Core Content Coaching Social Studies Grade 7

Core Content CoachingSocial Studies Grade 7 Components of Effective Planning 1st 6 Weeks Texas History Units 1 & 2Arcs 1: Culture/Location and Place Middle School Austin Independent School District CRM TEKS Differentiation Text Selection Best Practice and Assessment

What you may need: • School Calendar/Yearly Itinerary (YI) • Curriculum Road Map (CRM) • TEKS/ELPS/CCRS • Adopted Text Book • A resource for quality texts • A resource for higher order question stems • Lesson plan template • Planning for Rigor Document • …and most especially, EACH OTHER!

Start with getting an overview of how much time you have….. YI We are working on Unit 1 and Unit 2, Arc 1. Yearly Itinerary information should be used along with school event calendar information to get an accurate picture of available instructional time.

Review CRM for Concept, Transfer, Enduring Understandings, Essential Questions, Units, Vocabulary, and Arcs, Resources… CRM Name and discuss each part.

Look at the TEKS verb, words, phrases… • Look at the TEKS being taught for the lesson, what students will need to know and be expected to do..... • What TEKS are going to be addressed during this lesson? • What academic vocabulary do students need to understand and use? • What words, phrases in the TEKS may not be understood by the students? • What guiding question(s) will facilitate understanding and mastery?

TEKS: Look at the TEKS verb, words, phrases… • Do students understand what they need to master? • Do they understand what the TEKS expect them to know and be able to do? • Do the students understand the vocabulary related to the TEKS? • After reading and discussing each TEKS, the student needs to be able to articulate what he/she needs to learn/do to accomplish mastery of the TEKS. (Then you as the teacher know that the student understands the TEKS and is knowledgeable of the task.)

TEKS: Look at the TEKS verb, words, phrases… • Think about what the student may now be wondering? Yes, you are competing with all these thoughts, but you must bring them back to your classroom, the TEKS being studied, what you are preparing to teach, and how the content will impact future learning.

An activity for students…(Your students would do this activity a different times during the lesson.) • Rewrite the TEKS we are working on in your own words. • List the assignments that we did for the TEKS. • Write the verbs from the TEKS you want to perform. • Using the assignments, discuss where we performed the verbs in a sentence or two. Explain what you learned based on the TEKS. Courtesy of Sean Piper, Gorzycki MS

TEKS continued… Why are we learning about Texas landmarks? Texas diversity? • Why do they need to acquire this knowledge? Why is it important? Students need to connect to/ and believe the information is important for them. Let them come up with some answers. You will need to have some ideas to support or supplement their answers in order to make the learning relevant to them. The answer will depend on the TEKS being studied. (Take a couple of minutes and talk to a partner about some possible reasons why students need to know about Texas landmarks, regions, and Texas diversity.) Answers can be simple: If I knew I was traveling in a desert region, I would want to make sure I had plenty of water (safety)… I would want to know where Texas landmarks are located so that I could visit them (entertainment)…I like to know what is in my environment (safety and knowledge)…I want to know what happened in the past (knowledge)… Learning about others makes us tolerant of others and their beliefs (culture)… It is important for our community, state, and nation to exist, prosper and grow to have knowledgeable and productive people who want to live and participate positively with others in the community, state, and nation.

Students will Know…Students Will Be Able to… • Read the Students Will Know… and the Students Will Be Able to… • Do these sections reflect what is in the TEKS? • How will your teaching help students access information? • oral language strategies • written response strategies • questioning strategies Discuss as a group, share with each other.

CRM Assessment Evidence: What formative and summative assessments will you use in your teaching to check for understanding? • Questions need to hit all levels when applicable • Knowledge level questions • Comprehension level questions • Application level questions • Analysis level questions • Synthesis level questions • Evaluation level questions Discuss in partners or in a group the formative and summative Assessments listed. Are there any you might want to add? What questions will you ask that addresses the rigor of the TEKS/SE? How will you extend the learning?

