Using MAP DeCartes to Write I Can Statements

Last week I had a post about building the data ladder using MAP. Let's take that information now and write I Can statements.

Often people write I Can statements from the state/district standards, but the MAP data ladder is a great way to do this and differentiate the I Can for each student's needs. Keep in mind, we can differentiate in three different ways: the process of a lesson, the presentation of a lesson, or the product of a lesson. In this case, we are going to differentiate the I Can (the learning target); however, in the long run, all kids are still accountable for the state/district standards. But as teachers, we know not all the kids will get there on the same day, and some may have gotten there last week.  This will allow us the ability to scaffold the learning of our struggling students, and enrich the learning of our advanced students.

After you have built your data ladder, as detailed in the earlier post, you will have a single strand highlighted across multiple RIT bands, covering all the students in your class. At this point, you have already grouped those RIT bands as well for instruction; so now it is time to write an I Can statement for each grouping.

If you listed these on the board as a ladder, for example, it would help students see the levels of progression for different skills and enhance the buy in that purpose provides to a lesson.