What does that word mean?

Vocabulary is one of my favorite things to teach. It is also so very important. Vocabulary is an essential aspect of reading comprehension. If students do not know what the words mean, they cannot understand what they are reading. Unfortunately, many of our students struggle with oral language skills. This is due to many reasons, but all in all, most kiddos tend to be lacking in oral language development and vocabulary. 

So, what can we do?

As teachers, we need to be intentional about teaching vocabulary. We have to take the time to teach vocabulary to our students. We cannot just rely on discussing words that we may come across in our read-aloud. While it is essential to discuss unknown words while reading, we also need to explicitly teach vocabulary words to our students daily. Primary students learning academic vocabulary show more significant benefits than starting later when they can already recognize and read the words. It gives me the impression that there is urgent importance to learning words orally to then read and understand them later. To teach big words correctly, it’s vital that we teach them in developmentally appropriate ways to build schema. 

I've developed a well-balanced system that quickly builds my primary students' oral vocabulary.  I'm excited to share all of this with you in this post so that hopefully, you can use ideas that work best for you and your classroom.

Introducing the word

When I teach vocabulary, I often have the kids engage by providing several different versions of a word.

1. Dictionary definition
2. Comparison (it is like____, but different because______.
3. Real-life examples
4. Graphic version (drawings, pictures, representations)
5. Acting it out

Students need “kid-friendly” definitions of vocabulary words. Did you ever have to look up words in a dictionary and write the definition? I know I remember doing that (not in 1st grade, of course). While I know that learning dictionary skills are fundamental, this is not an effective way of teaching new vocabulary to primary students. An example, if I look up the definition of the word physical, it says, “relating to the body as opposed to the mind.” For a first-grader, this definition would only lead to looking up the words relating and opposed. Students need us to provide them with definitions that they are going to understand.

My students sit on the rug next to their Kagan shoulder partner.  

1. The word is presented on the Smartboard (Wonders Vocabulary words) with visuals and student-friendly definitions.

2. Students repeat me as I read the definition and example.  A relatable gesture that I make up that makes sense to kinesthetic learners is added most of the time.

3. A question for students to answer using the word in context- An example, I would ask my students some questions for the word "distinguish": What's one way to distinguish your left hand from your right hand? I give them think time and then have them A/B partners talk about their ideas. As I bring them back- students volunteer their thoughts. I'll then give them my answer/example: I show them to make an L-shape with their pointer fingers and thumbs. The left hand always makes an L, while the right hand makes a backward L.  How can we distinguish whether someone is happy? Sad? (facial expressions are essential for the image)
What distinguishes Mama Bear's chair from Papa Bear's chair? (one is soft and one is hard)
How do you distinguish between yourself and a friend? (personalities, physical characteristics, etc.) Students are given think time for each question and partnered to discuss their responses and then share with the whole class.  

4. Students must have texts read to them to discuss and play with the words.  I love to use the Interactive Read-Aloud Cards that are included in Wonders. All of the vocabulary words are included with examples in the text and relatable real-life examples and questions. These stories are fun and easy to understand. Also, they align with your Essential Question and Genre for the week. 

Please see video below of me teaching a vocabulary word. 

Mrs. Muehlen Vocabulary Instruction

Emergent readers

The vocabulary words I am teaching are for oral comprehension. I want students to listen for the words in context that support where they are developmentally. I also want students to understand the new vocabulary and use it while communicating in class and at home. Nothing makes me happier than when a parent expresses how much their child's vocabulary has grown by the end of first grade. To make this happen, students need multiple exposures to learn new words. It can take a student numerous exposures to learn a new word depending on their previous vocabulary knowledge. We cannot mention a word once and expect students to understand and use the word. It is not enough that kids learn the meaning of the word, but they have to learn to use the vocabulary while speaking. Our daily instruction should create opportunities for kids to use words in all of these ways. For instance, the quick vocabulary conversation described earlier can be done with kids working together to come up with those multiple examples using definitions. This kind of cooperation requires that kids talk with each other about the words. An activity I use is to assign a different word to each group to discuss, illustrate or act out and then have them come together as a whole class to teach each other the word and what they discussed. This emphasizes collaboration while speaking and listening and is a great way to review more than one word at a time. I also reward kids for using the studied vocabulary words while they are speaking. 

