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Discover resources and strategies for teaching core content areas. Explore tips, tools, and activities to enhance learning across all subjects.

audio books
English Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

Audio Books or Printed Books? Does It Matter?

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

In learning to read, many “experts” have long told us that students must use printed books and stories so that their brains process the coding/decoding skills correctly. But a recent study may prove that to be not quite accurate.

Researchers from the Gallant Lab at UC Berkeley scanned the brains of nine participants while they read and listened to a series of tales from “The Moth Radio Hour.” After analyzing how each word was processed in the brain’s cortex, they created maps of the participants’ brains, noting how the different areas helped interpret the meaning of each word. They reported their findings in The Journal of Neuroscience.

What was most interesting about the results was that the stories stimulated the same cognitive and emotional areas of the brain, regardless of the medium being used. The subject’s brains were creating meaning from the words in the same way, whether they were listening or reading. In fact, the brain maps for both auditory and visual input they created from the data looked nearly identical.

What This Means

While the printed story should not be replaced strictly by audio (for lots of good reasons), this study does point to the fact that listening to a story can help students better learn to read and to create meaning from the words they hear. So, don’t be afraid to read out loud to your students or to have them listen to recorded books themselves.

Free Audio Books

Here are some resources for audio books:

Next Research Steps

Now, admittedly, nine subjects does not a meta-analysis make. Much more research is needed before we can believe this as gospel or completely change the way we teach reading. But it does offer some possibilities for the use of technology with reading.

Fatma Deniz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Gallant Lab and lead author of the study, wants to take the experiment even further by testing on a broader range of subjects. She wants to include participants who don’t speak English, speak multiple languages, or have auditory processing disorders or dyslexia. Finding out exactly how the brain makes meaning from words could fuel experiments for years.

For now, Deniz says “the results of this study could make a case for people who struggle with reading or listening to have access to stories in different formats. Kids who grow up with dyslexia, for example, might benefit from audio books that are readily available in the classroom.”

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ScienceSTEM/STEAM

Investigating Science with Flip

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Regardless of what grade you teach, science processing skills are critical for all students to master. Though the focus of the content may change by grade level, these processing skills can continue to be developed and refined. For this post, we’ll focus on how to support the processing skills of observation and inferencing using Flip, as well as give you some resources for finding photos and videos that you can use in you grids and topics.

What Is Flip?

If you don’t already use Flip in your classroom, you are missing out on a great and engaging way of having students interact with you, each other, and the content. This free video response tool by Microsoft encourages students to verbalize and think aloud. I remember being in the classroom and wanting to hear from each student, but not having time to, so only a few were able to answer aloud. With Flip, all students get a chance to answer. Reluctant students have the opportunity to listen to their classmates prior to recording. This opportunity allows them to self-correct any misconceptions based on the knowledge and application their peers have shared, as well as become more confident in the information they provide. Additionally, students (especially those struggling in the content area) have the ability to review other students’ responses as often as needed, thereby reinforcing the learning and better integrating proper use of the academic vocabulary of your subject. So if you are new to Flip and need some basics to get started, then consider checking out the Educator’s Toolkit to help you get up and running.

Observational Skills in Science

Students begin learning observational skills in science starting in kindergarten. Though the skill is not as robust or refined as what a high school student may demonstrate, there is still great value in having them engage in observing the world around them to start taking notice of how things work. Observation is a foundational science skill that leads to communication, classification, measurement, inferencing, and predictions.

In Flip, create a grid for observations. Each topic in this grid will show a photo or video that the student is to observe and describe. Depending on the level of skill, you can require students to use previously learned vocabulary in their responses. If you want students to use words from a given word bank that you have developed for them, create the document and add it as a topic attachment to the topic. You can reference this word bank in multiple topics by adding the link to each topic. If you have a rubric to guide the students in their work, add the rubric as another topic attachment; for younger students, you may need to record a video showing the rubric while you are reading it aloud.

Go to https://flip.com/investigativescience to see an example of a grid in which each topic – click on the drop down of the topic title (e.g.: #1 Description, #2 Description, etc.) – has a photo or video that the student is expected to describe. Examples I have provided are intended to be general in nature so they can fit a variety of grade levels. The topics you create for your students should be specific to the grade level standards they are expected to master. To streamline the production of the topics, consider using a standardized set of directions (such as “Assuming the role of a scientist, describe the object/material using at least three descriptive terms. Be sure to use complete sentences.”). If you do this, you will be able to duplicate the topic and change out the focus (photo or video) that the students will work with.
NOTE: You will need to log in to this grid using your Microsoft or Google account if you want to record an answer to one of the topics. You can, however, see all the topics without logging in.

