Fractions Summative Assessment: iPad Style

Well.... The school year is over, and I feel like I can actually sit, relax for a lil, and maybe blog.... How was everyone's end of the school year? Did you have a crazy, intense school year like I did? Between curriculum and behavior and evaluations.... man! I'm glad it's over! But I am soooooo sad. I had to say goodbye to my babies who I have had for multiple years.

About 15 of these kids were in third grade when I moved down from fifth. Then, due to numbers, I moved to fourth and kept 15 out of 18 (my smallest number ever!!). Last year, I was given the great opportunity to begin a collaborative learning pilot where I was given 1:1 iPads and the assistant superintendent and I thought it would be best to loop to fifth grade to immerse the kids into iPads as a mode of supplementing learning.  So, we did, and we became super close. I love each one of them. I can't imagine teaching a new group of kids. It's going to be so different!

So, next year I will be teaching fourth grade again (maybe a 4/5 split) and looping with those kids to fifth grade the following year. I am hoping that I will be able to take this group of students, who may or may not have used iPads in a learning environment before, and take them to a new level of iLearning. It is a challenge that I am a lil nervous, but excited to take on.

At the end of the year, the fifth grade math curriculum teaches and reviews fractions. Common core standards expect students in fifth grade to have mastered a basic understanding of fractions, equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and adding and subtracting with like denominators.  My students did not have these concepts mastered, although many did have a basic understanding with some exposure.

After reviewing and reteaching these concepts, I took my students into 5.NF.1 and we learned how to add and subtract with unlike denominators. This took a long time!  Their favorite part was singing their favorite skip counting songs to find the common denominator!  After adding and subtracting, we did a review of mixed numbers and improper fractions, then added and subtracted those. That was MUCH harder when you had to regroup a whole into the fractional pieces. 1=4/4... I thought they knew that, but when we had to regroup, I swear I had 15 heads or was speaking a foreign language because they all just stared at me.....

By the time we went into multiplication of fractions, I was so tempted to just teach them the quick version, multiply tops, multiply bottoms. BUTTTTTTTTT, I didn't. We took weeks to learn the abstract concepts and ideas.  We drew rectangles, shaded, and counted. And then, my above level students were like..."Teacher! Why are we doing that? Can't we just multiply the tops and bottoms?" I was like well, yea.

To gauge their understanding of fractions as a whole unit, I asked each student to create a mind map for fractions. They were given a list of directions to add to a popplet. This meant they had to use Smart Notebook, Jot (whiteboard app), and photos to show each concept.  I gave them about 2 math periods to work on this (about 3 hours total) and then they shared it with a neighbor to check that they had all the required parts, and they submitted it to me.

Here is how it started. With every project I ask for, I always have the students close their iPads and watch me create it first. This saves me from the millions of questions I get, most of which are repeated questions.  So I showed them what apps to use and what pieces they were required to include.

Then, I let them begin. They get to move around the room and work quietly.  They are working alone, unless they are stuck on a concept and then they can ask a friend to help them learn it. I always make sure to remind them that teaching someone who is confused is VERY different than doing it for them.

I asked them to choose a fraction that went in the middle of their popplet.

They had to draw their fraction using a model as well as a set.

They were asked to find two equivalent fractions and draw them. They used Smart Notebook to draw rectangles and show equal fractions.

They had to choose a second fraction and compare it to their chosen fraction.

They had to add a fraction with the same denominator.  Then, students added a fraction with an unlike denominator. Most students used Jot to solve the problems. They took a screenshot, and saved it to their camera roll.  They cropped it and uploaded it to Popplet.

Students did the same for subtracting fractions.

Finally they were asked to multiply fractions. They multiplied their fraction by a whole number as well as by another fraction.

When they finished their map, they had a friend check it over to make sure they completed the tasks and that they understood.

After that, they exported the popplet to the camera roll. They are connected to my Dropbox account, so they upload it to me so I can look at it and print it. I often look at the files, and grade them using a rubric or just assigning points for proper tasks/requirements. I do not always print them and grade them, or open them into an app for annotation.

This is the way I turn something fun into a summative assessment that allows me to check a student's understanding of a unit of study. I have learned through my 1:1 journey, that I can gain a lot of knowledge about understandings through projects and not only tests that are assigned.  I am hoping to use things like this to show growth for my evaluation tool next year.

Do you get evaluated using your students' growth? What tool do they use to check for growth? Do you select the assessment tool or is it district decided? Any suggestions for other ways to incorporate technology into your summative assessments?

