Blog

I’ve spent almost my whole life in school – as a student and then as an educator. Something I’ve learned about myself is that I learn best when I get the chance to sit in the moment.  As a notoriously slow processor, I need plenty of opportunities to think, slow down, and talk things out before I feel comfortable.  As a student, I loved opportunities to work in small groups, to listen to others, share and gain new ideas.  Classes where collaboration and discussion were encouraged – language, arts, and even science – bring memories of working on projects, debating, discussing, and creating. 

I try very hard to work on creating those same experiences during math classes. Focusing on the process has given me a better understanding of the children’s learning that I would not get from looking only at final solutions, tests, and other products.  I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about meaningful math classes, although my process started off slow it got easier with practice.  

Typically, I try to plan the experience as much as possible.  We are planning all the time as educators, but sometimes those moments come up suddenly and we follow that teachable moment.  When possible, panning is an exercise for myself as a teacher.  It has helped me to understand what I’m hoping to learn about the students’ thinking and it has even helped me to grow as a mathematician. 

Though there are lots of things to consider and every educator has their own planning process, these prompts help to frame my thinking.  They might help you, if you’re looking for a place to start. 

How are the students experiencing this particular expectation? Is it the first time we’re looking at a concept?  Are students applying familiar knowledge to a new situation? Or am I hoping they demonstrate what they have learned about a concept?

Thinking about these questions helps me to think about the student experience and the information I hope to gather about their understanding.  If we’ve worked with this concept for a while, perhaps I’m hoping to see certain strategies developing in their work.  If we’ve not yet learned this particular concept, maybe I’m hoping to see what past knowledge they might be bringing as a starting point to my next lesson.

What do I anticipate students will say or do when presented with this experience? What am I hoping to see or hear? 

Anticipation has been a necessary exercise for me.  When I anticipate what the students might say or do, it helps me to focus on what I am looking for; which tools they are comfortable with, where might they start their solution.  This helps me to map out what my conversations might be with students while they are working and which direction I hope they might go.

How will I present this to the students? Do they need printed ‘rules’?  Do I want to give a personal story to the problem?

I find that presenting math to students helps to frame the experience.  Whether that’s introducing the rules to a math game or sharing context for a problem that needs to be explored – sometimes we don’t get to a firm solution! Scripting what I want to say helps me to frame my own thinking more clearly.  

What are some of the materials we will need?  How will they record their work?  How will I document what I see and hear?  

These logistics are important.  Sometimes I give students a few minutes to think of their own solutions to the question and then they come together in a small group to share and build upon their ideas.  Sometimes they are using manipulatives that I give them to use because I am hoping to observe something specific.  As I am documenting their work, I might write what I see them using or doing or I might have a checklist of expectations I am hoping to observe.  For each opportunity to engage with the students during their math experience, it’s important to have these details planned ahead of time. 

When I first started building my math for teaching knowledge, it took me some time to plan out meaningful experiences and activities for students beyond the initial question.  There are many wonderful research based resources that you can go to for ideas on problems to solve or experiences to offer students, but taking the time to work through the planning is beneficial for all of us.

I am very excited to share with you a book for elementary students written by Lindsay Christina King. King is a member of Pikangikum First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. Pikangikum is a community that is accessible by plane and by boat in the summer. Her book, Storyteller Skye: teachings from my Ojibway Grandfather, was part of TD summer reads and is widely available to purchase or borrow.

The story introduces us to Skye, a young girl who loves telling stories. She invites readers to listen closely as the stories she tells have important messages within them. She then goes on to relate stories about animals like skunk, beaver, rabbit, raccoon and wolf. I greatly appreciate that the animals are introduced with their names given in Ojibway, the language of Pikangikum. Each story is told with humour that will appeal to all readers.

Each animal in the story is featured because of one of their unique traits and Skye has a story behind how they got that trait. For example, why does the skunk have a foul smell? Why does a raccoon have a mask? The lessons taught to each animal tie in to the Seven Grandfather Teachings. This book leads seamlessly into an oral language lesson and there is an activity outlined in the back of the book on how to get storytelling started in our classes. Beyond oral language I have some cross curricular connections for this read aloud.

