SEASON'S GREETINGS!

I think the above picture says it all!  This is a busy and exciting time.  There is so much happening in school and out.  We all have visions of the upcoming two weeks of fun, relaxation, and an opportunity to recharge.  

Holiday break is also a great time for teachers to reflect on our year so far.  

*Is my class a community of learners that support each other? 

*Do I provide an engaging environment? 

*Are my students showing progress? 

 *Do I have concerns about students that have not been addressed?

*What do I need to change?

When students come back in Jan, take time to reestablish the routines and start new ones that you feel are needed.  By taking this time to review, practice, and reinforce these new or familiar routines, students will have a clear understanding of the expectations of the classroom and learning will be optimal.

In closing, I wish all of you a wonderful holiday and see you in 2015!

Banishing the Bird: Why Round Robin Reading Isn't Working in Your Classroom

Books are open on each desk. Students sit silently while one student struggles through reading the text. The student stops over and over again and waits for the teacher to prompt him with the word he can't figure out. Several students are staring out into space and others are busy trying to figure out which section they will be reading.

This scene is likely familiar in many classrooms. So what's really wrong with Round Robin Reading anyway? Research has shown that using this practice in classrooms does far more harm than good. Round Robin Reading (RRR), which is also commonly referred to as "Popcorn Reading", leads to slower reading rates, a lower quantity of text being read, more off-task behaviors, models of dysfluent reading, and problems with comprehension. Research provides us with useful information about practices that are most effective in our classrooms, and this type of reading doesn't make the list. Consider the following statements associated with Round Robin Reading:

"I read five sentences at school today!"
We would be horrified if a student went home and proclaimed this to their parents, yet Round Robin Reading does just this. In classrooms where RRR is used, students read far less than those classrooms that do not. Many times, students are asked to read only a paragraph or a few sentences which greatly lowers the reading opportunities within a day.

"Time for the dress rehearsal."
Ask most students and they will tell you that while other students are reading they really aren't following along. While a classmate is reading they are likely counting paragraphs or lines to figure out which section is going to be their section to read. They then proceed to practice reading their part in their head while the current student reading drowns on in background.

"Not him again!!"
Imagine being a fluent reader and having to listen to a classmate struggle through a text. It becomes boring and tiresome for those students who are good readers to be held back by those who may struggle. Additionally, this can model dysfluent reading for all students in your class. Even worse, I've heard of cases where "reading bullying" actually takes place when good readers in a class purposely call on struggling readers in order to make them feel embarrassed

"Not ME again!!"
If you've never been a struggling reader, then you have no idea how horrible it feels to be called upon to publicly perform a task that everyone else seems to do with ease. Students who struggle with reading often feel singled out in the practice of Round Robin Reading. They in turn become more anxious about reading which perpetuates the cycle of not wanting to read. In upper grades, students may act out in order to be removed from class to avoid reading.

"Teacher knows best"
There's a good chance that we've all done some form of RRR in the past. At least half of K-8 teachers have reported some variation of RRR in their instruction (Ash, Kuhn, Walpole, 2009). But it's time to get honest with ourselves. Round Robin Reading does not benefit students' reading abilities and really is a superficial level of engagement in a text. I often hear teachers say, "But my students love popcorn reading! They beg me to do it!" to which a wise friend of mine once replied, "They also like chocolate, but that doesn't mean you give it to them. " Teacher knows best when it comes to reading instruction and our students rely on us to be the professional.


So What's the Alternative?
There are plenty of other practices that can be substituted for RRR or popcorn reading.

1. We can read-aloud to students.

• Teacher read-alouds provide good modeling of reading and comprehension. Keep read-alouds interactive and engage students in concepts, vocabulary, and strategies.

2. Students can read to each other.

• The strategy of Patterned Partner Reading (McLaughlin & Allen, 2009) keeps students focused and working together on a text. (Note: This requires thoughtful planning and modeling of practices in peer coaching to be effective.)

3. Students can read silently.

• When teachers provide scaffolding and a purpose for reading it assists students in their focus and understanding of a text. While students are reading, consider sitting down next to an individual student to listen to them read and confer with them for a quick moment. 

