Powerful Little Books - Perfect for Little Hands

A few days ago I received a special package in the mail, one that I had been eagerly anticipating. It was a collection of 11 adorable little books written by my friend and colleague Pat Calfee and illustrated by her 5-year old granddaughter Issy Gee. As I pulled those precious books out of their zippered pouch and held them in my hands, I decided that I had to share the story of the “Issy Books” with you. But instead of telling you myself, I asked Pat to share her story in her own words. I know you’ll be inspired by it! ~ Laura

The Creation of The Issy Books 
Guest blog post by Pat Calfee

As a lifelong educator, becoming a grandmother was one of the most exciting events in my entire life.  I could not wait to do all of the fun things to “stimulate” their little minds. The fun times just kept getting better and better. We spent our time together reading books, playing with play dough, singing songs, dancing, coloring and painting.   Becoming a “Gigi” was the best thing ever!

One of my granddaughters, Isybilla, displayed a unique gift for drawing from a very early age. She loved drawing and painting and would create drawings way beyond her years. Everyone was always amazed at the paintings that Issy would create with very little effort. Issy wanted to draw all the time and would always proudly present members of the family with her treasures as personal gifts. She was a born artist and we all knew it!

My daughter suggested that I use my background as a primary teacher and reading specialist to write books for Issy to illustrate. This sounded like a great idea….and this is where the adventure began!

First, Issy made a list of animal characters that she wanted to draw and even included their sassy names.  She named Flossie the Flamingo, Webster the Spider, Snappy the Crab and her own Boston Terrier, Bam Bam, plus many more! In all, I wrote and she illustrated ten stories about characters straight from her imagination!

Powerful Motivators for Reading 
As we started putting the stories and the illustrations together, we saw that we really had created something very powerful. The stories were perfect for beginning readers with controlled vocabulary and the use of sight words. The illustrations were perfect to lead young readers as they used “picture clues.” And we knew that beginning readers would love the colorful illustrations that were obviously created by someone their own age. What better way to get beginning readers motivated to practice reading!

Of course we loved the books ourselves, but it was only when others began sharing their stories with us that we realized how amazing they really are. Just a few days ago I was contacted by one of my friends, a retired elementary educator, after she received a full set of The Issy Books and shared them with her two grandchildren.  She told us how excited her kindergarten grandson was to have “just right” books to read.  He reads the books to his little sister and is so proud. My friend told me how both children loved the stories, the animal characters and most of all… the pictures!  He is so amazed that someone his age drew the illustrations. Her grandson wants to read the books over and over, and his little sister wants to hear the books read over and over! I then realized just how powerful these little books are in the small hands of beginning readers.

Where to Find the Issy Books
After Issy and I created our first book together, her mother and I began looking for a publisher for the series. We were excited when Brigantine Media agreed to publish them, and the finished books have delighted us all. They even created a website for the Issy Books (www.issybooks.com), where you can see all 11 books and download a complete copy of Snappy the Crab. Because the books are emergent readers, you’ll also find suggestions on the website for how to use them to help children learn to read. Issy also has a Facebook page that you can like to see pictures of her and where you can follow her adventures as a young illustrator.

We still can’t believe that a granddaughter and a grandmother could join forces to become an illustrator and an author.  But that’s exactly what Issy and Gigi did!  Stay tuned…there are more Issy Books being planned.

Pat Calfee is an educational consultant with 29 years experience as a teacher, curriculum coordinator, and staff developer.  Pat has a reading certification and has trained many teachers in the use of effective reading strategies.  She has a passion for helping teachers at all levels discover new and innovative ways to deliver instruction and instill a love for reading in young hearts and minds. 

Cooperative Learning - More Than Group Work

Did you know that there's a difference between cooperative learning and group work? I'll bet you thought those two terms were synonymous, but they're not. Let me show you how they are worlds apart.

Does this scenario sound familiar? The teacher assigns a group project, outlines the task, and gives a deadline for completion. Students are expected to work together and participate equally, but we all know what happens. The self-appointed leader takes over, makes all the decisions, and does most of the work. Other team members may contribute, but some do nothing or even become a distraction to the real work. When the final project is turned in, everyone gets the same grade no matter what they contributed to the project.