CRM: Models/Anchors of Support…., Instruction:… and Student Task… Your classroom needs to reflect the TEKS and what is being studied. Examples of Models or Examples of Support The TEKS studied need to be written out for students to see and connect to what is being studied. The textbook, other books/resources, websites, other books, newspapers, magazines, posters, word walls with academic vocabulary and supporting vocabulary, student work… Discovery Education Streaming, Teacher Read-Aloud… Take a couple of minutes to discuss each block as a small group/partners and share with each other. What will your instruction include? Interactive Student Notebooks, graphic organizers, collaboration: small group and partner work, shared and independent reading, research… • Task • The student task is aligned to the TEKS/SE • The task is differentiated (SPED, ELL) • Students are compliant with tasks • Students are on task and able to articulate learning • Students engaged and learning is student directed • Students are working as a class, small group, partner, individual.

CRM Planning Tools… An exemplar lesson will be linked for teachers to use. The lesson is in a portfolio. Open the portfolio using Acrobat Pro 9.

Evidence of Learning… • Students can explain the meaning of …and give examples of … using academic vocabulary. • Students can use the tools (maps…) to document their knowledge. • Students have high expectations for themselves to document their learning. • Students can explain and justify their mastery of the TEKS to the teacher and their peers verbally/writing/product. When students know what they are supposed to comprehend, they will be able to articulate when they have achieved mastery. Let them list the TEKS in their Interactive Student Notebooks (ISN)and write what they have learned that demonstrates this mastery. Students will have a documented list of their accomplishments to review. Use the Essential Questions.

Don’t forget ELPS, CCRS, and 21st Century Framework…. • ELPS These standards are required by law and are not only designed to make content comprehensible and develop academic language for ELL’s but support quality instruction for all learners in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. • CCRS These standards were approved in 2008 to ensure that Texas students are graduating from high school with all the skills necessary to be successful in college. These focus not only on content but the intellectual skills and underlying understandings of the structure of knowledge necessary to be highly equipped for post-secondary education. • Framework for 21st Century Learning This framework is designed to outline the skills, knowledge, and expertise students need to be successful in life, work, and globally. They focus on aptitudes such as, creativity, technology, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. The ELPS, CCRS, and 21st Century Learning are on the Exemplar Lesson.

Next Steps…. Continue the same steps for the next unit and arc….

Unit 2 : Texas GeographyArc 1: Geography, Economy, and Resources

7th Grade Unit 2 Arc 1 7.8 Geography. The student uses geographic tools to collect, analyze, and interpret data. • Review the TEKS, pick out words phrases students many not understand. • Review the Students Will Know and the Students will be able to… to plan your lesson. TEKSStudents Will Know Students will be able to…

7th Grade Unit 2 Arc 1 7.9 Geography. The student understands the location and characteristics of places and regions of Texas TEKS Students Will Know Students will be able to…

7th Grade Unit 2 Arc 1 7.10 Geography. The student understands the effects of the interaction between humans and the environment in Texas during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. TEKS Students will know Students will be able to…

7th Grade Unit 2 Arc 1 7.11 Geography. The student understands the characteristics, distribution, and migration of populations in Texas in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. TEKS Students will know Students will be able to…

Academic Vocabulary • Academic Vocabulary … 7th Grade • What guiding questions and/or stems are being used to promote the use of academic vocabulary? • Teacher provides questions to promote academic vocabulary • Teacher provided sentence stems • Teacher did not provide opportunities to use academic vocabulary • Use words in reading and speaking context. • Students draw pictures/use graphic organizers to support word meaning. • Students speak in complete sentences with meaning and understanding.

Elaboration • The teacher uses a system to help the students to make connections between the new vocabulary and their prior knowledge.

Elaboration

Enduring Understanding and Essential Questions The Big Idea Students will be able to answer these questions after this concept is taught.

Selecting just the right resources… • The Social Studies grade level textbook is a great place to start. • The CRM has resources listed under the Unit and the Arc. • Check out the Social Studies Website for more resources in your grade level. • The Library Services Media Center using IBISTRO: The Enclyclopedia Britanica and the World Book are online. Many other District licensed internet resources are also there, along with usernames and passwords, including Discovery Education Streaming. (Go the AISD website, type in IBISTRO, click on Portal Knowledge.) • The school library and if your school has one, the literacy library

Text Selection • There is a whole world out there of well-written, relevant, compelling juvenile literature, historical fiction, and nonfiction that are sources for critical thinking of depth and complexity! Don’t forget Texas historical fiction for teacher Read-Alouds to share with students. 2012 Lone Star Reading List 2012 Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Short Fiction and Nonfiction Texts AND Skills-Focused Questions from Center for Urban Education Higher Order Thinking Skills Question Templates

Planning is the Key… Planning Instruction: • Read your CRM as a whole document to get the gist of what students need to learn and you need to teach. • Read the student prerequisite statement for background knowledge. • Review the TEKS: Your lesson must be tied to the TEKS. • How will your students demonstrate (assessment) that they have mastered the learning? How will you know they have the Essential Understanding? Are able to answer the Essential Questions? • What strategies, best practices will you use to get the outcome of mastery from each of your students? • What differentiation accommodations will you need to add to your lesson so that all students meet the standards?