Don't Forget to Review.  
It can be challenging to retain vocabulary if you are not given opportunities to use it. We may teach vocabulary because certain words will be included in the texts we were reading that week, but then students might not see them again for a long time. There are many ways to continuously review vocabulary, such as having one day a week when you only work with words that have been taught in the past or making a visible list of vocabulary words and using them as necessary.  

Teach Vocabulary All Day Long
To help develop word mindfulness with our students it is important to stop and identify unknown words from all subjects.  When students become comfortable expressing their lack of knowledge of particular words, they will be more likely to resolve those gaps when reading and comprehending. Students become motivated and confident if they know they can stop me at anytime and ask what a word means.  One of our class mottos is to “Always ask Questions!” In with that being said- What questions do you have? Feel free to email me with any questions ! 

I hope you found this helpful and gets you thinking about how to include academic vocabulary into your everyday teaching.

Positively Teaching,

Randi Muehlen

@positively_teaching

The Mega Task Demand: Metacognition...Oh, We are Thinking About Thinking, I Think…

 By Heather Pfrunder, M.A.Ed.   SDC Teacher and Education Specialist

September 20, 2021

It’s a mantra in my SDC classroom where I am verbally redirecting students on how to work attentively: “looking eyes, listening ears, eyes on paper, moving pencil on paper, thinking about your work,...no, try first then I can help you”...and repeat. And repeat.  I should auto-record myself, make a playlist, and hit the numbered response.  Ew, that last thought was not so stellar. But hey, in my humanness, it snuck in there.  And if you have ever taught students with metacognition challenges maybe you, too, have winced over such a thought.  So, I must ask myself: Am I really teaching thinking about thinking?  When I started this article, I was pretty sure the answer was, “Yes!  Graphic organizers and I are friends!” I can do amazing things with BoardMaker!” [For my Gen Ed teacher friends, this is a program where you create learning tools with picture icons matched with words for visual learners]. But here’s the thing about writing, you really have to research and self-reflect.  So, I’ve come face-to-face with this large mental image of a K-W-L chart.  So let’s break it down:

What we know is that metacognition in its simplest form is simply an “awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes”  (thank you Merriam-Webster).  For students with sensory processing issues, I find that often they want to focus on their own little inner worlds to find that slice of happiness, bringing them back to the uncomfortable reality of learning challenges can feel like stopping a tsunami from the shoreline.  

What we want to know is how to make this relevant for our a-typical students. 

What I learned is:

 1.) “Assign explicit instruction that addresses not just what you are learning, but how you are learning.” 

However, applying it to a lesson for an a-typical learner, often this means a visual model, a check-list of expectations, and repeat practice. Which is great (and essential for many of our visual learners with cognitive delays), but it may not be self-reflective. Instead what we often find is cognitively passive behaviors: “I counted the dots (TouchMath) and wrote the answer, I earned my tokens (my class reward system), got my i-Pad time (SDC earned time with a favorite item - the i-Pad)…”  So often it feels like a compliance check -- not actual thinking about thinking.  Learning this way is gradual, but for our non-verbal learners visual checklists of looking between the cue and the task is not merely to complete the task, but to “regulate performance and verify accuracy” through “self-monitoring” and to “signal task completion.” (Richie, G. 2005). So to be effective metacognition tools our lists cannot just be generalities, but more specific with careful thought about the actual thought process required to learn a task.

This is one of my more general in-task directions for functional skills.  

Relevant, but not specific to meta-cognition.

2.) “They must be taught the concept and its language explicitly.”