Reinforcing Inferencing Skills

Inferencing is a skill that students typically have trouble with regardless of their grade level. This skill requires them to pay close attention to details and then draw conclusions based on what they see. Students may be noticing several characteristics of the object in the photo/video and then piecing those bits of information to infer what the item is. Though this is a critical reading skill, it is also a skill that is foundational to being a good scientist.

Begin by creating a grid to hold your inferencing topics. As done above, create a standard set of instructions for your students. You can go to ,https://flip.com/whatcoulditbe to participate in an example that I created for you. The samples that I gave are meant more for you than for students. Topic number 5 is a video while all the others are photos for you to observe closely.
NOTE: You will need to log in to this grid using your Microsoft or Google account if you want to record an answer to one of the topics. You can, however, see all the topics without logging in.

Finding Photos and Videos

Pixabay -(https://pixabay.com) This site hosts copyright free photos, illustrations, and videos. Under the Pixabay license, you are able to use at your discretion without asking permission or giving credit (thought giving credit to the creator is appreciated). If you are using Pixabay images in an online format, you do need to download them to your server as hotlinking (linking to the images directly on Pixabay’s servers) is allowed. If you would like share to photos and/or videos that you have created on Pixabay’s platform, visit their Image Quality Guidelines page for details.

Pexels (https://www.pexels.com) Another great site that provides photos and videos that are free to use, attribution is not required (but appreciated), and you can modify them as desired. Similar to Pixabay, you can become a contributor to submit photos and videos that you create to Pexels – just go to their License page and scroll down to the bottom to get started.

Unsplash (https://unsplash.com/) – This is another good site for free photos.

USB Microscope – Consider purchasing a USB microscope that you can connect to your device in order to take photos and videos of actual materials in your classroom…or on fieldtrips! Read the details carefully as some microscopes will work with some devices but not all…such as Android phones/tables, PC computers, and Mac computers but not iPhones or iPads. If you need a microscope that connects with your iPhone or iPad, be sure that it explicitly states that it connects. Likewise if you are wanting to connect the microscope to a Chromebook. If it is not clearly stated, look for a link in which you can ask the seller or locate that microscope on another seller’s website to see what information they provide.

For the https://flip.com/whatcoulditbe topics, we used a digital USB microscope purchased from Amaazon for $19.98. It didn’t have the best directions on connecting with a laptop, but I was able to get it to work with a little bit of effort. You will probably [hopefully] find that more expensive USB microscopes will have better directions…though I’m sure this is not always the case. This one was purchased because it was cheap and could be used with teachers in training. This microscope could be used with lower elementary, but the focusing may take a bit to get exact; older kids will have no problems. This microscope will take photos and videos. Though this isn’t an endorsement for this microscope, I would advise you to explore and decide on which microscope might be the best for your needs and purchase one to test out; if it works as intended and with ease, you can then confidently purchase additional ones if you need a set for your classroom/lab.

How Do You Use Flip in Science?

How do you use Flip in your science teaching? Share with us as we would love to hear about it. Here are the answers to the inferencing Flip referenced above (1. rose petal; 2. beard hair; 3. a Puffs Plus Lotion tissue; 4. stamens and pistils of a rose; 5. scroll wheel of a mouse; 6. college ruled notebook paper; and, 7. the end of a USB cable).

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STEAM
MathSTEM/STEAM

Getting Artsy with Math and Technology

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

With the promotion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), a lot of folks are looking to see how they can add relevant art components. It’s easy to think of how art and science or art and engineering fit together. It may take a little more effort to realize how art can be combined with math. Once you start looking, though, you’ll be amazed at how integral math is within art. If you are just getting started, consider researching Fibonacci’s sequence or the Greek’s golden rectangle. In this post, we’ll take a look at using low poly generators as an artistic means for math. Low poly has been around for decades in the computer industry. As early game designers needed a way to generate images (and later animation) that did not exceed the available memory, they found they could reduce the file size by reducing the amount of information contained in the picture itself. This was achieved by connecting a mesh of dots to form polygons that are filled with a single color. The most popular shape to use is a triangle. This method allowed designers to easily reduce an image to mathematical terms instead of every pixel having its own color. You may have noticed that even current gaming systems are making use of the retro look of low poly. News sites may apply a low poly filter when interviewing a witness that wants to remain anonymous so that their physical features are less likely to be identified.

