- Speaking and Listening Integral in Learning
- Celebrate Native American Heritage Month
- SBA Releases Smarter Annotated Response Tool (SmART)
- Teachable Moments
- Current and Coming Issues
- Books, Articles, and Resources We Are Reading
The Speaking and Listening Standards are often only given “lip service” in course design and yet research shows that these skills are essential in learning, literacy, and every-day life.
Speaking and Listening in Content Area Learning. Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey https://www.readingrockets.org/article/speaking-and-listening-content-area-learning
Being able to articulate learning requires students to solidify their thinking. Being able to listen openly to learn and understand the thinking of others is a reflection of mature, critical thinking.
Consider reviewing the Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening and then the progression from grade to grade to deepen your understanding of these skills. At the end of this newsletter is a chart with the progression of Speaking and Listening Standard 1 which emphasizes the ability to listen and work collaboratively. Use this process with staff or with students. Begin by looking at the anchor standard. Then, read each grade level descriptor starting kindergarten and note how the skill is developed. This provides an opportunity for staff to reflect on how to integrate these skills. It provides students with an opportunity to reflect on their current strengths and areas for growth.
Watch for January-February Webinars on using standards progressions to deepen understanding of learning.
The ELA Office is proud to share resources from the Social Studies Department November Newsletter. Below are a couple of highlights from their newsletter:
"Indian education dates back to a time when all children were identified as gifted and talented. Each child had a skill and ability that would contribute to the health and vitality of the community. Everyone in the community was expected and trained to be a teacher to identify and cultivate these skills and abilities. The elders were entrusted to oversee this sacred act of knowledge being shared. That still is our vision for Indian education today."
Vision Statement; Where the Sun Rises: Addressing the Educational Achievement of Native Americans in Washington State; report to Washington State Legislature, 2008
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'Since Time Immemorial' and 'Ready to Go' Lessons
OSPI Office of Native Education’s Since Time Immemorial curriculum provides Elementary, Middle, and High School lessons to support educators in teaching local Tribal history as required by RCW 28A.320.170.
“To support the continuous teaching and learning you are providing your students, these 'Ready to Go' lessons have been shared by Tribes and educators to provide you with quick access to a variety of complete lessons to implement along with or in addition to the Since Time Immemorial tribal sovereignty curriculum.”
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Pandemic stories and The Decameron: In the mid 1300’s following the Black Death or plague that inflicted Florence, Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a frame story where ten young women and men leave the city for a villa in the country to escape the Black Death. There they tell each other stories to pass the time. The collection of 100 stories give a glimpse into life at the time and are considered a masterpiece of literature of the time, influencing other writers such as Chaucer who wrote a similar framed story in the Canterbury Tales. Students of all ages will enjoy the idea of story collections.
Students as Problem Solvers of Their Own Learning: Students can often surprise us with their ability to come up with solutions to classroom and learning challenges. The practice of classroom meetings and reflections on learning have found their way into instruction. Current challenges with online and hybrid learning provide an excellent opportunity for class and individual problem solving. Present the learning goal and it’s relevance. Outline the steps to achieve it. Ask the students
- What will it take to achieve the learning goal?
- What will be manageable and challenging? What will be potential roadblocks?
- How will you overcome the challenges and roadblocks?
- What I do to help?
These questions can be adapted for class issues as well such as increased discussion and participation or how do we manage the technology. The process puts the students in the driver’s seat of their own learning by increasing metacognition and choice and leading to self-efficacy.
Smarter Balanced (SB) is pleased to release the Smarter Annotated Response Tool (SmART) to help educators understand how student writing is scored on Smarter Balanced assessments. SmART includes a range of student responses to full writes, arranged by score-point and annotated to identify the specific traits that contribute to an answer’s score.
While SmArt provides insight into each score point for each trait on SB full writes, it is not intended to provide a model for classroom writing assessment. Classroom writing instruction can accommodate writing purposes and genres that go far beyond the four writing purposes included in SB full writes. In addition, classroom writing assessment doesn’t always generate a score, and can include considerations not included in SB scoring rubrics, such as voice, the writer’s intention, and the effect of the text on a reader.
