February 2011
MAMMOTH
POSSIBILITIES
Pioneering Education
A Journal of Project Based Instruction
Beginning With The End In Mind: Thoughts From a Teacher A Case For Project Based Learning How Do I Survive? Kids In Space Kinder Name Project A Rural School Success Story The Right To Write Putting The Art Back In Fine Arts Contextual Approach To Vocabulary Motivating The Middle School Student Review: Goggle Docs In The Classroom What Every Kindergartner Should Know
Graduate School of
EDUCATION [1] volume 1 . issue 1 . Spring 2011
Table of Contents I.
II.
III.
Project-‐Based Instruction A. Beginning With The End In Mind: Thoughts From A Teacher B. A Case For Project Based Learning C. How Do I Survive? D. Kids In Space E. Kinder Name Project F. A Rural School Success Story The Inspired Classroom A. The Right To Write B. Putting The Art Back In Fine Arts C. Contextual Approach To Vocabulary D. Motivating The Middle School Student E. Review: Google Docs In The Classroom F. What Every Kindergartner Should Know After School A. Leaders Of Tomorrow B. On Our Way... To College
Beginning with the End in Mind THOUGHTS FROM A TEACHER by Jennifer Moore
It is a warm summer day at the beginning of August, school starts in a week, a teacher is busily hustling back and forth between the copy machine, laminator, and the classroom where furniture is moving around the room to be placed in just the right spot and bulletin boards are being carefully hung. Wait, there is something being forgotten in this whole process, the students and the knowledge that they must acquire in order to become successful. The teacher pauses, takes a deep breath, and pulls out the tried and true textbooks and teacher’s editions. The teacher brings out the pencils and lesson-planning book and begins the process of deciding which part of unit one to teach. How many days will it take to get through story one of the basal reader? What am I going to do if all my students do not know how to regroup or multiply? Wait, there is something missing in this process too. The teacher then takes a very deep breath and thinks, “what do my students truly need to learn by the end of the year, where are those pesky standards that I have heard so much about and have never read through?” This is when the teacher starts to see education as more then a textbook and decides to use the standards to develop a year of learning. By starting with the end the teacher now knows that while learning how to multiply is an essential skill and the students will need to know it, so are the ideas of history, science, writing, and reading. The teacher now begins to look at that traditional curriculum in a new light; they start to see
the curriculum as a tool not as a must. They take the idea of writing a multi-paragraph essay and look into the history curriculum to see that writing a persuasive essay on why the America Revolution was fought would be a wonderful way to have the students learn about history as well as write the dreaded composition. The teacher then starts to look elsewhere for these kinds of connections and sees that she could use all the graphing standards, which are so often left to the day before state testing, as part of a science unit on ecosystems. The teacher has a true Ah-Ha moment and decides to look deeper into the standards. The teacher looks and notices that there is a whole section on presenting and oral presentations. “Could this be tied into something that I need to teach?” The teacher goes back to the history lesson on the American Revolution and realizes that students could also produce short informational history videos; maybe a debate or two will help them to understand both sides of the issue. “Could students use this information today, in their everyday life?” the teacher asks? What a novel idea to connect the ideas of academia with the world that surrounds our students everyday! The teacher is on a role, the teacher is mapping out a whole year, using a school calendar to tie in events that are happening not only at the school, but in the world. The teacher is excited and cannot wait until those students step through the door and into this exciting adventure. What a difference looking at the end and seeing the needs of the
!
A Case for Project Based Learning by Amy Weidman Project Based Learning works. We’ve watched it work in Oro Grande, a small, rural school district with high truancy rates and low test scores (at least in the beginning,) and we believe it can work for anyone. In 2006 the historic Oro Grande Elementary School on Route 66 became Riverside Preparatory School, a K-12 charter with a new focus on standards based education. We began to look for a way to help our local children make better connections between what they were learning and their own lives, which in many cases suffered from a lack of educational experiences. We needed to find a way to increase the experiential learning opportunities for our students, but maintain the rigorous academic standards that really would prepare them for higher education or a career. Project Based Learning was the answer to both. We researched and piloted the methodology in 2008, and fully implemented it in 2009. Those same kids who were struggling with school 4 years ago sang and danced their way to an API well over 800 this year. So how did we make it work? We started by educating ourselves; administrators and teachers all read the Buck Institute for Education’s handbook on Project Based Learning and engaged in extensive collaborative staff development. We jumped right in when school began, practicing project based learning on a professional level - learning by doing along with the students, as we implemented it in the classrooms. Grade levels met together daily as teams to plan projects, monitor student learning and progress, and reflect on what was working and what still needed work.
