Creating rubrics with students

In 2012, representatives from the International Baccalaureate evaluated our Primary Years Program. Among the 52 recommendations that came from that report was the following:

"The school provides further opportunities for students to participate in the assessment of their work, help develop assessment tools, and reflect on the assessment of their work. The school continues to support students in documenting peer/self-assessment activities to enable them to reflect on these over a period of time."

When our school’s staff had a chance to reflect on the recommendations contained in the report, one staff member commented: “I know we can create a rubric with the students, but I struggle with the ‘how’.”

Assessment in the classroom will include, among other things, developing clear rubrics, (Making the PYP Happen, p. 45). In that document, a rubric is defined as, "an established set of criteria for rating students in all areas. The descriptors tell the assessor what characteristics or signs to look for in students' work and then how to rate that work on a predetermined scale. Rubrics can be developed by students as well as by teachers," (p. 49). 

Developing a rubric with students is important because they deserve to know the criteria on which their behavior, creations, performance, and thinking will be judged. When students have a hand in creating rubrics together with their teacher, they have a better understanding of what is expected of them and they also feel included.

One third grade teacher recently created a rubric with her students, outlining the expectations that they have for each other during "work time".

To begin, the teacher asked students to give her examples of "work time" that they had already experienced in third grade. Responses given included:

• Morning work
• Personal histories (unit of inquiry)
• Grit reading (independent work time)
• Portfolios

Next, the teacher set the purpose and explained what a rubric was with the following slides: 

To help guide their rubric creation, the teacher gave the students the criteria (focus & commitment, independent work/reading, small/guided reading group) and the predetermined scale (zones 1, 3, & 5). 

To create the descriptors for each zone, the teacher first asked students to identify exemplar behaviors for each category (Zone 5). Students were instructed to turn and talk with a neighbor to discuss ideas before sharing with the whole class.

Once students had collectively identified the behaviors that were favorable, students worked together to fill in descriptors for Zone 1, the behaviors to avoid. Again, students were invited to talk with a neighbor before a whole-class discussion ensued.

Finally students collaboratively thought about the kinds of behavior that one would exhibit to be in Zone 3.

Next, the teacher showed pictures of the students that she had previously taken during work time and asked the kids to place the students in the pictures in a particular zone, according to the criteria that they had just discussed. This practice allowed the teacher to formatively assess the students' understanding of the descriptors they had just created and would eventually be judged against.

Rubrics are important assessment tools and involving students in the creation of rubrics helps them better understand what is expected of them. After reading about how one third grade teacher created a rubric with her students, how could you or have you created a rubric with your students in your classroom?

Got Grit? Writing a conceptual statement with 4th graders

In her TED Talk, Angela Lee Duckworth describes grit as:

• passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
• having stamina.
• sticking with your future, day in, day out not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years and working really hard to make that future a reality.
• and living life like its a marathon, not a sprint.

As I was planning a learning engagement where students would be able to construct a conceptual understanding of grit, I originally had thought of reading them a picture book in which the main character perseveres in the face of adversity and eventually achieves a formidable goal.

But instead, I planned for students to play a counting game* so relatively difficult that it would be impossible for them to succeed. I imagined that this experience would allow students to demonstrate the necessary soft skills to succeed at any challenging task; in other words, I wanted students to show grit.

To add another dimension to the learning activity, I split the kids into two groups and led the game in completely different ways. With the second group of kids out in the hallway, I quickly introduced the game to the first group of kids, did not let them ask questions about the instructions, and showed great impatience whenever anyone made a mistake. As we played the game, students grew agitated and nervous and their performance reflected that. After five minutes, they hadn't been able to count past 17. Visibly frustrated, I told them we would have to give up because it was time for the second group to go.

When the second group returned to the classroom, I completely changed the way I acted and spoke. Adopting a growth mindset perspective (Carol Dweck), I clearly explained the instructions, asked them if there were any questions before starting, and showed great patience when the students made mistakes. I continually reminded them that the game was difficult and we might not reach our goal today, but we must work hard, remain focused and work together to see how far we could get. Every time a student messed up, we'd analyze what happened and make sure everyone understood the error so we could learn from the mistake. Within minutes, the kids exceeded the first group, reaching 22 before we had to stop.

