Ever since I can remember, I've always loved words. I love speaking them. I love writing them. I love thinking them. Their power is undeniable. Like superheroes, they have the ability to empower, inspire, encourage, and restore. But like villains, they also have the power to destroy. (Too bad they don't come with a warning label. Yeah. That's how dangerous they can be.) As teachers, we should never underestimate their potential in the classroom.
As a little girl, I remember hearing that "sticks and stones could break my bones, but names would never hurt me." Wrong. Whoever came up with that tune, had certainly never met a person as sensitive as I am. And because I'm such a sensitive person, I always try to be very careful with my words and the tone in which I deliver them. I want my words to linger sweetly in the minds of my students. That's why on the first day of the school year I make these three promises to them: First, I'm going to fall in love with them. I can't help it. It just happens. Second, I'm going to take care of them--like a mama bear protecting her cubs. And finally, I'm going to teach them.
In my class, I have a large bulletin board displaying our district's Effective Expression continuum. I want my all of my students to appreciate the importance of being able to express themselves effectively in speech and in print. Words just happen to be the building blocks of both. Although I may be a self-described "collector" of words, I am definitely not a hoarder of them. I believe words are meant to be shared. All of my students (and ALL really does mean ALL) are capable of learning high-impact rigorous academic vocabulary words and so are your students.
Two weeks ago, a group of about thirty-five 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from my school competed at the Inland Empire Science Olympiad Regional Tournament held at Ramona High School in Riverside. According to their website, "Science Olympiad is a nationwide competition . . . designed to increase a student's interest in STEM fields and provide recognition for outstanding achievements in team events. As their head coach, I was so inspired by the students’ hard work and level of dedication. Since September, students met two to three times a month with a dedicated group of five exceptional teachers to help prepare them for the competition held on March 2nd. The Olympiads from my school were grouped into three different teams. Each of those teams competed for medals in events that tested their knowledge on topics like weather, fossils, ecosystems, circuits and energy, body systems, the solar system, and chemical reactions. Other events required students to use engineering skills to build glider airplanes, Rube Goldberg like contraptions, rubber band launchers, and cars made out of pasta!
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well." -Pierre de Coubertin
Want to start your own Science Olympiad team? Here are a few tips to get you started. First, head over to Inland Empire Regional Science Olympiad website at https://statescioly.org/ierso to learn more about the program and how it works. Depending on the grade level of students on your team, they will compete in different divisions. Since I teach a group of elementary students, we compete in Division A. Once you know what division your students will be competing in, you will need to purchase a Competition Tournament Rules Manual. Inside you will find the official rules for all of the possible events that could be held at the yearly tournament. Registration for teams usually opens in the fall and a list of tournament events will also be posted on the website listed above around the same time so be sure to check back often for updated information.
Create a team of about 15 students. If you are having trouble finding students to sign up, consider holding a Science Fun Night at your school and try a few of the STEM challenges for the rules manual to generate a buzz. Once you have your team, you will want to divide students into smaller group to focus on particular events. Most events are designed for two students. I like to have the whole team to work on the build activities at the beginning of the year to see which students excel at which event.s You can then have students compete within the team for certain events; create an interest survey for students to fill out or you can just choose who gets to work on each event. A little tip I learned is that the schedule of events goes out later in the year, so I have students work on different events just in case there is a scheduling conflict on the day of the tournament. After students know which events they are competing in, they will need to either practice that event, study for the event or build something for the event. Give yourself plenty of time for students to build. It takes us most of the year to build and test our pasta cars.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. You will need a variety of materials to get started. I must have hundreds upon hundreds of straws in my room. Not to mention cardboard tubes, marbles, golf balls, wooden blocks, glue sticks, and uncooked pasta. I usually ask the kids to bring unwanted toys and other supplies that we might need for the events.
