How much effort are you giving?

I was on Pinterest recently and I found an anchor chart that someone had posted called "How much effort are you giving?"  As soon as I repinned it, I just knew that I had to have this posted in my classroom for the remainder of this year, as well as next year.  I am currently using a character card that my students fill out at the end of each subject period each day.  They score themselves with a positive if they behaved appropriately and a corresponding character trait.  If they made a bad choice, than they write a negative with the corresponding character trait.  This card is signed over the weekend and returned to me every Monday.  Next year, I'm debating whether or not I want to turn the character card into an effort card where they would record a 1-4 based on the anchor chart below and students that earned a 1/2 would be initialed by me so parents could have a better picture of the effort that is being given in class.  I haven't made up my mind about this yet, but was mulling it over as I created the chart last week.

I Spy Geometry: A Book of Lines, Angles & Polygons

As one of our end-of-year projects, my students created pictures where they had to hide all of the geometry terms/symbols that they had learned during our geometry unit.  The pictures will then be turned into a class book where they can locate at least 10 of the following geometry terms in their classmates pictures:

• rays
• line segments
• lines
• parallel lines
• perpendicular lines
• intersecting lines
• straight lines
• acute angles
• obtuse angles
• right angles
• scalene triangles
• isosceles triangles
• equilateral triangles
• quadrilaterals
• pentagons
• hexagons
• octagons
• points
• radius
• diameter
• symmetry
• congruent shapes

Here are some student examples:

Vocabulary: How do we learn new words?

Several years ago, I attended a professional development on the importance of student engagement.  One of the strategies they taught us to teach new vocabulary to our students was to create hand signals.  The video above models what that looks like.  I have been using this strategy for the past six or seven years to teach vocabulary to my students and it is AMAZING to see what a difference it has made.  Not only are my students able to tell me what a word means, but they are able to use academic vocabulary within their verbal and written responses.

I start off by identifying key vocabulary terms that my students should know within the content area.  Then small groups are assigned a word to develop a signal for.  When they present it to the class, they have to tell us the word, its definition, model the signal and explain how it relates to the definition.  One of the things I really like about this is that it gets students up in front of their peers so they can start feeling comfortable with talking in front of a large group.  Once the class is taught the signal, I will repeat the definition and the rest of the class will model the signal and say the correct word.  For example, in reading, we focus on 20 words each week.  On Monday and Tuesday, I introduce 7 of them and the remaining six on Wednesday.  When we learn the new words each day, I make sure to include the previous days words so they are always fresh in their mind.  Then they are quizzed at the end of the week on their understanding of the words.  The following week they are introduced to a new set of words.

Some of the ways we practice the vocabulary words are:

• Around the World: This works exactly like it does when practicing math facts.  I saw a definition and the two students must tell me the word and perform the signal.  Whoever does it correctly first moves on to the next student.
• Stand Up & Close Your Eyes:  Everyone stands up at their desks.  Two-three students monitor whether or not students are doing the correct signals after a definition is read.  If a student hears their name called, they have to sit down because they did the wrong signal.
• Hot Seat:  Two students sit in chairs facing one another.  Another student is standing behind one student and they have written a vocabulary word on their whiteboard.  They hold the board up and the student that can see the word has to give clues to the other student to see if they can guess the word on the whiteboard.
• Vocabulary Bee:  Students line up and the first student is given a definition.  They must say the word and perform the signal correctly.  If they do, they stay in the game and I move on to the next student who is given a new definition.  If they are incorrect, they return to their seat.  If a student gets the word/signal wrong, then the next student has the same definition.  We usually play until a handful of students are left standing.
• Slap It: I usually start out with pairs playing this and then move onto small groups of four students.  They write each vocabulary word on a sticky note and lay them out in front of one another.  I read a definition and the goal is to be the first one to "slap" the correct word/sticky note.

Geometry Town

One of our projects that we recently worked on is a Geometry Town.  Here are the requirements that students were given, as well as the checklist that was used to grade their final product.  I also included several student examples.  If you would like the Word version of the document, comment below with your email address and I will send it to you as an attachment.

