Nearly everyday, we face possibilities and problems that affect our personal and professional lives. The ability not only to cope, but to identify key issues, access information, and effectively work our way through these situations contributes to success in whatever we peruse!

Discovery Learning!!!!

Discovery Learning A means by which students engage in problem solving in developing knowledge or skills Intentional learning through problem solving 1.Guided Discovery 2.Modified Discovery 3.Open Discovery

Levels of Discovery Learning Guided Discovery Modified Discovery Open Discovery Problem Identification Teacher generated Student generated Process for solving problem Teacher decidesStudent decides Establishment of tentative solution to the problem Student Determined Student determined Student determined

Discovery Learning Benefits –Active learning –Increase student motivation –Students excited with being directly involved –Tend to learn more –Tend to retain information longer –Positive development of social skills Limitations –Inefficient for covering large amounts of material

Characteristics of Discovery Learning Authentic Requires active student engagement Interdisciplinary Some element of student choice Promotes collaborative learning Promotes higher order thinking Encourages learning how to learn High student motivation

Problem: Who should win the “Explorer of the Century” Award? Columbus Cabot Cortez DeCoronado Magellan Hudson Drake MacKenzie Ponce de Leon

Developing A Problem Statement Select a unit goal to work with Create specific learning objectives Write the problem statement so that it connected to the students’ daily lives What type of project can students make to share their learning? Determine an evaluation strategy (what will students do/produce so show they have mastered the objectives?

Students will research individual explorers during European exploration and colonization of the Americas Students will use case studies of individual explorers to compare the goals, obstacles, motivations, and consequences for European exploration and colonization of the Americas

Objectives students will be meeting Students will research a given explorer Students will identify how their explorer contributed to the colonization of America. Students will work collaboratively with a partner.

Throughout time, many different explorers have claimed fame for their discoveries. But which explorer was the most important? Your job is to convince a panel of judges that the explorer you researched should receive the award of “Explorer of the Century”. Write the Problem Statement

What content needs to be learned? Birth and death date Reason for Exploration Country he explored for and why How he was courageous and independent How he influenced the beliefs/views of others 2 interesting facts Map of the area he explored/paths he followed Reasons why other explorers should not win the award

Evaluation Strategy PowerPoint Presentation –Persuasive –Share necessary information –Creative and Interesting –Dress up optional!

Developing A Problem Select a unit goal to work with Create specific learning objectives Write the problem statement so that it connected to the students’ daily lives Project idea? Determine an evaluation strategy What content (learning) should be evident in the project?

Create “chunks” that will help guide students in their product creation or performance

In the real world, when we evaluate things, we talk about the specifics of what is right and what is wrong. A baseball coach doesn’t say to his player, “You earned a B today.” He says, “You took your eye off the ball today. You need to concentrate more. You need to change your stance.” The real world is built around giving feedback and showing people what they need to do to improve. And yet in schools, we hand out single-letter grades and think nothing of it.

Designing Rubrics As assessment tool that measures levels of student achievement on performance tasks.

2 Types of Rubrics Holistic Rubrics –Rating scale –Wide range of descriptors –One performance expectation at each numerical level –Product evaluated as a whole & given a single score Analytical Rubrics –Use multiple descriptors for each criterion –Points awarded on a criterion by criterion basis –“teaching rubrics”

Why Rubrics? Provides specific feedback- descriptive Students can improve the quality of their work Guide students through the learning process Allow students to evaluate their work Plan, revise, edit

Explorer of the Century Criterion Research Description of PowerPoint Slides Organization Writing Structure Mechanics

Criteria The student: 0 Below the Standard 1 Approaching the Standard 2 Meets the Standard 3 Exceeds the Standard Score Research Used 2 internet sources. Selected 1 book from the media center Slides All criteria on checklist is completed Organiza- tion PowerPoint has transitions, runs on its own, and is visually interesting & convincing Writing Structure Used complete sentences in all slides. Writing is clear and descriptive. Mechanics One spelling error OR one capitalization error OR one punctuation error

