Monuments & Mysteries: An Innovative Jigsaw In Language Education

At Northwest High School, AP Spanish teacher Ginger Cline is doing more than teaching a language. She works hard to truly connect her students to the cultures of the people who speak the target language -- that takes intentionality and innovation. Fortunately for her students, she is committed to both.

In addition to language, culture can be found in the stories told and monuments recognized. Whether a globally-celebrated landmark or simply a local treasure, monuments hold meaning, and by learning about them we can learn more about the culture and ideas that they represent. That said, it would be impossible to teach every student about every meaningful monument across Spanish-speaking cultures. That’s why for this assignment Mrs. Cline put a few engaging twists on a tried and true method -- the jigsaw method.

The traditional jigsaw method works like a puzzle. First, students take on the role of investigator and teacher; they work in small groups to understand and become experts on a part of the overall collection of information before then teaching their small part to their peers. Even though students are initially only responsible for learning and teaching one part, through the presentations at the end, all students have the exposure to and opportunity to learn all of the material. Because students have become experts on part of the information with the purpose of teaching others, this process gives students ownership in their learning.


But more than exposure, Mrs. Cline also wanted her students to create and to have a cross-class collection of student-created resources that they could look back on for this information. That required some creativity on her part. Here is what they did:

Students selected a monument they were interested in and were tasked with creating a screencast about that monument in their target language (Spanish) that both introduced the monument and explained the story behind it. Then, students shared their screencasts on a collaborative Padlet. By having students create screencasts in their target language, Mrs. Cline was able to assess each student’s language learning through an authentic product.

The next step was to bring the learning together. Through Padlet all students could access and watch each video, but Mrs. Cline motivated them to do so by creating BINGO boards based on the videos students created. Playing BINGO together not only ensured that students would watch the videos, but that students’ had an authentic audience in their peers. Students could also see the relevancy in their purpose for creating -- knowing someone will see your work and find value in it makes learning more meaningful.

Mrs. Cline’s Mysteries and Monument Bingo is a reminder that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to be innovative, but you do have to push the boundaries of tradition. She started with an established, sound teaching strategy -- she kept the most valuable parts and then skillfully integrated technology to create a deeper and more meaningful learning experience for her students.

The Power of Learning by Experience!

This past spring, students in Mrs. Hayes Business Information Management class experienced the power of learning by experience! Students not only ran their own sports and entertainment business through simulation, but organized their research and experience in a cumulative Google Site.

Martha, currently a Sophomore in the Steele Collegiate Academy ran a successful business and learned a lot along the way. While the research and formative quizzes were an important part of Martha's learning, she truly enjoyed the Google Site as it was her means of reflection. "My Google Site allowed me to communicate everything about my business," commented Martha. "It helped my organize and highlight important information. It also helped me convey my learning in terms that those who didn't know about business could understand." Martha utilized Google Sites to it's full potential as she carefully chose images that would appeal to her audience and used captions to explain their importance.

Perhaps the most personal and powerful aspect of Martha's site, was her use of Screencastify to explain her learning and the development of her business. Screencastify was a new tool for Martha. She points out, "I hadn’t used Screencastify before. A junior came in and showed us what Screencastify was and how to use it. I wasn't sure at first, but it ended up being really easy and made my website more interactive and personal." Martha also pointed out that the purpose of her video and website was not simply to show how she passed the simulation, but to truly explain the business to others. Check out one of Martha's videos:

According to Martha, the most challenging part of this project was the business simulation "The quizzes and reading were pretty easy, but passing the simulation was probably the hardest part. It’s not a memorization portion, but it is skills based." the fact that students had to problem solve and make decisions during the simulation, led to a meaningful and reflective experience. 

Martha Sharing Her ePortfolio and
Project at Steele Showcase

Martha has since added this project to her personal ePortfolio and had the opportunity to share with community members and other students at Steele's 2018 Spring Showcase. She also has earned several certifications last year, one being the Entrepreneurship for Small Business Certification. "I got a 650 out of 700 the first time, but then I sat down with my friend Cassie and we went through what we knew and taught each other. I retook the test and past." Martha also went through Lynda.com courses to study for her certifications.

