Here are some ways we will incorporate EL practices/protocols in our classroom:

As an overview, EL (Expeditionary Learning) has identified student achievement as having three dimensions:
     1. Mastery of knowledge and skills
     2. Character
     3. High-quality student work

Taking a Stand: Students reflect on their opinions about controversial topics or questions. It provides practice in the social dimension of debate while encouraging students to support, reflect, and possibly change their opinions based on logic and evidence.

Equity Sticks: Used during math, each student has a craft stick with their name on it. Anyone can be called on at anytime, and everyone is called on eventually. It ensures all voices are heard and every participates.

Turn and Talk: We've copied the language of our K5 students, to include "eye to eye, knee to knee" in our description of Turn and Talk. We will use this protocol more often as we introduce new ways of working and learning together - all while being Covid safe. 

Annotating Text: Students regularly are asked to annotate texts. Often times that annotation focuses on what surprises them, what they have questions about, and what it made them think or realize. 
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Data Collection: As readers, students track the number of minutes they read daily as well as the titles, authors, and genres of the books they read. 
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Self-reflection: After completing all the preparation that went into student-led conferences, there was a LOT of self-reflection happening. We are going to ask students to document two goals they want to work on focusing on habits of work and their social interactions. 

Concentric Circles: This happens when every other student steps into the circle to form an inner and outer circle of students. The two groups of students face each other and share their thinking about specific topics. The inner circle of students shifts one place to the right and then they share again. Everyone shares and hears from more than one person.

Silent Gallery Walk: Students have used this protocol to share their reactions to different mentor texts and reading response entries by annotating the text and documenting their thinking on post-its around the example. 

Fist-to-Five: purpose is to physically show degree of agreement, readiness for tasks, or comfort with a learning target/concept.

Sharing the Air: purpose is to hear from everyone in a group, to actively and intentionally include everyone's ideas.

Tracking Progress: Students set goals related to on task behavior during their book clubs. They evaluated themselves and their growth related to being physically, mentally, and their overall knowledge of the task. 

Peer Critique: Our students are using peer critique to provide feedback for each other in preparation of revising their written work on a regular basis.

Learning Targets: used across the content areas, they make learning visible. Teacher created, they allow students access at all times of what the focus, goal, and/or intended outcomes are because they are posted publicly.