For more information, please contact ELA Assessment Specialist, Maja Wilson, PhD, maja.wilson@k12.wa.us
- When we teach students to think critically about texts we build deeper comprehension skills. Approaching this through media is an engaging approach and builds life-long literacy. The Digital Survival Skills Workshop from TiP (Teachers for and Informed Public) Digital Survival Skills is a series of lessons that can be taught in 3-6 weeks, that focuses on media literacy, confirmation bias, network algorithms and fact checking skills. MisinfoDay, Jr. is a live or virtual open house in which students who were taught the Digital Survival Skills curriculum teach invited members of their community the skills they learned.
- We are currently wrapping up several workshop offerings and planning our January-March schedule. Look for workshops on unit writing for middle and high school, evaluating your ELA curriculum for racial equity and diverse perspectives, and deeper understanding of the standards. Please contact us if you have specific requests for workshops or webinars.
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Grade Level
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Speaking and Listening Standard #1
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CCR
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Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
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11th – 12th
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Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grades 11-‐12 topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-‐reasoned exchange of ideas.
b. Work with peers to promote civil and democratic discussions and decision-‐making , set clear goals and deadlines, and establish individual roles as needed.
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that probe reasoning and evidence; ensure a hearing for a full range of positions on a topic or issue; clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions, and promote divergent and creative perspectives.
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is required to deepen the investigation or complete the task.
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9th and 10th
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Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grades 9-‐10 topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence from texts and other research on the topic or issue to stimulate a thoughtful, well-‐reasoned exchange of ideas.
b. Work with peers to set rules for collegial discussions and decision-‐making (e.g. informal consensus, taking votes on key issues, and presentation of alternate views), clear goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Propel conversations by posing and responding to questions that relate the current discussion to broader themes or larger ideas; actively incorporate others in discussion, and clarify, verify, or challenge ideas and conclusions.
d. Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understandings and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented.
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8th
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions and decision-‐making, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose questions that connect the ideas of several speakers and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant evidence, observations and ideas.
d. Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
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7th
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or researched material under study; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, track progress toward specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose questions that elicit elaboration and respond to others’ questions and comments with relevant observations and ideas that bring the discussion back on topic as needed.
d. Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views.
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6th
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation by referring to evidence on the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on ideas under discussion.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion.
d. Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.
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5th
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
b. Follow agreed upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
d. Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussion.
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4th
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
b. Follow agreed upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comment that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others.
d. Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
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3rd
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Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-‐on-‐one, in groups, and teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
a. Come to discussions prepared having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
b. Follow agreed upon rules for discussion (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topic and texts under discussion).
c. Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.
d. Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.
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2nd
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Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small groups and larger groups.
a. Follow agreed upon rules for discussion (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topic and texts under discussion).
b. Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.
c. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion.
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1st
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Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in small groups and larger groups.
a. Follow agreed upon rules for discussion (e.g., listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topic and texts under discussion).
b. Build on others’ talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges.
c. Ask questions to clear up any confusion about the topics or texts under discussion.
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K
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Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small groups and larger groups.
a. Follow agreed upon rules for discussion (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
b. Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.
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Speaking and Listening Anchor Standard 1: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
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Speaking and Listening Standard:1 D-Grade Level Progressions (begins in 3rd grade)
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3rd
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Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion
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4th
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Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion
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5th
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Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions
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6th
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Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing
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7th
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Acknowledge new information expressed by others and, when warranted, modify their own views
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8th
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Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.
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9th/10th
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Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives, summarize points of agreement and disagreement, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views and understanding and make new connections in light of the evidence and reasoning presented
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11th/12th
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Respond thoughtfully to diverse perspectives; synthesize comments, claims, and evidence made on all sides of an issue; resolve contradictions when possible; and determine what additional information or research is requiredto deepen the investigation or complete the task.
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