Plan with final objectives in mind Each grade level began by designing a curriculum plan (a scope and sequence) for the year based on their content standards, looking for connections between standards that could be taught together. This also helped ensure that we covered all the standards required for each grade level, and that our students learned everything that they needed to be successful in the next grade, as well as on the year-end state test.
Maintain academic rigor We built each project from the standards we’d chosen to teach that quarter. Every project included visits from outside experts to provide real world connections, and educational experiences, including lots of field trips. Academic rigor was maintained, with teachers using direct instruction whenever it was necessary to provide the skills or knowledge students needed as the project went along.
Authentic formative assessments guide instruction We regularly used a variety of authentic, formative assessments, involving students in the creation and use of rubrics, and building confidence in their capacity to improve their own learning. Teachers collaborated often over student work, using it to inform and improve instruction. This ongoing process promoted real mastery learning. Each project led to a culminating performance of learning.
Organizational support helps There are also organizational structures that our charter provides which support PBL. We have an extended day, a daily fine arts program, academic placement, college prep support, and high behavioral expectations. Our sta also has daily collaboration time and does a lot of small grant writing to support project needs for materials or field trips.
PBL defies predictions that underprivileged kids wi# fail Project Based Learning defies the current conventions of narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, cutting creative programs, and focusing on tested standards to the exclusion of all else. It defies predictions that underprivileged kids will fail without the prescribed implementation of some textbook based program. The results we’ve had are persuasive. We have had such positive community response the school has grown substantially each year since the inception of the charter. In spite of the fact that our school population nearly doubled this year, we have an ever-expanding waiting list. Our test results speak for themselves. But most importantly the kids respond, they are engaged and confident and love to come to school. It’s clear that at Riverside Prep project based learning is helping kids to make meaningful connections, to build their own learning through carefully planned and sequenced experiences, and it works.
How Do I Survive?
by Mike Buckhave
“Students learn best through doing, engaging in well-planned, strategically orchestrated, project based experiences, which allow them to learn major concepts and solve real-life problems.” While adrift and lost on the Atlantic Ocean, Deborah and Brad could only watch as their friend, John, deliriously leaped from the safety of their life raft into shark infested water. “Soon,” related Deborah, “we heard a loud scream, and he disappeared.” “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” is a suspenseful and riveting television program on the Discovery Channel, in which tales such as this are aired each week about how humans have survived after enduring some of the harshest conditions and most unforgiving circumstances and locations on Earth. Many high school students find this television program fascinating. Episodes include titles such as: “Lost at Sea,” “Surviving an Ice Cave,” “Alaskan Avalanche,” and “Shipwrecked.” One of the toughest and most challenging jobs a school teacher faces is capturing students’ attention and interest. So, when a television show like this comes along and does the “capturing” for the teacher, why not take advantage of it? Well, that is
exactly what ninth grade teachers have done at Riverside Preparatory School. Riverside Preparatory School is a public K-12 charter school located in Oro Grande, California which stresses experiential learning for all students. So, how exactly does a teacher tap into such a powerful teaching resource? It begins with a philosophy. Teachers at Riverside Prep believe that all students can learn, but not from the traditional “drill and kill” rote memorization teaching strategies of yesteryear. They believe that students learn best through doing, engaging in wellplanned, strategically orchestrated, project based experiences, which allow them to learn major concepts and solve real-life problems. In the 2009-2010 school year, the ninth grade team came up with a project that included four different subjects, Biology, English, Geometry, and Spanish. They called it, “How Do I Survive?”
