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juneteenth
Social Studies

Digital Resources for Juneteenth Day

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

June 19th, is Juneteenth Day, a commemoration of the freeing of slaves in the United States. Signed into law in 2021 and first observed on June 18, 2021, it is now a federal holiday. This holiday reminds all of the Civil War era, when slaves were declared free on June 19, 1867.  Explore a variety of teaching resources for Juneteenth, a portmanteau of the words “June” and “nineteenth.”

For those looking to integrate this national celebration into the classroom, there are a number of great digital resources available. Let’s explore a few.

About the Word

As an ELA teacher, one of the most fascinating aspects (after historical significance) is the word itself. If you are not familiar with the term “portmanteau,” you will recognize many examples. A portmanteau is a word formed when two words are merged together. Consider the combination of “breakfast” and “lunch” to form “brunch.” Even movies can be portmanteaus, “two meanings packed up into one word” (source).

Examples of portmanteaus, like Juneteenth, exist all around us as digital explorers:

  • Email is formed of “electronic” and “mail,” or Gmail is “Google” plus “mail.”
  • Malware is the beginning of “malicious” and the end of “software.”
  • Wi-Fi is “wireless” and “fidelity.”
  • Webinar is “web” and “seminar” together.
  • Netiquette is “internet” plus “etiquette.”
juneteenth

As you can imagine, there are many examples, such as spork, smog, velcro, turducken, madcap, and slacktivism (source. See this Seesaw Library activity for example of a lesson on portmanteau.

Juneteenth Fliphunt

Why not learn more about Juneteenth through a digital scavenger hunt? In this example, you can explore a Wakelet Collection to learn more about Juneteenth. Accompanying each task is an informational website, video, or resource students can view. Students can record their takeaways and reflections with Flipgrid, a free tool available to all educators. You can make a copy of the Wakelet Collection and modify it for your own use.

juneteenth

View it online at https://tinyurl.com/juneteenthfliphunt

Curious about the origin of fliphunts? Kathi Kersznowski decided to create an internet scavenger hunt that relies on Flipgrid. You can find many examples online via the Twitter hashtag, #Fliphunt.

Use this Fliphunt to learn more about Juneteenth (use the join code: b5147640) and celebrate the emancipation of slaves. For each response, use the title hashtag (#freedom for Task 1) as the title of your video. For each task, students have up to 90 seconds to share their response.

juneteenth

Join Code: b5147640

Juneteenth Lesson Plans and Resources

In this Wakelet Collection, you will find a variety of digital resources and activities for Juneteenth. Some of those include the following:

There are ample resources for teaching Juneteenth. Explore them in the Wakelet below.

juneteenth


See it online at https://tinyurl.com/tceajune19r

TCEA Resources

Don’t forget to explore our list of civil rights and civic education resources, “Understanding This Moment through Civic Education.” You can also utilize other TechNotes articles, like “Exploring Civil Rights History with Digital Resources” and “Digital Resources for MLK Day.”

Feature Image Source

Screenshot of Wakelet created by author.

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ancient rome
Social Studies

Exploring Ancient Rome with Free, Interactive Resources

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

The history of ancient societies can help us understand our world today. That is, after all, one of the goals of history and social studies education. In particular, the history of ancient Rome, including its evolution from kingdom to republic to empire, can help students understand the past and present realities of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

Because the history of ancient Rome is a well-explored topic, and includes many of the artifacts and written sources that historians use, there is a huge variety of resources for exploring the ancient Roman world. In this post, we’ve collected more than 20 interactive digital resources to assist you in bringing that world to life, from art and architecture to trade and politics.

Ad Fontes: Primary Sources

These interactive sites include useful ways to interact with ancient primary-source materials, which can be deployed in instruction or for student research.

Terra Cognita: Interactive Maps

Maps are a vital way to understand history, culture, government, and other social studies topics. These interactive maps help you and your students visualize the Roman world. 

Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: Art and Culture

Artistic and cultural artifacts are another way to connect with a long-gone society. These sites use modern technology to give students access to the physical world of the past.

Et Cetera: Other Resources

With a topic as broad and diverse as ancient Rome, there are plenty of other learning resources out there. Here are just a few.

  • LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World: An academic page chock full of Roman documents, history, and resources.
  • Keys to Rome: An interactive exhibit organized by cultural institutions across Europe.
  • Ariadne: A huge trove of information, including timelines, data sets, word clouds, and more.
  • Digital Augustan Rome: A detail-rich interactive map reflecting Rome in the year 14 C.E.
  • Ostia Antica: Harbor City of Ancient Rome: Dedicated to resources for understanding this once-bustling trading hub.
  • Rome Reborn: A suite of VR products that allow you to freely travel the streets of Rome.
  • Virtual Rome: See the ancient city of Rome, complete with 3D views of the Colosseum, and even a free online course. 

More from TechNotes:

Photo by Andrea Albanese from Pexels

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Asian/Pacific American
Content Areas

Celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, a time dedicated to reflecting on the history and contributions of Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) backgrounds. A joint project of a number of federal agencies, it can be a great starting point for discussing the realities of life in America for this broad category of Americans.

Accordingly, there are lots of resources and teaching materials that can help teachers create representation for AAPI students and connect this shared history not only to social studies topics, but also to all topic areas and grade levels by investigating the role AAPI citizens have played across many fields.

Learn more about this month, and discover resources to help you bring AAPI heritage topics into your classroom in this post.

Understanding AAPI Heritage

Official Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month celebrations are organized by a bevy of national agencies: the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

You can find many resources chosen specifically for teachers from all the participating agencies here.

As you can see, the understanding of AAPI life crosses many topics, including civics, art and literature, science, and more. That’s a lot of subjects, meaning you and your learners are likely to find something to spark interest and engagement. In addition the category itself, according to the month’s official website, includes many nationalities, ethnicities, religions, and more — from the Middle East to the islands of the Pacific Ocean. 

Tools for the Classroom

A number of educators and organizations have collected activities, A/V resources, and more to help you bring the celebration into your classroom. 

  • TeacherVision’s Asian-American and Pacific Heritage Month Resources page includes links to printables, art-based activities, reading and literature resources, and ways to combine and connect AAPI history with reading. 
  • Studies Weekly has developed a Teacher’s Guide to Celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which covers the history and purpose of the month, as well as suggestions for fun films to watch, reading ideas, virtual (and in-person) museum visits, and even fun language activities that share various AAPI languages. 
  • The National Education Association shares an extensive collection of activities, full lesson plans, teaching guides, and more, all organized by grade level and covering a wide array of topics, from the internment of Japanese Americans to Indigenous Australian art and music.

Asian/Pacific American Reading Resources

The stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout American history can be a great way to both bolster reading and literacy skills while also growing students’ awareness of their own cultures, and others. 

  • In her blog Imagination Soup, former educator Melissa Taylor includes 60(!) children’s books representing the AAPI experience. She notes that reading and discussing these works can help build social-emotional skills, which she calls “tools for inclusivity, education, and empathy building.”
  • Southern California PBS shares 12 children’s books your students might enjoy, including links to an author interview.
  • Reading Rockets has categorized tons of children’s books. Check out their full selection of books on AAPI topics here.

Recognizing America’s Diverse Cultures

Educators looking to include similar topics in the classroom for the many groups that call the U.S. home can explore even more resources from these TechNotes posts.

Photo via Library of Congress.

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word search
English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)Online Tools and Apps

Engage Students with a SMART Word Search

by Colyn DeGraaff, Guest Author
written by Colyn DeGraaff, Guest Author

This post was sponsored by SMART Technologies.

Word searches are a great way to engage students when learning new vocabulary or studying a new topic. They are also an excellent strategy for practicing and improving students’ reading skills like scanning, decoding, and improving word recognition, all key components for reading fluency. Plus, word searches feel like a fun game! 

The challenge when a teacher wants to create a custom word search is that they can be time-consuming and frustrating to make without the right tools. Spending your planning period searching for a custom word search generator, and then trying to create the right format to share with students, only adds to the frustration. 

With the Word Search Activity template in the SMART Learning Suite, you can create and deliver a one-of-a-kind word search in five minutes or less.

Why Use Word Searches in Education?

Word searches are great gamification tools for building vocabulary skills and engaging students. Not only do they improve word recognition, but they help support learning context clues. When you read about dinosaurs, it makes sense that you will find words like fossils, bones, footprint, or extinct.