Test Prep: Scoot

A couple months ago I attended a PD on a variety of test prep games that could be used as we prepared our students for AIMS, our state mandated test.  One of my favorites that I walked away with and used that very week is a game called Scoot.  I created a game to review Order of Operations, Factoring, Prime & Composite, and Multiplication/Division problems.  I have 25 students, so I had 25 problems written on index cards.  Each index card then had a number, 1-25 written on the opposite side.  I placed one card on each desk.  I started the music (KidzBop are  great albums because they have the popular songs of today sung by kids so they're classroom appropriate) and they had roughly 2-3 minutes to solve the problem on their card.  Once they finished, their answer should've been written in the corresponding box.  So, for example, if a student had card number 16, than their answer would be written in box 16.  When the music shut off, they moved to the next seat and completed a new problem.  Once they had worked their way through all 25 problems, we graded their papers as a class.  The student who earned the highest score had one night of no homework the following week.  It's a fantastic motivator for the class to work super diligently in completing the problems correctly because what kid doesn't want a night of no homework?  This is definitely a test prep activity that I'm going to keep in mind next year!

Book Study: Flip Your Classroom - Chapter 4

I have started to read Flip Your Classroom by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann.  After each chapter, I will highlight key concepts and any other noteworthy ideas that will enhance my understanding of the idea, as well as how to implement it within my 4th grade classroom.

Chapter 4: How to Implement the Flipped Classroom

• Don't make a video just for the sake of it.  Think about what instructional tool would best teach the content to your students.
• Use other teachers' videos if you do not feel comfortable being on camera.  Check out YouTube for videos or other video sharing sites.
• When making your own videos, you can use Camtasia Studio, which is a screencasting program.  It will capture whatever is on your computer screen, as well as your voice, and any annotations that you make with a digital pen.  You can also videotape all of your lessons for one year and then turn them into videos the following year for your students to view. 
• Four steps to making a video:
• Plan the lesson
• Record the video
• Edit the video
• Publish the video
•  Side Note: I will be using the iPad app, Show Me, to make my videos.  This app allows me to draw, upload pictures and describe what is going on in real time.  The videos can then be easily uploaded to the internet and then embedded into Edmodo, which is a site I use a lot with my students, or any other site.  
• Making videos your students will love:
• Keep it short: remember bite-sized pieces of information ... 10-15 minutes.
• Animate your voice
• Create videos with other teachers (I need to remember this!)
• Add humor
• Don't waste your students' time: keep to the topic
• Add annotations
• Add callouts: a text box that focuses on key content/steps
• Zoom in and out
• You must evaluate and redesign your class time once students begin watching videos as their homework.  

Book Study: Flip Your Classroom - Chapter 3

I have started to read Flip Your Classroom by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann.  After each chapter, I will highlight key concepts and any other noteworthy ideas that will enhance my understanding of the idea, as well as how to implement it within my 4th grade classroom.

Chapter 3: Why You Should Flip Your Classroom

• BYOD - bring your own device allows students to use updated technology rather than the out-of-date computers that may be sitting in some of our classrooms to complete a variety of tasks/projects.
• Students can process material at their own pace.  Students who learn more quickly no longer have to wait to move on and students who need more time can pause/rewind the videos.
• Teachers can build better relationships with their students due to increased teacher-student interactions.
• This model also increases student-student interactions as they help one another learn.
• Parents have responded positively to the flipped classroom model because they are able to help their child more but there has been some concern of parents thinking that the teacher was no longer teaching.

Book Study: Flip Your Classroom - Chapter 2

I have started to read Flip Your Classroom by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann.  After each chapter, I will highlight key concepts and any other noteworthy ideas that will enhance my understanding of the idea, as well as how to implement it within my 4th grade classroom.

Chapter 2: The Flipped Classroom

• "Basically the concept of a flipped class is this: that which is traditionally done in class is now done at home, and that which is traditionally done as homework is now completed in class." (p.13)
• A typically day:
• Warm-Up Activity
• Discuss the video from the night before 
• Students are given their assignment, which may include a multitude of activities within one class period.
• Spend time training students on how to effectively view your videos by turning off any distractions, rewinding and pausing the content, etc.
• Use the method of Cornell note-taking by having students take notes, write down questions they have, and summarize their learning.
• Student questions can inform you of how effective the material was presented to them so that, if necessary, content can be added to the presentation at a later date.
• Teachers become a tutor and can focus on students that are struggling the most with a concept.
• The class becomes centered around the students and not the teacher.  Students are required to watch the videos and ask appropriate questions.  The teacher provides feedback.

Book Study: Flip Your Classroom - Chapter 1

In my quest to learn more about "the flipped classroom", I have started to read Flip Your Classroom by Aaron Sams and Jonathan Bergmann.  After each chapter, I will highlight key concepts and any other noteworthy ideas that will enhance my understanding of the idea, as well as how to implement it within my 4th grade classroom.