This, I believe, is the golden ticket.  If it is connected to previous skills and taught over time

we can get students thinking about what they understood or didn’t.  Not just a simple exit ticket,

but “What did I understand?” and “What doesn’t make sense?”  

Examples of this:

• “I answered the question by finding the key words in the question and underlining my text evidence”

• “I decoded while reading”

• “I recognized story sequence”

• “I counted all”

• “I regrouped”

Yup, those “I Can…” statements attached to those state standards.  However, we explicitly reflect “I did” or “I did NOT” understand.  Now we have active participants in the meta-cognition process.

When I go back into my previous check lists, they are still pretty relevant for functional skills.  However, I am looking forward to continuing on looking at objectives and having my students exit by answering self-reflection learning questions (for that last token on their token boards).  And rather than reinvent the wheel, I am going to initially have my students reference the anchor charts at my centers to reflect on their learning. 

This is a how-to process visual, but not totally self-reflective. 

I will have to add a process to this.

This is great for setting expectations, but not specific meta-cognition.

This is much better for explicitly teaching the learning process!

This anchor chart has the thinking process and the self-reflection embedded into it.

 I am looking to really celebrate learning!  And just maybe, it will be my students saying,  “looking eyes, listening ears, eyes on paper, moving pencil on paper, thinking about my work, try it first…”

********************************

Join me in upcoming blog posts where I put these strategies into place and share resources!

References:

Chick, N. (2013). Metacognition. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved 9/20/2021 from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/.

Richie, G. (2005). Two Interventions that enhance the metacognition of students with disabilities: Cognitive Cue Cards and Correspondence Training.  Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ914572.pdf

Gradual Release with Eureka Math

 

My Math Wall

Musings

Please indulge me for a moment (if you don’t want to that’s fine, scroll to the next heading 🙂

I just finished a book in which the main character is hit by a car and needs to relearn how to walk. When the doctor checks on her, the doctor says the following

“This is a long road ahead. It’s one that can be very frustrating. It will only get more frustrating. You’re going to have to learn how to do something you already know how to do. You will get angry. You will feel like giving up. I just want you to know that it’s okay to want to give up. That it’s okay to reach a breaking point with this stuff. You have to have patience with yourself”

I feel like this year more than ever I need the reminder that it’s okay to be frustrated and feel like I’m at a breaking point. I’m human and this teaching stuff is hard. What I’ve been working on is having patience with myself and accepting the fact that this feels like I’m relearning things I used to know how to do! Case in point: Eureka Math

EUREKA! I don’t get it...

I’ve been using Eureka Math for four years, which is to say that I’ve been struggling with Eureka Math for four years. I’ve been to the amazing district Eureka Preparation and Customization PD on how to teach the lessons, I’ve watched the Eureka provided PD on it, and I’ve read more blogs than I care to count, but I’ve never been able to hit my stride and make all the pieces fit.

This year, math needs to be a special priority because over 100% of my class is below grade level in math. In my quest to learn more about MTSS and being deliberate about gradual release, I’m happy to say that I think I juuuuuust might have figured it out for myself.

Gradual Release with Eureka: Ruth’s Way!

Fluency - 5 minutes

Skip counting by 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. I used the linked videos for kids to practice skip counting. I don’t do all of them every day, but I make sure to hit every one at least once a week.

Gradual Release - 50 minutes

I DO - 15 minutes

Introduce the learning target, link it to their prior knowledge, explain the importance of the skill in real life, explain success criteria.

One of the parts of Eureka that I’ve found most challenging is that the direct instruction isn’t presented in the same way as the Problem Set and Exit Ticket. That’s led to a lot of confusion for my students about how to apply the new knowledge they’ve gained in the lesson to a novel situation.

To address that, I use the Succeed homework book to teach the concept. Each lesson has 3-4 problems that are presented exactly like those of the Problem Set and Exit Ticket. That way, students are seeing problems that are like the ones they will need to solve. 

