Genius Hour-Independent Study

When I was GATE trained, we were taught an engagement strategy called Independent Study, also known as Genius Hour.  The students choose what topic they are going to educate themselves on, and the teacher guides and facilitates their learning. Facilitating learning was a very new concept to me because, as a teacher, I always thought that I was to be the person who delivered the information to students, not the guide. A couple of my colleagues talked about how they were using the strategy in their classrooms, so I decided to give it a try with the GATE clustered classes. 

            When I initially tried Genius Hour, I let students pick whatever topic they wanted, had them research, and present. Some of the students would do a good job, but others were not producing the highest quality of work. This year, with a little more research, I found a way to help the students give more focus so that they are getting what they needed out of the independent study. I found a great resource on Teachers Pay Teachers that will guide students through the process as well as keep them accountable.  

Building a Wordle

   The Wordle will allow students to brainstorm their interests, and a way to help them choose their focus. They will be able to see all of the people and activities that interest them. For our district, the website Wordle does not work on school computers, but I did find an alternative through Google Apps Add-ons. The Add-On is called Word Cloud Generator. Here is an example that I made and will be showing my students.  

Brainstorming

Next, the students will decide what topic with a specific question they would like to learn more about. I will allow the students to use the computers to do some research on
 different areas of interest. During this time, I talk to the students about credible websites, such as .edu, .org, .net, and .com. In addition, if a website has an author attached to the article, that is always a good sign. TED is also a great place to find information, and it is nice because it allows the students to use different types of resources for their research. I feel that teaching the students how to research is so important, especially in technology-driven learning environments.  

Monitoring Progress

In the past, I believe this is where I fell short, so I am going to build in meeting times once-twice a week. I want to make sure that students are progressing on their learning and offer up any support that they may need. First, the students use the KWHLAQ chart once they have a question. This is a new step for me, but I believe this will help students see where they need to go with their research. It will also allow them to ask the right questions when using computers. 

After completing the KWHLAQ chart, they are ready to propose their questions.  Just another step added to ensure students are supported throughout the process and making sure they are being guided in their learning.  

            Once the students are officially researching their questions, I want to make sure they are logging their findings. After each research session, students must fill out their log, which will include their websites and what they learned. This step will especially be important because it will show me if they truly understand what they are reading and if it enhances their learning. I will have them do this on a Google Doc so that they can hyperlink the web addresses.  

The Final Product

            The final product will be entirely up to them, as long as it can be presented to the class. In the past, many students felt the most comfortable with a Google Slides presentation or a video. Which is fine, but I want them to find different ways to show information. Promoting creativity is so important. We will have a conversation on different modes of informing an audience.  As a group, we will then create a Choice Board so that the students will have access to the list of ideas. 

            How am I going to incorporate this into an already packed schedule? I thought UA (Universal Access) might be the best place for Genius Hour. Independent learning is perfect for GATE students, and it is an exciting way to challenge them.  Genius Hour can be altered in many different ways to fit your classroom environment and students. 

Diana Eberle

Kids Love to Talk

Kids Love to Talk

As teachers, we often say things like "My class is so chatty" or "My class won't stop talking." Let's face it- Kids love to talk! Do you want to hear a secret? I love it! I adore listening to my students talk. The things that come out of their mouths can be downright hilarious. If you listen close enough, you'll notice kids have such a unique angle on everything. So how can we use this love for communicating to improve learning in our classrooms? We do this by making talk a regular and welcomed part of our daily routine. If you know me, you know I love Kagan. I've entirely engrossed my self in learning, teaching, and maintaining Kagan structures in my classroom. I mainly focus on these structures during Language Arts. But, math has become my new Kagan obsession. I recently attended a two-day Elementary Kagan Math training, and it was fabulous!  So I am here to report on what I learned and how I will incorporate it into my math block. 

Do you want to meet mathematical challenges by teaching for understanding?

Would you like your students to boost communication as they explain their mathematical thinking? 

As I began to organize my thoughts to write this blog, I was a little overwhelmed. I learned over 20+ different Kagan structures to use during math instruction at the training. I left full of knowledge but a little scatterbrained on which structures to adopt first and which to put on the backburner. So I am going only to give you a few that I already am or plan on incorporating into each part of my Eureka math lessons.  

Who's ready to create a room full of individuals with different backgrounds and experiences who become a caring community of active learners?

Just because it's how my mind works, I organized this section by Eureka Math lesson areas. Just a note, many of these structures can be used in multiple parts of a lesson.

Fluency

There are so many structures you can use for fluency activities. Here are a few.  

• Team Line Ups-Participants line up according to some pre-established criteria. Line ups can be used to make smaller teams (fold the line to make face partners, shoulder partners, count off by 4's, etc.) and can be used to promote communication and develop concepts. 
• Each student is given a number, and they line up in number order, by 2's. 5's or 10's (skip counting).
• Each student is given a shape, and they line up by the number of sides.
• Each student is given a fact to solve, and they line up according to the product.  
• Line up according to a fraction or rounded number.
• Each student has a length of string and line up according to the length.
• Estimation of items in a jar
• Rally Robin- You can use the line up to have students talk in pairs or work with a shoulder or face partner at their table. When they Rally Robin, they speak back and forth by alternating oral responses. Students can...
• skip count
• count forwards or backward
• tell how many ways to make a number (5+5=10, 4+6=10, etc..)
• name two dimensional or 3-dimensional shapes
• Rally Table- You can use the line up to have students work in pairs or work with their face or shoulder partner at their table. Rally Table is students working in pairs; students take turns generating written responses or solving problems. Students take turns passing a paper and pencil (whiteboard), each writing one answer or making a contribution. This can be used in many ways...
• fact practice (+,-, x, /)-Sprints
• 100 chart
• filling in a place value chart
• finding 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less
• Quiz-Quiz-Trade Students quiz a partner, get quizzed by a partner and then trade cards to repeat the process with a new partner.
• fact practice (+,-, x, /)
• missing numbers
• rounding
• finding 1 more, 1 less, 10 more, 10 less, 100 more, 100 less
• Rally Coach-Students sit in pairs. Students share a paper and pencil. A solves, B coaches, and praises. Then they switch. This works well with quick one answer problems.
• Sprints

Application Problem (Word Problem)-There are many structures you can use for an application problem. Here are a few. 