Teachers were given common planning time in which they could meet together to collaborate and weave a tapestry of ideas and plans that would connect major learning themes, or “big ideas,” with California State Content Standards for the 9th grade. Also during the planning phase, teachers identified key skills students needed to learn along with the habits of mind and school-wide outcomes they wanted students to develop and practice during the project. After beginning with the end in mind, teachers discussed ways to grab students’ attention up front by introducing the essential question or problem statement for the project in an interesting way. Just as the title, “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” captures the television viewer’s interest, a well written “driving question” helps teachers reach out and grab the students’ interest for the project. In this case the driving question, “How Do I Survive?” was chosen. During the planning phase of the project, teachers decided to focus learning around a three week period on biomes, a biology concept within the area of Ecology. It was decided to create a scenario where students are virtual passengers of an airplane that experiences engine failure and crashes in a remote location within one of six major biomes. Within the scenario’s description, students are given the details of the crash and a list of items that are found among the wreckage. One student may end up with an umbrella and a broken golf club, while another may only have eyeglasses and a smashed laptop computer. Each scenario is different, and each biome brings with it
different and unique challenges. English is brought into the project by students writing a daily journal detailing their day’s activities and struggles. Poetry is introduced as a way of expressing and verbally illustrating poignant feelings experienced during the tragedy. Specific writing styles and content are required and correct grammar and punctuation is a must. Students created geospheres out of craft paper using geometric measures and shapes to show the locations of the various biomes around the world. They also calculated angles of the sun to determine time of day and their possible location on the Earth. When students were rescued, they were invited to a simulated Spanish talk show to share their experiences, so they had to learn enough Spanish to both understand and answer questions in their newly acquired tongue. Assessment was both formative and summative. Teachers checked for understanding all throughout the learning experience through the asking of thoughtprovoking, open-ended questions both verbally and in writing, prompting students to move intellectually towards higher levels of the learning domains. To ensure that students learned about all the biomes and not just the biome they had personally been assigned, teachers arranged periodic sessions in which students would share what they had learned thus far. All students were required to keep track of others’ findings and experiences and were responsible to learn the material as well. A culminating assessment was also used to give students the opportunity to demonstrate what they had learned. This was conducted in front of the entire 9th grade Student Body, along with parents, teachers, administrators, community members, as well as some experts in the field, providing students with excellent motivation to really “learn their stuff.”
Student achievement and understanding was evaluated by a panel of judges through the use of a rubric, which the students received early on in the process. At the end of the project, students were given feedback to reinforce what they had learned. When asked what they thought of the experience, students overwhelmingly said it was fun, and they did not realize that they had learned so much. Students are discovering at Riverside Preparatory School that learning need not be dull and boring. Nor does it require rote memorization and answering the questions at the end of the chapter only to “dump� the information after the multiple choice final exam to be effective. Rather, the tingle of adventure and spark of wonder that they felt as brand new kindergarten students can remain with them throughout life if learning is connected to interesting, meaningful concepts and experiences.
KIDS IN SPACE !
Riverside Preparatory students are taking a trip into space. ! Riverside Preparatory, a small rural school in Oro Grande, California understands the need to have students grow in areas of math and science. ! The Riverside Preparatory physic teacher created an elective class to engage students in the area of science and technology. ! The Science Investigation class will be involved in many different projects to help students have a better understanding of our universe. They will be studying cosmic rays, and create a cosmic ray detector to detect moons. ! They will also create a moon detector to count the amount of moons over a certain area. The students will be discussing electromagnetic waves and radio telescopes. They will be constructing
a VSRT as outlined my MIT Haystack Observatory. We will use them to observe the changes in the ionosphere. They have plans to purchase a SRT, small radio telescope, which is capable of con+nuum
and spectral line observa+ons in the L-‐band (1.42 GHz). With this SRT they will be able to map the visible sky and take measurements on the Galactic Rotation Curve. Students will also be able to measure the Sun’s flux density. ! The Riverside Preparatory students and staff hope that these engaging elective classes will help students think about carers in science and technology. ! Hopefully we will soon see some Riverside Preparatory alumni in space.
Kindergarten Name Project WHAT’S IN A NAME? KINDER NAME PROJECT Kindergarten students at Riverside Preparatory are learning the importance of their name. They not only know their FULL name, can spell it and recognize it among all the other names in the class, but have gained an understanding of its meaning in the real world. When four and
five year olds start school for the first time, it can be a little intimidating to say the least. For Kindergarten students starting their first year at Riverside Preparatory School in Oro Grande, California, it was a wild and wonderful ride. In their very first project students hit the ground running, first learning their letters and the sounds they make. Children were taught the proper way to write their first name and progressively worked up to their full name. To connect this with their own lives they were taught why names are important and why they have the name they do. Students made a name book in which
Maecenas pulvinar sagittis enim.
BY DESHAWNA CHACON they graphed how many letters are in their name, rainbow-traced their name, wrote a page of their first, middle and last name, counted the letters in their name, and learned how to differentiate between the vowels in their name for one page and the consonants for another page. At the end of the project, students were sent on a scavenger hunt to find their names. The first stop was to find their first name! Students were able to pick their name out from all of the others in their class. Before they moved on to the next station, they had to spell their name aloud to the parent volunteer at the first stop. At the next station they looked for their middle name if they had one. Finally, all students ended up in the cafeteria where they found their last names. S t u d e n t s w e r e t h e n g i ve n t h e opportunity to put all of their names
together on a poster, which was later laminated and given to parents. Parents and grandparents came to join in the Name Celebration. Students and parents enjoyed a light brunch as the parents explained why they were given their name, and if they were named after anyone. Parents were encouraged to bring a picture of that person and we all shared stories. It was a wonderful project and now the students can spend the rest of the year focusing on other items that are important. They have jumped the hurdle of their name. They know how to spell it, recognize it and they also know why they were given that particular name and the general importance of having a name! Great start Kinders!