I model the first problem step by step specifically explaining how to do each step of the problem. I then ask for up to 3 risk-takers to share what they don’t understand yet. I go through another problem specifically pointing out the answers to their questions. I ask for 3 more courageous students to share what they don’t understand yet and go back to the problem to show them how I came to that answer. I’ve found that asking students to specifically state what they don’t understand is really helpful in getting me to hone in on a particular step and also encourages students to be reflective and actively engaged in the learning process.

WE DO - 25 minutes

I dismiss the whole table of students (balanced through Kagan groupings based on the iReady diagnostic) to work with each other around the classroom on the problem set. The kids love this flexible seating option and I’ve noticed they really stay on track when they can be in a different environment for collaborative work time. Students use Math Talk sentence stems in their communication with one another. I encourage them to use the anchor chart if they are stuck and I use it as a teaching tool as I walk around to groups and guide them as needed.

After 20 minutes, I call students back to their desks and we debrief the problem set. I will either call on students to be the “tiny teacher” and explain their solution or I will clear up a common misconception I noticed while circulating. This is another key moment to have students reflect on their learning and ask for any last-minute guidance.

YOU DO - 20 minutes

Students complete the Exit Ticket independently. When they are done, they bring me the Exit Ticket and I give them instant feedback. They either get a check that it’s correct and then go to Xtra Math (more on that in a minute) or are given corrective feedback that they then apply to their Exit Ticket and they bring it back to me in the “Fast Lane” which is a line that forms at a different part of my desk and helps them move through faster.

Once they have a check, they log on to their Chromebook and go to Xtra Math. Look, I tried using the Eureka Sprints, but I could never get into a groove of giving kids feedback on them so I would have some kids who only finished two correctly and some who wrote “15” for every answer on the page and felt like they were really successful for finishing the whole thing. All that is to say that fact fluency wasn’t getting addressed in my class. In my search to rectify this, I found Xtra Math. It gives you good reports and each session is about 7-10 minutes long. It can also be linked to your Clever page for easy access (see how here). Students take a placement test and then practice only the basic facts that they don’t know. Once they show mastery of a certain operation, they move to the next one.

If a lesson has been successful, MOST of my students complete the Exit Ticket correctly within about 10 minutes. If I have a group that is struggling, I can then pull them and do a reteach while the rest of my class is on Xtra Math. Once they finish a session, they know to go to iReady Math.

DEBRIEF - 5 minutes

Students are given the signal to remove their headphones. We discuss successes and challenges of the lesson. We revisit the learning target to determine if it has been met and I then tell them how we will use this new learning to help us on our quest for math knowledge the next day.

Wrap Up

After years of struggling, I’ve finally found a way to make this powerful curriculum work for me. Students have already been very successful in meeting learning targets (I’m talking 90% of my class is correct on their Exit Ticket) and for the first time ever, I look forward to math because I feel like my daily instruction is truly best, first instruction.

We’re relearning things we already knew how to do and it’s okay to get to a breaking point. Have patience and be gentle to yourself. Always remember,

TPT links to similar resources: Math Talk Key Words  CUBES

Here for you,

Ruth Reinkymov

3rd Grade Teacher

Hawthorne IB World School

The Revolving Door of Independent Study - Facing Its Challenges

     

Have you recently received an email from your attendance clerk similar to this?

     "Student ###### has been signed up for short term Independent Study and will be out for a minimum of three days."

     I have and I have lost count of exactly how many.  Initially, I was of the mindset - no problem.  I simply excused the student in my gradebook for those days' assignments - no harm, no foul.  These students can just jump right in with the rest of the class when they return. . . 

     

     Then it hit me!  I teach Math and the lessons are sequenced to build upon each other.  A student is present for a couple days and then is out on Independent Study for three to ten days because of COVID-19 District protocols.  The student comes back to class and is totally lost.  I am also realizing that this is going to be occurring for the rest of the year.  Struggling students in any subject - Math, ELA, SS, Science, Foreign Language, Reading, etc. - may not be willing to put in the extra time and effort to catch up on what they missed while they were out.  

