Assessing and Improving Curriculum Materials andAssessing and Improving Instruction and the Classroom Environment

CURRICULUM MATERIALS

1. Curriculum materials (lesson-based programs and textbooks) should teach knowledge systems, such as math, beginning reading, biology, history.

You should NOT use materials that teach faddish, unvalidated, or fashionable “methods,” such as multiple intelligence, learning styles, and brain-based instruction.

Here are resources on telling the difference between serious instruction and fads.

http://www.danielwillingham.com/

Learning styles: No such thing

Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims doc

Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims ppt

Following are examples of nonresearch and poorly substantiated claims.

How MI informs teaching at New City School html

Whole language lives html

Reading Recovery html

Here’s an example of high-quality, level 3 research.

The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment html

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How? 100 Easdy teaches a serious knowledge system = beginning reading.

2. Materials (especially programs) (1) are consistent with scientific research on instruction---(a) general learning, and (b) on the subject matter---(this is called “research based”); and (2) have been field tested and shown to be effective with scientific research (this is called “evaluation research.” Level 3 is preferred).

List features of scientific research from resources below. LIST FEATURES OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH HERE.

This is what you want to see in the research base.

1. Clear and objective definitions, so that readers can tell exactly what was studied and what the findings mean concretely.

2. Quantitative measures: counting something; or standardized tests (validated—i.e., measures what it is supposed to measure, and does so accurately)---so that readers have precise information.

3. Experimental and comparison groups [(a) no-treatment control or (b) alternative treatment). If e and c groups are equivalent (if possible, by random allocation, or randomized controlled trials) and the only obvious difference is that one got the program and the other did not, than differences between pore- and post-test are likely to the effect of the program, and not just the effects of time or something else in students’ lives.

4. Pre-test, post-test, and during/progress measures, to determine how much change there was (pre-to-post) and what the change process looks like. If, for example, bi-weekly monitoring shows slow change, it may signify that the program has a lot of irrelevant material in it, or that teachers are nit following the protocol.

5. Longitudinal, so that readers can see long-term changes and possible side-effects (e.g., change slows down because kids are bored).

6. Large, heterogeneous sample (contains people with a wide range of demographic characteristics representative of the samples YOU will teach). If large, you can analyze (disaggregate) into subgroups and see the effects for each subgroup.

7. Replicated with similar (to see if it was a fluke the first time) and different samples, to assess reliability of results with the same (original) and new samples)

Are claims of effectiveness based on empirical research or on a sales pitch?

Is there any research on the materials?What level(s)?

Is the research (“research base”) generally adequately designed so that credible conclusions can be drawn?

a. Some resources on scientific research.

Kozloff. Research vocabulary.

Three Levels of Research

Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims doc

Telling the difference between baloney and serious claims ppt

Assessing the Quality of Research Plans and Publications ppt

Checklist of guidelines for evaluating research and research claims doc

Checklist of guidelines for evaluating research and research claims html

Comprehensive Guidelines for Evaluating Research and Publications

b. Some resources on “research based instruction.”

Are features of the materials (e.g., what is taught, scaffolding) consistent with scientific research?

SKIM THE PROGRAM. WHAT ARE SOME OF ITS FEATURES? THIS GUIDES YOUR SELECTION OF RESEARCH TO REVIEW.

1. Lesson-based: properly organized? What does research say about lesson organization?

2. Sequence of lessons: logically sequenced? Integrates pre-skills/elements?

3. Different kinds of scaffolding: highlighting, extra cues

4. Teaches concepts (e.g., letter-sounds) and routines/strategies (decoding, comprehension).

5. Works on acquisition (new), generalization, fluency, retention [phases of learning/teaching]

Now read the research with these features in mind.

a. Cotton, K. (1995). Effective school practices: A research synthesis 1995 Update.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Effective Schooling Practices.doc

Paste in findings relevant to a program like 100 Easy Lessons.

Develop and prioritize learning goals and objectives based on district and building guidelines, sequence them to facilitate student learning, and organize them into units or lessons.

Establish timelines for unit or lesson objectives so they can use the calendar for instructional planning.

Identify instructional resources and teaching activities, match them to objectives and student developmental levels, and record them in lesson plans.

Identify alternative resources and activities, especially for priority objectives.

Review resources and teaching activities for content and appropriateness and modify them as needed to increase their effectiveness in helping students learn.

Arrange daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly activities on the calendar to assure that resources are available and instructional time is used wisely.

b. Form smaller groups as needed to make sure all students learn thoroughly. They place students according to individual achievement levels for short-term learning activities; they avoid underplacement.

c. Monitor their instructional approaches, so that students in lower groups still receive high-quality instruction.

d. Review and adjust groups often, moving students when achievement levels change.

f. Present learning activities at a level [of complexity] that is neither too easy [too rfew elelemnts] nor too difficult [too many elements] for the majority of students, making adaptations to serve the needs of faster and slower learners.