Students work in groups to develop a presentation on the various regions and Native tribes of California.
A Rural School Success Story By Jennifer Moore When remembering back to the days of your youth many of us remember fantastic moments in school. We remember the various themes of fall with its pumpkins and trips to the pumpkin patch, studying about why leaves change color as you collected leaves from the school playground and your yard. Studying plants and how the various parts of the plant made it function, then planting your own seeds, to watch with wonder, as they transformed from that tiny seed into a plant. Learning the whole time about the processes of photosynthesis and root structures. There were moments of great debate as you discussed politics and great presidents, how America was formed and who really started it all. Where did those moments in learning go? What happened to the idea that children learn best by doing and experiencing the world around them? Does the advent of high stakes testing really mean that children must be condemned to the grey world of worksheets in reading and math? Does
it mean that if it is not in the textbook it cannot possibly be part of what our students need to know? Are the days really gone when teachers take the knowledge/standards that need to be taught and use their professional judgment to decide the ways in which their students would gain the best understanding of the material? The answer to these questions can be answered with a simple no, children should not be confined to a textbook and worksheet, yes children should experience learning by doing. What better way to prepare our students for a lifetime of learning and exploring then to have them create and experience the world around them. At one small school in the high desert of California, experiential learning has become the norm and not the exception.
Students discuss their project with an expert.
Does the advent of high stakes testing really mean that children must be condemned to the grey world of worksheets?
Students learn best by doing, it is the experience that makes it memorable. The answer to these questions can be answered with a simple no, children should not be confined to a textbook and worksheet, yes children should experience learning by doing. What better way to prepare our students for a lifetime of learning and exploring then to have them create and experience the world around them. At one small school in the high desert of California, experiential learning has become the norm and not the exception. Staring in the 2009/2010 school year Riverside Preparatory, a small k-12 school, located in the Mojave Desert, decided to do something a little different. That school year was the beginning of a whole new philosophy on education. From now on students would learn the standards from a hands on approach. Kids would not have to sit through the endless hours of worksheets and drill and kill methods. Students would now have the opportunity to take knowledge and develop something bigger. What did this mean to the teachers at the school, well simply put, work. Teachers now had to start with the standards and work backwards to decide what standards worked well together and how to incorporate those standards into a learning experience that students would remember not only in the now, but in the future. This process requires teachers to have a time each
day to plan together as well as a time each day to have students work on the project. This is done in daily collaboration times as well as a twothree hour block of time in which students work collaboratively in groups to complete the project. In the first year students created a replica of a ancient ziggurat with the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as well as the correct geography of the region. Students in the fourth grade created a mission and made Keynote presentations about the mission system and its effects on the development of California. In the First grade students learning about their community. second grade students created their own postal system using classroom numbers. In the tenth grade students read Frankenstein by Mary Shelly and put on a trial to decide the fate of Dr. Frankenstein at a local courthouse. What does this mean to test From now on students scores? In the first year that this would learn the program was implemented at Riverside Preparatory test scores standards from an went up almost 30 points and all sub experiential approach. groups met their goals. What does Kids would not have this mean in the small, rural, poverty to sit through the stricken town that surrounds the school? In the five years of change endless hours of that has occurred the students had a worksheets and drill growth of almost 300 points. The and kill methods. simple idea of challenging teachers and students to think outside the box and make connections has made the learning actually that, learning. Author-Jennifer Moore
The Right to Write by Amy Weidman The need for a sequential, comprehensive, ongoing writing instruction is evident in student work from state writing scores to classroom assignments. Writing lessons in language arts textbooks are hit and miss, usually just add-ons to grammar or reading lessons. As teachers we want kids to write creatively, from their hearts, in their own voices; we may believe student writing should be an expression of their own ideas. We may also assume students can write because they read, they speak; they use language all the time. But unless process and structures are explicitly taught students will continue lack the base for good narrative writing, and expository writing will be a complete mystery. It’s like asking kids to balance a budget without teaching them to add or subtract. It is important to teach how to structure writing like we do math equations. Narrative writing and expository writing forms should be clearly taught, and emphasized as an integral part of the curriculum. And not just within a classroom or grade, but across grade levels and subject areas. A K-12 writing program provides a common instructional language that boosts memory and comprehension, and writing across the curriculum improves learning of the content itself. In California, 4th graders who demonstrate success on the state writing assessment tend to stagnate, showing the same skill level 3 years later on the 7th grade assessment, when their writing should have deepened, building from those elementary basics.