This is our 5th year participating in this tournament. When I started the process I really had no idea how or where to begin. Watching the Science Olympiad group grow has been an amazing experience. I am not a science expert by any means. Events vary from year to year, so I find myself doing a lot of reading on new content before I introduce it to students. This experience has allowed me to learn a lot along the way from my colleagues who fearlessly volunteered to join me in this adventure, from parents that cheerfully offer their help and support both after-school and on the day of the event, and, most importantly I have learned the most from my students who eagerly come to meetings excited to learn about science.
I hope that I have inspired you to think more about the impact of learning about science and maybe to even start a Science Olympiad Team of your own.
"I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet." -Nadia Comaneci
Have you ever wondered, “How can I prepare for a
UA/RTI time where my student groups can be organized enough to work
independently?” Get them the supplies necessary to lead group work without you!
“But, how do I do this?!” you might ask, it’s time for Reading Treasure Boxes
in your class!
Okay, so they are not really a treasure box, but if you
get kids to believe that the materials in the box will bring a wealth of
knowledge, they will be thrilled to get this daily treasure. There are
essential necessities to assist in reading growth…
According to the National Research Council, a group of
experts convened to examine reading research and explored components in
powerful instruction:
1.Teach essential skills
and strategies.
◊ Effective reading teachers teach skills, strategies, and concepts.
*After teaching/reteaching the Sound Spelling
Cards, provide laminated copies in each box for students to begin their group
review of sound patterns learned.
*After
going over FRY’s words and testing your students, provide them a list (per
week) to continue to study. My students keep their list in an envelope in the
box to quiz each other as they wait for me or have finished their group work.
2.Provide differentiated
instruction based on assessment results and adapt instruction to meet students'
needs.
◊ Effective teachers recognize that one size doesn't fit all and are
ready to adapt instruction—both content and methods.
While
your UA will be leveled instruction, remember that you still have different
reading levels within the group. Provide each group with the Wonders Leveled
Readers that are at their Lexile Level Range. I use the Leveled Readers to
provide guided reading instruction, but after we read together students keep
the books in the box to reread on their own/with a partner.
3.Provide explicit and
systematic instruction with lots of practice—with and without teacher support
and feedback, including cumulative practice over time.
◊ Students should not have to infer what they are supposed to learn.
*Allow
teams come up with a team name for ownership and buy-in that teamwork makes the
Dream Work! Purchase pocket sleeves to hold a team name/picture on one side and
the other side will hold explicit directions of work for the day/week.
4.Provide opportunities
to apply skills and strategies in reading and writing meaningful text with
teacher support.
◊ Students need to be taught what to do when they get to a "hard
word."
*Provide Question
Cards/Sentence Frame Cards to guide their independent reading, after they have
read with the teacher. You can find a copy of the cards I use, linked to my
profile.
*Provide passages
(from Wonders) and sand timers for independent Fluency practice.
5.Don't just
"cover" critical content; be sure students learn it—monitor student
progress regularly and reteach as necessary.
◊ Effective teachers adjust their teaching accordingly to try to
accelerate student progress.
*Provide
feedback (scoring, if necessary) on the independent writing or fluency practice
for students to monitor progress.
You have read the experts’ suggestions and my
classroom suggestions (by the asterisk in bold print). Please take these
suggestions to make your reading instruction more powerful! Try something new,
add your own touch, your “umph” and your students will TRIUMPH!! J
My students are in the middle of publishing a book (it's free... check it out: Free Book!). Our theme is "When I Grow Up, I Want to Be a ..."
As I was going through my students' entries of police officers, chefs, doctors, firefighters, and teachers, I came across my favorite entry:
Teachers of young children know that they mimic the behavior they see. We see it especially during dramatic play, recess, or free choice time. I have a particular student this year who, every time she finishes early, chooses to read a book from my chair to a pretend group of students on the floor, as I do every day. We can learn so much by just observing this unique time of a child’s day.
