“Teamwork can make
the dream work”
GAETI:
Global Academic Essentials
Teacher Institute
PLC meeting
Common Core Has Arrived!!
• ACT 21 or higher
– 75% scored C or better on US History or Psych
in college
– 50% scored B or better
• Declining complexity in text reading over
the last 50 years + more “scaffolding” or
help
Lack of Reading Independence
• Too many students reading at too low of a
level
– 11% of incoming college freshman take at least
one remedial reading course
• Only 30% of these students ever earn a college
degree
– 69% of those who don’t need remedial reading
complete the degree
Figure 3: Text Complexity Grade Bands and Associated Lexile Ranges
(in Lexiles)
Text Complexity Grade
Band in the Standards Old Lexile Ranges
Lexile Ranges Aligned to CCR expectations
6–8
860–1010
955–1155
9–10
960–1115
1080–1305
11–CCR
1070–1220
1215–1355
Social Studies and the
Mississippi College and Career
Readiness Standards
• Emphasis
– Collaboration with Colleagues
• Literacy Standards for Grade Band 6-8
• Literacy Standards for Grade Band 9-10
• Literacy Standards for Grade Band 11-12
– Cross Disciplinary
– Teaching History Literacy
• Common core does not have any history standards, only
literacy standards!
College and Career Readiness
Assessment
• PARCC
– Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for
College or Career
– Replacing the Alg I (Mathematics II) and
English II (Language Arts) assessments
• Formative Assessment
• Summative Assessment
– Analysis of documents in the form of an essay
– Performance assessment
– Speaking and Listening Assessment
Purpose
• To compliment, not replace state standards
• Incorporate expectations of types of skills
needed to prepare for college OR career
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Strong content knowledge is still essential
Comprehend as well as critique
Value evidence
Understand other perspectives
Demonstrate independent learning
Respond to various demands of audience, task,
purpose
Main Purpose
• To elevate Mississippi school children to a
level playing field
– Problem: students who were doing well on MS
tests were not doing so well on national
assessments (ACT, SAT)
• MS vs MA
• MS vs Hong Kong
• Common Core gives Mississippi access to
resources (through PARCC) that we would
not have otherwise
PARCC Practice Tests
• Sample Items 6-8: Biography of Amelia Earhart
• High School Sample Items
– Daedalus and Icarus
– Biography of Abigail Adams/letter to John
• Grade 7 Practice Test: Count of Monte Cristo
• Grade 9 Practice Test
– Robert Oppenheimer/Truman’s decision to drop bomb
• Grade 10 Practice Test:Tinker v. Des Moines
• Grade 11 Practice Test
– Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man by James W.
Johnson
– Declaration of Independence
– Speech by Patrick Henry
All PARCC items are based on Common Core
suggested “Text Exemplars”
• Full list of these exemplars from corestandards.org
Appendix B
• Appendix A: annotated samples
– Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglas
– Why They Walked
• Appendix C: student writing samples with annotations
(which could serve as rubric)
– “Explain how civil disobedience was used in the struggle for civil
rights in India.”
– Animal Farm
– Black Boy by Richard Wright
– 1918 Flu Epidemic
Objectives
• For teachers
– focus more on asking the right questions rather
than giving the right answers.
Objectives
• For students
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Finding supporting evidence
Recognizing bias
Evaluating multiple perspectives
Determining cause and effect
Making comparisons
Applying conceptual knowledge
Determining significance
In other words…..
• Moving from “what is taught” to “what
students need to be able to do”
• “Flipped class” or “upside down classroom”
• Teacher shifts from “sage on stage” to
“guide at the side”
Backward Design or
Understanding by Design (UBD)
• 1. Where are we going?
– Content Competencies and objectives
• Significant learning outcomes
• Enduring understanding
• 2. How will we know when we have arrived?
– Informative learning assessments
• Writing assessments
• Performance assessments
• Traditional assessments
• 3. How will we get there?
– Content and engaging learning activities
Enduring Understanding
• When was the defeat of the Spanish
Armada?
– 1588
– “I know it was sometime after Columbus’
discovery of the New World but before the
settlement of Jamestown.”
How will we get there?
