The Writing Process: What Students can Learn about Themselves

Student writers need to brainstorm, draft, revise, revise, revise some more, and proofread.  So how can your students keep their work organized in a way that also helps them reflect on their learning as writers?

Hello!  Marypat here from Just Add Students to introduce you to BGP.

Let's start with the problem...

I ask my students to save all graphic organizers, prewriting, drafts, and revisions for each writing assignment.  But there is usually more than one student who struggles with organization.

Papers always go missing, get stuffed into the wrong binder/folder/book/locker.  That student may end up starting a writing assignment several times -- trying to remember what had been written on the graphic organizers or in a draft.

The writing "process" was more of an exercise in starting over when students couldn't find prior work.

Then something wonderful happened...

I went to a workshop put on by my hero Nancie Atwell.  I am telling you - she is nothing short of amazing.  I learned so much from that workshop!  Here is one idea I used with great success. Something that helped all of my student writers, not just the disorganized ones.

Grab your stapler...

I had my students save, and staple, all of their work on a writing assignment together.  Most current work on top.  This was what my students referred to as the "big, gigantic pile."   The BGP.

As my students write, I collect and review all of the steps of a draft (that's how I sort and set up mini lessons for the next day).  As we work through graphic organizers, intro paragraphs, thesis builders, drafts (D1, D2), revision activities, peer reviews, proofreading and then finally the published piece, the "big, gigantic pile" grows.  Always with the most current work stapled on top.

What the student ends up with is a "big, gigantic pile" of work stapled, marked up, and dog-eared.  On the very top, they add their published piece (usually not stapled so it can easily go into their portfolio or on the wall).

And the result...

Several really great things happened when I started implementing the BGP:

1.  Work was less likely to get lost.  All the pages were kept together and kept in writing folders. 

2.  Students were impressed at how much writing they had done!  I heard students say things like, "Wow, I did a lot of work on this!" and "Look at how bad my first draft is!"  and "My ideas really changed as I worked on this!"  

Students were thinking about, reflecting on, and rejoicing in their writing!  They could see that their writing was, indeed, a process.  (Insert happy dance here!!)

3.  Student self-assessments.  Before my students turn in an assignment, I always ask that they complete a simple self-assessment.  It consists of three questions:  

• What was easy about this assignment?
• What was difficult about this assignment?
• What would you like me to know?

I ask students to flip through their stapled pile and consider what they've been working on, thinking about, struggling and succeeding with over the last few weeks.  This gives them a chance to really consider how the writing process worked for them.  Plus, it helps build goodwill that they know I care about their experience with this writing assignment.

4.  My grading got easier.  Yes.  You read that right.  Easier.  Because I reviewed each graphic organizer, thesis, intro, and draft as we worked on it, I knew what students were writing about.  I could quickly see where they were going off the tracks.  My comments gave them direction for the following writers' workshop task.

When I received the final product to assess, I could look through their "big, gigantic piles" already familiar with the topics, direction, and difficulties they had.  I could see where students worked on my suggestions and where they chose to ignore those suggestions (time for a conference!).

Usually, I had very little to write on the published text.  I'd already addressed issues in the prior drafts.  And because I always use a rubric and the students received that when the assignment was given, I could quickly assess their writing on the criteria of the rubric.

I love trees...

I do, I really do!  And I often think about how wonderful a paperless classroom would be.  However, when teaching middle school students writing, there is a HUGE payoff when they can actually see the writing process.  Specifically their own writing process from start to finish.

When I experimented with paperless writing, my students lost the ability to step back and look at their own writing process -- from where they started to where they ended up.  

Even if you give the BGP a try for one assignment, your students will benefit.  It can be used for any writing project -- in any subject.  But most importantly, it will help your students think about themselves as true writers.

Poems for Assessment

Middle School students are often the most emotional, imaginative, and creative kids around.  They are struggling with all of the new life experiences that surround them, and more importantly, they are searching for a way to let it all out.  For some, writing poetry can be that release!

Poetry writing has long been an incredible form of therapy for the soul, but in our classrooms, it can also be a form of assessment.  With so many options for how to write poetry, it can be done in very effective ways to demonstrate student understanding or to show student processing of content or a subject-area concept.

Here are a few suggestions for using poetry in your class for assessment:

• When studying significant people, whether dead of alive, students can create fact filled Epitaphs or Biographical Poems.  Provide a template or allow students to research the purpose of each prior to writing, and set requirements to meet the standards of your course.
• Examine important events or subjects by using Haikus. This Japanese art form has long helped people connect their thoughts to events, and students can use this short format for writing concise summaries.
• Another great tool for examining time periods, unit topics, or themes is the Acrostic Poem.  This easy to use template format can help students detail their topics while processing and extending information into a cohesive flow.
• For the very creative, encourage the creation of a Shaped Poem, allowing art and knowledge to meet for an assessment like no other!

