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Erin.Grewar Assessment, Differentiated Instruction, Learning in a Real Life Context

Getting Kids to (Really) Speak French

This year, my goal is to get my students speaking a lot more French and sound better doing so. If it were me, I would like to have something more to show after learning French for four or five years. I suppose this is what is really behind the focus of the (soon to be released?) new curriculum.

As for me, I’m going to vary my approach this year. In the past, a lot of the French speaking came from short daily activities, questions/answers and summative oral presentations that focused on integrated targeted vocabulary and grammar structures. The summative activities were always creative and students responded well to them, however, they were perhaps not the most practical (cooking show, blind date, etc). Based on feedback to some written response questions and from parents, it is surprising to me to find out that students seem to really want to learn French. I know, shocking isn’t it? My challenge this year is how to balance out the practical but still make it interesting and most importantly fun.

For September with my grade eight classes, I have begun with the basics. I mean the real basics like greetings, variations of how are you and trading contact information. I’ve been using the resource and provided them with current lingo/slang in order to make their interactions more authentic. A typical lesson includes some explanation/questioning by me followed by 5 to 10 min of guided conversation with “freestyle elaborating”. We have already tried a short skit with a partner whereby they had to incorporate “Comment vas-tu?” and trade contact information but they were free to come up with their own context. The end product was okay but I found that they were more carried away by adding in all this extra detail to support the scenario which distracted and in some cases derailed them entirely. In the end, I decided that I would follow up with a one-on-one “examen oral” based on the same content. I think that an actual conversation will give me a better idea of how they are really able to communicate. Will keep you posted as to their progress. In the meantime, please let everyone know about anything that has been working for you.

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Erin.Grewar Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General

Meet the Teacher Night – Introducing Yourself to Parents

Seeing their children’s classroom environment and meeting their teacher (who spends the largest chunk of the day with them) is a top priority for many parents. As a parent myself, it’s important for me to put a face to the name and to get a read on how their teacher’s personality and how they interact with their students. Considering Parent’s Night from this perspective inspired me to vary my approach this year.

As a non-homeroom teacher with no classroom for parents to visit, I decided to insert myself as a guest speaker into the presentations of the various homeroom teachers. This has the advantage of ensuring a larger audience and giving more credibility to Core French as a subject.

In terms of content, I decided to focus less on the formal curriculum side of things and more on the different way French is being taught (once the new ministry document is released) with an emphasis on oral communication and the use of authentic texts. I also included an explanation of how a typical lesson was structured and went on to finish with a brief overview of some useful online resources that students would find useful at home.

Personally, I always like to leave parents with some kind of written handout (see attachement). Likewise, I also tried to keep the tone upbeat. At this stage, I think that both students and parents alike need to see French in a more positive light and see the fun to be had with learning a second (or third or fourth) language.

Alison.Board Celebrating Success, Communication Tools, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General

End of Year Celebration

To celebrate the end of the year in our Full-Day Kindergarten classroom, we opened our doors for parents and guardians to share our successes. We scheduled it for a half hour in the morning at entry time. The children helped plan for the celebration by taking home invitations, creating a welcome sign for our door with the word welcome or hello in various languages that reflect the home languages of our students. The children also were invited to wear traditional clothing that reflected their heritage on the day of the open house. We were thrilled to have so many parents come to our casual event. They sat around the room and watched our morning circle – as we always start the day with sharing how we feel. Then the children moved to the tables where their writing portfolios and art folders were displayed. They were so proud to show their work! Then the children moved around the classroom as guides, showing their parents their work that was displayed and their favourite learning centres.

In the afternoon, one student drew a picture of her and her mother and wrote,”Today is Monday. That’s the day when we show and share…” She said she was happy to show and share her work and classroom with her mother.

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Roz.Geridis Building Inclusion, Communication with Parents and Guardians, Making a Difference Through Education

Making a Difference

Recently, our school went to an overnight outdoor education centre. Parent/student/teacher relationships are developed and also expanded during these types of trips. I had three students with special circumstances. All were brought to my attention before we left for the trip. I had one student who had separation anxiety, another had social issues and a special family event during the trip, and the third was a student with Aspergers and mom was concerned about the socialization/routine for her.

 

Although most of my time was occupied with these three students, I still feel my time was spent in a very productive way. One night, I spent the time helping a student get to sleep. Distracting her thoughts, staying near her, making sure she was ok. She made it through the night. The second night, she didn’t need me at all. When we returned, the parents were very appreciative and gave me a very nice note and flowers. The flowers were a very nice thought and I really appreciate them but the note I will keep forever. The parent also went to my administration team and spoke to them letting them know how appreciative the student and parents were and what a difference I made. It was a very kind gesture which will always be remembered!