Low Poly Generators

Low poly generators create create a mesh based on several factors, mainly how much variance do you want with the shape of the triangles (or other polygon shapes if you are not limited to just triangles) and how much variance you want with the size of the cells (triangles). A few will allow you to upload an image to use as a base, while others are strictly randomized and not based on a particular photo. A few terms to become aware of include the following:

  • Cellsize – Sometimes referred to as elements, this is a polygonal shape created (either based on a particular part of the photo or generated by the developers code). In the samples below, only the cellsize has been changed.
  • Variance – Sometimes referred to as randomness, this is how similar or different (in shape) each cell is to the other cells generated. If working with triangles, no variance will mean that they are all equilateral triangles. Increasing the variance will add some additional types of triangles (isosceles, right, etc.). The sample of the far left has no variance while the sample of the far right has the most variance.
  • Depth – how much shading is added to an adjacent cell to give the illusion of depth…as if it was an origami project that has three-dimensional properties. In the samples below, the square on the far left has no depth. The depth is increased in each of the other three samples with the far right sample having the most depth applied.

The online tool LowPoly Generator is rather intuitive. It does not require an account to use, allows you to use your own image if you prefer, and gives you the capability to download your work without a watermark applied over it. For the samples below, a photo of a toucan was used. The photo on the left is the original photo. The middle photo is a low poly version with variance set to 0 (no variance in the shapes) and cellsize set to 0 (all cells are the same size). An increase in variance and cellsize has been applied to the photo on the right.

Triangulation Experiment requires you to use a photo. It has a feature to take a photo with the tool (but didn’t work with my laptop), so I used the Open Image button to load an image. You can also import your own photos with a simple drag/drop of the photo onto the tool’s canvas area. When done altering the image with the various tools, you can download the image as a png or svg file. You can also easily share your creation via a link or out to social media.

HalftonePro Polygons allows you to choose what base cell shape you want to work with (triangles, right triangles, squares, or hexagons), though adding randomness (variance) to the image can distort the cells so they no longer resemble their original base. What I like most about this tool is that you can click on the color tab and choose for it to apply a stroke between cells. The downside of this tool is that it does require you to create an account if you want to upload your own photo; and, to save your work without a watermark, you will need to pay the $14.95 upgrade fee.

Trianglify.io is a simple low poly generator that only works with a selected color palette from their list or your own making; you are not able to import photos. Works well when you create your own color palette of just two colors.

Creating Your Own Low Poly Images

If you have a little more time, you can possibly use software you already have access to to create your low poly creations. You can find tutorials for such applications as Inkscape, Illustrator, and Photoshop. Using any of these tools allows you more freedom and creativity as well as control of your finished product. Even if you don’t have high-end illustration or paint applications, you can accomplish similar results using Google Drawings or Microsoft PowerPoint; after adding a photo to the layout, use the polyline tool to draw geometrical shapes over the object. Or, to be more creative, just create a low poly design with no background image as a guide!

Low Poly Art in Math

I really like the way that Halftone Pro will outline each shape. But without going pro, the watermark can be somewhat of a downer. If that doesn’t bother you, then consider using that tool. Or, if necessary, you can use a screen clipping tool to save your work as you incorporate low poly with math in the following ways.

Identifying Angles – Because low poly can be made using only triangles, give students a page from the Low Poly Samples pdf file (link below) and have them identify whether each angle is a right, acute, or obtuse angle by writing r, a, or o in the angle respectively. For older students, have them use a protractor to identify the exact angle and have them write the measurement in each angle. Students can easily check their work by calculating the sum of the angles in the shape. The sum of the angles in a triangle will equal 180°, while the sum of the angles in a polygon with four or more sides is equal to 360°.

Identifying Types of Triangles – Given a low poly sheet made of all triangles, students identify each shape as equiangular, acute, right, obtuse, equilateral, isosceles, or scalene. If the page has triangles that go off the page, have students draw lines to create triangles using the edge of the page as one side. Have students assign a color to each of the answer options and color the shapes accordingly, which makes for quick self checking and grading.