Word searches can also help learners with cognitive challenges that affect their spelling. By presenting words in a simplified and more enjoyable format, they can help to build and reinforce vocabulary in a way that creates small positive moments with each successful word discovery.

Ignite student engagement and help your students develop key reading skills through a classic activity done in a fun, new way.

Create engaging activities in SMART Learning Suite (for free!)

SMART Learning Suite now offers teachers the ability to create and customize word searches for learners at any grade level and across all subjects. Input your own vocabulary, adjust the difficulty level, and easily share with students. You can create your first one today in three easy steps, all while putting more time back into the rest of your day.  

Students can access and complete the word search as part of your lessons or a standalone activity on their own device, whether they’re in the classroom or remote. Or, students can engage with a word search and solve it collaboratively at an interactive panel. Get started for free.

What Is SMART Learning Suite?

SMART Learning Suite is web-based software that transforms static lesson delivery with game-based activities, formative assessments, and student collaboration to enhance learning experiences on any device.

Import the lessons you already use, or choose new ready-made resources and enhance them with customizable components including games, collaborative workspaces, and much more. And you can do this quickly and easily, all from a browser, Google Drive, or Microsoft Teams. 

Empower students to take ownership of their learning independently and as a group as they easily transition between classroom and distance learning. Hold attention and keep kids showing up, motivated, and actively learning through interactive content on their own devices. Try SMART Learning Suite for FREE.

Colyn DeGraaff is an author, creative director, and intercultural advisor specializing in ed tech solutions. He works as a Demand Generation Manager for SMART Technologies.

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Boddle
Content AreasSTEM/STEAM

Increasing Student Engagement Through Gamification with Boddle

by Clarence Tan, Guest Author
written by Clarence Tan, Guest Author

Did you know that video games have been shown to aid in memorization? According to the Journal of Learning, Media and Technology, technology-enhanced learning (TEL) has shown to stimulate an increase in midbrain dopamine. This is what helps us store and recall information more efficiently!

Applying gamified learning to your students’ education ensures that students with diverse learning styles are receiving and retaining the information, too. 

Using Boddle Learning

Boddle Learning is a gamified education platform for grades K-6 that implements game mechanics to keep students engaged while learning math. It takes a personalized learning approach that ensures each student is presented with problems that are just right for their level of knowledge. 

  • Boddle runs constant diagnostics when students start playing the game which gets students to the right level after a series of assessment items.
  • Through differentiated learning and continuous assessment, students build confidence and skills, and reduce test anxiety without getting discouraged or feeling left behind. 
  • Boddle provides real-time reports to educators to gauge students’ learning and easily identify and address learning gaps. 

Classroom Implementation

By gradually advancing the students who are on or above grade level and re-teaching missed skills to students who need extra support, Boddle is a resource that allows for all students to feel confident with the knowledge they have while also pushing them to keep learning.  Educators can easily differentiate learning for individual students using the “Change Curriculum” feature, as well as through “Assignments.”

Work Boddle into your classroom in a variety of ways; it’s your classroom, so you get to choose the best fit! With the ability to create assignments, Boddle can be used to assign homework and exit tickets, or can be implemented during learning stations. 

To see how to get started through the teacher portal, check out this short video.

Accessing Boddle

Boddle is available for free to educators and can be accessed via the web browser on Chromebooks, laptops, and desktops. For educators who use iPads in the classroom, Boddle’s free app is available on the iOS AppStore. You can learn more at Boddle’s website.

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Math

Zearn: Engaging Students with Effective Math

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Zearn‘s premise is simple, and compelling: All kids can love learning math. A non-profit organization, Zearn creates materials that are free for teachers and students. EdReports.org “green-lights” ZearnMath’s materials. In fact, one in four elementary students nationwide rely on Zearn in to learn math.

Note: This is a ten minute video that shows how students and teachers rely  on ZearnMath. Find a wide variety of videos showcasing different aspects of Zearn on their YouTube channel.

How Does Zearn Work?

