Meeting Norms and Expectations• Be punctual and prepared• Support each other by actively listening and staying

engaged• Stay on topic according to what is planned.• Bring positive attitudes and be ready to share• Feel free to ask questions (in the meeting, via e-mail,

or drop by the office).• Attend all NIET meetings, including makeup meetings

for any approved absences with appropriate notification.

Pflugerville High School School Goal

School Goal:

• By the end of the 2013-2014 school year, 75% of students will pass the writing portion of the state assessment.

• All courses will support meeting the school goal by incorporating writing opportunities into daily lessons.

NIET Goal (1st cycle)

• By the end of the semester, teachers will be able to demonstrate proficiency within the three domains of the NIET Evaluation Rubric through classroom observations.

Meeting Objectives

By the end of the meeting, the teachers will discuss various grouping strategies and use the Take Away worksheet to develop an activity for a future lesson that includes a grouping plan.

+ Warm up Let’s look at the following pictures and discuss these two

questions for each one.

What type of lesson or activity does each grouping lend itself to?

What might the roles of the group members be?

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Grouping Students • The instructional grouping arrangements (either whole class, small groups,

pairs, individual; hetero- or homogeneous ability) consistently maximize student understanding and learning efficiency.

• All students in groups know their roles, responsibilities, and group expectations.

• All students participating in groups are held accountable for group work and individual work.

• Instructional group composition is varied (e.g. race, gender, ability, and age) to best accomplish the goals of the lesson.

• Instructional groups facilitate opportunities for students to set goals, reflect on and evaluate their learning.

• The instructional grouping arrangements (either whole class, small groups, pairs, individual; hetero- or homogeneous ability) adequately enhance student understanding and learning efficiency.

• Most students in groups know their roles, responsibilities, and group expectations.

• Most students participating in groups are held accountable for group work and individual work.

• Instructional group composition is varied (e.g. race, gender, ability, and age) to most of the time accomplish the goals of the lesson.

Grouping Strips

Brad Pitt 1 Red r % A

Amy Pohler 2 White n h h B

Jay Lenno 3 Blue h h C

Robert Dinerio 4 Red / h D

Halle Berry 5 White r h E

Willie Robertson 6 Blue n % F

Meg Ryan 7 Red h h G

Activities and Materials Activities and materials include all of the

following:• Support the lesson objectives.• Are challenging.• Sustain students’ attention.• Elicit a variety of thinking. • Provide time for reflection.• Are relevant to students’ lives. • Provide opportunities for student to

student interaction. • Induce student curiosity and

suspense. • Provide students with choices.• Incorporate multimedia and

technology; and• Incorporate resources beyond the

school curriculum texts (e.g., teacher-made materials, manipulatives, resources from museums, cultural centers, etc.).

• In addition, sometimes activities are game-like, involving simulations, require creating products, and demand self-direction and self-monitoring.

Activities and materials include most of the following:

• Support the lesson objectives.• Are challenging.• Sustain students’ attention.• Elicit a variety of thinking. • Provide time for reflection.• Are relevant to students’ lives. • Provide opportunities for student to

student interaction. • Induce student curiosity and

suspense. • Provide students with choices.• Incorporate multimedia and

technology. • Incorporate resources beyond the

school curriculum texts.

Planning an ActivityBegin with a State Standard

English I

I.9C make subtle inferences and draw complex conclusions about the ideas in text and their organizational patterns; Readiness Standard (3)

Decide how you will assess the standardAt then end of the lesson, students will be given a piece of text with a series of

“clues” included. They will answer a question that requires them to put the clues together, draw a conclusion, and justify their answer with evidence from

the text.

Write an ObjectiveBy the end of class, the students will be able to analyze a passage or visual,

make inferences about the content, and justify their responses by completing an open ended response question.

Plan the Activity

Students will practice taking clues, provided by their partner, and draw a conclusion about the topic in which they fit.

What materials will be needed?

15 -20 topic cards/subject

Color coded for easy organization and clean up.

Elements of the ActivitySupports lesson Challenging Sustains St. Attention

Variety of Thinking St-St Interaction Curiosity

Multimedia/Technology Resources beyond text Game-like

How will materials be distributed? (Lesson Structure and Pacing)One person (the diamond) will collect the game packet from the materials table.

Plan the Activity continued…How will time be kept in the activity? (Lesson Structure and Pacing)

1 minute circle timer

How will the group transition to and from group work?

20 second circle timer

How will the students know the expectations for the activity?

(Managing Student Behavior)The activity is CHAMP – ed to provide students with clear expectations.

How do the students know what to do? How will this be modeled?

(Presenting Instructional Content)Students viewed a 3 minute video of the game show – 100,000 Dollar Pyramid

Students have a copy of the rules of the game in their game packet.

Plan the Activity continued…How will the lesson motivate students to learn?

The lesson is game-like.

The game provides students with opportunities for inquiry.

How will the teacher reinforce and reward effort?

The teacher will award effort with “One Point”

Verbal Praise

GroupingHow many students will

be in each group?

2

How many groups will be needed?

How will group composition be communicated?

Playing Cards

How will the student roles be

communicated?

Playing card suits

Game Instructions

Thinking and Problem Solving

How should the students be grouped?

Ability Age Gender Race

How will instruction be differentiated for students who have unique needs?

Modified Assessment

Modified Clue Cards

Teacher Knowledge of Students

What types of thinking and problem solving are present in this lesson?

Analytical (T)– Students have to evaluate the clues that are provided.

Draw Conclusions (PS) – Students have to draw conclusions based upon the clues that are provided.

Justifying Solutions (PS) – Students will justify their solutions on the assessment.

Take away…

Activity Grouping MethodHow many people will be in each of my groups?

How will I divide the students into each group?

What roles will the students hold?

How will I hold the students accountable?

Describe the activity.

Choose a lesson that you can create an activity for and complete the worksheet. Please return by November 1st.

Meeting Objectives

By the end of the meeting, the teachers will discuss various grouping strategies and use the Take Away worksheet to develop an activity for a future lesson that includes a grouping plan.