PARCC Place is an

excellent place to find all the

information you will need for

Spring Testing.

There you will find detailed

information for

• Administrators and Test

Coordinators

• Teachers

• Parents and Families

You will find parent and

family resources as well as

student resources that are

excellent to share to support

their understanding of the

tests.

All the dates for testing can

also be found on this page.

PARCC Testing Information

PARCC Fully Meets Federal Guidelines Another update from D.C.

that’s important to share is

that the U.S. Department of

Education recently

completed its peer review of

PARCC.

PARCC is now the first and

only large-scale summative

accountability assessment to

fully meet federal assessment

guidelines.

This is an extraordinary

moment for Illinois, as our

state remains committed to

using the highest-quality

assessment design.

Illinois educators were

instrumental in establishing

PARCC as the highest-

quality assessment and they

are critical in leading the

future assessment

development.

Excerpt from:

Weekly Message - State

Superintendent Tony Smith,

Ph.D. - Jan. 16, 2018

February 2018 Volume 6 Issue V

The Teachers’ Newsletter

from Illinois Classrooms in Action Grade band lessons, ideas and information

February Focus: Assessment

Inside this issue:

ELA 2

Math 3

Science 4

Social Studies 5

Learning Support 6

Published monthly by

ISBE

Content Specialists

Th

ird T

hro

ugh

Fifth

Gra

de

It was time for an update!

Capture the Core is now The

Teacher’s Newsletter from

Illinois Classrooms in Action.

The content will continue to

focus on grade band specific

information to support

classroom teachers.

In addition, we will have a specific

focus in each issue, to target your

grade band level concerns and

make it easier to search back

issues for specific topics.

Thank you for all your dedication

to our students.

-ISBE Content Specialists

New Name, Same

Great Content

TESTING DATES

CHART

When incorporated into

classroom practice, the

formative assessment process

provides information needed

to adjust teaching and learning

while they are still

happening. The process serves

as practice for the student and

a check for understanding

during the learning process.

Formative assessment in

writing to teachers has

typically placed a spotlight on

teacher feedback through

written annotations and/or

oral comments. Too often,

students tend to correct only

those specific errors or

directions that are noted

without taking the steps to

revise the draft (Beach &

Friedrich, 2006; Fisher &

Frey, 2007), resulting in no

real improvement in the draft.

These researchers

recommend providing

feedback through modeling of

metacognitive processing and

carefully focusing feedback in

written and oral comments on

students’ understanding of

writing development. They

emphasize that conferences

about writing drafts should end

with a written plan of action.

draw to demonstrate their

understanding of the topic or

target question in their area

of the placemat. They then

share what they have written

or drawn with the other

group members. After

everyone has finished sharing,

students discuss the

information and come up

with two or three main ideas.

They write these ideas in the

center of the paper and share

them with the rest of the

class. An analysis of the

The placemat strategy is an

enjoyable activity for students

and provides teachers with

information about their

current level of understanding.

Provide each group of four or

five students with a large sheet

of paper. In the middle of the

paper write the topic or target

question. Students divide the

paper up so they each have a

section to write in and there is

room in the middle to

summarize their responses.

Students individually write or

placemats provides you with a

glimpse of what the students

have learned so far in the unit.

For additional formative

assessment strategies, click

here.

Formative Assessment in Writing

The Placemat Strategy

“The first

fundamental

principle of

effective

classroom

feedback is that

feedback should be

more work for the

recipient than the

donor.”

Dr. Dylan Wiliam

Page 2 ELA

Grades 3-5

Inside-Outside Circle Strategy

The inside-outside circle is a

strategy that can provide you

with information about student

learning. Divide your students

into two groups. One group is

the inside circle and the other

group forms the outside circle.

Students pair up with other

students in the opposing circle

and face one another. The

inside circle begins by

responding to a question or

statement provided by the

teacher. After a set amount

of time--perhaps a minute or

two, students reverse roles

and the outside partners

respond. While students are

responding, circulate around

the circles and listen to

comments and explanations

being shared. This

information will help guide

further planning.

PARCC has just released

another set of items for

teachers to consider for

instructional use. This

newest batch of items were

live items that were used on

the 2017 assessment and

chosen for release to

provide educators with a

wide variety of item types,

functionality, and content.