Lessons teach material of increasing complexity.

b. Begin class quickly and purposefully, with assignments, activities, materials and supplies ready for students when they arrive.

Lessons begin quickly and with obvious purpose.

a. Communicate enthusiasm for learning.

b. Help students get ready to learn. They explain lesson objectives in simple, everyday language and refer to them throughout lessons to maintain focus.

Lessons state what will be covered.

a. Give students immediate feedback on their in-class responses and written assignments to help them understand and correct errors. . Give praise and other verbal reinforcements for correct answers and for progress in relation to past performance; however, teachers use praise sparingly and av a. Introduce new learning material as quickly as possible at the beginning of the year or course, with a minimum of review or reteaching of previous content. They review key concepts and skills thoroughly but quickly.oid the use of unmerited or random praise. f. Allow generous amounts of "wait-time" when questioning studentsùat least three seconds for lower-cognitive questions and more for higher-cognitive ones.

Lessons include immediate feedback (corrections----should have verification. TYweacher must p[rovide).

YOU exam9ine the rest.

YOU DO MORE!

b.    Kozloff, M.A. (2002). Sufficient Scaffolding, Organizing and Activating Knowledge, and Sustaining High Engaged Time.

http://www.uncwil.edu/people/kozloffm/scaffolding.pdf

c.    Rosenshine, B. (1997). Advances in Research on Instruction.

http://epaa.asu.edu/barak/barak.html

Use this one…

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Rosenshine.doc

Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning.YES

* Begin a lesson with a short statement of goals.YES. Not exactly goals; frames the task = what will be woprkled opn.

* Present new material in small steps [chunks], providing for student practice after each step [chunk].

YES Tasks in lessons.

* Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations.

* Provide a high level of active practice for all students.

YES.

* Ask a large number of questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students.

Not exavtlu question, but TESTS of ACQUISAITION.

* Guide students during initial practice. lead

* Provide systematic feedback and corrections.

* Provide explicit instruction [talk yourself through it] and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork.

Present new material in small steps

Guide student practice.

Paste in findings relevant to a program like 100 Easy Lessons.

d.    Rosenshine, B. (1997). The Case for Explicit, Teacher-led, Cognitive Strategy Instruction.

http://epaa.asu.edu/barak/barak1.html

e.    Ellis, E.S., & Worthington, L.A. (1994). Research Synthesis on Effective Teaching Principles and the Design of Quality Tools for Educators.

Use this one…

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/ellisreview.doc

Paste in findings relevant to a program like 100 Easy Lessons .

f.    Anderson, J.R., Reder, L.M., & Simon, H.A. Applications and Misapplications of Cognitive Psychology to Mathematics Education. Department of Psychology. Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh, PA 15213.

Online at http://act.psy.cmu.edu/personal/ja/misapplied.html

g.   Dixon, R. "Review of High Quality Experimental Mathematics Research." University of Oregon.  National Center to Improve the Tools of Educators.

       On-line at http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/math/math.html

h. Follow Through. The Largest Education Evaluation

Effective School Practices, on Project Follow Through.

Follow Through figure 1.

Follow Through figure 2.

Follow Through figure 3.

Systematic, explicit, direct instruction was superior to all other curricula.

Follow Through figure 2

i. Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark. Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching

j. Reading

Reading First. [Main features of effective reading instruction] ppt !!!

Reading First.html

Big Ideas in Beginning Reading.  Identification of the big five reading skills; research reviews; methods of instruction. 

Copy and paste in important points on reading instruction: kinds of reading skills (“big ideas”) and how to teach them.

. Phonemic Awareness: The ability to hear and manipulate sounds in words. There are about a dozen ways to hear and manipulate sounds in words. These ways are best taught from easier to harder. For example,a. Identify words that sound the same and different. run, sit, funb. Rhyme. can, man, fan, rrr__c. Count the number of words in a sentence.

The dog sat by the cat = 6 wordsd. Count the number of sounds (phonemes) in a word. e. Blend sounds into words. rrrruuuunnn à runf. Segment words into sounds. Run à rrruuunnn

sat = /s/a/t/ = 3 soundsg. Segment words by identifying the first, last, and middle (medial)

sounds. “What is the first sound in rrrruuuunnn?”h. Identify what word it would be if one sound were removed (phoneme

deletion). “Listen… sssaaaat. Take out the ssss. What word now?...”i. Identify what a word would be if a sound were replaced with another.

“Listen…. ssssiiiit. Take away the ssss and put in fff. What word now?...”However, it is not necessary to teach all of these examples of phonemic awareness. The most important are blending, segmenting, and rhyming.