Chapter 1: Our Story: Creating The Flipped Classroom

• A flipped classroom allows students to have a more personalized education experience by watching content multiple times for clarity, staying caught up to curriculum due to absences, etc.
• The video students view is homework so that teachers can spend time the following day extending the learning and filling in any gaps that students may have.
• Initially, Jonathan and Aaron required their students to watch their videos every other night, as well as take notes during the viewing.
• The flipped-mastery model was incorporated into the flipped classroom where students worked at their own pace to master the material before moving on to the next concept/skill.

CAFE: Check for Understanding

This year I decided to embark on the journey that is known as the Daily 5/CAFE.  I had heard about it years ago but this was the year I was going to finally jump right in and try it out.  No one on my campus was using it, so I really had no one to turn to for support.  Fortunately, several teachers are going to be using this model in their classrooms next year so I'm glad to know that I can be a resource for them if they get to the point where they just want to pull their hair out!  It's an absolutely awesome model to allow for small group instruction but it takes a lot of time up front to train your students to be able to work independently while you work with small groups.  If you don't put in the time for the first 6 weeks of school, than Daily 5 is never going to work for the remainder of the school year.  I look forward to refining certain aspects of the Daily 5/CAFE and continuing with it next year.  I'll post more about it over the summer as I start to create my posters and various handouts to use with my class.  My flashdrive crashed earlier this year and I lost EVERYTHING!  So, it'll be back to the drawing board this summer to re-create certain documents. :-(

One of the first components of CAFE that I introduced with my class is Check for Understanding, which fits under the C (comprehension) in CAFE.  The expectations of this strategy are to read a section of text, stop and retell to a partner or yourself what just happened.  When we start out using this strategy, I stop every 1/2 page when we read our weekly story so students can practice check for understanding with one aother.  I noticed pretty early in the year that some students can naturally retell what they just read, while others aren't sure of where to even start.  Above is the anchor chart that I posted for my class to use.  When a partner is struggling with their retell, their peer can ask them "coaching or time?" and if they say coaching, then they can  use the questions on our anchor chart to help guide the retell.  If their partner can't tell them anything, than they would have to back up and reread that section of the text and then check for understanding again.

During our early days of using the Daily 5, many students started with a CAFE goal of reading 1/2 a page and then checking for understanding.  Students that couldn't retell 1/2 of a page, went down to doing it every paragraph.  On the other hand, students who could easily retell 1/2 of a page moved up to reading an entire page and then checking for understanding.  I would say that with three weeks left to go before the school year ends, 90% of my class can read at least an entire page and retell all of the key points.   At the start of the year, I only had 3 out of 25 students that were able to do that.

5 Student Engagement Strategies

Every so often, I will post my top five student engagement strategies that I use with my class.

1. Mix N' Match:  This strategy is designed to pair up students with similar answers so you can quickly see who gets it, who is making common errors, and who needs additional small group support.  I don't use this strategy when I feel as though the class has had enough practice where they can successfully solve the problem and find a match.  I tend to use this engagement strategy most often in math, but it can be used in any content area.  I post a problem for everyone to complete on their individual whiteboards.  When I say, "mix and find your match", they turn their whiteboards so everyone can see their answer and they pair up, back-to-back and remain silent, with the first person that matches their answer.  
2. Get the Gist:  This strategy asks students to take what you have taught them and condense it into a 10 words or less sentence.  I really like to use this strategy when I'm introducing reading strategies because it makes them take what they've just learned about it and write a statement that encompasses only the most important information in 10 words or less.  This is also a perfect exit ticket strategy.
3. Write It Up:  This strategy asks groups of four students to write down their response to a topic, question or prompt.  They are given a large piece of construction paper with the topic, question or prompt written in the middle.  Then each student gets a section of the paper to write their response in.  I usually have them fold the paper into fourths so they know exactly how much space they have to write in.  I love using this strategy when it comes to an end-of-unit review because students are asked to recall everything they know about a given topic.  When we were prepping for our state tests a few weeks ago, we did several of these in math and all I did was write Fractions or Geometry in the center and they had to tell me everything they knew about the topic.  Then I had them draw a line underneath their writing and after a few minutes of reviewing their notes, they had time to add to their notes.  Then the groups shared their information with one another, checking off anything from their section that was said by a group member.
4. Response Cards: This strategy asks students to hold up a card with their response to a question or statement.  I give them 1" strips of construction paper that have been laminated with red on one side and green on the other.  They will hold up green if they agree with a statement/answer to a problem and red if they disagree. I usually have them close their eyes before they show their card because certain students tend to look right at a classmate who they know is correct and just copy their color.  Plus, there is less fear of being wrong when I'm the only person that sees their answer.  After all cards are held up, I always ask several students to prove their thinking so no one gets away with not having a reason why they chose red/green.
5. Give One, Get One:  This strategy asks students to give information to a partner and to get information from their partner.  For example, we were doing a study on Arizona's state symbols.  Once every group had completed their research, they were able to Mix/Pair/Share.  When they shared, they would give one fact about a state symbol that their partner was missing so they could add it to their notes and vice versa.  I like this strategy, especially in social studies, because there are times where we just can't spend days on a topic and they're able to learn from their peers and have additional information to use on their assignment.

