Webb's Depth of Knowledge & DOK Posters FREEBIE!

Everybody is talking about RIGOR or asking, "What is rigor?"  If you do any research on rigor, you will find that rigor does not mean difficulty.  Instead rigor means the level of mental processing that must occur to answer a question, perform a task or generate a product.   Two widely used measures of rigor are Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge Levels.  Both measures of rigor go from the simple to the complex. Karen Hess' Cognitive Rigor Matrix integrates these models as a strategy for analyzing the level of teacher lessons and assessments.  Bloom's verbs indicate the level of performance or the level of questioning.  Webb's Depth of Knowledge focuses on the complexity of standards in order to successfully complete an assessment or a task.  The outcome (product) is the focus of the depth of understanding.  

In my district, we have been using Karen Hess' Cognitive Rigor Matrix to map out our learning events in our UbD units  This matrix allows you to map out your lessons and assessments to ensure a balance at all levels.  Certainly there is a place for recall and reproduction or routine thinking, but this matrix can be used for "tweaking" some of our lessons to make them more rigorous.  When you unpack the Common Core Standards, look at the verbs and align the standard with the level of Bloom's taxonomy.  Then check out what follows the verb to indicate the level of understanding.  What comes after the verb is more important than the verb itself.  For example, 

                     DOK 1 Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks. 

                     DOK 2 Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks.

                     DOK 3 Describe a model you might use to represent the relationships 

                                  that exist within the rock cycle. 

                                  

Online, you can easily find copies of the Cognitive Rigor Matrix for ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies.  You can also find the Bloom's Posters created by Wake County Public Schools System Academically Gifted Program. 

 I am attaching a link to my free flipchart on DOK in the Content areas on TPT.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/DOK-Depth-of-Knowledge-in-the-Content-Areas-455359

You can also download my free Depth of Knowledge  posters for your classroom.  

Unique Interactive Word Wall & Student Journal

Check out these Alphabet Posters or Alphabet Posters & Student Journal

with Embedded Sight Words and High Frequency Words by clicking on TPT

ABC Posters alone 

ABC Posters & Matching Student Journal

Word walls can be effective literacy tools that have the potential for enhancing vocabulary learning when used in conjunction with effective instructional practices.  Reading fluency is one of the primary elements in the reading process.  It is the ability to read orally with speed and efficiency, including word recognition, decoding, and comprehension (Chard & Pikulski, 2005).  Research has shown that one effective way to improve reading fluency is by interacting with a word wall and its related activities to develop high frequency word recognition. 

Be the Teacher – students make up a quiz and quiz their partners on ten self-selected word wall words.

Guess That Word  - students give hints to what word they are thinking of by describing the formation of the word.

Let’s Be Creative – students write a story that includes as many word wall words as possible.

Letters in My First Name  - students write their name vertically and then match two word wall words to each letter in their name.

Letters in Words  - students pick ten word wall words and then find two or more words that have the same letter as the original word

Rainbow Writing  -  students write the words from the word wall in different crayons focusing on the configuration of the word while writing.

Shape of Words  - students focus on letter formation (tall, small, and dropped letters) in the word wall words and write the words that are tall, small, and dropped.

Cloze Sentences  - students will fill in words from the word wall to complete cloze sentences from the teacher.

Play Clue  - the teacher will give a clue about a word and then ask students to find the word on the wall that goes with the clue.

Scramble the Letters  - the teacher will scramble letters of a word wall word and give a clue to its meaning.  Students will try to guess the correct word wall word. 

Share a Topic  - the teacher will share a topic with the class and ask students to find all of the words on the wall that connect with the topic. 

Freebie! Dual Language Classroom Resources

I have been working with some teachers that teach dual language programs.  They shared a book with me by Karen Beeman, M.Ed. and Cheryl Urow, M.Ed., Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges between Languages.  This book illustrates how to build bridges to biliteracy and how to bridge theory to practice.  Dual language programs are designed for students who speak English at home, for students who speak Spanish at home, and for two-language students who speak both languages at home.  The goal is for students to develop cross-cultural understanding, bilingualism and biculturalism in all students.  To reach these goals, instruction is divided between English and Spanish with at least 50% of instructional time being delivered in Spanish.  

I just posted Spanish ABC Cards on TPT

Dual Language Classroom Resources 

FREEBIE! Spanish Shapes & Colors

FREEBIE! Spanish~English Crayon Colors

FREEBIE! Fiesta Calendar

Free Resources for Creating ELA Centers K-2

I have been working with a group of K-2  teachers on creating centers for English Language Arts.  The centers that I designed are interactive and include "I Can" cards.  These centers will help your students to become more independent learners, allowing you to focus on small group instruction without interruptions! Just download and print the materials below.  I recommend that you introduce one center and one activity from that center at a time until the directions and expectations for behavior are understood.  We want students to be self-sufficient.  

I designed the centers below from some fabulous materials that can be downloaded free on the internet and from my colleagues on Teachers Pay Teachers along with materials from the local Dollar Tree store!  While you're at the store, stock up on double-sided tape and a few science boards.  Each science board can be cut in half for two centers.  