 

I had another parent who also thanked me through the student and with a small taken of appreciation. Her child ended up getting sick and her mother was very happy that I was there with her until her mother came to get her. The last parent showed up at the school and was all smiles. Again, I received another thank you.

 

We may not get thank yous for all we do but remember we make the difference in students’ lives. Whether it is a child who feels included, another who is happy to be part of an event, or the student who feels s/he has learned something new – all it takes is one effort to make a difference and change that child’s life for the better.

 

 

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Tina.Ginglo Building Inclusion, Homework, Literacy, Use of Technology

Timely Effective Feedback with Comic Building Website

I recently created an account on Bitstrips for Schools.  Bitstrips is a free website where students can create comics or other graphic texts.  Creating an account is easy.  Bitstrips provides you with an access code that you share with your students.  Students simply log in with the access code and they immediately have access to the different activities you create.   Their first task (and yours) is to create an avatar.  Students can then begin to work on the activities you create.

My Avatar

My initial activity was an introductory activity where students were asked to create a comic introducing themselves to the class.  The learning goal for this activity was for students to become familiar with the comic building tools.   After a week of in class work, Bitstrips is now an activity students have an option to go to when other work has been completed or they can work on activities from their home computers. Now, most of my students are completing the graphic text activities at home for ‘homework’.   Parents appreciate that their children are using the Internet to complete school activities rather than to play games and watch videos on YouTube.

A quick and simple activity to help students become familiar with the tools.

 

What I appreciate most about this website is that all students, regardless of abilities, can navigate the tools and create a piece of writing. Once students complete an activity, it must be submitted to me for review before it can be published.  I can access student writing from anywhere; smart phone, tablet, at home, or school and I can give them timely specific feedback on their written submission.   I am using Bitstrips to reinforce punctuation and spelling with my third grade students.  I spend a few minutes each evening sending students feedback on their submissions.   The next time students log in to Bitstrips they will see my feedback and they can immediately edit and/or revise their work and resend it to me for another review.

 

 

Below are some sample comments I have submitted to students:

Hi Charlie, 

This is a fun comic! Please make sure you begin each sentence with a capital and end with a period.

Hi Krisandrew,

I really like how you ended your comic! I am impressed with all your slides. Please review for punctuation. For example, sentences must begin with a capital. Example “Me too.” You missed a period in one of your thought bubbles. It is movies not movie. Otherwise, great effort! Please correct and resubmit.

Below are two activities I have assigned on Bitstrips.com:

 Turning Narratives Into Graphic Texts

You are to select one of your personal narratives and create a Bitstrip.

You are to use speech bubbles for your dialogue sentences.
You are to use thought bubbles for your thinking and feeling sentences.
You are to use captions for your action sentences.

Your bitstrip should meet the success criteria for personal narratives!

Silly Story Comic

 You are to write a silly story!

You are to use the success criteria for a personal narrative. That is,
-Action, dialogue and thought sentences;
-Beginning, Middle and End;
-Correct punctuation and spelling;

But your story must also include the characteristics of a silly story:

-Strange and impossible events take place;
– Characters act as if everything is normal;
-You leave the reader with a smile on their face.

Your story should be a at least 5 frames long.
Dialogue sentences must be in speech bubbles.
Thinking/Feeling sentences are in thought bubbles.
Action sentences must be in captions a the top or bottom of the frame.

I am fortunate to have unlimited access to computers throughout the school day, but you can do this in a one computer classroom.  As I mentioned in a prior blog post, it is important to know what access your students have to the Internet from home before you encourage Bitstrips as a homework activity.  Bitstrips has helped me engage students in the writing process.  It forces them pay attention to writing conventions and it provides me with a manageable way to provide timely feedback to students.

 

Alison.Board Homework, Literacy, Resources, Use of Technology

Reading in Kindergarten

Literacy is woven into our day. We do not have “literacy centres”, but we do have learning centres that include literacy. We have shared reading, independent reading, formal writing times that look like a Writer’s Workshop, and purposeful writing that happens around the classroom such as writing cards, letters, making books and recording observations.

There is no “language block”, instead language is used in our morning circle to share our feelings and connect with one another. It is used during read a-louds to teach conventions of books, visualization, sequence, and voice. We learn how to spell familiar words and we learn how to use rich language to describe and express our ideas. Books are connected to our math lessons and science inquiries. We share books that enjoy reading over and over again, and we read new books on the computers and listen to stories using BookFlix.

When I started my new classroom in September, there were limited literacy resources. I acquired a variety of picture books from family and friends and I used the books from our school library to fill the shelves and reading bins. To organize the books, we designated one display rack for hardcover books and another for softcover books. I remember the day that we discussed how to tell the difference. Even now, some children knock on their book to determine which shelf it should be returned to. This also provides a daily opportunity for sorting – see how literacy is never a stand-alone in Kindergarten!