Whether you utilize templates or allow your students to free verse their way to your heart, the opportunity to write poetry for assessment may open doors for some students who have had challenges with writing in the past.  More importantly, it may be the encouragement some need to inspire them to learn and participate more in your class!

Happy Teaching!

What To Do After Testing

It is so hard to believe that testing season is officially here. In Texas, 8th grade is considered and SSI year. What is SSI? It means Student Success Initiative and translate into crazy amounts of testing. The 8th graders, if they failed their state assessment, get to have mandatory remedial tutoring and retake the test again in May. If they fail again, they go to summer school and take the test again in June. This all occurs because they must pass the test in order to advance to high school.

So, yeah. Here we are in March and my 8th graders just took their math state assessment on Tuesday. Buuuutttt...what do I do with the other 11 weeks of school???

Since I am not only math but also special education, I fill in this time with a combination of things:

1. I focus on personal financial literacy for my students. Not only are they state standards, but I will do a lot of real-world practice such as learning to budget for an apartment or food. This is an area that ANY student needs to know before they graduate high school, and sadly, many of my students are definitely not being taught good skills at home.
2. I will reteach areas that have been a weakness for my students this school year. As optimistic as I am, there is a good chance that at least a few of my students will not pass their state assessment and will have to take it again in May. By reteaching math skills, my students will not have a chance to forget everything they have learned this year and will get to have extra practice at mastering those skills before retaking their state assessment.
3. I will teach some new skills that will prepare my students for Algebra I in high school. By pre-teaching some of the skills, my students will (hopefully) have a leg-up when high school comes around because they have seen some of the beginning Algebra I skills before. This will make the transition at the beginning of the school year easier for the teachers that will receive my students next year.

By doing a combination of all 3 of these, I am hoping I give my students the best possible advantage in all areas the last 11 weeks they are with me. However, I am always open to learn from the seasoned pros about better ways to utilize the time after state assessments.

If you have any ideas on how to best use time after state assessments, please leave a comment below so that other people can share in your knowledge.

Creativity in Action: Test Prep without the Boredom

It's me, Michele from A Lesson Plan for Teachers, and I'm here to make a few suggestions that are near and dear to my heart for test prep season! 

In my classroom, creativity has always been welcome, encouraged, and appreciated.  Based on the research I studied on gender gaps in the classroom back in the 90s, all students and especially females retain content more successfully when given the opportunity to process that content creatively.  So why, when it comes time to prep for the inevitable testing window, do teachers often step back from allowing creative expression and resort to lecture or paper-based reviews?  Don't do it!

So, here are a few suggestions to make your classroom more creative while still tackling the testing prep that is mandated in our classrooms now!

1. Assign students topics from your course.  Allow them to choose a method of presentation, whether it be written, drawn, sculpted, or performed.  Hold a Class Presentation Show to cover all of the topics without the boredom!
2. Create an Illustrated Timeline Wall covering all of the content you need to review.  Let your students shine with their individual talents, with some organizing the dates, others writing the concise descriptions, some illustrating the main points, and others adding creative elements to draw attention to significant themes.
3. Graffiti a Wall with illustrations and bubble letters on all the key topics covered in class.  Have students discuss the topics as they create the wall, reviewing the key points.
4. Turn your classrooms into a Living Museum with students dressed in characters from your content (Historic figures, book characters, important scientists or mathematicians).  Hold a meet and greet for interaction and discussion of themes or significant events.
5. Step back in time or into a book where students Build the Scene and models of significant role-players to recreate the past or the story.  Wrap-up with topic reviews or a graphically organized overview.
6. Play Games! Charades, Pictionary, and student created games can allow students to review the content while creating the game and while playing!

And there are so many other options that get students up out of their desks and active in their learning and review.  What ideas do you have for making your test prep fun, engaging, and CREATIVE?

Happy Review!

Assessing with Technology

Hey all! Stephanie from The Marvelous Middle here. Today I want to talk to you about painless and quick ways you can assess in your classroom using technology. My school is a 1:1 school but you don't have to be in order to use these assessments. They are all online and can be easily shared on the teacher's computer linked to a projection screen or Promethean Board / Smartboard. I'm really excited to share what I do in my classroom so let's get started.

This quote guides my classroom activities.

