3 quick engaging strategies for formative assessment or review

 In my second podcast episode on Science Teaching Tool Box, I present three quick and engaging strategies that can be used in the classroom as a formative assessment, or a review activity. The three strategies I present are ways to get students interacting, processing content, and are great ways to get a quick check in on what students have learned. I love using embedding lots of formative assessments that give me a quick read on any misconceptions or misinformation students have on a topic.  Please note that some of these strategies may not be completely my own! Over the years I have taken ideas from lots of sources and adapted them to fit my style and my classroom. I will try to give credit if I know where the strategy originally came from!

Strategy # 1: Find Someone Who: 

This is a Kagan Cooperative Learning Strategy that I have modified.  The premise of this activity is that students are given statements that start with "Find someone who...".   I have often seen it used as a team builder or ice breaker to get to know students at the start of the year. For example; "Find someone who has a dog." Or, "Find someone who has 2 siblings."   For the version I will talk about, I have taken that concept but use content. Students are given a page with 15 find someone who statements; presented in 5 columns.  The idea is that they go around finding other students who know the answers to a question. They get the answer and record the student's initials in the box with the statement. Here is an example of the types of statements and format on a "Find someone who..." that I used in Earth Science class to review the Precambrian as part of my geologic history unit.  This may seem like a simple activity and it is, however there are a few super important components that make it work:

1. Before I  hand out the sheets, I divide them up and highlight one column making sure I have a roughly even amounts of the 5 columns highlighted. When the student receives their paper they are given the instructions to answer the the three statements in their highlighted column. Once they have recorded an answer they put their hand up and the teacher walks around checking their answers. The idea is that the statements are pretty straightforward and can quickly be found in their notes. This is not an activity with a lot of higher order thinking involved. It is meant to be a quick processing/review/knowledge check activity. Once all students have 3 correct answers you can then move onto the walking around the room and finding other answers part. Having students get three correct answers to start is critical because if students spread the wrong answer, you have now spread misinformation around the whole class! 

2. It is important to be very intentional with your directions to students for getting answers! Students are to get up find a partner and each share one answer. They record the answer and the initials of the student who gave it to them.  They should only do one question per partner. I stress that what I do not want to see is a circle of students passing papers around. I explain that by just copying answers they have turned the activity into busy work.  The first time we do the activity I model with a volunteer what it should look like, students talk and exchanging ideas, and what it should not look like. This is just a good practice in general to explain and give your rationale. If you can show that what you are doing is not busy work you will often get more buy in from students. Also modeling is another important practice to implement on a regular basis. 

This activity is a great review. But it can also be used as a formative assessment. During the first part where students have to fill in the answers to three of the statements, you can quickly see if the whole class is confused, if there are certain concepts that multiple students are struggling with, or if the majority of the class has a good grasp of the main concepts.  

If you are looking for a quick and simple strategy to increase engagement, "Find someone who..." is a great strategy to try!

Strategy # 2: Write it, Pass it: Silent Discussion

In this activity you ask a question that students respond to on a piece of paper. Students sit in a circle in groups of 4 to 5. After responding to the answer the student passes the paper and the next person responds to their answer, adds to it if needed or corrects something as needed. Students pass the paper again and you can either have students continue to respond to each other or you could move on to a new question. The number of times I have students respond to each other depends on the type of question and if the question lends itself to discussion.  This does not have to be just writing, it could include a drawing aspect. Here are a few examples of how I've used this strategy:

1. To review the cycles of matter I had students pick a cycle to draw. I then gave them 3-5 minutes to draw and label as much as they could about the cycle. When they passed the paper the next student's task was to add to the drawing, label unlabeled items or cross out anything that might not be accurate to the cycle. 

2. I have also used this as a way to wrap up class after a verbal discussion. Students had a class discussion/debate based on the topic of if fracking is contributing to an increase in Earthquakes in the Midwest.  Sometimes, students  have ideas but don't want to say them out loud or they think of something after the discussion that they wish they had mentioned. This is a quick way to get more students engaged and you can also see if the students understood the evidence presented. 