     So what can we do to support them during these extraordinary times where school looks totally different than when we were in school - wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart, washing hands constantly, being exposed to a known virus, teachers wearing masks, etc.?

So, I have started to develop a plan to support these students in an effort to fill those learning gaps they missed and to keep them motivated so that they can be successful during these trying times.

Start using Zoom recordings again (just when I thought I was done with that, I know).  Start a personal Zoom meeting and record the notes you give to students who are in class.  Download the video and post it into your Google Classroom for students to access.  (Right now these videos may be unedited as there is not a lot of time to make them 'pretty' but the idea being that students have access to the same material as students who are in class - try and hit stop recording during class to shorten the video).  Attach the notes to the Google Classroom as an additional resource for students.

Use a Station Rotation Model to interact with students in a smaller group setting.  The idea being here
that you meet with students who need additional support (absent students or struggling students) and
reinforce the skills through some intervention time.  The other students are working in groups on activities that can reinforce their skills as well or extend their skills through challenge problems, etc.  The Math Team that I am on has gone through two of these Station Rotation Models since the beginning of the school year and it really has offered a great opportunity to meet with struggling students 'between the bells' - while at the same time offering meaningful work for other students in the class.

I also use Khan Academy, for a few reasons, to support these students who are moving in & out of independent study.  Khan Academy is aligned with our Eureka Math Program in that the Khan lessons are set up in the same order as Eureka Math.  I realize that the Khan Academy problems are not to the same rigor as Eureka Math but it offers an option for students to get practice and at the same time Khan Academy gives students immediate feedback as to answers be correct or not.  In addition, Khan Academy offers videos for students to watch that support each skill.  I understand that 'Quality First Teaching' is the goal for teachers but when students miss this opportunity in class I want all my students to still be able and access the curriculum.  Khan Academy is also relevant for struggling students as it does provide that immediate feedback and supportive videos.

I am still struggling with this new found realization this year - supporting students who are in & out of class at any point during the school year.  Life is not easy for our students and I do not want them to feel defeated after being out of school for a short amount of time when they return to class and they have no idea what is going on.  My ideas and plans will most likely evolve over the year as I strive to support all my students through these difficult times.  I do not want my students to become unmotivated and to that end I must constantly remind myself to find ways that make students 'feel' safe when they have been out of school to no vault of their own.

Obviously, my ideas are driven by a math mindset - but I wonder if this starts you thinking of ideas for your own content area?  For starting a conversation with a colleague?  For have a PLC meeting about other ideas?  I struggle with giving ideas for other content areas but the hope is that the conversation begins or continues depending on your own individual situation.

Please feel free to add other ideas or thoughts in the comment section - as I am trying to find better ways to support our students.

And remember to give yourself grace - and then give yourself more grace as we navigate another unforgettable year.

Teaching and still loving it,

  Kevin Stott                          

De Anza Middle School      

Math 8 & Integrated Math I

Scaffolding Beginning Writers using Power Writing

We are 19 days into school (woohoo), and I want to share how I am supporting my beginning writers. As most of us are experiencing, writing is an extra struggle this year because most kids did not use paper and pencil last year.  My kiddos are at all levels, from not knowing how to hold a pencil to writing complete sentences. So my first thought was I need to build their writing fluency. One of the best parts of 1st grade is seeing the fantastic growth students make in 9 short months. As I said above, they enter writing single sentences (sometimes single words) and leave writing cohesive paragraphs- it's incredible! BUT, students need daily, explicit writing instruction and practice for this to happen with chances to write every single day.