I feel hopeful when I see articles promoting play for young students. I have been in the business long enough to see the proverbial pendulum swing in kindergarten between the kindergartens of yesteryear to play kitchens being removed from classrooms and back to developmentally appropriate programs. Fortunately, I was never ordered to give up dramatic play (and my kitchen), but many of my colleagues were. Guess what? My students still learn the academics that are expected in spite of the time I allow them to “play”. Countries where they actually have more recess tend to have higher academic performance than countries where recess is less. -Sergio Pellis
It’s just another idea that is being taken for granted about our students today-that they spend many hours outside just free playing. With the allure and availability of technology, kids are too distracted to bother going outside, or even worse, they’re outside WITH technology. The people who make decisions about young students’ time in the classroom are not teachers who are in the trenches every day, seeing the current trends. This article from NPR goes into detail: NPR.
Back to my Valerie-her writing brought a tear to my eye because she is only writing about what she knows. She sees me as a teacher who plays with her students. And that is the best compliment I can receive from my students.
What is "fluency" in terms of mathematics? And what is the purpose? Eureka Math explains fluency in such a relevant way in that fluency is NOT only memorization of rote math facts, but rather, the ability of students to be able to quickly and accurately compute simple calculations through having a deepened understanding of number sense. Fluency in each grade level involves a mixture of just knowing some answers (memorization), knowing some answers from patterns, and knowing some answers through the use of strategies and having developed strong mathematical reasoning skills through the understanding of number sense. I'm going to dive into one important Fluency Component of Eureka Math, the Sprints, and show you the purpose, the benefit, what it looks like, and how YOU can implement this structure RIGHT away!
Sprint activities in Eureka Math "Sprints support automaticity so that students can use their mental energies for more complex problems. They allow students to see their own improvement on that path to automaticity, which is motivating. The form of delivery directly supports Sprints' primary functions." - Eureka Math
The Eureka Math Sprint activities are designed to develop and foster the growth in students' fluency skills. They should be fun, adrenaline-rich activities that intentionally build energy and excitement. A fast pace is essential. During Sprint administration, teachers act sort of like coaches, in that they are guiding and cheering on their students to succeed! An exciting routine fuels students' motivation to do their personal best. Students' recognition of increasing success is critical, and so every improvement is celebrated. Eureka Math has carefully designed each Sprint activity in a well-sequenced structure that starts simple and progresses to very complex by the end of the Sprint page. The goal is never for students to complete all 44 problems, but rather to try their best and make growth/improvement on each set. Thus, Sprints should NEVER be collected or graded! One Sprint has 2 parts (Sprint A and Sprint B), with closely related problems (as seen pictured above). Students complete both Sprint A and Sprint B in quick succession with the goal of improving on the second sprint, even if only by one more problem correct. With practice, the following routine should take about 9 minutes in total:
Directions for administering Sprints:
1)Sprint A: To start, distribute Sprint A face down on the students' desks. You will want to read/discuss the directions briefly to ensure that all students understand the task. Let them know they will have only 60 seconds to do their very best work. Students hold pencils up in the air until you give them a signal to begin. Once you have given the signal, students flip the Sprint over and rigorously start working.
2)Correcting Answers: Once time is up, you tell them to stop and draw a line underneath the last problem they completed, then pencils down. You will now let the students know that as you call out the answers, they are to respond with "yes!" if they answered it correctly; if it is incorrect, then they silently circle that number. You continue energetically calling out the answers at a fast rate (to keep the atmosphere exciting and engaging). Once you get to a number where no students are responding with "yes!" you stop calling out the answers and direct students to record their total number correct at the top of the paper (there is a designated spot for this). You will need to model or explain to them how to subtract any wrong answers from the total number they completed.
3)Cheers/Celebration: You will tell students that the number correct they have recorded at the top of their Sprint A is now their "personal goal" for Sprint B. Then you'll recognize student achievement by starting with asking "Who got 1 correct?". Then slowly increase the number until you find the last man standing! (student with the most correct). Celebrate this student with a cheer of your choosing! Just to name a few that I use:
-FAAAAAANTASTIC cheer
-WOW Cheer -Clam Clap Cheer
-Truck Driver Cheer -Cheese Grater Cheer
-Hot Pepper Cheer -Roller Coaster Cheer
-Lookin' Good Cheer -Fire Cracker Cheer
-Give an "Air High Five" -Silent Cheer ............. and sooo many many more to choose from!
