In my 3rd grade class we have been
learning about making connections about text to self, text to text, and text to
world. The post I chose to write about
discusses different ways to have students think about connections in their
life. The post was entitled “Making
Connections” on the Hello Literacy blog, written on October 7. The first thing it shows is a picture rubric
that can be used to assess whether the student made a meaningful/ thoughtful
connection or needs improvement. It is a
great visual for students to use in order to see if they are on track. After teaching a connections lesson to a
small guided reading group I found that this rubric would have been helpful to
show the students in order to give them a visual aid/ reference to go back to
when writing their connections. The post also gave a link to other rubrics
that teachers can use from the website Teachers pay Teachers. The website has a number of free and easy
downloadable rubrics for schools to use.
Below is the rubric I found on the blog.
The blog continues to talk about the importance of
connections and how it can help students see different perspectives and make
text meaningful to their lives. For
example, in my guided reading group we were reading a book entitled “Regina’s
Ride.” It was all about a girl and her
family going on a bike ride, but the brother wanted to play video games. Once we finished reading the book we talked
about possible connections. One of the
boys in my group started talking about how he loves playing video games and
does not like riding his bike. It was
clear he was able to make a text to self connection from the reading. When he was able to see a similarity he became
more interested in what he was reading.
The blog provided a lot of great resources that
teacher’s can use. It also linked to
other blogs that provided various ideas to go along with making
connections. It was really helpful
reading why making connections is so important and how to make it more meaningful
for your students. I would recommend reading the post and visiting the other
blogs mentioned in the post!
Becky,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about "Teachers Pay Teachers." I've known about the website for a while, but I've never taken the time to actually visit and explore the site. I really liked your post about the rubrics, and I think implementing one during guided reading is a really great idea. The rubrics can be used as a self-assessment for students and help them keep pace with their readings and assignments. Thanks again Becky!!!
-Chris
I have never heard of nor thought of using a picture rubric before so I am glad I read your post. I have always wondered about how to make my expectations and assessment of students accessible to younger elementary school students that can't read well enough yet and I think that this picture rubric idea would be a great way to do that.I think that such rubrics would also be great to use as Chris said for students as a self-assessment. I also think that placing the pictures up around your classroom would be a great visual reminder for students of what you are looking for. On a side note, I noticed that the picture rubric you posted has a scale of 1-4 and it reminded me of the new FCPS report card system. Do you think that this rubric lines up well with the new system?
ReplyDeleteHey Iman,
DeleteInteresting you picked up on that! It does seem to align with the new grading system. The kids in my class have used similar rubrics and seem to enjoy the 1-4 grading scale, it is a lot easier for them to see where they are rather than the complex numbers/ percents.
Hi Becky!
ReplyDeleteI recently saw this rubric on the blog and thought it looked interesting to use with kids. It seems like the categories and pictures are a great format for kids, and it is a style they can easily understand. I noticed too that it is a 1-4 grading system. I am wondering how well this could be incorporated with the new report cards that are rolling out. (I'm still somewhat confused by the whole system...report cards went home today from my school, so it will be interesting to see if parents are confused too!). Have you seen any of these rubrics used in your placement classrooms? I'd be interested to hear how they were received and what the kids thought of them!
~Janesa
Hey Janesa,
DeleteYeah the system is different, Loudoun uses it as well. I'll have to ask my teacher, but I think LCPS has used it for a while so the students seemed pretty used to it. We used a 1-4 rubric for a writing eval. The students did great and understood how to evaluate themselves with that grading scale, it was really interesting. This was my first time seeing it and it is confusing at first. It is basically 4=A 3=B 2=C 1=D/F from what I heard. It seems like a lot of extra work in my opinion, not really sure why they have chosen that particular grading scale.
The grading system is more of a skills based system. It breaks the content down into specific skills that students should know. This provides more information to parents as to what the child is doing well in and what he/she is struggling with. David got his last week. I tend to worry when I see a 2, although that is usually in the Social/Behavior area or on one specific skill. It will take some getting use to, but it does provide useful information.
DeleteDr. Sprague
Hello there Becky,
ReplyDeleteI loved the rubric you posted! In fact that is the main reason I choose to comment on your blog. It drew me in! I had never thought about using pictures in a rubric, but now that I have seen it, I think it should be done more often in schools. I think it can help students really understand the quality work they are to be turning in. I think that if the students help make the rubric and images, then it could even enhance their understanding of what is expected of them.
Also, I think it is great that you have seen the students really get excited and make the different connections. Text to self if one that students usually understand best and I think is what really keeps students interested in what they are reading! :) Thanks for sharing the ideas and resources!
Lacey