It's All About Thinking: Collaborating to Support All Learners

267 Pages·2009·37.55 MB·English

by  Faye Brownlie

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to the big ideas in education today. In this book, you will fi nd: Y
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS L
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Faye Brownlie has worked in staff development with teachers, schools, and districts across
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Canada, the United States, and internationally. She has been involved in the following T
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multi-year projects in British Columbia: the Leadership for Learning Academy, the H
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dart (District Assessment of Reading Team) Consortium, and the Early Primary Reading
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Assessment Consortium; in Latvia: the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project. IN
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Faye continues to teach one day a week in the Richmond School District in British : C
Columbia. She has co-authored many books for classroom teachers. O
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Leyton Schnellert has been a middle school, junior high, and secondary school G
classroom teacher, and a learning resource teacher for K–12. He currently teaches T
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at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, in the Master of Education S
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in Educational Practice program. He continues to collaboratively plan, teach, and P
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refl ect with colleagues and students through research and consulting activities. O
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FAYE BROWNLIE LEYTON SCHNELLERT
AND
ISBN 978-1-55379-235-2
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9 781553 792352
It’s all about
thinking
Collaborating to Support All Learners
IN ENGLISH, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND HUMANITIES
FAYE BROWNLIE AND LEYTON SCHNELLERT
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© 2009 by Faye Brownlie and Leyton Schnellert

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Cataloguing data available from library and archives Canada

Print Format ISBN 978-1-55379-221-5
PDF Format ISBN 978-1-55379-235-2

100 – 318 McDermot Ave.
Winnipeg, MB Canada R3A 0A2
Email: [email protected]
Tel: [phone]
Toll-free fax: [phone]
Toll-free: 1-800-667-9673
Dedication
To all those teachers who have taken a risk to work with colleagues.
Acknowledgments
Our thinking and practices continue to develop through our collaborations
with teachers and students in classrooms. This book came together because a
group of teachers accepted our invitation to collaborate with us and publicly
share their learning journeys.
Special thanks to Lisa Chang, Mehjabeen Datoo, Krista Ediger, Dave
Giesbrecht, Julie Anne Mainville, Catriona Misfeldt, Joanne Panas, Kathy
Pantaleo, Terry Taylor, Linda Watson, and Stacey Wyatt.
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Faye Brownlie has worked in staff development with teachers, schools, and
districts across Canada, the United States, and internationally. Her recent
multi-district, multi-year projects in British Columbia include the Leadership
for Learning Academy, the dart (District Assessment of Reading Team),
the Early Primary Reading Assessment Consortiums, and the Reading and
Writing for Critical Thinking Project in Latvia. Faye continues to teach one
day a week in the Richmond School District in British Columbia. She has
co-authored many books for teachers.
Leyton Schnellert has been a classroom teacher and a learning resource
teacher in middle, junior high, and secondary schools. Currently, he teaches
at Simon Fraser University where he supports teachers as they inquire into
their practice through graduate diplomas and the Master of Education in
Educational Practice program. He continues to collaboratively plan, teach, and
reflect with colleagues and students through research and consulting activities.
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Thinking_Ch1-4_TC.indd 8 06/10/09 12:50 PM
Table of Contents
Introduction xi
Chapter 1 Meeting the Needs of All Learners 1
Chapter 2 Working Together As a School 13
Chapter 3 Assessment that Supports Learning 23
Chapter 4 Frameworks and Approaches to Support
Diverse Learners 41
Chapter 5 Starting the Year with Significance 55
Chapter 6 Inquiry and Thematic Teaching 77
Chapter 7 Memoir Writing 99
Chapter 8 Inquiry: Aboriginal Peoples of Canada 119
Chapter 9 Inquiry and Oral Language 155
Chapter 10 Engaging Critically with Text 177
Chapter 11 Problem Solving in Geography 197
Chapter 12 Online Literature Circles: Students and
Teachers Learning Together 225
Professional References 243
Student Resources 249
Chapter by Chapter Index 253
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Introduction
Picture this scenario: a staff development consultant; eight secondary
teachers; their first meeting; a 75-minute block of time to plan together
before the consultant leads a class of grade-8 students in a demonstration
lesson for another 75 minutes; and the lesson that has just been co-planned
with the teachers. Following the demonstration, the teachers and the staff-
development consultant meet together to discuss the lesson, consider what
worked, what did not work, and what to do next. The consultant opens by
asking, “What do you hope to learn today?” There is a moment of silence,
then one of the teachers, with crossed arms, responds, “How long have you
been doing this new kind of teaching?”
There is the rub. What is “this new kind of teaching”? What does this
teacher expect is going to happen? When she signed on to participate in
this professional-development sequence, what was the phrase that caught
her attention?
We believe that this is a scenario that is common for many teachers.
There is no shortage of good and great ideas to help us become more effective
teachers. Opening publishers’ catalogues, scanning conference programs,
taking courses at university all offer a wide range of possibilities — learning
strategies, differentiation, assessment for learning, backward design, inquiry,
professional learning communities. What is the right focus? What makes the
greatest difference? How do you choose? What makes one approach different
from another? What is good teaching?
It’s All About Thinking attempts to address these questions. We believe
that the glue that holds our classes together is “thinking” — thoughtful
teachers and thoughtful students. Teachers have to make countless decisions
based on their knowledge of their students, their knowledge of curriculum,
and their knowledge of instruction. Their ultimate goal is to help students
develop as thinkers who use their knowledge to problem solve, to act wisely.
It’s All About Thinking will show you ways to get to know your students.
It will show you how to use this knowledge in planning your instruction. It
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