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

Philosophical Chairs- Let's Debate! Part 2...

Philosophical Chairs is similar to a debate. Students are given a central topic or question that they must choose to agree, disagree or be neutral regarding the answer. A great Philosophical Chairs discussion starts with a great topic or question, and is centered around text(s).

See my original blog post about Philosophical chairs to gain and understanding of the structure:  Philosophical Chairs

I really do think that implementing this structure into your classroom is VERY powerful for student learning.  It really does force them to think critically and at a higher level.  Also, the kids REALLY LOVE the debates!  It's engaging, fun, and develops higher level thinking skills! What reason is there to not try it out??

Here are my students doing Philosophical Chairs on the topic of Social Media.  The focus question was, "Are social media networks more harmful or helpful to our society?"

The Essential Question in our ELA Wonders curriculum for this week was "How do technology and inventions affect your life?" (4th grade, Unit 4 Week 3).  I found the connecting articles they're using for the debate on Newsela, and printed them at different Lexile levels to meet the  differing needs of my students.

To briefly summarize the process from my previous post:

I use Newsela.com as  GREAT resource to find news articles written for kids on topics that will interest them.  You can also print them at about 4 - 5 different Lexile levels to differentiate and meet the needs of your students.  Generally I try to find a topic that ties into either the Essential Question in Wonders, or topics we're studying in science or Social studies.  Also, the texts or articles chosen must insight a debate! The more the kids are interested the better and more exciting the Philosophical Chairs will be.

When I first introduce the topic of a "debate," or Philosophical Chairs, my kids will initially do this within their table groups (groups of 6).  This is to teach them the structure of the debate and to allow them to practice in this small group setting where they are more comfortable and likely to speak up.  Once we've done this a few times, I then have the kids move into the actual whole group Philosophical Chairs lesson.

As I've explained in the previous blog(see link above), the students take notes on each article/text and then develop higher level questions.  They bring their notes/questions with them to the debate and choose their side/stance for the debate.  Any students who are unsure or haven't chosen a side will hang out in the middle, and as they listen to the debate they will move to a side when they agree.  Likewise, students may switch sides during the debate at any time.  

Once the debate is finished, students then respond to the prompt, or debate question, as a written constructed response, using the RACES process (see my previous blogs for more info on RACES).

Here's another video of my kids debating an article related to technology discussing whether or not cars should be replaced with ONLY public transportation in large city centers.

For additional information, videos, and resources the Learnzillion website is a GREAT resource that will help you understand how to implement Philosophical Chairs: 
 LearnZillion- Philosophical Chairs

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net

Diggin Deeper into RACES Writing

So you've got the "RACES routine" down, and your students can recite each letter in the acronym and its meaning by heart, yet the writing they're producing is still sub par.  What is the issue? Where is the disconnect? If the students know the process, why aren't they producing successful constructive responses? Well good news, I have answers for you! :-) 

(You can read my previous blog post on RACES for an introduction of the process and routine.  Click here: RACES writing overview)

"I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" - Thomas Edison

 If you've been teaching your students how to write a constructed response paragraph using the RACES writing process, I'm sure you have noticed that the HARDEST parts for students to do successfully are the "C" (Cite the text), and "E" (Explain the text evidence) components. You might notice that they can cite the text but that it often has nothing to do with their "A" (Answer- main idea), and/or that when they "Explain" their text citation that they're not actually explaining anything at all and instead just repeating what they already stated in their "A."
I spend a good deal of time the first several months of the school year focusing on each individual component of RACES.  This is NECESSARY in order for them to eventually be successful on their own.  Once they have built a deep understanding of each individual component, their writing will start to improve and they will be successful in completing a constructed response paragraph.  It's one of those "go slow to go fast" things.  If you really break the process down and spend a lot of time doing so, you will be so thankful when you see your students start to excel!  

Thorough implementation of this RACES structure not only enhances the students' writing, but also GREATLY improves their reading comprehension skills as well.  The kids start to really make connections with the text and gain a deeper understanding of what they're reading.  I have noticed that my students have not only made leaps and bounds in their writing assessments, but also in their reading comprehension skills and assessments! Using the RACES structure is 2-for-1 win!😍


Here are the steps I take to help students master these components:

1) MODEL!: As with anything we teach, modeling this process over and over and over again is really key to helping the kiddos little "light bulbs" go off. The more they see you do it, while you're walking them through a think aloud, they will start to make the connections and actually understand the process rather than just going through the motions.

2)Take Notes: When reading the Anthology story in Wonders, I always structure the kid's notes around what the constructed response prompt will be.  This way, as we are reading the story, we are stopping to note text evidence.  When we then move into our writing the kids already have text evidence in their notes that they can refer to.  If we don't take notes on the story, then I have them work in pairs and use sticky notes to find/tab evidence in the story, once we have read/discussed the constructed response writing prompt.

