Curriculum & Instruction

Focusing for Renewed Curricula

Authentic Task, Critical Thinking, Formative Assessment No Responses »

Apr 292013

As more and more high school classes have renewed curricula (view the Ministry website with all renewed curricula), teachers are often asking where to focus their change in instruction. Each course has different outcomes and indicators for you to understand (view a Ministry document or an SPS blog on understanding outcomes and indicators) , but there are also some common elements you can focus on that really help direct your instruction regardless of the curriculum you are working on:

big questions and inquiry
what students know and can do, not on what you covered
formative assessment
variety of representations of concepts, and variety of tasks
critical thinking and assessment skills
real life examples
information literacy rather than information dumping

This blog post contain a quick summary of each topic. Additional posts about each of them will be developed over the course of the year.

1. Direct the learning around big questions and student inquiry

With renewed curricula, a teacher focuses each new topic around the big questions experts in a field are exploring and develops a series of questions that guide the thinking in a theme or unit of student. Each renewed curricula provides examples of the types of essential questions or powerful questions a teacher should use (read a blog post to learn our questions at the heart of renewed curricula). It is a great plan to post the question or questions, and then refer directly to them with each day a new idea related to them is introduced. A big idea is a question that evokes deeper understanding of the crucial issues in an area of study.

Effective questions for deeper understanding:
• cause genuine and relevant inquiry into the key ideas and core content
• provide for thoughtful, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new understanding, as well as more questions
• require students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support their ideas, and justify their answers
• stimulate rethinking of ideas, assumptions, or prior learning
• spark meaningful connections with prior learning, personal experiences, and ways of knowing

read more in the Ministry’s document on Understanding Outcomes

It isn’t enough for just the teacher’s questions to be posted. Students need to be taught how to generate good questions related to a topic (using something like question frames, for example) and then find the answers to them throughout the learning. In many cases, the teacher will need to provide explicit instruction on how to ask good questions. For example, many students will generate questions that have a yes or no answer, or that can be easily googled. Teachers need to steer students to questions that can be debated, require critical thinking or are about considering why.

For more information on stages on inquiry and technical tools, visit the Techy Teacher blog. For sample questions stems for each purpose in a classroom, check out this document from the Ontario Ministry of Education.

Use formative assessment often to focus your instruction in exactly the right place for the students you have right now and what they know today

Formative assessment involves 5 key elements. One of the most critical for renewed curricula is planning instruction discussion, activities or tasks that allow you to see exactly what each student understands. You want to be able to see at a glance what each student is thinking or doing and why, so you can change the instruction to help them with whatever they are stuck on. Because renewed curricula focuses on students using knowledge rather than just receiving it, it is essential that students always have a strong conceptual understanding. They must be able to do more than recognize, define or repeat, and we must change our instruction accordingly and move it up Bloom’s Taxonomy to match the outcomes.

Give students multiple and varied representations of concepts, and a variety of task

Students are much more likely to understand deeply if there are multiple was of representing a concept. Visualization of concepts and hands on manipulations are especially helpful for many students regardless of learning style. In order to get all our students to the outcomes, it is often helpful to use more than one method at once. When student see and hear a concept, then sort examples based on a definition, for example, many learning styles are addressed at one (see a description of concept formation, the instructional strategy described here).

In the same way, a variety of tasks of equal difficulty that allow students to choose how they show they have met outcomes are very helpful. The variety of choices means students can relate the learning to their interests and that they can tackle more difficult learning more easily because they are presenting their learning in a way that is more natural for them.

Require elaboration, questioning and self-explanation regularly.

In order to help students deeply understand and apply in complex, nuanced situations, teachers in all subjects will need to explicitly teach the skills student will need, including:

how to ask good questions and find good answers
how to plan and self-assess based on criteria
how to provide and use feedback
how to think metacognitively

In all renewed curricula, students are required to use these skills regularly. Unlike curricular content, however, teachers have not always been as direct in ensuring that students have these skills. While curricular content is important, these particular skills transcend specific curricula or grade, and are the things we really want students to understand and use effectively. Like being able to read for information or determine the most important idea in a verbal exchange, these are foundational skills (view a blog post with practical strategies to teach self-assessment and metacognition).