Caitlin Clabby at Kindergarten Smiles designed a set of Writing and Word Work Cards! free on TPT.

 Literacy Centers "I Can" Posters English & Spanish were designed by mrsriccasclass on TPT.  

mrsriccaskindergarten.blogspot.com

Writing Center Vocabulary Cards were also downloaded from TPT.  The file contains monthly files. 

The Poetry Center is a great accompaniment to a student Poetry Notebook.  The center includes a poem of the week and poem strips for students to put together.  If you Google: Catawba Schools Literacy Centers, you will find the Poetry Task Cards in the center above.  

Happy Creating!

What is Rigor? FREEBIE DOK Posters!

Everyone is talking about RIGOR.  The Common Core Standards call for a more rigorous curriculum, instructon and assessment.  Rigor is the kind and level of thinking required of students to successfully engage with and solve a task.  Rigor is not about difficulty, it's about complexity of understanding. 

What does rigor look like in a classroom?  Two widely accepted measures of cognitive rigor are Bloom's Taxonomy and Webb's Depth of Knowledge Levels.  Bloom's Taxonomy focuses on the verbs and indicate the level of performance or the level of higher-level questions.   Depth of Knowledge focuses of complexity of content standards to successfully complete an assessment or a task.  When you unpack the standards, first look at the verb and align it with Bloom's levels for the level of performance.  Then look beyond the verb to determine the level of understanding required to meet the standard.  

Karen Hess created a Cognitive Rigor Matrix that integrates Bloom's Taxonomy with Webb's Depth of Knowledge for analyzing teacher lesson planning and assessments.  In my district, we have been "mapping" out the learning events in our UbD units to ensure a balance of lessons and assessments across all levels from simple to complex.  Teachers are seeing that they can "tweak" some of their lessons and assessments to make them more rigorous.  For example, 

DOK 1 Describe three characteristics of metamorphic rocks.

DOK 2 Describe the difference between metamorphic and igneous rocks.

DOK 3 Describe a model you might use to represent the relationships that exist in the rock cycle  

All three tasks begin with the word describe but each task is at a different depth of knowledge.  Check out what comes after the verb!  What comes after the verb is more important than the verb itself.  

Karen Hess has a Cognitive Rigor Matrix for ELA, Math/Science, Social Studies and the Arts. and they can easily be found on the internet.  You can also find beautiful Bloom's Taxonomy posters for the elementary grades from Wake County Public School System.  

Grab my free Depth of Knowledge DOK flipchart on TPT:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/DOK-Depth-of-Knowledge-in-the-Content-Areas-455359

I am also attaching Depth of Knowledge DOK posters that I created today.

Enjoy!

Let's Talk Math! - FREEBIE Math Talk Posters

As we all begin to implement the Common Core Standards, it is important to explore the role of discourse in these standards and in our classrooms.  The Common Core Math Standards for mathematics are based on five processes: communication, reasoning and proof, problem solving, representation and connections. 

Students demonstrate their understanding by being able to explain, justify and apply.  Math talk actually helps students become problem solvers by focusing on getting students to talk and communicate in groups.  

Rich math discussions are key elements in mathematical development.  The two pathways for creating and using new knowledge are when students talk about mathematical concepts and strategies or when students listen to other people's ideas during discourse. 

In order to build a community of mathematical thinkers, we need to teach the following skills to our students:

1. How to explain your thinking

2. How to be an active listener

3. How to have a conversation

4. How to be supportive of your fellow mathematicians

GRAB THESE MATH TALK POSTERS

Making Thinking Visible: SEE-THINK-WONDER

Ponder this quote from Ron Ritchart and David Perkins and Project Zero at Harvard ...

"For classrooms to be cultures of thinking for students, 

schools must be cultures of thinking for teachers."

With that in mind, I am going to start a Culture of Thinking project in the district where I coach.  I plan to introduce one routine at each grade level at each school and have the teachers pass it forward to their grade level colleagues.  I also plan to post videos of the lessons that I model on the district website along with resources for all the teachers.  With the introduction of each new routine, I will choose different teachers at each grade level.  

Visible Thinking routines are instructional strategies developed to help teachers provide opportunities for students to generate deeper thinking and understanding throughout their learning.  Each time a routine is completed, teachers should look at the thinking of their students with these three ideas in mind:

What do you notice?

What surprises you?

Where will you go next?  

A tool for looking closely at student work and reflect on thinking is to search 

for evidence of thinking moves.  

Click here for a Thinking Moves poster.  

I also plan to create Thinking Moves posters for display in each classroom.  As teachers making students thinking visible, I also want students to have a common language for their thinking moves.  

The first routine I'm going to introduce is SEE-THINK-WONDER.

What do you SEE?

What does it make you THINK?

What do you WONDER?

This a very easy tool for students of all ages and is most useful for looking at and reflecting on a variety of visual artifacts such as YouTube and other clips, cartoons or an individual or series of images.  It encourages students to make careful observations and thoughtful interpretations.  It helps stimulate curiosity and sets the stage for inquiry.