To continue our investigation of grit, I had the class answer three questions using the visible thinking routine Chalk Talk (from Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison).

After students had the opportunity to discuss on paper, we synthesized their responses together by examining what everyone had written.

To provide students with one more concrete example of grit, I read Shel Silverstein's The Little Blue Engine (Where the Sidewalk Ends, p. 158), a poem that teaches the idea that when taking on a challenging goal, one must do more than just THINK you can.

Finally, I asked the students to consider the game, the responses to the Chalk Talk questions, and the poem as they came up with a single statement summarizing what they should do when they face a challenging goal. 

Each color represents an additional idea students wanted to add to the statement, which started with "Keep on trying". After students were done collectively editing and revising their statement, we tested to see if it was Timeless, Abstract, Universal, and Transferrable.

After reading about how students in fourth grade wrote a conceptual statement, synthesizing what they had learned about persistence, resilience, and grit, how could you lead your students through an investigation that would allow them to construct understanding of this complex concept?

*For those who are curious, the seemingly impossible game we played was Buzz. To play Buzz, students take turns counting in sequence out loud. Each player says one number. Every time a particular number comes up (see which numbers below), the student says "buzz" instead of the number and the order reverses direction. For the version we played, students needed to "buzz" on the following numbers:

• numbers with a 7 (7, 17, 27, 37, 47)
• numbers divisible by 7 (7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49)
• numbers with a repeating digit (11, 22, 33, 44)

The game is "won" when the group reaches 50. Every time someone makes an error, the group must start over at 0.

Visible Thinking ROUTINES

The book Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison is chalked full of thinking routines that can be used with students of any age, with any content to get their thinking visible.

Making students' thinking visible benefits everyone involved. When students are able to think about what's going on in their own heads (metacognition), they begin to actively take responsibility for developing conceptual understanding, instead of passively depending on teachers to provide them with information. 

Seeing students' thinking also is beneficial for teachers. When we are able to see how students are thinking about the key and related concepts of subject matter, we're able "to confront students' misconceptions and design experiences to advance their understanding," (p. 27 of M.T.V.). To confront students' misconceptions, we must give them appropriate, effective, and immediate feedback that will push their understanding further and deeper.

When learning about Visible Thinking Routines though, teachers often focus on the importance of making students' thinking visible and they miss the fact that these tools and structures are meant to be routines that should become patterns of behavior. On his site, Ron Ritchhart, defines Thinking Routines as "patterns of behavior adopted to help one use the mind to form thoughts, reason, or reflect. We see these patterns emerging as the routines that are used over and over, becoming ingrained in us, both teachers and students. Once these routines become second nature, flexibility can emerge."

One particular fifth grade teacher understands the importance of using a thinking routine over and over again. Recently, during the summer session, this teacher used children's books as a way to help students construct understanding of the PYP attitudes. To help make sense of what was going on in the texts, the teacher used the 4C's thinking routine (p. 140-146 in M.T.V.), where students read a text and identify connections, challenges, concepts, and changes (for more information about the 4C's thinking routine, check out this post dated May 1, 2014).

During the first week, the teacher read the text Officer Buckle & Gloria by Peggy Rathmann to the students and completed the 4C's as a whole group.

As the class continued to read about, investigate, and construct meaning of the PYP attitudes, they also continued to engage with the 4C’s thinking routine. It was the teacher's hope that the habitual use of the 4C's would allow the students to get used to the activity so that it would become routine.

After using the 4C's multiple times over the course of four weeks, the students collaboratively used the thinking routine one last time as they read The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland, a text that focused on appreciation.  As they progressed through the 4C’s, the concepts section still seemed to be the hardest for the students to grasp, but the teacher was encouraged by the student work that was completed following the reading of the text.

After reading about how one class of fifth grade students used the 4C's thinking routine over and over, until it become ingrained in both teacher and students, how have you or could you use a routine over and over again until it became second nature to you and your students?

Kindergartners and the research process

Students who are in their final year of the Primary Years Program are expected to carry out an extended, collaborative inquiry project, known as the exhibition.

The exhibition represents a significant event in the life of both the school and student, synthesizing the essential elements of the program and sharing them with the whole school community. It is a culminating experience marking the transition from PYP to further steps in education (information on exhibition taken from the IBO website).

