1st Grade

Critical Thinking in Read Alouds

Throughout all content areas, Depth and Complexity icons are used to expand critical thinking. In this example, students were given the challenge to connect each icon to a read aloud story. Icons are used in small group, whole group, and for extensions.

Non-fiction Text Features

Using the Big Idea icon allows students to examine multiple parts that make up a topic. Guided discussions using each icon allows students to take ownership of their learning. The students are comfortable using icons within all topics.

Differentiation Through Reader's Responses

Students are given a choice on what icon to write about after reading a story. Allowing a choice enhances student ownership and engagement in learning. We used the icons to explain the math connections, details, over time, and patterns.

Project Based Learning and Technology

In 1st grade we did a PBL on hatching chicks. We integrated the D&C icons with technology to ask questions we still were unsure about. Visually seeing the icon kept the students on track with the learning target.

Reading Lessons

We organize our thoughts in reading with D&C framework mats. This is a visual for students to analyze each part of the story and guide discussion towards the icons specifically chosen for the story.

Science Investigations

In this science investigation, we discovered what happens to vegetation over time when there is salt water vs. no salt in water. Over a few days, students wrote about the changes they saw with these two variables.

Reader Response Sentence Stems and Guided Questions:

To introduce D&C icons we made posters and cards with guiding questions and sentence stems for students to reference as they wrote responses to literature.

Sample Reader Response Lesson - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1As1LKSS5Id5ccLocV_L0BPP8_KNuRLb8CMwZ4JmzOp0/edit

Sample Sentence Stems for Icons -

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BoyF_s3TChGBvj8UcBA2WQ6u1IoT4jVLZMeDu3T_Ni4/edit

Sample Choice menu board using the D&C icons:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mxfkhhPyD7AUXavlIS23D1XyScGzPSTKqTefzUSB2dQ/edit

This year we utilized the D and C icons for our differentiated problem solving. Often we used the language of the discipline icon to help reinforce new math vocabulary throughout each unit. You can view an example above.

For our Social Studies lessons in December we incorporated D and C with our reader's responses. Each day we taught about a different country and how the celebrate the holidays. This is a reader's response menu we had students pick from to write about Germany.

During Problem Solving, students are given tiered problems to solve. After they've solved, they use the icons to help explain how they solved their problem . This tiered task and the one below were on skip counting patterns and students used the pattern icon to identify and describe the pattern they used to solve their problem.

During this problem solving block students had to apply the rules they had learned about halves and fourths and identify the rules they needed to follow in order to make their ice cream cone correctly. They then used their language of discipline to describe the fractions they created.

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