February 2014 – Educational Aspirations

Math Mini-Lessons with Educanon

One larger focus this year is to have math mini-lessons before students move into guided math groups. The min-lessons often take place at the beginning of the class.

Many teachers tend to use some type of formative assessment from last class to dictate how in-depth the mini-lesson will go. Over the past few weeks I’ve modified my mini-lesson time. As with any class, students with a variety of skills and mathematical backgrounds are part of the class community. I was finding that my math mini-lessons were benefiting some students more than others. I was also finding that how I began those mini-lessons often set the tone for the rest of the class.

Last week I tried something different and decided to use Educanon for part of my mini-lesson. Educanon allows a teacher to use any Youtube or Vimeo video and insert questions/explanations at set points in the video. I’m using the free version of the Educanon, but there’s a paid version that gives more of a detailed report and records students’ answers.

I’m not a huge fan of math videos, but I do think they have value when used appropriately. Videos, similar to the homework debate, have huge fans and critics. It’s a bit of a gray area and truly depends on how they’re used. Regardless, after having a discussion with a colleague, I decided to create a 1:30 Educreation video on three-digit subtraction for my second grade classes. After creating the video I uploaded it to Youtube. I uploaded two of the same videos to Educanon and renamed them. Each video 1 and 2 (still a work in progress) has questions geared towards a specific math skill. One group was working on subtraction estimation, while the other was working on regrouping strategies.

Different min-lesson opportunities for students — Different questions, same video

The videos are meant to be short and recorded without sound. I find the sound to be a bit of a hassle and the videos are less than two minutes in duration and I don’t want students wasting their time with headphones. When the time comes, students scan their respective QR code to automatically visit their Educanon video. The video requires students to use a separate sheet of paper to dictate their answer.

Students then play the video and are asked questions related to the current topic. Some of the questions are similar, but most are geared towards estimation or regrouping.

Two Videos

Once students finish their brief video the class comes back together to discuss a few different examples of three-digit subtraction. I tend to reference the videos throughout the class and even in the small guided math groups.

It takes a bit of time to create the videos, but sharing that responsibility with other teachers can definitely help with the work. I’m looking forward to possibly using more of these brief activities in the future. Currently, I only use one video every couple weeks, so this isn’t a daily activity, but one that seems to be helping my students better understand mathematics. Maybe at some point the students will create their own Educanon presentation.

Guided Math – Math Literature Stations

About a month ago I attended an educational event hosted by a district in Downer’s Grove, IL. The event, Playdatedg58, encouraged attendees to learn, create, and collaborate with other teachers in the area. I was able to attend many sessions, but missed one of the sessions called Math Literacy. Fortunately, I was able to find a Prezi that was created for the presentation after I returned from the trip. After reviewing the presentation I started to think of how I could incorporate more math dialogue in my classroom. I believe that students need to be able to talk through their mathematical thinking and be able to communicate this with others.

There’s no doubt that language arts/reading plays a significant role in just about every subject area. For math, students need to be able to read directions carefully, understand context, understand if an answer is reasonable, and use vocabulary appropriately. These are all important skills to have and can be reinforced through math literature. Most of these tasks generally fall in the realm of language arts/reading. Moreover, these skills will help students develop skills that will benefit them long-term.

So I’ve decided to incorporate more literature in my math classrooms this year. Specifically, I’m using more literature during my guided math group stations. Generally, students end up spending about 10 – 12 minutes per station, so you can infer that the reading is fairly short. There are about 4-5 students at each station so the comfy math literature station isn’t busy with shuffling papers. The small group also gives students opportunities to choose a book on their own without too much interference. The books that I’m using are primarily for elementary students and emphasize the number sense math strand. Number sense seems to be the strand of mathematics that needs an enormous amount of support, especially at the younger elementary level. The books generally emphasize taking apart and putting numbers back together. Place value and computation are two consistent areas of focus for younger elementary students. Below you will find a picture of the math books that I’m using during math stations. Click the picture to enlarge and see titles/authors.

Math Literature Station for Elementary Students

While in the groups, students answer questions related to the book that they’re reading. Some of the questions are generic while others are more book specific. Depending on my inventory, (which I hope to increase substantially) most of the books that I use are vocabulary rich and provide critical thinking opportunities. Some of the books offer number puzzles where students can check their answers in the back of the book. Each student completes a “math think sheet” which records what book was read, the pages read, math vocabulary, and concepts covered. Students keep track of their time in the station and write as they read. In the future I may have the students work in partners and read the books together. The class could then have a math book chat and record all the books that we’ve read throughout the year. These are starter ideas, but I’m definitely encouraged when I see disciplinary lines blend as students observe that math and literature are connected.

photo credit: Eric Fischer via photopin cc

Guided Math: What About the Other Groups?

I’m using a guided math model more often this year. To be honest, I’d say that I’m using more of an adapted guided math model because it’s still and will always be a work in progress. Similar to guided reading, an emphasis has been placed on meeting with smaller student math groups. After attending a few different math sessions with Laney Sammons last year, I continue to refine the model within my own classrooms. I’m currently utilizing the model approximately 2-3 times per week. Students are meeting in three different groups throughout the 60 minute math block. Generally, one of the student groups is with the teacher, while the other groups are working on various activities throughout the room.

