Welcome to Frequent Small Group Purposeful Talk: Implementing Instructional Fundamentals 4 (IIF4).

Click here to register for IIF4

This micro-credential awards a graduate half-credit for demonstrating proficiency in the instructional practice of engaging students in frequent small group purposeful talk. Evidence of proficiency must be demonstrated in three areas: Knowledge, Implementation, and Reflection.

Participants may engage with resources and activities described below at their own pace throughout the course term. All are advised to refer to key dates and deadlines for submission and to plan their learning activities within these constraints.

To submit evidence*, link to this Google Form.

Objective: After engaging with the curated resources from the WSWSU Fundamental Five companion site, demonstrate your proficiency in knowledge in engaging students in frequent small group purposeful talk by submitting evidence of your critical engagement with at least two curated resources on the webpage linked above and its subpages.

Proficient knowledge in frequent small group purposeful talk as an instructional practice includes:

• Identifying why "frequent small group purposeful talk " is a high yield instructional practice
• Identifying key strategies for making frequent small group purposeful talk effective (e.g., frequency, class norms/culture, roles, accountability, etc.)
• Understanding how to design seed questions to prompt different levels of cognitive complexity in students' small group purposeful talk
• Understanding how to design lessons to include frequent small group purposeful talk
• Analyzing how to address the needs of struggling and diverse students through strategic supports and design for frequent small group purposeful talk

Recommended Evidence Types (choose one or more):

• Critical writing response(s) with specific references to text or video
• Notes from face-to-face workshops or book study discussions on FSGPTalk
• Resource Annotation (e.g., insightful comments on digital stickies)
• Video Annotation ( through time coded notes, or use VideoAnt)

Scoring Rubric (link)

Objective: Demonstrate your proficiency in frequent small group purposeful talk as an instructional practice by submitting evidence of the following:

1. your use of key strategies for making frequent small group purposeful talk effective
2. instructional coaching, mentoring, or peer observation cycle on your use of FGSPTalk practices in your classroom (pre-obs, observation & debrief).

Proficient implementation of frequent small group purposeful talk as an instructional practice includes:

• Applying strategies to maximize efficacy of frequent small group purposeful talk, such as,
  • Planning lessons with time allotted for FSGPTalk at least every 15 minutes
  • Designing seed questions to prompt different levels of cognitive complexity
  • Using strategies to make small group talk purposeful and students accountable, such as assigning roles, making group decisions, formulating opinions, developing conclusions, or sharing out
• Analyzing how to group students for different purposes of discussion (like abilities, diverse abilities, etc.)
• Creating a plan for using strategies to support struggling and diverse students in engaging in frequent small group purposeful talk

Recommended Evidence Types:

1. For demonstrating use of key strategies for making frequent small group purposeful talk effective...
   • Pictures (jpg); gathered into sequence on Google Slides
     • annotation on images or on Google slides pointing out key components of best practice
       • bonus: refer to resources in your annotation
   • Video of you orchestrating frequent small group purposeful talk (3 examples)
     • bonus: include clips demonstrating different strategies for improving efficacy of frequent small group purposeful talk for student learning
   • Description or artifacts detailing how you design seed questions and use frequent small group purposeful talk within lesson plans for specific purposes
   • Description or artifacts detailing how you support diverse and struggling learners in engaging in frequent small group purposeful talk
2. For coach/mentor/peer observation cycle
   • [link to guidelines/template]
   • pre-observation email or meeting agenda
   • observation notes (dated, signed)
   • post-observation meeting notes (dated, signed)

Scoring Rubric (link)

Objective: Demonstrate your proficiency in reflective practice by sharing a reflection on your growth and/or mastery of "frequent small group purposeful talk," and evaluate the practice for impacting student learning using student reflections.

Proficient reflective practice in frequent small group purposeful talk includes:

• Evaluating the quality and effectiveness of engaging students in frequent small group purposeful talk on student learning
• Evaluating the quality and effectiveness of specific strategies for improving the teaching efficacy of frequent small group purposeful talk
• Analyzing student reflections for evidence of how frequent small group purposeful talk impacts their learning

Recommended Evidence Types:

• Teacher's Written or Video Reflection discussing the strengths and challenges of engaging students in frequent small group purposeful talk
  • refer to specific examples of your practice
  • discuss your growth in implementing strategies for maximizing teaching efficacy of frequent small group purposeful talk
• Student Written, Video or Audio Reflections describing how they respond to your use of frequent small group purposeful talk in relation to their learning in your classroom
  • prompt and refer to examples of how they feel, what they do, and how they learn when you engage them in frequent small group purposeful talk

Scoring Rubric (link)