Feedback Grows Understanding – Codebook

Definition

Teacher provides non-text support for students to understand the question. E.g., teacher may build background knowledge, schema, or explain other elements necessary to understanding the question.

Example Responses

• Part of the reason scientists are so interested in finding water on other planets is because we living things need water to survive. If we can find water on other planets, it could mean that life, like plants or animals, once lived there. It could even mean that humans have a chance of surviving there. [Teacher contextualizes the entire topic of water on the moon.]
• Well, it’s expensive to send people to the moon all of the time. So, sometimes NASA sends machines to do the exploring in space. [Teacher contextualizes why the question focuses on NASA sending equipment to the moon.]

Definition

Teacher explains the question by identifying key words or ideas in the question.

Example Responses

• Yeah, that’s a good point that you do need oxygen tanks whenever you’re in outer space, but we’re talking about the different pieces of equipment that you need to be able to see what’s on the moon.
• Right. So the question is asking us what type of equipment that the scientists used to discover the water on the moon. So what type of equipment did they have to have in order– if it was there to find water?
• “What equipment did scientists use to discover water on the moon?” That would be your question. So that question didn’t ask anything about what they found, just what they used to find it.
• Exactly right. So, was the question I asked you, what did they used to look at it, or what do they use to find it?
• So, we need to find the equipment that they used.
• Do you know what the word convincing means?

Definition

Teacher explains the prompt by defining terms in the question

Example Responses

• So you have to find the water before you can look at it right. Does anyone know what discover means?
• You’re right. Equipment and tools, the equipment is another word for a tool. So, when we have something that’s the same word for a tool, we would call it a synonym. So, they’re synonyms of each other.
• Alright. Is there anybody who wants to share the answer with us? What is, what does the word equipment mean?
• So, we are looking for the one that was used to discover, or to find. So, can you think of, can you see another equipment that was mentioned in the passage, apart from the microscope?
• We’re trying to discover it. We’re not trying to look at it, Harrison, did you have something to tell me [ does more than repeats the student response – adds explanation]

Definition

Teacher asks a question or makes a statement with the purpose of increasing student understanding of why their response is incorrect or incomplete, but it does not require the use of text. It could be building background knowledge without text evidence.

Example Responses

• There’s still something missing in your answer. Remember, that NASA can’t always send astronauts to space and may need to send machines sometimes.
• Well, yeah. What else could you have put in your answer instead of just saying a small machine?
• How could you have made that more in depth, answered it more in depth?
• But a small machine–that could be anything. Couldn’t it?
• So I see that we have. Let’s look at back at some of our answers. So I see that we looked at our question what equipment and scientists used to discover water on the moon. So I see we have our answers are a microscope, A small machine, and then we have some other equipment. Which answer makes the most sense as to what would be found on the moon Savannah?
• Oh, that would be interesting. But do they have. Do they have oxygen on the moon outside of what’s in the water?
• Teacher: As a, as the teacher, you know, if you want to put yourself in my position a little bit when I see response like that. It’s hard for me to know what you meant.

Definition

Teacher asks a general question to summarize an instructional moment and/or engages in a specific check for understanding

Example Responses

• Ethan, did you find any evidence when you were looking to answer that different question?

Definition

Teacher explains the meaning of a passage without engaging students in the process.

Example Responses

• As it says in paragraph two, the machine was called a lunar orbiter. So a scientific tool called the microscope can be used to look at the water, but not for the scientists to actually discover water on the moon.
• This paragraph tells us that the moon is drier than a desert. That means that there’s even less water on the moon than on deserts on Earth.
• The text states that the deposits are microscopic, which tells us that the ice is so small you can’t see it without special equipment like a microscope.
• So, Savannah, can you go down to paragraph six and paragraph six. It talks about maybe the amount of time that it would take and kind of like what it would look like before we were able to get water on the moon or from the moon.