More on The Flipped Classroom

I'm still looking into this model of teaching and came across some additional tidbits to add to my previous post.

• When a student does 10 problems in a row correctly, they can move on.  Posting these problems on Edmodo would be a great way to assess students because their assessment can be graded immediately.
• Utilize peer tutors by allowing the students who "get it" to work one-on-one with the students that are still struggling.  We all know that sometimes a student can explain a concept in just the right way and it clicks for their peer, even if we said the exact same thing!
• Ten Marks has videos and assignments that your class can complete to show mastery.
• LearnZillion also has videos that your class can view to preview and learn a new concept before class the next day.

Common Core Math: Jack & Jill Problems

I recently subscribed to this teacher's YouTube channel after stumbling across some of her previous videos.  I was pleasantly surprised to view this video and find that it was something that could easily be implemented into my classroom with very little difficultly.  The gist of Jack & Jill Problems is this:

1. Write two problems and answers, with one problem being correct and the other problem having a common student error.
2. Students go up to the board to make their initial guess as to who is correct ... Jack or Jill.  The video does suggest changing the names to more popular celebrities at that given time, but I kinda like Jack & Jill.  
3. Next, they have to prove to themselves that the problem/answer they chose is correct.  If they find that they guessed wrong, they can move their name to the opposite side.
4. Then, you pair up students from Jack with a student from Jill and they prove to one another why their problem/answer is correct.  If they find from their sharing that they guessed wrong, they can still move their name to the opposite side.

Although, I really like idea of adding this component to my math lessons, I do think I would make some changes.  

• I would not have students make an initial guess.  I would rather have them solve both problems and have to figure where the  mistake is so they can be prepared to defend the answer they chose and/or explain to their partner why it is/isn't a particular answer. 
• I also would prefer to keep names hidden when they choose either Jack or Jill to prevent certain students from just agreeing with their classmates they perceive as always being right.  I can already name a few of my current students that would do this very thing.

The Flipped Classroom

Every Monday we have three hours worth of professional development in our district.  Today's topic was "The Flipped Classroom", which I have heard about through Pinterest, but don't know much else, other than what the chart below shows.  We are expected to use this strategy in our classroom at least once before the end of the school year and then it is the expectation that all classrooms, K-8th grade, utilize it next year.

The idea of the flipped classroom is that for homework, the class would watch a video that delivers content to prepare them for the following day.  For example, I would make a video about multiplying 2-by-2 digit numbers that would teach them how to solve these type of problems and then I would include several examples for them to try on their own.  The following day, they would return to class with the completed practice problems and would be given a short quiz (maybe 5 questions) to see who has a clear grasp on the math skill.  Those students that earn 80% or higher would move onto an extension activity to challenge them.  Students that earn less than an 80% would receive immediate feedback to correct any errors that are occurring.

Here is an overview of what a flipped classroom is:

Created by Knewton and Column Five Media

Pro's of The Flipped Classroom:

• increase in in-class homework completion
• extension menus/projects
• grades improve due to completion of assignments
• 1:1 teacher support
• build relationships with students
• decrease in negative behaviors

You might ask ... what happens during the time that used to be spent teaching the whole group?

• group discussions
• experiments, projects, debates
• enrichment games
• cross curricular activities
• discuss questions that arose while watching the video the night before
• collaboration with another class

While researching this idea, I thought it was interesting to see one website recommend having one teacher flip their classroom and collect data on its success, while another teacher doesn't flip their classroom and collects the same data.  Then both teachers can compare to see its effectiveness.  I think this would be a GREAT way to get staff buy in if you have data to back up why this model is effective.  Plus, I think it's always easier to roll out a program when you have staff members that have piloted it and worked out all of the "bugs" that could arise during implementation.

