The team analyzed student performance data and found that students scored highest on positioning arguments but struggled with using evidence to support their ideas. They decided to focus on helping students improve their ability to use evidence from texts. The team chose target students that were representative of the school population and implemented illustration strategies like graphic organizers, sketching, and drawing discussed in professional development to help students comprehend and analyze texts. For one student in particular, these illustration strategies helped her identify and explain evidence which improved her writing. Going forward, the team aims to help students self-reflect on which strategies work best for them and apply skills independently to analyze texts and improve writing.

1. Business and Entrepreneurship Inquiry Team 2009/2010

2. Choosing Our Focus Skill: Evidence Evidence * After analyzing the Fall ELA DYO scores, the position category was the area where students scored the highest across the board. *We noticed that students in the Business Community struggled with using evidence to support their ideas. - Approximately 50% of students scored below a 3 in the evidence category. *We discussed using this focus skill to transform our questioning, writing assignments, and daily tasks in all subjects.

3. Choosing Our Focus Students Our Goals Were to… Mirror the population of the school’s ELLs, IEP students, and general education students in our target group Choose students with solid attendance Choose Students who completed Fall DYO

4. Connecting What We Learned in PD to Our Strategies On February 1, 2010 we had a PD on Differentiation and Assessment for Learning. We decided to implement the strategy of illustrating the text using: graphic organizers, sketch & stretch, and drawing to think.

5. Gallery Walk of Student Work in Illustration of Text In our first inquiry meeting following the PD, we each brought in student work that showed our use of these strategies. For Example: In ELA, the strategy used was a graphic organizer for a persuasive essay. It was differentiated by including explicit guiding questions to support comprehension of text. In Spanish, students used Web diagrams and drawing to help them with vocabulary and conjugation

6. Focus on a Target Student and Illustration of text In our next session, we focused on one student, and how these strategies worked with her. Student A is a female receiving SETSS who was having difficulty identifying and explaining evidence from a text.

7. What we learned: Student A showed success using illustration: She has a linear thought process Example– she used arrows indicating her thought process, and labeling to identify relevant information. In Spanish class, she used illustration to help her understand the sequence of a story. She also used drawing to represent ingredients in a recipe emphasizing vocabulary. In ELA, she used Sketch & Stretch to illustrate pivotal moments in a text. This helped her to use textual evidence in writing when explaining her drawing. Next steps: Student A will work on deeper analysis through guiding questions when illustrating the text.

8. Student draws and labels ingredients (Spanish)

9. KWL for Math

10. Drawing, Sequencing, and Labeling for Science

11. Drawing Pivotal Moments for Short Story “Sketch and Stretch”(ELA)

12. Our Goals for the Future

13. What should we aspire to next year? Compare the students work now with their future work—to analyze progress. Work on self-reflection with students so they can decide what best strategies work for them and improve their writing. Standardize our expectations of their writing so we teach the same techniques in each class. Help students apply all the skills/strategies we’ve given them on their own. Promote independent and sustained meta text writing.