Rebuses as an Engaging Brain Break During Testing

Oh, the testing season is almost upon us…funny, I am not quite as excited for this season as I am for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Just call me the Grinch of Testing, I guess. I thought about writing about an instructional strategy or project, but, with testing creeping up on us, I would imagine many of us are entering review and prep mode. So I thought I would write a post about something you could use during the dreaded "T" word.

I get just as bored as my students with testing, and I know my brain doesn't hurt nearly as much as theirs do after a couple of hours of non-stop testing. I am sure you are like me in that after the test is done, you give the kiddos a little bit of time to relax before diving into a review of material that will be on the following day's test. I don't want to spend a lot of time planning these brain breaks, nor do I want to spend my limited amount of copies copying pages for them to do (even if they are fun pages because they just spent hours using paper and pencil), but I also want my students to be engaged enough where they are quiet because you know if the classroom next door isn't finished, you.can't.make.a.peep.

I let my kiddos read books, bring their devices in so they can play games, or take them out for extra recess. Then, one day, and I don't really know how or why, the idea of having my students solve and make rebuses popped into my head. Maybe it was because I was thinking about how older game shows such as "Name That Tune" and "Concentration" are just more entertaining than game shows today (except for "The Amazing Race"....which isn't really a game show….….I really loved "Concentration"!)

What is a rebus, you ask? A rebus is a puzzle that uses representations for a word, parts of a word, or sounds within a word. Then you put together all the representations for the complete word, phrase, or sentence. Some rebuses are purely words. I like the ones that use pictures.
Here is an example of a rebus that uses pictorial representations. The top row is a more simple rebus. The bottom row is a little harder.

Can you figure these out? Both are book characters :) **Answers are at the bottom of this post**

My kids LOVED them! I found harder ones and easier ones on-line, and I just printed them out, or I displayed them on our smart board for students to solve. When I felt creative and wanted to use all the CUTE clip art I buy from the talented clip artists on Teachers Pay Teachers, I made my own like the above examples! After they had solved several of them, I then gave my students magazines and had them create their own. They would cut out pictures from the magazine and glue them down, drawing arrows, plus or minus symbols, or whatever else they needed to add. If you had clip art that was accessible to students, you could also let them use that. I also gave my kids a theme such as their favorite book characters (which is why I made the examples above), favorite sports teams, or favorite movie to help them with getting started, and to make it easier when they swapped and solved each others, but you could totally have make whatever they want, too. You can put as much or as little time into preparing these. If you have time, make them for students to solve. If you don't, have them make their own instead :) I also use rebuses as part of a review center sometimes, too, and sometimes as an activator for a lesson. The possibilities are endless!

I love rebuses. In fact I love them so much, I actually used them in a training I did a few years ago to keep the adults engaged. Every few slides I had a rebus that was related to the topic, and the person who answered it correctly got some candy, soda (OK, not the healthiest, but it's what they wanted), or some other door prize.

Have you used rebuses before? Think you might give them a try? Leave a comment with how you might give them a try or how you have used them in the past. I'd love to hear from you! :)

Until next time!

Heather

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**Answers to the rebuses
top row- Rainbow Fish
bottom row- Harry Potter (the arrow is pointing to the girls' HAIR, then add BEE minus the B to get EE which makes HAIREE = HARRY; Then add POT to FUR since the arrow is pointing to the koala's fur minus the F to get UR which makes POTUR = Potter; Viola! Harry Potter!)

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Integrating Writing Into the Content Areas: RAFT Tasks

Who are the writing teachers out there? I know some upper grades teachers departmentalize, so you may be the writing teacher on your team, or you may not teach writing at all. I think (and this is my total personal opinion) that even if you aren’t the designated writing teacher, you can still find creative ways to have your students practice those important writing skills. I want to use my post today to give you some tips on how to incorporate writing into other subject areas.

I have found through my years teaching, that some kiddos seem to have a permanent writer’s block. You can give them a prompt, they can’t think of anything to write on it. You leave it open-ended and they can’t narrow it down. I have found that when I focus my writing time around science, social studies, or math content, my kiddos have an easier time filling their paper with meaningful thoughts. Of course, this only happens if they have learned enough about the content to be able to write about it.

I personally love using RAFT writing tasks (Role, Audience, Format, Task) to accomplish this. RAFT tasks allow students to write for different audiences and take on different roles, and it requires them to apply learned concepts through their writing. I also love how RAFT tasks add an element of novelty for the kiddos and allows me a chance to be creative. Students need to have fun writing tasks in order to really understand that writing is more than just research reports and stories.

Math

I think math is pretty easy to have kiddos write about. Why? Because they can explain their thinking when solving problems. Or, if they are playing a game, you can have them write about the strategy they used to win the game. Most kids are more than eager to tell you how they win.  If you want to create a RAFT task, you can have the kiddos take on the role of a game creator. I used to have my students create their own games to review specific math skills, so I would have them write out the rules to their game.
So an example of a RAFT task would be:
Role- game creator
Audience- any game company such as Hasbro
Format- directions
Task- Create a new game children can play to practice a specific math skill (you can allow students to select one or more skills, or you can assign students specific skills). You will need to write detailed directions for the children to follow in order to play the game.

