#YYCLC Day 111: Math in the Keeler Learning Commons

Grade 6 students practicing in partners how to identify the multiples of a given number using tabletop whiteboards.

#YYCLC Day 90: Math and Blogging

Students at Keeler School working peacefully on a blog post for math in grade 6.

#YYCLC Day 60: Kidblog and Grade 6 Math

Students at Keeler School being introduced to Kidblog as a way to demonstrate understanding of math concepts.

Maker Stations in the Learning Commons

Build it and they will come... Or provide stuff and they will build it! Our Learning Commons evolved to include "Maker Spaces"... I didn't realize this was happening... We have a "Philosophers' Board", multiple "Lego Walls", gears, puppets, costumes and Raspberry Pis (among other tinkering things that are available at all times for student use). But the amazing discussion at this year's EdcampYYC helped me to find the solution for guided learning and maker spaces in our Learning Commons context.

The grade 6 students are building parachutes, and their contest is here. But why stop there? Today I introduced the "Parachute Maker Station" and opened it up to the school: Anyone who is interested can come in at lunch or recess, can use the supplied materials (or other materials, if they'd like), and can create their own parachute.

Best of all, they all know it is a grade 6 project, so if they need help they know who to ask! I've warned the 6s that questions could be coming their way, and was greeted with enthusiasm as they now see themselves as experts (YAY!). Which was handy today when we had 5 grade 4 students eagerly making their own parachutes (during lunch), and seeking help. I overheard a grade 4 ask a grade 6, "Why is there a hole in the middle of your parachute? Did you make a mistake?" (Great question!!).

This has really got me thinking... Could this work with cars?  Catapults? Clothing design? Looms? Pulleys? Could any design-based task work as a maker station?... I think we're starting to turn a corner in our LC, and I can feel the enthusiasm growing from our students!

Here are the directions for the station: 

Exemplars and Comics

Using Exemplars with Photocomic
Using exemplars to set clear expectations is vital when designing a project... This is our infusion of technology in the process of examining student work, setting criteria and building a rubric for writing a  feasibility report for settling a planet.

The Bigger Picture
We're well on our way to colonizing the solar system! Kids have completed their research, and they're now ready to compile their information into an official "Colonization Report". To do this, they'll need to examine both excellent and lackluster reports to help wrap their heads around the expectations .. We wanted to find a way for students to document what makes a good report and found a natural connection with an App called Photocomic.

After this, students will write reports that they will submit to the Canadian Extra-Terrestrial Space Agency for review. They will then write a storyboard and screenplay to help them develop a recruitment video to help them lure students, parents, and community members to their planet.

The Task 
Students will be given specific topics (Creative Language, Organization, Visuals, and Content) to carefully consider as they go through the exemplars.  Each student will record successes and shortcomings about their topic using an iPad app called Photocomic.

The App

Photocomic

We've used the app Photocomic for a number of purposes and the more we use it, the more we love it! It is simple enough that clean, clear work can be created, published, and shared within a 30 minute period. It's been used to act out key moments within a book-study, to role-play social situations, and to enhance concepts such as friendship.

It allows you to take photographs and arrange them in a number of ways to look like the pages of a comic book. Students can add all of the elements of a comic, including speech bubbles, thought bubbles, action words, etc.

The Process
Students are challenged to become masters of the "Photocomic" app in 5 minutes. The only rules: You must touch every button to see what it does and you must create a comic!

Students are given their task cards and join their groups. They are to take photographs of the exemplars and to annotate with speech bubbles, thought bubbles, and action words to show what they like/dislike about the exemplar. It is expected that each student will contribute 1 speech bubble/sound effect.

Students then go to the next table, take a close look at that exemplar, and repeat!

At the end, the students will put their comics on to the teacher's computer, who will throw all of the pictures on the SMART Board so that everyone can see what makes a great report. Afterwards, the teacher guides the students as they come up with their own rubric that clearly describes the expectations.

Differentiation

We really need to narrow the focus...

All students can participate in this because there is so much to evaluate! Some students can use higher-order thinking skills and analyze the content. Others can really think about the grammar/word-choice, and others still can examine the visuals. We'll choose the roles and make sure they cater to the right students.

Using the Photocomic App students can either be detailed about about their evaluation (they can write speech bubbles, clearly outlining why they may/may note emulate something), or they can can use sound effects such as "Ouch!" to show that something is undesirable.

5 Considerations About Exemplars
Narrow the Focus: We had 4 to 5 people in each group, and each student had a role where they were looking for a certain topic. It was way too much, and the activity nearly bombed because of it! Were we to do it again, I'd suggest having each group focus on one topic, rather than 4. And I'd suggest the each group share one same topic of analysis.

It's great how they could use the '!!!!' symbol
to point out the juicy words!