"When I first started the Business Information Management course, I didn’t think I’d enjoy it," said Martha. "Now, I’m planning to be in Coach Hayes course next year. I can see myself being in a career like this in the future, but regardless I learn so much"

Link to View Martha's Sports and Entertainment Project

There are Actually Three Sides to Every Story!

6th grade students at Tidwell MS will not forget this year's triangle unit! This unit was not only informative, but also hands on and  engaging. Students started the unit by learning how to use Geogebra to create triangles. Then, students created a product of their choice (book, comic strip, brochure, etc.) that would allow them to share their learning of triangles with others. Another neat aspect of this project was that students learned how to construct and build triangles from other students. Students in the 6th GT math class created video screencasts showing how to use Geogera and how to create triangles with the correct angles. They compiled their videos on a Padlet wall that was shared with the rest of the 6th grade math classes.

Taidghen, Taylor, Elijah, and Yaleiza from Mrs. Lahit's class got a lot out of this project. "I really enjoyed creating the triangles on Geogebra," said Yaleiza. "I learned that triangles are more than just a shape with three sides. There are many different types of triangles, but you only know the type based on the angle sizes. I also learned that you can not have two obtuse angles within a triangle, or two right angles." This project made students think about triangle properties during creation. Elijah points out, "The most difficult part of the project was making the equilateral triangle in Geogebra because you had to make sure to get all of the sides the same."

Creating Specific Triangles in Geogebra

Taylor and Taidghen loved the choice and creation aspect of the project. Taidghen comments, "I liked making my project stand out. I came up with statements for my book that would help others understand triangles in kid friendly words." Taidghen enjoyed Book Creator as his creation platform because it gave him plenty of options such as inserting images and shapes, as well as choosing specific fonts, backgrounds, and colors. Taidghen even utilized the drawing feature to point out matching and opposing angles within his book.

Projects were turned in on a Padlet wall, which allowed students to see each other's work. "I enjoyed seeing how other students used Book Creator differently than I did," said Taidghen. Yaleiza added, "I enjoyed looking at the Powtoons that some of my other classmates created. The Padlet helped us see all of the ways that we could have shared our knowledge."

All four of these students agreed that next year's 6th graders should complete this project. Taylor mentions, "Next year's class should do this project because it's a chance to be creative while learning." Elijah concludes,"This is a great project because you really learn about all of the triangles and the theorems."

• Taidghen's Project Link
• Yaleiza's Project Link
• Elijah's Project Link
• Taylor's Project Link

Student Created Tutorials for Using Geogebra:

Student ISTE Standards:

Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.

• 6a:Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
• 6c: Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations.
• 6d: Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

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.

• 1c: Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

Teaching Your Future Forgetful Self

From homework, to extra-curriculars, lunch, friendships/other relationships, as well as chores and other duties at home, so much "life" happens in between today's class period and tomorrow's. Units of study are typically scheduled to end on Fridays so that students can cultivate skills throughout the week and test on Friday with the weekend being a mental break and a new unit/topic starting the following Monday. As much as a week-long Thanksgiving Break is desired, it occurred in the middle of a 7th Grade Math Unit causing Medlin Middle School teachers, N. James and B. Salazar, to get creative in overcoming this potential forgetfulness.

Following a rigorous Scope-and-Sequence, students began studying TEKS 11A (model and solve one-variable, two-step equations and inequalities) and 11B (determine if the given value(s) make(s) one-variable, two-step equations and inequalities true) with only three days remaining before Break. In having this unit resume upon return, James and Salazar wanted to find a way for students to not only learn the foundational skills within the limited time, but also retain the information post-break to maximize instructional time focused on next-steps with minimal review.

What better way to remember content than become your own future self's tutor! To do so, students were tasked with creating a video tutorial utilizing Sketch IO and Screencastify that included the following requirements.

Multiple scaffolds were put in place to ensure students were reinforcing correct information. To start, these on-level students were allowed to be in groups no larger than 3 so peer-teaching could be utilized to support and clarify learning. Additionally, students were tasked with prewriting a script which encouraged planning and preparation instead of an on-the-fly performance; furthermore, this script had to include a few Key Terms in order to provide structure to the video whose remaining components were largely decided by student-choice.

