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More Music in the Classroom

Below is a link to a website I stumbled upon which is a great resource for finding ways to integrate music into the classroom. 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-music-strategies-language-arts-classroom-heather-wolpert-gawron

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Integrating Music and Video into the Classroom

In the elementary world, songs and short videos are an amazing way to keep students interested in content, and lessons. Simply using music in the background while students are working on a writing piece, may help create a calming environment for your classroom.  Also, personally I noticed that it was a great way to prevent conversation when students are suppose to be individually working.  The music helps them stay focused and less tempted to talk. 

Recently I was teaching 4th grade mathematics and we were working on rounding.  I taught students a song I found on you tube that helped walk them through the process of rounding a number.  It was an excellent resource to help students remember the steps, and best of all IT WAS FUN! I think that integrating music and video into the classrooms positively influences the learning process. 

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I loved how there were many different screens and resources available in Brain Pop Jr.  It has a lot of great lesson ideas and resources for teachers on the specific movie topics and related topics.  I also thought it was great they had the easy and hard quiz topics. The “Talk about it” page would be great to complete together on a smart board (or students in pairs on i-pads).  Finally, as an elementary teacher, tying literature into the mathematics classroom is always a “win win”, so the “Read about it” page was another great resource. 

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Lesson Plan Using Brain Pop Jr.

The following is a lesson plan I created for a third grade elementary classroom.  The focus was on quadrilaterals and the term congruency.  The students used brain pop to further learn information on the topic and it served as a great assessment tool, both informally and formally. 

Identifying Quadrilaterals

1. Lesson Plan Code: M-1 (Mathematics, lesson 1)

2. Subject: Math

3. Grade Level: 3rd

4. Title: Identifying Quadrilaterals and Understanding their Attributes

5. Alignments: NETS Standards: Empowered Learner: Students leverage technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals, informed by the learning sciences. 1d: Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies. Standard: 3.G.1 - Understand that shapes in different categories may share attributes (have 4 sides) and the defined attributes can define a larger category.  Recognize rhombuses, rectangles, and squares as examples of quadrilaterals. Eligible Content: M.O.3.C-G.1.1.1 and M.O.3.C-G.1.1.2 Big Idea: Explore geometric attributes of polygons and classify quadrilaterals into categories based on their attributes. Concept: Geometry Competencies: Understand that shapes in different categories may share attributes.

6. Vocabulary: quadrilateral, parallel lines, congruent

7. Objective: Students will be able to identify quadrilaterals and discuss the attributes of each of the different quadrilaterals and the concepts of congruent shapes (square, rectangle, rhombus, parallelogram, and trapezoid)

8. Essential Question: How can we reason with shapes and their attributes?

9. Duration:  About 60 minutes

10. Materials: Post-its, snowball fight cards (match cards), quadrilateral posters, interactive whiteboard. (Technology, brain pop jr.)

11. Instructional Procedures: Introduction - Introduce the term quadrilateral and discuss what they think the word “quad” means.  Talk about the five different types of quadrilaterals.  Introduce the term congruent and talk about what that means. During Lesson -  Students will have five post it notes and they will decide where each figure on their post it belongs,  according to the names of the quadrilaterals on the board. Then we will start to discuss the attributes of each of the figures and what makes each one unique.  Students will then receive a paper with a figure or a name on it.  Students will have a mock snowball fight towards the teacher to mix up the definitions and then find a snowball to make a match with partners. Then students will watch a Brain Pop Jr video that will help them understand the concept of congruency. As a whole group we will take the hard assessment, talking about different answers and ideas.   Closing -  Review the five different shapes and their names with students and that they all fall under the same category of quadrilaterals. As an exit ticket students will take a paper pencil version of the easy quiz from the brain pop jr. site. 12. Assessments: Students will be assessed informally through their pre-assessment at the beginning of the lesson of placing the post its on the correct shape name, and also informally by their abilities to discuss and brainstorm attributes of each of the different shapes.  Finally students will be assessed through their abilities to match the shape and name in both the snowball matching game / whole group quiz and through the exit ticket from the site.

13. Differentiation: Students will have visuals of the different shapes and they will have each other to help them pair their papers during the match game.  I will help guide students through the lesson with questions to provoke thoughts and answers. Students will be directed to select answers on the smart board during whole group quiz to help kinesthetic learners.

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Socrative Site

I really like that the Socrative site can be used at basically any grade level.  It is a simple tool for younger students to use and navigate (such as a kindergartener or 1st grader).  I also like that students can get immediate feedback to their answers.  It may help students to use metacogition to reflect and evaluate how well they understood the lesson.  I feel like the site helps put assessment in the hands of the students. They can see their results and try to understand how and what they need to relearn or go back and review. 

