Striving for Accuracy and

Precision Tool Kit

By Cassandra La Bella, Christine
Medrano, Crystal Ogbu, & Sarah
Stearns
Purpose of our Toolkit
The purpose of our toolkit is to help educators incorporate ideas into their own classroom to develop a positive
and invested environment where students strive for precision and accuracy. Our goal is to provide a toolkit to
support a variety of educators and their classrooms. The toolkit will be a widespread idea bank where teachers can
pick and choose resources in order to make learning experience authentic in their own setting. According to Costa
and Kallick (2000), “People who value accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship take time to check over their products.
They review the rules by which they are to abide; they review the models and visions they are to follow, and they
review the criteria they are to employ and confirm that their finish product matches the criteria exactly. To be
craftsmanlike means knowing that one can continually perfect one's craft by working to attain the highest possible
standards, and pursue ongoing learning in order to bring a laser-like focus of energies to task accomplishment. These
people take pride in their work and have a desire for accuracy as they take time to check over their work.
Craftsmanship includes exactness, precision, accuracy, correctness, faithfulness, and fidelity” (p.6). From this toolkit,
educators will have tools and strategies to help build students up and take pride in the work they are accomplishing.
In order to make students craftsmen, educators need to first practice this Habit of Mind themselves and lead
students by example. The skills teachers and students will take away from this toolkit will positively improve the way
challenges are tackled in a classroom. Teachers should feel free to utilize the tools and take ownership of making
them work for their classroom from the language used with their students to the types of activities they select to
incorporate within their spaces for what works best with their kids.
Vision for Excellence
“Through purposeful planning and implementation, educators will provide
engaging activities that demonstrate the importance of “Striving for Accuracy
and Precision,” and students will apply what they have learned when working
collaboratively to set and achieve shared classroom goals. Finally, students will
feel empowered to adopt the habit of “Striving for Accuracy and Precision,”
when assessing their academic and behavioral progress, which will be based on
collected data to ensure students work toward rigorous objectives.”
Calendar of Implementation
When designing a timeline for implementation of lessons and activities centered around “Striving for Accuracy
and Precision,” it is essential that educators first set realistic goals. Realistic goals depend on the skill level and
personalities of each unique class and should be tailored so that students feel challenged, but still positioned to
achieve their goals. The following is a recommended calendar for implementation of the toolkit resources.

The first weeks of school should include activities that encourage student discussion of the importance of
“Striving for Accuracy and Precision.” As Costa and Kallick note, “One of the most important things for children to do
in school is reflect, especially after cooperative tasks and long-term projects. To truly understand a concept, students
need time to question, explore, refine their thinking, observe and reflect” (2009a).

Once students have a satisfactory understanding of the Habit and can explain why it should be applied, then
teachers must work collaboratively with students to set classroom goals and establish a vision of excellence. Finally,
as time passes and students become comfortable practicing the Habit with their classmates, students must learn to
set personal academic and behavioral goals.
Part 1 of Implementation
Tools: 1,2,3,4,5

Tool 1: The “Wordle Activity” is an appropriate sample activity that promotes discussion and reflection
of the Habit concept. It prompts students to apply relevant vocabulary to the Habit and consider
what the Habit looks like in practice. This activity also cements a classroom vision by requiring
students to sign the finished poster.

Tool 2: Modeling and think alouds are critical strategies for teaching students how to apply habits.
Tool 2 allows students to see how the Habit is crucial in familiar settings and encourages them to
apply the same dedication to precision in their classwork and interpersonal relationships. As
students view demonstrations, they will reflect and question their reasoning for their actions and
being the critical process of metacognition, thinking about their thinking. This Habit is a vital first
step for “Striving for Accuracy and Precision.”
Part 1 of Implementation
Tools: 1,2,3,4,5

Tool 3 & 4: Stories can be powerful tools to teach students valuable life lessons. Through story
analysis and discussion, teachers can support student comprehension of the Habit. Tool 3 uses the
text, “Max Cleans It Up,” to illustrate why accuracy and precision are essential habits. By providing a
variety of activities to support understanding, educators can ensure that they are helping students
understand the depth and meaning of the habit while meeting the needs of diverse learners.