**After administering Sprint A, you ALWAYS want to have the students discuss with an elbow partner or teammates what patterns they saw as they completed the sprint, what strategies they used, what parts were easy/hard. etc. This brief discussion often leads to further student success on Sprint B! Then you can give them an additional minute (untimed) to continue working through Sprint A for further practice/support.
4)Movement: Now, to keep the high energy and fun of this activity, always do a stretch or movement activity in between the Sprints. For example, you can do jumping jacks while skip counting by 3's for 1 minute. This will keep the students energized and pumped up to complete Sprint B. This is often followed by a slower paced movement activity, such as slowly skip counting to slow arm circle movements or neck rolls. This helps keep them focused and ready to get back to business!
5) Sprint B: Now you will distribute Sprint B face down. As mentioned above, it looks almost identical to Sprint A. Only minor changes in the digits. Have students raise pencils in the air until you give them the signal to turn the paper over and begin! Again, you time them for 60 seconds. You repeat the exact same process of Sprint A to call out the answers, except this time the celebration will be different. 6)Final Celebration: This time after students have calculated their total correct and recorded it at the top of their paper, they also record their number of IMPROVEMENT from Sprint A to Sprint B. Have all students stand who got 1 or more problems correct on Sprint B than on Sprint A. You again slowly increase the number until only 1 student is left standing--- THIS time the cheer is given to that child to celebrate his/her "improvement" rather than the total number completed!
7) Debrief: You can again have students discuss the patterns and how they were able to achieve more success the second time around, etc. You can then give them an additional minute to continue working on the Sprints if they need the practice and/or time permits.
Here's what a full Sprint lesson looks like from start to finish in my classroom! :-)
I can't even begin to tell you how OBSESSED my students are with this Sprint process! There is not a Sprint built into every Eureka Math lesson, as often times other fluency activities lend themselves better to certain lessons. However, my kids look ahead and know EXACTLY at what lesson our next Sprint will be, and they will make sure I'm aware! (LOL)
I can also honestly say I have seen a HUGE improvement in my student's fluency with numbers and concepts as well as their self- confidence, largely in part due to these Eureka Math Sprints. So I highly encourage you to NEVER cut these out of your Eureka Math lessons, not only are they beneficial, but they are so so fun!
I want my classroom culture to be a place where the purpose of reading is not solely for performing well on a test, but instead, because my students are enjoying the story and the journey it takes them on. One way to get students to love reading is to introduce them to books they didn’t know exist, or a book they wouldn't pick up off the shelf. We all know that feeling of picking up a new book and reading the first couple of pages and just knowing you are going to fall in LOVE with the characters and their story. I want my students to know these stories. I want to introduce them to characters that inspire them, push them to be better, make them laugh, and make them think. Characters that are struggling with growing up also. I want them to read stories that remind them that they’re not alone in this big world. Stories of struggle, overcoming adversity, love stories, and self-love stories. Stories of helping other people, animals, and the environment. Stories that can never really happen but are beautifully written.
I’ve tried a couple of things over the years to get my students to love reading. Many of the things I’ve implemented had the reverse effect, and I found my students disliked reading even more than before. Therefore, my approach, for now, is to surround them with quality novels and texts with the stories and characters mentioned above whenever possible. One way to do this is with First Chapter Friday.
What is First Chapter Friday?
*Let me start by saying that I did not come with this idea on my own. I follow a couple of teachers on social media who partake in First Chapter Friday in their classrooms, and I have some amazing co-workers who started it their classes earlier this year (shout out to Sabrina Blake and Meg Smit). I loved the idea and thought it would be a great way to foster the love of reading with my kids.