Looking for more alternatives to Round Robin Reading? Check out the book: Good-bye Round Robin: 25 Effective Oral Reading Strategies (Opitz & Rasinski)

References:
1. McLaughlin, Maureen. "Read-Alouds and Recreational Reading Always! Round-Robin Reading Never!" Reading Today 31.1 (2013): 3-4. Print.
2. Hilden, Katherine, and Jennifer Jones. "Sweeping Round Robin Reading Out of Your Classroom." Reading Today 29.5 (2012): 23-24. Print.

Self Assessments for Reading/Anecdotal notes

I have posted the last couple of weeks on using anecdotal notes from teacher observations in the classroom. When I opened my IRA Reading Today magazine for this month, I found an article by Peter Afflerbach, "Self Assessment and Reading Success". The article states that self assessment is a major contributor to reading development and can benefit students as they read and monitor their comprehension. Students, who self assess, can become more efficient at planning their work, stepping back, and sizing up a task. As I read the article, I thought that these self assessments could be a great tool for students to use and could even provide some anecdotal notes for teachers on their students' learning. To use these, teachers would need to choose a starting place and begin by modeling. Think alouds could be particularly beneficial in helping students learn how to effectively use self assessments. Providing questions can also be very helpful. We must be mindful that these metacognitive tasks can be hard work. However, by supporting our students, they will be able to approach all reading tasks with the metacognitive awareness to complete them more strategically and more reflectively to be successful.

Some possible questions for self-assessment and metacognitive thinking.

As I start reading

• What is my reading task?
• What kind of text is this?
• What am I expected to do with my reading?
• Do I have sufficient prior knowledge for this text?
• What do I need to succeed a this reading task?

As I read and construct meaning

• Does that make sense?
• Is there a problem?
• What is the problem?
• Can I fix the problem?
• How can I fix the problem?
• What do I need to do?
• Did I fix it?
• How can I get back on track?

As I check my progress

• What are my goals for reading?
• What is my understanding so far?
• How is my progress toward my goal?
• Should I adjust my goals?

As I finish reading

• Have I met the goals I set when I began reading
• What did I do to help succeed at reading?
• Has my reading of this text prepared me for the reading-related task?

As I reflect on my reading

• Did I apply sufficient effort while I read?
• What did I learn about my reading today?
• What did I do well?
• What do I need to work on?

Hour of Code

Coding is a motivating way to engage students in technology. Students can be empowered by creating and using technology to manipulate their digital world, while increasing their knowledge in science, math, and technology. If you would like to introduce your students to coding code.org is a great place to start.  

Once you get to the site, The Hour of Code is an Angry Birds activity where students use coding to move the Angry Bird to get to the Pigs.  The activities use drag and drop coding and increase with difficulty as they solve the different puzzles.  As we move closer to winter break and you find it more challenging to keep students engaged, hopefully this will be an additional tool to add to your bag of tricks.  

12/5/14:

As an addendum to this original post, Google has announced that on madewithcode.com students can use Blockly to animate the lights of the trees that will decorate President's Park, home to the White House.  This activity is aimed at engaging girls in coding, however anyone can enjoy this activity.  

Want Kids to Eat Better? Get Them Cooking

Getting kids involved in the kitchen, through cooking classes or at home, may make them more likely to choose healthy foods, according to a recent review.Read More!

Thankful for a Clean Google Drive

Typically we set aside time for our students to clean and organize their folders, binders, desks, lockers, or general work spaces.  We all know how great it feels to be at a clean and organized work space.  It helps us maintain a clear head and we are more efficient when we can find what we need.  Remember as we begin to use more technology with our students and they begin to use their Google Drives, to set aside time to help them learn to clean and organize their Google Drives.  They can name unnamed documents, put loose documents in folders, color code folders, learn how to use the Google Drive search bar to search for documents easily, and delete documents they no longer need.  As we approach the busy holiday season a clean work space may be something to be thankful for.

Teaching for Biliteracy. New site!!!!

Dual Language experts, Karen Beeman and Cheryl Urow have launched Center for Teaching for Biliteracy
This new site offers different resources as videos, articles, strategies and samples&tips to design BuFs (biliterate unit Framework). Sign up at http://www.teachingforbiliteracy.com/register/basic/ and receive the latest news!!!