The silent discussion strategy is a great way to promote engagement and reach students who don't like to speak out in class. It can be used as review or formative assessment. It is a strategy that can help target higher Depth of Knowledge. For more information regarding Depth of Knowledge and strategies to increase rigor check out the Edutopia article by Gerald Aungst; "Using Webb's Depth of Knowledge to Increase Rigor"

Strategy # 3: Big Post It:  Say it, Write, It Pass It

Say It, Write It, Pass It is another Kagan Cooperative Learning strategy. I have a love/possible obsessive for Big Post It notes that stick on the wall so I have students  do this strategy on the wall. I divide the students up into equal groups. Each group stands in a line in front of a big post it on the wall. The first student in line is given a marker. I typically have the post its pre-labeled but you could easily have the students label them.  The main premise is that the students are given a topic and then are told to write what they know about the topic. The first person in line says one thing out loud that they know about the topic, then if the rest of the team agrees (I have students give a thumbs up or down), then the student  writes  it on the big post and passes the marker to the next student in line. Any student can help the student with the marker come up with something to put on the paper, but the student with the marker has to be the one to write it. I like to do this for time.  An example of a one topic prompt might be "What do you know about DNA?".

 It can be a quick one topic activity, but with a slight variation you can get multiple concepts. If you give each group a different big concept, you can have them do the activity for 2 minutes and then the group rotates to the next post it. They look over the new topic and what was already written and then do the activity about the new topic but for only 1 minute and the goal is to add to what is there or cross off any incorrect information. Each time they rotate to a new post it you can cut the time down because more ideas have been given and there should be less to add.  An example could be to have each post it labeled with a different sphere of earth; Biosphere, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, and Geosphere. 

 This activity is a good review, a brain dump, or as a formative assessment to see where students are in their learning.  I think we often don't give students enough process time and this activity allows that process time.  At the end students are often surprised at how much they knew! It could also be used as a brainstorming activity. If you were to use it for brainstorming, you could cut out the part where students have to agree on it being written on the post it. 

I really hope you find these strategies useful and that you can add them to your toolbox. If you already knew these strategies I hope this post was a good refresher and that it inspired you to do something you haven't done in a while! 

A tool for your toolbox...concept mapping as a reading/writing strategy

 Hello,

    I am getting ready to post my 2nd episode on my podcast. It is my first official episode with a "tool" for  your teacher "toolbox".  I plan to try to keep the blog going as well as the podcast, but in particular I want to have the content of the podcast in the blog, so that anyone can access the pictures and any resources I include. https://anchor.fm/marav/episodes/Mind-Mapping-e1fnajf 

This week's strategy is something I use frequently in my classroom,  concept mapping! I have posted about how I use this strategy in previous blogs. My post: "End of Semester Reflection" from May of 2014, has pictures and several ways I have incorporated concept maps. 

Today I wanted to walk through a very specific method and discuss some other ways that concept mapping could be used in a classroom. One thing I have found is that concept mapping can often sound overwhelming to both teachers and students. As a teacher it is easy to think, "How do I get my students to make the connections they are supposed to make?"  Students are sometimes intimidated by the structure. Once they understand and have seen it modeled they usually jump in with enthusiasm. Some students do not like the messiness of the map. There are ways this can be avoided that I will discuss. 

I typically see the benefits of concept mapping in terms of students understanding content  immediately in my classroom. I recently had my student teacher do a concept map activity, this was actually the inspiration for this post and episode. I have been working with him on taking activities, like a read and answer questions worksheet, and making them interactive and provide students with an opportunity for high order thinking. After completing the concept map activity I asked my student teacher to look at the original questions he wanted students to answer and see if he thought that based on the concept maps the questions were answered and the students learned the objective.  His answer was yes! And in the process students collaborated and discussed. I call this a success! 

Of course I have had times when a concept map activity has flopped! But with the guidance I provide and if you follow the guidelines for how and when to use it, I believe you will have solid strategy to pull from your toolbox when needed! 

First I would like to walk you through how I just recently utilized concept maps in my classroom and show you some pictures of the outcome. Then  I will give you some steps for choosing when and how to implement. And finally I'll leave you with some questions to think about and "homework" to come up with an idea for how this could be implemented in your own classroom in your content area. 