If you are anything like me, I am always looking for new and interesting ways to assess my students in real time, whether I am wanting to get a quick status of the class or looking to do a review type of game. The following websites are ones that I have personally used in my classroom as formative assessments and are my "go-to" choices. It's always good to shake things up often with middle schoolers so they keep interested...so having many choices in your toolbox is key.

Kahoot
Kahoot is a free learning space where educational content can be delivered by asking questions in real-time. It's a social, game-like environment where teachers involve students by questioning, discussing, and surveying. Kahoot's motto is "Great learning starts by asking questions."

Example from my Etymology Challenge Kahoot

Currently, there are three types of Kahoot.

1. Quiz: This is the most commonly used in my classroom. With this type, a teacher can create a series of multiple-choice questions. Each question can have an associated picture or video with it. There is a time-limit (that the teacher sets) for each question. Players answer questions that are displayed at the front of the room on their personal device (laptop, phone, tablet, etc.). Students are motivated to answer correctly and score the most points.. The faster a students answers the question correctly, the more points they get. The top 5 highest point scorers are displayed on a leaderboard between each question. The ultimate winner is shown at the end. It's a great way to engage and focus a whole group of students. Quizzes can be used to formatively assess each student in your classroom. Each game's data is saved and can be downloaded into a spreadsheet in order to track progress over time.
2. Discussion: This type is designed to facilitate a conversation among students. They are simply one quick question with no right or wrong answer. This question can also have a picture or video associated with it. I typically use a short video that requires my class to give an opinion or come to a conclusion about the subject of the video. Players answer the question using their personal device and the collective results of the question are displayed in the front of the room. These results can be used as a launching pad into a class discussion. I often use this as a bell-ringer or an introduction to a new unit. It's quick and sets up a great class discussion.
3. Survey: This type is just like a traditional survey, except questions are asked in real-time. There are no right or wrong answers and there is no limit to the number of questions that can be included on the survey. Again, students answer using their personal device. At the end of each question, results are shown, which allows for debating and discussion at that time. I have used this as an anticipation guide in my classroom. You could also use as a way to pace your discussion because of pre-set questions or to make sure the necessary questions are asked while allowing for robust classroom discussions. As with the quiz, results can be downloaded at the end of the survey.

Quizzizz
This is very similar to Kahoot. The only difference is it is self-paced, not teacher-paced. This puts the responsibility on the student to guide instruction. I would recommend Quizzizz if you have students who can work independently and have good self-pacing skills. The other main difference is the question and the answer options show up on student devices. Again, this allows for student pacing. I have used this in my classroom as review homework and as centers.

Socrative

This is very similar to Kahoot and Quizzizz, but with much greater functionality. Quizzes can be student-paced or teacher paced. But the features that make Socrative so useful, in my opinion, is the question types and the exit slip option. Questions can be not only multiple choice, but also true/false and short answer. I use short answer questions the most, especially when used as exit slips. There is an actual template already in place for you to use as an exit slip. This alone makes this my choice most days in my classroom. and unlike the other two, there is an actual app for Socrative, which I find useful for students who have difficulty getting a URL typed in correctly.

Plickers

If you are looking for something completely different than the above choices or you have a classroom where devices are hard to come by, Plickers is the solution. Plickers is a classroom polling system that displays results in real-time. The only difference is that students hold up a card that shows the chosen answer. 

My students using Plicker

The teacher then scans the room with an Apple or Android phone or tablet. As you scan, the space above the card shows the student's name in either red or green. Green = correct answer and red = incorrect answer. The results also appear on the screen at the front of the room. Pluckers also created an app that was released in January 2016. I have yet to try it yet. 

On my blog, The Marvelous Middle, I have gone into further detail about setting up and using Plickers. You can find that post here. I have just started using Plickers but so far, it's going to be added to my assessment toolbox . The kids loved it and found it easy to use. 

Poll Everywhere

I just participated in a PD session that showed it being used in a classroom. It appeared to be another quick way to poll your students. The one thing I noticed was it didn't require students to use their names so all answers were anonymous. I could see this be helpful as a way to gauge your entire class' level of understanding.I have not used in my classroom yet, but I will post a review on The Marvelous Middle once I do.

Whew! Thanks for letting me share what I use in my toolbox for quick, tech-based formative assessments. I hope your students enjoy them as much as my students do!

Until next time...

The Secret to Top Scores on State Tests!

I recently read an article where David Coleman, the President of the College Board and architect of the Common Core, stated that in order for students to do well on standardized tests, they must fully understand and be able to use the academic vocabulary being used.