• Round Robin- (team speaking) Students go around the table speaking - in teams, students take turns responding orally, solving a problem, breaking a problem down step-by-step 
• 1. Teacher assigns a topic or question with multiple possible answers 
• 2. In teams, students respond orally, each, in turn, taking about the same amount of time. (30 seconds each) 
• Variations: 
• All Write Round Robin: each student records each other student's answer on their own paper. 
• All Write Consensus: after reaching consensus, each student records each other student's answer on their own paper. 
• Think-Write-RoundRobin: students think about their response, then independently write it down before the RoundRobin 
• Single Round Robin: the team does just one round of sharing, each teammate getting one turn. 
• Continuous Round Robin: each student adds to the discussion/list. It goes around many times. 
• Timed Round Robin: each student shares in turn for a specified time. 
• Instant Star -Students are randomly called to stand and share with their teammates. I like to use this strategy for students to orally tell their team how they would solve the problem before they solve it.  
• Teacher asks a question. 
• Teacher calls for think time. 
• Teacher randomly calls a number. 
• The student on each team with that number stands and shares her/his thought or answer with teammates. 
• For high consensus questions, teammates praise or coach, if needed. For low consensus questions, teammates praise the thinking that went into the answer.
• Rally Table- Students working in pairs/teams; students take turns generating written responses or solving problems. Students take turns passing a paper and pencil (whiteboard), each writing one answer or making a contribution.

Concept Development- A majority of the time, I bring my students to the rug with the manipulatives required. My students always sit next to their shoulder partner on the rug. Students usually bring whiteboards to the rug for concept development.

• Think Pair Share- A problem is posed, students think alone about the problem for a specified amount of time, then form pairs to discuss the question and share it with the class.
• This structure is useful when introducing or reviewing a topic.  
• This structure also gauges how much students already know or need to know about what you are teaching that day. 
• Sage and Scribe-This structure helps me to know if my students are ready to be released to begin their Problem set. I pose a question to see if each partner can use math academic language to tell their partner how to solve a problem. It's interesting to hear one partner explain it and see how the other partner interprets it.  
• Shoulder partners work together for about 5 minutes. 
• Partner A tells Partner B what to do. B does what A says. 
• Switch roles

Problem Set- I choose these structures based on students' ability of the skill. This determines if they will work in teams, pairs or solo. This is also the time I can pull a small group of students who need some extra assistance.  

• Team-Pair-Solo-Students solve problems first as a team, then with a pair and finally solo. If students struggle with teams, we stick to teams and keep trying. Just as with a team, if they struggle in pairs, we skip solo.  
• Rally Table- Students working in pairs, students take turns generating written responses or solving problems. Students take turns passing a paper and pencil, each writing one answer or making a contribution. This works well for multi-step problems. Rally table is fantastic for kids who are unsure because they can do one small step and then pass the paper. 
• Rally Coach-Students sit in pairs. Students share a paper and pencil. A solves, B coaches, and praises. Then they switch. This works well with quick one answer problems.

I have my work cut out for me.  I've been using some of these structures regularly, have introduced a few new structures and need to teach the rest.  I believe at getting really good at a few and then adding more.  It's a work in progress but we are having fun along the way!  

Positively Teaching,  

Randi Muehlen

Kagan "Rally Coach" Structure, Across Subjects

If you're familiar with Kagan, then the "Rally Coach" structure is not a stranger.  However, you may have forgotten about this old friend,  and the value and power behind implementing this simple structure. And if you're not familiar with Kagan, or the Rally Coach strategy, no sweat! I'm going to explain it you here, and this is something you can start implementing today!

This structure empowers the students to be both the teacher and the learner.  When implemented correctly (see image above) this structure is very effective in putting the learning into the hands of the students.  Watching them listen to and learn from one another, while catching and fixing their own mistakes is a very rewarding experience to watch as a teacher.

Furthermore, this simple structure helps strengthen students' reasoning skills.  When this structure is implemented regularly, students get to practice explaining what and how they did something.  This in turn, supports practicing their reasoning skills and in a verbal context, which a great support for all learners but especially our EL's.

I use this strategy with Eureka Math almost every day during the Application Problem or even some of the concept development problems.  I've also had students utilize this strategy for certain problems in the problem set.  I also tell the students that when it's their turn to be the "coach" or the "teacher" that they need to pretend they are explaining this concept to a younger student who hasn't yet learned how to do this.  This helps them gain a better understanding of making sure they explain every detail.  I circulate and listen, and will support as needed.

In ELA, I use this process a lot when we do RACES writing.   I will have students Rally Coach their C (cite text evidence) and E (explain) components.  The E (Explain) part of RACES is particularly difficult for students.  This is where they "explain" how their text evidence supports the answer they previously stated.  Having them partner up and use Rally Coach helps give them support with the explaining piece.  Their partner is required to listen and give feedback after the "coach" is done explaining what they came up with.  I have found that implementing this Rally Coach structure during writing, has really strengthened peer editing.  My students really do listen to one another and help their peers to strengthen their work! I monitor and provide assistance when I deem necessary. 

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net