Task Analysis Chart

Collaborative Work: Task Analysis Chart – February 2012
Task	How does it support students’ construction of their understanding?	Other advantages	Things to watch for?	How can I apply it in my class?
“Think-pair-share” Teacher asks question or gives prompt; students think in silence for a moment, sketch or write key ideas, then pair up and share their thinking with a peer.	·       Students share their knowledge in a short, collaborative discussion either bridging or schema- building depending on the prompt ·       Offers chance for self-evaluation and metacognitive development as students negotiate for meaning ·       With proper prompt, develops academic language (CALP) and allows practice in academic discourse (comprehensible input and output) ·       Students may help each other in L1	·       Promotes partnership and socio-cultural development (develops collegiality among students) ·       Lowers affective filter as ELs have a chance to practice uttering their thoughts in English with a peer ·       Students are more active than in traditional “teacher asks, one answers” classrooms ·       All students are engaged in thinking, listening, and saying their ideas out loud to their partners simultaneously ·       Teacher can listen in on conversations to diagnose misunderstandings and assess use of academic language	·       Be sure to create a safe environment ·       Keep students on topic or pull class back together in a timely manner once they’ve exhausted the prompt and moved on to other subjects ·       Give clear directions ·       Make prompts purposeful: thoughtful, provocative, and targeted to the learning (ask meaty questions) ·       Be sure to give prompts regularly in which students look for and discuss similarities and differences	I could use this task to have the students learn about the note names of the piano and music theory and its uses.
“Describing Pictures” Teacher collects pictures related to the topic and glues them onto colorful background in sets of 3-5; sets are displayed about  the room; pairs of students visit each set of pictures as in a gallery walk, talking about what they see and describing the pictures to each other; students agree on a question, comment, or prediction about the pictures to leave behind on a sticky note.	·       Students look at the pictures and bridge to their prior knowledge ·       Photos are comprehensible and not language based’ pictures don’t require a specific language to gain understanding ·       Comprehensible input and output from peers ·       Provide opportunity for metacognitive development when students think about what’s coming in the lesson or what clues might be in the pictures ·       Students model questioning and describing language for each other ·       Some students may know more about a photo than others and can build schema for their partner	·       Students are out of their seats, walking from set of pictures to set of pictures so their blood goes to the brain. ·       Practice oral language with partners, socialize and have a little fun ·       Non-threatening environment for sharing ideas…low affective filter ·       Enhances opportunities for visual learners ·       Revisit charts to add more ideas or questions	·       Watch for off-task behavior and guide them back ·       Be sure everyone is participating ·       Have them read high quality peers’ work as model for improving their own	This task would be useful in identifying different parts of a mixing board.  The students would need to verbalize and locate different controls on the mixer.
“Compare-contrast Matrix” Teacher prepares blank matrix to guide student learning from text; one column may be from prior knowledge.	·       When one column is based on prior knowledge, student access theirs by bridging ·       When columns are completed by reading a text, the matrix organizes information and build schema ·       Students negotiate with each other to develop metacognition	·       Bridging column provides awareness about the subject of the coming lesson ·       Students may help each other and build social relationships ·       Promotes oral language development and skills	·       Allot sufficient time to complete the task ·       Use high quality reading material ·       Ensure all students are participating	Comparing a matrix between the difference between analog and digital sound and the differences related to color, timber, and quality of the recordings.
“Windowpane” Teacher decides on important concepts or steps in a process to teach through icons; Icons are drawn on large butcher paper as one windowpane at a time; students imitate each step of the drawing; teacher tells the meaning and students repeat along with kinesthetic gestures.	·       Different avenues of approach for each student to learn ·       Icons help visual learners through contextualization ·       Period of predicting what the teacher is drawing bridges to students’ prior knowledge ·       Gestures help kinesthetic learners ·       Teacher models the meaning of each pane ·       Windowpane serves as a contextualized lecture about the topic and builds schema.	·       ELs have an opportunity to be part of the process and not be excluded because of language difficulties ·       All students are engaged and able to socialize as they learn ·       Students learn the basics of note-taking as teacher guides them, “Draw this. Now write that.”	·       Make sure all students are on task and focused ·       Ask open-ended questions to develop critical thinking ·       Use 10/2 if windowpane takes more than 15 minutes	I could use this to illustrate the correct fashion in setting up a PA system including all equipment, cabling and power chords.