Science/Social Studies

Science and social studies takes a little more effort, in my opinion, because you have to make sure you are thoroughly teaching the content if you expect kids to write about it in a meaningful way. Any kid can record facts about a topic. The purpose, though, is to have the kids write about the content in a meaningful way. Maybe have them describe a historical event using a first-hand account. Or they can describe how two processes are connected. Both of these require students to know enough about the content to apply their knowledge in a written form. Having students write about science and social studies content is also a sneaky way to find more hours in the day. Many teachers say that science and social studies is hard to fit in because of a lack of time or because of such an intensive focus on reading, writing, and math. Instead of having your students write a personal narrative about what they did over the weekend, have them write a personal narrative from the point of view of a child who is growing up during The Great Depression. I know that kids love to write about themselves, and I still had my students write about themselves and self-selected topics, but I had them do this as morning work before class started, or I had this as an option during literacy centers.

Here is one of my favorite RAFT tasks I love to give my students after we study habitats (click here for the complete task):
Role- keeper or aquarist
Audience- zoo or aquarium visitors
Format- comic strip
Task- You are in charge of providing information for visitors to read about a specific animal. You will choose one animal to research and create a comic strip that visitors can read to learn more about your chosen animal.

While we study each habitat, I let my students choose one animal from that habitat to research. I don’t have them write a report on that animal, though, because then they would be writing a LOT of reports. Instead I encourage them to choose one animal from that habitat they want to learn more about, and they fill out the graphic organizer using the information they find. They then keep this organizer in their folder. When we have finished studying all the habitats, and the students have found information on multiple animals, I have them choose the one animal to complete the writing task. They create a comic strip using the information pertaining to this chosen animal. The categories I had my students research for each animal tied directly to our science standards.

My students love Tim and Moby from BrainPop, so I have them create a comic strip similar in nature. Let’s say the student wanted to further research Emperor Penguins. Then in each frame of their comic strip they have one Emperor Penguin looking at the reader giving facts, and in the background there are more Emperor Penguins demonstrating the fact.  These turned out really cute! The comic frame is a large index card, or you can have a parent volunteer cut plain white copy paper in half. I had a parent volunteer cut strips of butcher paper and students glued their frames onto the butcher paper so they could roll it up and store it. I was able to display these in the hallway.  My students love this much more than the typical research report. I still have my students write research reports because it is important for them to be able to do this, but I also think that novelty is important in writing, too.

What do you think about using RAFT tasks in your classroom? How might you incorporate RAFT tasks into your day? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Until next time!

Heather

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Grading Vs. Noticing

My post today is going to be about something that hit me several years ago, and it is very timely because these days schools are hounded about assessments, teachers are hounded about assessments, students are hounded about assessments, and parents are hounded about assessments. I agree that we over-assess our students, but I do feel that assessments have a special place in the classroom. Used the right way, assessments can allow teachers to see what students are or are not understanding……but only if we take the time to NOTICE.

When I began my teaching career, I would tote home loads of papers to grade. Grade, grade, grade. My time away from the classroom was not spent doing things I wanted to do because I had ALL.THESE.PAPERS.TO.GRADE. What was I grading? Daily work, homework, tests, quizzes. Then after I graded the papers, I would record the grade (back then it was numerical, now it is either a 1, 2, 3, or 4…which a 4 means perfect. Something I have  huge beef with, but that's for another post…I mean, who is perfect? I have mastered subtraction with regrouping, but I still make errors in my checkbook. So does that mean I shouldn't earn a 4?) Anyways, I record the grade, sent the papers home, students returned them, and I stuck them in their portfolios. I did look at the grades. I saw who had failed, who barely passed, and who obviously didn't need to spend anymore time on that skill. And I used the grades to make small groups: those who needed a lot of help, those who needed some help, and those who could learn new skills.

Flash forward a few years, and I was in my master's program taking an assessment course. And in this course, the professor said why give your students a whole page of addition with regrouping to see if they know how to do it? Give them 5 problems. That is enough to see if they have learned it. And as I thought back, I felt so dumb. Why didn't I realize that myself? Probably because my schooling had consisted of a whole page of addition with regrouping problems as a test. And some teachers say, "Well, if you only give 5 problems, it will be hard for them to make an A if they miss one. They need more problems so they can make a couple of mistakes and still get a higher grade." GRADE. Assessments shouldn't be for grades, they should be for understanding what a student doesn't get. They should be for figuring out the mistakes a student is making. I began to realize that I needed to take the time to NOTICE my students' work, NOTICE my students' thinking, NOTICE what they can and can't do. And, for those students who don't know how to add with regrouping, they are getting an entire page of problems that they will do wrong, and it will just further cement the wrong way in their minds, making a much harder habit to break and replace with a correct method (notice how I said A a correct method and not THE correct method….many ways to solve math problems besides using the standard algorithm). And for those students who already know how to do it, how bored out of their minds are they going to be to do an entire page of problems they already know how to do? Talk about busy work.

I vowed from that moment on to change the way I assess. Now some assessments you can't change, no matter how much you want. But you do have control over the assessments you create and give your students. Namely those formative assessments. Those quick checks to see if a student gets it or not, to see if they are ready to move on to a harder skill or if they need reteaching. My quick checks (as I called them) were going to be just that: quick.

Let's look at the difference between grading and noticing. Grade each row of problems. How did this student do?

1st row- Zero correct. Now notice what this student did. Quickly we go from thinking that this student can't add to realizing this student knows basic facts, but does not understand place value when adding.

2nd row- Two correct. Not too bad, but still failing. Now notice what this student did. We realize that this student knows basic facts including those that require regrouping as indicated by getting 17-9 = 8 correct, but this students doesn't understand how to extend using place value to subtract larger numbers.

