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This article speaks of how implementing the framework known as Environment as a Integrating Context (EIC) can help close the achievement gap for students and lead to deeper connections through all subjects. The framework focuses on using the surroundings, and community around the school as a basis for the education. Understanding that if students can connect knowledge to visual cues and surroundings that they see everyday, it will help in the long term memory of those lessons and a higher mastery rate. This framework in my opinion should be used for secondary education. I believe this because that particular age group will be able to connect what they are learning in other subjects through this framework and it would be extremely beneficial when it comes to the standardized testing.

This video provides an overview of the SIOP model sheltered instruction for English language learners.

Everyone's favorite math guru shares the top 10 ways you can enhance your students' math learning, test scores, and skills Several years ago, Michael, one of my third graders, wrote this in his journal: "I never used to look forward to math. All we did was add and subtract. This site offers a number of ideas that include how to teach writing in the math classroom.

This article argues that we, as a society, are misguided in our approach to teaching to the test, when it comes to critical reading. The author argues that it is not simply enough to teach reading strategies to students because research has demonstrated that there is an absolute necessity to teach context and content for essential background knowledge. This seems to stand in the face of the common tagline in education that it is not What we teach, but how we teach. To tackle this issue, it is recommended that teachers take a more curriculum based approach in reading tests. That is to say, that teachers don't simply choose texts arbitrarily, but rather, in order to teach to these high-stakes tests and core standards, that teachers very mindfully construct a curriculum which builds student exposure and study of key informational texts.

It is impressive to watch critical thought happen in a classroom. Through this link you are able to watch a lesson that helps students build higher order thinking skills. This middle school literature lesson brings in the ELA Common Core by teaching how to analyze how a section in text fits into the overall theme and to cite textual evidence to support analysis of text. Through student-driven questioning, the entire class is engaged in critical thinking, analysis, and evaluation. This outstanding lesson was driven by the teacher as she required them to develop higher-level questions using Costa's question levels, verb starters, and Blooms Taxonomy. I have not used this technique of providing these questioning terms to my students to have the them develop the questions. I cannot wait to try this out next school year!

This video from the Teaching Chanel highlights ways and the importance of creating higher order questions in order to analyze and discuss a text. This would be a great resource for my Smart Goal of With my SMART goal: by the end of quarter 1, 60% of students will score a 70% or higher on the Quarter 1 Literacy Assessment. The Quarter 1 literacy assessment is on theme, standard RL 4.2. Having my students become "the teachers" of their own learning and create higher level questions can help them get a deeper understanding of the text and in turn, determine the theme.

A doctoral dissertation about enhancing writing at the elementary level. Teachers used an intensive 9 week writing program and observed the effects on the students' writing performance. Learning gaps with writing is very wide and instructional changes are made in order to help students write better. Cross-curricular instruction with writing is also emphasized in this study.

This article attempts to explain reasons why students' writing suffers, why this has become a crisis in our society, and ideas about activities which teachers can have students complete in order to improve their writing quality. The article explains that most of the writing students are asked does not require them to revisit it or lacks depth. The writing activities suggested by the author, such as having students read aloud their work to peers or having students write rhetorical questions, will not only engage students but also require their careful thought and result in improved final drafts. Kristine and I are considering some of these ideas for our Data Action Plan. WEEK 9

This is a collection of instructional strategies that can be used to improve student writing and cooperation and encourage critical thinking. Links to strategies are sorted by teachers' needs: Monitor Progress, Compare and Contrast Ideas, Form Groups, Get Moving!, Work Together, Adapt Content, Share Ideas & Opinions, and Take Notes. Within these categories are several links to various strategies to meet these needs. Each of the links leads to a clear description of how the strategy can be used and multiple examples and clickable resources that can be utilized by teachers immediately. This site has a plethora of interesting activities and tasks for students to encourage better collaboration and thinking. An instructional gap our team recognized that is quite prolific among middle school-aged students is the lack of elaboration or explanation of details in their expository writing pieces. Students can organized paragraphs and essays write clear topic sentences and conclusions, but they struggle supporting their claims with specific details and then explaining how their details relate to the topic.

In this article, Dean breaks down the writing process for teachers. This resource provides educators with a comprehensive instructional guide for writing. In order to best fit instruction for our students, writing needs to be individualized and differentiated. Instructional strategies that are effective are based on the students' needs.

Teachers incorporate writing in math class to help students reflect on their learning, deepen their understanding of important concepts by explaining and providing examples of those concepts, and make important connections to real-life applications of the math they are learning. This page includes links to other writing resources.

This article provides detailed background information regarding explicit writing instruction, especially regarding students with special needs such as ADHD, but the strategies discussed can be adapted and used with all learners regardless of ability or grade level. The article begins with a focus on strategies for providing students with motivational contexts for their writing as well as making writing a routine that they enjoy. The rest of the article is divided into sections based on students' ability/age level (basic skills, revising and editing, and motivation). This article discusses strategies that can help address teachers address students' learning gaps in elaboration and explaining their ideas fully in expository writing tasks. Be sure to click "Single Page" at the bottom right of the article so you can see the entire article on one screen, and explore the links to the left of the article for more information about writing instruction for different populations!

The following is a pdf file about how to integrate writing into mathematics. It is a fantastic resource from the Michigan Department of Education that addresses integrating Common Core skills into every subject area.

This is a document provided by the NEA on how schools can improve students reading achievement in school. I like this resource because it breaks down steps school can use from teachers, students and parents to improve reading. It starts by discussing literacy skills taught in kindergarten and goes into talking about text meaning for older students. Great resource!

This article makes a very good argument for incorporating e-mail into the classroom to improve student writing. The author explains how students are often bored with traditional writing assignments and editing/revising sessions using Microsoft Word (even though this is technology, it is less interactive). The author explains how having a second party on the other end of the email who will be reading their work encourages students to carefully proofread and make edits/revisions as necessary on their own before sending the e-mails. Students were also more interesting in the authentic writing tasks that e-mail communication allowed (such as writing to professionals in their fields of study/interest and receiving real responses). The author gives a plethora of ideas for utilizing e-mail to improve student writing in various content classes, including Language Arts, Math, Foreign Language, and Social Studies. Kristine and I found this article and are hoping to work in this strategy/component into our Data Action Plan (although we previously did not list it as a strategy to help with our SMART goals). WEEK 7

Week 8, Kristine G and Danica J. This PDF offers lots of mini-lessons to help students write better. Considering the time constraints we have had this semester, these mini-lessons are perfect for a quick review or an introduction to a writing topic. These are also great for differentiation to be used as enrichment or remediation. Resource type: activity

Should also be tagged: "middle school" "high school" "secondary" and "lesson"