DOK Question Stems

DOK Question Stems

 

 

Download the DOK question stems by clicking here. Ask yourself: Are your students given the opportunity to move beyond DOK1? We will be taking a closer look at HOT questioning and the DOK Question stems during upcoming grade level planning sessions.

Oh SNAP! Making students Serious aNd Accountable for their Progress...

Reading teachers in grades 3-5 met today to establish our learning community's data wall (photos to come!). I encourage you to develop a "student friendly" version of this tool for your classroom in order to help make students accountable for their progress.

A Pinterest search revealed some creative, classroom friendly ways to display data respectfully in your classroom. Take a look and see if you get inspired!

Click HERE to visit Ms. Chapman's Data Wall board on Pinterest!

Common Boards Configurations v. 2013

The 4th Grade team showcase elements of their Common Board Configurations in their respective subject areas. These CBCs are used as teaching tools in the classrooms as they help students take ownership of their learning. Sentence strips or creative labels and simple electrical tape (available at the Dollar Store) help define the space. How do you utilize a Common Board Configuration? Leave us a comment and let us know.

 

2013-2014 Classroom Environment Checklist

Please download and review the 2013-2014 Classroom Environment Checklist as you begin to prepare your classrooms. These are recommendations based on instructional best practices.

Download

Textbook Adoption 2013-2014

IMPORTANT!!

Teachers,

Miami Dade County has selected McGraw-Hill Reading Wonders as our core series. You can log in to a demo account to begin checking out all of the resources that this series has to offer. You will be given your own access code for this site in the future. There are a myriad of resources available online so it is worth taking a look at including a Professional Development tab that offers videos that provide a comprehensive overview of the program.

To log in:

http://connected.mcgraw-hill.com/connected/

Username: flwonders
Password: wonders2014

Please note that you will be given assistance in implementing this series. This information is meant to give you a heads up and chance to take a "sneak peek" of our new core program.

Common Core Tools Courtesy of North Carolina



North Carolina has unpacked the Common Core Standards for ELA and Math!

Please visit the tools that they have to offer to add to your "Common Core Toolbox"  including: crosswalks, unpacked standards, exemplar documents, and graphic organizers. There are documents available for both ELA and Math.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/

Thoughts? Questions? Leave a comment below.

Novel Study

Students at Bel-Aire are enjoying novel studies in their Reading classrooms. Head over to the Campaign Snapshots by clicking the photo below to sneak a peek at some of the awesome activities going on with these units!

ELA Common Core Simplified

We all know that the transition to the Common Core can seem overwhelming. Luckily, there are a lot of useful tools from around the country that we can utilize to help make planning and implementation a little bit easier.

The Tulare County Office of Education has put out templates for the each of the ELA Common Core Standards from grades 1-5. Each template provides a comprehensive breakdown of the standard including: the standard, anchor, essential skills, academic vocabulary and Spanish cognates, teaching notes and strategies (with performance tasks pulled directly from Appendix B), question stems, and the correlating standard for the grade above and the grade below.

This is a very helpful document as we try to navigate through the Common Core. To download the template for your grade level, click on the link below.

Common Core Templates at Common Core Connect

Did you find this document helpful? If so, let us know in the comments!

Assessment with Exit Tickets

Check out this fantastic video from the Teaching Channel on assessment with exit tickets.

PARCC is coming! Be in the know!

After the 2013-1014 school year, the FCAT will be no more. It will be replaced with the PARCC which is being developed as the assessment piece for the Common Core Standards in Florida. Check out the official website for the PARCC assessment to find out important information about what is to come so that we will be ready to prepare our students for what is expected.

http://parcconline.org/

More PD Pics!

Here are some more pictures of our teachers hard at work during the Journaling and Corrective Feedback PD Session! Enjoy!

Corrective Feedback and Interactive Journaling PD

Teachers and Interns at Bel-Aire came together for a Professional Development session on Corrective Feedback and Interactive Journaling. We created our own "model" journals  to practice the left side/right side strategy and used student assessment and DI folders to practice implementing corrective feedback to our students. Check out the participants hard at work below! Thank you to all of the participants who came and to Ms. Thompson and Ms. Lawson for leading the session!

     

**Download the Feedback Starter Stems handed out at the session here.

Teaching the Core: Close Reading

Teachers:

This is just a reminder that on Thursday, February 28, 2013 Ms. Thompson will be holding a professional development from the Teaching the Core series.

Teaching the Core: Close Reading will be held immediately following intermediate dismissal. Location is to be announced.

Don't forget -- registration closes two hours before the start of the session so please register ASAP if you are interested in this professional development opportunity.

Make it HOT: Developing Higher Order Questions

Reading teachers have been working hard at developing higher order (HOT) questions to stimulate student thinking and develop deeper comprehension of a variety of texts.

Here are some additional resources to assist you in developing these questions for your lessons! Please see Ms. Thompson if you have any questions or need additional assistance utilizing these tools.

1. Reading Stems From ISAT Sample Test (2012) -- Download

2. Reading Stems From ISAT Sample Test (2013) -- Download

3. Inferential Question Maker -- Download

4. Literal Question Maker -- Download

5. What Questions Would a Common Core Teacher Ask? -- Download