Low Poly Animals – Provide animal shapes for students to use as patterns. Laying a sheet of blank paper over the pattern, students trace the image using only straight lines and fill the image in with line segments to create triangles, squares, pentagons, etc. but no curved lines. The image to the right is my work using this method.

Download the Low Poly Samples document to get started. You’ll find pre-made samples in black and white, as well as several choices with color. There are several options in regards to cell size and variance. Some samples are made of triangles only, while others incorporate a variety of polygon shapes. The last few pages of the document include several low poly animal shapes.

Taking It a Step Further

The sample ideas above will hopefully get you started in using low poly to connect art and math. Other skills to reinforce include perimeter and area. Take your learning further by transferring and extending your knowledge to 3D printing. Low poly shapes in 3D printing are those shapes that are more angular and not as refined. These shapes typically have smaller file sizes and can print faster. One may send a low poly stl file to be printed in order to check the printer’s calibration or to produce an initial prototype. Even if you don’t have a 3D printer, your students can still create in three dimensions using cardboard, paper, and tape.

How will you use low poly shapes in math, art, and technology? Will you explore artists in the cubism era or angular art? Will you have your students expand the learning to begin creating low poly objects to demonstrate various formulas or concepts? Share with us in the comments. We’d love to see how you are getting artsy with math and technology.

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fliphunt
Content AreasEducational TrendsESL/ELLGood Teaching

Adding Adventure to Instruction by Using a Fliphunt

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Regardless of what you teach, your students will most likely respond well to an adventure of some kind as opposed to worksheets or traditional whole-group learning. So a fliphunt is perfect for your classroom. But, you might be asking yourself, “What is a fliphunt?” Designed by Kathi Kersznowski (@kerszi), a fliphunt is a scavenger hunt using Flipgrid. It is a fun way of having your students get out of their seats, participate in the learning, and demonstrate their understanding and application.

Organizing Your Fliphunts

Start by creating a grid in Flipgrid to contain all your fliphunts. This will help keep them organized and in one place, a folder to contain them all. Next, create a new topic and give it the name of your fliphunt. Each fliphunt will be a new topic within this grid.

Creating Your First Fliphunt

Begin with your content standards or knowledge and skills you are wanting your students to learn. Identify multiple concepts they will need to demonstrate understanding of. Think of fun ways for them to demonstrate the concept or skill. For the sake of an example, I’ll pull from fourth grade math standards:

(6)  Geometry and measurement. The student applies mathematical process standards to analyze geometric attributes in order to develop generalizations about their properties. The student is expected to:

(A)  identify points, lines, line segments, rays, angles, and perpendicular and parallel lines;
(B)  identify and draw one or more lines of symmetry, if they exist, for a two-dimensional figure;
(C)  apply knowledge of right angles to identify acute, right, and obtuse triangles;…

In Google Docs or Microsoft Word, create a list of tasks (or even a choice board). I created a Google Doc (http://bit.ly/fliphunt4geo) with tasks for the fourth grade geometry lesson. It is up to you whether students complete them in order. In my example, students can go in any order. But, to get credit for each submission, they must name their entry using the task title. This will help students as they review other student work (and as I grade!). If you are creating a fliphunt for someone that is not in your district domain, be sure to edit the topic, select Add Topic Guests, and give them the permission to record videos to the topic; you’ll also need to share the topic guest address/code with them, which is different than the one used by your students or people within your district domain.

Fliphunt Template

Here is a template to guide you through the steps. Once you complete your fliphunt, be sure to share it with other educators by tweeting a link to it using #fliphunt and #flipgridfever. Before you know it, you’ll be making fliphunts for all your classes…and even start creating ones that are just for fun and for icebreakers. When coming up with the tasks, consider having your students submit ideas to be used!

Sample Fliphunt Docs

Getting to Know You Fliphunt

Earth Systems Fliphunt

 Parts of a Non-Fiction Book
Skeletal System Fliphunt

 Indian Hill Staff Fliphunt

 Geometry FlipHunt
To Kill a Mockingbird Fliphunt

 Meet and Greet Fliphunt

  

What Will You Create?

