Thoughtful Classroom Research-Based Strategies Task Rotations

What is a Task Rotation?  Designed specifically to address the manageability issue that teachers face teaching standards while trying to meet the diverse needs of their students.  Based on a model of diversity that is practical and well- researched-LEARNING STYLES.  Addresses all 4 Learning Styles allowing teachers to interest, motivate, and challenge students.  Flexible strategy that can be used in a variety of ways.

Task Rotation Video

Do Our Questions Require New Answers?

In Search of Thoughtful Answers Goal: To explore how we can help students create more thoughtful answers.

Here’s Some Questions Worth Thinking About!!! Name two things that drive you crazy about your students’ responses and thinking. Name two things that students occasionally do in their thinking and responses that make you happy.

Review Learning Styles Think back to the Learning Styles Inventory you took last summer. What style are you? Review each of the Learning Styles Look at A Description of the 4 Learning Styles sheet.

What Kind of Question Are You? If you were a question what kind of question would you be? Think of a unit you teach. What are some of the questions you ask in the course of the unit? Jot down your responses. Share with a partner.

Connecting Learning Styles to Questioning Look at pages and read. Read each of the questions in the Question Museum sheet. Decide which Learning Style each question targets. Use pages in placing your questions.

Question Museum Activity Work in groups of 2. Using p.22-24, organize the questions on p. 20 into the four learning styles by writing the correct learning style in each box. Share answers with people at your table.

TEST!!!! � Complete “Which One Doesn’t Belong” from the Bringing Our Thoughts Back to the Classroom sheet. � Find someone in the room who has been teaching longer than you and share your responses.

What are all these questions good for? TASK ROTATIONS

6 Steps in Planning Task Rotations � Collect your standards. � Identify your purposes. � Rotate tasks to reach all 4 Learning Styles. � Create a scenario and a hook to arouse interest and create meaning. � Look for criteria that unite all four tasks. � Establish a work plan.

SAMPLE TASK ROTATIONS Look at the provided sample task rotations. Use these as examples when writing your task rotations.

Planning Your Task Rotation Use pp and in the purple portfolio. Work with people at your table to Use your Core Content 4.0 version to complete Step 1. Remember to refer to the sample task rotation plans in your folder as you create a task rotation to share. Write it on the chart paper provided. CIRCLECIRCLE

Write Task Rotations to Use in Your Classroom o Work with your team to write at least 1 task rotation that you can use next school year. o Turn in your copy. o There will be a county-wide database of task rotations created this summer.

LUNCH

Thoughtful Classroom Research-based Strategies Reading for Meaning

What Is This Strategy? The Reading for Meaning Strategy helps students overcome the most common types of reading difficulties and develop informed, evidence-based interpretations of the texts they read. In other words, it helps them acquire information and think deeply.

About Using This Strategy! Look in your pink Reading for Meaning book on page 7 and briefly read over this page. Discuss at your table two things you read on the page that you found interesting and why.

What Will My Students Learn From This Strategy? Learn to develop informed interpretations. Learn to find the main ideas. Learn to identify and use evidence from a text. Analyze and discuss their own and other’s textual interpretations.

When Do I Use This Strategy? This strategy should be used when you want your students to develop independence and competence as readers.

What are the Basic Steps in This Strategy? 1. Students review the Reading for Meaning Statements before reading the text to decide whether they agree or disagree with each statement. 2. Students collect evidence to support or refute their initial opinions. 3. Students meet in small groups to share their observations and explore their interpretations. 4. The entire class engages in a discussion on the reading and/or process.

How is This Strategy Relevant to the Real World? Countless studies show that students’ communication skills are troublingly low just as the Information Age is making communication and interpretation of complex ideas more important than ever.

Real World? Reading for Meaning provides students a method for extracting essential information, finding evidence to support their opinions, examining other’s viewpoints, and discussing and evaluating complex ideas.

Reading for Meaning Lesson- The Maid How many of you have been to a hotel and been dissatisfied with the housekeeping service? Read the text “Dear Maid” to collect evidence to prove or disprove the two given statements.

Reading for Meaning Lesson- The Maid Continued Discuss with members at your table. As a group, write a brief paragraph on chart paper supporting your position on one of the given statements. Remember to use the rubric provided to ensure you complete the paragraph correctly. Evaluate the lesson.

5 Phases of a Model Lesson Phase I-Introducing the Topic and Text. Phase II-Active Reading Phase III-Discussion Phase IV-Synthesis Phase V-Evaluate the Lesson

View Model Lessons Elementary Language Arts p. 38 Upper Elementary Math p. 38 Math Reading for Meaning video-Grade 5.

Planning a Reading for Meaning Lesson 1. Select a Reading from the ones provided at your table. 2. Identify the themes, main ideas, and key details in the reading. 3. Develop 4-8 statements to focus and engage students on the reading.

Planning a Lesson Continued 5. Develop an activity for synthesizing what the students have learned. 6. Decide what assessment criteria you and your students will use. 7. Design a set of questions for use in encouraging student self-reflection. 4. Develop leading questions to provoke discussion.-See samples on p. 29 of pink book and from Housekeeping sample lesson.

Share Your Planning! Share your planning sheet under the ActivBoard camera. Turn in your copy. It will be typed on the template and everyone will get a copy! :<)

Get One, Give One Write down 5 things you’ve learned today. Find someone in the room you haven’t talked with today and share your responses with one another. Share out in group discussion Thanks for participating. Have a great afternoon!