Thursday, June 20, 2013

Common Core State Standards Workshop at Vinalhaven School, June 16-19, 2013

Fifteen teachers of the Vinalhaven School, Pre-K to 12 including the principal met for a Common Core Workshop from June 16-19.



The staff looked at the instructional changes necessary for their students to succeed as citizens in the 21st Century.


Special Education Director, Dorothy Marecaux, met with the team during the afternoon and shared information on RTI and the special education process in Vinalhaven.





The Common Core focuses on success for all children.  In order to achieve this goal, the entire staff needs to collaborate and work together.  The teachers and administration began working on creating a structure to support this process - beginning implementation in the fall.


During the three days the team focused on three instructional changes:

  1. Increased reading of informational texts,
  2. Providing evidence when answering (either written or spoken) questions based on texts,
  3. Consistent use of appropriately complex texts.







Teachers broke into fluid groups over the three days in order to plan vertically as well as by grade level.  











 Kudos to all staff members for their hard work!!!

The students at Vinalhaven School will be well prepared for success in the 21st century thanks to their hard work and commitment.




Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Common Core State Standards are requiring students give evidence and explain their answers - spoken and written. Here is a good article to give perspective on the benefits of this process. Students will be assessed on this process on the CCSS assessments - coutesy of ASCD SmartBrief.


Why teachers should ask students to explain their answers
Teachers can help students learn by asking them to explain their work -- rather than memorize and repeat answers -- researchers have found. "We know generating explanations leads to better educational outcomes generally. When children explain events, they learn more than when just getting feedback about the accuracy of their predictions," said Cristine H. Legare, an assistant psychology professor and researcher at the University of Texas at Austin. Education Week (premium article access compliments of EdWeek.org) (6/5)Bookmark and Share