1. NTIP
December 12th 2012
Jennifer Casa-Todd
Program Resource Teacher, Literacy 7-12
@JCasaTodd
Jennifer.casa-todd@ycdsb.ca
2. Prayer
Leader: Creator God, each year we begin the Advent journey... the
journey to Joy, the one that causes us to pause and look up at the
stars, in search of THE STAR.
All: Each year we celebrate the birth of children in our school
communities; each year we anticipate the birth of Jesus, the Christ
child. May we communicate our love for the children of York Catholic
District School Board through compassionate words and generous acts
of kindness as we strive to be bearers of the light of Christ.
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3. Leader: Wondrous God, we give you thanks for this season of waiting,
a season of looking back, rejoicing in the moment and of anticipating
the future. We look back with the help of our elders, whose stories
make us rich in tradition. May we continue to respect the words of
wisdom that are shared by the elders in our lives.
All: We are a community of all ages: from birth to old age and all ages
in between, each of us is equipped with unique hands, hearts and
voices, which together do God's work in the world. May our voices be
joined in adoration for our coming King.
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4. Leader: Loving God, prepare us this Advent as we await your joyful
arrival. Where there is noise and conflict, bring hushed voices and
resolution. Where there is hunger, may we prepare a feast. Where
there is darkness and loss, bring light and comfort, hands to hold, arms
to embrace and tongues to share loving words of compassion.
All: Remind us all of the circumstances of Christ's birth...the stable, the
manger, the inn bustling above, unaware of the miracle occurring
below with only the animals and angels as witnesses. Jesus, child of
Joy, help us on our Advent journey as we strive to follow Christ's
example of loving one another wholeheartedly through all of our words
and deeds.
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5. Leader: Creator God, grant us the gift of patient compassion so that we
can be truly present to those who are near, communicate with those
who are far from us and pray for those we do not know.
All: May we continue to work together as we proceed in our Advent
journey. May we act as one body, the body of Christ, whose coming we
long to celebrate. AMEN.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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6. • Name
• Course
• School
• The most amazing thing a
student said …
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7. “Literacy Flows on a Sea of Talk”
--James Briton
Reading
Writing
Thinking
Speaking Viewing
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8. Learning Goals
1. We will understand what academic conversations are and how
they support literacy in our classrooms
2. We will examine how academic conversations complement
assessment practices in Growing Success and our AER
policy document
3. We will experience several different tools for supporting
academic conversations in our classroom
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9. Group Norms
We will be exchanging ideas and opinions in this session. What
are some of the “ground rules” we need to establish in order to
ensure that we communicate effectively and respectfully?
• When one person is speaking, everyone listens
• Respect other people’s ideas whether you agree with them or
not
• Try to participate as best as you can
• Appreciation—no put-downs
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10. Agenda
Minds On:
Where are we now? (Poll Everywhere)
What are Academic Conversations?
Action:
The role of Teacher Questioning
Assessing Academic/Grand Conversations
Skills needed for Academic Conversations
Virtual Academic Conversations
Consolidation:
New Learning (Poll Everywhere)
Next Steps
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11. What is an academic
conversation?
Academic conversations are
sustained and purposeful
conversations about school
topics.
--Zwiers and Crawford
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12. Talk in Action Graphic
Organizer
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13. Is this an academic conversation?
Teacher: I was thinking about the life cycle of an insect. Do you remember the life cycle we studied?
Malik?Malik: Yes.
Teacher: What was the first stage in the life cycle?
Jesse?Jesse: They were born?
Teacher: Yes, things are born, but think about the life cycle of insects. Let's try to be more specific in
our thinking. What is the first stage in the insect life cycle?
Miriam?Miriam: Eggs.
Teacher: Yes, insects start as eggs. Then they change and develop. They become larva after eggs,
right? And then what? What happens to them after they are larva?
Adrian?Adrian: They are adults.
Teacher: They do eventually become adults, but there is a step missing. What is the step between larva
and adults? What is that stage of the life cycle called?
Joe?Joe: Mature larva?
Teacher: Yes, there are two kinds of larva in the life cycle of some insects. But what I was thinking
about was what happened to them after the larva before they become adults.
Mariah?Mariah: Nymph?
Teacher: Now we're talking about the three-stage cycle for some insects. Do the insects that change
into nymphs come from larva? Let's look at our two posters again. Remember these? There is a three-
stage process and a four-stage process. Let's study these again.
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14. The role of the teacher in oral
questioning
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15. . Suggestions?
Teacher: I was thinking about the life cycle of an insect. Do you remember the life cycle we studied?
Malik?Malik: Yes.
Teacher: What was the first stage in the life cycle?
Jesse?Jesse: They were born?
Teacher: Yes, things are born, but think about the life cycle of insects. Let's try to be more specific in
our thinking. What is the first stage in the insect life cycle?
Miriam?Miriam: Eggs.