ZearnMath offers quite a bit once you get an account (more on that in a moment). Once you do, you have access to the following:

  • 800+ digital lessons that teach math concepts in short engaging videos and that kids can work on in an independent manner
  • Interactive math models, including concrete manipulatives and pictorial representations
  • Frequent checks for understanding and engagement that combine digital and paper activities
  • Feedback as students work through pre- and post-assessment activities
  • Built-in math support that relies on adaptive pathways to offer solutions
  • Tier 1 intervention built into lessons
  • Notifications to teacher(s) when student(s) need more help
  • The ability to assign targeted lessons

ZearnMath offers quite a bit for educators and students to use. But at what price?

 Announcements (Updated 6/8/21): Zearn’s paper-based teacher and student instructional materials are now available in Spanish . All educators can download these PDF instructional materials from the Grade and Mission pages in their Zearn Math accounts.

Zearn Math for Texas, a TEKS-aligned version of Zearn’s top-rated math curriculum has been released. Texas educators can access 400+ hours of interactive digital lessons for every unit of K–5 math, as well as tailored guidance and teaching materials.

How Much Does It Cost?

Individual teachers and students can use Zearn for free. Schools and districts can request a quote. For schools, quotes start at $2,500 per school.  You can get started with a free, individual teacher or student account. After you respond to a few questions, you’ll get a verification email. You then have the option to login with Clever or Google.

zearn

Additional Resources from Zearn

Zearn also provides summer growth activities for grades K-5 and a summer intensive series for grades K-7, a real need this year after the pandemic slowed math learning down. In addition, they offer a summer school curriculum and a math acceleration guide, as well as recorded webinars to help teachers best use the resources. Educators can also request by email a standards alignment guide for their own state standards.

Be sure to check Zearn out, if you haven’t already. You can use it for remote and face-to-face instruction. So grab it now and get your students learning to love math with scaffolded support!

Feature Image Source

Photo by Katie Rainbow 🏳️‍🌈 on Unsplash

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nearpod
Content AreasGoogle Tips and TricksOnline Tools and Apps

Pre-Made Nearpod Lessons for Elementary Educators

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

Nearpod is a popular way to run virtual and in-person lessons. With this tool, teachers can provide quizzes, polls, share videos, create interactive boards, and more. But often it’s a challenge to set up new lessons, even using this convenient tool.

That’s where Nearpod’s Lessons Library comes in handy. Just browse through dozens of pre-made lessons, all easy to find with powerful search and filtering capabilities. Let’s take a look at some pre-made Nearpod lessons across subject areas that will help engage your young learners. 

But First, What Exactly Is Nearpod?

Nearpod is an interactive student engagement platform that lets you turn your existing resources (Google Slides, PowerPoints, and .PDFs) or their pre-made lessons into transformational learning experiences. Once students access these resources, you’ll receive formative assessment data from every student in real-time.

The Silver version of Nearpod is completely free (and, according to the company, always will be.) That offers up to 100MB in storage and the ability to have up to 40 students per session. The Gold plan is just $120/year and it provides for greater storage, more student access, and the use of Immersive Reading for Google Slides.

Engaging Kindergarten Students

These Nearpod lessons are designed specifically for kindergarteners.

Other Elementary Grades

As mentioned above, you can sort Nearpod lessons by subject or grade level. Explore various lessons sorted for all K–5 grades here. 

Even More for Elementary Educators

If these lessons appeal to you, you’re sure to find tons more easy, actionable ideas to boost learning at TCEA’s virtual Elementary Technology Conference, the summer’s hottest event exclusively for PreK-5 educators. Check out the details here.

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math tools
Math

Digital Math Tools

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

As a former ELA teacher, math instruction has always seemed like the quest for the Grail to me. First off, the content seems very foreign (at least to me!) and then there is the great need for paper and pencil to do the work with. Of course, in today’s classroom, math education is just as innovative as any other subject area due to a large number of excellent tools available for the students. In this blog, I share some math resources that you may not be familiar with.

