Writing for an Authentic Audience

Today we worked with Kindergartners to begin publishing their first writing pieces for this school year. We used iPads, clear nesting tables, and recording headphones with a microphone to cancel out background noise. Students were so excited to begin this process and were so excited to share their writing with their family through the Seesaw App! Below are some pictures of the process, as well as a finished product. 

Teach the Writer, not the Piece- 3rd Grade Test Prep Writing Unit

Today, our amazing Lincoln 3rd graders took a look at a recent opinion writing piece they did as part of their test prep unit. In today's mini lesson, students reviewed a classmates writing for all of the things that good Opinion Writers do. We used fun post-it tabs to mark each of these important parts. We used the following labeling system:

O- My Opinion

R1- Reason 1

R2- Reason 2

R3- Reason 3

C- Conclusion

After engaging in this experience as a whole class, students returned to their own writing to evaluate themselves as good Opinion Writers (not their writing). 

If students were able to mark the 5 main parts, they received additional post-it tabs to mark examples. 

Without even being told to do so, students began to see where they forgot their good Opinion Writer habits and began adding those parts as part of the revision process. 

During the workshop, we paused to ask how many students found things to add, all hands shot up. We shared a few examples of additions students had made. 

At the end, we reminded students that they should always go back and revise what they have written, by making sure they have all of the "good opinion writing parts."

Next, we move on to evidence language used by good opinion writers tomorrow. More to come...

3-D Shape Walk with 1st Grade and Attributes

First graders are learning about 3-D shapes, but taking it a step further than they did in Kindergarten! First Grade students are not only learning the names of the 3-D shapes, but are also learning how to identify and count each shapes attributes, including edges, corners or vertices, and faces. Check out how they showed what they know! Check out
more projects HERE!

Using Explain Everything to Tell the World what we Know!

In First Grade, we are using the iPad App Explain Everything to show the world what we know about books we are reading. We are using our typing and speaking skills, as well as researching for pictures that match our words. 

News Crew

We have come so far with News Crew from where we started this year! Check out our progression below! 

Shape Walk with Kindergarten for 3-D Shapes

This past week, kindergarten students went on a shape walk around the school. This walk was similar to one that we did earlier in the year with flat shapes, except for this time we were looking for 3-D shapes!

Students were searching the school high and low for 3-D shapes including: cylinders, cones, rectangular prisms, cubes, and spheres.

We were not sure how many shapes our kindergarten students would find, but they amazed us! They found 3-D shapes everywhere. Check some of them out below!

Next we will be putting these 3-D shapes into a Padlet, where we will again review what it means t be a 3-D shape and then provide the shape name and give the attributes of the shape. Our class Padlet will then be posted on the teacher blog and here to share the great kindergarten searching and thinking! Look forward to it!

 

 

Our New Take on Field Trips

We now have a new way to reflect on field trips. During the 2nd grade trip to WKYC, students took pictures to document their learning with the iPad. They then reflected on their learning once they returned to school. This reflection helped students not only to process their learning during the trip, but also allowed them to practice and demonstrate 21st Century skills, including sharing their ideas and learning digitally through pictures and words with a their peers, parents, and community. Check out their work below!

Created with Padlet

Cross Curricular in Grade 1: Merging Math and Social Studies

There are some topics that lend themselves so well to cross curricular work. Once of those topics happen to be Maps in the first grade Social Studies curriculum.

Geography Strand:4: Maps can be used to locate and identify places.
MD 1. Order three objects by length; compare the lengths of two objects indirectly by using a third object.

Students used Google Maps to plot out a route from the site of their new transition site school, to their original school. Using student prior knowledge about their community, the directions (North, South, East, and West) were reviewed and talked about in relation to the new transition site. Lake Eire is North, Fairview Park is South, Rocky River is West, and Cleveland is East.

The directions were then used by students to create a walking map from St. Luke School to Lincoln Elementary in Lakewood. 

After the map was created, we looked at how many intersections we would need to cross, where we would need to stop, look, and listen, as part of being a good citizen (again, drawing on prior knowledge).