One of my biggest questions regarding the idea of a flipped classroom is ... what do I do with the students that consistently come in without their homework completed, even though their parents have been contacted and are aware of the problem?  Thoughts?

Here are some Facebook groups I've joined to see if they have some useful information about the flipped classroom:

• The Flipped Classroom
• Flipped Classroom
• Katie Gimbars Flipped Classroom

I'm going to be looking at trying this idea out next week in my reading block, so we shall see how it goes!  Wish me luck!

Alternatives to "I Don't Know"

If you're anything like me, asking a question and having a student shrug their shoulders in response, DRIVES ME CRAZY!  The same goes with being told, "I don't know."  So, to help eliminate these two behaviors, I created an anchor chart for my classroom of questions a student could ask instead of saying "I don't know" or shrugging their shoulders.  IIn the beginning, it was a challenge for my students to refer to the chart because they were so used to their old stand by if they didn't know the answer.  However, they've started to reference the chart on their own and if they see me glance at it, they ask one of those questions, so I don't have to verbally remind them very often.  I didn't introduce it until halfway through the year so I'm hoping that by using it from the get go next year, it won't be as difficult of a transition for the class.

An Example of Reading Circles in Action!

Today was our first official day of the entire class holding their own Reading Circle discussions.  I had two groups volunteer to have their discussions recorded and posted on Edmodo for their classmates to listen and respond to.  Each student was required to make five annotations while we listened to Salmon Summer and then they would share three of their annotations during the discussion.  I sat in with this particular group during their discussion and really thought they did a fabulous job!  I was very proud of the quality of discussion that was held, especially since it was their very first discussion.  Tomorrow I will be playing the discussion to the class and we will make a list of things this group did well during their discussion so we can add to our anchor chart of Reading Circle expectations.

 

Geometry Monsters

Now that we've completed our state/district assessments, I'm having my class do various projects to display their learning of 4th grade math concepts.  We're currently doing several projects tied to our geometry standards, including lapbooks and Geometry Towns.  Students are expected to identify an assortment of lines, angles and triangles so I went to my absolutely favorite website, Pinterest, to see what other super creative teachers had already created..  Fortunately, I found a project called Geometry Monster Glyphs that tied into our standards perfectly.  It's FREE so download it now from Teachers Pay Teachers! You can see the directions below, as well as several examples.  Can you guess which one is mine? :-)

Podcasts using Reading Circles

We recently read all eight books in the series, Charlie's Great Adventure, by C.A. Goody as our daily read aloud.  For more information on the series, visit the author's website..  It is a super cute series that my students always seem to enjoy because Charlie, the cat, always manages to get himself into the craziest adventures!  During our read alouds, my class is always expected to practice any given strategy, such as predicting, visualizing, making connections, questioning, evaluating, summarizing etc. and then share their written responses with a classmate for feedback.

Now that we've finished the series, I decided to teach my class what a Reading Circle is and what the expectations are when participating in one.  First, the purpose of Reading Circle's is to discuss what has been read in a less structured setting than you would see when doing traditional literature circles.  There are no jobs/roles that need to be completed.  It's more of an opportunity to use sticky notes to mark favorites parts, questions, confusing sections, powerful words, etc. while a student reads.  When their Reading Circle meets, they bring their sticky notes to the group to discuss them together.  What I really like about this strategy is that it's something we (adults) do naturally as readers.  We have favorite parts of the story.  We have sections where really interesting words appear.  We have questions and wonder about certain things.  So, in this type of setting, it allows the group to freely discuss, but also have certain expectations put in place.  Since it was the first time we tried Reading Circles, I had each student develop 3 questions and 1 reaction statement.  These were then shared during the discussion and each question had to have two responses to them.

Here are the discussions that were held today:

Here are the reaction statement stems that I gave:

• I wonder ...
• I predict ...
• This part reminds me of ...
• If I were in this situation, I would ...
• I can't believe ...
• I find it interesting that ...
• I liked it when ...
• I hope that ...
• In the next chapter ...
• My favorite part was ...
• I don't like ...

I will be incorporating Reading Circles into our weekly Houghton MIfflin stories and will move towards identifying various moments throughout the story to discuss with their group rather than just writing 3 questions and 1 reaction statement.  I'll be trying this tomorrow so we'll see how it goes!

For those of you interested, to record the discussions I used the iPad app, Show Me.  It's a super easy app to use and highly recommended.  I've used the app to create math tutorials to post in Edmodo for my class to watch when they get stuck on a certain type of problem.