But what I just described is NOT cooperative learning. The scenario I described above is nothing more than unstructured group work, and there’s nothing research-based about it. No wonder it still gets a bad rap in some educational circles!

But if that's not cooperative learning, what does cooperative learning look like? I discovered the answer to this almost 20 years ago when I was first trained in the "structural" approach to cooperative learning developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan. In this model, academic tasks are structured or divided so that everyone participates equally and all students are held accountable. Dr. Kagan developed a wide variety of structures that have since been adopted by teachers all over the world, strategies that take the "group work" out of cooperative learning. I began implementing these strategies in my own classroom and found them to be extremely effective.

Easy Team Discussion Strategies

Introducing accountability and rules of equal participation can be as easy as changing to a new team discussion format. Remember the scenario I mentioned above in which one person on the team does all the work? The same thing often happens in a team discussion when a teacher asks students to “talk it over with your team.” The assertive students dominate the discussion and the shy ones never have an opportunity to talk.

To equalize participation in team discussions, try one of these strategies:

• Around the Team - Place students in teams of 4 or 5 and have them number off in order around the team. After you pose a question, students take turns responding in numerical order. To provide even more structure, give each team member a certain amount of time to respond such as 30 seconds or a minute.
• Pairs Discuss & Teams Share - Pair students with one discussion partner and have them first discuss a topic together, and then share their ideas with the whole team. When two students talk to each other, it's more likely that they will both have a chance to express their ideas. Then when they talk with the team, all four ideas can be presented. 
• Talking Sticks - Use objects such as plastic chips or craft sticks to equalize participation. Dr. Kagan suggests chips, but I use craft sticks because those chips roll everywhere! I assign a discussion leader, and that role changes for each new discussion question. The leader gives each student 3 sticks to hold during the discussion. When a question is presented, students who want to respond place a craft stick into a plastic cup. When students run out of sticks, they have to be quiet and listen to the rest of their teammates until all sticks are in the cup. When all of the sticks have been used, the leader passes them out again and the discussion continues where it left off. 

From Structured Discussions to "Real" Discussions
The structural approach to cooperative learning encourages a high level of structure at first, with a gradual transition to less structure as students learn to work effectively in teams. As a case in point, the three methods described above are great ways to begin teaching your kids how to participate in a team discussion. However, because they are so structured, they are really just the first steps. The Common Core Speaking and Listening Standards require students to connect their ideas to others and to build upon other's ideas in a discussion, which is a skill that must be taught explicitly. To read strategies that address more advanced discussion skills, read my post Teaching Kids How to Have REAL Discussions.  

Keep Discussions Focused with Question Cards

Another tip for effective discussions is to create question task cards to keep the discussion focused and moving along. Stack the cards face down in the middle of the team. The discussion leader flips over the top card, reads the question, and opens the topic for discussion.

You can use question cards in almost any subject area. to see examples of the types of questions that work well, take a look at my Talking Sticks Discussion cards shown here.

I have also created sets of Talking Sticks question cards based on Common Core Informational Text and Literature Standards for each grade level, Kindergarten through 5th grade. You can find all of my Common Core Talking Sticks packs in my TpT store.

Where to Learn More about Structured CL
Do you see how easy it is to make a few simple changes that will drastically increase accountability and participation? When you learn a few of the basics, you’ll be amazed at how simple it is to change group work into cooperative learning. If you are not familiar with Dr. Kagan's structural approach to cooperative learning, I highly recommend his book, Kagan Cooperative Learning, as the definitive resource on this topic. In addition to learning more about effective team discussions, you’ll discover a wealth of cooperative learning structures to bring order to what might otherwise turn into chaos in the classroom.

I also recommend receiving several days of training from Kagan Professional Development to help you learn how to implement these strategies. One thing I loved about the training was the opportunity to experience the strategies and practice them during the workshop. The time just flew by and the whole experience was nothing short of transformative. I went from being burned out on teaching to fired up in the classroom! In fact, I embraced these strategies so fully that I ended up writing 5 cooperative learning books that were published by Kagan. You can see all of my books below and click here to find them all on the Kagan website.

