Consensus Concepts: Critical Concepts to Improve Literacy

Subject Area and Grade Span: Any Subject, Grades Pre-K – 12 (Multidisciplinary Example)

What it is:  
There are many concepts or “big idea” words that are implied within the standards and framework in all content areas. In all content areas the teaching and learning of concepts are essential building blocks of literacy. For example, in history-social science, it’s the understanding of these concepts that enables students to transfer understanding from one time period or event to another in history. You cannot teach content without teaching concepts, and simple memorization and recognition of a term is not the same as understanding a concept. Therefore, exposing students to concepts will help build students’ academic vocabulary and foster a deep understanding of acquired learnings.

What it looks like:

• Colleagues within or across grade levels discuss the most critical concepts to teach.
• Identify those concepts that are explicitly stated or implied within the content standards and course framework.
• Consider the following guiding questions to help guide your discussion.
• Take time to discuss in grade level and cross grade level teams how coming to consensus on important concepts to teach can help improve student learning and achievement:
  
  • Which concepts are critical or essential to the understanding of course content?
  • Which concepts recur in the curriculum throughout the grade levels?

How you know it’s working:

• Students will be able to discuss concepts related to their content area focus.
• Students will be able to apply concepts across content areas, expanding their understanding of selected concepts.
• Students will be able to demonstrate deeper learning and understanding on benchmark and summative assessments.

Things to consider:

• Post concepts in the classroom and refer to and reinforce them when applicable to course content.
• Narrow concepts to a number that is both meaningful and manageable to foster deep understanding of content.
• Expose students to multiple opportunities to master identified concepts.
• Focus on concepts that recur often throughout the curriculum.
• Draw connections between concepts presented.
• Develop student understanding of the concepts through discussion and learning opportunities throughout the year.
• This approach can be used school-wide to unify and reinforce concepts that occur across disciplines.

References:

California Council for the Social Studies (1999). The California Concepts Collection II: Concepts in the 1997 California History-Social Science Framework. Palmdale, CA: Author.
The California Concepts Collection includes various articles on teaching concepts in history-social science and has provided a comprehensive list of concepts from grades K-12.

Feathers, K. M. (1993). Infotext: Reading and learning. Ontario, Canada: Pippen Publishing Corporation.
This book provides information on how students best learn informational text: Strategies such as semantic mapping, Cornell note-taking, and other ways of interacting with text are highlighted.    

Marzano, R.J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement:  Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
This book provides information, research, and strategies on effective vocabulary instruction. Effective strategies are highlighted and explained using content rich examples. Appendix pages include academic vocabulary lists arranged by course content.