One of the first things I noticed was how rough the children were with the books. It took months of reminders and practice for the children not to throw the books, step on them, or pull at them and rip pages. You would assume that by Kindergarten children would know how to handle books, but for many children in the class handling the books in a gentle and respective manner was not familiar to them. To assist in their practice, we modelled then asked the children to “close your books gently, carry them like a cake, and place them face out on the appropriate book rack”. Now the children are much more aware of the condition of the books, and often come to me with concern that a page has ripped or torn, and ask that it be fixed with tape.

Back in September, there were no (maybe a few) levelled readers for the Kindergarten classrooms. This was the biggest concern for me, as I believe in the consistent use of levelled books to develop readers in the classroom. Through the suggestion of an instructional leader, I was able to order paper copies of what are considered replacement books and use these for a book borrowing program and for work with individuals or small groups in the classroom. These books have been invaluable for my students. Although I do not assign homework in Kindergarten, I do set up a book bag program that allows children to take home a book at their level and write about their book in an accompanying journal. There are not assigned days to take or return a book, therefore it is a program that can suit the families and their schedules. I have some students who return their book bags every day or every other day, while other students may return their bag within a week or two. All of the SK students (and a few JK students) have moved up in levels, but most importantly they feel successful as readers. The levelled readers have not been a “requirement” of the childrens’ day or have they felt pressure to read. By providing them with a book at their level (mostly all at level 1 in September) they felt excited to take a book home and then felt successful because they could actually read it. This encouraged them to continue with the program and become independent readers!

 

 

 

 

 

Levelled books for Book Bag Program

Writer's rainbow bulletin board
Katie Pryde Assessment, Literacy

Keeping Track of Writer’s Workshop

In my many experiences of LTO teaching in Kindergarten, all my classes have taken part in Writer’s Workshop. We have all used the Writer’s Rainbow as a form of assessment of students’ writing, as well as students using it as a form of self-assessment. I have struggled with keeping track of student writing growth, and how to assess their writing come report card time.

While working my current LTO, the teacher I am replacing has a wonderful way to easily keep track of student writing and growth. After every piece of writing, the teacher writes a little dot of the colour of the Writer’s Rainbow that the student achieved with that writing piece. I have continued to do this, and found it very easy to assess my students’ writing come SK report card writing. It was very easy to look through their writing journal and see whether the student was all over the board, or whether they were quite consistent with the colour of the Writer’s Rainbow. It was also very easy to see when students grew in their writing, by moving up a level (colour) or two. I have attached some pictures of the Writer’s Rainbow, as well as a students’ writing with the colour of the dot that corresponds to the colour they achieved. I highly reccomend doing this for any teachers, Kindergarten teachers or not, to use this as a tracking system of their student writing.

 

Alison.Board Assessment, Communication with Parents and Guardians, General, Report Cards

Reporting for JKs

The Junior Kindergarten Summary is an important document, as it is the first formal written assessment that parents may receive about their child. In saying that, there also should be no surprises when they read the report. Part of the reporting process in Kindergarten is to provide ongoing assessment in an informal basis when necessary through notes, phone calls, or updates during face-to-face interaction at entry or dismissal times. If you feel that a report you have written may have information that would be of specific concern to the parent, you may want to give a “heads up” phone call before your reports go home in February. If however, you have shared information with parents/guardians regarding a child’s struggles or difficulties in adjusting to the program, then the report will be of no surprise and act as a record of the child’s development at this time, which may be referred to if struggles continue in the next year or two.

The Summary includes three broad areas to provide information for:

1) Interests and Strengths – Try to individualize reports as much as possible. In this section you want to highlight what the child can do (not what they can’t do compared to others). Qualifiers on scripted sentences will not work, as each child will have different interests and different strengths. Suggestions for this section include mentioning the learning centres that the child most enjoys, the ways in which the child contributes to the class, and what attributes the child brings to either group discussions or play.

2) Development and Learning – In this section I would suggest providing assessment on the child’s development according to any of the six areas of development: Personal and Social Development, Language, Mathematics, Science & Technology, Health & Physical Activity, and the Arts (see http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/kindergarten_english_june3.pdf). Remember, you are stating where the student is based on the outcomes/expectations at the end of a two-year program. In this section it is a good idea to draw on specific examples of a child’s learning by quoting what they have said, or referring to something they did or created.

3) Planning for Further Learning – Here you can provide two short paragraphs. One for the planning that the Kindergarten teacher/team will implement to support or extend the child’s learning, and another short paragraph to suggest practical ways that the parents/guardians can help the child at home. Rather than suggest “reading to your child” (which we always want to suggest), you can add specific ideas like counting the floors on an elevator ride to your apartment; counting cheerios at breakfast, learning the sounds of letters on cereal boxes, learning how to write the names of family members. These suggestion may sound obvious to you, but they may be more useful to the parent than suggesting they work on letters and numbers with their child at home.