Collaborative Math Tools

Math Whiteboard is a fabulous, free, collaborative tool designed specifically for math education. It allows the teacher, who shares a link to a collaborative board, to see the work of every student at one time. You can import PDFs for students to work on and annotate, use the included graphing calculator, take advantage of the powerful Computer Algebra System that allows for calculations from arithmetic to calculus, and write or type math formulas and numbers. The site runs in any browser and so works on any device.

math tools

The Math Card Games site has more than 30 free card games that focus on place value, operations, fractions, and decimals. As the teacher, you can watch the students play in real-time, which can give you excellent feedback on their understanding. The games are really good, but it does require a little work to get started. The teacher downloads a game template and then goes to PlayingCards.io. You start a blank room and then upload the template, finally creating a copy of the game for each pair of students. (There is an excellent video on how to do all of this.) Each game also comes with a two-to-three minute video with directions on how to play.

Open Middle

If you are using the Open Middle approach in your math classroom, be sure to check its website. They have tons of resources there, including the ability to browse by standard or grade level and student worksheets in English and Spanish (downloadable in Google Slides). Each question set includes directions on how to use it, as well as hints.

There is a fantastic Depth of Knowledge Matrix based on the Open Middle concept for Algebra 2 available from Robert Kaplinsky. He also has these matrices:

  • Elementary and secondary matrix (a selection from eight grade levels)
  • Elementary matrix (kindergarten through 5th grade)
  • Secondary matrix (6th grade through calculus)
  • 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 matrices (separate matrices for each grade level)

Alice Keeler shares how to use Google Jamboard with the Open Middle concept. She explains the process clearly and then includes a sample problem and an example.

math tools

Elementary Math Tools

MathBots offers a variety of resources for basic math instruction, including manipulatives, question generators, puzzles, printables, and more. I really like the Starters section which offers bell ringer activities to get kids warmed up and ready to learn. It also has a great Tools section where you’ll find more than 25 different digital math resources perfect for exploratory learning or for teacher-led instruction.

The SolveMe website is all about supporting algebraic reasoning in a fun and interactive format. Students use logic to solve visual, interactive mathematical puzzles in one of three games: Mobiles (equation practice using mobiles), Who Am I (use clues to determine the digits of a mystery number), and Mystery Grid (place all the tiles on the grid so that every row and every column contains exactly one type of tile, and so that the tiles fit the clues). There are hundreds of them to solve, so it can carry your students through the whole year. Most of the games are geared toward the elementary grades. No login or registration is required.

Sneak in Solving Linear Equations — SolveMe Mobiles – Mr. Orr is a Geek.com

Boddle offers a 3D math game approach with very cute characters for grades K-6. The teacher registers for a free account and then sets up her students with access. The students log in and start playing. There is also a free iOS app.

Once students have been introduced to a math concept and are needing guided practice, Zearn is a great resource. Created by a nonprofit, their digital lessons for grades 1-5 are completely free. They include short videos that explain the concept, problem-solving with interactive tools, “pause points” where students top and do math, and real-time feedback on every problem. I also like that they include kids explaining some of the concepts in the videos. Each digital lesson takes about 30 minutes to complete.

Zearn Math: Top-rated math program created for teachers, by teachers

Secondary Math Tools

Typing a math formula into a Google Doc or Slide can be difficult. But that was before Equatio. This Google extension is free for teachers. I found it a little hard to use at first. But Eric Curts has a great blog with very clear instructions. (By the way, it’s also great for scientific formulas!

If these math tools aren’t enough for you, be sure to check the others mentioned in this TCEA blog. And you should also look at the long, compiled list, again from the fabulous Eric Curts, with new math resources added every month.

Protractor Tools

Check out this transparent online protractor from Ginifab.
TeachableMath shares an interactive protractor app to practice measuring angles on the screen.
Oryx has an online protractor tool built to practice measuring and estimating angles.
MathsPad is a newer interactive graphing tool that includes a protractor tool.

Happy mathing!

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reading vine
Educational ResearchEnglish Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

Improve Reading and Comprehension Skills Using Vine

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Are you a good reader?” The question came up one day while chatting with colleagues. We had been reflecting on the power of high-effect size instructional strategies. One colleague mentioned, “I’m not a good reader. I don’t do any of the reciprocal teaching strategies when I read text. It takes me a long time to process text.” This perplexed me as much as it had when I taught third graders.

While I encouraged reading with my students, I was unsure of reading strategies. Students came to me able to read or not. Since then, I’ve had a chance to grow in my awareness. Let’s take a quick peek at reading and learn how you can help improve reading and comprehension skills in your classroom.