Social Studies: 

This book gives us an opportunity to learn about a fly-in First Nation community of Northwestern Ontario. Millions of Ontarians have never been to a community in Treaty 5 territory, like Pikangikum, so it is important to share the photographs at the end of the book showing Lindsay King’s family and community. The author’s daughter, Maddy King, had her photography of Pikangikum featured in a CBC News article in 2020. Maddy King’s photos show the beautiful boreal forest of the Canadian Shield and promote an understanding of the interconnectedness of all.

Both Lindsay Christina King and Maddy King were interviewed for a video series called Portraits – Pikangikum First Nation, available on YouTube. The YouTube channel highlights community members and some of their challenges. For older students, we can examine ongoing impacts of colonialism. In particular, the video about Maddy King has beautiful photography and demonstrates her connection to the land. There are community leaders interviewed in the Portraits series and they outline the ways they are promoting traditional values to counteract the challenges being faced in Pikangikum. Some of the initiatives include promoting youth connection to the land, support for young mothers, and working toward more modern infrastructure.  The school there has 1700 students and its own teacher education program in partnership with Queen’s University. I highly recommend learning more about this community!

Science

Storyteller Skye connects language and science in the several grades:

Grade 1: Needs and Characteristics of Living Things;

Grade 2: Growth and Changes in Animals;

Grade 4: Habitats;

Grade 6: Biodiversity.

Reading this book during a science unit or as a review of the concepts gives our students a different perspective filled with humour and enjoyment.  This story allows students to respond to discussion and comprehension questions and to review the characteristics, growth, habitats and biodiversity of our science curriculum.

Visual Art

Each of Skye’s animal stories can be an inspiration for art as well. Whether it is drawing, painting, or creating a 3 D model, our students enjoy making changes to animals, using their imagination. The art they create can lead to an oral storytelling activity which allows them to share what characteristics they have changed and how the change could teach the animal an important lesson. Animals do not have to be the only subject of this art.  It could be about making changes to a certain environment or building as well. 

Drama

I envision students working in groups to create skits about the different animal stories that Skye has in this book. Creating or finding some simple props for students to use in their dramatization will add another level of creativity to this lesson.

This is definitely a book I will carry from class to class and use for my supply teaching assignments!

Storyteller Skye: teachings from my Ojibway Grandfather by Lindsay Christina King and Carolyn Frank; Medicine Wheel Publishing, 2022.

Happy Reading!

Brenda

A teacher friend called me the other day, and as per usual, we got right into our “teacher talk.” We have this habit of bouncing ideas off each other until we’ve basically mapped out a whole month of school. Our “quick” conversations always end up being 40 minutes or longer, you know how it is when the creative gears start turning!

In this recent conversation, we began brainstorming some great ideas for Grade 3 and 4 STEM. We were looking for a fresh way to spark curiosity, and it led me back to a topic that never fails to get kids talking: Ordinary Objects.

As teachers, we spend so much time over-analyzing our lesson plans that we sometimes forget the magic hidden in a simple pencil or a roll of tape. Inquiry-based learning doesn’t always need a complex kit; sometimes, it just needs a really good “Why?”

Thinking about this took me right back to my own “young investigator” days. I can still see myself sitting on the floor with a broken cassette tape, determined to save my favorite music. I wasn’t just fixing a toy; I was an engineer on a mission. I remember the focus it took to re-thread that delicate ribbon around the tiny plastic gears, making sure it would pull in the right direction. Hours would disappear in a blink because I was so lost in the “how” of it all.

That’s the energy I love in my classroom. Have you ever given your class a broken toaster or an old mechanical keyboard and a screwdriver? (Safety goggles on, of course!) Just to find out how it works?

As our conversation began to dive in deeper we realized that this is the ultimate bridge for our Structures and Mechanisms strand. As students unscrew the casing, they see the internal structure (the frame) and the simple machines (the gears and levers) that make it “go.” There are so many curriculum connections to be found just by un-inventing the world around us.