Phonemic awareness helps students learn to read and do other literacy skills. How? A student who can hear and manipulate the sounds (phonemes) in words, can more easily: (1) remember which sound goes with which letter; (2) sound out words [cat. k/aaaa/t.]; (3) spell [How do you spell cat. kaaaat . /k/ is c. /a/

is a. /t/ is t.” ]; and (4) detect and correct errors in reading and spelling. See http://reading.uoregon.edu/pa/index.php for more information on phonemic awareness.

2. Alphabetic Principle: The ability to associate sounds with letters and use these sounds to form words. Notice that the alphabetic principle (sometimes called phonics) has two skill-parts. a. The students knows letter-sound or sound-symbol relationships: that m says /m/, i says /i/, and r says /r/. b. When the student sees an unfamiliar word (rim) in a story book, the student uses letter-sound knowledge to sound out or decode the word—-perhaps letter by letter and then quickly.

“The bike has a bent rrrriiiimmm….rim.” Using the alphabetic principle (shown above), the student knows exactly what the word says.

In contrast, students who are not taught phonics in a systematic way, or who are not taught to use phonics knowledge as the first and most reliable strategy for identifying words, have to guess or “predict” what words say using “context cues,” such as pictures or what seems to fit the meaning of a sentence, as shown below. Instead of reading “The bike has a bent rim,” the student guesses

“The bike has a be…be..bell…belt….ri…ri…rip. The bike has a belt rip.”Often, these mis-taught students never learn to read skillfully. That is why Reading First stresses systematic and explicit instruction in the alphabetic principle. Read more at http://reading.uoregon.edu/au/index.php

3. Fluency with Text: The effortless, automatic ability to read words in connected text. Fluency is reading with accuracy and speed. Fluency is important both for enjoyment and comprehension. If a person struggles with words (gu…qu…guil…quil…) , the person will also struggle to figure out the meaning of sentences. In fact, dysfluent readers spend so much time and effort trying to figure out what the separate words say, they can barely pay attention to the

meaning of the sentence. “The ju..jur….jury found her gu..qu…guil…quil…”) In other words, they learn very little from reading.

To help students read connected text (e.g., story passages) accurately and quickly, it is important to:a. Teach students to decode separate words (regular and irregular) accurately and quickly—which means (1) using knowledge of letter-sound

correspondence (not guessing); and (2) blending the sounds into words.b. Teach students to self-correct.c. Provide practice reading words enough times that it is almost automatic;

that is, the words become “sight words.” Note: sight words are not words a student memorizes. The student still knows how to decode them letter by letter. Rather, the student has read the words so often that decoding takes only an instant.d. Provide practice reading text with which students are already accurate,

encouraging them to read faster and faster without making errors (i.e., more words correct per minute, or wcpm).Read more about fluency here. http://reading.uoregon.edu/flu/

4. Vocabulary: The ability to understand (receptive) and use (expressive) words to acquire and convey meaning. The three reading skills above—(1) phonemic awareness, (2) the alphabetic principle (letter-sound correspondence and the strategy for sounding out or decoding words), and (3) fluency—have to do with the mechanics of reading. The last two skills—vocabulary and comprehension—have to do with making sense of the written word.

Vocabulary and comprehension cannot be taken for granted. Students need to be taught how to get and express the meaning of words and passages. This is especially important for students of low socioeconomic status. These students are read to less often, hear fewer vocabulary words, and therefore understand and use far fewer words than children born to working class or professional class families.

Following are some of the more important methods of vocabulary instruction.1. Read storybooks to children.2. Provide direct instruction of new vocabulary words by selecting

important words in a story; giving explanations, or definitions of the words; and giving students many chances to discuss and use the new words.3. Teach older students to use morphemic analysis (analysis of word parts) to determine meaning. For example, “Bisect. Bi means two. Sect means divide. So, bisect means divide into two parts.”4. Teach contextual analysis--inferring the meaning of a word from the context in which it occurs. “The fan’s oscillations cooled everyone in the room…Sometimes fans move back and forth. If everyone was cooled, it probably means the fan blew on everyone. So, oscillate probably means to move back and forth.”You can find more on vocabulary here. http://reading.uoregon.edu/voc/

5. Comprehension: The complex cognitive process involving the intentional interaction between reader and text to convey meaning. In other words, sentences don’t tell you what they mean. You have to interact with the text—for example, asking questions, checking to see if the text gives answers, rereading, connecting one sentence with a later sentence to get the flow of the argument or the flow of events in time. These comprehension strategies are learned best when they are taught explicitly. This kind of instruction includes the following.1. Set comprehension objectives; for example, students will answer specific literal (who, what, when), inferential (why), and evaluative (can you think of a better way…?) questions.2. Focus on main ideas in a story or informational text.3. Preteach vocabulary words important for comprehending the material.4. Read (with students) the material in manageable chunks, and ask literal, inferential, and evaluative questions on each chunk.

