Yearly+Goals+2011-2012

=**Yearly Goals 2011-2012 **=

==Current educational research shows the correlation between vocabulary and content knowledge. As a result of our school's test scores in vocabulary, it has been decided that the focus for the 2011-2012 school year will be on vocabulary strategies and instruction. Through increased vocabulary instruction, the students at our school will build appropriate background knowledge in order to access more complex text. By the end of the school year, it is the goal of our school for students to achieve proficiency at their grade levels in reading comprehension by focusing on vocabulary strategies through teacher interventions using the following steps. ==

= __First Quarter __ =

Provide professional development on Marzano's vocabulary at opening in-service:

 * 1) ==Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term. ==
 * 2) ==Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words. ==
 * 3) ==Ask students to construct a picture, pictograph, or symbolic representation of the term. ==
 * 4) ==Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms in their vocabulary notebooks. ==
 * 5) ==Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. ==

[|Resource: Explanation and Ideas]




 * ==Teacher teams will work to identify the top academic terms students should know in each content area. Following Marzano's __Building Academic Vocabulary__ lists as a guide, teachers will decide how many words they will teach in the year (recommended one per week) and what the top content area words are. ==
 * ==Teachers will practice implementing Marzano's principles for teaching vocabulary in the gradual release instructional framework model. ==

= __Second Quarter __ =

Start book discussion group, //Words, Words, Words// by Janet Allen


= = = **__Third Quarter__** =
 * ==Teachers will focus on teaching context clues, synonyms, antonyms, analogies, and affixes important for content area learning. ==
 * ==Teachers will research / read about varied ways to best teach vocabulary using Janet Allen's //Words, Words, Words// and implement vocabulary teaching strategies. ==
 * ==Teachers will create a quick checklist to assess effectiveness of vocabulary strategies. ==
 * ==<span style="color: #080707; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers will work on students developing their own inquisitive vocabulary acquisition through the VSS strategy. ==
 * ==<span style="color: #080707; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">Teachers will continue working in discussion groups (within content areas) with //Words, Words, Words// by Janet Allen. ==

= __Fourth Quarter__ =


 * == Teachers will finish working in discussion groups (across content areas) with //Words, Words, Words// by Janet Allen. ==
 * == Teachers will evaluate and discuss student progress with vocabulary strategies. ==