I challenge you and your students to look at a common object, like a backpack and “un-invent” one part of it. Think, what if backpacks didn’t have zippers? Suddenly, Grade 4 students are brainstorming pulleys, toggles, and gears, while the Grade 3s are thinking about how the structure of the bag would have to change to keep things from falling out.

When we teach kids to question the things they see every day, we are teaching them that the world is designed, and if it’s designed, it can be understood and eventually, improved by them.

What is one “ordinary” object in your classroom that your students might want to un-invent? Let’s swap some ideas in the comments!

Today’s blog features unforgettable classroom experiences that I had in elementary school. I benefitted from these rich learning tasks and in turn these memories spurred me on to design similar experiences for my students. I hope some of my students remember what I taught decades later!

Cross Curricular Drama Lessons 

As a kid who loved to play and use my imagination, I have vivid memories of combining science and history with role play.  One year, we were allowed to include costumes with environmental presentations. One student came dressed as a raindrop as he explained acid rain.

 In French class we often performed skits to practice new vocabulary. The teacher would have children’s clothes or food on hand so we could pretend we were shopping.

In language class in grade 3 we read plays and were challenged to perform a scene. I remember being a mountain goat, kicking and bleating my heart out! Then in grade 7 English we studied Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol” and I got to take my performances to the stage.

Guest Speakers

A change from the routine made for a very memorable day in elementary school. Meeting artists and singers brought us joy and learning. In grade 2, one of the parents in my class came to teach origami and talk about her country of origin, Japan. 

In grade 5 we had a musician visit the class and play a variety of instruments that were not normally available to us. Rich learning experiences are easily created when teachers invite guests into the classroom. 

As a teacher, some of my favourite days have included bringing guest speakers, especially Indigenous elders or dancers/drummers/singers. It is a responsibility we carry as treaty people to build these relationships.  I also appreciate having older adults as guest speakers. Some students have no exposure to seniors and they may not realize the importance of a lifetime of experiences.

Two First Nation guest speakers who were presented with a quilt and a blanket made by my colleague, ETFO member Shelley Miehe.

Hands-On Learning

Paper airplane making was the task we were given in grade 5 for a study of manufacturing. Our group members each had specific roles and responsibilities. My group did not make the most airplanes but we had high quality! 

Our grade 6 teacher had us create a relief map of Australia using salt/flour dough. We then painted the project. This was a fantastic way to help us interpret a 2D map.

Learning Outdoors

When I attended an urban school in grade 4, we walked through the area trying to find where the water traveled above and below ground. We looked for evidence of sewer grates and then mapped out  the nearby stream and reservoir. We also went around the area taking tree bark rubbings to use for collages in art. The idea was to cut out various shapes and glue them down to make a very eye-catching piece of art.

 By grade 6 I was in a rural school with more snowy winters. We were allowed to create snow sculptures as art. Colour was part of the experience, but I don’t remember if we had spray bottles or brushes. Was it paint or food colouring? I remember being very proud of our giant, snowy caterpillar.

Current events, Poetry and Sharing

From this top 5 list, you have probably gathered that I enjoyed speaking in front of a group!

In primary grades, my teachers used the show and share model to help students get used to public speaking. We were always encouraged to bring something to share that had educational value. For example, in grade 1, I brought in my corking tool and wool to show the class how to create a craft. 

Performing magic was a hobby I developed in grade 4 and my teacher allowed me to show the class some tricks and I had background music playing from my tape recorder.

Sharing current events and poetry was encouraged in grade 5 and our teacher gave out a certificate if shared 200 times. Yes, I achieved that goal along with one other friend. If I were doing it today I might have a certificate for every 25 or 50 items shared to encourage more students to participate.

I hope you found some helpful ideas here. These tasks are easily adaptable among grades and appeal to many of our learners. 

What are your top 5 learning experiences? Do we have any in common?

Brenda

Having a trauma-informed approach can be vital in Ontario’s diverse schools. Many students, particularly newcomer students, arrive in schools having experienced traumatic events: first-hand experience with armed conflict, family separation, or losing one’s home – just to name a few examples. These students may also be in the early steps of learning English, which adds to the challenge of understanding their unique needs.