Tool 5: Utilizing current events and relevant figures can promote student engagement and be a
useful tool for communicating how others have applied the Habit in their own lives. The “Olympian
of the Week” activity is a fun way of promoting student discussion and reflection of the Habit.
Teachers should feel comfortable choosing figures that are suited to their students’ interests.
Part 2 of Implementation
Tools: 6,7

Tool 6: Once the teacher has reviewed the broader concept of “Striving for Accuracy and Precision,”
students must work together to set academic classroom goals. The “Classroom Tracker” is an
effective strategy for creating data-based goals that promote collaborative learning. Students equip
themselves with the skills they learned in Part 1 of Implementation, to actively work toward achieving
the class Vision of Excellence. Students use positive language and constructive feedback to motivate
one another and track overall progress.

Tool 7: As students pursue classroom goals, educators must ensure that students are assessed using
an established rubric. Writing is a fundamental skill that requires multiple language objectives and
promotes dynamic thinking. By outlining a writing rubric for all students to follow, the teacher can
assure that students are working toward the same level of rigor in their writing.
Part 3 of Implementation
Tools: 8,9

Tool 8: After setting classroom goals and having students work together to achieve the vision of
excellence, the teacher must provide the necessary tools for students to create and track personal
goals. The “Desktop Checklist” requires students to check their work consistently and enables them
to self-monitor their progress and effort for each assignment. This tool passes the responsibility of
“Striving for Accuracy and Precision” to the individual student.

Tool 9: The “Reading, Math, and Behavior Data Trackers” provide students an in-depth view of their
progress and pushes them to meet their personal goals. Each student has a unique set of strengths
and challenges. To ensure students receive an excellent education that combines rigorous academic
content and cultivates healthy work and social habits, educators must work with students to set
goals and monitor their progress. The “Reading, Math, and Behavior Data Trackers” task students
with having full autonomy of their progress.
Toolkit Resources
 Tool 1: Wordle Activity
● How to use the tool in the classroom:
○ Bring students together to explicitly teach what accuracy and precision looks like, sounds like, and
feels like. In order to accomplish this learning target, have students brainstorm words that remind
them of accuracy and precision.
○ As students offer suggestions, type them into the program Wordle. Prompt students to explain
what it should look like, sound like, and feel like in your specific classroom.
○ Once students have completed contributing ideas, print and create a contract/poster for your
classroom. Have students sign the outside of the poster to vow to always strive for precision and
accuracy in your classroom.
○ If students struggle with this Habit of Mind have them go back to poster contract and review some
of the ideas of how to master this Habit of Mind.
○ Be sure to reference the contract and explain to students that it is there for them to use as a
resource. Explicitly reference the different skills that can be used to reach the classroom goal.
 Tool 1: Wordle Activity
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Vermont Consultants for Language and Learning (Johnson,
B., Rutledge, M., Poppe, M, 2005)
○ What the Research Says About Character Strengths
(Niemiec, 2013)
○ Habits of Mind Across Curriculum: Practical and Creative
Strategies for Teachers (Costa & Kallick, 2009)
● Reasoning for the selection

Students will not know how to practice accuracy and precision unless it has been explicitly taught. Teachers need
to lead by example and show students what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like. According to Costa and
Kallick, “People who value accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship take time to check their products. They review
the rules by which they are to abide, they review the models and visions they are to follow, and they review the
criteria they are to use to confirm that their finished product matches the criteria exactly" (2005, p.34). This
activity helps provide criteria for students to follow. By making a Wordle into a contract, students will know
exactly where to go in the classroom to reference guidelines. By having students create the ideas that go in the
Wordle, teachers are creating “personally meaningful goal-setting led to increases in student engagement and
hope (Madden, Green, & Grant, 2011).
Tool 2: Act It Out

