Collecting Data

As the year is coming to an end, I am working with a team to reflect on the literacy growth that our students have made in part due to use of iPads in the classroom. Using AIMSWeb and MAP data (depending on grade level), we are noticing great student progress in the realm of reading fluency and comprehension. While the occasional student's score decreased, the vast majority of students showed expected or more than expected growth.

I am already thinking of new ways to integrate technology and iPads in my instruction next year! Please share any ideas that have worked for you and your students!

Another Great Article

I read this article from the Washington Post about how teachers are using the Internet more now for planning and instruction. It explains briefly how some teachers are utilizing electronic resources in their classrooms and how the Common Core State Standards are going to make it easier to share materials.

Free Internet lessons challenge textbook market for public schools

Magazine Reviews

Check out the magazine reviews that we created! Students each read their own Time for Kids magazine and then reported back on the cover story in the way of an essay. They then presented their new-found knowledge as a magazine review, sharing non-fiction text features and highlights from the article! Watch our videos and then be sure to leave students comments back here on the blog!

Magazine Reviews

Article

Found this interesting and informative article! Enjoy!

Schools Across the Country Bring iPads to the Classroom

Year Book Take II

So the yearbook cover ended up only being created on laptops. While it was decided that the iPads would definitely work, since it is a contest we needed to have a level playing field. My students did some phenomenal work using wordart, inserting images, and the overall design. It was evident that some students may have a career in graphic design!

Year Book Cover

The fifth graders in our building have a tradition--a contest to design the cover of the year book. In years past, MS Word has been used. While I think that will continue to be successful, I am wondering if there is a way that my class can participate using the iPads instead. Maybe there is design app that will allow them to insert photos and edit fonts the same way that the word processing software does. I am interested to investigate before we attempt this project next week!

Stay tuned for samples of my students' designs!

Body Systems Brochures

It took approximately 2 weeks to complete the projects, but they are finally finished! Students worked in groups of four or five to deepen their knowledge of one of the six body systems that we had learned about during our Human Body Systems biology unit. Students used their knowledge from class to develop two questions about their body system. Then they used print text, as well as digital on the iPad, to research the answers to the questions, allowing them to access information from multiple sources. They used digital cameras to take photos of their own drawings and diagrams and photos from books which they later imported. Incorporated in this project were all four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Various technology was used as well: laptops (MS Word), iPads and digital cameras.

Please check out two examples!

Brochure Examples

Literacy in Math

By the end of the day last Thursday, my students and I had had enough. ISATs (our state standardized test) are coming up next week and, since we generally do not assess with multiple choice tests, I wanted to give them the experience before the big exam.

They worked through the practice test independently on Wednesday, and I had planned on reviewing half of the test on Thursday and the other half Friday, reviewing any concepts that were unclear or that they disagreed on. We spent the entire hour Thursday on TWO questions. I had to come up with a solution. There was no way that we were going to continue in that fashion. No one would have wanted to be there.

Thursday night I was having a conversation with my 4-year-old, telling her about my day. When she asked if she could come to my school to help, I suggested that she record her ideas in a movie and then I could share her ideas with my students. That gave me the solution.

I put students in six teams. Each team was assigned a block of questions that they had to work through. They not only had to solve the problems, but they had to be able to explain all of their mathematical thinking. This incorporated listening, speaking, reading and writing in one activity. All group members were required to participate and understand how to solve. When students thought that the problem was thoroughly explained, they got to record themselves solving the problem. Many self-assessed when they played back their videos, discovering that they really hadn't explain all ideas clearly. They continued to discuss with their groups in order to figure out what they had missed. While some were able to record once and move on to the next problem, most had to revise and rerecord at least once.

During this time I was able to confer with students and support language and math skills simultaneously. Conversations that I had with students during these conferences have served as an assessment tool. Feedback from students has been also incredibly powerful. Some of my struggling math students are understanding concepts now that they had not understood before because they have had the opportunity to discuss with peers and ask questions. They feel empowered and confidence, participation and engagement have all increased significantly.

Please click on this link to view the videos and feel free to add comments to this post!

http://sqworl.com/wagz3g

How are we improving???

We have gone through the process of recording and self-assessing a few times now, but the question is How Are We Improving??? My students have been doing a phenomenal job completing their self-assessment activities although it still takes much longer than I had anticipated. Our 30 minute class period is barely enough time for some students to complete the process. My plan had been to use apps to reinforce goals immediately upon completing the process. We are running out of time though before most students can use apps. Since my goal was to have students use apps to practice skills, I have to find time for this. I already open up my classroom before school and during lunch for any students who need extra assistance or time for learning, but asking students to come in on their own time does not guarantee that it is going to happen. I am thinking that a few minutes at the end of each class period may work.

I am also trying to figure out a way for my students to communicate their goals with their homeroom teachers so they can also track progress and reinforce skills and strategies. At this point in time I am just going to have students turn in their goal sheets to their teachers for them to read and then get back.

Success!!!

My students were so excited to self-assess using the iPads. They are really motivated to read carefully and then listen to their recordings in order to determine areas where they can improve. I noticed that students wasted no time transitioning from instructions to implementation. I even had some students request to stay in during recess so they could finish their work since we ran out of time.

What worked really well:

• I took my time modeling as if I were a student so they could see/hear the entire process from start to finish.
• I made common mistakes so students could see/hear me assess myself.
• I did a think aloud while filling out my self-assessment sheet so they could hear how I made decisions to mark myself in each category.
• I gave all students the same reading passage, an independent level for all, the first time through so they were practicing the process rather than the reading.

What I plan for next time:

• I have copies of several passages at the same levels for students to choose their reading passage.
• My students are going to be partnered with fourth graders beginning the process so they can learn together and model for each other.
• Students will finish assessing themselves and immediately use apps to practice their goal.

Students have also been talking about getting to record again on Friday. This shows me their motivation to work hard to improve now so they can see results the next time they record. I cannot wait to see the results!

Fluency Self-Assessment

After spending quite some time with my students on learning how to identify words that they do not know and self-monitoring, we are finally ready to embark upon self-assessment using our iPads. My initial plan was to go completely paperless. That is not working out so well.

I set-up notebooks for each student in my Evernote account. This way I could easily access student information from home, laptop, iPad, etc. Logging into one account to see everyone is great! Students could also use any iPad to access their notebooks and record right into the program so no exporting was necessary!

I downloaded several fluency passages into another Evernote notebook so that all of my students would easily have access to them, again from any iPad. My next task was where my paperless route came to a road block. I wanted to figure out a way for my students to read off of the iPad while recording themselves (audio or video). Then I wanted them to be able to listen to the recording while marking errors and self-correction on the fluency passage. At this point in time this idea is impossible. I have been unable to figure out how to do this in Evernote or find an app capable of this task.

So for now I have settled on having the recoding of students in their Evernote notebooks and paper copy of the fluency passage for students to mark. When they are finished, they will record their observations on their self-assessment papers. Finally, they will type their accuracy, expression and phrasing scores, as well as their goal, in the same note where their recording is.

I will be able to use these records and scores as an additional assessment tool while simultaneously having students reflect on their reading progress and identify areas where they can improve. I anticipate students' comprehension to increase significantly as a result of hearing themselves read and reflecting on their reading ability.