Literacy, Learning, and Other Educational News

Important NoticeGrade 7 English Language Arts TestBook 1 only

2009-01-20T10:22:00.001-08:00

The University of the State of New York

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Office of State Assessment

Albany, New York 12234

January 20 – 23, 2009

___________________________

In Question 17 of the Grade 7 English Language Arts Test Book 1, the answer choices

are labeled A, B, C, B.

The test book should be administered "as is." If during the test students ask any

questions about this item, they should be told to fill in the circle on the answer sheet for

the letter that appears next to their choice in the test book.

To ensure that this question remains a valid measure of students' skills and abilities in

English language arts, a careful analysis of the data for this multiple-choice question will

be conducted after the answer sheets have been scanned.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and we thank you for your

cooperation.

Mix it Up at Lunch Day is November 13, 2008

2008-09-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

Mix it Up is a simple call to action: take a new seat in the cafeteria to meet new people and make new friends. It's a nationwide campaign that encourages students to cross social boundaries. See www.mixitup.org for specific ideas about organizing, publicizing, educating, and acting so the day has lasting impact on students' understanding of bias and tolerance. Downloadable supplies, differentiated k-6 and 7-12 are available.

Teaching Tolerance recommends Mix it Up Day as a way to help students make important connections that prevent bullying and keep kids from leaving school. For other, similar activities and ideas see www.tolerance.org .

Please feel free to use this blog to post your questions and share your results.

Free Rice Vocabulary Game

2008-09-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

The vocabulary game at www.freerice.com has been updated! It has new words, an auditory feature so you can hear the words, and posts totals by day of rice that is sent to hungry people. It also requizzes you periodically on words you miss so you have a chance to learn from your mistakes.

For those who are unfamiliar with free rice, it is a free vocabulary quiz game where correct answers accumulate grains of rice that are donated to third world countries by advertisers. The game ascertains your vocabulary knowledge and adjusts the challenge to the individual user's level. It's easy, addictive, and could be lots of fun in the classroom.

Laboratory Classroom Pilot Project: Guided Reading in Action

2008-09-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

In collaboration with Gibson Elementary School in the Norwich CSD, I have designed and will pilot a professional development opportunity that is new for us. We call it Laboratory Classroom. Two teachers, Fran Nial (Kindergarten) and Wendy Swingle (second grade), along with their Principal, Mrs. Lewis, have agreed to host Guided Reading in Action.

Laboratory Classroom: Guided Reading in Action will give eight teachers a special, two-day opportunity. The agenda includes review of best practices for guided reading instruction (hosted by me), observation of instruction, and then participation in reflective conversations with each other, me, and the teachers. The goal is for hosts and visitors to learn together.

If you enjoy professional collaboration, learn by watching and talking, and want to know more about Guided Reading, call or email me at 335-1243 or ostrandl@dcmoboces.com. You could become a participant of the Laboratory Classroom pilot.

Assistance for Students at Risk

2008-07-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

I attended the Masonic Model Student Assistance Program training on July 14-16 along with teachers from several DCMO districts. The trainers provided a wealth of resources to be used by student assistance teams as they intervene with students who struggle. The program offers incredible opportunities for all varieties of student assistance teams as they implement RTI, AIS, or otherwise try to help individual kids. Teams learned ways of interacting, diagnosing students' difficulties, brainstorming interventions, and designing intervention plans. I encourage you to seek out those from your district who attended the program to find out what they learned. You can learn more yourself at www.masonicmodel.org

High School Literature: Questions of Curricula

2008-07-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

A question was asked of me this morning about the use of two books in high school English classes: The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeanette Walls, and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The books are highly acclaimed, but may fall outside the bounds of what is typically taught in our region. Here are the questions: Are schools assigning these books to students? If so, at what level? Did you acquire any special permission or use any special procedures given the somewhat mature nature of the content and language? Have you encountered any problems with their use? If may also be helpful to know/share whether you have included other books of this nature and the procedures you used. What are your thoughts about the nature of what high school students should be reading? Thanks for sharing your ideas, resources, or experiences. Post them here or email them directly to me.

An Interesting Book on Grading

2008-07-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

I chose to read a book on grading this summer as part of the study of school leaving - A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades. It has me rethinking some of the grading practices that I used for years as a teacher. For example, I gave zero's, averaged in participation grades, and reduced scores when assignments were late. I organized my gradebook in categories: homework, tests, quizzes, writing assignments, participation. Ken O'Connor presents convincing arguements why these and others may not be the best practices because they do not result in grades that represent learning. Sometimes I think he's right on; sometimes I'm not sure. Here are a few of the 15 "fixes":
1. Don’t include student behaviors (effort, participation, adherence to class rules, etc.) in grades; include only achievement.
2. Don’t reduce marks on “work” submitted late; provide support for the learner.
7. Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.
12. Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.
13. Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.
15. Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can – and should – play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.
I would love to hear people's thoughts about these statements. I will facilitate a discussion of grading practices at LINKS this year. Please join me! (LINKS 10 is at Afton Central School this year on August 5-7.)