Anchor Chart: Evidence Based Terms

As I have transitioned into more of a common core classroom, I decided to create an anchor chart of evidence based terms that I found on Pinterest.  Any time my class writes, they know they are to include an array of these terms.  When I started off teaching this strategy, we solely focused on "because" since it would be the simplest of the terms to get into the habit of using.  Then we moved onto "It said on page" because it would be the easiest way to start proving where they had located their information.  We then began experimenting with the remainder of the terms so that we always proved where we found our answers when completing a variety of tasks, such as group discussions, projects, or written responses.

Here are some of the terms you can start having your students use:

• because
• for instance
• for example
• the author said
• according to the text
• it said on page
• from the reading, I know that
• let me explain

What are some terms that you use with your class?

Anchor Chart: Accountable Talk

Above are examples of the anchor charts that I posted in my room for Accountable Talk statements.  They are easily accessible for all students so they can refer to the chart at any point in the day.  The expectation is to use 2-3 statements within a discussion, depending on what they are talking about.

Motivational Quote

One of my all-time favorite television shows is Friday Night Lights.  If you haven't watched it, I HIGHLY recommend it.  It is one of the most uplifting and inspiring shows that I have ever had the pleasure of watching.  If you think it's all about football, just know that it's really more than that.  It's about the relationships you build with those in your life and how you lift them up and make them become the best person they can possibly be.  The quote above is one of my favorites from the show and something I stress to my students on a daily basis.  I want each and every one of my students to understand that they don't have to be the best at everything (I know that I certainly am not), but they have to at least be willing to TRY and do the very best that they can.  It's basically instilling the idea in them that they need to always strive for their PERSONAL BEST.

90% or Higher Buttons

One of the ways that my students are recognized for their hard work on tests is getting to wear one of my "Ask me how I did on Miss Pottinger's Test!" buttons for the entire school day.  They earn this button any time they get a 90% or higher on a test.  For every person that asks them how they did on the test, they earn points for their house.  My students LOVE, LOVE, LOVE when they get to wear one of these buttons because they enjoy the recognition they receive so it's definitely something I will continue doing next year!

Classroom Management Stop Signs

Aren't these fantastic?  They're a great little NON-VERBAL reminder for students when they are doing something they know they're not supposed to be doing.  I have mine printed out, laminated and ready to go for tomorrow morning!  I use Character Cards with my students, which allows them to score their behaviors throughout the day as a positive/negative based on the six Character Counts! traits.  If they receive one of these stop signs at any point in the day, they will mark their card with a negative for that subject area.  You can locate the template here so you can print out these super cute stop signs for you class!

Accountable Talk

As we start to transform our classrooms into what is expected of us based on the new common core standards, we need to begin looking at how collaboration amongst our students looks and sounds like.  This post will specifically focus on what it should sound like.  Below is a list of sentence stems that can be used during group discussions to foster deeper and more meaningful conversations.  Creating an anchor chart of these stems is the perfect way to allow easy access for all of your students.  

1. How do you think .... changes in the story?
2. What do you think is going to happen after ...?
3. Why do you think the author chose to use rich language in paragraph ...?
4. How do you think ... is feeling?
5. What do you think ... will do next?  
6. This reminds me of a time when ...
7. This reminds me of a book I read ...
8. I wonder why ...
9. What you said made me think about ...
10. I agree with ... because ...
11. I kinda disagree with ... because ...
12. What do you think this means?
13. Where can I find that in the book?
14. So, what you're saying is ...
15. Couldn't it also be that ...
16. Can you explain what you mean?
17. Can you tell me more?
18. What you said made me think ...
19. I was confused when ...
20. This reminds me of ...
21. I would like to add ...
22. How can you prove that?
23. Another example is ...
24. If I was the character ...
25. Do you have another solution?
26. How do you know your answer is correct?
27. My strategy is like yours because ...

In the beginning, you can tell each group the expectation is for each person to use one-two stems during the conversation (depending on what they are doing).  As the stems begin to be used automatically, you can start upping the number of stems used or you can start making the stems more challenging by removing the ones that are being used too often.  You could even have your students come up with sentence stems to add to the list to add ownership amongst the class.

What are some ways you hold all students accountable during group discussions?

Welcome!

Welcome!  This blog will be a place to share resources that will help other teachers develop and create a successful common core classroom.  I will share various strategies and ideas that I am using with my own 4th grade students, as well as photographs of my classroom and activities throughout the year.  I look forward to hearing what YOU are doing in your classroom, too!