The Connection between Objectives and Closing the Lesson

We know that in our teaching, it is important for students to understand the objectives of the lesson. By establishing the purpose, students can connect the activities they are doing to the reason why they are learning it (the objective or purpose).  However, all lessons also require a closure.  This is the time when you wrap up a lesson and help students organize the information into a meaningful context in their minds. Lesson closure is so important for learning and is a cognitive process that each student must “go through” for learning to occur.  By using closure activities, we have another opportunity to take anecdotal notes and have formative assessments that give us a snapshot of the students' learning, as we check for understanding. This ultimately helps us decide if the objective was met and guides the next steps of learning.  

Looking for ways to close the lesson?  Check out the link below.  This website has many ideas; some short, some long, some better than others, but certainly some activities to try.

Lesson Closure Strategies | K12EdResources.com

Thanksgiving Resources for next week

Readworks.org has many non-fiction articles and related questions for Thanksgiving.  Click here for a blog post from my favorite technology integration blog, Free Tech for Teachers to learn more.  I hope this helps as you prepare your plans for next week!

More on anecdotal notes

Anecdotal notes, as I mentioned last week, provide an opportunity to document the students' learning and understanding. This helps us make decisions in our teaching and guides our next steps. So how do we check for understanding, resulting in quality anecdotal notes and more informed teaching? Fisher and Frey suggests that teachers use a variety of ways to check for understanding.

• Oral language- In reading, this may be through retelling, summarizing, or sharing their thinking that results from reading. 
• Questioning-teachers ask questions.  However, the art of teaching, according to Fisher and Frey is in asking deep, diverse, and engaging questions. When questioning, Fisher and Frey, tell us that we need to say the right thing for the child to do the right thing.  In questioning, we need to scaffold our questioning based on the needs of the student. 
• Student questioning-Keep in mind, questioning can be from the students. Observing the questions that students ask can provide deep insight to their understanding. 
• Writing
• Projects and tests

Anecdotal notes can be very helpful in documenting oral language, as well as questions that come from the students and teachers.  While writing, projects and tests provide more concrete evidence, observations of their behaviors during those tasks can be extremely beneficial, as well as anecdotal notes on the strengths and weakness of the tasks completed.  

Continue to incorporate anecdotal note taking as part of your everyday instruction.  We know and we tell our students that practicing something makes us better.  Your anecdotal notes will improve and will provide you more information the more you practice.  

Assessment: Anecdotal Notes

Assessments. We do them. We all do them. Sometimes, we may feel that we do so much assessing but are we really capturing all of what our students can do? Classroom observations are another form of ongoing assessment and it can guide our teaching and help our students. 

Most teachers can "read" their students; observing when they are bored, frustrated, excited, motivated, etc. As a teacher, we pick up these cues, and can adjust the instruction accordingly. It is also beneficial to take observational notes (referred to as anecdotal notes). These notes serve to document and describe student learning relative to concept development, reading, social interaction, communication skills, etc. These notes will guide future instruction, as well as help in reporting progress or conferencing with parents or other teachers.

When using anecdotal notes, consider the following suggestions....

• Choose a time when these observations can be made most naturally, easily, and efficiently.
• Consider focusing on a few children each day and write notes on them and/or take notes during small group instruction, such as guided reading. ,
• Focus in on one category or standard and observe children in relation to that.
• Set up some systematic way to collect and organize the notes you have made on each child (e.g., individual folders or pages in a notebook can be set up for each child).
• Devise your own system, but don't let it interfere with your primary role of interacting with the children.

Consider using more anecdotal notes. They can be one of the best forms of assessments to help guide our instruction for better student learning.  

Want more information? The link below is one of many sources available on anecdotal notes that can be created by the teacher and students!.

http://fcit.usf.edu/assessment/classroom/ST0032November97.pdf

Songs and riddles for your classroom

Traditional songs and riddles are a very important piece in every culture. Songs are authentic oral texts that provide opportunities to work on vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation. Music helps to stimulate emotions, senses and imagination.
Here you have a wonderful resource where you  can find traditional songs in different countries of the world. Great oral texts to use during the study of culture and traditions in Social Studies.
http://www.mamalisa.com/

It's a Candy Crime Scene!

A cold and windy Halloween night = Bowls full of leftover candy = An instant teachable moment.  

