Marissa J. White
Reading and Writing Workshops- Modeling for students the strategies you want them to use as they are reading and/or writing and then giving students time to implement those strategies independently or in cooperative groups. Using metacognition and think-a-louds during modeling is key in order to allow students to understand the way you are thinking and how to implement a particular strategy.
Discourse and working in cooperative groups- students need to be able to express their thoughts and opinions verbally with their peers. This gives students a chance to share ideas and debate one another in an informal manner. Students are also able to have a chance to observe how their peers think and why. They are able to learn from one another, challenge one another and formulate and verbalize their thoughts and opinions on a particular topic.
Common Core State Standard (Literacy): Claim 1, Target 4: Arguing a position using supporting evidence to explain their own inferences and point of view- students need to be able to formulate their own opinions on a particular topic and back up their opinions using evidence from the text or texts they have read.
Common Core State Standard (Literacy): Claim 1, Target 8: Cite evidence to support conclusions drawn from the text- students need to be able to pick out evidence from the texts that they read in order to justify their opinions and claims made about a particular topic.
Common Core State Standard (Mathematics): 4.MP.3: Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others- students need to be able to think for themselves and create their own opinions and arguments. They also need to be able to challenge other people's opinions and arguments by using data, such as charts and graphs, and other sources of information as their evidence.
