CCS Countywide ELA PD on Webb's Depth of Knowledge (August 19, 2014)

CCS teachers and administrators discuss Webb's Depth of Knowledge while completing a Gallery Walk
(see more photos and video below).

Depth of Knowledge, or DOK, is a way to think about content complexity, not content difficulty. Complexity is different from difficulty. For example, if students have not seen the word or content before, it might be difficult for them, but it is not complex.

There are 4 Levels:

• Level 1 -  Recall and Reproduction
• Level 2 - Skills and Concepts 
• Using a skill or a concept, i.e. Paraphrasing. 
• Level 3 - Strategic Thinking and Reasoning
• Level 4 - Extending Thinking
• Usually requires work over a period of time, including gathering information, analyzing findings, preparing reports, and presenting findings.  

Operation Inquiry (My project for the Governor's Teacher Network) is a great example of Level 4.  Click on the link below to read more about Operation Inquiry. 
http://tarheelteachers.blogspot.com/2014/08/operation-inquiry-teaser-my-governors.html

The College Planning Sheet that I created for my students is an example of Level 3.  Click on the link below to read about the College Ready Stations that I implemented.
http://tarheelteachers.blogspot.com/2014/01/lets-make-middle-school-students.html

Cumberland County Schools provided aligned Professional Development to all secondary teachers on Depth of Knowledge. For the 6th Grade English/Language Arts Session that I facilitated, teachers shared possible activities, products, and questions as part of our Gallery Walk.  All materials correlated to our Order of Instruction (the Common Core State Standards that we will all teach for the first three weeks of school).  Check out the photos and videos below:

We had a superb session, our teachers are so upbeat and ready for students!

More Great Information about Depth of Knowledge!

Here is a wonderful video that features Dr. Karen Hess presenting about Depth of Knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRAOefIDcxs

Here is a fantastic video that shows the 4 Depth of Knowledge Levels in one setting, Rancho Minerva Middle School (Vista, CA).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW7mSAAuFM0

Visit the following link to explore sample products, activities, and questions for the 4 Depth of Knowledge Levels.  The document also shows the correlation between Revised Bloom's Taxonomy and Depth of Knowledge for all of the core subject areas: English/Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.  This will be a great tool for team meetings to ensure that all teachers are utilizing Depth of Knowledge.

http://www.armstrong.edu/images/ceed/WYC_DOK_Webbs_Flip_Chart.pdf