Increasing%20Rigor%20to%20Develop%20Critical%20Thinking%20Skills

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Increasing Rigor to Develop Critical Thinking
Skills

• Presented by Kim Lawrence and Melanie Garnett

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Find Someone Who

• Lets get to know each other a little!

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Rigor-the latest cliche

• A search for rigor on the VDOE site returned
  974 hits
• A search for rigorous on the VDOE site returned
  1,470 hits

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Rigor-the latest cliche

• The word rigorous appears 16 times in the U.S.
  Department of Education Document A Blueprint for
  Reform
• Rigorous Standards
• Rigorous Assessments
• Rigorous Interventions
• (The word America appears 9 times)

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What is rigor?

• With a team of 2 or 3 discuss the following
• What is RIGOR?
• What does RIGOR look like in the classroom?
• Why is it important?
• How do you implement it?
• Construct a poster using your creativity

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Rigorous Learning Experience Non-rigorous Learning Experiences

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Many Definitions of Rigor

• Rigor requires active participation from both
  teachers and students.
• Rigor asks students to use content to solve
  complex problem and to develop strategies that
  can be applied to other situations, make
  connections across content areas, and ultimately
  draw conclusions and create solutions on their own

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Many Definitions of Rigor

• Rigor requires teachers to create a learning
  environment where students use their knowledge to
  create meaning for a broader purpose
• Rigor requires students to learn how to develop
  alternative strategies if their first attempts
  are unsuccessful

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OLD SOL Question
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NEW SOL Question-More Rigorous!!!
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Comprehensive interpretation of SOL and
Curriculum Framework

• SOL 3.11
• The student will-
• a) tell time to the nearest minute, using analog
  and digital clocks and
• b) determine elapsed time in one-hour increments
  over a 12-hour period.

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• Under Essential Knowledge and Skills, the third
  bullet says
• When given the beginning time and ending time,
  determine the elapsed time in one-hour increments
  within a 12-hour period (times do not cross
  between a.m. and p.m.).
• There are three elements in this type of
  problem a beginning time, an ending time, and
  the amount of time that has elapsed. If given ANY
  two of these three elements, the students should
  be able to find the missing piece.

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Additional Ways for Students to Demonstrate
Understanding

• Addition of non-multiple choice items called
  technology-enhanced items (TEI)
• Fill-in-the-blank
• Drag and drop
• Hot-spot Select one or more zones/spots to
  respond to a test item i.e. select answer
  option(s), shade region(s), place point(s) on a
  grid or number line
• Creation of bar graphs/histograms

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BREAK!
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How Can Teachers Achieve and Maintain
Instructional Rigor?

• Engage students in the learning process,
  providing relevant activities and tasks that
  require a high level of cognitive demand
• Ask high-leverage questions that require students
  to think, process, and communicate
• Require students to justify their thinking and
  reasoning

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Math Rigor

• Provide instruction that requires students to
• become mathematical problem solvers that
• communicate mathematically
• reason mathematically
• make mathematical connections and
• use mathematical representations to model and
  interpret practical situations

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Reading Rigor

• Standards at each grade address reading fiction
  and nonfiction
• Nonfiction emphasizes text structures and
  organizational patterns
• Inferences and conclusions based on explicit and
  implied information
• Differentiate between fact and opinion
• Increase rigor by choice of texts
• Offer students choice in reading/writing topics
• Use project-based learning
• Use cooperative groups

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Evidence of Rigor

• Students not only learn, do, and reflect.
• They also master skills such as
• Critical thinking,
• Problem solving,
• Creativity,
• Collaboration,
• Project management, and
• Written and oral communication.
• 21st century skills are embedded in all of the
  above!

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Examples from L.A.

• Take a look at the vertical alignment of the
  Reading Comprehension SOLs for grades K-2
• Read excerpt about the Gradual Release of
  Responsibility
• Video of a Teacher Think-Aloud
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v00-i6m8ELiw
• Share examples of rigorous comprehension
  instruction

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Examples from Math

• Take a look at the vertical alignment of the math
  SOLs for grades K-2
• Read the Rigor in Mathematics Teaching and
  Learning article
• Share examples of rigorous math instruction

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Time for you to work

• Now we are going to give you more time to
  explore
• Professional books
• Blackboard site
• VDOE website (Enhanced Scope and Sequence)
• Number/Number Sense Module
• How do you plan on incorporating more rigor to
  your math and/or reading instruction?