The 2017 released items are

being housed with the 2016

and 2015 items in the new

location of https://parcc-

assessment.org/released-

items/

You can still access the

PARCC practice tests here

at https://

parcc.pearson.com/practice-

tests/

These items are an

invaluable tool for the math

classroom. Here are some

ideas for how to use them.

#1. Instructional Tasks:

Use these items as

problems for a math talk, a

station, or for group work.

Pose the problems and

encourage students to

defend their answers

providing the opportunity

for discourse in the

classroom and rich

mathematical conversations.

These discussions nurture a

deeper conceptual

understanding and often

clear up misunderstandings

held by your students.

#2. Assessment Items:

Consider using these

released items as test or

quiz questions on your

assessments. Use PARCC-

like language and model

your assessments after the

PARCC assessment. Not

only is it a high-quality,

research-based assessment,

but by embedding these

types of questions into your

regular instruction and

assessment, students will be

familiar with the structure

and language of the PARCC

assessment when they take

it in the spring. Information

from your classroom

assessments can be used as

indications of what supports

the students still need to

demonstrate understanding

of the standards.

#3. Professional

Learning: Every educator

should take the PARCC

practice test and review the

released items. This allows

educators to experience the

language and structure of

the test questions firsthand.

It also provides some insight

as to what is expected of

their students. Sometimes

we have a misunderstanding

of the standards or our

curricular materials mislead

us as to how our students

should be interacting with

the content at their grade

level. PARCC is diligent

about aligning their items to

the full intent of the Illinois

Learning Standards. Closely

examining the released

items and the practice tests

provide insight for

educators as to exactly

what mastery of the

standards looks like at each

grade level.

Avoid spending the weeks

leading up to the PARCC

test cramming or over

practicing. By intentionally

embedding quality items

into strategic moments of

your instruction, you can

prepare students without

spending quality

instructional time on test

prep.

Using the PARCC Released Items and Practice Tests

“In order to write

about

mathematics our

students must

talk about

mathematics.”

~Sharan Rak,

Illinois Educator

Mathematics Page 3 Volume 6 Issue 1

Grades 3-5

Grade 4 Example

The Concord Consortium

has partnered with Michigan

State University and The

University of Illinois at

Chicago to create Next Gen

Science Assessment, an online

interactive NGSS assessment

exemplar. Sign up for a free

account to review task items

at https://ngss-

assessment.portal.concord.org/

This Short Performance

Assessment from SNAP is

meant to be used at the end

of a lesson to address an

NGSS Performance

Expectation. This SPA

measures students’

understanding of magnetism,

access it at https://

drive.google.com/file/

d/0B7wHekJxyLeyUXFZOU1

uVVNkMlU/view

Interactive, Aligned NGSS Assessments at Concord.org

SNAP Sample: 3rd Grade Physical Science

Stanford NGSS Assessment Project

The team at SNAP provides

an excellent resource for

educators looking for aligned,

three-dimensional NGSS

assessment examples. In

addition to grade banded

examples, they provide

research papers and

professional development

materials. Via https://

snapgse.stanford.edu/

"Equipped with his

five senses, man

explores the

universe around

him and calls the

adventure

Science."

Edwin Powell

Hubble

Page 4 Science

Grades 3-5

A great way to get students

out of their desks and moving

is the four corners strategy.

Some students learn better

when they are moving so this

strategy appeals to their

learning preference. In

each corner of the room,

provide a label. Label one

corner, “Strongly Agree,” one

corner, “Agree,” the third

corner, “Disagree,” and the

final corner, “Strongly

Disagree.” (Instead of words

pictures could be used such

as thumbs up, thumbs down,

thumb in the middle). Call

out a fact or statement about

a social science text. Students

should go and stand in the

corner that matches their

response. Encourage students

to share their reasons for

choosing the response. Have

one or two students from

each corner share their

answers with the rest of the

class. While listening to the

students as they discuss their

reasons and share them with

the class, the teacher is

provided with information

that can guide future lessons

response. Then have a

discussion about the correct

response and why it is the

correct response. The

teacher will then model

reading directly the part of

the passage to prove the

answer. After multiple

experiences with teacher

modeling students could

independently find the

support in the text. Students

Red/Green Signal Cards:

Students have two signal

cards. One is red and one is

green. The teacher asks a

question from the Social

Science text and calls on a

student for a response.