Time: At the beginning, we gave students iPads and told them to get started after explaining the task... If only it were that simple! They jumped right in for sure, but they took inconsequential pictures and didn't provide thoughtful comments.

After the first round, we had them close their iPads and focus on the work itself. After we heard sufficient discussion and we had a chance to discuss with each group, then we had them open the iPads.

Groupings: I'm always tempted to put a higher student with a lower student to settle behavior issues and enhance learning. I wonder, though, what this is doing for both students' learning! One isn't challenged by the other, and the other is so far below, are they getting anything out of the lesson? Would it be better to put all of the lower students together and to use different exemplars with catered expectations? How would that look?

I guess that "Zonk!" means it's good... 

Exemplars: We used great exemplars and 2 non-exemplars that were created at a much lower grade level. It's tricky though... We have students that really struggle with reading and writing, and I'm hoping that they didn't feel awful about themselves when they saw the non-exemplar was at their ability level. When the integration model fails, I guess...We'll have to find new ways to approach this next time.

Return: The idea of annotating with the iPads worked really well, but some extra work needs to be done with the kids! It's just October, so I'm hoping that we'll get this figured when we try it another few times... We'll see!

To Play or Not to Play?

That is the question!

In my day to day to work, I'm often introducing students to new technologies/resources. I have found the best way for students to learn something new, especially something to do with technology, is to let them play; push all the buttons; tinker with it; experiment with different things. All of this helps them to work out what makes the application 'tick' also to see what it is capable of and where it might be fit best within their learning.

Some teachers may argue the benefit of playing with something before really applying it to learning. After all, there is so much curriculum to get through and playing around with an App would be wasting valuable 'learning time'. My argument is that there is so much value in playing and tinkering with something new.


In the past few weeks, I have been working with a grade 5-6 class learning how to animate in three different ways:

• Vector Animation (using DoInk for iPad)
• Slide show Animation (using Keynote for Mac)
• Stop Motion (Stop Motion Studio for iPad)

The teacher I was working with decided that it would be best for the students to see the capability of each application before setting the big animation project (to animate a property/principle of air). We spent 9 lessons of about 1 hour to learn our way around each app. This included mini lessons, playing, sharing and giving feedback. This idea worked out so well and both of us teachers were blown away by how well the students did.

Here are some examples of some of the work our students completed during this tinkering time:

DoInk Animation & Drawing

Keynote for Mac

The video below is a video montage of a few different keynote animations.

Stop Motion Studio Pro

The following animations videos were the students first attempts and playing around with Stop Motion Studio.

Diagnostic Assessment & Space Exploration

Accessing Prior Knowledge & Starting on the Right Foot

We began an exciting group project the other day and thought it was important to start with self-reflection and diagnostic assessment through informal and formal conversations. Students filled out group proposals (below) where they had to consider their strengths within a group. We also challenged them to think about their group members and how they've worked together in the past...

Project:  You have been recruited by CETSA (The Canadian Extra Terrestrial Space Agency) to create a community proposal and a recruitment video to lure earth-dwellers to colonize your planet. 

** Students will hold a "recruitment fair" in the Learning Commons for all grades of the school (and perhaps other schools through online video/voting). Students will vote on which planet they would like to colonize based on given criteria. 

Day 1: The Hook
Each student received a letter in the mail from CETSA directing them to save humanity.They showed up to school with their letters clutched in their hands or crinkled in their pockets, ready to accept their mission! They were then tasked with identifying and resolving hazards in a colonization report to permanently settle a planet in our solar system. They will soon create a recruitment video/presentation to lure settlers to their planet - which they will later create a government for.

We gave students the sheet below, allowing them to choose their own partners. Using a sheet like this had a number of predicted and surprising benefits, here are the big three:

Self Reflection - Students were able to discuss their strengths and shortcomings in a safe environment, among chosen friends.

Group Reflection - Students analyzed the relationships within their team and identified possible issues, as well as where they may soar. It was interesting to see how students grouped themselves - some students purposefully avoided their friends!

Access Prior Knowledge -  Students were forced to access prior knowledge and to discuss what they already knew about the planets and what they wanted to learn. This discussion was further enhanced by the pesky, roaming teachers asking clarifying questions and taking notes.

The sheet we used is below, as are some samples taken from students on Friday!

Group Work and Getting Started

Some of the responses...
Some of these are hilarious, others are insightful... I think the process and the discussions we video-taped were the true gold in this. 

Problems with "big giant words such as the Encyclopedia" 

The "Who does more work" comment showed up on lots of these. 

Human Typewriter and has great potential in research and studies...

This group really hit the nail on the head! This was exactly the same problem they had in our last project... Although I didn't know about the hitting!

It's okay to laugh a lot!