Strategy of the Week #11: Graphic Organizers

From Your Instructional Coach….

Strategy of the Week #11: Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizer:  A graphic organizer, also known as knowledge map, concept map, story map, cognitive organizer, advance organizer, or concept diagram, is a communication tool that uses visual symbols to express knowledge, concepts, thoughts, or ideas, and the relationships between them.

How does a graphic organizer work?

• A graphic organizer is a structure for students to organize ideas and thinking.
• It helps students to see their thinking in a visual format.

Why are graphic organizers important?

• A completed graphic organizer can help you assess the students’ understanding of a particular topic or skill.
• Brain activity is enhanced when students are taught to represent their understanding in a visual way.
• Graphic organizers make recall and retention of material easier for students.
• Graphic organizers are particularly helpful to students who have difficulty organizing information.
• Graphic organizers help students organize details to be used in high order thinking skills such as synthesizing and evaluating.

When could I use a graphic organizer?

• A graphic organizer can be used in any subject area.
• Some skills and thinking that lend themselves to use of a graphic organizer are: identifying similarities and differences, compare and contrast, sequencing, main idea and details, decision making, making predictions.

Where can I find graphic organizers?

• The HMH series for reading has graphic organizers that are used with every comprehension skill.
• Your reading specialists have tons of graphic organizers and resources that you could use for reading instruction.
• The following websites:
• Eduplace
• Edhelper
• Holt
• Enchanted Learning
• Scholastic
• Thinkport
• Education Oasis
• Superteacher
• Teacher Vision

If you would like to create a graphic organizer to be used in an upcoming lesson,  please fill out the form below.   I would love to support you!

Partnership Interest Form

Strategy of the Week #10: Making Sense of Language Arts Assessments

It seems like every day of every week, we are assessing students in the area of language arts/reading.  This week's strategy of the week will help make sense of what the assessments are, what they measure and when we give them.  Hope you find it useful!

Click here to see Strategy of the Week #10

Strategy of the Week #9: Increasing student interaction using Inside-Outside Circle

From Your Instructional Coach….

Strategy of the Week #9: Increasing student interaction using Inside-Outside Circle

Student Interaction:  a practice that enhances the development of the two very important language skills which are speaking and listening among the learners. This device helps the learner to be competent enough to think critically and share their views among their peers.

What is Inside-Outside circle?

• Inside-Outside Circle (Kagan, 1994) is a technique that gets students up and moving.  It provides a way to get students who normally would not talk to interact with others.  After students read a section of text, the teacher divides the group.  Half of the students stand up and form a circle with their backs to the inside of the circle.  They are partner A.  The other half of the students form a circle facing a partner from the first circle.  These students are partner B.  Partner A will speak first, quickly summarizing what they read.  This takes about a minute.  Then partner B speaks for the same length of time, adding to the summary.  If the teacher stands in the center of the circle, he/she can easily monitor student responses.

Why is student interaction important?

• Deeper Understanding of text:  When teachers structure good questions that promote discussion, the Inside-Outside circle provides multiple opportunities for students to summarize, predict or share opinions about something they have read.
• Oral language development:  Children will hear language above their independent speaking level, and be interacting with spoken language.
• Brain stimulation:  Engaging activities that are interesting to the students , including discussions, stimulate the pleasure parts of the brain.
• Reduced risk:  Students may feel threatened when called on in a large group to singularly answer a question.  This threat response inhibits the ability to focus on the content.  During an Inside-Outside circle, students have multiple opportunities to share ideas and risk is minimized.
• More processing time:  More information is retained when a period of direct instruction happens, followed by discussion of the material.

When could I use an Inside-Outside circle?

• The Inside-Outside circle is great when you would like students to compare and contrast, or identify similarities and differences.  For example, in math when there are multiple representations to show a number (a set of cubes, a numeric symbol, the name or word), students could each have a card showing the number and compare with each partner in the circle to determine if the amount, symbol or word is the same as their partner.
• The Inside-Outside circle could be used to orally share a piece of writing with peers.
• The Inside-Outside circle could be used to justify the way a student solved a problem.
• The Inside-Outside circle could be used during a morning meeting to share a time that someone was a friend, or a time when a child’s feelings were hurt.

If you would like to brainstorm how you could incorporate the Inside-Outside Circle into a lesson, please fill out the form below.   I would love to support you!

Partnership Interest Form

Strategy of the Week #7 & 8: Running Records

From Your Instructional Coach….

Strategy of the Week #7 & 8: Running Records

Running Records: One method of assessing a child's reading level by examining both accuracy and the types of errors made.

When do we give running records?

●     For the 2013-2014 school year, we will administer running records during the last week of each marking period.

●     The time-frame for running records will be:

○     1st marking period: October 21-25

○     2nd marking period: December 9 -January 16 (teachers may choose to give before or after break

○     3rd marking period: March 17-21

○     4th marking period: June 2-5 (or before)

What is used to give a running record?

●     Each teacher has an HCPS running record binder with running record passages.  These passages will be used to administer running records.

●     Each student will be given a passage to read, that is on their instructional level.  We are measuring the students’ accuracy, words correct per minute and comprehension.  Comprehension is based on a basic oral retell of the passage.

●     Students may need to read more than one passage in order to find out where the child hits frustrational level.  Students may test as instructional at more than one level.

●     Keep the hard copies of the running records that are administered to the students.  Please be sure to make notes about what kinds of errors the student was making.

What determines if a child is independent, instructional, or frustrational?

●     Here is a link to the Criteria for determining IRL.  Please be sure to read and have this with you as you administer your running records.

Criteria for Determining Instructional Reading Level

●     Once you have administered the running records to all of your students, please schedule a time with a reading specialist to discuss the appropriate instructional reading level that will be indicated on both the reading record document and on the students’ report cards.

Where does the information get recorded?

●     Keep the hard copies for a discussion with the reading specialist.

●     Add information onto the WES Reading Record document.  Here is the link:

WES Reading Record Sheet 2013-2014

●     Indicate the instructional reading level on each students’ report card.

If you would like to sit down and have a conversation about running records, or more specific training about the administration, please fill out the Partnership Interest form to set up a time.   I would love to support you!

Partnership Interest Form