Explain using real life examples and cases whenever you can

Renewed curricula require art students to think like artists and math students to understand rather than just use procedure. In order for these skills to develop well, students need to see them as relevant and attainable. Teachers play a critical role in this perception. Rather than telling students they will “need it later on”, we need to use real examples so they can see it in action now, and hopefully even be a part of its application in the real world.

Teach students how to find, assess, create and use information. They should do this more often than receiving information from you, a video, or a textbook.

Often referred to as information literacy skills and data literacy skills, the things students need to know for finding, assessing, creating and using information are built into all curricula. In science and math, this looks like finding or using data sets, researching a topic or assessing the validity of someone’s data. In English Language Arts, this could be research related to a theme, critical analysis, or assessing a presentation for bias. Because the world is changing so quickly and our students will need to be able to teach themselves reliable information, this is a critical skill for them to have. Some skills to teach:

This also means a shift in how we teach. When we deliver content to students, we rob them of the opportunity to practice information literacy skills. Regardless of the source of approved content for memorization and retrieval, learning information from the textbook or the teacher does no require the gamut of information literacy skills. There are still many times when we need students to be exposed to correct information quickly, but more and more we need them to make sense of it for themselves and assess it for its validity given their purposes. That is why so many curricular outcomes ask them to do it – although there is the added benefit that it is much more likely to be retained if student makes sense for themselves rather than just listening to a teacher.

Finding First Nations and Métis Materials from Saskatchewan

Arts, First Nations, FNIM Content and Perspectives, Metis Content and Perspectives, Social Studies, Social/History No Responses »

Apr 182013

Across lots of different subjects, new curriculum requires we tell the stories of past and current First Peoples and consider their contributions to Saskatchewan. Here is a list of great resources you and your students can use. They include images, articles, elder’s stories and other goodies. Our Legacy is one of the best collections of archival photos and documents about the First Nations and Métis people of Saskatchewan. However, there are many more you can use, courtesy of the Saskatchewan Digital Alliance:

First Nations Arts Gallery Saskatchewan
A database of Aboriginal arts/crafts produced by Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal people. It includes selected works, and biographical and contact information for the artists. Keyword searchable, or browse by artist name, medium or location.
Aboriginal Faces of Saskatchewan: A Photo Gallery
A collection of prominent Saskatchewan First Nation and Métis persons. The site includes photographs of the individuals and a short biography. The individual biographies are divided by gender and alphabetized.
First Nations Bands of Saskatchewan
Information on the First Nations of Saskatchewan: includes (when available) contact information, history, government, economic development, programs, schools, events, tourist sites. Browse by band name (listed alphabetically), treaty area or tribal council.
First Nations Periodical Index
Index to twenty Aboriginal content journals, newspapers and magazines, including some links to full-text articles. Searchable by keyword under article title, author, journal title, abstract and subject.
Our Elders: Interviews with Saskatchewan Elders
A collection of Saskatchewan Elders’ thoughts and histories. Browse by name or search by keyword, name, and subject.
Remembering Our Heroes: Saskatchewan First Nations Veterans
A searchable database of Saskatchewan First Nations veterans with approximately 1000 records. It lists the name, sex, First Nation band and theatre of service for each. Also included are 14 veteran profiles (recollections of the veterans) and a photo gallery.
Saskatchewan Indian: Selected Articles From the 1970 – 2003
A selection of full-text articles from the publication, Saskatchewan Indian. (approximately 1000 articles and 1600 photographs). Topics include politics and government, education, sports, etc. related to the First Nations of Saskatchewan.
The Virtual Keeping House: A First Nations Gallery
An online gallery of the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre’s permanent collection (70 items) includes artwork and artifacts. Browse by artist name or artifact category or keyword search. Includes images of the items.