“3-Step Interview” Students are in teams of four; teacher provides prompt for interview (answering a specific question or telling about types of experiences, for example); two people interview each other on the prompt (Step 1 is A interviewing B while C interviews D; Step 2 is B interviewing A while D interviews C); then Step 3 is when each person reports out on their interviewee to the rest of the team	·       Students share information and knowledge in a collaborative discussion ·       Students exposed to new ideas which could aid in achema building ·       Students develop oral language skills of listening and speaking ·       Students listen to their partner speaking in the first person then they speak in the first person to their partner ·       Students report to the team and use the third person to tell about their partner ·       Students model conversational speech for each other	·       Everyone is speaking and listening simultaneously, practicing comprehensible input and output ·       Low affective filter in the pairs and teams ·       Promotes partnership ·       Students learn about each other and deepen their acquaintanceship ·       Possibility of overcoming bias and prejudice as students learn from each other	·       Teacher should listen in on conversations to asses and ensure use of academic language. ·       Provide clear directions including a chart with diagram to help students the first time ·       Make sure students stay on task ·       Don’t allow too much or too little time for the interviews	In CCTE we have the students create a resume and go through a formal interview process.  This activity would be perfect for the students to practice their interviewing skills and give them a feel of what it is like to interview a prospective employee.
Envelope sort	·       Encourages peer dialog and “negotiating for meaning” ·       Incorporates scaffolding such as bridging, schema building, and metacognitive development.	·       Students interact positively and have fun ·       Includes a kinesthetic component in moving the cards around ·       Develop social skills ·       Practice with the sort for speed and accuracy may be a memorization tool	·       Everyone participates ·       Stay on task ·       Abide by group work norms	I could use this activity for students to learn and remember the order of signal flow in setting up a recording or live performance from microphone to mixer to speaker and all the connections in-between.
10/2 Lecture Ten minutes of teacher talk with 2 minutes of interaction and processing the information presented (think-pair-share, sketch in a journal, quickwrite)	·       Instant processing of information to provide feedback ·       Students can paraphrase for each other ·       Students can clarify in their L1 ·       Helps to validate information ·       Students digest info in small chunks	·       Lowers affective filter ·       Prevents listening fatigue ·       Helps maintain student focus ·       Teacher can regularly assess comprehension	·       Staying on schedule ·       Students on task ·       Kidwatching ·       Keep it interesting ·       Full participation
Written cloze Oral cloze Fill in the blank on PowerPoint or written text	·       Keeps them engaged during a lecture, following along to find out/predict the missing word(s) ·       Multiple layers of thinking ·       Better retention of lecture ·       Structured to model note-taking as a preparation for learning that skill ·       Provides structure so ELs at lower proficiency levels only need key words to complete	·       Lowers affective filter ·       Beginners can imitate peers ·       Oral cloze provides safe opportunity for oral language practice	·       Monitor them so they don’t get lost ·       Don’t make it too hard or too easy ·       Choose deleted words carefully (probably not “a” or “the”)
Reflection quickwrite	·       Opportunity to reflect on the daily learning ·       Develops metacognition as they write down their thoughts and “negotiate for meaning” within themselves	·       Gives student the opportunity to show what they have learned ·       Student has the opportunity to write questions about task	·       Teacher can check for understanding ·       Tells teacher areas that may need re-teaching ·       Don’t overuse so it becomes too much of a chore	After a recording session I could use this technique for students to reflect on how it went and how to improve the session the next time around.
Inquiry chart T-chart to be filled in as a group where students share what they think, they know about a topic and then what questions they have about it	·       Builds schema through peer responses and discussions ·       Bridges to prior knowledge on the left side of the chart ·       Prepares learner for the coming unit of study ·       Metacognitive development occurs when return to chart to answer questions on the right side, and add new learning or revise previous ideas after interacting with text.	·       Engages students in subject matter focusing and motivating them ·       Encourages dialog and predictions ·       Models scientific thinking skills such as observation, and hypothesis.	·       Monitor participation ·       Lower anxiety by ensuring no right or wrong at this point – brainstorm is free thought ·       When return – make false statements true by revising them, versus striking or crossing them out.
