Looking for Ways to Boost Student Listening Skills...Try Podcasts

"Listening...the neglected literacy skill."  This comes from an Edutopia article I recently read that was written a few years ago.  The article went on to explain that often times the primary literacy focus is on the measurable skills--reading, writing and speaking.  However, we all know the importance of good listening skills.  They are important when it comes to career and college readiness and play a vital role when we talk about collaboration and communication.  

Podcasts can offer a great way to strengthen students listening skills.  Podcasts are audio recordings (or sometimes video recording called Vodcasts) used by individuals to share their thinking around a specific topic.   Many of us may use podcasts to influence our own learning, so why not find ways to use them in our classrooms for our students learning.  Not only can they help provide educational knowledge, but they can also provide listening skill development.   Here are some thoughts I recently gathered from a respected educator in regards to using podcasts to strengthen listening skills:

1. Listen with partners- Have students group together to listen together.  This allows the students to have others to share the story with.  Similar to reading together, students listen to the podcast to gather information together or experience a new story
2. Response to the Podcast-just as students would share their thinking about an article/passage they read, students can respond to the information or story presented in a podcast.  Talking about topics helps students set a purpose for listening
3. Teach students to replay/re-listen-Students today use a wide-range of media to learn new information, so it is important to help students understand how rewinding a podcast to re-listen can improve their comprehension...similar to how we teach students to reread.
4. Teach students to use podcasts at home-This is a great way to extend a learning activity.  Share podcasts/episodes  with families in an email, on the portal, or in a newsletter to help connect learning in the classroom to activities at home.

When selecting your podcasts, here are a few things to think about:

• Screen any podcasts you plan on sharing with your students to get a feel for the kind of content presented in the podcast...listen to more than one episode
• Ensure they fit the values for your classroom, DCDS, and our community
• Ensure they are fit your curriculum goals

If you are interested in some suggestions for K12 Podcasts, let me know and I can provide a handful of resources.

2016 Computer Education Science Week (December 5th-9th) is here!

Next week is Computer Science Education week (December 5th-9th), which is an annual program dedicated to inspiring K-12 students to take an interest in computer science.  Computer science drives innovation and career growth. A study performed shows that by the year 2020 we will have 1 million more programming jobs than students prepared to take those jobs.   The goal of Computer Science Education week is to expose students to computer science helping them develop important skills for the future.

Being a former teacher I understand the difficulty of having to adjust your weekly schedule, but finding time to promote computer science would provide a benefit to our students.  I know last year many students were exposed to computer science through Hour of Code and understand some may be doing it again this year.  I think that is great, but I am also providing some other activities and resources you could try:

1. Participate in Hour of Code: 
• code.org
2. Go Beyond hour of code: 
• Elementary Coding Apps/Websites:  Scratch, ScratchJr, Kodable, Tynker
• Secondary Coding Apps/Websites: Hopscotch, CodeCombat, Kodu Game Lab, Google CS First
3. Webinars: Participate in live webinars that show different opportunities in computer science. Seesaw is an awesome digital portfolio app I have discussed before and they are providing live webinars during the week showing how coding and design thinking come together (Click this link to learn more and register: Seesaw Coders).  The webinars are 20-30 min in length and are intended to be attended live with your whole class.  Topics:
• How do you build an app?
• Product Design 101
• Jobs in Computer Science
• Girls Who Code?
4. Videos: Show TED Talk or Youtube videos related to computer science or technology.  Here are a few to consider:
• The Math Behind Basketball's Wildest Moves
• The First Secret to Design is Noticing
• Toy Tiles that Talk to Each Other
• The Future of Flying Robots
• How a Driverless Car Sees the Road
• New Bionics that Let Us Run, Climb, and Dance
• A 12 Year-Old App Developer
5. Use Makey/Makey Kits: kits need to be purchased...we may have a few in our buildings (MS STEAM and LS Makerlab that might be able to be used): http://makeymakey.com/
6. Connect computer science to students interest: Have students research how technology plays a role in their favorite hobbies. 
7. Get away from the computer: Promote the mental skills needed to be successful in computer science (logic and creative thinking skills): CS Unplugged provides activities designed to help students develop critical thinking skills without using a computer. 

If you are interested in finding more resources to help bring computer science into the classroom, visit code.org and the Computer Science Education Week website 

Resources for Students to Avoid the Summer Slide

I can't believe how quickly this school year went by.   It just dawned on me that tomorrow will be the first day without students in all our buildings and it feels like we just started the school year yesterday.  My intent was to get a post put together earlier in the week with a small list of educational resources students/parents can use this summer.  Unfortunately, time slipped away from me and I am just getting around to it now.  I guess better late then never.  Feel free to share with your students/parents if you find any of these resources useful:

Now that summer is upon us, it will be about 3 months before our students are back in our classrooms.  "Summer slide" is the term used for what happens when young minds sit idle for 3 months.  As parents and educators we are constantly trying to find ways to avoid summer slide and to ensure we keep young minds engaged educationally during the summer.  

