You don’t have to convince students at Maple Avenue Middle School that the ELA is real. Students in 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grades have recently taken the new English Language Arts examinations. The tests are designed to reflect the demanding state and national learning standards in reading, writing, listening and speaking that students are expected to learn at their respective grade levels. Although students were given opportunities throughout the fall semester to become familiar with these tests, one of the primary goals of their middle school education in English Language Arts is on expanding their knowledge to read to understand what texts are about, to explore the issues and ideas that are hiding in the texts they read, to see connections between seemingly contradictory ideas, to explain one’s thinking orally and in writing and to see the big issues in the world as complex and interconnected.

What’s been happening with the ACE Program at Maple Avenue Middle School to support students in their ELA achievement quests?

• Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Denny, Ms. Townsend, Mr. Zeh and Mrs. Karas worked with the ACE consultants to prepare classroom assessments that mirrored the state assessments. Test questions and rubrics based on classroom units were formatted to resemble the ELA.

• Mr. Hatlee’s eighth grade English class participated in a Socratic Seminar after reading the first part of the western classic, Shane. Students pondered questions such as, “How can a gun be both “beautiful looking and deadly at the same time?” or “Should American citizens have the right to bear arms?” The purpose of a Socratic discussion is to learn to read interpretively to pay attention not merely to WHAT an author says but to WHY he says it in the WAY that he does. Students learn to read not merely trying to recall what happens in a story, for example, to think about why things happen as they do. To further involve the students in critical reading strategies, students created cooperative plot graphs with partners based on the protagonist’s character attributes as a concluding activity. They looked for patterns of behavior and how the patterns interrelated within the novel.

• “According to Elizabeth Speare, what is a witch?” Interpretations articulated by seventh graders in Mrs. Davis’s English class’s Socratic seminar varied as students cited different evidence found in The Witch of Blackbird Pond to make their viewpoints more plausible.

• Middle school teachers say that reading is the number one activity for counteracting the poor grammar students experience daily on television, in movies, etc. The more “good” (e.g. rich and grammatically correct) writing students read, the more likely they are to absorb this language and use it correctly when they speak and write. Mrs. Herman’s class read Lois Lowery’s The Giver. Throughout the reading, Mrs. Herman scheduled cooperative activities so that students could share their thinking and as a culminating activity, the students participated in a cooperative activity, Corners. Students choose the “Big Idea” that they felt represented the theme of the novel from a list of five statements. In their groups, students had to defend their choices by citing quotes, acting out relevant scenes and/or by illustrating the idea.

· The Pearl by John Steinbeck offered Mr. Robinson’s eighth graders an experience to understand that sometimes the real power in conversation is in the mind of the listener. Students came away from several shared inquiry discussions realizing that often the words of the speaker matter less than the way you listen. They also practiced listening and note taking writing the right things down so that the information is useful and ready for responding to constructive response questions.

WHAT’S HAPPENING CONTINUED….

• In effective essays, writers try to keep the issue in question in the front of their minds; they don’t write everything about everything. Authors in Ms. Karas’s eighth grade English class discovered in a cooperative group activity that essayists use many of the same elements as good narrative writers as they ‘colormarked’ compelling topic sentences, leads, rich supporting details and satisfying conclusions.

• Big ideas came to Mr. Zeh’s eighth graders as they demystified the DBQ essay. In teams of two, students worked industriously to remove the guesswork from the task by analyzing and translating the verbiage into student-friendly language.

• Mrs. Bennett, Ms. Ogden, Mrs. Mooney, and Mrs. Wilder used a form of Socratic seminar with their language arts groups called Final Word Protocol. This discussion method develops the level of questions asked and the sharing of ideas on a particular story, article or poem.

• In preparation for the ELA, listening and writing skills were the focus of sessions with Teams 6E, Team 6G, Team 6F, Team 6B and Team 6D. Various strategies for developing these skills on the ELA were given such as note-taking and questioning skills were emphasized.

• Several challenging projects were completed in the area of science. Some of Mrs. McGee’s students took part in a global warming project and a rigorous astronomy unit. Mrs. Bennett’s science classes examined the evolution of the wolf to the dog. In these classes, using technology was a major part of these inquiries.

• Rigorous math resources have been supplied to Mrs. Schuff’s classes. These resources supplement the classroom work by allowing the students to explore different areas in mathematics by using technology available to the students.

• Team 6D sixth grade teachers have been quite busy planning and implementing a demanding enrichment and extension activity modeled after a mock trial. This trial is based on interpreting literature and has differentiated activities that engage all of their students. To supplement this unit, resources from the outside such as a court reporter, an attorney, and a state police officer were brought in to speak on our judicial system.

Data Driven Instruction:

With the high stakes testing in place in New York State, collecting data and using this information to drive instruction is critical to improving test scores in all schools. At Maple Avenue, data on identified A.C.E. students was obtained at the beginning of the school year and shared with all of the classroom teachers. In an effort to increase these scores, Mrs. Calhoun and Ms. Killeen have been assisting the teachers by providing rigorous experiences for the students in a myriad of approaches. The main focus of the consulting has been on the preparation of students taking the English/Language Arts examination at the end of January.