First Chapter Friday is when you read the first chapter of a new book to your class. Yep, only one chapter. I started a couple of months ago, and now many of my students walk in on Fridays asking when we’re going to read First Chapter Friday. The thought behind this idea is that just one chapter is all some students need to get hooked on to a new book. In the limited time that I’ve done First Chapter Friday, each book has been checked out of my library by the following Monday. I’d call that a success!
How to implement First Chapter Friday:
Choose a different genre than the genres you usually see your kids reading, or than what you normally read to them. I found that this helped to hook the reluctant readers in my class because it was different than what they would normally pick for themselves when reading in class.
Choose a book that is part of a series. This is a tricky way to get kids to read even more books because if they like the characters and plot line, they will want to know what happens next.
Try to choose a book early in the week and put it on display. This way it builds the anticipation up and the kids get excited. A couple of my students have started making a prediction about the book which makes my teacher heart melt.
Use your Scholastic points to “buy” new books that the kids haven’t seen in your library, or ask to borrow books from willing coworkers.
Make it fun spirited. Let the kids get comfortable. Find a YouTube video of a crackly fire to set the mood. Go outside and find a tree to read under.
As a kid, I hated math! Just ask any of my teachers. Or my mom. Or my sister. I hated it. I hated it so much that I would feel sick every morning because I feared my teacher would call on me and I would not know the answer. I remember the nights of staying up very late trying to finish my 30 question math homework and only completing five questions to find out the next day they were incorrect. I remember thinking what's wrong with me- everyone understands except for me. Math just didn't make sense. It was so abstract and seemed to move so fast. Most of my teachers just explained it one way and moved on. The way they explained it never seemed to click. This is how I saw math:
Want to hear something funny? I tell people all the time and it's true that it wasn't until I began TEACHING math that I truly began to like it. Now it is one of my favorite things to teach. As silly as it sounds, I think my struggle to understand math as a child only helped me be a better math teacher. I think this because I am always saying to myself "Stop and think like a kid." I am constantly asking myself:
How can I make this relatable to my first graders?
How can I make this boring math lesson come to life?
Eureka is a challenging program that gives us many opportunities to make math fun. Math can be intriguing and exciting for our students. Eureka has helped guide me to prevent boring lessons and in turn, replace them with lessons that are packed with collaboration and engagement. Here are some ways I make that happen::
Implement Engaging Routines
Kids love routines. Routines will help maximize time because your students know the set expectations. For example, most days we start math with a timed Sprint. We pump ourselves up by chanting "I am a mathematician, I will try my best because I am awesome and I can do this!" They have 1 minute to do Sprint A, we correct it, and then they count how many they got correct and write it on the top. They then do the same for Sprint B. They celebrate their growth even if they only got one more right. Growth is growth! My students love this routine. My students are engaged at this time and look forward to beating their own goal. My students love this personal competition against themselves.
Make It Hands-On
Most of Eureka's lessons are very hands-on. Whether it be fluency activities, application problems or concept development a wide variety of hands-on tools can be utilized daily. I like to present my lesson using interactive Smartboard lessons. This is a great way to entice your visual learners. Clear and student-friendly visual representation is a must for student engagement. Math Manipulatives are our friends! Don't be afraid to use them. I like to provide my students with math manipulatives for just about everything. I believe they are beneficial in all grade levels and are crucial for conceptual learning. Some of our favorites are the number line, dice, unifix cubes, the rekenrek, centimeter cubes, coins, dominoes, and tangram shapes. It is also fun to bring in real objects to teach a concept. My student love when we use items such as beads, candy or blocks to add and subtract.
Play Games
So much of what we do in Eureka can be seen as a game. My kids are always saying "Yes, I love that game." Fluency and Concept Development are a great time to play these games. My kids love Happy Counting it's like a math version of Red Light, Green Light. They also really enjoy playing addition and subtraction with cards. In this game, pairs use cards to each make an addition or subtraction sentence. The student with the highest or lowest answer gets the cards. The student with the most cards at the end wins. Lately, we have been working in pairs to create numbers using unifix cubes. Each student shows a different number using unifix cubes or with a tens and ones drawing and then they take turns placing a greater than or less than sign in the middle to compare numbers. The most important part of incorporating math games into your lesson is to encourage cooperative learning. It is a great way to create an environment where it is common for students to work in pairs or small teams. They can solve math problems while holding each other accountable.