The Value of Phonics

“Every experience, no matter how bad, gives some lesson.” I learned that early on as I flunked second grade reading and language arts. It was the only time I doubted the value of learning two languages at the same time. Thanks to my mother’s intense lobbying, I found myself studying phonics (d=0.60) all summer. If I survived phonics boot camp, I could graduate to third grade. I learned how to read, all about antonyms and homonyms, morphology, and more. Then, I did my best to forget the time spent away from the beach and play. My phonics summer of misery slipped into oblivion.

Phonics instruction enjoys an effect size of 0.60. The VisibleLearning MetaX database defines it in the following way.

“A form of instruction that stresses the acquisition of letter-sound correspondences. The focus is on reading and spelling. It involves teaching children the sounds made by individual letters or letter groups. Children learn how to merge separate sounds together to make it one word. For example, blending the sounds k, a, t makes CAT.”

After my summer of phonics, reading came easier and I started to enjoy it. Many children today, however, remain stuck, unable to enjoy comprehension for pleasure. They, like my colleague, see reading as a laborious journey, fraught with difficulty. One way to solve this problem is to focus on what good readers do and then support learners.

What Good Readers Do

Here is a list of eight actions that good readers take during reading. How many items can you check off? Good readers:

  • Can read words in an accurate and quick manner
  • Can connect the meaning of words and sentences with others
  • Rely on clarifying prior knowledge to make sense of words they don’t understand
  • Make predictions about what’s going to happen or appear next in text
  • Practice summarization strategies that focus on the relevant, discard the irrelevant
  • Keep tabs on their own comprehension (or lack thereof) then do something about it
  • Outline text and take notes, draw concept maps, create mental images
  • Engage in metacognitive reflection about what they have read and how well they did

More actions appear in this article, What Research Tells Us About Reading Comprehension. The eight actions above remind me of reciprocal teaching (d=0.74). That makes this high-effect size, deep learning reading approach powerful and suggest other high-effect size strategies. Those include repeated reading programs (d=0.75) and vocabulary programs (d=0.63). The latter provides a suite of strategies to aid comprehension. Unlike reciprocal teaching, these two strategies focus on surface learning. Vocabulary programs work well with younger learners given its focus on morphology.

Let’s review the list again with an eye towards strategies. If you want a complete list of learning strategies, check out Visible Learning for Literacy.

Aligning Actions to Learning Strategies

Let’s go through that list again and see if we can group the actions under strategies that work. I labeled learning intentions in this way:

  • (S) = Surface Learning
  • (D) = Deep Learning
  • (T) = Transfer Learning
high impact approaches learning intention

View | Make your own copy via Google Docs

Ready? Let’s go.

  • Repeated Reading Programs (d=0.75) (S)
    • Can read words in an accurate and quick manner
  • Vocabulary Programs (d=0.63) (S)
    • Can connect the meaning of words and sentences
  • Note-Taking (d=0.51), Concept Mapping (d=0.64) (D)
    • Outline text and take notes, draw concept maps, create mental images
  • Reciprocal Teaching (d=0.74) (D)
    • Rely on clarifying prior knowledge to make sense of words they don’t understand
    • Make predictions about what’s going to happen or appear next in text
    • Practice summarization strategies that focus on the relevant, discard the irrelevant
    • Keep tabs on their own comprehension (or lack thereof) then do something about
  • Metacognition Strategies (d=0.58) (D)
    • Engage in metacognitive reflection about what they have read and how well they did
  • Strategy to integrate with prior knowledge (d=0.93)

With all these wonderful strategies, how might you introduce students to using them? One approach involves offering students K-12 reading passages. Find passages based on specific levels, grades, and learning styles. How do you do that online in a hybrid classroom?

Introducing Reading Vine

Reading Vine offers free resources to help improve reading and comprehension skills that include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, essays, and stories. What’s more, questions and answers, worksheets, and activities are also available. A wide variety of educators and parents use Reading Vine to provide personalized reading experiences. There is a wide range of content, of which only a small excerpt appears below:

reading vine

Always keen to learn a bit more about Hispanic heritage in Texas, I took a quick peek at this collection. It includes a brief overview (shown below), as well as several passages.

