Section II: During the Learning

Preparation—Time and Materials

Complete this module in fifty minutes. The ideal small group size is between four and six teachers per group seated at tables. Before beginning, each group will need chart paper and markers and should choose a facilitator, timekeeper, recorder, and reporter. Each individual teacher will need a sheet of standard lined notebook paper and the following handouts. • “Prioritizing the Standards Using R.E.A.L. Criteria” (page 97) • “Is It R.E.A.L. or Not?” (page 100)

Step 1—Getting Ready to Learn: Give-and-Go Activity (Fifteen Minutes)

Give-and-Go is a high-energy, interactive activity designed to promote the generating, sharing, and transferring of ideas about a topic of interest to the group. 1. Ask participants to fold a piece of notebook paper in half lengthwise, write How Do I Decide Where to Begin? across the top of the page, and number the page vertically, 1 through 10 on the left-hand side. (three minutes) 2. For the first part of the Give-and-Go activity, read the following scenario and ask participants to write their answers in the form of words or phrases, one word or phrase per number, to the question, How do I decide where to begin? in the lefthand column of their paper. (six minutes) A teacher expressed fear she would not be able to cover all the material in the curriculum to her principal. She said, “The list of what I am supposed to cover just seems to grow and grow. More than that, what is important today is different than what was important yesterday. How am I supposed to know where to begin?” 3. The second part of the Give-and-Go activity is energetic, almost frenetic, and requires teachers to quickly share their thinking with a colleague. After participants record their own ideas in the left-hand column, ask them to find a partner and share their thinking. Each partner writes one new idea from his or her partner in the right-hand column of the paper. With the person responsible for leading the session tracking the time, have participants switch partners every thirty seconds and continue meeting with colleagues until teachers have captured ten new ideas. Once the warmup activity is complete, teachers return to their tables and get ready to begin step 2 of the module. (six minutes)

Step 2—Interactive Strategy, Protocol, or Activity: First Word (Thirty-Five Minutes)

While the Give-and-Go activity promotes the rapid-fire sharing of new ideas, the First Word protocol prompts teachers to think more deeply about the process of prioritizing standards using the R.E.A.L. criteria (readiness, endurance, assessed, and leverage). Note this is an acrostic, and this activity has participants create their own acrostic. 1. Read the article: Ask participants to read the article “Prioritizing the Standards Using the R.E.A.L. Criteria” and highlight three or four important ideas. (six minutes)