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Lesson Using the Socrative site as an Assessment Tool

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly 

Lesson Plan Code: L-1 (Literacy, lesson 1)

2. Subject: Reading

3. Grade Level: K / 1st grade

4. Title: Comprehension and retelling of the story “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”

5. Alignments: Standard: CC.1.3.3.B - Ask and answer questions about the text and make inferences from text; refer to text to support responses. Eligible Content: EO3.A-K.1.1.3 - Describe characters in a story and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. Big Idea: Comprehension requires and enhances critical thinking and is constructed through the intentional interaction between reader and text. Concept: Essential ideas in the text inform meaning. Textual features inform meaning. Competencies: Recall main events in sequential or connective manner through oral language, graphic, and unwritten representation.

6. Vocabulary: heron (bird), queasy (sick), absurd (strange/unheard of)

7. Objective: Students will be able to comprehend the story and retell the events in the story in sequential order using props and words.

8. Essential Question: How do we think while reading in order to understand and respond?

9. Duration: About 45 minutes (technology depending)

10. Materials: Old Lady sticks and clothespins, beanie baby props and old lady board, interactive board and prepared activity for it, and the trade book “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly”.  Laptops or tablets for students to login to Socrative website.

11. Instructional Procedures: Introduction: Introduce myself and ask children their names.  Review the objective, our goal or our mission is to understand the story and remember what happens so we can feed the old lady after reading the story and remember what the story told us. Before Reading- introduce the book title and ask some questions about the cover, any predictions? During Reading: Students will listen to the story and they will ask and answer questions as we read.  The vocabulary words, queasy, heron, and absurd will be discussed when we get to them in the book to use context clues to construct meaning. After Reading: Students will feed the lady in order with their beanie babies what she ate in the book.  We can discuss why she swallowed the animals in a specific order.  Then as a whole group we will review with an ordinal sequencing activity of the story on the smart board while everyone who is not at the smart board will match the order on their paint (old lady) sticks.  We will match the words of the animals and the pictures, in order. Students will login to the Socrative website and take the quiz on the story.  We will go through the questions as a whole group and being able to see and get immediate feedback on each of the questions. Closing: Did we accomplish our goal of remembering what happened in the story and were we able to recall the events? We can retell and tell about a story from listening or reading a story and it helps us lean. Did we answer the questions on the website correctly? Do we think we need to reread the text again to get a better understanding of the story?

12. Assessments: Students will be informally assessed through observation while I am asking questions throughout the lesson.  Students will be assessed by their ability to remember the order of events will attaching the clothespins to their paint sticks and through the white board activity. Students will also be assessed by their answers to the questions on the Socrative quiz site.  The immediate feedback shows students their understanding of the story.

13. Differentiation: Students will be prompted with questions throughout the lesson the guide comprehension and I will try to model thought for students not thinking as I read.  Students will have visuals and guidance through hands on activities (white board and paint sticks)

https://b.socrative.com/teacher/#select-quiz

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Bullying Prevention

At our school we have been implementing the Olweus bullying prevention program.  The program is designed to be promoted and taught as a whole school/district program to prevent bullying across all age levels.  The classroom teacher is responsible for holding classroom meetings and initiatives to enforce the program.  The program comes with videos, scripted lesson, games, activities, and much, much more! Not only are the teachers and students trained in the program, including what it is all about and that they are responsible for reinforcing, the anti-bullying rules, but the bus drivers, cafeteria workers, para-professionals, and anyone else is the school is also trained in the program.  It is truly a school wide program that has been working.  Each week, then as the students are more comfortable every other week, the students have a meeting to discuss issues related to bullying.  The meeting can be started with a scripted lesson or it can be a topic relative to the specific classroom. There are rules for these meetings so all students are comfortable and anonymously reporting problems or bullying they may be facing at school or after school. 

Our school has set aside time for the teachers to do the meetings every week so that every teacher is teaching the lesson on the same day same time in order to continue the continuity of every student being aware.  The school website also has a button where parents can report bullying at any time and the e-mail goes right to our school principal and guidance counselor.  I feel the students are more aware of bullying.  They also understand what bullying is, a repeated offense.  Parents are also getting a better understanding of what bullying is and the steps needed to prevent issues. 

http://olweus.sites.clemson.edu

The link above is the overview to the program and why it is effective. 

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This is a really fun website that I have used in the classroom with my students.  They enjoy playing the games, you need to direct students to play games appropriate to their age levels as it spans through many age levels. 

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Rather than use this as a random name selector, I like to use this for vocabulary practice (the fruit machine in particular).  It helps keeps students motivated and interested while still practicing vocabulary words with a partner. 

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The WWII Memorial is one of the most interesting memorials.  There is a lot of hidden information about it and symbolism that it represents that most Americans are not aware of.  This video is a great summary of what you will see if you visit the memorial at our National Mall. 

Below is the link to my Ted-ed lesson that I created to go along with the video presentation. 

http://ed.ted.com/on/biXe6Zid