Overview

Over 57 million Americans – almost 18% of the population – claim Hispanic ancestry. This reading set celebrates the rich and vibrant heritage of this group. There are fiction and nonfiction passages, and one is certain to be of interest to your student.

The three passages in this collection include a clip of music, nonfiction, and fiction:

  • Cielito Lindo (song available in Spanish and English)
  • Primary Source: Opening of the Panama Canal
  • The Secret Box by Elizabeth Trach

Alas, Cielito Lindo doesn’t include any actual audio. You can listen and read the lyrics in Spanish online:

Listen to Cielito Lindo and learn about its rich history

Each text comes with an easy to create PDF and reading comprehension questions. An answer key is also included.

reading vine 3rd grade passages

Add collections of content, or reading sets, to your “My Library.” You can see a list of a few of my favorites in the screenshot below:

reading vine my favorites

Getting Started with Reading Vine

To get started with Reading Vine, you can set up an account with either Google or Office 365. Or you can use an email address and come up with a password. Once you have your account or profile set up, you can explore a variety of reading sets.

Once your account setup and reading sets are ready to go, you can create a PDF with favorite passages. These PDFs come with activities as well. This makes them easy to share with students via your learning management system.

reading vine

Here’s what the PDF content looks like, featuring Dr. Patricia Bath in the Women’s History set:

reading vine

The selection comes with five questions, including:

  • Where did Dr. Bath grow up?
  • Who inspired Dr. Bath to study medicine?
  • What is ophthalmology?
  • How many patents does Dr. Bath have?
  • What is a cataract?

These are simple questions and can be used as a starting point. Why not employ a powerful strategy like the jigsaw method to dig into the content?

Matching Strategies to Reading Sets

Now that you’ve seen some of what Reading Vine offers, consider the strategies. There are several strategies students could use as they work through the text. You could rely on vocabulary programs to dig into the meaning of words. One vocabulary programs approach includes using concept sorts. You might have students put together a concept sort using a visual organizer like Circly.

Another might include doing word analysis with a Frayer Model graphic organizer. To focus on comprehension, students could engage in note taking or reciprocal teaching. Reading Vine offers some excellent content you can use to get started.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author.

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vocabulary
English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

Tools to Boost Students’ Vocabulary Knowledge

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Helping students broaden their vocabulary skills is crucial for them to be better readers. Even proficient students that have 80% comprehension can miss details that better readers take for granted. That is huge, regardless of what content and grade level you teach! At first you might think that 80% word knowledge is great until you experience what that feels like (see quote below). As adults, we have better skills than students when it comes to using inferencing skills and context clues, so imagine what your students might experience reading the same passage quoted. Hopefully you have (if not had prior to reading this) an “aha! moment” to realize how empowering good vocabulary knowledge is to student success. And reading comprehension plays a critical role in students’ success in science and math.

Here is what 80% comprehension looks like: “Bingle for help!” you shout. “This loopity is dying!” You put your fingers on her neck. Nothing. Her flid is not weafling. You take out your joople and bingle 119, the emergency number in Japan. There’s no answer! Then you muchy that you have a new befourn assengle. It’s from your gutring, Evie. She hunwres at Tokyo University. You play the assengle. “…if you get this…” Evie says. “…I can’t vickarn now… the important passit is…” Suddenly, she looks around, dingle. “Oh no, they’re here! Cripett… the frib! Wasple them ON THE FRIB!…” BEEP! the assengle parantles. Then you gratoon something behind you…

All Things Linguistic (access March 2, 2021)

Now that we have established the value of good word knowledge, let’s take a look at a few strategies and tools that you can use to help build vocabulary skills in your classroom. As you read through these, think about which ones would work best with your students. This list isn’t an exhaustive list, so be sure to comment below and let us know which strategies and tools you would add to the list that you have found helpful, either personally or with your students.

VocabBoost

This extension, available for Chrome and Firefox, is designed to adapt a web page article into a quiz. VocabBoost, which is currently in beta mode, will remove various words on the page and provide a blank space in its place. The user has the option to type in the missing words or drag-and-drop from a curated list at the top. After installing the appropriate extension, you are now able to create your first test. Do so by following these steps:

  1. Open a website. Be aware that not all websites will work. Verify with specific websites you are interested in before using with your class.
  2. Select the text with your mouse.
  3. Right click.
  4. Choose VocabBoost –> Make random test OR VocabBoost –> Make less common test.
  5. If you think the test is too hard, click “Show options.” You can drag the words into the test and drop them into their appropriate missing area.
  6. Once you are ready to grade, click “Check answers.”
  7. If you want to see all answers, click “Show answers.”
  8. To make a new test, please refresh the page.