Encourage Math Talk Kids like to talk. It's so important as teachers that we model how to have meaningful conversations during math instruction. Once modeled and practiced kids will naturally start having these conversations with each other. To get them there I make sure to ask more open-ended questions. An example of this may be to ask "Why did you use that strategy to solve that problem?" It's also beneficial to ask questions that have more than one answer. My students love to give multiple ways to solve one problem. It's fun and challenging! Differentiate There are many ways to differentiate a math lesson. You can differentiate the content, process, and product. I like to do this, especially during the Application and Problem Set. During the Application, I like to give kids the choice to choose which strategy works best for them. If a student still feels comfortable drawing pictures they can while others might choose the break apart strategy and that is ok. Drawing is a great differentiation. Picture representation leads to using only numbers and symbols which can be very abstract to some kids. During the Problem set, I know that some students might only be able to independently and successfully complete problems 1 and 2 while others can complete the entire page. This is ok... It's not quantity; it's about quality. I want students to feel successful and not stressed out over math. You can break down many roadblocks for kids by meeting them where they are on their math journey. Have Fun Just have fun!
Try acting out word problems. It really helps for them to see what is actually happening then to just hear it.
Sing songs and listen to music during independent practice. I know many people who memorized their multiplication facts by turning them into catchy tunes.
Cheer each other on. We like to use cheers to praise not only ourselves but also each other. Creating an encouraging environment can help melt away the fear that some of our kids have about math. They motivate and encourage our students to persevere.
Get up and move! Always keep your kiddos moving. Kids can be moving a lot during fluency activities. Our favorites include jumping jacks or cross punching while skip counting.
Let them create their own problems. This is so much fun. They love creating silly scenarios for their partner to solve. When kids can relate and make sense of something on their own they never forget it.
Ok! I could go on and on. I have learned to love math. Yes! I am saying it-I LOVE MATH... Why? Well, because I now find joy in it. It's fun and engaging. I see the spark in my student's eyes when I tell them it's math time. I am making a difference by making math an hour of excitement rather than dread. I am taking away the fear and replacing it with smiles. Math can be fun and we can teach our kids to love it.
Here is a routine that I started implementing this year. My class knows it as "reflect and respond" journaling. The goal is to encourage students to JUST WRITE by offering a variety of writing stimulus - an interesting picture, an inspirational quote, a paragraph from a text or short video clips (Ted Talks for kids is an awesome resource on youtube).
STEPS:
1. The item you choose should engage student THINKING. Always start with reasons to write. Just recently, my students watched this video:
2. Allow about a minute for students to reflect silently (this is the REFLECT part of reflect & respond journaling). I explicitly teach them that writers gather their thoughts before writing. I encourage them to think about how the item made them feel. Could they connect the ideas presented with something in their personal life or to something they've experienced in a text?
3. Students write for 15 minutes (this is the RESPOND part of reflect & respond journaling). This step is important as ALL YEAR they will write for 15 minutes non-stop. This builds stamina and writing fluency as well as volume. Gentle, quiet reminders to keep writing can be given if you roam the room. However, I encourage you, as the teacher and model, to also write along with them in your own journal. Below you can see a short video of our class responding to the video above. However, we only had ten minutes on this occasion because of parent conference week shortening our schedule - you can literally hear the lunch bell towards the end of the video! (I highly encourage the use of timers).
Author's Chair
4. Once the timer is up, we move to Author's Chair. Students volunteer to share their journaling with the audience. You may choose as many volunteers to read depending on your time constraints.