Supporting Subitizing Through Literature

Math, Primary Perspective No Responses »

Apr 102013

There are some great print and online resources out there for supporting students subitizing skills. I have highlighted some of them below along with a website you can visit for ideas on extending the learning beyond the book.

Ten Black Dots

Creating A Ten Black Dots Book with your students.

Press Here

Press Here Activities

12 Ways to Get to 11

Activity Using Cuisenaire Rods

See, Think, Wonder

Literacy, P.W.I.M., Primary Perspective, Science No Responses »

Apr 082013

The See, Think, Wonder Strategy presented in the book Inquiry Minds Learn to Read and Write has great application in science. This strategy is a superb way to activate inquiry within science. One of the ways that this strategy can be used is by showing an applicable picture when a new science unit is being introduced. PWIM posters, personal pictures, or free images would all be excellent pictures to use with this strategy. If you used a picture like the one below to start your grade 3 Saskatchewan curriculum unit on magnetism and static electricity it would help the teacher to understand what knowledge students currently have about magnetism, and to sequence other activities in the unit.

photo by Bob.Fornal on Flickr

From the picture above, students might fill in a chart like the one below to start them on their journey of making connections to their current knowledge, which will allow the teacher to plan future hands-on activities.

See, Think, Wonder

What do you see?

What are you thinking?

What are you wondering about?

Students record what they ACTUALLY see in this column.Example:

A magnet
Paperclips
Paperclips sticking to the magnet

Students record their inferences in this column.Example:

There are a lot of paperclips stuck to the magnet

Students record their questions in this column.Example:

How come so many paperclips can attach onto a magnet?
Why do paperclips attach on to a magnet?
What makes a magnet attract different items

The wonderful thing about this strategy is that it not only can be used in the subject area of science, but it can easily be incorporated into all other subject areas to deepen understanding, and encourage probing questions within students. Isn’t that what inquiry is all about?

Subitizing- A Fundamental Skill for Primary Mathematicians

Math, Primary Perspective No Responses »

Apr 042013

Subitizing is the ability to instantly see how many in a small collection of items without counting. Dots on a die, shapes on a playing card, number of fingers held up on a hand, are all examples of subitizing in action. In order to subitize successfully students need to see the whole as a collection of objects as well as the individual units. Subitizing is considered to be a fundamental skill for supporting students understanding of number and ability to perform number operations.

In the primary years students should be given regular and consistent opportunities to subitize in order to build their skills, improve number sense and lay the foundation for future mathematical learning. In kindergarten numbers to 5 should be focused on for instant recognition. Once students are familiar with familiar representations of 1 to 5, larger collections can be used to encourage students part-part-whole thinking. For example, on the card below students may instantly recognize a three and a four and then add the numbers together to know that there is a collection of seven dots on the card.

dot card

As the collections get larger students can be encouraged to use their estimation skills to think about “how many” and “how do you know”. Our Saskatchewan Curriculum refers to this fundamental skill through several outcomes from Kindergarten to Grade 2:

Kindergarten- NK.2 Recognize, at a glance, and name familiar arrangements of 1 to 5 objects, dots, or pictures.
Grade 1- N1.2 Recognize, at a glance, and name familiar arrangements of 1 to 10 objects, dots, and pictures
Grade 2- N2.1 Demonstrate understanding of whole numbers to 100 (concretely, pictorially, physically, orally, in writing, and symbolically) by:
- representing (including place value)
- describing skip counting
- differentiating between odd and even numbers
- estimating with referents
- comparing two numbers
- ordering three or more numbers.

This video is an excellent example of a kindergarten teacher who is using Quick Images to build on her students subitization skills, and create opportunities for mathematical conversation.

Information about Subitizing

Subitizing-What is it? Why Teach it?