Free, Reproducible Early Literacy Resources from Washington Learning Systems

2008-05-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

Angela Norari-Syverson, Ph.D. and colleagues have just posted a new set of free parent-child early literacy materials, titled "On the Go". These materials include 14 activities designed to be used outside the home: in the car, while walking, during bus rides, etc. The activities encourage early language and literacy development from birth through preschool. They are appropriate for children with disabilities as well as children who are developing typically. The development of these materials was supported by Grant H324M020084 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.

To download materials go to www.walearning.com and click on the purple button that says "Free Parent Education Handouts" on the home page. Look for the "On the Go" file to download the materials in PDF format.

The new materials are designed to encourage parents to interact with their children while they are "On the Go" to facilitate language, early literacy, and positive parent-child interactions. The materials include 14 activities as well as accompanying hints for each of the activities about how to modify the activities to meet the specific developmental needs of the child.

For questions please contact:
Mary Maddox
Washington Learning Systems
2212 Queen Anne Ave. N. Ste. 726
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 310-7401 FAX (206) 283-9243
mmaddox@walearning.com

Raw to Scale Score Conversion Charts for NYS ELA 3-8

2008-05-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

Below is a link to NYS Ed's Office of Standards, Assessment and Reporting where the score conversion charts for 2008 exams have been posted. Navigate to the page via this link: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/sar/ and click on the posting dated 5/9/2008. A spreadsheet will emerge. Maximize the spreadsheet and then view the separate grade levels via the tabs at the bottom.

A National Day of Silence to End Bullying

2008-04-28T12:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.dayofsilence.org/ has information related to awareness of bullying in memory of Lawrence King, a California 8th-grader who was shot and killed Feb. 12 by a classmate because of his sexual orientation and gender expression. The site is connected to Colin Powell's Promise Alliance and includes links to articles on this and other topics. We all would love to hear your feedback via the posting of a comment.

Outsourcing Scoring - A Discussion at the State Level

2008-04-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

http://www.nyssba.org/index.php?src=news&submenu=on_board&srctype=detail&category=On%20Board%20Online%20Mar%2024%202008&refno=260

3-8 ELA Exams, 2008: What did you notice?

2008-03-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

As I look at the ELA exams each year, I notice trends. For example, in 2005 I began to notice questions like, "How did the author organize the article?" or "What literary technique was used in story?" I also noticed that students struggled with the knowledge that the questions required. This year grade 4, question #2 and grade 6, question #9 were author's craft questions again. This trend indicates that students need exposure to analysis of author's craft.

I would like to use this post to share what I noticed in the 2008 ELA exams and invite others to do the same. We can also discuss how we might encorporate what we see in our instruction.

This year I noticed more fact vs. opinion questions like grade 5, question #13. I also noticed, though, similar questions to assess students knowledge of realism vs. fantasy. See grade 4, question #10 and grade 3, question #15. These might cause confusion because they NOT the same thing: realism is not always fact; fantasy is not necessarily opinion.

I also noticed new language: "best supports." See grade 7, question #2 and grade 8, question #8. Error coding has shown that these questions seemed to cause difficulty for students.

So add your comments (click on the comments button, sign up for a google password if you haven't) to share what you noticed or how you address the various, required skills and knowledge.

Cris Tovani - Active Reading Comprehension Instruction

2008-03-10T08:11:00.000-07:00

Cris Tovani was the featured speaker at our latest Educational Forum on Thursday, March 6th where she focused on formative classroom assesment of students' reading comprehension. On Friday, she spoke to about 70 participants about active reading comprehension strategies that work to make all students better readers across content areas.

Cris recommends teaching students to actively engage in their reading by "talking back to texts" through annotations in the margins. The strategies she outlined for "talking back" include questioning the text, making connections, predicting, and inferring.

Cris repeatedly stressed that students' text annotations allow teachers to see students' thinking on the page and know what they do and do not understand. Teachers then can help each student at the point of their confusion and automatically differentiate instruction for diverse classrooms.

What did you take away from Ms. Tovani's sessions? Let's make this a place for us to have a professional conversation about what we learned and how we use our learning. Add your comments below.