My example was done in Earth Science as part of the Geologic History Unit. The students are learning about the Paleozoic Era. They have some background already, but one piece that we had not yet covered was the large insects!  To cover this topic I wanted the students to read an article and make a connection between the high oxygen levels in the atmosphere the large insects that lived during the Paleozoic Era. I found an article that covered the topic I needed.  

Then words were pulled out that I thought were interesting and relevant. I found 24 words and then placed them in groups of four so that each word group had at least 3 of the following: something related to the Era, something related to oxygen, an example of a large insect, and something that showed size. Here are two example word groups:

Group 1:

• Permian Period

• Largest

• 31-35%Oxygen

• Griffenfly

Group 2:

• Carboniferous Period

• Atmospheric Oxygen

• Ancient Sea Scorpion

• Insects

The six word groups were distributed as evenly as possible. Before even seeing the article, the students had to write a sentence prediction about what the article might be about or what they think might be connections between their four words. Students then were given the article, and told to read and highlight anytime they encountered their word in the article. On a half sheet of paper students then placed their four words and drew lines to connect them. They had to try to write a reason for the connection on the connecting lines.  

The last piece of the activity (this is where the actual concept map comes into play), was to have students group up with the different word groups. When I passed out the word groups I had them labeled as colors to make this easier. (I keep saying I, but really my student teacher was the one actually doing the lesson! I came up with the idea and helped facilitate, but he was the one to implement it). Big post it notes (the ones that stick to the wall and are chart paper size), were set out and we placed students from at least 3 different word groups at each post it. The students were told the goal was to make as many connections between all the words that they could! Some groups chose to each put their original concept map on the big post it and then connect each web. And then some groups chose to just put all the words on the paper and start connecting based on what they had done individually.  The key was that they had to make sure the lines showed how the words were connected. 

At the very end as teams, students had to come up with a summary of the article based on their connections. Here are some results! 

The major goal was to show students some of the life during the Paleozoic and to recognize that the large insects thrived because of the high levels of oxygen.  Mission accomplished! 

 Tips and Tricks to Utilizing Concept Maps: 

I have found that you have to be intentional about when concept maps are used and how they are introduced to the students. I have found that they are most successful in my classroom when used with articles like the example I gave, or as a review of key unit concepts. If the connections are vague and difficult to make, it might not be a great topic to start off with. You have to teach the concept map part. When I started doing them, I thought everyone knew what a concept map, concept web, or word web was supposed to look like. This is not the case. You also have to teach connection words and give very clear examples. With my example scenario, I started by using the word Paleozoic Era and Permian Period. I told students to record each word and draw a line between them going from Permian to Paleozoic. On the line it should say " a period during the".  This example was a very obvious connection but it helped to get students in the right mindset to make other deeper connections. 

In summary for tips and suggestions:

• Be very intentional with the words
• Be very intentional with teaching how to make a concept map and how to make connections
• Model maps and your thought process if you were to do the activity yourself
• Don't jump the gun and try to get big connections and elaborate maps if students are not familiar with how to make a map or if they don't have the content knowledge yet. 
• Don't give the students too many words to think about. In my example I used 24 but divided them up so each student only had 4. If you are just having students or groups jump in and make a map without a prior activity,  I would say 10 or less words would work well. 
• To avoid the problem if a student is uncomfortable with "mess", you could show them examples of concept maps that are more outline form. Do not force students to make a web or follow a specific format for making connections. I have even had times when students just write sentences with the words that are being connected underlined. 

Your turn: There are so many variations to concept mapping and they all are amazing ways to help students make connections and think critically about a topic. There are two other ways that I briefly wanted to share:

The first is the idea of using the concept map strategy as a way for students to make a review sheet of a unit. In my science professional learning community we have discussed the idea of the concept map being the final piece for students to put everything from a unit together.  A step by step way to do this would be to start with Cornell Notes as a guide for the unit. To start in a general education course such as general biology, you might want to scaffold this. In traditional Cornell notes when reading or listening to a lecture the students come up with Main Ideas or "Cues" on one side and then Notes on the other side. At the end they write a short summary.  There are lots of modifications to this, but one idea is to have students write questions for the cues and then answers for the notes. To scaffold this the teacher can come up with the questions. The point of this is not to teach you about Cornell Notes (although this is a valuable strategy I might spend some time on in a future post). However, the point is that you could take these questions and use them as study questions...think flashcards. Then at the end of the unit you could put together several Cornell notes and have students use the study questions and answers to make their concept maps. This would take a lot of teaching and modeling, but has the potential for students to make amazing connections! You could also not do the whole Cornell Notes activities but just figure out another way to help students focus in on what should go on the unit review.