Pinterest Board on Subitizing

Resources to support teaching Subitizing

Dot Cards and Ten Frames

Sparklebox Dot Cards

Teachers should welcome errors

Competence, Formative Assessment, Potency, Resiliency No Responses »

Mar 272013

There aren’t many teachers who would say they love it when students make errors. And while “love it” is a bit strong, seeing errors as a valuable way to grow learning is not. In fact, having students look at incorrect examples and find the problems is one of the most powerful types of practice we can give our students. “Loving” the errors early prevents many errors later. Teachers who welcome errors provide powerful feedback and make deep learning more likely (Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers, 2012).

What are some ways to use errors?

To be sure students understand a definition or concept, have them classify examples and non-examples (errors)
To avoid common misunderstandings in problem solving, create a question and then a solution that includes an error for your students to examine. Ask students to find the error rather than find the right answer, then discuss as a large class why this was an error.
To encourage student to challenge themselves, reward explaining an error in the same way you reward a correct answer. Finding what you did wrong is actually more difficult, because you need to understand the mistake and know what is correct. When teachers make errors safe, students try to learn more complex things.
To encourage students to make errors an explicit way to learn, encourage them to think aloud as they explain a concept or problem. Teach them to describe what they know and why, then to explicitly explain when they start to guess or become stuck, and why. Students who can do this exhibit a growth mindset and are more resilient learners. When teachers teach this skill, more student become become effective learners.

Using errors with Hinge questions:

Traditionally, a teacher might teach something and then have students try something using practice questions. Later, the group would correct the questions or the teacher might correct them. The old Vince Lombardi quotation still holds true: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” When students practice misconceptions, they actually “learn” the error and then have to spend time unlearning it, rather than doing the task correctly. Teachers who check for errors before practice give their students two advantages: students don’t need to spend time unlearning and relearning so they need less time to practice, and students feel more potent and competent about what they learn.

To find errors and fix the misunderstanding before students practice it, try using a hinge question. Hinge questions are multiple choice questions where each of the wrong answers informs the teacher about a misconception a student holds (it is important to avoid making any of the options a minor procedural error – each error should be a conceptual or significant misunderstanding). Using a hinge question in class has the following steps:

The teacher posts the multiple choice question.
The students choose the answer individually, then show it to the teacher simultaneously. This could be holding up the number of fingers to show the correct response, texting it to a service like Poll Everywhere, or writing it on a mini whiteboard or paper. You want all students to answer at once, so they are not singled out and cannot change their responses to reflect the responses of other students.
Once all students have responded, the teacher assess what the students know at a glace. This should not take more than a minute or so. If there is agreement with the correct response, the teacher can move the students on to practice or the next concept. If there disagreement, the teacher responds in one of 3 ways:
- encouraging students with different answers to discuss, then respond again. This allows students to explain in different language than the teacher used and help connect the confusion of their peers
- discussing the most common error, why people made it, and what the correct response is. This is a great method for explicitly addressing small, but significant, errors
- grouping the students for reteaching or practice, with each group corresponding to a misunderstanding identified by the hinge question

Why errors matter so much:

Good teachers welcome errors as a starting point for learning. We need errors because students who don’t make errors do not need a teacher – they have already learned. We welcome them because teachers who welcome errors are actually welcoming students:

Many teachers find encouraging dissonance, disequilibrium, and doubt to be demoralizing for students. It is certainly not the intention to make students struggle, become disheartened, and begin to disengage. This positive creation of tension underlies the importance of teachers in encouraging and welcoming error to move forward; it is the essence of great teaching (John Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers, p. 52)

What is EAL? Keeping Up With the Acronyms

EAL 1 Response »

Mar 262013

As the number of new students arriving in Saskatoon continues to increase, it might be helpful to give an overview of terms and their acronyms commonly used to describe instruction for students whose first language is not English.