What can parents do to help their children?

According to Robert Marzano, author of “Classroom Instruction That Works”, there are essential elements that will directly result in higher results for students. Some of these elements are: identifying similarities and differences, summarizing and note taking, reinforcing effort and providing recognition, homework and practice, setting goals and objectives and providing feedback, using inductive and deductive reasoning, and developing questioning techniques.

When questioning your child about their schoolwork, ask questions that will make he/she compare the work that they are doing with something similar or something completely different. This will make your child think critically about the different aspects of both. Just asking your child to classify information will increase their knowledge about the subject.

Summarizing and note taking skills promote greater comprehension by asking students to analyze a subject and put it in their own words. Research shows that taking more notes is better than fewer notes, though verbatim note taking is ineffective because it does not allow for time to process information. Ask your child’s teacher to provide you with rules for summarizing and work with your child to create good summaries of a subject area that he/she will be tested on. This is a technique that will help your child for many years to come.

Reinforcing effort and providing recognition speak to the attitudes and beliefs of students. It is important for parents to show the connection between effort and achievement. Have your child keep a weekly log of his/her efforts and achievements and then ask him/her to reflect on this. Symbolic recognition of efforts and achievements works better than tangible rewards. Praise your child for his/her achievements.

Homework and practice provide students with the opportunity to extend their learning outside of the classroom. Research shows that parent involvement with homework should be minimal. Providing a “homework” space and allowing your child to take breaks about every 30 minutes will help to establish good work habits.

Questioning strategies and using inductive and deductive reasoning will help students clarify their knowledge. Research shows that these skills should be highly analytical and should focus on what is most important.

Web Sites for High Ability Learners

Math: National Library of Virtual Manipulatives

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

Science: Astronomy and Black Holes

http://education.nmsu.edu/webquest/wq/ blackhole_webquest/hole5.html

Language Arts: Excellent Study Skills Website

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/

Social Studies: Webquests for Various Levels and Subjects

http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/ education/projects/

Take Note

www.NationDeceived.org * The Templeton Report on Acceleration *

http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust
* An online report from The Education Trust about how some high schools accelerate learning for struggling students- highlight Reports & Publications *

www.getsmarter.org/mstv
* This website makes self-assessment for middle & high school students fun *

www.gifted.uconn.edu/parentws.html

http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/monthly/ mon. gifted.web.010100.html
* The NYS Education Department recommends that students read at least two books per month *

www.ala.org/ala/sc/alscresources/booklists/ Middle SchoolReads.htm

www.ala.org.ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/quickpicks/ quickpicksreluctant.htm

www.reading.org/resources/tools/choices_young_ adults.html

www.guysread.com

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey (This book pulls together sound, practical and proven advice for setting priorities and goals, building friendships, improving self-image, resisting peer pressure, getting along with parents, and much more)

ACE GOALS

One of the goals of ACE is to offer a challenging curriculum that addresses the interests and strengths of students within the classroom setting. You might ask, “How can this goal be realized so that instruction in the classroom is more intentional and effective?” The answer lies in the process of collaboration. ACE teachers, the ACE coach and the classroom teachers work together to design collective work to improve student learning. It’s a “we’re- all- in- this -together” process that also contributes to the strong professional learning community at Maple Avenue Middle School.

Congressional Science Fair

Competition

All Systems Go! These 7^th graders have been working diligently after school for many weeks on their project for Congressman Sweeney’s Science Fair. The ACE Team is modifying a remote car for the blind. “We wanted to make a car that a blind person can successfully ‘drive’ to work, to the supermarket, to his/her job and other close places. Some of the adjustments that we made to our cruiser are a door handle that stretches across the whole door, AI (artificial intelligence), motion detectors, a thumb scan pad, voice-activated heater and radio, etc.”

How do they like the challenge?

“ This project has really helped to stretch my thinking.” (MW-G)

“ I feel like I’m much more in-depth with my thinking. I’m thinking more about how much trouble blind people must have getting to different places.” (SK)

“It’s helped me think outside-the-box and think more about ways to help people.” (BC)

GO GIRLS!

TALKING ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL

It's never too early to start thinking about what comes

next. The High School Guidance Department has a staff of school counselors who will assist you in planning especially for accelerated courses. The counselors can help students understand themselves, their school and career goals by meeting with individuals or in small groups. Counselors are responsible for a student's overall educational program. They communicate with parents, teachers and other school staff to better assist in this process. Parents are encouraged to consult with their child's counselor for help with a student's adjustment to school, personal growth and development, program selection, career planning and information about colleges and scholarships. Course levels include advanced placement and college level courses, honors courses, and regent’s courses. Detailed information is available in the courses description guide available at

www.saratogaschools.org/hs

or calling the high school guidance office at 587-6690 ext. 3310.