Upon return from the week-long Thanksgiving Break, students had access to their own tutorial as well as a shared Google Folder containing their classmate's videos. This repository was valuable because students could hear and see explanations in student-friendly language from multiple viewpoints and problem sets. Creation of this video is at the highest level of Blooms Taxonomy in which students must synthesize information to create their own original work. Through creating a tutorial to teach yourself and others, students not only had to remember, understand, and apply these math concepts, but then use this to analyze the required steps and evaluate their order and purpose so that they could formulate this video. Applying higher level thinking commonly solidifies the learning to long-term memory so that instruction could resume right where they left off before Break with the tutorial videos available for memory jogging and review.

This activity meets ISTE's standard of being a 'Knowledge Constructor' in which "Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions." (3c)

Dear Future 4th Graders...

Fourth grade students in Ms. Doroodchi’s math class at Beck Elementary were recently given the challenge of creating instructional videos for their peers and future fourth graders. With their recent studies on division and understanding remainders, the problem solving block transformed into a time of creating and explaining their thinking. To say they were excited about the task would be an understatement. 

Initially, students worked in groups and were tasked with writing and solving original word problems that would require the use of their division skills. The group captain was responsible for composing the word problem, while other group members solved the problem and analyzed the remainder.

In preparation for making the instructional video, students were introduced to Aww App. The digital whiteboard allowed students the opportunity to practice solving problems on their Chromebook. The first day students spent time simply exploring Aww App and the available tools. The initial problems solved were generated by the teacher and students used applicable tools to solve the problem and justify their thinking. Aww App provides students with the ability to add text, images, and their own annotations with drawing and shape tools. Students utilized different tools throughout their exploration depending on need.

Screencastify was used to create the final recording of their instructional video. Used in conjunction with Aww App, students were able to share their word problem and show the steps necessary for solving the problem all while explaining and justifying themselves verbally along the way. Sophia was especially excited about the project saying, “I love how easy it is to record and share. Instead of sharing your work in front of the class with your math journal, you have your work ready to be shown on the big screen”. 

This project provided students with the opportunity to demonstrate several ISTE Standards for Students. The empowered learner “leverages technology to take an active role in choosing, achieving and demonstrating competency in their learning goals”. Additionally, the creative and global communicator strands were addressed as students published content for an intended audience and collaborated within groups in their classroom.

Annotation Videos for the Win

Eaton High School students are using features on their Chromebooks to take an active role in their learning. One method to capture their understanding is video; examples include students recording themselves talking through their thinking, recording each other conducting interviews, creating screencasts, and so much more. This article features a unique method of using digital tools to explain their understanding of processes: a digital whiteboard combined with a screencast recorder. Two classes, Geometry and Chemistry, use this strategy to enable students to collaborate on how to solve a problem and then verbally explain the solution while annotating to show details step-by-step.

In Geometry class, students work in groups to create their own word problem to solve a missing component of a right triangle using trigonometry functions. Each group rolled dice to find two numerical components and drew a playing card to determine if the trig function is basic trig or inverse trig. Given just these three simple components, students constructed a unique word problem to introduce a scenario with a missing piece that needed to be solved. Students then worked through solving the problem, each group member providing part of the solution in the video. Once complete, each group submitted their video in Moodle and the next day each class watched all the videos to verify accuracy and vote on the winning video of the class. This activity provided an opportunity for students to be creative in their learning and provide peer feedback on their work.

Geometry Video #1

Geometry Video #2

In Chemistry class, students work together to predict the products of a chemical reaction. Each group is given only the chemical reactants and must combine several steps: identify the type of reaction, predict the chemical products that will be formed, and balance the equation. After first working through the chemical reaction on paper and getting it verified by the teacher, students then recorded their solution using the whiteboard and screencast tools, each student explaining a portion of the solution with their reasoning. Once complete, each group added their video to a shared class Google Slide, in which each slide represented one chemical reaction. This activity provided students the opportunity to work through several steps of a solution from beginning to end, demonstrate their understanding, and contribute to a class set of video explanations. This collective document was then available to all students as a review to help them work through similar problems while preparing for an upcoming exam.

