WICR

WICR- The foundation strategy of AVID 
Writing-  
Writing encompasses almost anything you want your students to 
put in print form - it can be scientific writing, creative writing, prewriting, poetry, rhymes, definitions, vocabulary, equations, quick writing, question-writing, journaling, etc. Writing is basic to thinking, learning, and growth.  It allows your students to think in complex ways, building critical thinking skills, and developing knowledge of oneself and the outside world, with which he/she exists. 
Writing also helps clarify and order experiences, while simultaneously demonstrating how much one knows about any given topic.  The more fluent the writer, the more successfully one can compete academically. 
The basic writing strategies promoted in AVID are: 
Class and Textbook notes 
Responsive Writing 
Learning Logs and Journals 

Inquiry-
Inquiry-based learning focuses on the student as the learned, developing skillful, open-ended questioning skills.  Being able to recognize different levels of questions is beneficial for all students in many areas of learning.  Students in AVID understand the three levels of questions design by Art Costa, which is critical for student success. 
AVID inquiry strategies for success are included in: 
Skilled questioning 
Socratic seminars 
Quick writes/discussion 
Critical thinking activities 
Writing questions (Tutorials ) 
Open-Minded Activities 
***Costa Levels of Questions Explanation 


Collaboration takes as many forms in AVID classrooms as the teachers who design the lesson plans.  Any time a student collaborates with another student, learning is less threatening and more inviting.  All the clichés work:  there is strength in numbers; two heads are better than one… 
One of the most commonly used, successful collaborative 
strategies in the AVID classroom is the tutorial group.  Tutorials, 
which are essential in AVID (combines writing, inquiry, reading, 
collaboration) , reinforces previous learning and encourages 
students to think ahead. 


Students will internalize what they have studied and learned if they 
are able to collaborate with others and make connections. 
Some Collaborative AVID strategies include: 
Group projects 
Student groups 
Jigsaw activities 
Cooperative learning strategies 
Kagan strategies 
Read-arounds 
Response/edit/revision groups 
Peer editing 
Group assessments- with both individual and group grades 
Games 
Group presentations 


Reading is the key to understanding in all content areas.  
Keeping reading as a focus in AVID develops reading comprehension, awareness of the different reasons for reading, and understanding of the different structures of texts.  Readers read for three purposes:  1- information, 2-problem solving, and 3-entertainment or recreation. 
Some AVID reading strategies include: 
SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) 
KWL (What I know, what I want to learn, What I learned ) 
Reciprocal teaching 
Think-alouds 
Literary circles
http://www.greatneckms.vbschools.com/avid_docs/WICR.pdf

Cornell Notes

To help organize notes.
Divide the paper into three sections.
 • Draw a dark horizontal line about 5 or 6 lines from the bottom. Use a heavy magic marker so that it is clear.
 • Draw a dark vertical line about 2 inches from the left side of the paper from the top to the horizontal  line.
Document
 • Write course name, date and topic at the top of each page
Write Notes
 • The large box to the right is for writing notes.
 • Skip a line between ideas and topics
 • Don't use complete sentences. Use abbreviations, whenever possible. Develop a shorthand of your own, such as using & for the word "and".
Review and clarify
 • Review the notes as soon as possible after class.
 • Pull out main ideas, key points, dates, and people, and write them in the left
   column.
Summarize
 • Write a summary of the main ideas in the bottom section.
Study your notes
 • Reread your notes in the right column.
 •  Spend most of your time studying the ideas in the left column and the summary at the bottom. These are the most important ideas and will probably will be included in information that will be tested.

    



This strategy is based on a strategy presented in Pauk, W. (1997). How to study in college (6th ed). Boston:
Houghton Mifflin.
Learning Toolbox. Steppingstone Technology Grant, James Madison University,
MSC 1903, Harrisonburg, VA 22807.


Notes can be:

• Used to provide an outline of the course, chapter, or lecture.
• Organized by main ideas and details.
• Can be as detailed as necessary.
• Sequential-- take notes as they are given by instructor or text in an orderly fashion.
• After class, write a summary of what you learned to clarify and reinforce learning and to assist retention.
• Can be used as study tool:
  1. Define terms or explain concepts listed on the left side.
  2. Identify the concept or term based on its definition on the right side.
     
• Can be used to provide a "big picture" of the course, chapter, or lecture.
• Organized by main ideas and sub-topics.
• Limited in how much detail you can represent.
• Simultaneous - you can use this method for instructors who jump around from topic to topic.
• After class, you will probably need to "translate" notes into a Cornell format.
• Can be used as a study tool -- to get a quick overview and to determine whether you need more information or need to concentrate your study on specific topics.

The One Pager

A one pager is a way of responding to a piece of writing on a single piece of paper.  It represents your own written and graphic representation of what you have read.  It may be very literal (just based on the facts or information from the text) or it may be a symbolic representation of the piece.  A one pager helps the reader visualize and make connections about the text they have read. 
Required Elements:

• 2 or more excerpts that you like, connect to or feel are important
• a graphic representation that ties to the piece you read and quotes you have chosen
• a personal response to what you have read:  comment, interpretation, evaluation, etc.  You may use a sentence starter or one of your own:
• This reminds me of.....
• I feel that......
• This makes me think......
• write 2 questions, which can be answered from text
• title and author 
• use paper and writing materials of your choice

http://mrtushistory.homestead.com/files/one_pager_5.jpg

The AVID Mission!

AVID's mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.Visit the AVID website


I am in the process of introducing the AVID literacy strategies to my middle school students.  We have used GIST (Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text)
What is it?
Gist is a comprehension strategy that is used both during reading and after reading. It is one approach to summarizing a text. When using GIST, students create summaries that are 20 words or less for increasingly large amounts of text. 
The end product is a 20 word summary that is tight and precise.


How does it work?

1. Define what the "gist" of something is.

2. Read the first paragraph/section of the assigned reading. The size of the section will depend upon the 

grade level and size of the complete text.

3. Write a 20 word summary that describes the main idea in that section.

4. Read the second paragraph/section of the assigned reading.

5. Write a 20 word summary that combines the material in the first gist statement and the new material.

6. Continue this procedure until a 20 word summary is created for the entire reading.

A GIST will improve reading comprehension as well as summary writing. When using GIST, students must delete trivial information, select key ideas, and generalize in their own words, which are three major strategies necessary for comprehension and retention.