5. Use a KWL strategy: have students think about and discuss what I know; what I want to know; and what I learned.

You can learn more about comprehension here. http://reading.uoregon.edu/comp

The effects of synthetic phonics teaching on reading and spelling attainment html

"Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, Kindergarten Through Grade 3

Materials from National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development

Materials from National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development

National Institute for Literacy Partnership for Reading.   Large literature reviews and position papers.

"Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science" (Must read!!! What teachers need to know.)

c. Some resources on evaluation research---field tested.

Go to publishers’ websites and look for research on products. Also, use Google and JSTOR.

See if there is any research on the materials you are evaluating. Summarize it. Is it level 2 (scientific experiment) or level 3 (large-scale experimental)?

What are the main findings?

Sopriswest materials.

Curriculum Associates materials.

Hempenstall. Research on 100 Easy Lessons .

Paste in main findings.

When compared with a similar cohort of wait-list students, the students made statistically significant and educationally large gains in the phonologically-related processes of word attack, phonemic awareness, phonological recoding in lexical access, phonological recoding in working memory and spelling.

Haddox. Research on 100 Easy Lessons .

https://www.sraonline.com/

Paste in findings relevant to 100 Easy Lessons .

REGARDING 100 EASY LESSONShttps://www.sraonline.com/research/cat_prod.php?prod_id=38&sub_area_id=2&div_id=1

[Research on Reading Mastery]

What does the research say?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

Now examine the materials you are evaluating. See if its design features are consistent with the research you reviewed.

3. Well-designed materials provide a comprehensive and varied sample of knowledge (e.g., equations to solve, poems to analyze, words to decode).

Do the materials teach all five required skills thoroughly?

The sample should be adequate to permit generalization to new examples.

You have three sources that will help you decide if the sample is comprehensive and varied. (1) state standard course of study, or curriculum; (2) scientific research; (3) expert opinion. You are supposed to “align” instruction with (that is, cover) your state’s standard course of study. But who says that IT is adequate? You have to rely on research and expert opinion.

a. See state standard course of study.

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons.

What does the NC course of study say you should teach in k-2?

Paste in portions of standard course of study: k-2.

How can you make standards more clear and concrete?

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/languagearts/scos/2004/

Kindergarten

CompetencyGoal 1

The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.

  1.01 Develop book and print awareness: identify the parts of books and function of each part. demonstrate an understanding of directionality and voice-print match by following print word for word when

listening to familiar text read aloud. demonstrate an understanding of letters, words, sentence and story. identify the title, name of the author and the name of the illustrator.

1.02 Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle: demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds. demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in

the spoken word. demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and

rimes).

1.03 Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills: recognize and name upper and lower case letters of the alphabet. recognize some words by sight including a few common words, own name, and environmental print such as signs,

labels, and trademarks. recognize most beginning consonant letter-sound associations in one syllable words.

1.04 Read or begin to read: read or attempt to read own dictated story. attempt to read/reads simple patterned text, decodable text, and/or predictable texts using letter-sound knowledge

and pictures to construct meaning.

1.05 Interact for at least 10 minutes daily with self-selected texts that are consistent with the student's independent reading level.

CompetencyGoal 2

The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.

  2.01 Demonstrate sense of story (e.g., beginning, middle, end, characters, details and setting).2.02 Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of types of books and selections (e.g., picture books, caption books, short informational texts, nursery rhymes, word plays/finger plays, puppet plays, reenactments of familiar stories).2.03 Use preparation strategies to activate prior knowledge and experience before and during the reading of a text.2.04 Formulate questions that a text might answer before beginning to read (e.g., what will happen in this story, who might this be, where do you think this happens).2.05 Predict possible events in texts before and during reading.2.06 Understand and follow oral-graphic directions.2.07 Demonstrate understanding of literary language; e.g., "once upon a time" and other vocabulary specific to a genre.2.08 Distinguish fantasy from reality when reading text.2.09 Identify the sequence of events in a story.

First Grade

CompetencyGoal 1

The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.

  1.01 Develop phonemic awareness and demonstrate knowledge of alphabetic principle: count syllables in a word. blend the phonemes of one-syllable words. segment the phonemes of one-syllable words. change the beginning, middle, and ending sounds to produce new words. create and state a series of rhyming words that may include consonant blends (e.g., flag, brag).