That doesn't seem like very much of a secret until you consider this:

Academic vocabulary is comprised of the words that are most often used in informational texts (such as textbooks) and literary texts (such as novels), but not likely used in everyday speech.

This means our students need to know words like integral, function, parallels and convey, perspective, and affect (which is different from effect.)

Of course, these words are not presented in the big tests in isolation.  They are embedded in sentences and students will have to use their context clues.  Again, sounds simple enough, but it's more than that.  They will be required to focus not just on the word itself or the clues, but how the word is being used in relation to the clues in the sentence.

To me, this means these words have to be explicitly taught and constantly used in class to get the job done.

So what did I do?  I went through the sample state test for my state (Florida) and pulled out the academic vocabulary.

First, I will have to familiarize my students with the words.  I will start by doing a concept sort and asking pairs or small groups to sort them into fiction and non-fiction.  Naturally we'll discuss the categories chosen based on the definitions.  Then we can put the words on the Word Wall with the proper definitions.

Then, I will make it a game to use the words in class as part of any discussion.  The students that uses the word correctly earns a reward as part of our "Super Improver" system.  

Soon after we will play "vocabulary relay" where all the words and the definitions are scattered on the ground at one end of a field and the students are lined up at the other.  The objective:  Race to the words and definitions, grab a matching pair, and take it back to the team.  The next team member then rushes off to do the same.  The team with the most matching pairs wins! 

Lastly, I will be placing the words and their definitions onto Quizlet.com so students can practice with the words digitally with fun games and even quizzes.  We will also use other apps like Kahoot and Plickers where context clues will be necessary yet fun!

Get a FREE copy of Academic Vocabulary ELA Test Prep for a limited time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Digging Up History

This is Michele from A Lesson Plan for Teachers, and I wanted to give you a creative idea for those dreaded testing reviews!  Instead of having students complete the traditional worksheets or reviewing the course content through the projector, get students up and digging for the information they need!

Creating an archaeology dig in your classroom is easy!

1. Start by asking your Guidance Office to save the shredded paper for you for about a week.  This should give you ample supply of dig material.
2. Create a frame for the dig site.  This can be as simple as a wooden frame or one made of taped cardboard.
3. Fill the frame with the shredded paper and divide into quadrants with twine.
4. Place topic cards into the dig materials.
5. Let the fun begin!

Since my subject area is Social Studies, I created a topic card for each unit I taught in the year.  I assigned students into pairs or small groups, and as they dig the cards, they complete a SPRITE Graphic Organizer to review the topic.  If they can't remember the facts, they can refer to their notebook or other sources.

As the class finishes up all of the topic cards, share as a whole group with each team summarizing their SPRITE review.  For a more comprehensive written review, have all students complete SPRITEs on all topics.  Place the SPRITEs in chronological order in notebooks for further study, added research, or other tasks for review.

SPRITE SOCIAL STUDIES GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

What other ideas can you contribute for making review more engaging?

Using Data In the Classroom

Hi all! Stephanie from The Marvelous Middle here to talk with you about using data in the classroom, which is a topic that I feel passionate about (yes, this ELA teacher loves numbers!). I use data in my classroom from formal assessments and informal assessments. Using data takes time and it takes practice.

The easiest place to start is with FORMAL ASSESSMENTS (receive a grade). These may include district-wide assessments (we use NWEA Map Testing) and end of unit assessments. With each end of unit assessment that I give, I list all of the content standards that are being assessed. I also label each question with a corresponding standard, so as I grade I can see quickly what standards my students are mastering and which they are struggling with.

Here is an example from my 8th grade science fiction unit formal assessment:

• There are six questions that assess 8.RL.2. If the student answers at least five of the six questions correctly, the student shows mastery. If the student answers at least four of the six questions correctly, the student shows partial mastery. 
• There are three questions that assess 8.RL.5. If the student answers all three answers correctly, mastery is shown. If two questions are correct, then partial mastery is documented.

Using this data, I can easily determine which students I need to re-teach the content. Students would then have differentiated instruction based on their mastery level. This data should be shared with students so they are aware of their own mastery level and what they need to do in order to increase their mastery level. Formal assessments do not have to be only tests. They can include projects and portfolios if these are linked to specific standards.

INFORMAL ASSESSMENTS (not receiving a grade) are less time consuming and easier to implement in the classroom. They are the perfect way to progress monitor your students in a flash. One way I do this is by using exit tickets. Below are the types of exit slips I use most often:

1. Triangle, Square, Circle

2. Open Ended

3. 14 Words

I will leave you with a favorite quote of mine regarding assessment (I know...I'm a data nerd!)

"An education usb;t how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't." ~~Anatole France