Believe it or not, many educators are still skeptical about the benefits of cooperative learning. However, it's not cooperative learning that's the problem - it's poor implementation that turns teamwork into "group work." I used cooperative learning in my classroom for over 20 years and found it to be the very best way to actively engage students and keep them focused on instruction. As I worked with Dr. Kagan’s structural approach, I began to apply the principles of accountability and equal participation to my own instructional practices to ensure that each cooperative task was a learning opportunity for all. As I internalized these principals, I was able to create my own effective cooperative learning strategies. If you are one of those skeptics, I invite you to explore some of the resources in this blog post to discover the benefits of teamwork in the classroom. You can also explore the resources on the cooperative learning pages on my Teaching Resources website to discover strategies that are engaging as well as extremely effective.

Kagan Cooperative Learning books by Laura Candler
Click the image below to visit a page with links to all titles.

For more information on these cooperative learning titles, click on the links below.

Exploring the Rain Forest

Wee Science

Science Buddies

Hands-On Science

Discovering Decimals

The Power of Audio Books

Most kids love to listen to audio books, but did you know that this practice is also extremely effective for improving reading comprehension and fluency? I discovered this well-kept secret a few years ago when I started using audio books with my struggling readers. I was using Classroom Book Clubs in my classroom on a regular basis, but I was experiencing a problem when it came to book selection. Many of my 5th graders were signing up to be in groups with difficult books that I knew they couldn't read on their own. What to do? Require them to choose an easier book that didn't interest them? Or let them choose a difficult book, knowing that they would probably drop out of the group later?

Fortunately, I discovered a simple solution to this problem: audio books. I located audio versions of some of my favorite student books like Hatchet and Shiloh, and I allowed students in those groups to listen while reading their books each day. To manage the problem of multiple users needing the same audio player, I figured out how to connect several students via headphone adapters connected together. I assigned one student in each group the role of “Audio Captain” who would start and stop the audio player as needed. All students were expected to have their own copy of the book open and follow along, tracking the text visually as they listened.

Reading Comprehension Improved 50%
My students were very excited about the program, and the audio materials were constantly in use during reading class. After just a few weeks, I noticed something amazing. I could tell that the students who were using these audio materials regularly were becoming better readers! They weren't just becoming better listeners – their reading comprehension and fluency skills were improving, too!

These results intrigued me and I wanted to know more. I was in graduate school at the time, so I conducted an action research study to gather data about what I was observing. I selected eight struggling readers for my study, and I provided audio materials for every book that they read over a two-month period. I compared their reading comprehension test scores before and after the study, and every single student made significant gains. The average score rose from 41% of their reading comprehension answers being correct in September to 60% correct in December, a 50% increase!

I know it was just a small, informal study, but the results convinced me that I needed to continue using audio books. I began to wonder how listening to audio books could translate to improved reading skills. I finally realized that audio books can introduce students to a world of reading they've never known. Fifth graders who can’t read well probably aren't motivated by a steady diet of picture books and easy chapter books. But hook them up to an audio version of Hatchet, and the words begin to work their magic. As students track the text with their eyes and listen with their ears, they see words they've heard before but were not able to recognize in print. They can apply the strategies that good readers use, from visualizing the events to making predictions. In the process, they discover the joys of a great book!

Time Saving Resources for You
Another reason you might want to obtain audio books for Literature Circles or Classroom Book Clubs is that you can listen to them to preview them or to keep up with what your students are reading. I always recommend that teachers read books first before using them with students, but it can be difficult to find time to do so. If you purchase the audio version, you can listen while driving or doing something else.

Where to Find Audio Books
You can find audio books in many places, including your public library and yard sales. However, the easiest way to find them is to go to Amazon.com and search for them there. I've created a collection of Literature Circle resource pages on my website that include book recommendations in many categories, including Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, and Realistic Fiction. Each book includes a link to where you can find it on Amazon.com, and most of those books have audio versions that you can purchase. I recommend purchasing the CD versions because then you’ll always have one master copy, but you may want to transfer the audio file to a mobile device, computer, or Mp3 player.