3rd row- Two correct. Again, not great but not horrible. Now notice what this student did. This one may be a little trickier. If you teach a grade when student begin to learn multiplication, you probably know exactly what this student is doing. If we grade this row, we will think that the student needs more practice with subtraction and addition. But if we notice, we see that we just need to spend a few extra minutes with this students to straighten out the difference between adding and subtracting with zero versus multiplying with zero. This student has generalized the zero property of multiplication with addition and subtraction. Reteaching this student addition and subtraction would do him no good. However, doing a quick lesson or reminder about how adding or subtracting with zero does not equal zero would be a far better use of time.

When I finally began noticing my students' quick checks and not just grading them, I became a much more effective teacher, and my students began to progress and excel like they never had before. Why? Because I was noticing their errors. Instead of looking to see if they got it right, I began looking to see if they got it wrong, and, more importantly, WHY they got it wrong. I began noticing and stopped grading. I began giving no more than 4-5 problems during a quick check. Four or five problems is plenty to see a pattern in errors or to make sure they understand. I didn't spend time reteaching a skill when they didn't need reteaching. Sometimes all they needed was a quick one-on-one meeting with me to discuss their mistake.

What do you think about noticing versus grading? I would love to hear your thoughts and stories!

Until next time!

Heather

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Using Backward Timing to Work on Math Fluency

Math fact fluency........something that has been a struggle for so many of my students in the past. I am not one of those who believes that math fact fluency is the most important math skill and spends countless hours using flashcards with my students (I do ask them to practice their math facts at home using either archaic flashcards or a fun app). I prefer to spend our time together problem solving and applying mathematics in real wold situations. However, I do realize that students need to be able to compute math facts fairly quickly because, to some degree, fluency does interfere with problem solving.

In the past I have done what many teachers do: give my students timed practice tests. This works great for most of my students. Their math fact fluency improves. However, for a handful of my other students, their math fact fluency never improves. Those kids who get stressed out by a timer, who begin sweating the moment you give them their test, whose hearts are racing by the time you say, "Flip your paper over and begin", who are defeated when they see a page full of problems, and who get more and more jammed up with every completed paper they hear flipping over, this simply does.not.work. I have even had some students whose scores decreased over time. This doesn't mean they knew fewer facts, it meant that they could not handle the anxiety of timed math tests. For adults, we probably think of a timed math test as no big deal. But to a child, a timed math test could be the fine line between having a great day at school or feeling like a complete failure.

I have also given timed math facts because usually it is a skill that is included on a grading rubric for the report card. "Students will correctly solve 30 addition facts in 3 minutes." Or something like that. How else can you assess this skill without giving a timed math test?

With all that said, I still give my anxiety-ridden students timed math tests, but who says the timer has to be counting down? Not even does the grading rubric state that the time has to be winding down on the student. I don't remember who gave me this idea, but the moment I heard it I was like, "How ingenious! This is perfect!"

Backward timing. Instead of the timer counting down to a buzzer (which may be the most dreaded sound in the world to some kids...or whatever sound you like to use to signal time's up. I used my ActivBoard to count down and at the end it would play "Rocky Top" instead of a buzzer...teaching in Georgia this probably WAS the SINGLE worst noise some of my students could have heard!), the timer begins at "0" and counts up until students are done. Once my students figured out there would be no "BUZZZZZZZZZZZ!" or, in my case, "Oh, Rocky Top, you'll always be.....", their shoulders relaxed, sweat beads disappeared, and over time they began improving. So how does it work?
**Let me preface by saying that I only use backward timing with my students who are stressed out by the traditional timed test and those who are not showing improvement because I like to use this as a strategy for those kids.**

First, you have to decide how many correct facts they need to get correct. I had it easy because it was on the grading rubric. Then you need to discuss this with the student and set a SMART goal with the student. Students need to be let in on goal setting, especially since it involves them! In case you aren't sure what a SMART goal is, it is a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. You could set the goal to be what is expected for the end of the grading period, but for some kids this is so far off from their current performance, you need to lower it so they feel accomplished by reaching smaller goals and gain confidence.If you aren't sure what a reasonable goal would be, talk to other teachers first to see what they think a reasonable goal BEFORE you meet with the students.

So, as an example, let's say the expectation for the end of the quarter is that students will answer 30 addition facts correctly in 3 minutes. Let's say the student currently answers 7 correct in 3 minutes because you will need to do a traditional timed-test to get that baseline. It is the beginning of the quarter. Setting a goal of 30 correct in 3 minutes by the end of the quarter is specific, but is certainly isn't timely. That is 9 weeks away. A better goal might be, "Johnny will answer 15 addition facts correctly in 3 minutes" with a goal date of 3 weeks away. Then in 3 weeks, or before if he has met this goal, you can increase the goal to, "Johnny will answer 25 addition facts correctly in 3 minutes" with another goal date of 3 weeks away. If Johnny did not answer 15 correctly in 3 minutes at the end of 3 weeks, you will need to see how far away he is from that goal. If he is at 12, 13, or 14, clearly he is improving and you may want to extend the date by a week.