Newcomer students that have experienced trauma may show up in school in a variety of ways. For example, they may be dysregulated, have hard time staying focused in their learning, be sensitive to different stimuli, or may not display any indication that they are traumatized at all. There is no single way a child will respond to trauma, but research indicates that prolonged exposure to trauma has a significant impact on the development of the brain.

I recall having multiple students that experienced the death of parents as a direct result of war in their home countries. One student was eager to engage with his peers and was open to communicating about his life experiences right away. Another student was distant and reluctant to interact with her teachers and classmates, and needed frequent breaks from her busy classroom.

Because the impact of trauma in children shows up in so many forms, it is important for educators to understand how to support learners, especially when they are emergent English speakers. These students typically a difficult time communicating their needs, emotions, and are likely also experiencing the stress that comes with learning in a new language and school environment. Adding to their unique student portrait may also be significant learning literacy and numeracy gaps from having missed years of formal schooling.

As an educator, it is not uncommon to feel underprepared and under-resourced when welcoming newcomer MLLs (multilingual language learners) that have experienced trauma into school. It’s important to know how to support these unique learners effectively, who to turn to for support, and what resources will be the most useful and practical in the contexts we work in.

In the first part of this blog, we looked at how Nara, an Ontario educator, used the “Discover – Connect – Respond” strategy to calm a newcomer MLL who was on the verge of having a bad day. Now, let’s take a look at some practical, trauma-informed approaches that can be leveraged as a starting point for helping students in this unique group.

Build a Detailed Student Portrait

Gathering information about the learner’s family background, prior experiences, and journey is an essential starting point for taking a trauma-informed approach. Take note that much of this information is highly personal and confidential, so discretion is key.

Often the first place to find out about the background of a student is through family interviews. Some boards may have a process in place to welcome newcomer students where an interpreter and settlement worker is available at the time of registration, and guardians may share information about their child’s experiences, including those that are traumatic.

When a newcomer initial assessment and orientation report is not available, sensitive information might surface through conversations with the student or family interviews. If you discover information about a student’s previous trauma through such interactions, it is important to share that information with an administrator and support team so it can be documented appropriately in your board’s student information system or the Ontario School Record (OSR).

One useful tool for gathering information is the “7 Factors Impacting Student Learning” table. Use it as a guideline for building a student portrait, or adapt it to suit your own workflow.

Create Safe and Supportive Learning Environments

There are so many ways educators can take a trauma-informed approach to managing the classroom that are good for all learners. For example, establishing predictable routines in the classroom not only makes the learning environment feel stable and organized – it helps students to feel safe and secure. Having timetables posted, routines for entry and exit times, designated areas where supplies and notebooks are kept, and clear expectations for behaviour that are consistently maintained will help students to feel supported.

When possible, create spaces in the classroom or the school where students can calm down, get quiet time, or have an alternative space to simply be in. Teamwork in the school can be critical for making this kind of space available for students and also developing guidelines for how it might be administered.

Provide Opportunities for Students to Communicate their Emotions

Newcomer students who are just learning English may need scaffolds to communicate what they are feeling and what their needs are when they are feeling dysregulated. As educators, we can facilitate communication by making translation devices accessible, teaching social emotional vocabulary, and providing aids that students can easily use to show how they are feeling.

For me, witnessing students’ progress in their learning is one of the clear joys of teaching. When I see the students I teach make progress, it helps me to remember that the time I put into my lesson planning, the energy I dedicate to providing explicit instruction, and the effort I give to sharing constructive feedback all work to help students grow in their knowledge and understanding of curriculum content.

This is the first of a three-part series of posts where I’ll share some of what I find to be the joys of teaching. The ideas for this and the proceeding posts emerged from witnessing several students whom I have the pleasure of teaching make clear progress in their learning and knowing that I performed some role in supporting their progress. This post will focus on the work I did with a group of students to help them further develop their vocabulary knowledge but will highlight the growth I witnessed in one student in particular. My hope in sharing these stories is that they help other educators reflect on what brings them joy in their teaching careers, then think of ways to use that joy to further fuel their passion for teaching and learning.