Thanks for all you do! Don't you love when people say "enjoy your summer OFF".... like we actually get 3 months off!! We are all working, studying, learning, creating, reading, buying, and thinking! Thanks for being more than "just" a teacher!

xoxo

And.... I got too busy to remember to post.... shoot! (and some vocabulary stuff)

Hey Everyone! I am so mad that I let myself get soooooo bad about posting! How do you fellow bloggers do it?! Do you put it on your To-Do list or on the calendar? 

Anyways.... Today I am enjoying a nice UNEXPECTED day off! A SNOW DAY! We had a record blizzard here in Chicagoland, almost 20 inches of snow some places! I wouldn't really know, because I have hardly left my house! I enjoy these days because I didn't have plans to stay home. I was able to relax a little and work on some TPT products and even blog! Woo hoo!

Today I finished and posted my Context Clue QR Task Cards. 

My students are still learning English. Especially those tier 2 and 3 words they hardly use or see. I find that they do poorly on tests such as Discovery Education and Fountas and Pinnell, partly because they don't know what words mean, and don't have enough background knowledge and strategies to figure out the definition.  I feel so badly for them. Even if they know what the academic question is asking, such as "Find the simile" or "Locate the main idea", they end up getting lost in the answer choices!  Many students get frustrated because they can't say what they want to say due to a lack of vocabulary. Any one else have problems with this?

I am hoping to teach them more strategies to try to figure out a decent idea of what a word might mean.  It's ok if they don't know exactly what the definition might be, but I want them to try to select a word that is close to the definition and makes sense. This is an area I need to improve in. I need more help and ideas. I don't want them to go on without learning skills that they can use. Middle school and high school textbooks will only get increasingly harder! 

I have used foldables and flash cards to help teach vocabulary.  I've taken sentences in and out of context and tried to help students discover meanings. But, I find when they go to read independently, they struggle to apply those strategies. 

What are some strategies you guys use? I would love some ideas!

Hope you are staying warm and remembering that you are LOVED during the month of February! We do our job for the kids. Whether they say it or not, they love you, appreciate you, and care about you. The same way we feel about them! You're never "just" a teacher!

Kahoot! What a Hoot!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, this is tough to keep up with! School is in full swing, and all my extra time is spent making lessons, games, handouts, and GRADING! Ugh.... I totally dislike having to grade so much.

That is why I LOVE sites that grade things for you. I am obsessed with Socrative and use it weekly for all types of quizzes. We use it for math, vocabulary, reading, and science. Most recently I took screenshots of the science test from the unit PDF online and inserted them into Socrative. This way the students can still see and get used to the layout of a paper exam, while taking the test online. They see feedback and can use their books to find the answers. Socrative allows for differentiation. I read the test aloud to my lowest group, while the other students work at their own pace. Socrative has been a lifesaver and the kids and I couldn't be the 1:1 classroom we are without it.

While we love Socrative, the students and I can't get enough of an online game site which is OOOOO so much fun! Kahoot is such a fun site where teachers can create a quiz or survey and the students respond on a device to answer.  The teachers go to https://getkahoot.com and make up a test.  There are many(553,000 to be correct) public quizzes you can search for and use also! Once you have made up a test you can share it with your grade level partners or anyone else with an account.  In order to use Kahoot, the quiz needs to be projected onto a screen so all the players can see it. This is a MUST because the questions and answer choices do not appear on their devices. Each student needs a device also. Unless you are having them work in groups, partners, etc... I think group quizzes would be great to encourage participation and teamwork! The students can use a laptop, tablet, desktop, smartphone... That's what's so great! Kahoot works on any device!

This is what I did. 5th grade classes had read The Phantom Tollbooth. Each chapter, or part of chapter, or every other chapter... you get the idea, I created a Socrative quiz to gauge comprehension. These quizzes were open book and students worked alone. To finish the whole book, I created a Kahoot! Most of these questions were recalling details, since the students can only select a multiple choice answer.  If you have a Kahoot account, you can play my game here: Ms Klinsky's Phantom Tollbooth Kahoot .



The kids were quite excited to begin to play, only a handful had played Kahoot before with me in the summer.  Kahoot is not a hard site to explain.  The students will pick it up quite quickly. The students need to login at https://kahoot.it/#/ and enter your game pin. This is created when you select PLAY on your game. They enter in a "nickname". It asks for nickname, I tell them I want their name. I don't know all their nicknames.... This part wouldn't be helpful for grading.