1.02 Demonstrate decoding and word recognition strategies and skills: generate the sounds from all the letters and appropriate letter patterns which should include consonant blends and

long and short vowel patterns. use phonics knowledge of sound-letter relationships to decode regular one-syllable words when reading words

and text. recognize many high frequency and/or common irregularly spelled words in text (e.g., have said, where, two). read compound words and contractions. read inflectional forms (e.g., -s, -ed, -ing) and root words (e.g., looks, looked, looking). read appropriate word families.

1.03 Use pronunciation, sentence meaning, story meaning, and syntax to confirm accurate decoding or to self-correct errors.1.04 Self-monitor decoding by using one or two decoding strategies (e.g., beginning letters, rimes, length of word, ending letters).1.05 Increase vocabulary, concepts, and reading stamina by reading selfselected texts independently for 15 minutes daily. Self-selected texts should be consistent with the student's independent reading level.

CompetencyGoal 2

The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.

  2.01 Read aloud independently with fluency and comprehension any text that is appropriately designed for emergent readers.2.02 Demonstrate familiarity with a variety of texts (storybooks, short chapter books, newspapers, telephone books, and everyday print such as signs and labels, poems, word plays using alliteration and rhyme, skits and short plays).2.03 Read and comprehend both fiction and nonfiction text appropriate for grade one using:

prior knowledge. summary. questions. graphic organizers.

2.04 Use preparation strategies to anticipate vocabulary of a text and to connect prior knowledge and experiences to a new text.2.05 Predict and explain what will happen next in stories.

2.06 Self-monitor comprehension by using one or two strategies (questions, retelling, summarizing).2.07 Respond and elaborate in answering what, when, where, and how questions.2.08 Discuss and explain response to how, why, and what if questions in sharing narrative and expository texts.2.09 Read and understand simple written instructions..

Second Grade

CompetencyGoal 1

The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies and skills to read and write.

  1.01 Use phonics knowledge and structural analysis (e.g., knowledge of syllables, suffixes, prefixes, root words) to decode regular multi-syllable words when reading text.1.02 Read most high frequency and many irregularly spelled words accurately in text.1.03 Self-monitor decoding by using letter-sound knowledge of all consonants and vowels.1.04 Apply knowledge of all sources of information (meaning, language, graphophonics) to read a new text silently and independently.1.05 Use a variety of strategies and skills to read self-selected texts independently for 20 minutes daily. Self-selected texts should be consistent with the student's independent reading level.

CompetencyGoal 2

The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.

  2.01 Read and comprehend text (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama) appropriate for grade two by: determining purpose (reader's and author's). making predictions. asking questions. locating information for specific reasons/purposes. recognizing and applying text structure. comprehending and examining author's decisions and word choice. determining fact and opinion. recognizing and comprehending figurative language. making inferences and draw conclusions.

2.02 Use text for a variety of functions, including literary, informational, and practical.2.03 Read expository materials for answers to specific questions.2.04 Pose possible how, why, and what if questions to understand and/or interpret text.2.05 Self-monitor own difficulties in comprehending independently using several strategies.2.06 Recall main idea, facts and details from a text.2.07 Discuss similarities and differences in events, characters and concepts within and across texts.2.08 Interpret information from diagrams, charts, and maps.

Curriculum Standards This doc will help you to make state standards clear and concrete.

b. See expert opinions and research on different subjects or knowledge systems.

Finn, Julian, and Petrilli. The State of State Standards. Fordham Foundation, 2006.

Walter Russell Mead. The State of World History Standards. Fordham Institute, 2006.

Sandra Stotsky. The stealth curriculum: Manipulating America’s history teachers. Fordham Foundation, 2004.

Diane Ravitch. A consumer’s guide to high school history textbooks. The Fordham Institute, 2004.

David Klein et al. The State of State Math Standards Fordham Foundation, 2005.

http://www.mathematicallycorrect.com/

http://idea.uoregon.edu/~ncite/documents/math/math.html

Sandra Stotsky. The State of State English Standards. Fordham Foundation, 2005.

Paul R. Goodman et al. The State of State Science Standards. Fordham Institute, 2005.

Reading. http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/reading.html

Reading First ppt and html See this!!!

Big Ideas in Beginning Reading See this!!!!

REGARDING 100 EASY LESSONS.

Given the NC standard course of study and scientific research,

a. What strands, or main kinds of knowledge SHOULD be covered?

In each strand, what kinds of skills, tasks, or knowledge should be covered---from simpler to more complex, or from pre-skills to larger units, or from taught-earlier to taught-later?

Put answers in numbered list below.

(1)Phonemic awareness. Blendiong, sehmenting, anf yo momma

(2)phonics

(3)fluency

(4)vocabularies no vocab

(5)comp

b. Do the materials cover all of the strands?

And do the materials cover all of the important skills, tasks, or knowledge IN each strand?

