Try one out in class if you can and tell us what you did and how it worked.
If you can't fit one in this week, explain how you could use one in an upcoming unit.
Post a response by Friday December 12th and respond to one or two of your colleagues posts by Monday December 15th.
Also, if you need to catch up on posting/commenting from previous weeks, please continue to do so.
Thanks,
Carrie
This week I did FACT #24, Human Scatterplots. I chose a multiple choice question from the upcoming unit test and, while students were working on their study guides today, passed around the graph. They have to read the question, identify their confidence level, and put their initials on the graph based on their answer and confidence level.
ReplyDeleteWhile a majority of the students got this question correct, it was helpful to see who felt confident and who did not. It was also helpful to see a few students in every class pick the incorrect answer.
In addition, the question was "Which of the following is a drawback to wind energy?" I had several students in each class ask what the word "drawback" meant and this is an important (possibly PARCC-related word) that could appear in the future on tests. We definitely need to be going over these types of words with our students!
At the end of the class we went over the answer together so students could see how they did.
I've also had students ask a lot of "what does this word mean" questions lately. Some words do seem tough for an avg. 7th grader, while other words I take for granted they should understand. Maybe as a department we should re-explore vocab words that could be PARCC-related?
DeleteI was thinking we should start a "Word Wall" in our classrooms for non-science words that the kids are needing help with. We could put up the word and definition and keep it up for the kids to look at it throughout the year.
DeleteGood idea. I found another example of a word that tripped 32% of my students up on the unit test last week... "drawback" on #20.
DeleteThat is a good idea. So, is anyone keeping a list of words that the kids are stumbling over?
DeleteI had full intentions of implementing FACT #22 Give Me Five after students completed their energy research on renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. Sadly, all of my classes fell behind with the research (they took forever… 1 day research extended into next day, even then many incompletes).
ReplyDeleteI wanted to give students a prompt along the lines of “Which energy source would you choose to provide electricity for a new city in Ohio? Defend your choice by comparing to other energy sources. Be sure to explain advantages and disadvantages.” After students reflect and complete, I would read down the list of 9 energy sources and seek volunteers to publicly share their choice, hoping for 5 varied opinions leading to discussion. This activity would provide students a quality review opportunity prior to our unit test, help me assess the effectiveness of the research activity and depth of understanding, and model real-world committee debates involving complex decisions (ex. Cincinnati streetcar debate).
I read the FACTS from the previous weeks but wanted to comment on one that I thought was useful to me. I haven't tried #23--guided reciprocal peer questioning but that I would be very beneficial. Our students need more time to develop questions on their own and have discussions. I am not sure how you would give 175 student
ReplyDeleteFeedback. If we had them create one good question per group it would be very doable. We have so many gaps in their learning that this may have to wait longer. I am excited about the ohio curriculum and hope that all teachers GET to science in the lower grades so we can see consistent background knowledge from all students. 2 hours
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this would be beneficial but difficult to give feedback on. I think working in groups is a great way to modify this. I can't express enough how I hope the gaps in learning have been smoothed out and that we will see improvement in the next few years!
DeleteWe can only hope, sister.
DeleteI also tried the # 24 FACT. To me, it seemed that I had to explain what was needed to every class for over 5 minutes. That being said, I did notice that some of the classes were mirrored images of each other. The only thing that I can think of was my explanation as to what they should do, STUNK! But you are right, Carrie. I did see a few students who weren't very confident, but I am wondering, how many just went with the majority so as not to stick out?
ReplyDelete