Teacher: Yes, insects start as eggs. Then they change and develop. They become larva after eggs,
right? And then what? What happens to them after they are larva?
Adrian?Adrian: They are adults.
Teacher: They do eventually become adults, but there is a step missing. What is the step between larva
and adults? What is that stage of the life cycle called?
Joe?Joe: Mature larva?
Teacher: Yes, there are two kinds of larva in the life cycle of some insects. But what I was thinking
about was what happened to them after the larva before they become adults.
Mariah?Mariah: Nymph?
Teacher: Now we're talking about the three-stage cycle for some insects. Do the insects that change
into nymphs come from larva? Let's look at our two posters again. Remember these? There is a three-
stage process and a four-stage process. Let's study these again.
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16. Triangulation of Data
Observations
Valid and reliable
picture of student
achievement
Products Conversations
“Using multiple sources of evidence increased the
reliability and validity of the evaluation of student
learning.”
16
(Growing Success, 39 )
17. Start with your Curriculum
Expectations
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18. Assessing Academic (Grand)
Conversations
Independently, read page 5 of the Capacity Building Series
Monograph “Ensuring an accurate picture of student
achievement”
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19. What skills do students need to
participate in academic
conversations?
Read what’s on your card to as many people as you can until you
find your match.
Once you find your match, see if you can determine what the title
of your section might be.
Success looks like this:
-You are reading your card to MANY people until you find your
match
-You are listening to the key words to figure out if it’s a match
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21. What about virtual academic
conversations?
Blog?
Twitter? (Ms. Albi)
Voicethread?
Voice Recording? Google docs? Today’s Meet?
Be sure to refer to the Technology Guidelines in First Class!!
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22. Your paperclip colour
determines the section
you read
You may make
speaking notes on the
cue card (optional)
1. mill about the
room
2. explain your
strategy to another
person
3. listen to his/her
strategy
4. Paraphrase each
other
5. Exchange
paperclips
6. Move on
7. Repeat to collect all
the colours
23. Next steps…
#academicconv
Adobe Connect Session
Other ideas
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25. Credits and Resources
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Editor's Notes
Tribes Inclusion activity allows for EVERYONE to participate
12:45
12:55-1:00How important would it be to establish classroom norms? When would this happen?
1:00 -1:20Was our inclusion activity an academic conversation?
Let's spend a few minutes analyzing this classroom exchange. First, it's not unlike many of the whole-class interactions we've seen, especially in a classroom where the students are obviously having a difficult time with the content. One student at a time is talking while the others listen or ignore the class. Second, the teacher is clearly using a lot of academic language, which is great. We know that teachers themselves have to use academic discourse if their students are ever going to have a chance to learn. Third, the balance of talk in this classroom is heavily weighted toward the teacher. If we count the number of words used, minus the student names, the teacher used 190 words, whereas the students used 11. This means that 94 percent of the words used in the classroom during this five-minute segment were spoken by the teacher. In addition, if we analyze the types of words used, half of the words spoken by the students were not academic in nature. That's not so great. Students need more time to talk, and this structure of asking them to do so one at a time will not significantly change the balance of talk in the classroom.As you reflect on this excerpt from the classroom, consider whether you think that the students will ever become proficient in using the language. Our experience suggests that these students will fail to develop academic language and discourse simply because they aren't provided opportunities to use words. They are hearing words but are not using them. How might you change this?
Let's spend a few minutes analyzing this classroom exchange. First, it's not unlike many of the whole-class interactions we've seen, especially in a classroom where the students are obviously having a difficult time with the content. One student at a time is talking while the others listen or ignore the class. Second, the teacher is clearly using a lot of academic language, which is great. We know that teachers themselves have to use academic discourse if their students are ever going to have a chance to learn. Third, the balance of talk in this classroom is heavily weighted toward the teacher. If we count the number of words used, minus the student names, the teacher used 190 words, whereas the students used 11. This means that 94 percent of the words used in the classroom during this five-minute segment were spoken by the teacher. In addition, if we analyze the types of words used, half of the words spoken by the students were not academic in nature. That's not so great. Students need more time to talk, and this structure of asking them to do so one at a time will not significantly change the balance of talk in the classroom.As you reflect on this excerpt from the classroom, consider whether you think that the students will ever become proficient in using the language. Our experience suggests that these students will fail to develop academic language and discourse simply because they aren't provided opportunities to use words. They are hearing words but are not using them.
Read this quietly to yourself“…whenever possible [teachers] should base a grade on at least three pieces of evidence. [write, do, say]” (Cooper, Talk About Assessment, 57)
Any overall expectation that say,Explain, analyse, use appropriate terminology, evaluatedoesn’t have to be in written form!!
Press F5 or enter presentation mode to view the poll\r\nIn an emergency during your presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in your web browser:\r\nhttp://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/LTEyODIzMjg5MDkIf you like, you can use this slide as a template for your own voting slides. You might use a slide like this if you feel your audience would benefit from the picture showing a text message on a phone.