How to Obtain Audio Materials

Does the idea of using audio books intrigue you? I’ll bet you can think of several students right now who would benefit from listening while reading. However, you may also be wondering how and where you can purchase these materials since they can be a bit costly. That was my concern, too, but I solved that problem by setting up an Audio Book Fund and asking for donations to our classroom audio book collection.Here's a copy of my letter to parents in Word format so you can adapt it and use it yourself. In the letter I explained about the importance of audio books and how my students would benefit. I was thrilled to receive over $100 in donations within a week! When the money started rolling in, I ordered audio materials to go with all of my favorite titles to use with Classroom Book Clubs.

If you haven't used audio books in your classroom, I hope you'll consider giving them a try. I think you'll find audio books to be powerful tools to improve comprehension and fluency. Best of all, listening to audio books will allow your struggling readers to discover the magic hidden inside every great book. Soon their reading skills will improve and they won't need audio books. When that happens, a whole new world will open up before them, the amazing world of literacy!
     

Tips for Using Math Games Effectively in the Classroom

Who doesn't love a game? In the math classroom, games offer an engaging alternative to worksheets, allowing students to work with others and have fun while learning. They’re perfect for practicing new skills or reviewing previously-learned content. Math games are extremely versatile and can be used in cooperative learning teams, in small group instruction, or in math centers.

One key to using math games effectively is to develop clear and specific management systems and procedures. Students need to know when they can play the games, where to go to play them, how to choose a partner, and a host of other procedures.

In this blog post, I'll share a few tips for using math games effectively. I've also compiled some of my best strategies in Tips for Teaching with Math Games, a freebie which you can download from my TpT store.

Using Math Games in Cooperative Learning Teams
Math games work well in cooperative learning teams during whole group instruction or while you are working with small guided math groups. After you introduce a skill, demonstrate it, and check for understanding, have students play a game to practice the skill. When you use games in cooperative learning teams, each team will need a copy of the game materials, and all teams will be engaged in playing the games while you serve as a facilitator. This gives you the opportunity to walk around and work with individual students who may need extra help.

Another way to use games in cooperative learning teams is for reviewing several different skills the day before a test. If you choose to use games this way, you’ll need a different game for each skill and rotate the games from team to team every 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes you can use the same game but simply create different problem cards or task cards for each skill.

Using Math Games in Learning Centers
Using math game centers is a way to help students keep skills sharp throughout the year. You may want to set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day for students to work in math centers. Having them play the games first thing in the morning as other students arrive can keep them on task and energize them for the day. You can also encourage students to use these activities when they have completed other assignments or while you are working with a small group.

Using Games to Teach Social Skills
Some students have trouble playing games because they don't know how to be good sports. With these students, it doesn't whether they're winning or losing. When they're winning, they gloat about how well they are doing, and when they're losing, they blame other players or complain about their bad luck.

It might be tempting to give these students worksheets to do during math centers or other times when the rest of the class is playing math games, but that's not going to help them learn to be good sports.

One way to work on social skills is to teach a mini-lesson for the whole class on what “sportsmanship” means. The younger your students, the more help they will need with developing social skills for games. However, even older students can benefit from reviewing these skills.

Start the lesson by saying that math games can be fun, but only if the players demonstrate good sportsmanship. Display one of the two charts shown on the right which you can find in the Tips for Teaching with Math Games freebie, or create a chart of your own. Ask students to discuss what it means to be a “good sport” versus a “poor sport” when playing games. During the class brainstorming session, remind them not to name specific people or incidents that have happened in class. Just discuss behaviors such as bragging, taking turns, congratulating the winner, smiling, grabbing the materials, not following the rules, and pouting. Write each behavior on the class chart, and then finish the discussion by reviewing how to be a good sport.

Another helpful strategy is teach your students how to deal with common tasks such as deciding who goes first or who will shuffle the deck of task cards. Rather than arguing, they can flip a coin, play Rock-Paper-Scissors, or toss a die. After you address these issues with mini-lessons, you’ll find that your students enjoy playing games more and get along better with their peers.

Wrap up the mini-lesson by reminding your students that although they might not win every game, they are all winners because they are having fun while they learning.