Game Pin the Students Need. This changes each time you play.

Then the fun begins! Once the class is all entered in, it's time to start the first question.  The first question is the hardest, and I suggest making the time limit longer than any other question. When you first start, the students have to realize that while on their screen the answer choices are there, they are only the colors and shapes. In order to read the question and answer choices, they have to be able to see your screen.  If you keep the time limit too short on the first question, they will miss it because they don't know what to expect. I would do between 30-60 seconds for the first question, and 20-30 after that. Once all players have answered, the correct answer shows up on the screen.  This is when my students would cheer. Then came the BEST part (to them). Kahoot tells them something about their score and placement in the class. It will say something like "You are tied with Anna". Then, of course, the students start sharing and comparing and seeing who's in first place.

But, this is when being the teacher is so great... You decide when the next question starts! So while they are getting so excited to see who they are beating, I begin the question to keep the flow and keep feelings under control. 

As you see from the pictures, the kids are soooooooo engaged. My principal came in the room to see and couldn't believe how the kids were so excited to be taking a test. She asked me to present to the teachers at our staff meeting. I provided the teachers with ways they could use Kahoot in their classroom by making them play! I had questions with math facts, spelling patterns, state/continent outlines, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and our PBIS rules. When I made a Kahoot for the teacher to play, even they were yelling about who was cheating and who they were beating! It was so funny! 

After the quiz is all over, you can download results or view them. This is a much more fun way of taking, and giving, a test. The students were engaged and I know they will be excited any time I mention playing Kahoot! 

Have you ever used Kahoot? What other ways have you used it? I would love to hear your ideas! And maybe share around the games to save us all some time! We have other things to do too! We aren't "just" teachers. 

Klinsky Kafe Klassroom Reveal!

Yay! It's my fav time of the year to read people's blogs! It's classroom reveal time! I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading blog posts where teachers share their classrooms with us. I think there is so much I can learn by reading what other people do in their rooms, and trying things out myself.  So many of my ideas have come from other people's classrooms! I hope that reading this post brings you some ideas for your classroom!

I love these posters from Brown Bag Teacher.

Since my kids and I have been together for so long, we are a family.  It is important for them to push themselves to learn and to believe in themselves. Since we are a family, we push each other in healthy ways too. Many of my students will help struggling kids and remind them why the task is important. I love them :)

 

Can you name the movie this idea came from?!?!

This is my take on "Bucket Filling". I love the idea of kids complimenting each other. I think it is important for them to feel good when someone compliments them, but also that they feel good when they compliment someone else. I love Legally Blonde and anything PINK, so I took the idea of the "Snap Cups" for our class bucket filling. 

Here is our exit ticket board. With our Technology/Social Media Theme, I thought it would be fun for the students to create a "status" that shared what they learned. The kids love it because they feel like I'm "letting" them play with Facebook.

 

Here is where I post my objectives. I found this idea on Pinterest to put paper into frames and use Expo markers.  I got the frames at the Dollar Tree! 

  

Here is the area behind my desk. There were no shelves there, so I bought 2 cheap ones from Walmart and placed my teacher resource books and manuals on there. Then I decorated the tops with all my fun teacher stuff, like my princess tiara.... obviously ;)

Here is one of my bookshelves. I used the Library Level Labels from Ladybug Teacher Files. One of the best purchases, although expensive, that I have made are the book boxes from Really Good Stuff. I love how pretty they are. The kids keep them in this beautiful color order and I think they enjoy having some place to put their Daily 5 materials.

       

Here is where my students sit. We don't have desks, we have tables, and yes, we have TVs. That is a post for another day, but I am a Collaborative Learning Pilot classroom for my district. It is AWESOME, we are very lucky, and we know it. Since the students don't have desks, they keep the items they use often in a clear basket, and put their textbooks and other necessary items on a table bookshelf.

Here is one of my favorite parts in my classroom. The jobs section. With our Kafe theme, I came up with jobs that would exist in a real cafe.  Each week the jobs rotate.  So far, everyone wants to be the "Boss".  My favorite is the Barista, because I love hearing my kids use the word. I feel like I'm at Starbucks. 

Next to the class jobs, you see a lil iPad, with Jail Bars.... yea, that's our iPad Jail. Kids get into that when they don't do their homework or follow iPad directions. They don't like it so there haven't been too many in it yet this year. 

Here is my alphabet from Nicole Swisher. I love the character traits on there!