Writing improves reading as students write about the texts they read in a variety of ways. When they respond, summarize, take notes, or create and answer questions they are required to reflect to think deeply about what they’ve read. A 2010 report from the Carnegie Corporation, Writing to Read, calls for educators to explicitly teach writing skills and processes. Teaching expository structures improves comprehension, teaching sentence/ paragraph construction and sentence combining improves fluency, and teaching spelling patterns improves word reading skill. Understanding how writing is structured helps students to better understand what they read. The report also recommends increasing how often students produce their own texts, even simple forms like letters and journals provide the ongoing practice that makes writing better.
Why try if you don’t know how to succeed? Motivation is an issue for kids when writing is not properly valued with time spent on classroom instruction and practice, or the student doubts his capacity as a writer. This stops the student’s cognitive process and use of cognitive resources. Why try if you don’t know how to succeed? Just as with reading, students need to be taught how to manage the writing process and must learn to monitor themselves throughout the process. Along with composition strategies, children need to develop self-regulation strategies and abilities crucial to a successful writing experience. These include goal setting, self-instruction, self-monitoring, self-assessment, and self-reinforcement. Teaching students specific strategies for writing allows them to become self-editing, independent writers and sets the stage for future creativity. To accomplish this, teachers need to provide clear expectations and ongoing feedback through the use of rubrics and models. There are several good writing methodologies and instructional programs like Step Up to Writing and 6 Traits that are available to teachers and school districts and which have been proven to be effective, but in times when the budget is tight there may be no money for extra materials and teacher training. However, a 2007 meta-analysis of current writing research by Graham and Perrin lists components of writing instruction that have been proven to be the most effective across programs. These strategies can be implemented by any teacher in any school without having to buy a supplemental program, and they’ve been shown to work! ~ Explicitly teaching writing strategies and structures such as summarizing, sentence combining, narrative plot, etc. ~ Assigning specific attainable goals ~ Consistently using the writing process: planning, writing, revising, editing and publishing ~ Collaborating
~ Using technology ~ Providing models of excellent writing ~ Inquiry ~ Content area writing
As teachers we must provide a deeper understanding of written expression for our students. At Riverside Preparatory School, a K-12 charter in the high desert district of Oro Grande, teachers have begun a pilot program that will develop and implement these research based strategies throughout the grade levels, and assess students’ writing progress in the context of project based learning. The program includes explicit, direct teaching of expository as well as narrative writing forms that are easily applied across content areas. Projects will allow students to apply these skills to real world situations, such as putting Victor Frankenstein on trial, designing a Mars mission for JPL, producing a desert life field guide or publishing a book of modern day fairy tales. As teachers we must provide a deeper understanding of written expression for our students. Even in this world of email and text shorthand, students need to learn the cognitive processes (planning, drafting, revision), metacognitive skills (awareness of process, structure, self capacity, self regulation, attitude) and text structures (elements, transitions, grammar, syntax, spelling) required to communicate eectively in writing.
A Typical Day in Music Class!!
Putting the Art Back in Fine Arts By Jennifer Moore With the advent of high stakes testing and the reduction in funding to the many essential programs a school needs to run, schools have gone away with the fine arts programs. Instead of music and art students are now entrenched in the monotony of a textbook. Instead of expanding the ideas of the world around them, students are forced to listen to endless hours of lecture and drill and kill methods. When there are those few moments of art, it is reduced to simple cutting, gluing, and coloring. Where is the learning in this type of art, is the mere idea that a student can cut a straight line or glue something correctly really considered art? The arts are a system in which children have the opportunity to express themselves in ways that are often not included in the typical classroom setting. Students need that outlet in order to become more of a renaissance learner and develop into a fully educated individual. For many students the idea of music, drama, art, etc. is the reason that they come to school. Those
Japanese Paper Cutting
classes are the catalyst for so many other learning opportunities. Where do you go to find such places and ideas? To the high desert of California of course! Right outside the towns of Victorville and Apple Valley there is the small community of Oro Grande, where for the past five years the Arts have become a major focus. Riverside Preparatory has designed a K-12 grade program in which the fine arts are an interregnal part of the everyday learning of each student. Students attended a fine arts class daily at every level. In the high school program students are required to take one form of performing art, choosing from various choirs, bands, and drama. In the elementary levels students have art, piano, general music, ceramics, and band, all taught by credentialed teachers for an hour each day. This program has developed students who are not only learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, but are also learning the techniques of fingering in piano and band, of brush strokes and why artists create, and a general love of something different then video games and TV.