As I model writing throughout the year using grammar, writing traits, structural analysis, and mechanics, my students learn all the technical parts of writing a paragraph. We use what we learn to write about the stories we read using thinking maps and then turning them into paragraphs. See this previous blog post for more information- sequence-retell-and-write, but what about building writing fluency and creative writing? This is where Power Writing comes into play.  

Power Writing is a writing fluency activity. It is structured free-write where the objective is quantity. The idea is for students to write as many words as they can as fast as they can. Students are more likely to write if given a topic to write about rather than thinking of their own. This strategy helps writers free up space in their memory by eliminating so many choices in the planning stage. Power Writing is also an important part of building a community of writers, beginning with believing that we are all writers.

This will be my 4th year incorporating Power Writing, and as I sat down to plan, I had to scaffold the way I was going to introduce it because of the wide range of levels my students are at. If you don't teach primary, you would never know you need to start by teaching your students how to write in a journal. Believe me, it's important!  

How do I write in a journal?

I always start with a "how to write in a journal" mini-lesson on the 2nd day of school.  

• Open to the first page.
• Date in the upper right-hand corner.
• The top empty box is for your illustration.  
• Your letters should fit on two lines, Lowercase letters fit below the first line.
• Leave the empty space blank between your writing.  

As you'll see from my examples, our journals are not perfect nor shall they be.  BUT, progress is being made.  Plus I am super proud of my kiddos.  They have been working SO hard on their writing and I already have some fabulous writers.

2. Introduction, Brainstorming, Oral Language Practice

Students begin by sitting at their desks, and I have my document camera open to:

• Introduce the topic- I have been using Journals with premade topics. 
• Students then get time to think of anything they can think of about that topic. 
• Then students' partner shares their ideas based on the topic. I walk around throwing out ideas in case students need talking points.
• After students brainstorm, I write a word bank using their ideas on paper under the document camera.  

3. Student Independent Writing Time

• Student takes out their journals and a pencil.
• They write the date.
• They say the Mantra.
• Students then write for 5-7 minutes while I play music.
• I walk around the classroom while students write/draw silently. My students know that this is a quiet time where no one talks and everyone stays in their seats.  

• Students finish up their thought when the timer goes off.
• Students are then given 2 minutes for a quick draw.
• Students then use "Magic Headphones" (plug their ears) to read their writing to themselves.
• Students then count how many words they wrote and write that number on top of their paper.

Mantra

4. Troubleshoot

 

So what do you do about the kiddos who are shouting out, "I don't know how to spell_____, How do you spell? What letter comes next?" If you give in to these demands once and your quiet writing time turns into a Spelling Bee. As a whole class lesson, I model writing by sounding out words. I then underline words I am not sure of. My students learn that an underline means - "Hi Mrs. Muehlen, I tried hard to stretch out this word, but I still don't think it's right, and that's okay!" Underlining is a sanity saver!

 

5. Sharing and Feedback 

With writing journals, students need to be evaluated and encouraged. In these beginning weeks of writing, I teach my students to share their writing and give feedback. This has been the biggest motivator for my kids; they LOVE sharing their writing. I usually have 2-3 shares a day. Keep track of who shares. Our share routine looks like this:

• Encouragement/Building Community- I say "I choose ________." (in a sing-song voice) Students say, " Let's go _______!" (in a sing-song voice that matches mine). Students may not want to share, and that's okay. Believe me; they usually want to...

• Sharing the work- The student puts their writing under the document camera, so it projects for everyone to see. They share their work with the class.

• Specific Feedback- The student sharing chooses a friend (using a stick) to give a specific compliment ("I love how you told me _________." You did a great job of ________." " I really liked how you_______.") These have been modeled numerous times by myself first before students begin to use them.  

• Class Cheer- The presenter may then choose a class cheer to receive. Our favorites- Oreo, roller coaster, and Hip Hip Hooray. Click for Cheers

Friends, I am so excited to see how my first graders grow this year. I feel like we've devoted time to writing, and it's already paying off.  

Positively Teaching,  

Randi Muehlen