All teachers at every grade level have a responsibility to prepare our students for exhibition. Recognizing this responsibility, one kindergarten teacher recently e-mailed me:

"I am wondering if you have any good ideas for the process of doing mini research projects in kindergarten. Today my kids came up with questions they have about animals. They all start with “I wonder…” The questions are like… I wonder why skunks stink. I wonder what elephants eat? I have done this in the past and find that I have to do all the research since the kids can’t really read well enough to do research. Usually we look things up together on National Geographic kids or other sites. Any other ideas?"

Below are samples of some of the students' questions.

"I wonder why does a skunk stink."

"I wonder why do snakes bite."

"I wonder why a whale shark is so big."

"I wonder why a zebra has a tail."

"I wonder why do giraffes have a long neck."

"I wonder why does a lion have claws."

"I wonder if a snake can get married."

"I wonder if a fish has families."

"I wonder how elephants eat."

"I wonder why zebras have stripes."

"I wonder why does a raccoon have stripes."

"I wonder why an arctic fox is white."

The next day, the kindergarten teacher and I chatted about the Research Process that we follow at Kaposia: Plan, Gather, Organize, Share, and Evaluate. Question generation is a part of the Plan phase of the process.

As we reviewed all the questions together, we realized that no two questions were the same. We felt that if we sought to answer every specific question with the kids, students would learn lots of random facts, but wouldn't have the opportunity to construct conceptual understandings. 

To focus on the concepts behind the questions, we decided that it would be best to sort the questions with the students to make their thinking visible and to find the BIG IDEAS. As I left the planning meeting, the teacher was going to continue the activity later in the week, so I forwarded her some helpful sites from the San Diego Zoo where they could gather information as they continued the research process.

The next school day, I received this inspiring communication:

"I couldn't wait until Friday to try to see if the kids could put the questions into categories because they were wondering what we were going to do with the questions, so I did it with them today. It was so interesting.

I guided them in the process but they really picked up on it quickly. One said we should call the category for, "Why do snakes bite?" "action" because biting is an action. Then we came to why do skunks stink and one girl clarified that skunks don't stink; they spray and it stinks. The "action" kid made the connection that it is an action to tell you to stay away just like the biting, so we changed the name of the category to "actions that tell you to stay away." I couldn't believe someone put that together!

We had the question, "why are whale sharks so big?" and the kids were saying that we should put that into the body part category, but a kid said no, that is size not a body part. I was impressed he came up with the term, size!

The girl with the question, "can snakes get married?" clarified that she doesn't mean can they have a wedding, she means do they stay together like they are married (I understood that she really meant do they bond for life, or bonded pair) so I lead that into questioning animals that live in packs or alone. We called the category, "Animal families."

I was so surprised by how they did with it. We have been doing comparing and contrasting with language arts and I really saw them carry that over. Thank you so much for the tip to organize the questions that way.

So our categories are:

• Size
• Color (why do animals have stripes, etc)
• Parts of the body (why to giraffes have tails, etc)
• Actions that tell you to stay away
• Eating
• Animal families (can snakes get married?)
• Animal language (can snakes talk to each other?)"

Now that students will be able to focus on the big ideas related to their animal inquiries, they are ready to start gathering information. In order to research, the kindergartners will team up with their 5th grade reading buddies to investigate a particular animal's size, color, body parts (all adaptations), actions that tell you to stay away (defense), eating (diet), animal families (community), and animal language (communication).

As students gather new information, they will organize it in a way that they can easily share it with others. Finally, students and teachers will have to evaluate the process, reflecting on what went well and what should be changed in the future.

After reading about how a kindergarten teacher is leading her students through the research process, how can you or have you lead your own students through this easy-to-follow, five-step research process?

Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate

They're at it again!

I have now twice (April 25, 2014 and March 28, 2014) written about teachers in my school using the Visible Thinking Routine Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate (Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison) as a way to help students uncover and organize prior knowledge to identify connections.

In first grade, teachers used this Thinking Routine to help invite their students into the unit of inquiry Sharing the Planet. Students will investigate the changes that animals experience throughout their life cycle. Part of the invitation step in the inquiry process is to pre-assess what students already know, understand, and can do prior to the study to help plan and guide further learning.