Second, once you have your baseline and goal set, you need to decide how many problems are you going to put on one page. If your goal is for students to get 15 problems correct in 3 minutes, then you don't want to slap 50 problems on a page. Remember, some kids get overwhelmed at the sheer sight of a page full of problems because they know they struggle and this makes them feel defeated before they even begin. I would put about 20 problems on that page for them. Or you can always put the goal on the page, and in this case it would be 15 problems on the page. The problem with this, though, is if they miss just 1, they will never meet their goal. Accuracy is important (which is why I record how many they got correct out of how many they attempted), but even we as adults will make errors every now and again. We can't expect our students to be perfect every time. You may ask, "Well, what if they are taking 3 minutes and 15 seconds to solve all 20 correctly? How am I supposed to know if they can solve 15 correctly in 3 minutes?" You may want to tell students to stop for a moment while you stop the timer at 3 minutes, and ask them to circle the last problem they completed, then resume the timer and let students finish. This way you can see where they were at at the 3 minute mark, and they are able to complete the page.

Third, explain to students how their new timed tests will work. Let them know that they will have as much time as they need to finish the page. If they  need 3 minutes, 4 minutes, or 5 minutes, let them know they will not hear a buzzzzzzzzzzzz. When they are finished, you will stop the timer that is counting up, and you will record that time (or if you have several students who are using backward timing, you may want them to raise their hand when they are finished so you can write the time down, or you may want them to take the test in small groups if you have several to make it more manageable). Let me add, that if students are taking longer than 5 minutes to complete the page, you have too many on the page for them. I would scale back the number on the page. If your goal is 15 and you have 20 on the page, I would probably lower the goal and lower the number of problems on the page. Remember, you want your students to feel successful, so if that means setting a goal that is more easily attained at first, then do that.

Fourth, after students have finished the test and you have graded the tests, fill in a graph  WITH the students. I like to record how many they got correct out of how many they attempted because this helps me see if their accuracy is improving. If you don't have one to use, check out the FREEBIE I made below! Graphing the results allows the students to see their progress. It gives them motivation to do better next time, and students soon realize they are no longer really competing with a timer but with themselves, trying to do better with each test they take. Intrinsic motivation can be a powerful thing!

Here is what the graph might look like. You may want to alternate colors each time so you can more easily see the different days, or you may want to keep the same color.

Repeat, as needed. Decide how often you will give students this timed test. Twice a week? Three times a week? I don't recommend every day, but that's just me. I like 3 times a week. But choose what is best for you and your students. Once students reach their goal, celebrate it with them, then create a new one with them and start a new graph. Repeat the process until they are meeting expectations. And, honestly, when they are meeting expectations, I may not set goals with them anymore because they are where they need to be, but I do continue to use the backward timing test with them. They do well with it, and I am not going to use the traditional timed test anymore.

How can you use the backward timing test for grading purposes? Well, you are writing down the time that the students finish, so if they finish in under 3 minutes (or whatever the given time is), and they correctly answer 30 (or whatever the minimum correct is), you have evidence of them meeting expectations. Let's say they don't finish in under 3 minutes, and the grading rubric says they are "in progress" of meeting expectations if they correctly answer 20-29 in 3 minutes. You are going to have to tell students to stop at the 3 minute mark, you will stop the timer, ask students to circle the last problem they finished, then resume the timer and let students continue working until they are done. You can go back to using the traditional timed test for report card assessments, but I feel as though I would be setting up my students for failure because I know they get anxiety and we haven't been using the traditional method. The grading rubric doesn't say it has to be a countdown timer.

If you want to use the FREEBIE I made click here!

I hope I have given you an alternative way to help increase your students' fact fluency in lieu of using traditional timed tests. Backward timing does take a little more effort because you have to set goals and decide how many to put on a page and keep track of when students finish, but I have seen such great growth out of my most struggling students, that I feel it is worth it.

I would love to hear your thoughts and comments about your experiences with backward timing. Thanks for reading!

Heather

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Bring History to Life For Your Students...and Integrate Reading into Social Studies!

If you recognize the first part of the title of this post, you most likely already know about an AMAZING resource called DocTeach. I have been using this resource for some time, and I feel like I have just barely scratched the surface! Like many of you, I have been teaching an integrated curriculum for many, many years. I have always believed that you teach science and social studies concepts at the same time you teach reading skills. You magically find more time in your day! For example (and I will be brief because this isn't the point of my post), my daily schedule my last year in the classroom allowed me to teach small reading groups and centers for an hour and 40 minutes, 75 minutes of math, 50 minutes of grammar and writing, and 50 minutes of science/social studies. Granted I was lucky because my lunch, recess, and specials all backed up to each other so I had minimal wasted transition time. My admin really wanted to lessen the 10-15 minute loss between grade level things such as recess and specials, so every grade level was fortunate enough to have their lunch, recess, and specials during one chunk of time.

Notice the one thing missing from my schedule? Whole group reading......not that I didn't teach whole group reading, because I did. While I firmly believe in meeting with small reading groups EVERY single day, even in the upper grades (small reading groups shouldn't just be a primary grades kind of thing, and it shouldn't be a "meet with each group once a week" kind of thing, either), I also believe that sometimes you have to meet whole group. I don't want to teach a main idea mini-lesson to each of my groups when I can teach it to the whole class for 15 minutes and be done with it (well, not "done" with it because we do practice that skill in our small groups and that is when I differentiate). But one year, a L.O.N.G. time ago, I realized that many teachers pushed science and social studies to the side because they weren't as "important" as reading, writing, and math. And I do think there are some teachers who still think this, and it is understandable because while science and social studies may be tested on an end of the year state exam, we all know that more emphasis is put on that reading and math score. But I knew, in my heart, that for some children, science and social studies is what they look forward to the most every day. I couldn't take it away from them. Enter integration of reading into the content areas. Something the Common Core encourages teachers to do. Which I love. And I hope more teachers are doing this today than yesterday. If you aren't integrating yet, you aren't sure how to, you are trying but can't quite seem to get it down, or you are but you need some fresh ideas, then keep reading!