Case Study of School Leaving

2008-02-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I am currently conducting a research investiation of early school leaving (formerly kown as dropping out :) I invite anyone to respond to the emerging themes listed below, whether you have heard me speak on the topic or are reading the lists here for the first time.
Emerging Themes:
1. Students Leave to Escape Conflict with School Personnel and Peers
2. Students Struggle with “Achievement," sometimes for academic reasons and sometimes not.
3. Policies Interfere with Students’ Persistence.
4. Social Class Differences Affect Achievement, Relationships, and Persistence
5. Mental Health Issues are Misunderstood and Not Accommodated

I would love to entertain all of your questions and comments via a discusion thread connected to this post. (Click below where it says 0 Comments. Sign up for a google password if you don't have one. Then type your comment.)

Responding to Hate at School

2008-02-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

Acts directed against people or property that are motivated by prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, social affiliation, ability or appearance are called bias incidents. Bias incidents include hate crimes, ranging from violent assault and harassment to vandalism and graffiti, as well as hate speech, hate literature, and derogatory language and imagery in all media.

Tolerance.org is a website designed specifically to "Fight Hate and Promote Tolerance." If you link to http://www.tolerance.org/ you will find many resources including a menu of topics called Do Something. In it there are several easy to use, free resources designed specifically for schools.

As you probably know, I have offered workshops on bullying and harrassment prevention for several years. I also have a renewed concern for social justice given what I have learned through the Study of School Leaving. Conflict with peers and school personnel is the reason most often reported by students and their parents for leaving school. They frequently describe incidents of bias. Students and school personnel alike can become victims of bias crimes in schools.

I am learning a lot from Tolerance.org and recommend it as an up-to-date, accessable resource as we try to make schools safe places for students and school personnel. I offer my assistance to anyone who wants to learn more. Please share your thoughts on this important topic, especially if you find a good resource, by posting a comment. See also the poll to the left: "Do you see bias incidents in your school?"

Teachers Teaching Teachers: Call for Proposals

2008-02-11T05:51:00.000-08:00

Together, DCMO BOCES Instructional Support Services and fourteen component distrects are seeking potential presenters for the October 10, 2008 Regional Superintendents' Conference Day. We would like to utilize a "Teachers Teaching Teacher" and Teacher Leadership" model. We invite you to share the fantastic work you are doing in your classroom, building, or district, especially if you collaborate with your colleagues to make it happen.

If you are interested, you can find a complete description and a downloadable application on the BOCES website at www.dcmoboces.com in the What's New section. Nan, Kerrie, and I, along with the rest of the ISS staff, will provide preparation assistance to presenters over the summer as part of our 2008 Summer Institute.

New to Blogging?

2008-02-07T05:58:00.000-08:00

A blog (or web log) is established for the purpose of bringing people together in conversation around any given topic. Each post is designed to start an ongoing conversation, or discussion thread, which each visitor can join by making comments. To add your coments, click the comment button beneath the post of your choice. You will then be prompted to sign up for a google password. Even I (Imigrant, remember) was able to accomplish it in just a few minutes. You should know that you cannot make anonymous posts to this particular site, but will be identified by the login name of your choice. Additionally, comments are moderated by me (for appropriateness) before they are added to the public page. Try it; it's fun!

If you want to learn more about blogging, especially how you might use a blog in your classroom or to communicate with students and families, check out the workshop listed in the important dates list to the left. You can find a description in the BOCES professional development catalog or on our website at www.dcmoboces.com. I will be working with Todd Rutan to offer this introduction to blogging which includes ideas for use classrooms.

FreeRice

2008-02-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

FreeRice WARNING: This game may make you smarter. It may improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades, job performance...
Click on the Free Rice link in the list to the left to play a cool vocabulary quiz game that helps players learn new words as they earn grains of rice that will actually be donated to people in poverty around the world! The difficulty level adjusts in response to the accuracy of your answers. I love it myself. I'm interested in whether it could be used in classrooms. Try it out and let the rest of us know what you think by posting a response.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

2008-02-01T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm happy you have joined me as I venture into the Blogosphere! I've learned today that I am considered a Digital Imigrant. Unlike the young people we teach, Digital Natives, I did not grow up with a mouse in my hand; I am a newcomer to the land of web-based collaboration.

I am establishing this site for two reasons. First, I want to stay in touch with the ways of learning and communicating that are most relevant to today's young people. Second, I hope to collect resources for literacy teachers in a convenient location. I will post links to relevant websites and news that is important to principals and practicing teachers in our BOCES. Furthermore, I believe that one of our most important resources is each other, so I hope that this will also become a space for collaborative conversations around important literacy topics. The beauty of web logs, I am learning, is that we no longer need to be independent consumers of information, but can work together to construct stores of information that are relevant to the communities that we share.

So, whether you're a veteran blogger or a beginner like me, welcome. I anxiously wait for your comments, reactions, and suggestions.