The second way I wanted to share was something called Hexagonal Thinking charts. This could be online/digital or paper pencil. This idea has students taking words and making connections to other words on all six sides of the hexagon. If you are interested in this method of concept mapping, I got the idea from Blogger Betsy Potash. On her blog she provides details about this strategy and even gives out resources to help. And you can also listen to an interview with her from cultofpedagogy .  I used this strategy to have students make connections between the four spheres on earth and the cycles of matter. 

Lots to process and think about! I'd like to leave you with the task of thinking about how you might use concept mapping in your science class or whatever content you teach. Maybe you already do some concept mapping. How could you improve it or add to it?  

Critical thinking and engaging in class is so important and I have found concept mapping to be a method that gets engagement from a high percentage of a class. It also forces the students to think but they don't feel so much pressure about being right or wrong with their answers. 

I hope this is a strategy that you try, like, and add to your toolbox! I'd love to hear your comments and suggestions! 

-Mara 

 

 

 

 

Podcast Update

 Hello!  I have just launched my podcast: Science Teaching Toolbox

Please check it out: https://anchor.fm/mara792/episodes/Intro-Episode-e1eu97l

So far it is just an introduction 3 minute episode. By next week I hope to have a 20-30 minute full episode where I launch into a specific strategy for your teaching toolbox! Stay tuned!

I'm back after a long break from blogging

 I cannot believe I have been teaching for 14 years! Time has just flown by and I am such a different teacher today than I was when I started. I have a student teacher again, so I have a little bit of time (sort of)...I don't think I ever feel like I have a lot of time. But...this felt like a good place to do some reflection.

In the past year, I have also embarked on a new phase, and am pursuing a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction science.  I wanted to pick up this blog again,  as a way to reflect on my course work. I am currently enrolled in a course about creativity.  As part of this course I have to learn something new. I decided to try something I've always wanted to try which is a podcast. So I plan to revitalize my blog and then expand on it and make it a podcast as well. I love listening to education podcasts and getting ideas for my classroom and just affirming ideas I have about education! In the past three years, teachers have been pushed to their limits and there is talk of teachers leaving. While I understand this, I have had my share of ups and downs regarding thoughts about the current state of education in the US.  But, I also still hold onto my believe in education and find strength in my conviction that education is my passion and what I am supposed to be doing with my life!  

I'm working out my podcast name and first post. I will link it in this blog within the next few days. 

I don't like to post with nothing though so I'll do a quick write up about a current project:  My student teacher is taking the lead on Geologic History for Earth Science. For an introduction he used my painted walls as a scavenger hunt. He posted "blurbs" around the room in the places they fit on the painted geologic timeline. Students had to answer questions by going around the room and reading the placards. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about go back several posts and you'll see where I posted the project where students painted a geologic timeline on my classroom walls). I've realized the past few years that students respond to my walls throughout the year and that I often use it when teaching. I point to a section or reference something on the wall. The scavenger hunt was  a neat way to get them to think about geologic time, move around the room, and process what they've been seeing all year.  Sometimes, I look back and wish I could recreate the amount of engagement, I had from that one project, every year. While it really was a one time project, there are so many take away ideas that I  continue to find even 3-4 years later! 

I'm glad to be back! Stay tuned to be linked to my podcast where I'll share more strategies and ideas as well as thoughts on what I learn along the journey to earn my PhD. 

A pandemic post...