I understand and see the benefits of having a guided math model, although I’m a bit unsure of the effectiveness of the other groups that aren’t directly with the teacher. That uncertainty led me to research few options for the other math groups. I don’t want their time to seem wasted and I believe there needs to be some type of documentation embedded. What could, or what should the other groups be doing? This year I’ve experimented with a few different options and have found the options below to work with my group of students.

Adaptive apps – Programs like MobyMax, IXL, and Scootpad can be used to bolster skills that need strengthening. This station is usually fully supplied with whiteboards for students to show their work. Many of these apps are free and can also be used at home for more practice/extension. An 8 – 12 minute station can be a perfect amount of time for theses types of apps. The apps also provide documentation that indicates questions correct/incorrect and progress made. I’ve compiled an Edshelf this year to showcase some of the apps that my students use during guided math.

Journal Activity – Students follow a specific journal prompt given by the teacher. The journal entry is most likely related to the standard that’s being explored. Students paste certain artifacts in their journal, such as work, explanations, and sheet-based manipulatives to show their mathematical thinking. The math journal could also be used as a reflection piece. For a large list of possible journal prompts click here.

Games – Games can be a great way to practice math skills and encourage collaboration with peers. Dice and playing cards can play a role here as many elementary games use these and multiple outcomes exist.

Puzzles – I generally have students work in pairs or groups to complete these types of math puzzles. I tend to use an envelope system. Students complete the puzzle, take a picture of it using the iPad and then put the puzzle back in the envelope. Using Tarsia has opened up many different possibilities for using puzzles during math groups. This has been a staple station during an algebra unit as students match the equation with variable solutions.

Educannon – At first glance this looks like a flip classroom program. I actually heard about this from Mary and I’m using it this year to reinforce math skills at home or in stations. Here’s a quick subtraction Educannon that I made for a second grade classroom.

Content Creation – Students use the apps Educreations, Haiku Deck, Explain Everything, and others to create digital content that can be uploaded to the web later. Moreover, these types of activities can be included in a student portfolio system for later use. Students follow a rubric to create a presentation that explains (example) a particular math concept. This station is sometimes used during consecutive days because of the time commitment needed to produce a quality product. This is by far the most requested math station that I use. The class has informally dubbed this the Explanation Station.

QR Code /Augmented Reality – Students complete activities related to the concept being taught and check their answer by scanning the QR code. I’m experimenting more with augmented reality this year and am looking for ways that students can be part of the creation process.

Math Manipulatives – Manipulatives can be powerful in the learning process. Specifically, I’m thinking of pattern blocks, fraction tiles, base-ten blocks, etc. Many of these items can be accompanied with a sheet asking students to show what they created/explored. Giving time to explore and come to constructive conclusions can also aid in foundational understanding. The Virtual Manipulatives app can be helpful for this station.

Math Literacy – Yes, reading and math can be combined! I’m currently compiling books in one of my stations that are dedicated to the current math strand that we’re emphasizing. The Sir Cumference series currently resides in this math station as well as many Greg Tang books. Many of the books come with questions that students could answer. I think this station has a lot of potential I just need to expand my inventory and find some type of Scholastic discount.

* Photo credit: Adapted from Rojessa Tiamson-Saceda (EQuALLS2 Project)

How do you use guided math stations?

Student Content Creators – Explain Everything

Student Content Creators

Student content creation is an emphasis this school year. In an effort to make this happen, I’m purposefully incorporating digital student content creation opportunities in my classes. Specifically, students are given a choice in being able to show mastery of a particular math concept through a presentation. These projects are student created with different types of presentation apps.

For example … to begin our latest math unit on pre-algebra, students were gathered together and I previewed the different math concepts that were going to be part of the unit. I used the mastery objectives for this. Students chose to be an “expert” for a particular concept within the unit. The concept that the student chose will be presented to the class in the future. The term “expert” was something I didn’t consider while preparing the project. It’s interesting because I’m finding that students often speak up when we arrive at a particular lesson that they’re “experts” in.

The class and I then developed a rubric for the project.

You can find an editable sample rubric here. Students then started to research their particular concept and began compiling resources. Students used their journal, different online sites, manipulatives, whiteboards, and other resources to research information about their topic. Students were then given time to explore the app and become more familiar with some of the features. Since they were already familiar with Educreations, students were able to adjust to the learning curve of using Explain Everything. There are many of features in Explain Everything and it took a good amount of time to explore them all. Students worked on their presentations about twice per week for about three weeks. Students then presented their projects to the class near the end of the unit.

Fractions

Steps

Right now the class is building a repertoire of technology tools that have the potential to be used later in the school year. At some point I’m going to ask the students to pick their own tool to show mastery. I continue to find that student content creation brings out a student ownership piece. That ownership piece can be powerful.