This is why we’re here.

• With approximately 75% of incoming California community college students under-prepared for college-level English, and under 15% of those entering at the under-prepared level ever going on to complete a transfer-level course, the instruction of writing is a matter for everyone (Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2007, p.8 )

The Learning Template

The California Community College system provides instruction to approximately 25% of the community college population in the U.S.

• Nearly 2.6 million students

The CCC system has 112 college campuses and 71 off-campus centers

80 % of firefighters, law enforcement personnel, and emergency medical technicians in California receive their training at the state’s community colleges

Learning Activity Template Course Title:

Learning Activity:

Student Learning Outcome:

Text:

STEP 1 - INSTRUCTOR PLANNING – PREPARATION OF THE L-A

GOAL

LEARNING DOMAINS

MATERIALS AND METHODS

STEP 2 WARM-UP ACTIVITY – INTRODUCTION OF L-A TOPIC (5 to 15 minutes)

INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE CONCEPTS & TOPICS IN LEARNING ACTIVITY.

STEP 3 – TEACHING ACTIVITY – DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING ACTIVITY (15 to 25 minutes)

INCLUDE SOME OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES o STUDY A TEXT o READ THE TEXT o VIEW VISUAL MATERIAL o INVESTIGAT TEXT

STEP 4 – CLASSROOM OR HOMEWORK ACTIVITY – STUDENT APPLICATION

PROMOTE STUDENT COMPREHENSION o Allows students to apply concepts or practice skills or attitudes with example materials o Allows students to complete fill-in-blanks outline of reading’s central content o Allows students complete fill-in-blanks outline of video’s central content

STEP 5 – UNDERSTANDING – STUDENT DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES: o Essay assignment o Individual or group presentation

o Peer-review Workshop o Examination o Group project

STEP 6 - GRADING of STUDENT WORK – INSTRUCTOR EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT WORK

EVALUATION GUIDELINES

Learning Activity Template Course Title:

Learning Activity:

Student Learning Outcome:

Text:

STEP 1 - INSTRUCTOR PLANNING – PREPARATION OF THE L-A

GOAL

LEARNING DOMAINS

MATERIALS AND METHODS

STEP 2 WARM-UP ACTIVITY – INTRODUCTION OF L-A TOPIC (5 to 15 minutes)

INTRODUCE STUDENTS TO THE CONCEPTS & TOPICS IN LEARNING ACTIVITY.

STEP 3 – TEACHING ACTIVITY – DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING ACTIVITY (15 to 25 minutes)

INCLUDE SOME OR ALL OF THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES o STUDY A TEXT o READ THE TEXT o VIEW VISUAL MATERIAL o INVESTIGAT TEXT

STEP 4 – CLASSROOM OR HOMEWORK ACTIVITY – STUDENT APPLICATION

PROMOTE STUDENT COMPREHENSION o Allows students to apply concepts or practice skills or attitudes with example materials o Allows students to complete fill-in-blanks outline of reading’s central content o Allows students complete fill-in-blanks outline of video’s central content

STEP 5 – UNDERSTANDING – STUDENT DEMONSTRATION OF LEARNING

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES: o Essay assignment o Individual or group presentation

o Peer-review Workshop o Examination o Group project

STEP 6 - GRADING of STUDENT WORK – INSTRUCTOR EVALUATION / ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT WORK

EVALUATION GUIDELINES

What exactly is “Basic Skills”?

Here is a definition of basic skills proposed in Basic Skills as a Foundation for Success in California Community Colleges:

“Basic Skills are those foundation skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and English as a Second Language, as well as learning skills and study skills, which are necessary for students to succeed in college-level work” (Center for Student Success, 2007).

Basic Skills writing and

reading courses

• parts of speech, grammar, sentence/paragraph structure

• 2nd grade to 9th grade writing and reading levels

Here are the facts from the Chancellor’s Office’s Report on Basic

Skills:

70-85% of all California community college students assess into some sort of basic skills class when they first enter our institutions.

Only 27.3% of them actually enroll in basic skill level classes.

~ Basic Skills Initiative

The percentages in numbers:

• Approximately 1,925,000 students out of 2,500,00 assess into Basic Skills.

• Of these, approximately 526,000 actually take a Basic Skills class.

Approximately 1.4 million students who assess into Basic Skills classes never take any Basic Skills classes…

Where are the rest of the students that assessed into a basic skills course?

They are sitting in your classroom, wrestling with the material that you teach and struggling mightily to succeed.

These may be the students who:

• turn in poorly written assignments

• misuse vocabulary or course terms

• completely misunderstand writing tasks

• apparently do not complete reading assignments or do not understand them.

If a Basic Skills need is the issue, what can you do about it?

Here’s the big picture:

• Help students create a “learner identity” for themselves.

• Integrate metacognition (learning about learning) into assignments.

• Integrate pre-writing and pre-reading steps into assignments.

• Create manageable “chunks” of learning that include discrete steps for both “pre-learning” and “post-learning.”

What’s a “learner identity”?

Students with a learner identity:

• understand how to be learners

• are able to plan and complete reading and writing tasks

Without a “learner identity” they may get bogged down by a writing task, turn in assignments late, or not turn them in at all.

What is Metacognition?• reflecting on the learning process

• “self-evaluation” of writing/reading processes

• verbal or written reflection on reading annotations or notes.

Simple ways to integrate metacognition into any assignment:

• periodic assessments of progress on longer written assignments

• reflections on learning after group work or presentations

• written summary of errors and a plan for finding and fixing them next time

• analysis of work on quizzes, tests, and exams

Possible questions for student Self-Evaluation of written assignment:

• Why are you interested in the topic you chose?• What ideas did you reject and why? • How did you plan your work on the assignment?• How did you deal with outside distractions? • Did you spend enough time on this assignment? If

not, how much time should you have spent?• What will you do differently for the next written

assignment?

Structure Written Assignments

• Emphasize planning.

• Require periodic “reports” on their progress.

• Create structured activities for identifying, and correcting errors before due dates.

• Require reflection and self-analysis both before and after an assignment is submitted.

• Your grading job will be greatly eased!

The writing process

Draft

Review &

Revise

Brainstorm &Organize

Hand in

Rewrite & Edit

The Writing Process

Approximately1.82 to 2.08 million students in the California Community College System may have basic skills needs.

~ Basic Skills Initiative