● How to use the tool in the classroom: Teacher selects everyday routine activities
and has students act them out. Actors are instructed to miss a step or complete
one step incorrectly. Examples: while brushing your teeth the student does not spit
out excess toothpaste; while getting dressed, the student puts his pants on upside
down. The audience (other students) would have to tell what would happen if in
real life if the step was skipped or completed incorrectly. Examples: you would
have toothpaste foam in your mouth all day; your pants would not cover you
properly. Students come to the conclusion that every step is important and
practicing routines the correct way everyday is important to avoid silly mistakes.
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Mindset. (n.d.). What is Mindset. Retrieved from
http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html
Tool 2: Act It Out
● Reasoning for the selection: Carol Dweck explains the importance of growth
mindset in her site, “Mindset”. Asking students to identify a problem and learn from
it allows them to think independently about how thoughtful steps prevent silly
problems in the future. The audience gets to learn from the actors mistake while
enjoying funny peer skits. Dweck explains that, “people with a growth mindset are
also constantly monitoring what’s going on, but their internal monologue is not
about judging themselves and others in this way. Certainly they’re sensitive to
positive and negative information, but they’re attuned to its implications for
learning and constructive action: What can I learn from this? How can I improve?”

We all have to learn the appropriate steps when completing even routine tasks.
Through Act It Out, students can see that thoughtful practice “makes perfect” and
silly practice results in silly consequences.
Tool 3: Max Cleans It Up Read Aloud
● How to use the tool in the classroom: Read
Max Cleans Up to students and teach
corresponding lesson plan to illustrate the
difference and importance of accuracy and
precision.
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Describing 16 Habits of Mind (Costa & Kallick,
2000)
○ Habits of Mind Across Curriculum: Practical
and Creative Strategies for Teachers (Costa &
Kallick, 2009)
○ Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset: Which one
are you? (Richard, 2007)
Tool 3: Max Cleans It Up Read Aloud

● Reasoning for the selection: Cleaning up a bedroom is a task that many students
can identify with as they have likely been asked to do it before. Through this
bedroom analogy students use the words accurate and precise and can clearly
relate Ruby and Max’s actions to each term. Costa and Kallick describe; “unless the
students and their teacher are able to understand and articulate their individual
capabilities and capacities, they will not have the conscious skills to overcome
problems of paradox or uncertainty, or to solve problems for which the answer is
not known” (2009). Max Cleans It Up clearly illustrates the complex terms of
accuracy and precision and engages students in their understanding of the terms.
Through the use of this read aloud lesson plan, students and teacher and “talking
the talk” and “using the vocabulary” in an accessible way for young students.
Tool 4: Read Aloud Story
● How to use the tool in the classroom:

Read Dream Big Michael Jordan and The

Pursuit of Excellence by Deloris Jordan.
Remind students that Michael Jordan’s success
was the result of never giving up. During the
read aloud, have students do a turn and talk
with their elbow partner asking about a time
where they had to practice a skill before
becoming great at it. Have students share
personal experiences throughout the story to
make the connection to Habits of Mind.
Tool 4: Read Aloud Story
● Resources that support the tool
○ Describing 16 Habits of Mind (Costa &
Kallick, 2000)
● Reasoning for the selection:

Similar to Michael Jordan, author Costa

stated “efficacious people stick to a task until
it is complete. They do not give up easy” (2000).
Michael Jordan identified “a strategy to attack the
problem”. The purpose of this story is to make goal
setting and achievement relatable to students. If
they can visualize success it is easier to achieve.
Tool 5: Olympian of the Week
● How to use the tool in the classroom:
○ One way to promote accuracy and precision in a classroom is sharing clear images of people
who have accomplished this Habit of Mind. One way for students to see this is to present an
Olympian of the week (or other role models).
○ Students will be introduced to an Olympian every Monday (this can be done in morning
meeting). Students will explore the Olympian’s accomplishments and their work ethic. Students
will reflect on how the role models achieved success.
○ Teachers can also show examples of role models who made it to the Olympics and then made a
mistake. This will show how it is okay to make mistakes and that is how people grow and learn.
○ During lessons, the teacher can reference the role model and ask questions like:
■ How do you think _________ would do this task?
■ What do you think ________ would do if they made a mistake?
■ How much time do you think ____________ would take to complete this task?
Tool 5: Olympian of the Week
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Fixed Mindset Vs. Growth Mindset
(Richard, 2007)
○ Describing 16 Habits of Mind (Costa &
Kallick, 2000)
● Reasoning for the selection:

In order for students to see striving for accuracy and precision as meaningful Habit of Mind, they need
to understand how this skill is not only useful in their classroom, but in their personal life. “People who
hold the Growth Mindset believe that intelligence can be developed, that the brain is like a muscle that
can be trained. This leads to the desire to improve” (2007). In order to help students improve this skill, it
is necessary for students to see examples of people using this Habit of Mind in the real world. According
to Costa and Kallick “Employing "Habits of Mind" requires a composite of many skills, attitudes cues,
past experiences, and proclivities. It means that we value one pattern of thinking over another and
therefore it implies choice making about which pattern should be employed at different times” (2000,
p.2). In order for students to fully embody this Habit of Mind, students need to see it as meaningful and
can improve one's life.
 Tool 6: Classroom Tracker
How to use the tool in the classroom:

○ Create a bulletin board with a bullseye in the middle. At the bottom of the tracker have a tally
count for the following categories (use colors that correlate the different color rings):
■ Blue: Everyone used accuracy and precision!
■ Green: between 99- 80% used accuracy and precision.
■ Yellow: between 50-79% used accuracy and precision.
■ Red: Less than 50% used accuracy and precision
○ Explicitly teach students how the classroom tracker works. One lesson a day will be assessed.
After the lesson, the class will regroup and discuss accuracy and precision as a whole. Based on
a deliverable, the teacher will determine the percentage of students who use accuracy. A
sticker will be placed on the target to show progress towards the goal of everyone using
accuracy and precision.
○ Ensure that the lessons that are picked are across multiple subject areas to promote this skill
across content areas.
○ The teacher can decide to promote accuracy and precision by using the tally tracker on the
bottom (ex: after 15 blue target hits the class will have a celebration).
Tool 6: Classroom Tracker
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset: Which one are you?
(Richard, 2007)
○ Using Data to Map Your Way to Success (DeLisio, 2009)
● Reasoning for the selection:
The best way to create a strong mindset in a classroom is by having students work together to achieve a
goal. According to DeLisio, “Monitoring student progress with learning trackers (observation logs,
observation forms, conferring logs, etc.) provides the teacher with data, e.g., the degree to which the
student has mastered a learning target, who needs reteaching, who needs additional challenges, and
who needs to be observed more closely for a possible learning intervention. Meaningful information can
come with purposely designed and systematically used learning trackers which are then used to make
decisions about student placement and instructional pacing” (2009). This particular tracker helps
students use their growth mindset and encourage each other to do their personal best. By celebrating
the class as a whole, students will take responsibility for their action. This also allows educators to
consistently be aware of progress towards big class goals.
Tool 7: Writing Rubric
● How to use the tool in the classroom:

In order for students to establish accuracy

and precision in writing, reviewing a writing
rubric allows students to independently
monitor their punctuation, sentence spacing,
handwriting and details in illustrations.
Print and laminate copies of rubric and tape
in on the left hand corner of each student’s
desk for reference. Throughout lessons
students can reference rubric in order to
ensure they are on the right track towards
success.
Tool 7: Writing Rubric
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset:
Which one are you? (Richard, 2007)
● Reasoning for the selection:

When students have a growth mindset about

their abilities as authors and illustrators they will
begin to “embrace challenges” that can arise
during writer’s workshop. In referring to this
rubric, students can still be confident in their
growth as authors (Richard 2007).”
Tool 8: Desktop Checklist
● How to use the tool in the classroom:
This checklist is taped to student desks as
a reminder to ensure all answers are
correct before submission. Students are
provided dry erase markers to encourage
Am I Finished?
I answered every question.
them to put checks in the boxes once they
have been completed. I read the question again and
● Resources that support the tool: my answer make sense.
○ Describing 16 Habits of Mind (Costa I thought about the answer,
& Kallick, 2000) and compared it to what I wrote.
○ Habits of Mind Across Curriculum:
Practical and Creative Strategies for
Teachers (Costa & Kallick, 2009)
Tool 8: Desktop Checklist
● Reasoning for the selection: Costa and Kallick state in Describing 16 Habits of
Mind, that “some students may turn in sloppy, incomplete, or uncorrected work”
(2000). The desktop checklist provides a correction for each of these issues.
Through the use of this checklist, students are using best practice for work
completion. Students are developing a Habit of Mind as Cooper and Jenson
describe, “ the overarching goal is to teach the curriculum in such a way when they
are faced with problems for which the answer is not immediately known -- the skills
embodied in the Habits of Mind” (2009).
○ First check: Provides opportunities for students to see all components are complete.
○ Second check: Ensures students can read their answers.
○ Third check: Explicitly tells students how to check their work. This provides the
opportunity to make corrections if they get a different answer when comparing it to their
original.
Tool 9: Reading, Math, and Behavior Data Trackers
● How to use the tool in the classroom:

Create binders for each student at the beginning

of the school year where students can record
sight words, reading level progression, and
math mastery. These data trackers should be
visited at least twice a month to monitor growth
in all areas. Data binders should be explicitly
taught to students. Students should be able to
understand the importance of their data binder
and how it keeps them on track
 Tool 9: Reading, Math, and Behavior Data Trackers
● Resources that support the tool:
○ Describing 16 Habits of Mind (Costa & Kallick, 200).
○ Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset.Which one are you?
(Richard, 2007)
● Reasoning for the selection:

Seeing growth over time will allow students to see what strategies
of success are effective towards meeting their goals. This data
tracker allows students to be reflective on his/her progress during
each data entry. According to Costa & Kallick, “This resource
enables students to know what “steps must be performed” in
order to reach his/her smart goals (Costa 2000).” The more
students are able to see their progress the more they will invest
and problem solve surrounding Habits of Mind.
References
Boys, K., & Watts, G. (2009). Action tool 1: Exploring the meaning of Habits of Mind with
teachers. In Developing Habits of Mind in elementary schools (pp. 11–16). Retrieved
From:

http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/books/boyesAT2009_exploring_the_meaning_of_habits_of_mind_with_teache

rs.pdf

Campbell, E. (2014). Can ‘eye’tell if you are paying attention? The use of mobile eye-trackers to measure academic

engagement in the primary-school classroom (Doctoral dissertation, University of York).

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (Eds.). (2009a). Habits of Mind across the curriculum: Practical and creative strategies for

teachers. Alexandria, VA: ASC

Costa, A. L., & Kallick, B. (2000). Describing 16 Habits of Mind. Retrieved from
http://www.habitsofmind.org/sites/default/files/16HOM2.pdf
 References
DeLisio, E. (2009.). Using Data Rooms to Map Your Way to Success. Retrieved Feb 15, 18, from

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin392.shtml

Johnson, B., Rutledge, M., Poppe, M., & Vermont Consultants for Language and Learning.

(2005). Appendix C: Pre- and post-assessments of Habits of Mind. In Habits of Mind: A

curriculum for community high school of Vermont students (pp. 101–104). Retrieved

from http://www.chsvt.org/wdp/Habits_of_Mind_Curriculum_VT_WDP.pdf

Niemiec, R. M. (Ed.). (2013, July 19). What the research says about character strengths.

Retrieved from http://www.viacharacter.org/www/en-us/research/summaries.aspx

Richard, M. G. (2007, April 15). Fixed mindset vs. growth mindset: Which one are you? [Blog

post]. Retrieved from http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-vs-growth-mindset-which-one-are-you/