I could write forever about how to integrate reading into the content areas, but for this post I will focus on social studies. So, now let's get back to my point of this post. There is this amazing resource called DocTeach. If you haven't checked it out before, I highly suggest you sit down this weekend if you have time, and just browse the site. Like I said earlier, I have been using it for a while, but I feel like there is still so much more I could be doing with it. Using authentic historical documents for teaching social studies isn't a new idea, but it is an idea that can be hard to implement because you have to find those historical documents. And then of course you have to write up the lesson you are going to teach using the authentic document, and then figure out the activity and follow-up.....here is where DocsTeach is such a helpful resource. For starters, this site has thousands of historical documents that are easy to search for using parameters. Second, it has already-made lessons to use with specific documents. Third, you can build your own lessons!

Let's say you are currently teaching about the Civil War and you are also teaching the reading skill of differing point of views. You can use the "Comparing Civil War Recruitment Posters" lesson. This lesson includes 2 posters used during the Civil War to recruit African-Americans into either the Union Army or the Confederate Army. Students can compare and contrast the perspectives regarding the role of African-Americans during the Civil War. You just did double-duty of teaching your reading skill and social studies skill at the same time. Woo-hoo!

I am the type of teacher that likes to make my own lessons. However, the lessons on this site are awesome! For each lesson, you get the author of the historical document, an image of the document you can show on a projector or Smart Board (or if your school is a BYOT school, students can pull it up on their devices), the historical era, the reading skill, the historical thinking skill (for the above activity it is "historical analysis and interpretation"), Bloom's Taxonomy level, a synopsis of the lesson, AND author's notes which usually include higher-level questions to ask before/while/during reading of the historical documents (so for all you Close Reading fans out there, you can do a Close Reading of the historical documents, too!). Even I know that if I were to create a lesson like this, it would take me a LONG time. This is such a time-saver! And the best part is it really is a great activity! I am telling you, when I found this site, it was like hitting a gold mine or winning the lottery. Here is a screen shot of the above activity.

photo credit: www.DocsTeach.org 

And if ALL that weren't enough, if you create a free account, you can actually modify the lesson including blacking out part of the document, to make it fit your needs. So if you like the lesson, but feel like it needs something more, you can tweak it. It will then be saved in your account.

Let's say you would rather start from scratch, you can create your own lesson, too. You can choose which historical thinking skill you want and it will narrow down the tools that would be best to use (i.e. sequencing, finding details, compare/contrast). This is a great option for those of you who know a lot about your social studies topics and feel comfortable creating your own integrated lessons from a specific historical document.

photo credit: www.DocsTeach.org 

If you are even more adventurous, you might want to check out the National Archives Digital Vaults. I am fairly new to this site and have yet to use this site to create a lesson, but it is pretty cool how you narrow down what you are searching for. If you feel comfortable with just selecting a historical document and creating your own lesson, this site would be great for you. 

photo credit: www.digitalvault.org

I hope I have given you either some starting points or some fresh ideas for integrating reading into social studies. If you already use one of these sites, I would love to hear how you incorporate them or what you think about them! I also love nothing more than helping teachers figure out how to integrate reading into the content areas, so if you would like help, tips, or suggestions, I would be MORE than happy to help you! I loved (and miss) my time as an instructional coach, so I would LOVE to help out! You can leave a comment below with your email, or you can email me at hleblanc@2brainyapples.com. 

Thanks for letting me share one of my favorites with you all!

Heather

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Hooking Your Kids with Book Trailers...Plus, a Surprise Tomorrow!

Books, books, books....I LOVE books! Every summer I get giddy thinking about which books I am going to use in my classroom for the following year. I sit for hours and thumb through catalogues or click through websites looking for books that go perfectly with the science or social studies concepts I have to teach or are perfect examples of the ELA standards that I need to teach my students. Sometimes to the point to where I have to take a thumb break.

I know that anytime I choose a book to read either aloud to my students or with them in a small group, I have a distinct purpose in mind. It could be that the text has clear examples of cause and effect, the author made the story come alive with figurative language, or it is a perfect narrative that would help my students understand a particular period in history. There are times that I choose a book just because I enjoy it and I want my students to see how you can read a book for pure enjoyment. But whatever the purpose, I always want my students to be as excited about reading it as I am. I mean, why would you ever want to read a book that you aren't interested in? Well, besides for a school assignment..... ;)

Which reminds of movies that I had to watch in school that I thought were B.O.R.I.N.G. before I started watching it. It took a little while for me to finally become engaged in the movie, and, by then, it was usually almost half over. You know the movies I am talking about...the ones that are based off books. You read the book and then watch the movie. I will be honest. Most of the time I thought the book was just OK (I wasn't too pumped about having to read it in the first place), and I was not looking forward to the movie, either. It isn't that the movie was awful. I did end up enjoying the majority of them. But something was missing for me before the movie even began that made me WANT to watch it....