Addressing the needs of diverse learners…. • The first part of differentiating instruction involves: finding out where your students are starting in their knowledge base and anticipating areas where clarification may be necessary. There are formal and informal ways to acquire this information. • What background knowledge, prior learning, and habits do students need in order to be successful with the new concept? • What misconceptions need to be clarified before new learning takes place? • How will instruction be differentiated to address the needs of all learners? • At what level of proficiency (in English/prerequisite skills) are my students? • What supports/scaffolds would support the student understanding? • Who can I ask for help? The school SPED teacher, the District SPED office, ESL teachers at the school, the District Bilingual Dept. and of course the Social Studies Dept.

Best Practices applied to teaching and assessing Because Teaching and Assessing have a reciprocal relationship Plan your lessons with these questions… Best Practices: • How will the teacher model/explain clear expectations for the students’ learning? (Such as developing a criteria chart with the students) • What anchors of support can be created to help students in their thinking? • Which 21st Century Skills can be targeted? • How will students be held accountable for their new learning, as well as make their thinking and learning public? • How will accountable discussions and collaboration be encouraged in an atmosphere of mutual respect? • How will students be grouped for rigorous thinking (problem solving)? • What role might technology play in making the learning more accessible and at the same time, more rigorous?

Assessment: Check for Understanding… Assessment Formative-How will I know all students are understanding the new concept as it is being taught? Scaffolding- What adjustments/reteaching needs to happen as a result of misunderstanding? Summative-How will I know all students have mastered the new concept? (Performance tasks) How can the academic testing language be embedded into daily instruction and aligned To the language of instruction? How will the lesson build skills necessary for success on Performance Tasks?

Review: Clear Expectations • Knowledge and Skill Statement and Student Expectations posted and referenced in the classroom. • What models or anchors of support will we use? • How will students be held accountable for their learning and make their thinking public? • How will discussion and collaboration be encouraged and expected? • How will students be grouped for rigorous thinking and problem solving?

Gradual Release • I Do: Teacher begins with a question, problem to solve, or hook. Engagement • Read Aloud/Think Aloud/Questioning/Text Evidence • Teacher models performance task • We Do: Shared construction of task/task/facilitates class and small group discussion • Develop criteria/rubric for task • You Do: Students read / complete task independently • Judge task based on criteria or rubric

Student Engagement/Formative Assessment • Reading/Research on Texas Landmarks • Teacher High-Level Questioning • Collaboration, whole and small group work • Turn and Talk- How does the geography of the Mountains and Basins region impact the people who live there? • Think-Pair-Share/Write-Pair-Share/ISN reflection • Teacher Wait Time! • Exit Slips- List the major rivers of Texas.

Interactive Student Notebooks Students might: • Write reflections on how the culture of Texas is reflected in its symbols and landmarks. • Summarize what was learned about the geographic regions of Texas. • Explain the cause and effects in important events • Interpret maps, data, graphs about Texas regions • Keep graphic organizers • Illustrations on what was learned

Reminders: Repetition • The teacher ensures that the new vocabulary comes up many, many, many, many times. • Partner Practice/Quizzes • Games • Class and small group discussions

Active Use • The teacher finds ways to encourage the students to actively use the new vocabulary. • Correct the Teacher • “Give” the word to the student • Use vocabulary in writing tasks • Praise • Rewards • Remind students to use new vocabulary in speaking and writing • Word Walls/Banks

Encourage Writing • Expository: Factual writing, cause and effect, summaries, lists, outlines, note-taking for research… • Personal : Reflections on what was learned. Connections made to learning Encourage your students to write in complete sentences unless sentences are inappropriate for the task such as creating a list.

Next Steps • This concludes your planning for Social Studies Weeks 1 and 2. • It is a lot to think about, but after you experience it, it will go much faster and become a unconscious habit.

Core Content Coaching Social Studies Grade 7