    

Here are my writing bulletin boards. The iWrite board is from Brown-Bag Teacher (I love her). I'm hoping this help my kids keep track of where they are in the writing process and compare how they are moving along to other students. It will help me because with the kids picking Work on Writing at all different times, it's hard for me to always know who is doing what when.... 

The VOICES board is something I made to help the students select a goal to work on for writing. I will use it similarly to the CAFE board, where the students will select a focus for their writing.  The file is available in my TPT store. 

Here are my station boards. Every morning the students select their choices for Daily 5 ELA. They pick all 5, in any order. There is a sign I put up if the day is different than usual, such as: No daily 5 because of an assembly, or only pick 3 because we are working on a project.  If students go to an intervention, they also don't pick all 5, but they know what to do.  I use the little accents, which are labeled with the Daily 5 names. They also have a number on them. The students find their "Magic Number" and they select the 5 using the 5 accents. 

For math stations, they select based on groups. Each table has a pan (dollar tree pizza pan spray painted). They select 2-3 stations for the day. I teach 3 mini lessons and they go to 3 stations to complete tasks. 

All around my room I have chairs, beanbags, pillows, and blankets. I feel the kids learn better if they are able to be comfortable. My students take off their shoes, cuddle up with a buddy, lay under tables and chairs, and climb under my back shelf with a pillow to read and complete work. They love it! I can usually see them, and they will always tell me if someone is not working! They feel like they are at home, and that is how I like my classroom to be, a home.

  

Here is my beautiful iPad cart :) I love this :) I am so lucky :) Awww :) 

The iPad signs on the front of the cart are the iPad rules I made to match our school's PBIS rules: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, and Be a Defender. They are available in my TPT Store as well. 

The cart with wheels next to the iPad cart, houses chargers and other items for the iPads and MacBooks. Those labels can be found in my store as well.

My students each have a locker. This comes in handy since they do not have a desk. The locker not only holds backpacks and jackets, but notebooks, folders, and other materials we don't use every day. I made the little iPads for the fronts of the lockers.  They say "iAm so "App"y to be in 5K". They have the students' names under them so I know whose locker is whose. At the bottom, the students have the word cloud they created on the first day of school.  They used an App called Word Clouds, and told me the things they like most. They saved the finished Cloud to photos and uploaded it to me using Dropbox. Then I printed them and they glued them on "Fancy" paper. 

This is outside my classroom. My mom had the brilliant idea of finding a bistro set to put outside the "Kafe". She also wrote the sign that welcomed the kids on the first day. 

On the first day, the students took their own picture using our Photo Booth. I got this from Diary of a 21st Century Teacher. The kids LOVED IT! We used the pictures to do a writing activity where they learned how to use #hashtags. Some got it, and others are still working on it...

                                      

We put all of our pictures onto our class Instagram Board. 

I have to say that I had some amazing help to get this classroom ready.  

I have former students who come back every summer to help me. Yair (I promised him a shout-out) is a sophomore this year and was probably in my room for 10 hours total doing whatever I asked of him. Except for putting up my alphabet when he said to me, "Miss, I know how you are, I'm not gonna do it straight..." He knows me well... I am a perfectionist. 

My mom is the kind of person who I don't have to even tell what to do. She comes in and knows what I need done and does it. She does bulletin boards and tells me when mine are not straight or even. She scouring Goodwill for me finding the items I need to make my classroom what I want. 

And I even had my boyfriend come in to help do some high bulletin boards that required a ladder. He knows how I am too, so when I would say to move the border over just a lil centimeter so it would match the other one, he did it without complaining :) 

I have family members who send school supplies and prizes so that I don't have to spend any more money than I do.

The custodians at my school worked long hours and longer days to make sure our classrooms were clean and ready.  They are so undervalued. I owe them BIG TIME.

I am so lucky to be blessed with such a great group of kids, teachers, and friends. They know that to me, this isn't a job, it's my passion. I'm not "just" a teacher.  They make me love my job more every day. I look forward to making this year, their best ever.  

Good luck with the year :) enjoy it yourself, and the kids will enjoy it too!

A Kid's Favorite Day (Their Birthday)

Birthdays!

Kids always want to celebrate their birthdays! (Well I think adults enjoy it too...) (That is, those who aren't going through severe denial that they turned 29.1 this year) (And no, it's not me... I don't know what you're talking about...)