The Arts are a system in which children have the opportunity to express themselves in ways that are o!en not included in the typical classroom setting.
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance." ARISTOTLE In one art class second grade students were each given a part of a larger painting. Each student then used an 8 ½ by 11 sheet of paper and painted their part. The paintings were then put together and in that process the students had recreated a mural by Diego Rivera. Students not only painted, but learned the history of the painting. They learned why the artist chose to paint murals and why he used the various subject matter that he did. In another art class students used paper to create traditional Japanese cut
Kindergarden Through Sixth Grade Art Show
paper art. Students learned about the design techniques of the art and why this was such a popular form of art. Students also learned about Japan and its history and geography while doing art. In the music classes students are learning about music from around the world and using various instruments, including drums, to create music that they will perform at the school’s Winter Wonderland show in December. The learning that is taking place in each of these subject areas not only enhances the learning in
classroom, but also takes students on a journey unlike what they would receive when sitting listening to a lecture. When discussing the effectiveness of a school system it is imperative that more then a once a year test is looked at, the whole child and the learning that they have accomplished is as important. Does it mean that the end of the year state testing does not matter? Absolutely not, it means that through the use of conscientiously taught fine arts, students will gain knowledge that will help them in all subject
3rd Grade Student in the Piano Lab
CONTEXTUAL VOCABULARY Using Multiple Intelligence Strategies !
Compassion
Providing context for vocabulary use and making meaningful connections is key to placing words in long-term memory, and practical application promotes real world use. Using a variety of Gardner’s intelligences or a multimodal approach helps to make sure you tap into every child’s style of learning. Here are some ideas that have proven very effective in my classroom:
Colosseum
Coin
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Visual Spatial Use a visual-spatial approach. Along with the word and its definition, add a simple drawing or symbol that ties word meaning to a visual image. Have students use their words in a storyboard or cartoon that is illustrated with an image for each word. Students can make artistic representations of each word to post around the room
Musical Use a musical approach. Say and define the word aloud using rhythmic language. Make up a vocabulary rap with your students. Add the movement approach below to have kids create a dance routine, then add visual and interpersonal components for a music video to post on your class website. Bodily Kinesthetic Use a bodily-kinesthetic approach. Using American Sign Language or your own created movement, say the word and show or do what it means. Sign language works well for spelling too. The act of finger spelling a word emphasizes each letter, especially in vowel pairs, digraphs or diphthongs. Say the letters aloud, then the sounds as you finger spell.
Interpersonal Use an Interpersonal approach. Have students dramatize word meanings with mime or melodrama. Link to social studies or science content to embed vocabulary into the enactment of an historical event or scientific demonstration. Intrapersonal Use an Intrapersonal approach. Find ways for students to relate the words to themselves. Write a biographic narrative or poem or create an Xtranormal avatar to demonstrate vocabulary use in a virtual context. (http://www.xtranormal.com/) Logical Mathematical Use a Logical-Mathematical approach. Create charts of roots, word parts, and word origins. Connect new vocabulary to known words with related roots, origins, prefixes or suffixes.
Promote higher order thinking Linguistic Use a Linguistic approach. Give points for using words in class discussions, especially in other content areas, points for noticing when the teacher uses them too. Give points for using new vocabulary in written work or noticing them in reading as well. Play “Dictionary Deception” a game in which students make up plausible alternative (but incorrect) meanings for vocabulary and try to fool their classmates. This promotes higher order thinking skills.
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These strategies have great mnemonic value; they make it easier for kids to connect words to meanings because of the associations each approach provides, but the real power lies in consistent application and use of vocabulary. The best strategy may be just making a conscious daily effort to employ new vocabulary in the listening, speaking, reading and writing that goes on in the everyday life of your classroom.
MAMMOTH POSSIBILITIES!