What content will you use to create your fliphunt? If you still need more ideas and details, check out #fliphunt on Twitter for lots of sharing. Also, be sure to add your ideas to the comments section. Don’t just make it an adventure; make it a fliphunt!

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TCEA Challenge ELAR
Announcements/Important DatesEnglish Language Arts Reading (ELAR)

TCEA Challenge: Taking on the New ELAR TEKS Contest

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

With the revised English Language Arts and Reading TEKS being implemented this fall, we think it’s a great time to hold a contest that focuses on resources aligned to them. We also believe that it’s always a great time to learn or practice a new tech tool. So TCEA is challenging all educators to create a curated list of AMAZING websites, lesson plans, videos, tools, PDFs, audio files, and more to help K-12 ELAR teachers. And we want you to use the free resource Wakelet to create your curated list.

The Rules for the TCEA Challenge: ELAR Contest

  • Anyone, TCEA member or not, may enter the contest. However, the prizes are different for members and non-members.
  • You must select one specific grade level for your curated list.
  • You must use the free tool Wakelet to create your curated list of resources aligned to the new ELAR TEKS and share it publicly so anyone may view it.
  • There must be at least 15 quality resources in the Wakelet. The resources may be designed for teacher and/or student use, but must clearly indicate which.
  • You may choose to collaborate with others, but the prize will be given to the lead submitter.
  • The link to your completed Wakelet must be received on this Google Form no later than 5:00 p.m. CDT on Friday, August 9, 2019.
  • You may enter as many times as you wish, focusing on a different grade level each time.

Sharing Expectations and PrizesTCEA Challenge ELAR

  • All the Wakelets submitted will be shared with TCEA (modify the settings to make them share *and* COPY friendly) so that we may share them with everyone to use for the period of at least one year. Full rights and ownership of each Wakelet will be retained by the creator.
  • TCEA will review the Wakelets submitted and announce the winners no later than September 6, 2019.
  • The best Wakelet in each of the three grade groupings (K-5, 6-8, and 9-12) will win its creator either a $150 Amazon gift card (TCEA members) or a free, one-year TCEA member (non-members).

Resources

Judging

Entries will be judged in groups based on the grade level selected: elementary (grades K-5), middle school (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12). The following rubric will be used:

DESCRIPTION POSSIBLE POINTS
Content
Alignment to one specific grade level of the revised ELAR TEKS is clear in the Wakelet 10
Content provided is appropriate for the grade level selected 8
Content is accurate and is based on the latest research 10
Content is of educational value to ELAR teachers and/or their students 10
At least 15 different high-quality resources are included 8
Design
Wakelet is colorful 5
Wakelet is well organized with content divided appropriately so that it is “teacher friendly” 8
The organization of resources flows in the way that they should be used from top/beginning to bottom/end 5
Bonus
A specific John Hattie high-impact strategy (https://blog.tcea.org/tag/john-hattie/) is included and explained in the resources 10
A variety of types of content is provided, including websites, lesson plans, images, PDFs, videos, text documents, audio files, Tweets, and others 8
40 or more high-quality resources are included 7
Resources included can be used for blended learning 5
Resources are included for ESL/ELL learners 5
Resources are included for differentiated learning 5
If student-use resources are included, they are clearly labeled for students 5

Think about how much you could help integrate technology and engage students around the country by creating one of the winning Wakelets that will be used by teachers everywhere. Then consider how you could use $150 to purchase anything your heart desires on Amazon. Then get busy curating amazing content and get your entry in before August 9, 2019!

Header photo courtesy of the ELAR Resource Website.

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elementary technology
Content AreasGood TeachingGoogle Tips and Tricks

What I Learned at the Elementary Technology Conference

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

The Elementary Technology Conference is over for another year and it was an amazing learning event! More than 1,000 dedicated educators from 11 states and two foreign countries gathered in Galveston, TX to learn new teaching practices and tools. If you weren’t able to attend, here are a few tidbits that you can implement in your classroom this next year.

First Things First

First off, elementary educators are AWESOME! We had a GooseChase scavenger hunt going and the conference center echoed with the sounds of people doing the hokey pokey and laughing at each other. I saw educators trying to make the longest continuous paper chain out of a single sheet of construction paper. Participants created magnetic slime and programmed robots and mastered Google and learned about the new ELAR TEKS. And in between all of the learning, there was fun and friendship and fabulous food. Now, on to the great ideas shared there.

