and the same objectives, you support tight alignment at the classroom level – which is where alignment really happens.
Learning to Count
When teaching students to count, there are a couple of basic tools every teacher needs. Here’s the great news: These tools cost almost nothing and are very simple to reproduce and use. DOWNLOAD MY HUNDREDS CHART and perhaps print one for each of your students. DOWNLOAD THE NUMBER CARDS and make a number line and/or use the cards in a variety of other ways.