Use that candy and this digital lesson plan which can be found on the Museum of Science and Industry's on-line science web page, to create a Candy Crime Scene in your classroom.  I hope it's as much fun for you as it's bound to be for your students.  ;)

THINKING ABOUT THINKING-METACOGNITION

Students who succeed academically often rely on being able to think effectively and independently in order to take charge of their learning.  Other students, particularly those who struggle, show more difficulties in this area.  Teachers can teach students how to wield one of the most powerful thinking tools; metacognition, or the ability to think about your thoughts with the aim of improving their ability to learn. Metacognition can be learned when it is explicitly taught and practiced across content and social contexts.  Being metacognitive can be likened to being more conscious, reflective, and aware of one’s progress long the learning path.  

How to Teach Students to Be More Metacognitive.  

*Explicitly teach students about his essential learning skill by defining the term metacognition. 

*Whenever possible, let students choose what they want to read and topics they want to learn more about.

*Look for opportunities to discuss and apply metacognition across core subjects in a variety of lessons so that students can transfer it for the most benefit.

*Model metacognition by talking through problems.  Students learn a lot from listening as their teachers use higher-order thinking strategies aloud.  

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An unexpected opportunity for reflection...

Recently, while reading an article from the September issue of Teaching Children Mathematics, a journal for elementary math education published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (www.nctm.org), I read something that made such a connection for me that I had to share it.

The article, titled, "Warning Signs!", outlined three teacher moves that the authors identified as moves that tend to precede a teacher taking over a student's thinking:

     Warning Sign #1 - Interrupting the child's strategy
     Warning Sign #2 - Manipulating the tools
     Warning Sign #3 - Asking a series of closed questions

While the entire article was an excellent read, my personal connection was related to warning sign #2, manipulating the tools. In the scenario provided, a teacher took over control of the pencil while working with an individual student. This shifted the focus from the student's strategy to the teacher's strategy.

Students using colored tiles to represent multiplication

As I read this, I immediately thought of a recent math professional development session in which I was modeling a lesson for a group of teachers. As students were working with tools (colored tiles) to represent arrays for multiplication, I would physically move the manipulatives for the students when I noticed confusion. As I read the article, I began wondering if I could have used questioning to get the students to identify their misunderstandings and self-correct.

I also reflected on the brain research tied to this - that students need to be the ones physically manipulating objects. In the book, Brain Matters: Translating Research into Classroom Practice, Pat Wolfe (2001) discusses the three levels of learning: concrete, representational, and abstract. She states, “Many of our strongest neural networks are formed by actual experience” (p. 138). An example of an experience relevant to math instruction is the use of manipulatives.  Manipulatives increase understanding of math concepts and motivate students to learn math.  The research of Eric Jensen (1998) adds that physical movement, such as hands-on activities and the manipulation of objects, promotes student learning.


So what are some alternates to these warning signs? What can we do to move students forward? The article suggests:

• Slow down: Allow the child to finish before intervening.
• Encourage the child to talk about the strategy so far.
• Ask questions to ensure the child understands the problem and how his or her strategy relates to that situation.
• Ask whether trying another tool or another strategy would help.

You can read the entire article HERE with a subscription.

Why Isn't Google Working?

Yesterday many people reported that Google was not working well for them.  We were not alone.  :)  Read this blog post to learn how you can check to see if the problem is something only you are experiencing, or a problem with Google.

What Words Speak to You?

Quotes have a way of inspiring and making us think. This one from Barbara Colorose is pretty powerful. What quotes have inspired you as an educator? Feel free to comment below.

Reading Resources for Halloween

We know that student engagement is a predictor of reading success. Most students are excited this week about Halloween and would be very engaged to read about it.  For intermediate and middle school students, it is possible. Wonderopolis is a website that students can read about the wonders of the world.  Check out the link below for many wonders that center on Halloween.
Students may love them!
http://wonderopolis.org/?s=halloween

Positive instructional practices

I recently read an article that provided research on the effectiveness of Project Based Learning (PBL). John Hattie, a professor in Australia researched not just PBL but what instructional strategies are effective and ineffective within those classrooms.  A couple of practices stood out. Formative assessments, frequent teacher feedback, valuing error and creating trust in the classroom rank as the most highly effective.  While this comes as no surprise, it is worth mentioning. Want to know more?The link is provided.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/hattie-effect-whats-essential-effective-pbl-suzie-boss

Want to know more about Project Based Learning.  Check out this link.

http://bie.org/about/what_pbl

30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class

30 Techniques to Quiet a Noisy Class | Edutopia  Some great ideas for those NOISY moments.....

Biliterate Reading Trajectory

Have you ever heard the terms “Biliterate Reading Zones” and “Biliterate Reading Trajectory”?