3)Collaborative conversations: As I guide the students through each component of RACES, they collaboratively discuss what they have written or will write, and give each other feedback.  For instance, we will discuss the "R" and "A" and then students will write theirs.  They will then share in their table group using the Kagan Round Robin strategy and give each other feedback, help make corrections, changes, etc.  We go through this process through each component in the RACES structure.  Thus through the power of collaboration all students at all ability levels are able to feel successful in their writing.

When teaching the "E" (Explain) component of RACES, I teach my students to make a personal connection.  The kids struggle the most with this "Explain" piece.  They think they are explaining, but they're really not.  Most of the time they're just repeating what they have already stated.  I model a lot for them how to take the text evidence, and then describe what that evidence means to them and thus supports their main idea.  I tell them they should use personal pronouns like I, me, or my when explaining the evidence.  This is a good starting point to help them understand this piece of RACES.  Its the hardest and arguably most important part of a constructed response!

I really can't stress enough how import it is for the students to discuss their ideas collaboratively before putting things into writing.  Collaboration is such an important part of the students' growth  and learning.  You can check out my other blogs on how I develop and establish routines for meaningful collaboration and a classroom climate that supports students growth.

Collaboratively Learning,

Megan Brown

megan.brown@omsd.net

Off to the RACES with Writing!

Off to the RACES with Writing!
I know as teachers we often feel that teaching writing can be absolutely painful at times, but it doesn’t have to be! When given a structure, students are not only successful in writing but have fun doing it! The RACES structure is intended to teach students how to write a constructed response paragraph by analyzing texts, making connections, and citing text evidence to support their reasoning. Not only is this an essential skill for students to be successful on SBAC (as they have many constructed response questions), it goes deeper than a test!  Being able to respond successfully to a constructed response prompt is also a necessary skill that focuses on student’s reasoning skills and helps them to develop and implement their own thoughts and opinions through research.  It’s a life skill!
Teaching students the RACES Writing format will not ONLY improve Writing skills but will simultaneously strengthen their reading comprehension skills as well as their ability to rationalize.  The best part: The structure is simple enough that you can implement this process TOMORROW! When implemented correctly, the RACES format transfers across subjects successfully.  This form of Writing is not an isolated skill.  Students start to become more aware of what they’re reading and spend more time annotating the text when they know they will be writing about it.  Thus, increasing their reading comprehension skills in the process.  I also integrate many different Kagan/cooperative learning strategies throughout the writing process which really helps the students to gain a deeper understanding of the text through the power of discussion.  I have personally seen student’s constructed responses to test questions VASTLY improve after implementing this process in just over a matter of a couple of months.  I love when the students finally make the crossover from KNOWING the steps and going through the motions, to actually making connections and UNDERSTANDING  the process!❤  At this point in the year when I introduce a new prompt and tell the students we will be doing a RACES writing today, I hear “YESSSSS!” throughout the classroom.  My students have come to love writing through this process because they know they are successful and enjoy doing it! In this video, you can see my students completing a RACES Writing constructed response through collaborative conversations. Modeling the RACES process AND giving students the opportunity to interact with each other along the way, is a crucial contributor to seeing success with this structure. MODEL, MODEL, MODEL! It’s more than teaching students the acronym- they need to actually gain an understanding of what each component in the acronym stands for, what it looks like, and HOW to complete that task. The best way to do this is to continuously model how to do each part. Take it step by step.   Rather than modeling the entire process at once, we work on a few components at a time.  We read the prompt aloud together, discuss how to formulate the R and the A pieces, then they write them down.  As you can see in the video, after they have completed these steps, I use the Kagan All- Write-Round-Robin strategy where students go around their table group and one student at a time shares those components. As group members, they listen, give each other feedback and revise their sentences through this discussion.  My kids actually do this well, and it's really very cute to listen to them give each other feedback in a meaningful manner! Notes.  Notes are taken throughout the reading of the text (whatever the text or source may be). I usually have students organize their 2-column notes with the prompt in mind (this saves time and ensures that students are set up for success when it comes time to do the constructed response). Text evidence.  Students will then either refer to their notes or the text directly to identify 1-2 pieces of text evidence that support their answer to the prompt.  In the next part of the video, I engaged students in the Stand-Up-Hand-Up-Pair-Up (SUHUPU) Kagan strategy where they have the opportunity to share the “C” and “E” components of the RACES process.  I let them mix and share a couple of times with different partners, then have a few students share out with the group.  This also supports that modeling component by giving students the opportunity to hear and see successful models from their peers.  Upon returning to their seats they then write down those components on the planning template. Last, we discuss how to write a conclusion sentence (the “S” component), and how it closely relates to the “A”.  They complete this last step and then I guide them through peer editing.  Once this is done, they put their RACES paragraph together on the publishing paper and evaluate their own work through a quick self- assessment checklist. Structuring the RACES writing process in this step-by-step manner ensures that students will be able to complete these steps to their own success when in a testing situation.  The consistent practice and support through collaborative discussions with their peers, myself, and the class as a whole really builds on so many different skills, and allows them to be successful! Collaboratively Learning, Megan Brown megan.brown@omsd.net