The terminology used to describe instruction for learners whose first language is not English has evolved over time. English as a Second Language (ESL), has been a term long used to describe instruction provided to students who were learning English not as their mother tongue and is a very familiar term to most. English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) started to be used as a common term to account for students who may not be learning a second language, but rather a third or fourth. In fact, our school division, like the Ministry of Education, has updated to the term English as an Additional Language (EAL), a term which also accounts for those students for whom English is not their second language, but rather an additional language. All of these terms generally refer to students who are learning English in an English speaking country. English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is another common term often used to describe English language learning, but typically this instruction would occur in a country where English is not an official language. Many sources will often refer to students in any of the above instructional programs as English Language Learners (ELLs).

Effective EAL instruction strives to meet the linguistic needs of students while addressing reading, writing, listening and speaking skills as students are moving through their grade level curricula. The following chart taken from the EAL B20L course, one of the four locally developed EAL courses currently offered for credit in Saskatoon Public Schools articulates what effective EAL instruction should be and for this reason is included below.

Regardless of the acronym used to describe the English instruction provided, the priority should always be on student engagement and student success, at both elementary and secondary levels.

For the chart and the complete course see English as an Additional Language (EAL) Level 3 Provincially Authorized Locally Developed Course Saskatoon Public Schools Spring 2011

Mystery Box Writing

English, Literacy No Responses »

Mar 222013

10Mar

Thanks to J.C. for sharing her grade one class with me

Mystery Box Writing is a fun way to increase both reading and writing skills. I present my “Mystery Box” and explain to the children that they have to figure out what I have in the box by asking me questions. In this case it was an item that was named in their PWIM photograph.

It is not a guessing game. If they think they know the what is in the box they must ask questions that will help describe what they think it might be. I will answer yes or no and provide some detail. They take turns so as not to “step on each other’s thinking”. The rules are

Once the children have discovered 12 details (on the yes side) to describe the object in the box, we read through to reinforce the information we have collected. This example was a first try at the Mystery Box with this grade one class. I realized that we have work to do on questioning. They were pretty stuck on colours for a while , but the questions did improve as we went along.

When we finished reading the chart together, they were pretty sure they knew what was in the box. As a group almost everyone was sure it was ” a toque” and they were right. I pulled my toque out of the box and showed it to them.

We compared the toque I had in the box to the toque in the photograph. We could have written a compare/ contrast paragraph together but I thought that a descriptive paragraph would be more suitable . We used the information we had gathered in the yes no chart to create a paragraph together. One little girl came up with the title and the class voted to keep it.

This is the paragraph we wrote together:

I typed up the paragraph and the students filled in the last part alone and illustrated it. They were able to practice reading the paragraph to themselves and others in order to work on their fluency as well as practice reading commonly used words.

Here are some of their paragraphs from the class book:

The Literacy Engagement Framework

EAL, Literacy No Responses »

Mar 012013

In a recent edition of the TESL Canada Journal, Jim Cummins et. al (2012) discuss the Literacy Engagement Framework. This framework is used to explain the importance of literacy engagement as a connection to literacy achievement for all learners and is particularly relevant to EAL students and those Cummins specifies that are from “socially marginalized groups.”

According to the framework, there are four main instructional areas tied to enhancing students’ engagement with literacy.

Scaffolding Meaning- Students’ understanding is supported through the use of visuals, graphic organizers, and the use students’ first language ( L1) to understand content in their second language (L2) through the use of electronic translators or bilingual dictionaries.
Connecting to Students’ Lives- Students’ background knowledge is activated by the instruction. This may or may not occur through a student’s L1.
Affirming Identity- Students are able to show what they know with relation to literacy in both L1 and L2 as their academic, linguistic and cultural identities are affirmed.
Extending Language- Instructional strategies are used across the curriculum to expand students’ language base.