Chemistry Video #1

Chemistry Video #2

These activities are aligned with ISTE Student Standards:

1. 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.
1a. Articulate and set personal learning goals, develop strategies leveraging technology to achieve them and reflect on the learning process itself to improve learning outcomes.
1c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.

6. Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
6a. Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
6b. Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
6d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.

Visit www.iste.org to learn more about the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

A Digitized Novel Study

Third graders at Beck Elementary recently completed their reading of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Throughout the reading of this novel, students were tasked with maintaining a digital notebook that would document their discussions, experiences, and learning. 

Students responded to the text in a variety of ways. Getting to know the key characters in the book provided students with the opportunity to analyze character traits that could be supported with text evidence. Beckett, in Mrs. Bell’s class, said, “using different apps, like the whiteboard app, helped us have evidence for our thoughts and allows us show response in pictures and drawing.” Digital tools, such as, the Aww App and Tagul were introduced to students as a way for them to share their thinking about the novel’s characters. 

Mrs. Phillips’ student, Wyatt, felt challenged throughout his work on his digital notebook and his Recap responses. “The most challenging part of our digital novel study was the questions were really tricky and you had to really think and deeply analyze the novel to understand it.” Responding to their reading verbally, using Recap, encouraged students to think deeply about their responses. It was especially empowering for their voices to be heard by their peers as they shared their recorded responses.

An extension menu was also provided to students to access throughout the study. This menu provided students with choice as they responded to their reading in a variety of ways. Support for completing the tasks on the extension menu was provided by the teachers via Screencastify. Instructional videos created by the teacher allowed students to work independently, at their own pace. The extension menu exposed students to new tech tools and provided differentiated learning experiences to students based on their strengths and needs.

On any given day, throughout the novel study, students within their classrooms could be found working on projects of their choice in response to their reading using Buncee, Google Docs, Google Slides and a variety of other digital tools. With choices on the extension menu such as: creating a personal intriguing word wall from each chapter, keeping a summary journal from their reading, publishing a “must read” newspaper article and designing a digital poster to represent a character, it was no surprise that student engagement was through the roof. 

As their reading of the novel came to a close, students had choice again in their final product. Options included creating a book trailer, writing a reader’s theater script or creating an interview with the main character, Edward. These risk-free tasks provided students with a platform to create and collaborate on their learning from the novel study. Some of these tools used to complete these projects were Animoto, DoInk and Canva. Students added their final product as a slide to their digital journal. 

Loseli, also in Mrs. Bell’s classroom, found this project to be good preparation for future learning. “The digital notebook enhanced my learning by introducing me to new websites that can help me with more of my extension projects or more of my learning throughout the year.”

Additional student notebooks can be viewed HERE.

Digital Review of a Math CBA

Students and teachers both feel the pressures of Curriculum Based Assessments or better known as CBA's. It is a time where students show what they have learned over a longer period of time. Fifth graders at Sendera Ranch Elementary were challenged by their math teachers, Mrs.Courtney Baker and Mrs Tracie Gomez, to display, explain, and justify mathematical ideas and arguments using precise mathematical language in written or oral communications that would help students to review and study for the next CBA in a new way.

First, the teacher deconstructed the review questions into three modules and assigned them to groups of students. Each group received five review problems that represented each module. Students downloaded the questions from Google Classroom to their Google Drive and imported them into the interactive whiteboard application called Educreations. In Educreations students created HOW TO videos using the annotation tools and voice recording features. Using this web based digital tool made it easy for students to demonstrate to their teacher they could solve the problem and show their work digitally. Below are pictures of Kristopher and Maverick as they are recording their Educreations videos.

 

Once the student was done with their video, the next tool used on the Chromebook was Screencastify. Screencastify was used to capture the tutorial video with easy integration into Google Drive as it saved the video for future use. Google Drive allowed the students the ability to set the shareable settings to allow others to view the videos. Click the image below to view Jack’s tutorial video showing the problem solving process for problem #12.