Criteria The student: 0 Below the Standard 1 Approaching the Standard 2 Meets the Standard 3 Exceeds the Standard Score Research Used 2 internet sources. Selected 1 book from the media center Used more than 2 internet sources OR selected more than 1 book Slides All criteria on checklist is completed More than 13 slides are completed OR slides go beyond requirement Organiza- tion PowerPoint has transitions, runs on its own, and is visually interesting & convincing PowerPoint includes all elements plus extra graphic effects Writing Structure Used complete sentences in all slides. Writing is clear and descriptive. Language and writing goes beyond expectations AND is very descriptive Mechanics One spelling error OR one capitalization error OR one punctuation error No errors in spelling, capitalization or punctuation

Criteria The student: 0 Below the Standard 1 Approaching the Standard 2 Meets the Standard 3 Exceeds the Standard Score Research Used 1 internet source OR did not select a book from the media center Used 2 internet sources. Selected 1 book from the media center Used more than 2 internet sources OR selected more than 1 book Slides Most of the checklist criteria is met. All criteria on checklist is completed More than 13 slides are completed OR slides go beyond requirement Organiza- tion PowerPoint has few transitions OR is somewhat visually interesting OR has timing errors PowerPoint has transitions, runs on its own, and is visually interesting & convincing PowerPoint includes all elements plus extra graphic effects Writing Structure Used complete sentences some of the time OR writing is unorganized Used complete sentences in all slides. Writing is clear and descriptive. Language and writing goes beyond expectations AND is very descriptive Mechanics Two spelling errors OR two capitalization errors or two punctuation errors One spelling error OR one capitalization error OR one punctuation error No errors in spelling, capitalization or punctuation

Criteria The student: 0 Below the Standard 1 Approaching the Standard 2 Meets the Standard 3 Exceeds the Standard Score Research Did not use given sources Used 1 internet source OR did not select a book from the media center Used 2 internet sources. Selected 1 book from the media center Used more than 2 internet sources OR selected more than 1 book Slides Several slides do not meet checklist criteria in number of slides or content. Most of the checklist criteria is met. All criteria on checklist is completed More than 13 slides are completed OR slides go beyond requirement Organiza- tion Transitions are missing/confusing OR doesn’t run on its own OR is not interesting or convincing PowerPoint has few transitions OR is somewhat visually interesting OR has timing errors PowerPoint has transitions, runs on its own, and is visually interesting & convincing PowerPoint includes all elements plus extra graphic effects Writing Structure Did not use complete sentences. Writing is unclear and causes confusion. Used complete sentences some of the time OR writing is unorganized Used complete sentences in all slides. Writing is clear and descriptive. Language and writing goes beyond expectations AND is very descriptive Mechanics Three spelling errors OR three capitalization errors, or three punctuation errors Two spelling errors OR two capitalization errors or two punctuation errors One spelling error OR one capitalization error OR one punctuation error No errors in spelling, capitalization or punctuation

Criteria The student: 0 Below the Standard 1 Approaching the Standard 2 Meets the Standard 3 Exceeds the Standard Score Research Did not use given sources Used 1 internet source OR did not select a book from the media center Used 2 internet sources. Selected 1 book from the media center Used more than 2 internet sources OR selected more than 1 book Slides Several slides do not meet checklist criteria in number of slides or content. Most of the checklist criteria is met. All criteria on checklist is completed More than 13 slides are completed OR slides go beyond requirement Organiza- tion Transitions are missing/confusing OR doesn’t run on its own OR is not interesting or convincing PowerPoint has few transitions OR is somewhat visually interesting OR has timing errors PowerPoint has transitions, runs on its own, and is visually interesting & convincing PowerPoint includes all elements plus extra graphic effects Writing Structure Did not use complete sentences. Writing is unclear and causes confusion. Used complete sentences some of the time OR writing is unorganized Used complete sentences in all slides. Writing is clear and descriptive. Language and writing goes beyond expectations AND is very descriptive Mechanics Three spelling errors OR three capitalization errors, or three punctuation errors Two spelling errors OR two capitalization errors or two punctuation errors One spelling error OR one capitalization error OR one punctuation error No errors in spelling, capitalization or punctuation

Creating your Analytical Rubric Follow guidelines in checklist Start with “Meets the Standard” What indicates going above and beyond? What indicates being almost there? What indicates below expectations? For next time, student direction sheet, student checklist, rubric,