Literacy Squared team has developed, after years of research, a holistic view of bilingualism that proves that emerging bilingual students use their knowledge of both languages and cultures to develop literacy in both languages. The authors of this interesting research use EDL2 and DRA2 as diagnostic measures to create a “trajectory of biliterate reading”. This trajectory gives us information about the level of reading of the emerging bilingual students in their first language and which would be the expected level of reading in English. This information is very useful to plan instruction and grouping in the classroom.

Biliterate Reading Zones

EDL2 LEVEL (Spanish)	DRA2 LEVEL (English)
A – 3	A – 3 (exposure)
4 – 6	A – 3
8 – 10	4 – 6
12 – 16	8 – 10
18 – 28	12 – 16
30 – 38	18 – 28
40	30 – 38
50 - 60	40+

Using Google Add-ons to Make Your Google Form Results Even Easier to Read

Google Forms is a wonderful tool that makes it very easy to gather and analyze data.  However, sometimes the cells can be rather difficult to read if there is a lot of text.  You can use the Save As Doc Google Spreadsheets Add-on to make your results even easier to read.  Click here to read a blog post that will explain how this time saving tool works.  

GoNoodle

GoNoodle is a web based collection of brain breaks to use for your classroom!  Many are short and can be used to transition between activities or longer for a more active movement break.  Check it out!

Manipulatives...Just a Mouse Click Away!

Base Ten Blocks

In looking for materials for a 4th grade teacher this week, I stumbled upon this great source of free, printable manipulatives: 

Mathematics Blackline Masters

Need a visual to teach a concept? Maybe something here can help!


Prefer digital tools? Check out these free manipulatives from The Math Learning Center that can be used through the internet or as iPad applications:

Here is a screenshot from the "Number Pieces" app...

Number Pieces web app from The Math Learning Center

However, just having the manipulatives isn't enough if you don't know how to use them. Check out these videos to see how base ten blocks (whether foam, plastic, paper, or digital) can be used to teach students multi-digit multiplication using either set or area models:

Not sure which manipulative to use to teach a concept? Please post below so that your colleagues and coaches can help!

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a great Google App that we all have free access to as a Google school district.  You can use this app to send Google docs easily to your students, make announcement to your class, or collect Google Docs assignments from students.  If you would like to learn more about Google Classroom, check out the 2 minutes video below.  If you are already using Google Classroom, here is a blog post announcing new features that were just released yesterday.

Gradual Release of Responsibility in Literacy

Effective literacy instruction includes using the gradual release of responsibility.  Teachers must shift the load of the thinking and work from the teacher to the students.  However, before we can do that, we must decide what learning we want to happen.  To do this, we must establish the purpose first when creating lessons. What do I want my students to learn and why is this important?  How is learning this going to make my students a better reader and/or writer? How will I know that my students understand and demonstrate the skill?  Objectives will set the purpose and allow students to understand the expectations.  Establishing why the lesson is important (relevancy) will help motivate, as well.   When writing objectives, we want to include the academic vocabulary used by our Core Standards, as well as the skill or strategy and finally the learning activity that demonstrates understanding.  When the students understand the purpose, everyone benefits.

Want to know more?  The website below gives short, yet informative, information on this instructional model of teaching.
https://www.mheonline.com/_treasures/pdf/douglas_fisher.pdf

Traditional Spanish songs and stories.

Traditional songs and stories are always powerful resources to use in the classroom. They are useful to teach vocabulary, sentence structure, patterns, rhythm, cross-cultural topics,  and they are fun!!!
Luis Pescetti has received many international awards for his publications in Spanish. Here you have his web page where you can find songs, stories, riddles, tongue twister, articles and other resources to incorporate in your classroom.

http://www.luispescetti.com/