Bitmoji Mojo

If you haven’t tried using emojis with your students, you (and they) are really missing out. Toni Hylander and Owen Nesbitt from Birdville ISD offered some great ideas for how to find them, how to create them, and how to use them for learning in this handout. I especially liked their recommendation for using bitmojis as a welcome to the classroom at the start of school. You can find their cute ideas for that on slide 15. For more on using emojis with Google, check out Diana Benner’s presentation.

Maker for Primary Students

If you’re interested in design thinking and makerspace in the primary classroom, check out this great handout from Jessica Varela from The Lamplighter School. She had some great tips for getting started, including beginning with an “elevated” creation station. The first task her students were given was to create something that moves. She includes lots of other ideas for working with paper, wood, cardboard, coding, tinkering, and more.

Vocabulary Development with Paper Slide Videos

TCEA’s own Diana Benner had some powerful ideas for vocabulary development using paper slide videos. Paper slides is a low-tech way to incorporate video and creativity in your classroom as students slide “papers to create a movie.” Diana recommends students first think about the meaning of their assigned vocabulary word and come up with three things they want their audience to know about the word. Then, using one piece of paper per slide, they draw pictures (no words allowed!) that illustrate what they want them to know. They also add a paper slide that gives the word and may choose to add a credit slide. Next, they write the script of what they are going to say during the video and practice it. 

The Google-Minded Administrator

Tracy Willyard from Cedar Hill ISD shared how Google can make life easier for elementary administrators and help them save time. She shows how to streamline the work using Gmail, Forms, Docs, Sites, Classroom, and more. Ideas shared included meeting agenda, AUPs, PD programs, weekly updates, registration forms, master scheduling, inventory, lesson plan templates, and manuals/handbooks.

Affordable Augmented Reality

If you are just getting into AR, you will definitely want to see the resources provided by Amanda Smith from Lufkin ISD. She recommends you start by downloading four free apps: Google Expeditions, 3D Museum Viewer for MERGE Cube, Galactic Explorer/MERGE Cube, and AR Flashcards – Animal Alphabet. She also provides ideas for using augmented reality in the classroom and additional apps to provide to students.

More Resources

For other fabulous ideas and their accompanying handouts, check out this site to learn even more. And you can take a look at the Twitter hashtag #TCEA to find every more amazing ideas, even if you don’t have a Twitter account.

elementary technologyIf you weren’t able to join us this year, be sure to put next year’s conference on your schedule now. It will be held June 14-16, 2020 in Galveston again. You won’t want to miss it!

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pair of glasses on top of open book
AndroidChromebooksContent AreasESL/ELL

Reciprocal Teaching with Popular Reading Apps

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Few would disagree that reading plays a crucial role in life. Scaffolding student cognition during reading can enhance student achievement. One of the techniques I employed as a young teacher included Reciprocal Teaching. In this blog entry, you will see a few amazing reading apps you can try reciprocal teaching on.

Google Rivet Transitions to Google’s Kids Space 

This blog entry previously featured Google Rivet, which Google shelved on October 16, 2020. The Rivet content (3500 books) found its way into Google’s new Kids Space. Per the Google Kids Space website, you can get to it via select Android tablets. Children are able to access apps, books, and videos. These are age-appropriate and targeted by age. One neat feature is that multiple children can use the same tablet. This is because children’s accounts are kept separate. Children’s education and media specialists have all reviewed apps and books included.

Effect Size of Reciprocal Teaching

Reciprocal Teaching (Palinscar & Brown, 1984) has strong support among researchers. Consider that John Hattie’s meta-analyses results include reciprocal teaching as a high-impact strategy. Its effect size of .79 means that it can advance student achievement almost two years growth for one year of school. (You can learn more about Hattie’s research in these blogs or join TCEA’s empowerED program and receive inexpensive professional development on his strategies.)

rivet

 

What Is Reciprocal Teaching?

This tried-and-true technique works especially well with second language learners. Under the tutelage of Mark Gabehart (Round Rock ISD CTO), I discovered this first-hand working with bilingual/ESL students in urban school settings. Reciprocal teaching includes a cycle of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. The video below illustrates the reciprocal teaching cycle:

Through the use of statement stems, students are able to learn critical processes. For example, for Predictor, students think about what they have read. Then they predict what will happen next. Assisting students in understanding how to predict is key. For questioning, students can use sentence stems such as “I wonder…” or the five Ws to unearth ideas and information.  You can see some sentence stems via this reciprocal teaching Pinterest board. Explore the Wakelet embedded below:

rivet

View Wakelet on Reciprocal Teaching

Why Is Reciprocal Teaching Needed?