Where to Find Fun and Effective Math Games
You can create your own math games, but they are time-consuming to make. If you don't have the time or the desire to create your own, check out the collection of games in my Math Games Growing Mega Bundle. I LOVE creating math games that are engaging, fun, and most importantly, effective learning tools.

All of the math games in this bundle are appropriate for upper elementary students, and many can be adapted for younger or older students by changing the task cards. Each game includes teacher directions, ready-to-use printable game materials, and answer keys. Some of the games also include QR code answers as well as traditional answer key.

My Math Games Mega Bundle includes 16 games right now, but that's likely to change. I refer to it as a "growing" bundle because when I create more math games, they will be added to this collection. Anyone who has already purchased it will be able to download the new games for free.

All of the games in this bundle can also be purchased separately. To preview any of these math games, just click on its cover image below. You'll be taken to a page in my TpT store with more information about the game, thumbnail images, and a link to preview every page in the game. If you like them all, you'll save 30% by purchasing the entire bundle.

Where to Grab Your Tips for Teaching with Math Games Freebie
If you enjoyed the tips I shared in this post, be sure to download my free PDF, Tips for Teaching with Math Games, which includes even more tips for teaching with math games.

How do you use math games in your classroom?  Do you have any tips of your own to share?

An InLinkz Link-up

Gifts for Santa's Scientists

What would YOU give an ornithologist for Christmas? What about an ichthyologist or a paleontologist?

Santa has a bag of gifts for a dozen scientists, and he needs YOUR students to help him figure out which gift goes to which scientist. But first, they’ll need to do a little research and work with their teams to learn about a dozen different types of scientists. Curious? Let me share a little bit about this activity with you.

Gifts for Santa’s Scientists is an engaging research lesson that I developed for my students a few years ago, and it worked like a charm for keeping them on task during the busy week right before the holidays. Before you read on to learn more, you might want to click this preview link and scroll through the document to see what's included in the lesson. I've created a complete packet of printables, directions, and an answer key to make it really easy to implement.

Gifts for Santa's Scientists
To begin the activity, tell your students that Santa has gifts for a dozen scientists in his sack, but the gifts aren't labeled with names. Santa needs their help to figure out which gift to give to each scientist. This activity does not involve an actual gift exchange; students will simply be discussing the gifts named in Santa's bag, like a telescope, a magnet, or a flower pot.

Working in teams of four, each student will research three scientists and complete an activity page like the one shown on the right. They write a sentence or two to describe each scientist's area of study and draw a simple illustration of something those scientists might study. After students finish with their research, they return to their teams to share and record what they've learned.

After they complete this step, the fun begins! They work together as a team to match each gift in Santa’s bag with the scientist names on the packages. To make the activity even more challenging, you can ask students to put away all of their study materials and try to match the gifts and scientists based on what they remember.

My students really enjoyed this activity, and I loved that fact that they had to conduct research, work with a team, and do some critical thinking in order to figure out which scientists received which gifts.

You can find Gifts for Santa's Scientists in my TpT store. One thing I love about TpT is reading the comments and feedback from teachers who've used my materials. This comment from Selina Smith about Gifts for Santa's Scientists made my day!

"I can't say enough wonderful things about this product. It is SO well thought out. It is perfect for students who need help with research. It is perfect for incorporating technology. The directions are so clear you could easily pick it up 3 minutes before class and be ready to teach the lesson. I love how she has written Day 1 number 1, 2, 3, etc. Thank you for making such a great product! I want MORE :)"

Holidays Around the World
The week before Christmas vacation is often a crazy time, and the excitement of the upcoming holidays makes it tough to keep students on task. Textbook lessons won’t hold their attention, so cooperative learning lessons like Gifts for Santa’s Scientists offer a welcome change from regular daily instruction. If you prefer an lesson that involves a variety of winter holidays, you will find a similar cooperative research activity in my December Activities Pack called "Holidays Around the World."

By the way, the ornithologist received a bird feeder, the ichthyologist received scuba gear, and the paleontologist received fossils. I’m not sure about you, but I think Santa could have saved himself the trouble and just given them all iPads! What do you want for Christmas?