5. This part of reflect & respond journaling is crucial. The teacher must listen carefully to responses and take notes as to specific ideas that come from one of your volunteers. It could be a phrase or an interesting expression that comes from their responses. I have started to encourage the audience (those listening) to try to state the main idea of each response. For example, in a recent student response, one student wrote how "small kids can have big hearts." This caught my attention and I asked the class to think about what those words mean. I explicitly want them to build on one another's ideas in a meaningful and authentic way. They had conversations about it right at that moment. I encourage students to support their answers with examples in their own lives if they can.
6. Select that ONE student journal that you think might stimulate more writing. I have done this all year long and I can guarantee you that you will always find at least ONE response that stands out.
7. Make a copy of the selected journal entry and transcribe the journal on a word document. Make double-sided copies (one side has the handwritten journal entry, the other side has the same text in typed format) for all students. Each student will receive a copy of this entry to annotate.
Students should LOVE to write!
8. Use that student's journal entry as the mentor text for the next day's reflect & respond journaling. Think about the implications this has on your students - using THEIR writing as the text for reflecting and responding. Even your most struggling student will have an opportunity to have the class respond to their writing because the focus is on IDEAS not grammar (yes, this will be difficult for those teachers who really want to correct every mistake but don't do it; celebrate ideas!). Students will analyze that student's ideas and build upon them with examples and/or more thinking.
9. There are SO MANY ways you can alter or change this routine to fit your needs. It is very organic. Don't be afraid to try it. The more you implement this unique writing opportunity, the faster your students will become and you will also see their enthusiasm to write something OTHER than a prompt (we all know they get enough practice on those!). If you have questions, please email me. I am more than happy to assist or offer ideas!
1. How long does this take? 30 minutes would be sufficient (4 to 5 minutes to present stimulus + 15 minutes to write + 8 to 10 minutes Author's Chair).
2. How often do you do this? Depends on the week. I try to do this on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. However, it truly depends on your scheduling. If you have a busy schedule, try once a week at least.
3. Is this the only type of writing you do? No. I have a formal writing program where students will still continue to learn how to write constructed responses, essays, and other writing items. It does NOT supplant my regular instructional program.
4. Common Core standards addressed? Here are the ones that float to the top (however there are many more if you really dive deep):
Writing Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research
Listening and Speaking Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.2
Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.1.D Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.4.3 Identify the reasons and evidence a speaker provides to support particular points.
There are two solid reasons why I love to implement this routine:
Students become writers NOT students of writing. There is a difference. They begin to see writing as a tool of expression. They write because they want to write. Offering them the reasons to write is the tricky part for the teacher, however, I assure you this will become habit after you feel comfortable with the routine.
RACE and SBAC - I have noticed that this routine sort of "frontloads" and then supports the "E" skill in RACE. I understand that many teachers struggle with how to teach students to explain, elaborate, or extend during formal constructed response activities. When our class begins a lesson of this nature, I remind students that the "E" in RACE is basically what they do during reflect & respond journaling - can you connect the text with something you've read before or a life experience example. This can be very abstract especially for fourth graders and I have witnessed that our journal routine has enhanced responses since the beginning of the year. It is not as difficult for them to wrap their heads around this. Obviously, if students become more proficient in RACE, they will most likely meet the rigors of SBAC where a huge piece of assessment is the ability for students to find connection between ideas whether within one text or comparing two texts.
Would you like to learn how to strengthen your OWN writing abilities? Why not apply for the Invitational Summer Institute? Follow this link to my first blog of this school year for information on how to be part of this amazing opportunity:
By about this time in the school year, everything feels so rushed and incredibly busy to get in those last lessons before the BIG TEST. Even though we all teach our students what we know they need to learn and don't necessarily plan our curriculum around solely the SBAC, we all want our students to do well. I'm not sure how things have been going at your school sites, but we have had adjusted schedule after adjusted schedule since January and time is going way too fast. Our last week was early release for conferences. Before that, we had slightly shorter classes daily to prepare for conferences, SRI testing, finishing off one unit, starting a new unit, ICA grading and debriefs....so much stuff!! We have a lot on our shoulders and that sometimes makes it hard to remember to include different strategies within our instruction. Here are a few tips to add some novelty to your lessons, even on these rushed and packed days!