We then asked students to look at the sidewalk in between each intersection and compare then lengths. We found which was longest and which was shortest. As a stretch, we also measured each length in feet with the ruler available on Google Maps to check to see if we were correct in our ordering of lengths.

You can see the interactive map that was shared with parents via Blogger below.

Lincology

During the past week, our fifth grade students have been working hard to answer the question: How does technology help you better meet the standard in the classroom...here is what they came up with!

New Crew at Lincoln Elementary

A new club this year at Lincoln is the Lincoln News Crew.

Lincoln News Crew is a group of 13 fourth and fifth grade students who work collaboratively each week to plan, produce, and publish the Friday video announcements at Lincoln.

Through this club, we are reenforcing multiple 21st century skills, as well as classroom standards. Students are learning how to make news interesting with their script and the way in which our Anchors Deliver the Script. Students are learning how to record and edit video. But most importantly, students are learning to work together with their peers to plan something great and getting to see the end product of their work each week.

This club has been such a rewarding experience for each of these students and it has been such a pleasure to watch as the club evolves each week!

Check out our Lincoln News Crews Morning Announcements from this year so far below!

Preparing for the PARCC Assessment

During the last couple weeks before winter break and in the coming weeks, we will be helping students to prepare to show their smarts on the PARCC and Ohio AIR Assessments. We will be reviewing the tools available to them, as well as some of the sample test items.

As we have begun to review some of this material, it seems that our students are doing these types of tasks on a regular basis and it was so great to see the multiple strategies that were applied, especially on the Math Assessment.

We have been discussing the importance of PROVING your answer, just like lawyers so in court cases. We prove our answer in English Language Arts by going back to the text and providing evidence from the text. We prove our answer in Mathematics by showing our work and sometimes explaining our thinking in words.

For further practice with these sample tests, visit:

ELA PARCC Assessment

Math PARCC Assessment Practice Test

AIR Practice Test

-4th Grade: Social Studies

-5th Grade: Science

Hour of Code at Lincoln Elementary

This week marks the second annual National Computer Science Week and Hour of Code. This week, students from Kindergarten, First and Third grades took part and learned a great deal about the math, reading, reasoning and critical thinking that go into Computer Science work. For more fun and practice, visit www.code.org or studio.code.org!

Rhyme Sorting with QR Codes

This week our Kindergarten reading group did rhyming sorts using QR codes and iPads. Students worked with a partner and had to scan a QR code, listen to two words read to them and decide if they two words rhymed or not. They then sorted the QR codes-- rhyme or do not rhyme. After all 12 QR codes were sorted, students received an answer sheet where they scanned QR codes to check to see if their sort was right. Students were so engaged and it was really helpful for students to be able to listen to words read to them as many times as they needed to. It was also a great opportunity for students to practice working with a partner and collaborating!

Tools Used: Vocaroo.com, Google Draw, Google Docs, QR Code Reader App for iPad

Mastering Those Pesky Math Facts

Recently there has been some great discussion centered around the lack of math fact fluency in our elementary kiddos. I have a couple of great resources for that!



1. Happy Numbers
Happy Numbers is a great website that allows students to practice math skills Grades k-2. All of the skills are Common Core Standard Based and have a visual representation and on-screen hands-on learning. You can put students in up to five groups and assign certain standards to each group. You can get a 30 day free trial and can load multiple classes under one username. If you choose to purchase, it is only $59.00 for the year! It is so engaging and very simple to check student progress and differentiate with!

2. Kahoot!

This is a WONDERFUL free resource and something that you could use of skill practice besides just math! It is a game-based practice tool. The teacher can load their questions and answers in and the students can play as individuals or on teams. The best part...after the game is finished, you can get a spreadsheet report as a teacher, so you know exactly what each student got right/wrong and what they answered! The kids LOVE this website!

Both of these resources are web-based, meaning that you can use a mobile device, a tablet, an iPad or a computer! 

