Skagit Valley Network Site Help

Help Windows

On the left hand side of most pages in the SVN site, you will find links to context specific help files. Clicking on these links will open a new browser window to give more information about that topic. (Occassionally, the help file will open a new page in the same browser, but this only happens a few times). If you click on a link and no window appears, you may be experiencing one of the following:

• Your browser is too old, or you have Javascipt disabled. You may want to upgrade your browser, or you can click on the "Help" link at the top left of each page to get back here, where you will find the same answers to the questions.
• You may have opened a help screen previously and it is now behind the main browser window. To see the answer, you can minimize the main browser window (and any other windows that may be open) until you see the help window.

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Content Enhancement Organizers

What are the Content Enhancement Organizers and Routines:

Following the guidance of Dr. Keith Lenz, Skagit Valley Network 4 and 5 teachers considered the need to provide clear learning maps to best serve the diversity within their classrooms. They knew they needed to enhance the way they "...present content and improve students' ability to organize, understand, and remember critical information" (Lenz, 1998). From 1999 to 2001, they followed Dr. Lenz's suggestion and developed and piloted these graphic organizers:

Course Organizers and Maps (K-12) This graphic planner allows teachers to effectively help students understand the "big picture" of the course and the smaller units within it. Using this graphic plan, teachers "launch" a course and establish a "learning community" so students

"a) understand how the course connects the big ideas;
b) identify the central critical concepts which will be central to understanding the course content;
c) learn the ritual routines and strategies used throughout the course" (Lenz, 1998).

Unit Organizers and Maps (K-12) This continues the work of the course, this time at the level. The graphic unit organizers and maps help students

"a) relate unit content to previous and future units and to bigger course ideas;
b) understand the main idea of the content through the use of paraphrase;
c) see the structure of the unit's content;
d) focus attention on relationships within unit content;
e) generate questions that relate learning to big ideas;
f) build a schedule to plan time and task completion" (Lenz, 1995).

Lesson Organizers and Concept Routines (K-12) This continues the work of the course and unit, this time at levels which best help students understand the key concepts within lessons. The Lesson Organizer follows the pattern of the unit, with self-test questions, clear sequences, EALR-aligned tasks.

Concept Routines offer teachers a graphic method of organizing and presenting concepts to students-in an attempt to give somewhat difficult ideas a concrete map which students can follow toward deeper understanding. The four varied routines used in this project allow a teacher to select the graphic which will best "break-down" a concept for his students.

The Concept Routines are

• Concept Comparison-where students identify known, like and unknown characteristics of a new concept to help them develop a richer definition and understanding;
• Concept Anchoring-where students list known, unknown, and shared characteristics between a familiar and new concept;
• Concept Mastery-where students examine characteristics of an introduced concept to determine characteristics which are always present, sometimes present, and never present (great for reviewing material);
• Framing-which lists the absolutely essential details of a concept so students look at the core definition.

Vague ideas and maps help students

"a) relate unit content to previous and future units and to bigger course ideas;
b) understand the main idea of the content through the use of paraphrase;
c) see the structure of the unit's content;
d) focus attention on relationships within unit content;
e) generate questions that relate learning to big ideas;
f) build a schedule to plan time and task completion" (Lenz, 1995).

How to Find an Organizer:

Because grades K-5 most often integrate content into one classroom, Skagit Valley Network K-5 Organizers are grouped first by grade level and then by title/content. Choose your grade level and click on it. Once you have a list of titles (and descriptions), choose the one you want to examine more closely. Click on the underlined title to see the entire organizer package.

For grades 6-12, the organizers are grouped first by content. Choose the content you want and click on it. Once you have a list of titles (and descriptions), you will notice the suggested grade level in parenthses. Choose the assessment you want to examine more closely and click on it to see the entire organizer package.

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Frameworks

How to Use the Frameworks:

The science and social studies frameworks available on this site can be used in several ways. They can serve as a guide to suggested grade level standards for each Essential Learning for the years between the "benchmark" years. You will find suggested standards for all grades--you might use them to:

• develop a classroom based assessment
• guide your planning
• share with parents who want to support instruction at home.

Remember--these were developed by practiced teachers. They are only suggestions.

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Performance Assessments

How to Use the Performance Assessments:

The performance assessments available on this site are all aligned with the Washington State Essential Learnings. They are also patterned after the format of the WASL. If a student completes a performance as directed, and if his work is scored with the included scoring guide, you have clear evidence of a student's competence with the given standard.

With this in mind, you might use the performance assessments to:

• prepare students for the WASL by practicing as a whole class
• help your staff critically examine classroom based assessments
• model a format of classroom based assessments
• show parents examples of the type of work expected of students
• assess individual student's skills

How to Find a Performance Assessment:

Because grades K-5 most often integrate content into one classroom, Skagit Valley Network K-5 performance assessments are grouped first by grade level and then by title/content. Choose your grade level and click on it. Once you have a list of titles (and descriptions), choose the one you want to examine more closely. Click on the underlined title to see the entire assessment package.

For grades 6-12, the assessments are organized first by content. Choose the content you want and click on it. Once you have a list of titles (and descriptions), you will notice the suggested grade level in parenthses. Choose the assessment you want to examine more closely and click on it to see the entire assessment package.

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SLIPS

How to Use the SLIPS:

Student Learning Improvement Plans are multi-year actions and goals districts develop to improve student learning. Although required by the Goals 2000 office, districts are free to use the format best for them as long as they connect student learning to the Essential Learnings and as long as the group developing the plan has a school-community membership.

Use the plans here as:

• models to help you choose a format you want to use
• examples of the range of sequential activities other districts have used

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PDF

How to Download the PDF files from the Skagit Valley Network Site:

PC Users

Click on the link for the Adobe file, if you have Adobe Reader installed, the file will open automatically in your browser window. You may view the document there, or click File/Save to save the file for later use.

If you want to save the file without opening, you can right click on the link and choose "Save Target As", which will allow you to save the file to your computer for later use.

Macintosh Users

Click on the link for the Adobe file. You can either
A) Hold down the mouse button over the link until a window pops up and select "Save this link as..."
OR
B)Choose "File" on the Browser mene and then "Save As"
Then use the dialog box to select a location in which to save the file for later use.

How To Get a Free Adobe Reader to Read the PDF Files:

The curriculum materials found on the Skagit Valley Network site are in PDF format. If you don't already have it, you will need to install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. This program is free from Adobe and will allow you to view and print the files at your discretion. To get your copy of Adobe Acrobat, click below and follow the directions for your computer.

www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat

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