Last night as I'm listening to Glen, our Headmaster address our 2nd graders in their moving up ceremony,  he reminded them of the importance reading has on the success of students.  He mentioned one great gift our elementary teachers instill on our elementary students is learning how to read and he asked our 2nd graders to read each and every day this summer.  This is obviously a message that carries over to all our students... reading everyday is a great way to avoid summer slide. Other ways may be to participate in online education camps or using web/app based programs to engage students this summer in learning.  Here are a few links that you may want to use this summer to avoid the "summer slide":

• DCDS Library Resource page: A comprehensive list of reading resources for all grade levels provided by our Librarians...Ensure to participate in the DCDS Summer Reading Challenge!!
• Camp Newsela:  I wrote a previous post about Newsela a few that referenced Camp Newsela in it (click here to read the post).  Camp Newsela is an online summer reading club hosted by a team of educators from Newsela tied around current event articles.
• Camp Wonderopolis:  Free online summer-learning experience full of fun, interactive STEM and literacy building topics boosted by Maker experiments
• LibriVox:  fantastic online resource for free audio books of classics.  LibriVox uses volunteers to record passages for books that are available in the public domain...students can read already created audio files of classics, or join in on the fun and read and record a book/passage to be shared on the site (This may be something that can be incorporated in your class as a project next year as well) 
• Start with a Book:  At this website you will find themes that match your child's curiosities and interests-and new and exciting things to explore this summer!  Get ideas of what books to read, activities to do, videos to watch, and apps to try
• Lego Juniors Create and Cruise:  app that allows children ages 4-7 to create their own LEGO vehicles and minifigures using their imagination (Get the app at the App Store, Google Play Store, and Windows 10 store)
• Learn to Code:  There a all sorts of resources available so I will provide just a few: 
• Code.org
• Codecademy
• Scratch 

Have a great summer!

Newsela: An innovative way to build reading comprehension with nonfiction that's always relevant: daily news

Over my past 2 years here at DCDS, I have had conversations with some of you about Newsela:  a online library of current event articles.  Newsela became an instant favorite of mine when I was introduced to it many years ago at a training I attended.  The goal of Newsela is to improve reading comprehension in students 2nd through 12th grade using current events.   Newsela offers over 1,000 articles which are pulled from over forty different media publications (sources include papers like the Chicago Tribune, LA Times, Washington Post and the Associated Press).  One great feature of this site is that the articles can be adjusted to 5 different Lexile levels (reading levels), allowing all students to share in the same content regardless of their reading ability (or set the article to be in Spanish).  In addition, most articles have a comprehension quiz. to test the students comprehension.

Here are 5 easy ways to to use Newsela in the classroom (click the links to learn more):

1. Getting to Know Your Students
2. Creating Newsies
3. Predictions from Pictures
4. Compare and Contrast
5. Uncovering Unknown Words

Summer time bonus:  I also recently received an email regarding a reading club hosted this summer by Newsela called Camp Newsela.   Students can join Reading Clubs tailored to their interests. A team of educators at Newsela will host seven different classes and assign two articles per week for 10 weeks beginning on Monday, June 13 and ending Friday, August 19.  Click this link to learn more about Camp Newsela.

Newsela Website:  https://newsela.com/
Newsela Learning and Support:  http://support.newsela.com/hc/en-us

Create, Share, and Grade Reading Assignments Online Using ReadWorks Digital!

If you are not familiar with www.readworks.org,  it is an online resource that provides educators with research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literacy passages free online for use in class.    Readworks.org has a "zillion" free reading passages in many subjects available for download and use.  Recently ReadWorks has added a new feature...ReadWorks Digital

ReadWorks Digital is a free platform allowing teachers to distribute ReadWork articles and assignments to students online.  Each article assigned has reading comprehension questions, vocabulary lists and discussion questions.  Once the articles are assigned through ReadWorks Digital, teachers can track students progress on assignments, see responses to questions, and grade those responses.

Below is a short video introduction to ReadWorks Digital:

2 New Features in Google Slides

There are 2 new features to Google slides.  Both features are accessible in the presentation mode enhancing the presentation experience of Google Slides:

• Laser Pointer: The new laser pointer feature overlays a red dot with a trailing line that can be controlled by touch (if your display allows for touch...SMART boards, tablets, etc) or with the trackpad or mouse.   Turn the laser pointer on or off using the presentation toolbar while in presentation mode:  

• Live Q&A session: This feature will allow presenters to start a live Q &A session with an audience during a presentation with Google Slides.  You can then present the questions at anytime and participants can ask questions from any device:

Google Slides-More Than Just Presentations

Many of us think of Google Slides as just an application for creating slideshow presentations. However, with its great design tools and collaboration features it can be used for more than just presentations (I provided a few examples below).  Within Google Slides, you have the ability to customize the page size (See video below:  select file>page setup>customize size),  opening up the possibility to create a variety of other documents...newsletters, books/magazines, infographics, bookmarks, etc.  Once the page size has been determined, add text boxes, shapes, images, and hyperlinks just as you would've a slide presentation.   Easily add new pages and move content around the page with little formatting required.  Having the ability to post the link allows you to instantly share your creations online.  

Here are a few examples/ideas for using Google Slides other than as a presentation tool:

• ONLINE NEWSLETTERS: Set the page size to 8.5 x 11 inches to make each slide the same size as a piece of paper.  Add your content (images, text boxes, shapes, etc) and post the shareable link.  Add new editions of the newsletters as the first slide.  This will allow the latest issue to be the first slide that is read, but allows for viewers to see previous posts in later slides. 
• COLLABORATIVE BOOKS/MAGEZINES:  Set the page size to 8.5 x 11 and add collaborators to the Google Slide.  Each collaborator will contribute to the book by adding their own slide(s)/page(s) to that one Google Slide presentation.  Post the link of the completed book to easily share online or print copies to distribute hard copies.  They will look great because of the page size you selected. 
• BOOKMARKS:  I have not tried this one yet, but the idea stemmed from a conversation I had with our librarians on a summer project they were working on regarding summer reading. Set the page size to the size you would want your bookmark (i.e-1"x 6").  Add your content (images, text boxes, shapes, etc) and post the shareable link.  Easily add a two sided bookmark by adding an additional slide.