Students will raise the green

card if they agree with the

response or the red card if

they disagree with the

can be in a whole group,

small group, in pairs or

assessed independently with

this strategy.

Assessment of Student Understanding

Formative Assessment Strategy: Red/Green Signal Cards

Formative Assessment Strategy: Agree/Disagree

the main idea. As ideas are

pulled out of the bag, have

students agree or disagree.

Students can agree or

disagree by raising their hands

or by walking to one side of

the room or another that has

“agree” and “disagree” signs

posted. Students must be able

to support their decision with

a reason. Student can make

their own bag with a main

idea and details (Harvey &

Goudvis, 2000).

Agree/Disagree:

Tell students what the main

idea is of an informational

text about a topic such as

community me. Have that

main idea written on a lunch

size bag. Provide strips of

paper with details on them

inside the bag. Ensure that

some details are provided

that do not belong or support

The more you teach

without finding out

who understands

the concepts and

who doesn’t, the

greater the

likelihood that only

already-proficient

students will

succeed.

Grant Wiggins, 2006

Social Science Page 5 Volume 6 Issue V

Grades 3-5

Community

members

include...

Comprehensive System

Of Learning Supports

Check us out on the web:

Illinois Classrooms in Action

Student Voice in Assessment

How can we develop partnerships in assessment that lead to empowered autonomous learners?

Choosing the assessment method could be negotiated and broadened beyond the traditional written

account to include methods that give educators confidence in the abilities of their students. The

main concept of Student Voice is the communication of student feedback to educators. Feedback can

assume a great variety of forms, and effectiveness of different feedback methods may vary. Findings

suggest that the use of digital technologies in Student Voice context is likely to be highly effective

due to the overwhelming positive attitude of students towards these tools.

The dialogue between students and educators should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to explore understanding and conducted so that all learners have an opportunity to think and to express their ideas.

Assessment feedback should be about particular qualities of work, with advice on what students can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons with other students.

For formative assessment to be productive, students should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve.

Zou, D. and Lambert, J. (2017), Feedback methods for student voice in the digital age. British Journal of Educational Technology,

48: 1081–1091. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12522

Strategies for Student Voice in Assessment

Prediction—When students predict, they

connect what they already know with

text or visual information. This is a

form of activating themselves as

learners and taking more

ownership of their learning. They

also have the opportunity, after

learning, to check their

predictions and verify those that

were correct and those that were

off, as well as the whys for each

position. As a formative assessment

strategy, the teacher could use “check

in” to note what students know and

identify potential misconceptions before

getting started, and then again at the end.

•Anticipation Guides (k-5)- http://bit.ly/2DZcT7a

•Anticipation-Literacy(6-12)http://bit.ly/2E06XuF

Admit Slips—Admit Slips are similar to Exit Slips,

but are done prior to or at the beginning of

instruction. Students may be asked to reflect on their

understanding of their previous night's homework,

reflect on the previous day's lesson, make comments

about the material being studied or answers

questions. Admit slip responses can be presented in a

variety of formats depending on personal preferences

and/or class needs. If admit slips are used as part of

cooperative or collaborative learning, students develop

some motivation for completing the slips.

•My Favorite No—http://bit.ly/2DWK5fr

Collaborative—Formative assessment in a

collaborative activity can be both teacher

observational data and student/peer self

assessment of skills. The skills assessed

in a collaborative activity can not only

be the content area standards, but also

social and emotional standards that

students need to be successful in

college and careers. Rubrics and other

forms can be used for teacher

observations and student self

assessments of their skills and abilities.

•Peer Assessment Rubric- http://

bit.ly/2DXXQdS

•Collaborative Rubric—http://bit.ly/2DXyzQW

Invent the Quiz- Students get excited when they

help you with test questions because they feel like they

have inside information! Instructions: Teachers ask

students to prepare problems to create a summative

assessment of the content being taught. Students

model problems after their homework or class work.

The students must solve peer’s problems and return

them to their teachers for evaluation.

Based on the quality of responses from the students,

teachers may choose to use the problems for a quiz, an

in-class game or contest, or to create a summative

assessment. Regardless of how the student-generated

problems are used, teachers can integrate them into

the curriculum so students get a chance to see their

work!

I think a lot of

teachers feel

like they're

teaching to a

test. Our response is you

teach to a

student, you

really teach to

the kid.

Erin Gruwell

American Writer