When you re-read your finished reports, it is important to get a sense of who the child is – including their strengths and needs. It is also a good idea to add an encouraging line at the end of the report, noting the child’s efforts and accomplishments in their adjustment to Junior Kindergarten.

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Tina.Ginglo Assessment, Differentiated Instruction, Diverse Learning Needs, Literacy, Planning, Questioning, Use of Technology

Using Audio for Self-Assessment

I have added a new layer to the writing process in my third-grade writing workshop.  As I wrote in a past post, our writing workshop process begins with students writing in their Writer’s Notebooks.  When a writer completes a piece of writing, they then meet with their assigned writing partner and/or me for a writing conference.  At this conference, writers review the success criteria for their writing assignment and then identify two ways in which they have successfully met the criteria.  Writers then identify one criterion that needs to be developed further. They then transfer their writing to their laptop keeping in mind the feedback they received and making their revisions as they type their second draft.  Ultimately, writers post their narratives in their writing group on Edmodo.com where they receive more feedback from their group members.

Using Audacity software and a set of headphones with microphone, my third graders have learned how to read and record their personal narratives.  Once recorded, students listen back.  They then ask themselves two questions:  “In what ways does my story sound like a real story?”  And “In what ways can I make my story sound more like a real story?”  Students enthusiastically record their stories.  This component of the writing process engages those auditory learners who could benefit from this new component of the writing process.

I have changed the way I phrase these reflection questions.  At first I instructed students to ask themselves, “Does my story sound like a real story? Yes or no?”  If yes, why does it sound like a real story? If no, why not?”  I found that this self-assessment exercise wasn’t making a significant difference in their writing.   I concluded that it wasn’t the process that was ineffective, but the questions I was asking writers to consider.   These yes/no questions left writers basically rating their narratives as “good” or “bad.”  Their narratives either sounded “real” or didn’t.  These questions didn’t allow students to identify the strengths in their narratives and where it could sound better.  Realistically, all of my writers’ stories sounded a tad real, some more so than others. The goal here is to make everyone’s writing sound better. Using these new questions should ultimately improve the writers’ craft.

I am also thinking of adding audio to the writing conferences with writing partners and teacher.  Some students struggle to give feedback on other students’ writing for a number of reasons.  Perhaps a student’s penmanship is difficult to read or spelling or punctuation is interfering with comprehension.  Listening to a story as it is intended to sound eliminates those barriers to comprehension.

I am proud of my third graders.  Each day they are becoming more independent writers.  I believe the secret to their success is that the students understand the flow of our writing workshop and, thanks to clear success criteria, they can identify their strengths as writers.   They see themselves as writers!   I am fortunate to have access to audio technology.  In reality, you don’t need computers or even headphones to make this happen in your classroom.   You can go “old school” with a mini cassette recorder.   Some old cell phones have recording devices.  One of our goals is to teach our writers to write like readers and read like writers.  Using audio is one way to get there!

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Carmen.Oliveira Assessment, General, Professional Learning and Growth, Resources, Use of Technology

What’s On My Professional Learning Bookshelf?

A question that sometimes comes up in my ongoing teaching-learning cycles with colleagues and beginning teachers is, “What books do you recommend I read for my own learning?”  Yikes, this is a tough one!  As teachers, the truth is that if we were to pile up the professional learning books we’ve read and/or used throughout our careers we’d easily surpass the height of the CN Tower (I know you it to be true)!

I tend to prefer sharing some of my favourites and those on my shelf at this moment.  The following books are ones I’m currently going through (and enjoying!) because of insights, lessons, questions, and reflections they’ve sparked in my professional learning.  I’ve added the links to their websites which I find very helpful.

Tuned Out: Engaging the 21st Century Learner- Karen Hume

This book invites readers to both rethink what it means to teach and learn in a digital age and put those ideas into action.  The ideas are practical, closely tied to current learning theories, and important to take into consideration within the current reality of how students learn and become engaged.  Along with the book an educator can use the website which becomes a virtual classroom for teachers to both gather and share ideas.  This resource helps educators realize an energized, student-focused classroom that takes advantage of today’s digital technologies.

http://www.karenhume.ca/resources/publications/tuned-out/

 

What Do They Really Know? Assessment That Informs Teaching and Learning- Cris Tovani

This book explores the complex issue of monitoring, assessing, and grading students’ thinking and performance with fairness and consistency.  The author admits to struggling to balance her student-centered instruction wit school system mandates.  Her recommendations are realistic and practical and understands that what isn’t manageable isn’t sustainable.  Cris shows teachers how to use assessments to monitor student growth and provide targeted feedback that enables students to master content goals.

Below are a link to a blog and an interview with the author about the book.

http://readingyear.blogspot.ca/2011/07/so-what-do-they-really-know-by-cris.html

 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ir43_qzPU