Definition

Asks a question or provides a direction with the purpose of increasing student understanding of the text, but does not provide a suggestion or clear next step

Example Responses

• Let’s look back in the text and see if we can find the answer to our question.
• Okay, that’s what polar craters mean. Polar means the poles, the North and the South. So what is the main idea of this section? What is, for informational texts, what is the main idea? What is the target they want you to know?
• So according to that. Do we think that people were actually on the moon at that time? Or did they just send that machine called the lunar Lunar Orbiter?
• So where did they find the water?
• There you go. Okay, so Dev, where were they finding this water?
• Why do you think a scientist would need a microscope to see the water?
• And we were looking at paragraph two moments ago to specifically answer that question. So what was the name of the small machine that NASA sent to investigate?
• That’s right. What word that starts with an “O,” lunar what?
• So do you think the Lunar Orbiter was able to see the ice deposits or how do you think the lunar orbiter was able to find the ice deposits?
• Yes, that is what they sent. And Harrison, what did they investigate when they got there?
• Um, so does anybody remember what the name of that machine was called?
• Jasmine, do you remember the name?
• Well, let’s think about it this way, Jasmine, could you look very closely at the water molecules without the microscope?
• Let’s stop for a second. And what did that first paragraph tell us? Do you know?
• Okay. Can someone paraphrase that paragraph for me?
• Let’s go back to paragraph two, once more. It does say NASA sent a small machine called a lunar orbiter to investigate. What do you think the word investigate means?
• If you’re going to investigate something what– Jasmine, what do you think?
• Do you think that the moon is wet? Or did the text say that the moon is very dry?
• Can you find the paragraph where the microscope is used?
• Um, so, Ethan, can you give me another example of equipment, maybe something from that article that we just read that you know that NASA is using in space?
• And I noticed Jasmine said that NASA sent a small machine. So Jasmine, can you look back in the text and recall what was the name of that small machine that NASA sent?
• Can you find any other kinds of equipment in the text?

Definition

Asks a question that helps students connect the text to their past experiences or background knowledge

Example Responses

• It’s like -have you all seen frost in the wintertime or in the fall? Have you seen frost on your mom’s car windows or the grass? Frost is a thin layer of ice – imagine particles similar to bits of frost. So the Lunar Orbiter found tiny ice deposits in craters on the moon.

Definition

Teacher explains why students are engaging in the task or communicates the thinking objective. Explanation elaborates more than just restating the question.

Example Responses

• I’m going to show you guys how to find important words in the question that will direct us to the answer we need.
• We’re just talking about how we found the answers and what we can use to help us find answers when we when we have questions like this.
• Today we’re going to think through how to use the text when we’re responding to questions like this one – we can’t just rely on our background knowledge.

Definition

Teacher asks student to elaborate on an answer or explain their reasoning behind an answer to better understand the student’s general response or thinking.

Example Responses

• So, you say a small machine. What specific small machine do you think you were talking about there?
• All right, you mentioned oxygen tanks. Why did you mention oxygen tanks?
• Why do you say that?
• Can you tell me more?
• And how did you gather that information?
• Ethan, you mentioned a scientist likes to use a lot of equipment. Right?
• How did you know that water’s heavy?

Definition

Teacher asks students to draw on background knowledge in order to elaborate on their response without a direct connection to the text

Example Responses

• Okay so water being able to be split into two parts. Do you think that that is part of what makes it valuable to NASA and people maybe like your father?
• Teacher: Okay, that’s very interesting. So, you know, just like your answer said, and it said, water can be split into two parts hydrogen and oxygen. Is that something that your dad needs a lot of as an astronaut?

Definition

Teacher asks student to elaborate on an answer or explain their reasoning behind an answer in relationship to evidence in the text.

Example Responses

• Teacher: And what makes you think that way. Savannah based on our passage, what makes you think that the evidence is not convincing.
• All right. Where in the text did you see that?
• What did you read in the text that led you to that answer?
• What paragraph did you look at to find your answer?
• Did you find that in paragraph two, the one we just read?

Definition

Teacher repeats, restates, or summarizes student thinking and teacher reflects the understanding back to the student for confirmation.

Example Responses

• So, Savannah, you’re saying that the microscope discovered water on the moon? Is that right?
• Dev, you think that the micropolscope was the tool that was used to discover water on the moon, but Jasmine, you say it was the small machine. Am I understanding this correctly?
• Okay, Savannah and Dev both agree that it was the microscope. Right?
• So what I’m hearing is, there were craters full of water on the moon?
• Did you tell me that our plants need water to survive, is that correct?
• Now, Savannah, and Dev you guys mentioned that during our discussion that the technology might not be ready for that yet but however there are some possibilities that we can use water.