To review, in a previous post, I shared a plan to help students develop their vocabulary knowledge. In this post, I’ll share additional insights to my plan that includes the explicit instructions I provided, the constructive feedback I gave, and the impact of both on one student which brought me immense joy.

Each week for the last five weeks, I’ve been selecting 4 words to explicitly teach. The words I select come from a vocabulary wall that the students in my classes and I co-created. Our vocabulary wall is a collection of word cards. The word cards are divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant includes one of the following pieces of information: the word, a definition of the word, an image or symbol to represent the word, and a synonym for the word. Students selected the words from a series of fiction and non-fiction short stories they read earlier in the year. All the words they selected were new or vaguely familiar to them.

As I shared in my previous post, I found that simply having students select words and create vocabulary cards was an insufficient approach to helping them develop their vocabulary knowledge since I often saw students ineffectively use their new vocabulary in their writing. To rectify what I hoped would support their learning, I began explicitly teaching vocabulary words to better develop their vocabulary knowledge.

My process has been as follows. On Monday, I begin a three-part series of vocabulary lessons by sharing a learning goal and success criteria. My learning goal is, I am learning new vocabulary to support my reading comprehension and writing composition skills. My success criteria is, I can apply my knowledge of vocabulary words when reading and writing.  I then introduce the four words by providing a student friendly definition of the word, identify the part of speech to which the word belongs, model the pronunciation, and review the spelling of the word by explaining the sound symbol correspondence. I then share four sentences where I include one of the new words in each sentence. Before having students work in small groups or partners to create sentences using the new vocabulary, we co-create sentences, using the new words to scaffold instructions. Once each group of students complete their sentences, I have them share their sentences with me so I can check their use of the word and provide immediate constructive feedback to further support their leaning; my feedback often includes identifying something they did well, and a next step for further improvement.

On Tuesday, the lesson focuses on synonyms for the words. Using online dictionaries, I find three synonyms for each of the words introduced on Monday. I then place the words in random order in my Google slides presentation and have students work in small groups to match the vocabulary words with their three synonyms. To provide additional support, I review the meaning of the synonyms with students prior to having them engage in the matching activity. Once most students have matched the synonyms, I review the matches with them and have students work in partners to create two sentences, either complex or compound-complex using a synonym in each to practice using the synonym and different sentence structures.

On Wednesday, I repeat Tuesday’s lesson structure this time focusing on antonyms.

By the third and fourth week, I noticed more students using vocabulary words accurately in their sentences, and the quality of their sentence structures improved.

Prior to providing explicit vocabulary instructions, I vividly recall one student experiencing challenges acquiring and using new vocabulary effectively when I had her create vocabulary cards. I now better understand that having her learn words without support was a poor approach because while she strove to understand and use words effectively in sentences, her uses only occasionally worked. While reviewing some of her written work where I asked her to use her newly acquired vocabulary, I recall telling her that she selected great words and her sentence structures were strong, but her use of vocabulary impeded her ideas. I then proceeded to review the meaning of the word and the part of speech to which the word belonged then modeled how to use it effectively in a sentence.

Once I began providing explicit vocabulary instruction and utilizing the gradual release of responsibility model, I saw vast improvements her vocabulary use.

From this experience, I am reminded of how rewarding teaching can be when I get to witness the fruits of my labour by way of student progress and that these rewards help to further fuel my passion for teaching and learning.

As part of the Equity and Inclusive Education department, one of the primary questions we get is often around text selection.  Educators are always looking for a great read aloud to share with their students – something engaging, something beautiful and inspiring, and often something that invites students to look into mirrors, peek through windows, or walk through sliding glass doors. 

After reading hundreds of books over the years, I’ve learned a lot about text selection, but I also feel like it’s something I explore more and more about each year. There are so many different factors to consider when choosing a story to share.  Let’s start with the students: 

• Who are the children you share your spaces with?  
• What do you know about their identities?
• How are they prepared to learn about others’ identities?
• What genres do they enjoy?  Or types of characters? Or authors they already read?

