Instructional Technique #3 Using Student-Friendly Scales

Using this approach ensures that the targets and scales remain aligned with the rigor or cognitive complexity of the standard. Learning targets and scales are only powerful if students truly comprehend what they are expected to know and do.  For many students, the wording of the targets and expectations for each performance level of the scale might need to be explained and then translated into student friendly language to make the learning experience meaningful.  For younger learners, the teacher can rephrase, shorten, or visually demonstrate the learning targets and scale using student-friendly language to make the content and learning more accessible. 

Consider the following guidelines when creating student-friendly scales:

Preserve the Intent of the Standard

Take care when adapting the scale to select words that students can understand without changing the intent of the standard.  For example if the standard requires the students to demonstrate, choose simpler replacement words such as show or use.  You want to ensure that the action verbs you choose to replace in student friendly targets and scales require the same level of cognitively complex thinking and operation from students as those originally stated in the standard. 

Include Words Essential to Demonstrating the Standard

Words essential to demonstrating the standard’s intent, such as the action verbs identify, compare, and count, and crucial vocabulary, such as circle, line, and key details, should be retained to avoid watering down the standard.  Use this opportunity to introduce terms and define new terms to deepen students’ academic vocabularies.  Always retain the intent of the learning target or scale.  It is up to the teacher to make sure that students ultimately understand the intention and meaning behind the words used in the standard. 

Use the I CAN Sentence Starter

Use the I CAN phrase as a simple sentence starter to preface learning targets.  I CAN statements help students concentrate on the immediate goal at hand as well as encourage them to take ownership of a learning target.  This also helps students understand and measure their own learning and progress.  Both students and teacher can use I CAN statements to formatively assess master of the content. 

Add Visual Support

Student friendly pictures add to the sense of community and foster engagement.  Visual aids emphasize without speaking or reading and are often used as a pre-reading strategy to activate prior knowledge.  Visual supports can increase the understanding of language, while providing the structure needed to clarify expectations and targets.  When selecting and preparing images or graphics to add visual support in a scale, determine what will be written and what will be visual.  Make sure the images reinforce, illustrate, or provide examples related to the target. 

Once Created, Explain the Teacher-Created, Student-Friendly Scale

Part of what makes a scale student friendly for younger learners is the support the teacher provides to ensure understanding of the expectations required at each level of the scale.  The combination of written, visual, and verbal support should help ensure that students understand what the targets and scale mean. 

Common Mistakes

The most common mistakes to avoid when creating student-friendly scales include the following:

• ·         The teacher does not ensure that student-generated examples accurately illustrate the expectations for each level of the learning progression in the student-friendly scale and are incorporated into the revised version of the student-friendly scale.
• ·         The teacher does not correctly translate or help the students translate the intent of the standard to student-friendly language.
• ·         The teacher uses a generic scale that does not describe the specific content targets.
• ·         The teacher creates an effective student-friendly scale but does not use it to provide direction and structure for classroom learning.