Motivating the Middle School Student by Tom Charboneau
Middle school students present a difficult challenge for most adults in both the classroom and at home. They are leaving the elementary class where they were on a structured schedule that dictated when and where they had to be and what they have to do while they are there and entering the freedom of choice presented by the high school. However, unlike high school students who, for the most part, see the benefits of working hard in the classroom, middle school students see the long-term consequences of education or lack thereof as something naïve. They have a difficult time grasping what skills they will need to be successful after high school in college or in the workforce. Therefore, a lot of their motivation comes from adults whom they rely on, such as their parents or teachers. However, there is also a great deal of influence coming from their peers. The questions that have to be asked and examined in order to motivate students in middle school is how to motivate the student to make the right decisions utilizing their peers as well as the other motivating factors in their lives. So what drives a middle school student to do what he/she does? Perhaps no one knows, but it seems to be a hodgepodge of a number of factors including counterfactual thinking, peer pressure, and their own beliefs and morals. Let me explain each of these areas a little more in depth. Counterfactual thinking is a thought process that every human engages in. It involves the person examining the “what if ” factor. In regards to middle school
students, they involve this thought process when something is put in front of them. For example, a student who has just entered a classroom and is prompted with a bell activity—an activity that students do individually to start the class—goes through the thought process of what would happen if they did the activity and what would happen if they didn’t do the activity. Pe e r p re s s u re i s t h e influence that the students Students showing off receive from those that they associate with. At this age group, this influence is very scattered and not directed, however it does play a major role in what students do. For example, students will often shut down or perk up when someone questions their ability to fit into a group. A students beliefs and morals play into the picture because they happen to be the deep down roots for a students decisionmaking process. The parents of the student instill these and any other adult influence that the student had contact to as a child, including but not limited to grandparents, family, and teachers. Taking all of these factors into consideration is definitely a daunting task for teachers. However, the third factor that was brought up cannot be influenced, while the first two can be managed in the classroom. Teachers need to hold students
the vegetables of their labor
“Middle school students see the long-term consequences of education, or lack thereof, as something naïve”
continued on next page
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MAMMOTH POSSIBILITIES!
Using Peer Pressure to Motivate Learners
Final Products
accountable for activities if they intend for them to do them. Doing a quick check of students work, and returning assignments in a timely fashion can keep students’ counterfactual thinking processes aimed in the classroom appropriate direction. Including peers in a students’ motivation can be done by having students work in groups on projects. Group work will have students work together and put pressure on each other to achieve a common goal.
Mammoth Possibilities, 19303 B 3rd Street, Oro Grande, CA 92368 | 760-843-7700 | www.pioneeruniversity.net
MAMMOTH POSSIBILITIES!
Review: Google Docs in the Classroom by Tom Charboneau
Google docs is a recent addition to the Google products that has a lot of applicable uses in the classroom. Since I was introduced to Google Docs, I found myself implementing it in my classroom almost immediately with good results. There are a number of different applications that are useful in the classroom and I will talk about some of the strategies that have been useful at using this and increasing student achievement. One of the most useful tools in Google docs is the ability to collaborate with anyone else that has a Google account. Teachers can have students share their work with them and use the filing system to keep their account organized. Any type of file can be uploaded and shared within this area, with Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, and
PowerPoint presentations being able to be viewed and changed in the online program. Word Processor While the word processor may be underpowered compared to Word and Pages, it usefulness in the classroom is unrivaled in its ability to collaborate or share the documents from teacher to student or between students is very useful. Forms Forms is a great tool for the teacher looking to gain some statistical information quickly from the students, including various forms of assessment. Anyone can create a form with ease, creating questions for a user to answer. The questions can be in a variety of formats, from multiple-choice to paragraph answers. The answers from the form are used to
Mammoth Possibilities, 19303 B 3rd Street, Oro Grande, CA 92368 | 760-843-7700 | www.pioneeruniversity.net
MAMMOTH POSSIBILITIES! to create a spreadsheet that is updated in real time. Sites The sites ability of the program allows users to create real web pages. There are a number of forms that are available to users to create a variety of web pages with different intents and purposes. It is even possible for teachers to create a form for a webpage, leaving out information that the students have to fill in as they are working to learn a task. Presentations Presentations is very similar to Microsoft’s Powerpoint. It allows users to create presentations that can be shown full screen at any time where a presentation is necessary. The tool is not as powerful as PowerPoint, however it does not have as many bells and whistles as PowerPoint or Keynote, it has enough tools for most students.
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The programmers at Google are continuing to add more tools to these programs as well as other programs that may be able to be used in the classroom. Even with no internet, anyone is able to use the documents that are created on Google Docs, since it allows users to download files in a variety of formats including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files.