Definition

Teacher synthesizes across students without explicitly identifying a concern, or affirming strategy use and/or text — but highlights meaningful connections between responses

Example Responses

• So I noticed that, um, several of you, Savannah, Dev, and Jasmine you all answered the question by saying yes or no at the beginning.
• Harrison: As well rocket fuel.
• Jasmine: On yeah I guess I just wanted to say this, like water can be broken down into two parts hydrogen and oxygen and they both are important.
• Teacher: It is very heavy. Going back to your first statement so transporting it would be something that we would have to do.

Definition

Teacher reflects back a previous student response to support comprehension.

Example Responses

• Teacher: It is very heavy. Going back to your first statement so transporting it would be something that we would have to do.
• Teacher: Also you pointed out that it would take them a while to make that plan.

Definition

Teacher affirms student for their use of text, a specific thinking strategy, specific background knowledge, or a skill related to reading the text

Example Responses

• I love that you cited where you found it in the text, paragraph 2.
• That’s very good. I like how Jasmine was able to tell me exactly where she found her answer and Harrison and Ethan that’s more of what I would be looking for when you try to respond. Again, I like how she’s very specific. She used the passage that we provided to find her answer. She didn’t just use her background knowledge, she made sure to go back and find something in the text.
• You used your background knowledge about buried treasures to answer my question
• Teacher: Yes, I agree. And I like how you told me specific things from the paragraph to help support your answer.
• That’s a good question. [The question is actually a good question]

Definition

Teacher reflects back previous student response to take on their perspective.

Example Responses

• I see what you’re thinking!
• I see how you got to that answer.

Definition

Teacher explicitly tells the student WHY their understanding of the question is incorrect, e.g., identifies a specific thinking process that leads to misunderstanding the question.

Example Responses

• It seems that there is a misunderstanding about the question here. You are interpreting the question to mean that scientists went to the moon with equipment, but the question is only asking what equipment was used to discover water on the moon. It isn’t telling us that scientists went.
• So your answer could be improved with a little bit of clarity. If we were more, a little more specific, I should say. So you say a small machine, what specific small machine do you think you were talking about there?

Definition

Teacher explicitly tells the student WHY their response is incorrect.

Example Responses

• Well, you didn’t say the type of equipment that they used to discover water, you said that they sent a small machine and they did send a small machine, but there’s a certain type of equipment that they use to find the water.
• But for this one, the answer wasn’t quite there because we needed to focus more on that equipment than what the equipment was finding.

Definition

Teacher explicitly tells the student WHY their understanding of the text is incorrect.

Example Responses

• True, scientists found ice deposits, but there is a piece missing. The text does not say that the ice deposits were large. It uses a specific word to describe the size of the ice deposits.

Definition

Teacher provides a strategy or clear action step to improve student understanding of the question.

Example Responses

• Find the verb or action word in the question and underline the action word
• When we’re answering these questions, we really read, and we really try to figure out “what does this question want from me?” [Strategy]
• Before we reread the text, I want you to tell me what the key words are in the question because these keywords are going to be the focus of your reading. [Action step and strategy]

Definition

Teacher provides a strategy or action step for improving student response. Sometimes stated as a question Students are doing thinking work.

Example Responses

• So the next time you’re answering your question. What’s something you can do when you’re answering besides just saying no.
• So, by saying the name of the machine instead of saying “a small machine” you allow whoever reads that response to know exactly what you’re talking about. So, please add in the name of the machine to your response. [Strategy and action step]
• As far as what type of equipment scientists used to discover the water on the moon, it has a specific name. So, it’s always very important to read everything in the question and text before answering the question. [Thinking strategy]
• A question relates to the passage. So, when it says equipment in the question, what we want to do is to find the equipment that was mentioned in the passage. [Strategy]
• So next time. How about we try. We’ll start with either a strong either yes or no and then like you did just now will back it up with some evidence. Does that sound good?

Definition

Teacher provides a strategy or clear action step to improve student understanding of the text.

Example Responses

• Now let’s let’s go a little further back on our texts and see if we can maybe go a little deeper into how they originally discovered it. Okay. Would you like to maybe give it another go. [Action step]
• To use context clues, you look at the text around a word or phrase to understand what that word or phrase means. [Action step and strategy]
• Okay, Harrison, I would like you to look back over the passage, and I would like for you to underline where the word scientists appear and what they’re using to find the water. [Action step]
• So, let’s take a step back and see what sort of equipment we see mentioned specifically in paragraph two. [Action step]
• Look at paragraph two, to see if there was a special machine that they brought to investigate the water on the moon. [Action step]

Definition

Teacher:

1. explicitly tells the student WHY their understanding of the prompt is incorrect
2. AND provides a strategy or clear action step to improve student understanding of the prompt.