Name each strand below (as you did above) and answer the above questions.

(1)Phonemic awareness.

(2) Alphabetic principle

(3) Fluency sounds, letter-sounds, words, sentences, whole story.

(4)

(5)

IS THERE INSTRUCTION ON VOCABULARY?If not what shall we do?

I guess we’d better design instruction and insert it in the program.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Vocabularyrev.ppt

Write formats for teaching vocabulary: directly, with synonyms, via morphemic analysis.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

So, is the sample comprehensive and varied? (1) Does it include all of the important strands?(2) Does it include enough knowledge or skills IN each strand?

For example,

IS THERE INSTRUCTION ON VOCABULARY?

If not what shall we do?

I guess we’d better design instruction and insert it in the program.

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Vocabularyrev.ppt

Write formats for teaching vocabulary: directly, with synonyms, via morphemic analysis.

4. Well-designed curriculum materials have scope and sequence charts (or at least subject matter outlines) showing how knowledge is organized—what is covered, and when.

Examples.

Language arts.http://www.ncecorp.com/scopeandsequenceread.htm

Math.http://homeschoolmath.blogspot.com/2006/02/scope-and-sequence-chart-grades-1-7.html

Various subjects.http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/Instruction/solscope/

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

Scope and Sequence for 100 Easy Lessons

5. In well-designed materials, the lessons, units (sequences of lessons), or textbook chapters are built consistently from knowledge items selected from important strands (groups of knowledge). For example, each lesson or unit includes new vocabulary, big ideas, important facts.

In 100 Easy Lessons, that means, each lesson includes phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, fluency, vocabulary (?), and comprehension.

REGARDING 100 EASY LESSONS.

Examine lessons. Are tasks drawn from the different strands in #3 above?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

6. Well-designed materials, lessons, units (sequences of lessons), or textbook chapters state and focus instruction on specific objectives— what students will do.

Instructional Objectives

Objectives should state what students will do? They should not speak of know, appreciate, demonstrate, or understand.

Objectives should state the degree of accuracy and completeness, and the speed expected.

For example, how many words read correctly per minute.

See http://reading.uoregon.edu/ for fluency benchmarks.

Does 100 Easy Lessons state and/or focus instruction on clear objectives?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

7. Well-designed materials teach knowledge items in a logical sequence.

Knowledge Analysis

a. Is there a logical sequence?

Do a knowledge analysis of the material.(a) What is the terminal performance? What are the terminal objectives?

List these.

A. Grade level 2; 8 para; 7 words/sentence; 150 wordsB. Wrpm = 2nd grade 120; comprehension 100%; enjoyment

(b) What do students have to know in order to achieve the terminal objectives?

Continue to analyze each component skill down to the smallest level. List these?

1. Read fluently: paragraphs; sentences; read words (blending = fast way); blend sounds into whole word; sounding out (segmenting = slow way); segmenting spoken words (phonemic awareness); letter-sound correspondence; saying sounds.

2. Fluency is a necessary condition for comprehension. But fluency is NOT a sufficient condition. Stories ask comp question, but there is NO prior instruction on a routine for answering comp questions.

Must teach routine.Steps Teach skills how/script

1. Look at para just read: “Look at what you read.” [point] Put your finger on the First word.”…Yes…..

2. Look in the para for tag word—bug: 3.4. Look for the information—what the bug

shouted IN that para Read the first sentence…

Did you read the word BUG?

No. Read the next sentence. Did you…. No. Read the next sentence Etc Did you read the word BUG?

Yes.

“Read what the bug said..” Kid reads the sentence= with what the bug said

“So, what did the bug shout?” “The bug shouted Stop making this rock jump.”

Now answer the following questions.

a. Do the materials teach elements or parts (necessary pre-skills and background knowledge) before teaching new material that requires skill with the parts.

b. Teach pre-skills and background knowledge early enough and continually, so that students are firm.

c. Teach what is more general and more frequent before what is irregular or uncommon.

d. Separate instruction on similar and confusing knowledge items.

e. Teach what is more useful before what is less useful.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

b. Is there a progression of formats, from more to less scaffolded?

Do a skills trace. Pick a skill or strand (e.g., letter-sound correspondence).

http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/Skill%20Trace%20for%20Decoding.doc

(a) Are several different formats (teaching procedures) used? Do these formats begin with more scaffolding and teacher direction, and gradually teach students to do the task independently?

Do examples used in earlier formats (lessons) teach students knowledge needed for examples in later formats (lessons)?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

8. In well-designed materials, the lessons (math, writing, spelling, reading, or foreign language programs) or chapters (history or science textbooks) are a series of smaller, knowledge-rich units (chunks), such as tasks, exercises, or paragraphs. [No filler and pc baloney.]

