“Show What You Know”
Creating Common Core Scholars
How to Accomplish: This program will require students to “Show What They Know” by standing and speaking
to an audience. They will learn to answer questions using complete sentences including Common Core
Academic Language. Shull staff believes that students who speak thoughtfully and thoroughly on a topic, can
then write convincingly. Writing will be the key to showing their learning on new Smarter Balanced
Assessments. Goals have been written for all grade levels and will be revisited each trimester in order for staff
to modify and adjust expectations.
Kindergarten: Students will first learn to introduce themselves to their class and others. By the end of first trimester
students will be able to identify the tasks they are doing such as rotation time or sharing. By the end of the year students
will be able to say the learning objective to their classmates, teacher or visitors.
1st Grade: Students will learn to stand and address an audience with a complete sentence. They will practice stating
learning objectives or answering content questions. Teachers will use sentence frames to support students and will call
on multiple students to repeat answers. Teachers will scaffold students with much modeling from students comfortable
with answering questions orally. “Show What You Know” will transfer well into the writing process as students learn to
talk about and write about a topic and details in complete sentences.
2nd grade: Students in 2nd grade will build on what they have learned in kindergarten and 1st grade. Teachers will
emphasize that students should use academic language from the Common core standards when they answer questions.
“Show What You Know” will transfer well into the writing process as students plan, talk about and write about a topic
and details in complete sentences.
3rd grade: Students in 3rd grade will be taught to state the question within their answers and to stay on topic using
complete sentences. Students will be able to stand and present, and plan and write explanatory compositions. They will
work to improve the verbs and quality of details in their writing. Students will learn to put hands down when someone
else is answering and to be active listeners. They will practice writing answers on white boards or on paper before
answering content questions.
4th and 5th grades: Students in upper grades will carry on all that is learned about “Show What You Know” in grades K-3.
Students will be able to answer questions posed by visitors about what content they have learned recently in science,
social studies, mathematics or English Language Arts. Students in 5th grade will be asked questions routinely as part of
spiral review of content. Additionally teachers will require students to problem solve and explain answers in depth. They
will go beyond “Show What You Know,” and ask students to “Persuade and Defend” their answers about Common Core
Content questions and in their writing (short answer and various essay types).
Benefits to Students: Students will learn poise, manners, confidence, and respect for others through the process of
standing and addressing audiences. Students will learn to identify and communicate lesson objectives and answer
Common Core Content questions in complete sentences. As students go through the elementary grades they will learn
to persuade and to defend their answers with facts and reasoning.