Whiparound Vocabulary Strips: Students receive 1 question and 1 answer on a strip.  Someone starts by asking their question. Student with answer asks question on their strip.	·       Be listening, focusing, and thinking to see if they have the answer ·       Use to determine prior knowledge or later as a review ·       Includes some interacting with text and is usually best at the end of the unit	·       Extends understanding ·       Bridging ·       Fast-paced thinking (on your toes) ·       Working as a team, megacognitive ·       Student to student teaching	·       Struggling students ·       Long pauses in between (teacher should keep a copy of the entire whiparound to help prompt the next answer) ·       Student who wasn’t there last session might be lost ·       Teacher may want to time the whiparound and post the time as a time to beat next time (or for competition between class period).	With all the technical terms in music production, this would be a fun way to learn the language of the studio.
Team Prediction Students are asked to first predict in writing the meaning of a story just by its title. The predictions are then shared with teammates, choosing the NOVEL IDEAS ONLY. Each team will stand up and read one novel idea.  This is done chorally…”We Predict that the story will be about…	·       Students first predict the title which uses bridging and RePresentation ·       prior vocabulary knowledge very influential ·       The team work strengthens the learning, perhaps adding Schema Building and Meta cognitive Development to the predictive pot	·       Community Building and making the learning fun ·       Reinforce public speaking ·       Could help peak the students curiosity for the material ·       Participation of all students ·       Teacher can monitor ideas as students discuss	·       Disagreements ·       Slackers might cause resentments with the more active students ·       If necessary, have students take turns so each student gets to give a predictionΩ
Collaborative Poster with Rubric Teacher provides rubric outlining criteria (excellent to unacceptable) to represent the subject (text) in a poster form	·       Students re-present the text in non-linguistic/visual, symbolic, and written form to show what they’ve learned about the subject ·       Students have to negotiate for meaning as they come to a consensus about what to include on their poster ·       Students practice using the academic vocabulary as they create their poster	·       Lowers the affective filter ·       Promotes teamwork ·       Team feels pride of ownership ·       Express ideas visually	·       All students on task ·       Teacher provides challenging rubric	I could use this activity for a stage layout and wiring for a live stage performance.  I could list all the instruments and vocals that need to be included and have them show their wiring diagram and microphone placement.
Gallery Walk with Docent(s) Students display a collaborative project. Half the class visits while the other half acts as docents to explain their project and answer questions about it.	·       Reading is summarized by the docent ·       Docent practices oral presentation skills ·       Repetition builds mastery of information ·       Viewers ask questions to build schema; docent develops metacognition by answering and explaining. ·       Text re-presentation is furthered through process of explaining and presenting.	·       Group pride; teambuilding ·       Speak t smaller group which lowers anxiety (low affective filter) ·       Visiting other teams’ projects enlightens students to other perspectives and approaches.	·       Everyone needs to participate as a docent ·       Stay focused – no off-task behavior ·       Viewers asking appropriate questions respectfully.	I could use this activity for students to learn and understand the differences in microphones.  Different groups could draw the fundamental inner workings of their microphone type and the use for that microphone and explain it to the other students during the walk.
Reciprocal Teaching (Pairs of students read ear-to-ear, pausing to ask and answer questions, then switch)	Assists students in interacting successfully with written text Develops metacognition by making the reader ask questions of the listener and negotiate for meaning if they don’t agree It contextualizes the reading because they read aloud and may negotiate for meaning if they disagree The listener is using text re-presentation skills by answering the questions.	Lowers anxiety by not reading out loud in front of the whole class Builds confidence All students participate in the activity	Maintain focus of job at hand Time limit to complete the reading	Perfect for the technical information students must learn about sound waves and it’s movement through different substances.
Word Bank with Visuals Teacher presents key terms in advance of the lesson with icons or visuals to enhance understanding	Builds vocabulary in context Prepares and clarifies the vocabulary specific to the subject matter Contextualizes with visuals Word bank can be revisited to refresh students’ memories	Decreases anxiety y relating visuals to vocabulary terms Enhances proper spelling of words for ELs Supports visual learning style	Full, active participation (“Say it with me!”) Attentiveness Select key words that will help students understand lesson Group words conceptually, not in isolation or alphabetically (although students may create own little “dictionary” that is alphabetical.	In music production we have a lot of technical terms.  I could use this for just about any lesson.  Great technique for me to use with the class.