HighYield Strategies

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HIGH-YIELD STRATEGIES
May 2009
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What are High-Yield Strategies?
High-yield strategies are strategies that have
been proven through a combination of research and
best practice evidence to contribute to
improved student learning. (The Literacy and
Numeracy Secretariat Webcast Professional
Learning Series, High-Yield Strategies to Improve
Student Learning, May 2008)
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Teacher Moderation/Collaborative Marking

• This is a highly effective assessment strategy
  that involves teachers coming together to look at
  student work based on pre-determined assessment
  criteria.
• By working together, teachers assessment
  practices become more aligned, professional
  dialogue occurs and teachers gain confidence in
  their own ability to assess student work
  accurately and fairly to improve student work.
• Building trust among teachers is essential!

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Teacher Moderation/Collaborative Marking

• Some examples of Teacher Moderation include
• DRA and CASI assessments (P/J/I)
• Running Records (P)
• TLCPs (P/J/I)

The LNS Capacity Building Series , TEACHER
MODERATION COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT
WORK, September 2007 www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literac
ynumeracy/inspire/
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Uninterrupted Blocks of Literacy Numeracy

• Literacy Blocks 100-120 minutes
• Numeracy Blocks 60-75 minutes
• BENEFITS
• Allows teachers to optimize instruction
• Provides students with sufficient time to learn
  and to process information
• Allows teachers to differentiate instruction
• Allows teachers to implement ongoing instruction,
  as well as student-based, open-ended activities
  that encourage higher-order thinking

LNS What Works? Research into Practice Series,
LEARNING BLOCKS FOR LITERACY AND NUMERACY, May
2007 www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspi
re/research/whatWorks.html
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Ongoing Assessment Feedback

• The purpose of ongoing feedback is to inform
  students about their progress and what they can
  do to move their learning along.
• Feedback should be timely, explicit/specific and
  focused on curriculum expectations.
• Ongoing assessment also helps the teacher inform
  his/her own teaching practice.

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Assessment FOR, OF AS Learning

• Dr. Lorna Earls diagram best illustrates the
  difference between the three.

OF
FOR
AS
Assessment AS Learning needs to be the biggest
focus for teachers.
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Assessment OF Learning This is summative
assessment. This type of assessment is the
decision-making piece. This includes the
collecting the evidence needed to make judgments
and to report to parents and to
students. Assessment FOR Learning Teachers use
formative assessment to see what students are
thinking and then decides what needs to be done.
This is gathering data with a purpose in
mind. Assessment AS Learning Students can
self-assess and decides NEXT STEPS through this
process. As teachers, we are encouraging
students to be self-reflective and
self-monitoring thinkers. We want them to
monitor their own progress toward achieving their
learning goals. As teachers we are looking for
triangulation. We need to have conversations
with students along the process. All pieces need
to come together!
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Another way of thinking about ASSESSMENT

• Diagnostic Assessment the try out or the
  audition
• Formative Assessment the practice or the
  rehearsal
• Summative Assessment the game or the final
  performance

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• Every time you carry out an
• assessment, it is not a decision point, it is a
  TEACHING POINT!
• (Dr. Lorna Earl)

WEBCAST Rethinking Classroom Assessment with
Purpose in Mind, April 27, 2006, Dr. Lorna Earl,
CSC
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Points for Discussion

• What do we, as teachers, need to do to ensure
  that students get the most out of feedback
  sessions?
• What is the students role during feedback
  sessions?
• What questions should we ask ourselves during the
  assessment process to ensure that we are meeting
  the specific needs of every student?

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The Gradual Release of Responsibility Model

• The teacher models the steps, provides support as
  the students learn the steps. The teacher
  gradually shifts responsibility to the students
  to apply the steps independently.

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Differentiated Instruction

• What is DI?
• Differentiated Instruction is based on the idea
  that because students differ significantly in
  their interests, learning styles, and readiness,
  teaching strategies and decisions involving
  issues of content, process, and product should
  vary accordingly.
• (Tomlinson, Differentiated Instruction Model,
  1999)

WEBCAST Differentiated Instruction Continuing
the Conversation, March 29, 2006, CSC
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Differentiated Instruction (contd)

• Teachers must provide a variety of ways for ALL
  students to feel affirmed and challenged.
• DI is student-centered.
• Effective DI offers ALL students the opportunity
  to succeed from their individual points of entry.
• Teachers must manipulate the program in order to
  maximize the potential for ALL children to learn.

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Differentiated Instruction

• Instruction can be differentiated by
• CONTENT
• PROCESS
• PRODUCT

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DI Instructional and Management Strategies

• ?anchor activities (on-going) ?jigsaw
• ?interest centers, groups, and surveys
  ?small-group instruction
• ?scaffolding ?literature circles
• ?flexible groupings ?assessment (i.e. EXIT
  CARDS)
• ?independent projects and study ?multiple
  intelligences
• ?tiered lessons, centers, and products ?adjusting
  questioning strategies
• ?May Dos and Must Dos ?Points Quiz
• ?Totally 10 Projects ?Tic-Tac-Toe or Menus
• ?Technology
• (i.e. WebQuests, SMART Boards, computers)