I guess I am the kind of person who likes to know ahead of time what the book that I am going to be reading is about, as well as what the movie will be about. Yeah, you can read the book jacket or the movie synopsis. But reading those words, in my head, in my voice (or in how I think the character's voice would sound....which, by the way, the voices on the movie never matched the ones I imagined in my head), just never really seemed to get me very excited about reading it. Even if my teacher said it was the best thing since sliced bread, I just wasn't buying it. I don't think I was an overly pessimistic person, or a student who disliked books assigned in class. It's just that there were so many "other" books and movies I wanted to watch. You know the kind that isn't assigned in school.

The movie I wanted to watch had an awesome preview on TV for it. It had all the best clips from the actual movie without giving any big events away, and it had cool music that would give me goosebumps...perfect music accompaniment to the point to when I hear that music, I immediately think of the movie in which it was played. I could not wait for that movie to come out, but it would be several weeks. Boo! But I would be the first in line! (Wondering what movie I am talking about???? Well, this instance I am talking about Dirty Dancing.....oh yeah, I know most of you couldn't wait to watch it either. And most of you probably watched it over and over again when it finally came out on VHS to the point that you knew exactly how far to fast forward or rewind it to see the scene where Johnny says, "Nobody puts Baby in the corner"....or maybe you did what I did to all my cassette tapes and use a Sharpie to draw a little black mark at the point where the tape should be for your favorite song/scene to begin so you wouldn't have to rewind, play, stop, fast forward, play, stop, rewind because you have gone to far, etc.)

Think of how our students today feel with all that technology they have! Think of how visually stimulating their environments are compared to ours...and I am sure most of us and them are similar to me when it comes to reading books or watching movies... How can we pique our students' interest in the long chapter book we have chosen for them when they could watch the newest release or play the newest video game/app? We have to compete with ALL of this! No wonder sometimes when we pull out a novel that we just absolutely love, are excited beyond belief to finally get to read THIS book with our students....we are SO sure they will thank us for introducing them to this book! Only to have them look at us with glazed eyes thinking,

"Say what? You want us to read THAT book? THAT book that is just as thick as those dictionaries over there on the shelf? THAT book that has no (or hardly any that aren't black and white) pictures? THAT book that looks like the cover is about to fall off? THAT book that was written HOW long ago???????" Among other things floating around in that mind of theirs.....

Have No Fear!
Children are no different from us when it comes to deciding which movies to see. They watch TV, see a movie trailer (or see a movie trailer while waiting to watch another movie), and then instantly decide whether or not they would like to see it. How do they make this decision? On how well the movie trailer is created. Does music help make it exciting? Do the characters appear interesting? Is the story line about a topic they want to commit a couple of hours to???? Children usually pick out books mainly based on the cover (unless a friend told them about a great book they should read). Most often children get more excited to see a movie than read a book. A movie trailer stimulates so many senses. A book cover is one-dimensional compared to that movie trailer.

What if you brought that movie trailer to that book you are so passionate about? Wham! You get a book trailer! Students are able to watch the many facets of a book just like they can with a movie. Sounds to me like a more technologically advanced Reading Rainbow :)

You may already know about book trailers, but I am going to share the different ways I have used book trailers with my students in hopes of sparking a new idea or to encourage you to give them a try.

HOOK
Sometimes I show my students a book trailer before we read that book for the exact same reason a producer creates a movie trailer and a fisherman uses bait: to get 'em hooked to reel 'em in! It's amazing what a little music can do! And there are actually a lot of book trailers already made so you don't have to create them yourself! I will include a list of websites at the end of this post. I have had so many students begging to start reading a book because the trailer was WAY cool!

ASSESSMENT
A book trailer doesn't have to be reserved for a pre-reading activity. Sometimes I don't show my students a book preview before we read the book. Instead I have my students create a book trailer either by themselves or in a small group to show their understanding of the book's events and characters (among other things). If you choose to have your students do this, they will need to have had experience making book trailers and also be proficient in using a search engine on the Internet. Students will also need to have access to technology and proficient in using the program chosen to create the book trailer. I had my students use Photo Story because it was free and pretty easy to use (in my opinion), but there are other many programs out there you could have them use.  Book Trailers for Readers and Story Quest Children's Books have informative pages on  how to create a book trailer AND they include sources for photos you can use.

If you are like me, you want an exemplar to show students before giving them an authentic performance task so they can have a visual of what is expected.
Problem: If all they have seen are book trailers created by authors or publishing companies, they may feel like theirs will not be up to par.
Solution: Book Trailers for Kids has several book trailers made BY kids! Exemplar problem solved! Whew!

Now let's move onto the next question: What will you assess by having students create a book trailer? The great news is that it's totally up to you. Are there specific skills you are working on (i.e. theme or a character's internal struggles)? Be sure to include specific requirements in your rubric (which is HOW you will assess your students' book trailers) that students must include in their trailer. Please remember, though, you will have to create book trailers WITH your students first so they are familiar with the process BEFORE you assess them using a book trailer.

Teaching Tool
I had the pleasure of observing a teacher who used book trailers to help teach mood to her students. She had 2 different book trailers about the same book. The ONLY difference between the two book trailers were the music both trailers used. After students watched the first book trailer, they wrote on a chart what they thought the mood of the book would be. Then students watched the second book trailer and did the same activity afterwards. Guess what? The two charts had very different moods listed. One chart had very happy and cheerful moods listed, while the other chart had sad and dreary. Why did this happen? It was all about the music that was chosen. The teacher was then able to further discuss with her students different ways an author can bring a certain mood into the story and how mood affects the story line and characters. Book trailers can help make some of the more difficult ELA standards concrete for students to grasp easier.