If your students face any or all of the following obstacles (adapted from ASCD Publication: Lori D. Oczkus’ Reciprocal Teaching At Work),  reciprocal teaching may be what’s needed.

  • Students don’t remember what they read, even when they can decode text
  • Little to no engagement with reading material
  • Students read at two or more years below grade level
  • Informational text (non-fiction) is difficult to understand
  • Challenging words are difficult to decipher
  • Students may be unable to describe the difference between main idea and supporting details

As a result of reciprocal teaching technique’s effectiveness for over thirty years, it is worth adopting. The National Behaviour Support Service offers this visual which may assist you:

Reciprocal Teaching Outside the Classroom

We imagine that RT may be for classroom use only, but that’s not true. We can encourage its use outside of the classroom by helping students to become teachers. “The act of teaching activates more regions of the brain,” says Dr. Lou Whitaker. Another approach could involve students modeling the RT cycle. They use this high impact reading strategy with Flipgrid, as you can see below.

Another may involve recording a video and then using EdPuzzle.com to empower students. These students create a video with questions interspersed throughout.

How could students use this with new reading apps, such as Google’s Kid Space and other amazing reading apps?

:video

Exploring Five, Incredible Reading Apps

One of the challenges students face is access to common text. Now, with these reading apps, students can access common content and can apply reciprocal teaching strategies to that text. Having apps you can share with students that feature common content is a win for both teachers and students.

While most educators may rely on Epic! books as their common text, don’t forget about other great sources of reading material online. You can find a comprehensive list in this TCEA TechNotes blog entry, Digital Stories for Remote Learners.

This blog entry was updated on 6/29/2021 with new content.

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story monsters ink magazine
Content Areas

Free Subscription to Story Monsters Ink Magazine

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

Story Monsters Ink magazine is celebrating teachers and librarians by giving away one million free digital subscriptions of its monthly literacy publication. The magazine’s first issue was released in 2014 and became an instant literary hit with teachers, librarians, and students in grades K-12.

story monsters ink magazine

A Mom’s Choice Gold Award winner, each issue offers the latest news on award-winning and debut books, music, celebrity and indie author interviews, book reviews, reading lists, and more. Featured authors and artists have included Jamie Lee Curtis, Henry Winkler, Jeff Kinney, and Nathan Lane, among others. The publication also features monthly columns by bestselling author James Patterson and Scholastic Book Clubs president Judy Newman.

The publisher also provides teaching tools for each issue: a PDF file available for download that includes helpful classroom questions for teachers to use as a supplement when reading interviews and articles about their students’ favorite authors. They also solicit and publish work created by students, including articles, essays, poems, and drawings.

To Receive Your Free Subscription to Story Monsters Ink Magazine

story monsters magazine

To see a sample issue and to sign up for a free subscription for teachers/librarians, visit this site and enter the code STORYMONSTERTEACHERS at checkout. The one-year digital subscription includes 12 issues with the best news in books downloaded right to your device.

Subscriptions are also available through the Story Monsters Ink app in the iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon.com for $4.99 per year. To learn more about Story Monsters Ink, visit www.storymonsters.com.

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Content Areas

Summer Learning with Games and Math

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

“Here, why don’t we find you something fun?” Jessica passed the iPad to her child. Walk into any home, you’ll find children hovering over their gadgets, trying to keep busy. Abandoned by the school system for a short period of time, they wander online. They hope to find something, anything of interest. While it’s doubtful you’ll be able to steer your kids only towards academic pursuits, try. In this blog entry, we’ll explore two fun websites you can get started your child started on.

summer slide math

Website #1 – Toy Theater

Looking for a collection of content area games? Look no further than Toy Theater, whose motto is “Learn * Create * Play.” Toy Theater describes itself in this way:

Toy Theater is an online game website for kids. It is chock full of interactive art games, fun reading games, and cool math games. Designed for kids in grades K-3 classrooms, it offers free online educational games. Teachers from around the world trust them to provide real classroom value.

