Literacy Speaks Volumes

My ELAB team met today for our first in-service. One of the topics for our discussion was how to grade students in this class. Now, let me give you some background information: this is a new class that our district is implementing. ELAB is a Response to Instruction and Intervention class. I will be teaching writing, informational text, language, and academic vocabulary to leveled classes. Our report cards will still show two ELA grades. We agreed that the ELABS would do standards-based grading. Each product will be scored with one standard in mind. For example, writing standard 2a says, "Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; including formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful in aiding comprehension." In standards-based grading, students would write the introduction to a piece of writing and I would score it based on that standard. Now, I cou...

Along with formative assessment, Essential Learning Statements or Essential Learning Standards seems to be the newest buzzword for administrators and educators. But just because it is current or trendy does not necessarily mean that it is a negative aspect. One positive result of all of the newest focus on assessment-based practices is that I've become a better teacher because I've had to step back and really look at my curriculum. I'm not talking about the one that my school system has handed down. No, I'm talking about the one published by my state department of education that clearly states what will be tested this year. I've become something of a State Performance Indicator guru. Essential Learning Statements are just what they sound like: simple sentences in kid-friendly terms that state clearly what the student is learning that day. Tennessee State Performance Indicator 0701.1.1 states "identify the correct use of nouns (i.e. proper/common, singu...

When we return from the holidays, I'll be teaching "A Day's Wait"--a short story by Ernest Hemingway. The story is not particularly one of my favorites, and I'm skipping one of my favorites, "Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed" by Ray Bradbury. Unfortunately, the story by Bradbury doesn't focus on the tested skills that the story by Hemingway   does. I know I could make it work with the Bradbury story, but I'd have to create my own resources, and I'm busy enough like it is. So, like many things in education, I'm going to settle. I'm going to skip the story that would be more interesting and go on to the one that I can justify on my lesson plan. This is not going to be a post about lamenting the fact that our education system has become all about the test scores and less about good teaching. If you're reading this post, then you know the predicament that education is in~I don't need to beat that horse. This post is abo...