• Examples of learning activities that may be
interesting but are not effective
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Crosswords
Word searches
Fill in the blanks
Trivia pursuits
Posters
Interesting and Effective Techniques
• Films, videos
– Students must engage in questioning or discussion for it to be
effective, however
• Field Trips
– Pre- and post-trip exercise for a significant learning experience
• PMI by Edward Debono
– P (plus/positive)
– M (minus/negative)
– I (interesting/I wonder…)
• U shape forum
– Example: Indian, Braves, Redskins mascot debate
Effective Techniques
• Events Graph
– Timeline of key events
• Evaluate the significance of each event
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How many people were affected?
Did it cause a significant change?
Did it cost or save lives?
Was the impact short-term or long-term?
» Was the present world affected by it?
• Rank each event
– Scale of 0-10
– Bar graph
• Present to class
– Justify your rankings
• Post Cards from the Past
Performance
• Role-playing and simulation
• Tableau
– Striking scene (or series of scenes) created by
people posing in costume
– Labor conflict: Haymarket, Pullman,
Homestead
How will we get there?
Team Based Learning (TBL)
• Principle Design Principles
– Teams of 5-7 should be permanent
– Accountability
• Pre-class preparation and contributing to team
success
– Students make complex decisions that require
course concepts but can be reported in simple
form
– Frequent and timely feedback
Typical TBL Module
• Readiness Assurance
– Readings outside of class
– iRAT (individual Readiness Assurance Test)
• Multiple choice quiz on the reading material
– tRAT (team Readiness Assurance Test)
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Same quiz completed in groups
Teams negotiate to choose the correct answer
Scratch off answer on IF AT form
If team does not select the correct answer, they continue to
discuss and choose another answer choice.
– Mini lecture
• Using the tRAT results, the teacher can easily see which area(s)
students are having the most difficulty with and lecture on
those points only.
• Suggested time for Part I: 1-1.5 hours
TBL Part 2:
In class Application Activities
• Suggested time: 2-5 hours
• 4 S’s
– Significant problem: teams work on a relevant,
significant question, issue, or problem
– Same problem: all teams work on the same problem
– Specific choice: teams choose an answer (A, B, C, or
D)
– Simultaneous Report: each team holds up their answer
choice card; teams should challenge opposing opinions
and defend their answers
Strategies
• Read Alouds
• Authentic Experiences
– What would historians do?
• Found Poem Activity
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Primary or secondary source
Everyone gets piece of cash register paper
Choose 5-10 words that capture your attention
Groups of 5-6
Put the word phrases in order to make a poem
Each group reads their poem
Use of Technology is absolutely
vital to making CC a success in
the classroom
Reasons its time to move beyond
the textbook
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Paper,copies, and books are expensive
Textbooks come in “One Size Fits All”
Kids don’t read textbooks!
Fine List from Mrs. Curtis
Books are heavy  student back problems
Real life doesn’t come from a textbook
1000 books with 1000 pages can be replaced with
a single device!
Strategies
• Google Earth
– Locate or plot Landmarks in DC
– The Great Migration
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Research where migrants from MS went
Union Station
What part of town were they likely to have lived?
Where were they likely to have worked?
What did they likely do for entertainment?
– Freedom Rides
Strategies
• Text or tweet content to a friend
• Jigsaw
– Expert Groups export to class
• Timelines with dipity.com
• Sheppardsoftware.com (geography)
Resources
• MAGNOLIA
– http://magnolia.mstate.edu
– http://guides/library.msstate.edu/magnolia
– Magnolia Password: magn0897
• Common Core Guide
– http://guides.library.msstate.edu/commoncore-magnolia
– http://corestandards.org
• Digital Collections
– http://digital.library.msstate.edu/collections
Resources
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65 Free Smartboard Resources
SMART Exchange
Wordle.net
Quizlet
Quia.com
– Rags to riches
– Battleship
History Resources
• Historypin.com
• Famous Moments in Early American
History
• icivics.org
Resources
• nationalatlas.gov
– thenationalmap.gov after Sept. 30
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Water conflict Chronology map
NY Times interactive map on immigration
Migrationpolicy.org
Forbes.com/special-report/2011/migration.html
worldmapper.org (cartagraphs)
Earthcam
National Geographic Supply Chain activity
Resources, contd.
• Steam for purchase of games at reduced
price