1. Add movement
Class review of our last unit. They had to
write thoughtful statements starting with each
letter of the alphabet related to our learning.
Gallery walks have been a quick and easy go-to for our current unit of study. These are easy to set up and if you laminate your gallery posters, then you can have them ready to go for next year! The Gallery Walk we completed last week went very smoothly. Limit time at each area and use a bell or other attention getting device to indicate when they need to move on.
Write on the whiteboard. No I don't mean you. When you invite students to come up and write on the whiteboard then it changes things completely. For some reason there is a lot more excitement over writing when you involve dry erase markers. Maybe the pretty colors? Whatever the reason, I'll take excitement for writing!
Use a relay race. My classes are definitely due for this type of movement and this week and, with all the rain predicted, it could be the perfect time to plan for it. Even middle school students are extra wiggly on rainy days! The relay race can be as simple or complex as you plan for. I've used small buckets in the past and students have to stack them in the right order according to the structures they are practicing. I've also used them for matching for a fun review. Small cones could also work well as markers. With the right organization, this doesn't require a lot of room and can be done inside your classroom.
2. Use technology
Google Apps Using Google Classroom, you can assign documents to specific student groups or the whole class and use a free add on such as Brain Storming Race that will allow editing rights to those students for a limited time then automatically changes access to "view only" when the timer goes off. This is great to push students to focus on a task together and the fact that they lose access when the timer goes off is a little more incentive to finish within the given time.
Padlet is free for up to five Padlets and works similarly. There are a few choices of how each Padlet can be set up. A benefit of this over Google Apps is that it's easier to collaborate with people outside of OMSD. We used this program to collaborate with other schools during the Global Read Aloud.
Plickers in action! I have an earlier blog post about these too!
Flipgrid brings a new level to communication. It's perfect for these kids and their obsession over social media and selfies! Surprisingly, some are still embarrassed to make a video. For those students, I have a few super hero masks they can choose from to use. Once everyone makes a video, you can have them respond to each other's videos. Sometimes I assign partners and other times I let them choose.
Plickers, of course! I know I've praised Plickers before but they are absolutely amazing and my students use them all the time for quick reviews. The students get instant feedback and I have data to inform my instruction. Everyone wins!
3. Collaborate in a different way
Inside-Outside circle: I use this while students are seated and give them a sheet with 6-9 questions to ask on it. They'll rotate partners as many times as needed so that all questions are answered. They love it because they get to talk all period and I love it because they're talking about the learning and think it's fun!
Jigsaw an article you are reading. This takes some prep but is good to help with student-led learning. Hand out pieces of an article to students. They become the experts on that section and then meet with experts of other sections of the article and discuss the article as a group. Hmm...another one I need to use soon.
4. Change your scenery
Go outside. We have such amazing weather (most of the time), so why not do your reading for the day outside in the warm sun? Wiltsey has a gorgeous campus and there are tons of places we could use for outdoor learning.
Change your seating. I changed my seating in January and by the second week of February, I realized I absolutely hated it. I made a few adjustments to get me through the month (we change seats each month) and then did a complete change on Friday before leaving. I can't wait to start using my redesigned space on Monday and I know my students will love the change too! I taught elementary school for one year and hadn't realized how much work it is to change seats with students until I did it, like I always had done, on the first Monday of the second month of school. It took at least 60 minutes. Maybe this one is a bit more geared towards our middle school teachers!
Whatever it is you do to add a little novelty to your learning environment or lessons, it reignites excitement for learning in our students and for ourselves as well. March will fly by and then before we know it, we will be saying goodbye to our kids for the summer. Make these last few months extra exciting and do some of that "sneaky teaching" where the students don't realize how much learning they are doing.
What are some of the ways you add novelty to your lessons? Comment below!