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GRAPHIC VISUAL ORGANIZERS

• KWL Charts
• Story Maps/Story Boards
• Venn Diagram
• Fishbone/Cause and Effect
• Compare and Contrast
• Problem-Solution Chart
• Timeline/Chain of Events
• Story Pyramid
• Brainstorming Web
• Alphaboxes
• Hamburger
• RAN Strategy
• P-M-I
• Flowchart
• Placemat
• Give em a Hand

http//freeology.com/graphicorgs/ http//www2.scho
lastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id2983 http//www.t
eachervision.fen.com/graphic-organizers/printable/
6293.html
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Accountable Talk

• Accountable Talk is talk by students and their
  teacher that responds to and further develops
  what others in the classroom have said. It is
  focused, meaningful, and mutually beneficial to
  speaker and listener.
• Accountable talk stimulates higher order thinking
  by requiring students to clarify their thinking,
  ask questions, test their hypotheses, learn to
  respect, listen actively and build on the ideas
  of others, and articulate their views and
  opinions constructively.

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Collaborative Learning

• Cooperative learning is the instructional use of
  small groups so that students work together to
  maximize their own and each other's learning.
• A Few Collaborative Learning Techniques
• Think-Pair-Share
• Jigsaw
• Four Corners
• Graffiti
• Round Table / Rally Table
• The Doughnut / Inside Outside Circle

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• Think-Pair-Share
• The teacher sets a problem or asks for a response
  to the reading.
• The students think alone for a specified time.
• The students form pairs to discuss the problem or
  give responses.
• Some responses may be shared with the class.
• Jigsaw
• This activity is characterised by participants
  within a cooperative group each becoming an
  expert on different aspects of one topic of
  study.
• SEE HANDOUT
• Four Corners
• SEE HANDOUT
• Graffiti
• SEE HANDOUT

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• Round Table/Rally Table
• The teacher poses a question that has multiple
  answers.
• The first student in each group writes one
  response on a paper and passes the paper
  counterclockwise to the next student.
• Teams with the greatest number of correct answers
  gain some type of recognition.
• The Doughnut / Inside Outside Circle
• Students stand in 2 concentric circles facing
  each other.
• Facing each other they take turns sharing
  information and ideas or ask each other
  questions.
• At a given signal from the teacher, the outside
  circle moves a number of places clockwise.
• Students now give feedback on what was said
  between themselves and their previous partner.
• SEE HANDOUT

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Critical Literacies

• Critical literacy allows children to challenge
  text in the service of understanding, to become
  active participants, to ask the questions, to dig
  deeper for meaning, and to deconstruct texts.
• Critical literacies give students the tools they
  need to think deeply about text and to take
  analytical stances.

WEBCAST Critical Literacy, November 29, 2007,
CSC

• HANDOUTS
• Key Concepts of CRITICAL LITERACY
• Questions to Promote CRITICAL LITERACY
• School Talk Negotiating Critical Literacies by
  Barbara Comber

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Professional Learning Communities

• WHAT IS A PLC?
• a group of educators whose common goal is to
  improve student achievement
• a structured teacher collaboration
• a group of educators who use data for reflection
• Components of a PLC include ensuring learning
  for ALL students, focus on results,
  relationships, collaborative inquiry, leadership,
  alignment

The LNS Capacity Building Series, PROFESSIONAL
LEARNING COMMUNITIES A MODEL FOR ONTARIO
SCHOOLS, October 2007 http//www.curriculum.org/se
cretariat/criticalpathways/files/TLCPProfessionalL
earningCommunities.pdf
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Informing Teaching with Data

• Data should be used to
• inform classroom instruction
• inform student placement decisions
• inform program and policy decisions
• meet accountability demands
• Data should be reviewed and interpreted for the
  purpose of student achievement.
• WHAT TYPES OF DATA DOES OUR BOARD COLLECT? WHAT
  TYPES OF DATA DO YOU COLLECT AT A SCHOOL LEVEL?
  WHAT DATA DO YOU COLLECT IN YOUR OWN CLASSROOM?

LNS What Works? Research into Practice Series,
USING DATA TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, August
2008 http//www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumerac
y/inspire/research/Using_Data.pdf
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Teaching Non-Fiction Writing

• According to Fountas and Pinnell, the purpose of
  NON-FICTION writing is to inform or persuade,
  while the purpose of FICTION is to entertain and
  involve readers (or listeners) in stories of
  life. (Guiding Readers and Writers, Grades 3-6,
  2001, p.393)
• NON-FICTION writing is also called informational
  writing.
• NON-FICTION writing is the most widely read genre
  in the world.
• Research has shown that exposure to NON-FICTION
  (textbooks, reports, biographies) has increased
  enthusiasm for recreational reading and is also
  associated with higher test scores in Reading and
  Mathematics. NON-FICTION writing helps students
  think systematically.

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Non-Fiction Resources
The LNS Capacity Building Series, Non-Fiction
Writing for the Junior Student, March
2008 http//www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumerac
y/inspire/research/Non_Fiction_Writing.pdf

• WEBCAST Non-Fiction Writing,
• April 18, 2008, CSC

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IN CLOSING . . .

• It is your responsibility to REACH EVERY STUDENT.
• Remember to keep your teaching student-centered.
  Involve them in the entire process the
  planning, the teaching and the assessment and
  evaluation. KEEPING THEM ENGAGED IS KEY!