Some quick points about the site:

  • Math games focus on counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and more. Toy Theater also offers graphing games that include line plots, pictographs, and pie charts.
  • Reading games include hidden picture, spelling, and word search using original art. Free online books, including the Beatrix Potter stories, are available.
  • Art games support art, design, and math. Students learn about symmetry, balance, painting, coloring, and scribbling. Activities include holiday celebrations, animal explorations, and learning about famous artists.
  • Brain teasers and online puzzles are also available. Intended to build memory, engage problem solving skills, and develop spatial rotation, they are all fun and free.

Want to introduce your children to classic games you played as a child? Then you’ll be happy to know they include Tic Tac Toe, chess, checkers, Balloon Pop, and others. Most of what Toy Theater offers works on mobile devices. Adobe Flash-friendly activities will work, if you have a desktop computer browser.

Research Alert – Worksheets Are Insufficient to Prevent Summer Slide in Math

A summer math intervention study drew some interesting conclusions. Students used online math programs and worksheets. The researchers saw no improvement as a result. Assigning worksheets without mentoring or guidance won’t correct summer math loss (Harvard Graduate School of Education).

Worksheets not your thing? Maybe some interactive geometry fun (e.g. tangrams and more) will get your children thinking.

Website #2 – Symmetry Artist

Wish you could introduce your children to symmetry before they get into a tough math class? Then the Math Is Fun website is for you as it has a whole page dedicated to geometry and symmetry. Your child will tons of fun drawing in the online tool. I don’t know about you, but this tool alone would provide hours of fun no matter what the age. Your child(ren) can save or print their designs. To increase the learning, why not save those designs and then have them make a narrated slideshow explaining them?

summer slide math

If you explore the  Math Is Fun website , you’ll find many other exciting activities and games.

As summer begins, keep those brains active and thinking. Remember, you won’t want to give kids a device and turn them loose. Instead, sit with them and spend time working through concepts and problem solving. Your relationship will be the better for it. And, as the Harvard-based research above shows, your child(ren) will retain more.

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civil rights history
Content Areas

Exploring Civil Rights History with Digital Resources

by Andrew Roush
written by Andrew Roush

June 11th marks the 56th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s Oval-Office address outlining his goals for civil rights in the United States. In 1964, after Kennedy’s assassination, Congress would pass the Civil Rights Act. The breakthrough legislation greatly changed civil rights and labor law, prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Now, new ed tech resources make understanding the legacy of the act easier than ever. Here are a few examples that caught our eye.

Editor’s note: Random-Access Memories is a periodic series highlighting the ways in which major historical events have influenced ed tech. Got an idea for a future edition of R-AM? Drop us a line.

Around the world, from Berlin to Saigon, the United States was engaged in a globe-spanning Cold War. In this ideological war, the U.S. government preached the power of freedom and opportunity. But in Alabama, Governor George Wallace had dispatched the state National Guard to prevent African Americans from enrolling at the University of Alabama.

This was the backdrop from which President John F. Kennedy spoke to the nation 56 years ago. He used these tensions to push for new civil rights laws, legislation that he hoped would put Americans from minority groups on the same footing as those in the majority. In the following year, despite the interceding death of Kennedy, Congress would pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, dramatically using federal laws to protect the rights of African Americans.

In the years since, the act has been a vital guide to American law and has influenced American society. Are you looking to explore the impact of the Civil Rights Act in your classroom? Here are a few digital resources that can help create immersive, lasting lessons.

Exploring Civil Rights Online

  • The Library of Congress shares a number of themed resources, including digital lesson plans for grades 6–12, links just for students, online exhibitions, and more.
  • The U.S. National Archives offers a variety of primary sources, along with public-domain teaching activities. What’s more, the page and its resources are available in Spanish.
  • iCivics organizes a number of digital lesson plans and drafting board activities in one place.
  • Civil Rights Teaching includes a thematic presentation and lesson plans meant to help teachers conceptualize new ways of teaching about the impacts of the civil rights movement.
  • Looking for a one-stop shop? Teaching American History has a complete toolkit to help you teach this important topic.

Additional Resources

Check out the educator resources page from the National Civil Rights Museum or scroll through Education World‘s list of essential civil rights videos. You can even see what other teachers are doing at Share My Lesson Plan.

Photo: Joshua J. Cotten

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