Each chunk serves a clear instructional function. Ask, “What is THIS section supposed to do? It should:

a. Teach something new (facts, concepts, rules, cognitive routines). [acquisition]

b. Summarize.

c. Build fluency.

d. Review and probes/tests (retention).

e. Expand---add more to existing facts, examples, concepts.

f. Generalize knowledge to new examples.

g. Strategically integrate---combine information into a larger whole, such as an explanatory essay, or a research project.

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons.

Examine a sample of lessons. For each task in a lesson,

(a) What strand of knowledge is taught?

(b) What phase of instruction is worked on?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

Does each chunk serve a clear instructional function?

9. Well-designed materials (either lesson-based programs or textbooks) teach new knowledge in a systematic and explicit (focused) way:

a. Review and firm prior knowledge, or pre-skills.

b. Regarding new knowledge, gain attention, frame new task, model, lead, test/check, verification; correct errors; more examples; delayed acquisition test.

1. [Procedures appropriate for each form of knowledge (fact, list, sensory concept, higher-order concept, rule, routine) are used.]

Go here please. [click]

Forms of Knowledge chapter

Procedures for teaching the four forms of knowledge

c. Review and firm what was just taught.

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons.

Is knowledge taught in a systematic and explicit way, as shown? Go here please. [click]

10. Well-designed curriculum materials adequately cover (teach, assess) all phases of mastery: acquisition (see #9), generalization, fluency, retention.

For each phase, there are stated objectives, instructional procedures, assessment of progress, and suggested remediation (if there is too little progress) based on assessment data.

Phases of Mastery

Phases of Mastery Table

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons

After acquisition, are generalization, fluency, and retention worked on for items in each strand? Specifically,

(a) Generalization. New examples? Comment.

(b) Fluency. Is there work on fluency from small components (e.g., saying sounds) all the way to large components (e.g., reading passages)?

Comment.

Is fluency instruction systematic and explicit?Comment.

(c) Retention. Does the retention set (during review) include newest items and some items?Comment.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

11. Well-designed curriculum materials provide scaffolding; i.e., various kinds of assistance to help teachers communicate information, and to help students acquire, organize, retrieve, and apply information/knowledge.

Examples are stated objectives, highlighting, reminders and hints, wait time, big ideas, advance organizers (lesson and unit outlines, guided notes, concept/proposition maps), summaries, glossaries.

Big ideas

Advance organizers

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons

Are there the above sorts of scaffolding?

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

12. Well-designed curriculum materials have periodic mastery tests or check-outs

(e.g., every 10 lessons in a reading program; after every new skill in a math program) to assess acquisition, fluency, generalization, and retention. Materials also provide guidelines for deciding when students’ performance on assessment means that they (1) are firm and can move ahead; (2) need firming on certain knowledge; (3) need reteaching; or (4) need intensive instruction. Materials also provide plans and procedures for such remediation.

Four-Level Procedure for Remediation

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

Regarding 100 Easy Lessons.

(a) Are there instructions for how to correct errors?

List.

(b) Are there periodic checkouts or mastery tests that give information on what to reteach, or if students need a more intensive kind of instruction?

If there aren’t, what shall we do? I guess we’ll have to make them. How?

a. At each tenth lesson, add (1) a retention set and a generalization set (new examples) for all of the skills taught in the preceding 20 lessons; (2) a set of guidelines for evaluating performance, along with suggestions for remedying weakness.

For example: (1) need to ensure that teacher is (a) following the program, and (b) is teaching proficiently; (2) reteach certain elements or pre-skills; (3) need more intensive (more scaffolded) instruction.

Let’s do it….

Mastery Test after lesson 5. Just give the kids each set.ElementPre-skills

Acquisition Generalization Fluency Retention

Say Sounds

Say sounds slowly (segment and

fast blend)Letter sounds CorrespondenceRead Words slowly.“Sound it out.”

Read words slowly and then fast(fluency)“Sound it out….Now say it fast.”

amsamaemesmesemet

Kids sound them out

sam massessemmesmamtatsassatmattem

kids read the fast way

sa, ma, em, esem, es, sam,me, met, mes, mam

Sound them out and then say them fast

am, sama, em, es, sam, mas, se, met, sas, sat, at , et, sem, mes, mam, mes, mat, tem

Read words fast + fluencyStart on first dot-move to right next dot

Identify weak elements (e.g., sounding out error comes from weak letter-sound knowledge) and reteach. Review and firm up at the end of the lesson and start of the next.If there is slow progress in fluency, identify slow or inaccurate element. For example, students may have trouble blending certain sounds. So, do phonemic awareness (listen—say) exercises.If there are more than a few errors on generalization, determine any weak elements (that were not adequately taught during acquisition or were not firmed up during review/retention tasks. Reteach and review, review, review.