This extension may be best suited for ESL/ELL students since it offers a wide variety of words – not just ones that are higher level vocabulary. Note that the space for the missing word is not in proportion to how many letters it has. (I.e.: spaces for the word “it” and “continue” will be similar. Hopefully the developer will add an underscore to the space to make it visually clearer where the missing words belong.) Keep an eye on this extension as it has great potential.

Vocabulary Highlighter

If you have higher-level students who are reading at least at the eleventh grade level, then you might find this extension handy. Vocabulary Highlighter will identify words on the webpage from Magoosh’s GRE Vocabulary (~1000 words), Hong Bao Shu (红宝书/紅寶書, ~6500 words), or Barron’s GRE Word List. Note that it currently does not auto highlight all the words on either of these lists. If you use this extension and would like to provide feedback, you are encouraged to reach out to warren@warrencheng.dev. To auto highlight any words from the list, begin by clicking the extension icon, clicking the Extension Option link, and then selecting which of the three lists you want to user. If there are words that are on the selected list, you will notice them highlighted on the page.

Vocabulary in Context

Vocabulary in Context is an extension for Chrome and Firefox. You will need to create a login by using just your email address (no password needed); because of that, this extension is recommended for students 13 and older. You can pull sentences/paragraphs from any website and add them to your vocabulary list. Once you install the appropriate extension, do the following:

Highlight the vocabulary word as shown above.
  1. Go to the website that contains the vocabulary word used in context.
  2. Click/drag your mouse to highlight the sentence or paragraph. Then copy the sentence by using Ctrl+C (or Cmd+C on Mac).
  3. Click on the extension icon. In the textbox area, paste the text. Highlight just the word(s) that are the vocabulary being learned in this sentence/paragraph. The highlighted word(s) will become the identified vocabulary while the rest of the text will be context. The image to the right shows a portion of text from The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst (one of my all-time favorite short stories…good enough to make you cry). Notice that infallible has been highlighted to identify it as the vocabulary word.
  4. Click on the Save vocabulary in context button to add it to your list.
  5. Continue adding to your list as needed.

In your profile, you can adjust the number of entries per page, customize the popup link, and set how many days between practice for each word. When you practice a word in the Memorize tab, it will disappear for the number of days set and then reappear for practice. The Quiz tab will allow you to read the context with the vocabulary word removed. To check to see if you were correct in identifying the vocabulary word, mouse over the missing area. While mousing over the word, you can also select from the identified popup links (in your profile) to jump out to the web for more support on the vocabulary word.

Link to Text Fragment

Link to Text is a Chrome extension provided by Google. You can highlight a text on a web page and then create a link that you can share. When someone clicks on your link, they go to the website AND the text that you had highlighted will be highlighted for them. This is an awesome tool if you are trying to differentiate within a Google Doc or HyperDoc, but want to keep the main document simple. You can now link out to more specific information that is already highlighted for your students. Once the extension is installed, just do the following to use it:

  1. Go to the destination website and highlight the text you want to share.
  2. Right-click the highlighted text and then select Copy Link to Selected Text. The highlighted text should flash yellow and then back to normal highlight color. The link to this text has been copied to your clipboard.
  3. Share the link wherever you need to. When the user clicks on your link, they will go to the designated page and the text you highlighted will be highlighted for them.

For an example of Link to Selected Text, click on the image below (or click here) to see the Captain’s passage as it was originally written by Shakespeare and in modern English.

Try out these extensions and let us know which you prefer. And if you have a tool that you find helpful in supporting students learning vocabulary, share it in the comments section below. Here are a few other TechNotes blog entries that have been tagged as being about teaching vocabulary.

• Semantic Maps Made Easy
• Using Google Translate in Sheets to Differentiate
• Hacking the iPad for Vocabulary Growth
• ELL Strategies: Digital Phrase Walls and Anchor Charts

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