Examples

• I am concerned that the question is asking – “What equipment” -so, I would expect to hear the name of the equipment that scientists used to discover water on the moon in your response. I would recommend rereading the text looking for the specific name of the equipment used to discover or find the water. Can you tell me what you heard was my concern with your current response and suggestion for your next step?
• Savannah, you successfully identified a type of equipment from the passage, but your answer does not match one of the key words in the question which is ‘discover.’ By looking for words in the text similar to discover, such as ‘investigate,’ you could find a better answer that suits the whole question instead of just part of it.

Definition

Teacher:

1. explicitly tells the student WHY their response is incorrect.
2. AND provides a strategy or action step for improving student response.

Example Responses

• So what you just did there where you explained it further and how you said yes it could be used for that. You just gave that to me verbally, but as far as your actual response to the question where you just told me about how it can be split into hydrogen and oxygen. Do you think that maybe next time, next time when we respond to a question like that, we can bake in some of what you just said. But we can put it on text in the response.
• Jasmine says that NASA sent a small machine. And that was right too. But that was not enough for that question. They sent a small machine, but you have to look for a better word to answer that question.
• And, Jasmine, NASA sent out a small machine, but we need to be specific. I would love it if you could tell me a little bit more about what that machine is. I’m looking for the specific name and it starts with the letter L, if that’s helpful. You can look back in your reading for that.
• That’s very good. That’s very good. So right both a small machine and a lunar orbiter would be correct. But if I was only reading the answers to this specific question, I might not have the context and know that So by saying lunar orbiter instead of a small machine you allow whoever reads that response to know exactly what you’re talking about.

Definition

Teacher:

1. explicitly tells the student WHY their understanding of the text is incorrect.
2. AND provides a strategy or clear action step to improve student understanding of the text.

Example Responses

• Let’s outline the sequence of events described in this text. First – what happened (student replies), Then _. And then _. So _. What was discovered on the moon? How was the water discovered? What was the name of the equipment that scientists used to discover water on the moon?
• Scientists can use a microscope to look closely at water, but they had to use a more specific tool to look for the water first. To find what that tool was, let’s go back to the text. I want you to highlight words that are equipment. Then read what it says about how scientists used that equipment.

Definition

Teacher introduces or explains a thinking strategy

Example Responses

• A good strategy to help you find the best answer for comprehension questions is to look for the subject and the actions in the text that have the same meaning as those in the question. Let’s try that by looking for synonyms for an action word – discover.

Definition

Teacher identifies the type of thinking a student used and thinking actions.

Example Responses

• I heard you thinking in intellectually careful ways today. For example, when you checked for errors and looked for evidence. Can you remember a moment when your thinking was intellectually careful? (e.g. when you pointed out that the moon is a desert so craters were not full of water, or when you went back to the text to find out how much water was found)

Definition

Teacher highlights a thinking strategy that students used.

Example Responses

• Dev just showed us how to use context clues. First, he…
• Savannah just identified the main idea by…

Definition

Teacher asks students a question that prompts them to think about applying the strategies or knowledge learned in the lesson to future comprehension of questions or reading tasks

Example Responses

• Teacher: Okay, so from reading the text today and using our tools by going back and rereading the text circling important information, how can this broaden your understanding in the future of any topic that we discuss whether it’s space or farming.
• Do you feel like you could try this strategy next time you encounter a tricky question like this?
• Next time you have a similar question, what would you do first?
• If you are not sure what the question is asking or if you want to check your understanding of the question – then what can you do?
• To make sure that you understand a text – what can you do?
• So, next time you have to answer a question that requires information from the text, please remember to make sure you understand the question first before you start trying to find an answer.

Definition

• Teacher asks students to think back to the beginning of activity and identify the growth of their knowledge, thinking, or understanding
• Ask students about how prior experiences supported their learning in this lesson.

Example Responses

• What are the qualities of a high quality response to a question that is specifically asking about information that is in a text?
• What do you know now that you did not know when we started talking together?
• Ethan, what’s something new that you’ve learned today about how to answer a text-based question like this one?
• How could you sum-up three actions that you took to improve your response?