When I think about students first, it helps me to remember who I am centering.  Each book, text, or read aloud is an experience that we will share and hopefully learn alongside each other.  It’s important to think about the student experience first. 

The next thing I consider is the text itself.  We can often shortlist a few books together, but when I am previewing a new story I have a list of considerations that I use for myself. A few of those include: 

• Who is this story about and who is it for? 
• Is the author writing from their own lived experience?  From an adjacent experience?  Or from another perspective entirely? 
• What am I hoping that the students will learn from this story?
• How can I ensure our conversations lend themselves to that outcome? 

Educators are always running short on time, but I do recommend that you preview or pre-read a text before sharing with your class.  This will enable you to think about the book in a way that creates a safe and inclusive learning environment.  Some of the things you might consider are: 

• What work would we have to do before reading this story? For example, we might have to build our background knowledge
• Are there any difficult parts in the story?  Some particular characters or events that might need a gentler approach or which might revisit some traumatic experiences for students? 
• How will I navigate questions and conversations with students about certain topics while not upholding stereotypes or biases? 
• Is this the right story for this time of year?  For the current classroom climate?  

While there are many places to find your next great read aloud, my very favourite place to go is the library.  Librarians have such a wealth of knowledge of the authors, award winning titles, and popular texts with students.  Whether you ask the school librarian or pay a visit to your local public library, I guarantee you will find a number of options to help guide your decisions. 

As I think about my list of considerations when choosing or reviewing a new book, I’m wondering what you might add to these lists?  What are some questions that go through your own minds?

Structured Literacy Shift # 6: Vocabulary Instruction

Being more purposeful with my vocabulary instruction is a shift I have made for quite a few years. Vocabulary knowledge plays a powerful role in helping students build meaning from reading, express their ideas and engage deeply with texts.

To read about my other shifts, see below:

• Structured Literacy Shift # 1 –  Explicit Instruction
• Structured Literacy Shift # 2 –  Morphology Instruction
• Structured Literacy Shift # 3 – Progress Monitoring
• Structured Literacy Shift # 4 – Positive Self-Talk
• Structured Literacy Shift # 5 – Fluency

Students cannot comprehend a text if too many words are unfamiliar. Over time this can become a barrier to accessing grade level texts and content. Explicit instruction can in fact remove that barrier. 

Teaching vocabulary goes beyond giving definitions. Firstly, teachers intentionally introduce vocabulary, within a meaningful body of knowledge. When selecting vocabulary, teachers must determine whether it is Tier 1, 2, or 3. 

• Tier 1: everyday words that children use regularly in conversation
• Tier 2: highly utilized vocabulary words that appear across all subject areas. 
• Tier 3: domain specific vocabulary, found in certain subject matters (e.g., science, social studies)

When selecting words, it is recommended that teachers focus on Tier 2 words, while connecting tier 3 words to the content being studied. 

Activities I have personally used during or after a read-aloud:

• Generate synonyms
• Give opportunities to use them in different contexts
• Engaging with the target vocabulary word

A resource I personally recommend is “Teaching Reading Source Book”. On page 436, there are examples of a “Text Talk Method”, a 6-step process to engage with vocabulary through read-alouds. 

• Step 1: Contextualize the word
• Step 2: Say the word together
• Step 3: Give student friendly definition
• Step 4: give the word in other context
• Step 5: Give opportunity to interact with the word (e.g., sentence starters, examples/non-examples, choices)
• Step 6: Say the word together again

Morphology can also play an important role in vocabulary instruction. To learn more, check out this post. 

It is so important to weave vocabulary instruction into ALL subject areas. In my Grade 3/4 class, we sometimes explore the word together in context. Other times, we explore it with word activities such as word sums and matrixes. Therefore, this doesn’t become an added task, but instead, helps students access knowledge and texts. 

Reference:

Teaching Reading Sourcebook (2018) – by Bill Honig, Linda Diamond, Linda Gutlohn , Carrie L. Cole et. al.