Creating High-quality Classroom Assignments

Creating High-quality Classroom Assignments
Author: Lindsay Clare Matsumura
Publisher: R&L Education
Total Pages: 178
Release: 2005
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781578862078

To support teachers in developing, reflecting on, and fine-tuning the assignments they create, this book presents a series of dimensions (or rubrics) with benchmark examples from elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. The purpose of these rubrics is to serve as diagnostic tools to assess the strengths and weaknesses of an assignment, as well as to guide the creation of new assignments for students.

Developing Assessment-Capable Visible Learners, Grades K-12

Developing Assessment-Capable Visible Learners, Grades K-12
Author: Nancy Frey
Publisher: Corwin Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2018-01-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1506390617

“When students know how to learn, they are able to become their own teachers.” —Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and John Hattie Imagine students who describe their learning in these terms: “I know where I’m going, I have the tools I need for the journey, and I monitor my own progress.” Now imagine the extraordinary difference this type of ownership makes in their progress over the course of a school year. This illuminating book shows how to make this scenario an everyday reality. With its foundation in principles introduced in the authors’ bestselling Visible Learning for Literacy, this resource delves more deeply into the critical component of self-assessment, revealing the most effective types of assessment and how each can motivate students to higher levels of achievement.

Ditch That Textbook

Ditch That Textbook
Author: Matt Miller
Publisher:
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2015-04-13
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9781946444257

Textbooks are symbols of centuries-old education. They're often outdated as soon as they hit students' desks. Acting "by the textbook" implies compliance and a lack of creativity. It's time to ditch those textbooks--and those textbook assumptions about learning In Ditch That Textbook, teacher and blogger Matt Miller encourages educators to throw out meaningless, pedestrian teaching and learning practices. He empowers them to evolve and improve on old, standard, teaching methods. Ditch That Textbook is a support system, toolbox, and manifesto to help educators free their teaching and revolutionize their classrooms.

Understanding by Design

Understanding by Design
Author: Grant P. Wiggins
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2005
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416600353

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

The Differentiated Classroom

The Differentiated Classroom
Author: Carol Ann Tomlinson
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2014-05-25
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416618635

Although much has changed in schools in recent years, the power of differentiated instruction remains the same—and the need for it has only increased. Today's classroom is more diverse, more inclusive, and more plugged into technology than ever before. And it's led by teachers under enormous pressure to help decidedly unstandardized students meet an expanding set of rigorous, standardized learning targets. In this updated second edition of her best-selling classic work, Carol Ann Tomlinson offers these teachers a powerful and practical way to meet a challenge that is both very modern and completely timeless: how to divide their time, resources, and efforts to effectively instruct so many students of various backgrounds, readiness and skill levels, and interests. With a perspective informed by advances in research and deepened by more than 15 years of implementation feedback in all types of schools, Tomlinson explains the theoretical basis of differentiated instruction, explores the variables of curriculum and learning environment, shares dozens of instructional strategies, and then goes inside elementary and secondary classrooms in nearly all subject areas to illustrate how real teachers are applying differentiation principles and strategies to respond to the needs of all learners. This book's insightful guidance on what to differentiate, how to differentiate, and why lays the groundwork for bringing differentiated instruction into your own classroom or refining the work you already do to help each of your wonderfully unique learners move toward greater knowledge, more advanced skills, and expanded understanding. Today more than ever, The Differentiated Classroom is a must-have staple for every teacher's shelf and every school's professional development collection.

Assessing with Respect

Assessing with Respect
Author: Starr Sackstein
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2021-03-24
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416629998

Learn how approaching assessment through the lens of social and emotional learning can help ensure fair, equitable assessment; enhance learning; and improve students' emotional health.

Assignments Matter

Assignments Matter
Author: Eleanor Dougherty
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2012
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416615091

What exactly is an "assignment," and why does it matter? How can educators ensure that their teaching meets the rigorous demands of the Common Core State Standards, so that all students are well prepared for college or careers? Drawing from her extensive experience as a teacher coach, author Eleanor Dougherty answers these questions and many more, with two aims in mind: (1) to guide teachers and administrators in crafting high-quality assignments, and (2) to help educators understand the powerful impact that assignments can have on teaching and learning. The book explains the critical differences among "assignments," "activities," and "assessments" and thoroughly describes the key elements of an assignment: prompts, rubrics, products, and instructional plans. Readers will learn how to * Follow a seven-step process for crafting effective assignments; * Link assignments to units and courses; * Devise "Anchor" assignments for collaboration and consistency across grades; * Tap into instructional "touchstones" that can enrich any assignment; * Create classroom and school environments that support assignment-making; and * Use assignments as a source of data about teaching and learning. Equipped with the knowledge and expertise gained from Assignments Matter, readers will be able to create meaningful learning experiences for their students and come to appreciate the author's belief that "assignments may well be the missing link in school reform efforts to improve student achievement."

The Reading Specialist

The Reading Specialist
Author: Rita M. Bean
Publisher: Guilford Publications
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2015-07-21
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1462521541

A trusted practitioner guide and course text, this book provides a complete introduction to the multiple roles of the reading specialist in grades PreK-12. Rita M. Bean offers evidence-based best practices for working with struggling readers; supporting teachers through professional development and coaching; planning curricula; assessing at the individual, classroom, and school levels; and building strong school, family, and community partnerships. User-friendly features include helpful classroom vignettes, questions for discussion and reflection, follow-up activities, and ideas for instructors and workshop leaders. Reproducible forms and worksheets can be downloaded and printed in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size. New to This Edition New overarching framework that connects literacy leadership more directly to classroom instruction and assessment. Links to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and new standards-based examples are included throughout. Expanded coverage of literacy coaching, middle and high school grades, and response to intervention. Chapters now begin with key questions and include annotated resources for further reading.

Formative Assessment Strategies for Every Classroom

Formative Assessment Strategies for Every Classroom
Author: Susan M. Brookhart
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2010
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416610839

This second edition gives you more than 60 tools--with tips and implementation steps--for creating and using formative assessments in every grade level and subject. --from publisher description