 As 2020 comes to an end I would be remiss if I didn't get in at least one post reflecting on this crazy year! In my last post (Fall 2019), I wrote about a personal project, which I never fully was able to implement, when things got wonky in the spring! A lot has happened since! I will say,  that I was able to set some ideas in motion and I still continued to work on some of my reading and writing strategies even with being virtual. Since we have been back I have been trying to keep with some of my ideas and plans!   Everything was not lost...although it may have felt it at times...and I sadly fear its still not quite over.

     My district opted to go back in the fall, but with a hybrid style of learning. The students come Mon/Tues or Thurs/Fri and then Wednesday everyone is out and there are zoom meetings with teachers throughout the day. I personally just returned in November because of maternity leave. So far there have been challenges, but I'm finding its not all bad. I'll highlight some postives just because we are inudated with negatives right now!!

     Because of block scheduling my classes were divided "roughly" in half by alphabet.  I see each class once a week and on Wednesday's on zoom. This had made very small class sizes. While some of the smallest (2 or 3) is a bit small it is a great way to really connect and almost indivudally tutor students! I think in just a month I have been able to really make progress with helping students increase their grades...and I don't mean just giving them points. I think I have truly been able to sit with them and help them learn content mastery. Its difficult for even the most engaged student to tune you out when there are so few in the room!  

 As a parent of two elementary students doing virtual while I was home on maternity leave, I learned so much that I believe will make me a better pandemic teacher and just a more understanding teacher in general. Seeing how it looks from a student perspective was englighting! It opened my eyes to how confusing and overwhelming they may be feeling. It also showed me areas my class could be overwhelming them where I would never have thought that before! I was also able to see how all of the strategies teachers put in place to help with organization are so needed at all levels! I plan to be extra intentional with trying to embed those skills into my classroom! 

So...what have I done that has worked? In the spring when we were all virtual, I had my students complete a climate change research paper. For the students who followed the process and worked online with me I was able to really help them with the writing process!  I currently am still working on using Claim, Evidence, Reasoning and I even just incorporated it on my Earth Science mid-term. Students were given and article on plate tectonics and the question "What is the current main theory for the movement of continents?"  I liked it because while the claim, evidence and reasoning to answer the question was clearly in the article. It also drew on the big picture for the unit. As I have been reading through the responses, I can see that students really made the connection and were able to show me their understanding of how science ideas can be expanded on over time. And how new knowledge/technology can change what we know and our understanding of the world. 

I wanted to quickly highlight something I was reminded of by my favorite education podcaster Jennifer Gonzalez "Cult of Pedagogy".  It was an old post from 2013 but it popped up right when I needed the reminder.  The main idea is that we often give students a paper, tell them to read it and then talk at them, giving them no time to process or actually do what you asked which was read the handout.  I was thinking of this and in my head, put it in the context of information overload with online assignments. I think sometimes I have a tendency to try to get creative and make things "fun" or interesting. But what the students may really need is for us to keep things simple and consistent. With so many changes and upheavel in their lives, it seems the simpler the better may be the way to go!  Check it out here,  for more details and the original message instead of my pandemic interpretation.

As I plan for next semester I am going to continue working on utilizing drawing and sketching as a reading comphrension strategy. I'm also planning to do my timeline project but on canvas instead of the wall. I think there is so much negativity in the world right now, the students need some art to brighten their lives!

Until next time, take care, stay safe and healthy,

-Mara

Fall 2019!

I was scrolling through Twitter and catching up on various blogs etc. Of course it made me think about my lack of blogging!! 

For professional Learning my school started individualizing our learning by having us complete a personal project during the year. I’m all for this! I love having choice about what I study/spend time working on! Last year I focused on service learning and I enjoyed my research etc. This year I have decided to go back to my passion from the start...and the inspiration for this blog title. I will be exploring reading and writing across curriculum! 

Sure I’ve down work with this before...but the biggest motivation for me is to get me back to the basics and to go back a little to what I know really well! I think it’s easy to get caught up in change and “new shiny” ideas. Of course those can be great and inspiring. But what I need this year is a year of some good solid teaching and learning in my classroom! I have a great group of students and only two preps! It’s going to be a good year!