INSTRUCTION

1. Students are prepared for new material being taught. They are firm on the pre-skill elements and/or background knowledge. Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

2. Instruction is designed on the basis of objectives, and focuses precisely on objectives.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

3. Instruction begins with review, especially elements and background knowledge relevant to the current instruction (pre-skills). The teacher corrects errors and firms knowledge or reteaches before introducing new material that requires this background knowledge.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

4. The teacher gains student readiness: attention, sitting properly, materials handy.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

5. The teacher frames the instruction by stating the kind of new knowledge to be taught, the objectives, and big ideas that will help students organize, remember or access, and comprehend the new knowledge, and connect new with prior knowledge.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

6. The teacher models or presents new information clearly and focuses on the objectives. The teacher: (a) Shares his or her thought processes. (b) Uses clear wording. (c) Repeats the information as needed. (d) Presents one step or item at a time in a list or routine, depending on how many steps or items students can handle.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

7. The teacher leads students through the application of the new information.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

8. The teacher gives an immediate acquisition test/check to determine whether students learned the new information. The teacher tests/checks every time new information is presented to be sure that students learned it.

This is especially important when teaching diverse learners, essential material, and difficult material.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

9. The teacher corrects all errors and/or firms weak knowledge.

**Matter of fact way and directed to the group.

**Model. Teacher immediately gives the answer or demonstrates the step.

** Lead. Students say the answer or do the step with the teacher.

**Test/check. Teacher asks the question or gives the problem step again.

**Verification. Specific praise.

** Retest/starting over.

**Delayed test. Teacher comes back and checks again.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

10. If new material is a concept, rule-relationship, or cognitive routine, the teacher:

** Uses a wide and varied range of examples.

** Juxtaposes examples to reveal sameness.

** Juxtaposes examples and nonexamples to reveal difference.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

11. The teacher gives a delayed acquisition test (calling on both the group as a whole and then individual students) to determine whether students learned the concept, rule relationship, or cognitive routine from the examples and nonexamples, or whether students remember the set of facts presented.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

12. The teacher reviews the instruction (e.g., main things taught) and states how what was taught is relevant to next lessons.

The review:

** States what was learned, how it built on what came before, and how it will be built on by next lessons.

** Has students once more reveal essential knowledge.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

13. The teacher uses information from the delayed acquisition test to determine whether students have sufficiently mastered the new material and can advance to the next step of instruction, or whether reteaching or more intensive instruction for some students is needed.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

14. The teacher teaches at a brisk pace by speaking more quickly; staying on task; using words whose meanings are clear; using the same instructional vocabulary from one task to another; cutting out unnecessary words.Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

15. The teacher gives frequent opportunities for group (choral) and individual responses to test/check learning. The teacher asks the question first, and then calls on the group or an

individual. The teacher think time before calling on the group or an individual. After presenting new information, the teacher calls on the group as a whole. After calling on the group, the teacher calls on individual students, and

makes sure to call on students who have made errors or who in general have a harder time learning.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

16. The teacher uses pre-corrections, or reminders, to prevent errors. For example, “When we see an x between two numbers or parentheses, we multiply. What do we do when we see an x between two numbers or parentheses? Multiply.

Yes, multiply.”

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

17. The teacher uses a questioning technique such as Socratic dialogue as an instructional/communication procedure. Asking questions that probe students’ knowledge. Asking questions that require students to use rules of reasoning. Helping students revise their knowledge.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

18. When students are firm on new knowledge (acquisition phase), the teacher works on generalization of knowledge to new examples, fluency, and retention of knowledge.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

19. Increase time available for teaching and time engaged in teaching. Decrease noninstruction activities. Use activities for which students are prepared. Make certain subjects sacred. Use lesson-based materials. Use routines for distributing materials.

Teach and practice getting ready for learning

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

20. If Possible, teach in small, homogeneous Groups. Give pre-tests or placement tests to place students in groups with other

students at the same level or spot in a program.

During beginning instruction, keep the group small—say six to eight students. Groups can consist of students from different classes and grade levels (at

most two grade levels, as a rule). Note students’ progress. Move students who are making quicker progress to

groups with similar students.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

21. The teacher uses different kinds of instructional groupings properly, including whole class instruction; small, homogeneous groups; small, heterogeneous groups; and paired peer groups.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?

22. The teacher establishes a learning community with: A shared group mission. Shared group rules. Shared high expectations. Reinforcement for individual and group achievement. Students sitting near and facing the teacher. Providing frequent opportunities to respond (choral group, and individual). Ensuring mastery of every task. Celebrating progress.

Strengths, Weaknesses, Improve How?