Literacy Framework and Instruction

The creation of identity texts, a text in which a student creates a product that taps into his/her past experiences or interests, incorporates many of the above strategies. By allowing choice of topic, students can feel that their identities are affirmed. In addition, because students who have little or no L2 are often unable to participate in many traditional classroom assignments, allowing students to draw upon their L1 knowledge scaffolds their learning by providing greater and earlier opportunities for them to be a part of the classroom learning. Organizing thoughts in L1 within a group of students who share the same L1, but may have varying levels of language proficiency in L2, allows meaning to be negotiated among the group members and a better understanding of how language works is created within the group.

By attempting to inform instruction through the Literacy Framework it is hoped that a more positive and inclusive experience can be had for all learners.

Jim Cummins is a Professor with the department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at OISE. His name has been associated with ESL/EAL for decades. His research with English Language Learners (ELLs) and his association with the terms BICS and CALP are foundational when talking about EAL students.

See Cummins, Jim, Rania Mirza, and Saskia Stille. “English Language Learners in Canadian Schools: Emerging Directions for School-Based Policies.” TESL Canada Journal 29.6 (2012): 25-48. TESL Canada Journal. Web. 11 Feb. 2013.

Using Questions to help Students be Instructional Resources for each other

Engaged Citizens, Formative Assessment, Responsive Instruction No Responses »

Feb 222013

One of the 5 key strategies of formative assessment is getting students to work as effective instructional resources for each other. Doing this well is more than just giving them opportunities to work together. It is about setting up structures that mean they actually move the learning of other students forward. One of the most powerful of these is teaching students to ask and answer good questions collectively. A great way of doing this is something called Guided Reciprocol Questions by Alison King (view an article by her describing the process). Here is the process:

New Learning. The students learn about something new that they need to understand well enough to be able to use. The teacher needs to know that they understand it well and have no misconceptions.
Frames. The teacher gives some common question frames. Question starters like these might include (view some other frames in a blog where a teacher describes using them):
- How would/why would…?
- What is the best…and why?
- What is another way to look at…?
- What is the difference between… and …?
- Why is… happening?
- What do we already know about…?
- What do you think causes…?
Individuals. The students generate questions individually that they do not know the answer to. They use the frames to help generate those questions. As a teacher you should set an approximate number of questions that each student might generate. One to three can be a good number of questions when you are starting.
Grouping. The teacher puts the students into a small group (of about 3) that has members with diverse strengths and understandings of past topics in the class. Then, students discuss the questions their individual questions in their groups and attempt to answer them. The goal is to be able to answer as many questions as possible before sharing with the large group.
Share out. The teacher picks a member of each group using some random method (groups don’t know which member will be called so everyone tries to be prepared to answer). The groups either offer up a question they could not answer, or if they were able to answer all their questions, their hardest question and how they answered it.

Why use this process?

Research shows students are unlikely to ask questions unless they mostly understand something or are very strong learners. A process where asking questions is the goal is safe way to get all students asking questions like strong learners do. Being in a small group also makes it safer to answer those questions.
Some tasks require higher level thinking including problem solving or critical thinking. Using the frames helps students go directly to higher level thinking and engaging in harder cognitive processing.
The process of discussing the questions in a group gives a structure that makes off-task behaviour less likely. In addition, it causes students to ask questions for clarification, like “What does x mean?” or “How did you do that?”
Building knowledge on top of misunderstanding means a student learns much more poorly. Good teachers ensure everyone understands as well as possible before practicing or moving on. Using this method, each student surfaces questions or misunderstandings, then works with others to figure them out.
Because students are answering all the easy questions, the teacher time and whole class time is only used for the most complex questions where the teacher’s expertise is most valuable. The questions that come back also tell the teacher what was understood or not understood, which means the questions are formative assessment that tells the teacher what will need to be re-taught.

Every classroom that has students doing some of the higher level thinking is a classroom where students are learning more. Good structures that help students structure that thinking with others gives extra benefits. When students learn to ask and answer high level questions together, they are becoming the type of life-long learners and empowered citizens that we want them to be.

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