Jack stated, “This was an awesome way for me to send work to my teacher. It made learning math FUN!”

Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez wanted to have something published that could be sent home to parents to provide help to their student before the CBA. Teachers also know the importance for students to provide peer feedback with written communication and doing this digitally enhanced the learning. Students created a Google Document where they embedded their Screencastify video and shared the doc with their group where students added detailed peer feedback. Students not only saw their peers comments, but they could go back and make any corrections needed based on feedback for the final production that would be published. Below is a copy of Kayden's Google Doc with peer feedback. Kaden states, “I like to read the feedback so I can make changes. Also, look at the time the comments were made, some of them were after school.” Mrs. Baker and Mrs. Gomez were so impressed with the students focus and dedication to the project. With the help of the Google Tools, this project extended to well past the school day and students were able to log into their Google Account from home and continue to learn.

 

The final published product is a compilation of student tutorial videos. A Google Slideshow was created and teachers gave all the students in class editing rights. Each student had their own slide where they embedded their video and a link to their video. Once the Slideshow was complete, the teachers published and emailed it out for reviewing outside the classroom walls. Click the image below to access the final product that was sent home this past Friday.

 

 

When I asked Kaden what he liked about this type of project he stated, “Normally I do not like computers, but the Chromebook makes things easy to organize, record, and do many things at one time.” Kayden added, “after reading through my peer feedback I knew I should have made the denominators equal.”

Maverick stated, “I know I am going to do well on this CBA.”

The amazing part of this project is just how fast the students have adjusted to the 1:1 environment. All of these skills were accomplished within ten days of the Chromebooks becoming deployed on this campus. ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) emphasizes skills and qualities we want for students, enabling them to engage and thrive in a connected, digital world. This project met the ISTE Standard of Knowledge Constructor in which students critically curated a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produced creative artifacts and made meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others.

Remixing the Retake

When students do not perform as well as they would have liked on their first attempt of an assessment, they can request a "reteach-retake" for another opportunity to learn the content and demonstrate their understanding. Traditionally, quiz and test retakes are modified forms of the original assessments, either on paper or as a Moodle quiz. As future ready creative communicators, we want students to (1) choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication and (2) create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations (ISTE Student Standards 6a & 6b). What if students were given the option to decide how they demonstrate their learning, using any tool available?

Math students at Eaton HS are taking this approach. Instead of repeating the assessment in a similar format as the original assessment, students are utilizing technology to demonstrate their learning, given the grading rubric and a deadline. These constraints dictate the destination; students decide their own path how they get there, with great success.

Student quiz retake sample 1:

"My mom recorded the video as I talked through it and showed what I was doing. The video retakes makes it easier because you don't have to be at school to do it; you can do it anywhere. I feel like I learned it better than a paper retake because I was able to explain it; to explain it you have to know what you're doing." ~Algebra II student

Student quiz retake sample 2:

"We didn't have to do every single problem, so we worked them together. Each student separated their own problems in a box and worked through the problems and answers. We used the drawing tool to insert boxes and lines, including a number line. I felt like I understood the problems better than when I do a normal quiz retake because we helped each other work though the problems."
~Algebra II Student

Student quiz retake sample 3:

"You get your paper test back and all the questions you got wrong are marked wrong. So I went to the sketchpad website with a stylus and wrote the problem I got wrong, showed how to work the problem, and showed the right answer at the bottom. At the same time, I recorded myself speaking through the Chromebook what I did wrong, why I got it wrong, and how to do it correctly. So I know in the future how to do it correctly." ~Algebra II Student

Using their choice of technology to demonstrate their understanding in a different way has resulted in increased engagement and understanding, meanwhile building skills students need to become creative communicators.

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Tools used in the student samples above:

• Phone camera + YouTube (sample 1)
• Google Drawings (sample 2)
• Sketchpad+Screencastify (sample 3)

Other resources:

• Grading rubric used by the teacher
• NISD Secondary Grading Guidelines (including reteach-retake guidelines)
• Tools that Make IT Click: searchable database of NISD-vetted tools for students and educators