Teachers began the thinking routine letting their students know that they were interested in seeing and hearing the students' thinking about livings things.

Students then generated a "collection" of living things, writing and drawing on slips of paper.

Together, students sorted the living things into categories that they created. Students were asked to explain their thinking throughout the sorting process. After the categories were established, the class labeled their categories.

Next, students made connections between the groups, again being asked to explain what they were thinking. Finally, students elaborated on their groups, by adding other living things to the categories they had previously established.

It should be noted that during this process, as students made their thinking visible through their explanations, many interesting ideas and misconceptions were brought to light.

Is a rock a living thing?
How about water?
What about love?
How about blood?
What makes a living thing living?
Should a shark go in the same category as a whale and a dolphin?
Is a dinosaur living, if there aren't any living now?
Should we sort animals by what they eat or by where they live? Or perhaps by how they act?

As students explained their thinking, teachers made mental (or in some cases written) notes on what their students were saying. These notes will help teachers plan future learning engagements.

Below are the products of the Thinking Routine Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate from different first grade classrooms. Note that each one is different, because it was constructed by the particular students in each of the different classrooms.

This is the same Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate as above, just a couple of days later. The pink panda paper in the upper right corner of the picture is research that a student completed at home on her own without any teacher direction. Also, note the difference between the two pictures, especially the number of connections students made between the groups.

Note how the students basically crafted the central idea of the unit of inquiry in the middle of their sort.

"Love" made it through the first round of the sort, as did water. In this version, those items were taken off.

  

After reading about how first grader teachers used the Thinking Routine Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate to invite their students into the unit of inquiry about changes and cycles, how could you or have you used this Thinking Routine with your students?

Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate

On Friday, March 28, 2014, I wrote about how first grade students made their thinking about rocks visible using the Visible Thinking Routine "Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate" from the book Making Thinking Visible by Ritchhart, Church, and Morrison. Here is the story of how second graders used that same routine to make their thinking about heroes visible:

For the last several weeks in second grade, students have been investigating how people influence the world. They have been inquiring into the characteristics of a hero as well as particular people who have made a difference in the world.

Throughout the inquiry, students continuously generated a list of influential people as they read, listened, learned, and discussed different heroes.

Toward the end of the unit, as a way to synthesize all they had learned, their teacher led the students through a learning engagement where students had to sort the influential heroes into particular categories that the students created. Some of the categories the students thought of matched categories we all would think of, when thinking of heroes: inventors, scientists, presidents, writers.

The students also sorted their heroes into less-conventional groups: risk-takers and speakers.

As students were grouping the influential people about whom they had learned, they started forming a group that they couldn't name. As the students struggled to identify a singular word that would help identify the unifying characteristic that all the individuals in the group shared, they came up with the phrase "Treated Unfairly".

However there were some "heroes" that students were planning on putting in that group, who weren't treated unfairly. That phrase described some, but not all, so they still needed another group! Students continued to struggle to identify a singular word that would help name that particular group of people, although they knew that there was something special about this group; they were all good people, hard workers, who tried to make a difference for other people, other humans. At this point, the teacher intervened and introduced the word humanitarian to the students.

As the students sorted their heroes into the categories they had established, they quickly realized that certain influential people easily belonged in multiple categories. Their teacher suggested they add those individuals to as many groups as was necessary.

Then, the class connected those heroes who showed up in different categories. On the lines that they used to connect the heroes in the different groups, the students wrote character traits, which often were the PYP attitudes (e.g. independent, confident, creativity) and attributes of the IB International Learner Profile (e.g. knowledgeable, thinker, risk-taker).

Now that students had generated a list of influential people, sorted those individuals into groups the students identified, and made connections between the groups with character traits, the teacher could invite students to continue learning about other heroes that might fit into those categories (elaborate).

"What other presidents could we learn about?"

"Are there other risk-takers that influenced the world that we haven't learned about yet?"

"Where could we find more information on different humanitarians?"

This invitation to students to reflect on their learning and to choose how they'll continue learning will increase the likelihood that students will engage in thoughtful and appropriate action.

After reading about how 2nd graders made their thinking visible about the heroes they were studying, how could you or have you had your students make their thinking visible with the Visible Thinking Routine "Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate"?