Collaboration on Student Led Conferences

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been collaborating with teachers on ideas for Parent Teacher Conference. Many teachers want to make sure they address concerns related to the new PARCC Assessment, while others want to make sure parents are well informed on the Lexile Levels of their students. One teacher in particular was interested in a way to get his students more involved in the process, so I suggested Student Led Conference, or SLC, as it has become known to the students in his classroom.

I found a template online and modified it a bit. When I shared it with Mr. McGuan, he altered it a bit more and took it a step further that just traditional student led conferences. Students in his class will actually be giving a Student Led Conference Presentation to both Mr. McGuan and his or her parents. Students have been working hard during the past week to reflect on their learning this past quarter. Students created a presentation in Google Slides where they embedded work, as well as their personal successes, struggles and goals.

When Mr. McGuan turned it into a presentation instead of a traditional conference format, I thought it was a great idea to tie in the Speaking and Listening Standards (see below for more detail). Students have really taken off with their presentations and will even be dressing up for the event, they are SUPER excited! And why shouldn't they be, they have all accomplished great this so far this school year! I am trying to get my hands on one of their presentations to share, but until then, click here for the template used by the students to create their SLC presentations.

Speaking and Listening Standards Grade 5

Comprehension and Collaboration:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.A

Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.B

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.C

Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.1.D
Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.2

Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.3

Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence.
Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.4
Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.5
Include multimedia components (e.g., graphics, sound) and visual displays in presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.5.6
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when appropriate to task and situation. (See grade 5 Language standards 1 and 3 here for specific expectations.)

#TCRWP- This is How We Publish Writing in First Grade

We are finding many new ways to incorporate our technology in a meaningful way to help us learn and master the standards!

This week 1st graders used the iMovie App on the iPad to record their First Quarter Writing. This is their "best, polished writing". We will continue to publish writing every quarter to show our growth throughout this year as writers.

Check out Ellie's Narrative below. Students were to work on a "Small Moment" story, with a beginning, middle and end.

We were able to incorporate several standards (Common Core and ISTE) through the publishing process. 

Publishing writing in 1st grade...Oh the Smiles that Form!

Photo Credit 

Our first graders are so excited to publish their first piece of narrative writing as we near the end of the 1st quarter of school (crazy, I know!) We used iMovie (Movie>Simple) on the iPad to create a movie of their story across pages with pictures of their writing and voice recording for each page. We then finished the movies and uploaded them to the teacher YouTube page (set as unlisted so teachers can determine who sees the movies). You should have seen the sparkle in the 1st graders' eyes as we tapped "share," they were gleaming with pride. Teacher will be sharing these videos in a youtube playlist with parents via their teacher twitter and/or their classroom Blog! Can't wait to share some very soon! 

More on Coding...The language our kids need to learn!

Another awesome resource for teaching our kids how to code. Check our this article found by Sean McGuan. This is the future! Our students need to be ready and add this skill to their repertoire! 

Photo Credit Click on the image above to go to the website 

Click on the image above to go to the article 

Coding In the Classroom...It's That Easy!

How to start Hour of Code in your classroom? Click Here to Find Out from Code.org

Click Here for Student Resources 

Shapes are Everywhere!

Citation

Today I worked with Kindergarten to find shaped in our environment! You would be amazed by how many shapes they found by just walking down the hall! We used iPads and took pictures in Google Drive so that teachers would be able to get back to the pictures later! If you do not know about using Google Drive to take pictures, you're missing out! You can use it on any mobile device (iPad, iPhone, Android phone).

First you need to download the Google Drive App on your device. Then sign in using your Google Apps log-in (Here in Lakewood, we have a Google Apps Edu Domain for our staff and teachers). Once signed in, we created a folder for the pictures entitled "Shape Walk Pictures" and then clicked on the folder to open it.

The great think about Google Drive is that you can take pictures right in Google Drive and you never have to worry about uploading again! You simply click on the + in the top right hand corner and then click "Use Camera" and take away! See below for directions!

Check out some of the awesome shapes we found around us! 

A square, within a square, within a square.

Squares are used to form the window in the door. 

The door knob is a circle