I have a summer birthday, so I didn't get to celebrate during the school year, but I remember a good friend of mine bringing me balloons on January 20th, during school, to celebrate my half birthday.  She too had a summer birthday, and as kids, it always stunk to not get to bring in cupcakes and treat bags! I can think back and remember kids bringing in all kinds of treats to share on their special day. I remember teachers doing something special for the birthday child. Maybe a special hat, desk, pencil, or a "No Homework" pass (those were the favs I'm sure!)

But, as a teacher, it's always heartbreaking to watch the parents who bring in a cake, chips, drinks, gifts, goody bags and balloons for their child, and then to see the kid who doesn't even know it's their birthday. We aren't "JUST" teachers, and these students become like our own children. In the area where I teach, the students don't "celebrate" their birthday the way I remember celebrating mine as a child.  I have students who don't know when their birthday is for sure.  This summer, I had two girls whose birthday is around mine. One of them told me that her family didn't get a cake because they didn't have enough money that week, but that maybe next week they would and then she would invite me over. Another girl told me that no one wished her "Happy Birthday".  It broke my heart. I asked her if maybe her family just forgot, and she replied, no, they knew, but no one told me. I felt so badly for them.  How sad to feel like that at the age of 10.  So, the three of us all celebrated our birthday together! I brought cupcakes, lit a candle, sang to each of them separately, and then let them blow out the candle.  It made their whole day :) It's such a great feeling when you make a difference in the life of a child.

At the beginning of the year, when I put their birthdays up on a chart, or on a balloon treat, some of my students don't know when their birthday is because they don't usually celebrate it.  Now I am THAT teacher, who runs out to a grocery store at lunch, buys treats, and they "magically" appear in the office with a note that says, To: ________ for their birthday to share with class.  They never know that they came from me. I have a wonderful secretary who will say something like, "Oh yea, I forgot who brought them, but it was someone you know!" 

But, let me tell you, that gets expensive, and I can't do that for every kid.  I try to do it for 2-3 kids a year. I choose them based on who I think would really appreciate a special treat and who may never get to pass out a treat or celebrate their birthday at home.  

For every kid, I try to do something for their special day. Some years it has been a pencil, a candy, a certificate... But then last year, I hit the jackpot! After looking on Pinterest (it has TOTALLY changed my teaching career), I found a cute way to make lil paper balloons and stick them to the top of a pencil or Pixy Stix.  Now, I couldn't just have a regular Pixy Stix.... I am a "The More, The Merrier" kind of gal. So I bought the GINORMOUS Pixy Stix from Sam's Club. Now, just let me tell you that I become the world's coolest teacher last year. The kids were like, "Wow! No way! That's huge!" They LOVED them.  So needless to say, I am repeating the same thing this year. That's what I'm working on now.

I used Powerpoint to make a balloon shape, typed in the message, and printed them onto printed cardstock. 

I staple them to the top of a Pixy Stix and place them in a big candy jar looking thing... yes, so specific....

The first or second day of school, I write the name and birthday of each child on the top of the paper, and stick them in the candy jar. They sit there..... all year..... until it's the child's birthday.... They can barely handle the suspense for the first month or until the first birthday comes up and SOMEONE gets to take the big sugar filled stick home with them.

Go to my TPT store for a free download of the template I use for these!

 Klinsky Kafe Balloon Template

Soooooooooo, when the day comes, and it is a child's birthday, this is what goes down.

1. They tell me it's their birthday.

2. I tell them to remind me at the end of the day to give them their gift when we are ready to leave (because I can barely remember anything most days).

3. Someone reminds me at the end of the day, sometimes more than once because I forget and am cramming more into the last 5 minutes of our day.

4. The birthday student stands in the front.

5. We all sing Happy Birthday, terribly off-key, but NO ONE CARES!

6. I dance around and swing the Pixy Stix like I am conducting a choir.

7. We finish singing, some kids continue with the rest of the birthday song we all sang as a child about Scooby Doo and Channel 2. 

8. The kid takes home the Pixy Stix and paper balloon so that they are only insanely hyped on sugar for their family and not for me ;) 

Now, for summer birthdays, I usually do them the last week of school. Each child still gets their own time to shine, so we sing Happy Birthday like 10 times that week.  I've also considered doing summer birthday celebrations on their half birthdays. What do you think?

So that's how I celebrate birthdays, but sometimes I still feel like I want to incorporate more.  Do you do anything special for the kids?  I was thinking maybe that would be a good time to do a Star of the Week letter or something like that.... Any ideas?! Please share them below!

Good luck on the first week back, whenever that is for you! Thank you for being more than "just" a teacher!

xoxo