This set of activities helps students practice their abilities to build and challenge ideas using evidence-based reasoning. It focuses on building students’ argumentation skills in preparation for debates, structured academic controversies, discussions, and argument-based written and multimedia products.
ALDN Math Constructive Conversation Skills Poster
This resource is a mathematics graphic organizer highlighting four important conversation skills when building math understandings and ideas:
Clarify a problem and ideas for solving it,
Discuss representations and models,
Explain and support reasoning, and
Use multiple methods for solving.
ALDN Math Paired Conversation Protocol
This tool guides pairs through an effective conversation to collaboratively solve complex math problems. It provides support with the language needed to clarify problems and ideas for solving them, generate multiple approaches and representations, explain and support reasoning, and negotiate ideas.
Rubrics for Evaluating Open Education Resource (OER) Objects
In collaboration with leaders from the Open Education Resources (OER) community, Achieve has developed eight rubrics to help states, districts, teachers, and other users determine the degree of alignment of OERs to the Common Core State Standards and determine aspects of their quality. The rubrics represent an evaluation system for objects found within OERs. An object could include images, applets, lessons, units, assessments, and more. For purposes of the evaluation, any component that can exist as a stand-alone tool qualifies as an object. The rubrics in the suite can be applied across content areas and object types. In general, the rubrics should be applied to the smallest meaningful unit. In some cases, this may be a single-lesson or instructional support material, while in others it might be a complete unit of study or set of support materials.
Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative
This resource is a presentation about efforts in professional development in Alabama during the early unveiling of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). It was shared during the 2014 NGSS Annual Leadership Meeting.
Professional Development: Introduction to the ELA / Literacy Shifts
The Introduction to the ELA / Literacy Shifts Module is a 1-2 hour module that provides an introduction to the key shifts required by the Common Core State Standards for ELA / Literacy. The module is meant to be customized and tailored to meet the needs of educators. Professional development facilitators are especially encouraged to customize any or all portions of the module to meet the needs of any particular audience. The module includes the following resources:
User’s Guide
PowerPoint Presentation on the key instructional shifts required by the CCSS for English Language Arts and Literacy
Handouts to facilitate and encourage reflective processing of the shifts
An activity to help you become familiar with the content of the standards
Related research and readings that can be used in professional learning communities (PLCs)