Sounds good, but how do book trailers fit with the Common Core, you ask? Well, remember how the Common Core integrates reading, viewing, listening, speaking, and writing, AND wants students to apply learned skills/content in a real world setting using technology when appropriate? Book Trailers for Reading has a visual on how book trailers can help you meet this lofty goal.

Want to check some out? Here is a direct link to a book trailer created for Robert Peck's classic A Day No Pigs Would Die.

Now as promised, here are a few Helpful Websites you can use to learn more about book trailers.
Book Trailers for Readers
Book Trailers for All
Slime Kids
Scholastic
Book Trailers- Movies for Literacy!
SchoolTube (once at this site you can search by book title)
Youtube (once at this site you can search by book title)


So, what do ya think? Going to give them a try? Do you already use book trailers? If so, what do you think about them? We want to hear from you!


As always, thanks for reading and until next time!

Oh, I can't believe I ALMOST forgot! (Just kidding, I didn't really almost forget.) There could be a special little something that could be taking place tomorrow at a blog call All Things Upper Elementary that could help make your life a smidge easier for going back to school.....that's all I'm giving away right now ;)

Heather 

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Wordle Fun!

I have been on summer break for a while now, so I won't be blogging about happenings in my classroom because honestly, I want to be able to focus my mind on Summer Fun! Woo-hoo! :) But, there is one idea that I did for my students at the end of the year that they really seemed to enjoy. You may have already heard about Wordles, but if you haven't, you can use them for so many different things in your classroom. I love me some Wordles! What is a Wordle? Well, a Wordle is a grouping of words, a word cloud. The more times a word(s) is entered, the larger the word appears in the Wordle. You do have to have Java script downloaded.

Here is what the page looks like where you enter the word(s).

Use #1- In lieu of KWL chart
The first time I used Wordles in my classroom, we were beginning our unit on Paul Revere. I wanted to see what my students already knew about this historical figure, and my students and I were all over KWL charts. So, I decided to give Worlde a try. I had my students each come up to my computer and type in 1-4 words that they felt described Paul Revere. It could be an adjective to describe him (such as brave), or it could be a word(s) associated with him (such as Boston Tea Party). Usually I don't step in and correct my students' spelling, but I did in this case because the words need to be spelled correctly so Wordle can accurately determine how many of the same words were used (you'll see why this is important in a moment). After all my students had typed in their words, I hit "Go" and the Wordle was created! I printed it out and placed it on our board so students could see it during our unit. After our unit, we created another Wordle, and I must say, this Wordle was a lot different! It was a great way to see what my students remembered about Paul Revere, and they thought it was fun. It was pretty cool to compare the before and after Wordle, too.


Use #2- After/during staff development trainings

I also used Wordles after (or in between sessions) staff development trainings. I would ask each participant to come up and type 1-4 words to describe something we had just learned about, and then I would create a Wordle from that. It helped me to see what they thought was important from the training, so if it differed vastly from what I thought was important, I could adjust accordingly for next time.


Use #3- Bucket Fillers

Another way I used Wordle, and this is my FAV way to use it, was at the end of the year. I passed out a copied page that had all of my students's names on it. I asked my students to write 1-4 words to describe each of their classmates. Positive descriptions only, please! Once they were finished, I collected the pages, and this is the tedious part, I typed to compile all of their descriptions on a Word document. If there was a duplicate word(s), I typed it in how ever many times it appeared. Then I just copied and pasted each description into Wordle and pushed "Go". I could then use different options to change the font, color, layout, etc. to make it just the way I wanted it for each student. I also used "fun" paper to print out each one instead of plain white paper.

Yes, it did take a little bit of time to type up each description and to create each Wordle and play with it until I liked it and print each one out. But it was SO worth it. When each child received his/her Wordle, you could see the smiles grow as they read what their classmates thought about him/her. As I looked at each Wordle, my smile grew, too, because I knew that each child was going to receive something to keep that when they were having a rough day, they could look at and know that they are special. They each had a little bucket-filler in their hand, that they could read whenever they needed a pick-me-up. I had a few parents who said they were going to frame their child's Wordle. Huh, why didn't I think of that? Maybe next time :)

Here are examples of a Wordle. The website has a gallery that you can browse to get an idea of how they can look.

These are just a few uses for Wordle, and I hope you will be able to use Wordle, too. If you have a different way of using Wordle, please let me know. I am always up for new ideas!

Thanks for reading!

2 Brainy Apples

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MobyMax It Up!

First off, to all of you who are already on summer break or will be in a few days, congrats! You made it through another school year! For those of you who still have a ways to go, hang in there, it will be here before you know it (yeah, right, I know), and spend some time with us at ATUE for some engaging ideas and activities you can use with your students while you survive enjoy the last few weeks of your school year.

First, let us preface this post by saying that we in no way endorse that a computer program can replace a living, breathing, warm-bodied teacher. However, we do believe that on-line learning tools can be a very beneficial addition to your classroom instruction. There are lots of on-line learning aides out there. We have used IXL, Study Island, and RAZ Kids to name a few. While our students have enjoyed and benefited from using all of them, there is one slight hitch.....they are not free! You have to pay to use them. Gotta have a subscription. $$$$$. Not a big deal for us as our school foots the bill, but not everyone is as lucky to have the available funds. Now, we are not saying that you have to have your students use an on-line learning tool, but it does help and we all have a few students who will balk at the idea of math or reading, but, put them on a computer program, and they can't get enough! We were fortunate enough to have a colleague discover MobyMax and she sent the website our way. THANK YOU!!!