My first strategy has been incorporating what is called CER (claim, evidence, and reasoning) into my lessons. I’ve had students read articles and fill out the CER and then we applied this concept when we  did a stream study looking at the impact of environmental structures put into the stream. (Daylighting streams, bioswales, etc). Instead of formal lab reports the students filled out a claim, evidence reasoning sheet. I don’t think they realized they were doing the same thing! But I didn’t get the angst and struggle that I would have assigning a lab report right off the bat. 

For my climate unit 2nd semester I think I will make them do more of a research paper but will use the CER structure that they now already know.

My focus this year is getting students to be scientifically literate. To know and understand how to evaluate credibility of what they read. Hopefully help them as they go on in life to make informed decisions. A lofty but not unreasonable goal! And one I truly believe is important!

Until next time! Back to the daily grind of teaching! Never boring, sometimes overwhelming, but always rewarding! 

How to disguise a worksheet!

Snow/extreme cold day!! And perfect timing because I came up with an idea for this blog on my way home from school yesterday. Great day to be able to relax and write!

In education it is important for students to engage and discuss and not just sit and listen to lecture then do independent work. In science and I'm sure in all subjects, sometimes you just really need the students to practice something or remember content. How do you do both? Simple "trick" the students into thinking they are not doing a worksheet. Here are 5 easy strategies to take a worksheet and make it interactive, encourage discussion and allow students to practice and process. I tried to mix it up with some that are in seats and some that require movement around the room.  These strategies are not original to me. Many of them are cooperative learning strategies or reading/writing strategies. If you have been teaching for a while you probably know most of these. This is just meant to be a quick refresher if you feel stuck in a lecture/worksheet rut.

1. Coaching back and forth: This is great  cooperative learning strategy for math type problems or anything where it involves steps that can be talked through.  Have students work in pairs. Have students choose to be partner A or partner B. They get one worksheet between the two of them and then go back and forth to answer the questions. The key is that first Partner A talks through the problem and records while partner B coaches. Then they switch on the next problem. Tell them for coaching to Tip, Tip, Tell, Re-ask. They each initial the problem they do. Wander the room to make sure they are following procedure. It is not just passing the worksheet back and forth. They must interact and coach in order to make it work correctly. Here is an example when students are asked to calculate force of gravity.

2.  Card sorts:  For any worksheet that involves matching this works great. Or even vocab. There are many variations of this. Use to sort vocab words with definitions, use to put vocab words into categories/groups One way to implement is to have students in groups of 3-4 and then deal out cards. They each put one card at a time into a category. Only the student with the card can touch it but others can tell them what category to put it into. You can do this with words or also pictures is a fun variation. Rock types example  and a comparing cells example using pictures.

3. Say it, write it, pass it: This is another cooperative learning strategy where  you can take questions on a worksheet and have the first student in a group say the answer out loud, then write it down, then pass the paper. The next student answers the next question and so on.

4. Find someone who: This is a go to for me. I take a worksheet and change the questions into Find someone who knows... I put each question in a box and generally do about 15 questions in a  3 x 5 grid. Students are assigned a column of 3 boxes to answer. Wander the room to ensure they go the correct answer. Then have students stand up, hand up, pair up to get the rest. They can only get one answer from another student then have to move to find another student. Encourage and monitor so that students are explaining and talking through each question. Do not allow a clump of students to just pass the paper around the circle as this defeats the purpose. Here is an example on static electricity and after students have completed a PHET simulation on static

5. Fold the line/quiz,quiz trade: This is another good vocab practice. I have found that many students don't fully understand how to utilize flashcards so doing structured activities helps them with this. For this one I make cards with a question or definition on one side and then the answer or vocab word on the back. Then I hand them out to students so each student gets one card. Students make a line then fold it in half until everyone is standing across from a partner. One side quizzes the other side. Remember to have them tip, tip, tell, re-ask if their partner doesn't know the answer.  Switch so the other side quizzes, then have students trade cards and one side rotates one person so they have a new partner. They end up asking the question they just answered so they get double practice on each question.

Hope this give you a little inspiration to get the students up and moving! I am realizing that it is easy to get lazy and forget a lot of great strategies! There are so many out there! It's nice to have a few go to ones on hand. My first three years I had an amazing new teacher coach who always said that the more "tools in your toolbox" the easy it gets and the better teacher you become. I fully stand by her advice!