Last Thursday, during our afternoon in-service about Units of Instruction, Chris talked to us about the Rigor/Relevance Framework when he was introducing the UoI. When we hear that phrase Rigor/Relevance many of us have uneasy thoughts about having to change everything that is completed in our classes or that our students cannot handle difficult tasks. A positive of increasing the rigor or relevance of an activity is that it can be completed by simply changing the verb. For example, on one of the topic tests I gave my students last year, I had them SELECT the factors of 15 from a list of numbers. The verb SELECT is located in quadrant A. I could simply change the task to GENERATE a list of factors for the number 15 and this problem becomes a quadrant C problem. On a different assessment, I asked the students to FIND the unit rate of two runners in a race. Another quadrant A problem. If I would have changed the task to PREDICT which of the following runners would finish a race of 6 miles faster, this problem is now a quadrant D task. As you continue planning for upcoming lessons and activities for your classroom or your Unit of Instruction, keep in mind which quadrant the activities or tasks you are having your students complete fall under. Simply changing a verb can increase the rigor/relevance of your lesson or assignment. TURN UP THE HEAT!!!!!
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AuthorI'm Ben Rubey, Instructional Coach at Excelsior Springs Middle School. Archives
April 2015
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