It is both an exciting and scary time in education. Having students back on campus and feeling a little sense of normalcy is exciting but seeing the regression in academics and social skills is a bit alarming. Effective AVID strategies have never been more important than they are now. However, with students struggling to interact with one another, some teachers have thrown in the towel when it comes to having students collaborate and learn together. On our middle school campus, we had to revisit, review, and recommit to our AVID ways, getting back to the AVID National Demonstration School status that we know all our students deserve. I expect this process to extend throughout the year; it is not a quick fix. But it is important, so we took WICOR one letter at a time, using the following tips/suggestions.
W: Writing
- Writing Wheel – Students receive a graphic organizer that looks like a wheel and each spoke has a sentence stem to help with writing each part of an essay (introduction, thesis, body paragraphs, conclusion). As a team, students divide the task. Each student is assigned to a spoke, and they work as a group to weave their parts together. Our students loved this activity, and it took the pressure off of each student having to create a long narrative alone. The share-out is especially fun for our students, and we let them find creative ways to read their collective narratives aloud.
- Short Answer Shuffle – Students choose an article to read (AVID Weekly is the perfect place to find articles). We like to offer five different articles to allow for student choice. Students read the article, then provided a short answer response. Their responses are placed in an envelope and turned into a student manager. All responses are shuffled and passed back out to the students. Knowing only the title of the articles, each student tries to identify which article the response was connected to. The students then write two Costa’s level three questions pertaining to only the information given in the short answer response. Each article is placed around the room on poster paper and when the questions are completed, students take their responses to the matching article. Students then move to the article they originally read and together, they attempt to answer the questions asked by their peers. It’s always amazing to see the high-level thinking that can come from this activity.
- Weekly Reflection – During our Panther Time (advisory), students have one day a week reserved for reflective writing. We noticed many students were overwhelmed by the workload given this year and they needed some time to reflect on their own feelings. Teachers modeled different styles and techniques for reflective writing, stressing there is no right or wrong way to write reflectively. This empowered students to take ownership of their thoughts about how their learning was progressing.
I: Inquiry
- Common Instructional Language – We know common language across content areas is key to moving students to higher levels of thinking and questioning, so each classroom has Costa’s three levels of inquiry posted in classrooms. Words like reciting (level 1), inferring (level 2), and hypothesizing (level 3) are used throughout the school, including during our morning announcements.
- Service Project – We have a grade-level service project competition each year in the spring. Students brainstorm and create proposals for the service project they want. Grade-level students vote on their top five, and then inquiry begins. Students develop questions and research to find the answers. A final vote occurs, and each grade level begins promoting their service project. We have a celebration at the end of the year to promote giving back to our community.
- Socratic Seminar – Students create high-level questions in preparation for a Socratic Seminar. To keep all students engaged in the seminar process, we have them take notes summarizing the big ideas as well as what each participant contributes.
- Challenge Cards – When a student answers a question based on what they’ve learned in class, peers can raise a challenge card to dispute what is being shared. There are sentence stems on the back of the challenge cards that help them dispute in an academic way, while also being respectful. One example is, “I understand what you are saying, but I see it as…”
- Prepping for Collaboration – Preparing students for how collaboration should look and sound has been vital this year. At the beginning of the year, teachers role played dos and don’ts for team time. Early on, the focus was setting clear expectations, and we had students practice without an academic focus to help them prepare.
- Team Titles – Schoolwide, we have started using common team titles during collaboration time. Common titles include Quarterback, Timekeeper, Quality Controller (Rubric Reviewer), Notetaker, and Summarizer. Each role is clearly defined with training provided at the beginning of the year. Conversation cards with sentence starters are provided to each team in advance so everyone knows what role they are playing throughout the collaborative process.
- Mystery Envelope – This is a strategy adapted from Kelly Gallagher. High-level questions are placed in envelopes and placed around the room. Based on the subject, we create questions pertaining to the skills we are teaching. Students are in collaborative teams and move around the room to each question. Each team uses a different color marker, and students write their answer at the bottom of the poster. The team folds the poster to cover their answer, taping it in place. After each team has rotated through, the tape is removed, exposing all answers. Answers are then shared out.
O: Organization
- Digital Planners – We created a Google Doc and shared it with all our students. In the Google Doc, teachers post students’ responsibilities that can be tracked in their planners. Tests and projects are highlighted, daily assignments are underlined, and things to consider are italicized.
- Binder Shake – Once a week in Panther Time, we play fun music and have a “Binder Shake.” This is a fun way to promote organization. After the Binder Shake, partners switch binders to make sure everything is organized.
- Interactive Notebooks – Focused note-taking is vital for students to process and organize their thinking and learning. Interactive notebooks are the perfect place to have students move through all five stages. We have students from our AVID Elective classes come teach our staff on how this should look in class and why it is important to them. This is always my favorite staff meeting of the year.
R: Reading
- Lexile Levels – In Texas, our students take the STAAR test. After meeting with some colleagues from another local school, we discovered the Lexiles for passages and questions asked on the test are at least one year more advanced than the grade level for each test. For example, the 8th grade STAAR has questions rated on a 10th grade Lexile level. This was an a-ha! moment for us, and we found ways to work with it. After students take the MAP test, we know their Lexile levels. When designing lessons, we now think in terms of Lexile levels, making sure the material we are putting in front of students has high Lexile levels. We love celebrating with students when they realize they have tackled a difficult text with a Lexile higher than their current instructional Lexile.
- “Two Sides to Every _____” – If students are learning about solar power, find an article arguing for gasoline. This isn’t about sharing an opinion, but rather exposing students to both sides of an argument/issue. Students can then debate the issue. To really push students’ thinking, have them argue for the side they disagree with. Students will need a lot of support with these conversations in the beginning.
None of these ideas are earth shattering, but hopefully there is a little nugget you can walk away with and implement on your campus. Socially, students are showing at least one grade-level delay in how they are able to work together after having a year with almost no collaboration. All of these strategies are designed to keep students working together, thinking together, debating together, and above all, moving forward with powerful AVID strategies!