While MobyMax does have a Pro subscription that you have to pay for, there is a free edition. I know what you are thinking, "2 Brainy Apples, free editions are junk compared to Pro editions!" Not so fast! Earlier this year I decided to give the free MobyMax edition a try, and, I gotta tell you, I loved it! So did my students....and so did the parents of my students. While the free edition doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Pro, you do get 30 day access to these bells and whistles so you can see if you think splurging the $59 is worth it or not. Me, well, I didn't splurge because I felt like the free edition had enough bells for what I needed to use it for.


What is MobyMax, you ask? Well, it is an on-line learning tool that encompasses math (including fact fluency), vocabulary, grammar, and reading is coming soon. You sign up either as a school teacher or homeschool teacher, and after you create your account, you can watch a short tutorial on how to use the tool, or, you can be like me and skip the video and just start clicking on what you like :) It is easy to navigate and easy to begin using. You enter as many students as you would like (yes, even in the free edition), and then you have the option of modifying the settings if you would like (I didn't), then your students are ready to pre-test.

Sounds like a winner so far! How does it work, you ask? Well, Once your students take the pre-test, it places them on their current grade level in that subject area (math, grammar, and soon-to-be reading are determined by mastery of the CCSS). Sound like some other on-line learning tools you have used before? Yep, sounds similar to Study Island.

But, here is the difference that we loved about MobyMax! It then determines upcoming lessons for students to complete. It places lessons in a sequential order from basic skills to more complex skills, so your students aren't just willy-nilly choosing lessons to complete. Yeah, we know you can assign lessons for students to complete in other on-line learning tools, but students and parents ultimately determine which lessons are completed. You can't restrict student access to certain lessons. They have the freedom to choose which ones they want to do. And we aren't saying that's a bad thing, but we know which lessons students need to work on, and it can be time consuming to assign students a lesson because not every student needs to work on the same lesson...but MobyMax makes it easy. If students are in 3rd grade, and they are still having trouble with addition and subtraction, they can't choose multiplication and division lessons because they aren't ready for those yet. MobyMax lists the upcoming lessons students will be working on. As students pass a lesson, they get to move on to the next one. What if you want students to work on a lesson that isn't listed at the top of the list? Well, one of the benefits of being a living, breathing, warm-bodied teacher is that YOU can override the program's decision. And it's very easy to do, we might add, if that is what you wish. We didn't, though.

We even love the way students practice those skills. MobyMax uses a Teach Me, Feedback, and Read Aloud cycle that our students greatly benefited from. Each lesson begins with an animated teaching bit, then students can practice with immediate feedback, and for students who may struggle with reading, there is an option for the computer to read aloud parts of the problem. Perfect for center time at school or independent practice at home.


Now while you do get the Progress Monitoring piece free for 30 days, you still get the scores from each of your students' lessons, so you can easily take those grades and plop them into Excel (or another program) to create your own graph if you decide not to upgrade. This is a great piece of data to have for the RTI process!



There are more great features with the Pro upgrade, but you will get them free to try out to decide if you think it's worth the splurge. Some of the upgrades I used for the 30 days included the Messenger (where you and your students can send secure messages back and forth to each other concerning their progress. I actually had one student ask me to "unlock" a lesson because he wanted extra practice.); badges (if you use Edmodo, then you are familiar with badges...basically the more a student participates, they earn more badges...great motivator for some students!); contests (either between students in your class or your class versus other classes in your school who use MobyMax...we know some students need competition to be motivated); parent portal so parents can see their child's progress and growth; goal setting with progress monitoring which is excellent for kiddos in the RTI process or students with IEPs; and there are many more.

Now, like I said, I didn't upgrade to Pro after 30 days, but it could have been because I found MobyMax so late in the school year I didn't see the benefit of doing so. Will I go Pro after 30 days next school, year..... if I had a Magic 8 ball, it would probably say, "Outlook Good"!

So why am I writing this post now, as so many schools are getting out for summer, and not at the beginning of next school year? 

Summer learning opportunity!!!!!

I wanted to let you all know about MobyMax so you could spend some time this summer navigating, but also since you have an unlimited number of students you can assign to your class (and an unlimited number of classes you can create to which you assign students), what better way (and motivator) for your current students to continue keeping their skills sharp over the summer and continue to grow??????? Just because school ends doesn't mean your account expires. If you set your students up now, they will have access to MobyMax over the summer months and you can  continue to encourage them to keep improving. Parent letters are a snap to print out and send home, and many parents love to have something for their children to do over the summer so they don't regress (and we know most students will regress some over the break). And the best part is YOU don't have to look for practice pages to print, staple into packets, and send home. Too time consuming when MobyMax is ready and waiting. If a student doesn't have a computer or Internet access at home, most all public libraries allow patrons to use their computers and Internet as part of their library privileges.

What do you think about MobyMax? Will you be giving it a whirl? Have you already used MobyMax? What did you think? Let us know your thoughts and if you have used it before. And if you will be using it, please remember to come back and leave us a comment below about your experience!

And don't forget about our Free For All Linky tomorrow! Be sure to come back and link up some great FREEBIES to help everyone get through the rest of the school year!


Until next time!

2 Brainy Apples

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