Mammoth Possibilities, 19303 B 3rd Street, Oro Grande, CA 92368 | 760-843-7700 | www.pioneeruniversity.net
WHAT KINDERGARTNERS SHOULD KNOW BEFORE COMING TO SCHOOL BY DESHAWNA CHACON
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Prerequisites for kindergarten readiness have mainly to do with responsibility and socialization. It makes life much easier on teachers and students too, if children starting kindergarten are able to dress and undress without assistance, tie their own shoes and put on footwear. Children should be able to share and play nicely with other children in their age group and above all else, follow rules and directions that are given by an adult. Children starting kindergarten do not have to know how to read, however, they are more successful when they have a good start. They should be familiar with numerous books and stories, know the alphabet and be aware of the direction that words are read on a page. Children should also be able to speak in five or six word sentences, tell stories, ask questions, and they should be able to recognize their own name before entering school. With regard to writing skills, children should know how to properly hold a crayon, pencil or marker. In addition to being able to write their own name, they should be able to draw simple recognizable pictures of people, places and things. Children should also know basic colors when they are drawing. Because the development of fine motor skills coincides with writing readiness, learning how to
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properly use scissors and glue or paste is also necessary. The math skills that are required for children prior to starting kindergarten consist of counting and recognizing numbers 1 to 10 and understanding what they represent. For example, one finger is 1 and two fingers are 2. Children entering school should also know basic shapes and understand the concepts of less and more. For safety purposes many schools prefer that children entering kindergarten know their full name, address, phone number, parents’ or guardians’ names and place of employment and the location of the school by either walking or driving. Children starting kindergarten should also know where their bus stop is and how to cross the street and look both ways. The most important safety item that children should learn before starting school is how to contact a safe adult when there is an emergency. Other important skills for children to know before starting kindergarten are connected with health and nutrition. Children should know to wash their hands before and after each meal and to cover their mouth when they sneeze or cough. Prekindergartners should also be encouraged to pick healthy foods from the basic food groups over sugary snacks or junk food.
This is not your mother’s Kindergarten. Students are expected to know so much more than they used to. Students go to school longer, without naps, and guess what...they adjust and are better off for it. Students won’t rise to low expectations
Leaders of Tomorrow
By DeShawna Chacon
STUDENT LEADERSHIP Our leadership team did many things for the student body throughout the year. Besides setting up the first student leadership program ever at Riverside Prep, we held campaigns, speeches and elections. After forming the Leaders of Tomorrow [L.O.T.] we set out to find out what we could do what we could for the student body and community. We initiated Michael Josephson’s ‘Character Counts’ curriculum, to teach our students about the importance of having good character and making great choices throughout life. Here are some of the great activities we brought to our school in the first year: September through May - Themed Spirit Weeks once a month with prizes to get everyone in the school spirit! October - Fall Festival November - Thanksgiving Food Drive; Student led conflict resolution program, helping students deal with conflict amongst peers in class and on the playground. December - Representing Riverside Prep in local Christmas Parades; Winter Wonderland Elves January - Creation of the school yearbook including photographs and page layouts, working throughout the year and finishing it in March. February - Accelerated Reading Incentives March - Continual Campus Beautification April - Multi-Cultural Day May - Pennies For Peace service learning project; Teacher Appreciation Week June - Accelerated Reading Incentives RIVERSIDE PREPARATORY LEADERSHIP
The Leaders of Tomorrow, Riverside Preparatory’s first experience with student leadership, was introduced to the school by Mrs. DeShawna Chacon. Mrs. Chacon had
had previous experience with Student Leadership before coming to Riverside Prep, and when she asked her principal, Mrs. Amy Weidman, about getting it started, she got a big thumbs up. Mrs. Chacon asked the two teachers she worked with, “Are you in?” and the rest is history. The teachers quickly collaborated on how to get the elections off the ground, and soon they were up and running. FROM SPIRIT WEEK TO YEARBOOK
It was a smooth ride all LOT LEADERS year. Everything just seemed to fall into place. The students were the real stars of the program. They took to leadership with the kind of initiative that made them very successful. They carried the name of the LOT kids well and wore their shirts with pride. Mrs. Weidman utilized them in every way possible, helping them succeed as leaders in many activities during the year. Students ended the year proud of the acclaim their hard work on the yearbook brought them. FROM SCHOOL TO COMMUNITY The students were also asked to perform leadership roles in their community. All year LOT students regularly cleaned up the campus and set a good example for how all students should treat their campus. LOT participated in a Webinar offered by the founder of Pennies for Peace, Greg Mortenson, and started a Penny Collection War. Proceeds were donated to help build schools in Afghanistan. Through their efforts they were able to send a check to Pennies for Peace for $905.00. It has been a terrific year and we all look forward to the continuing good work that these leadership students are doing in Oro Grande.
ON OUR WAY........ TO COLLEGE
THE JOURNEY TO COLLEGE IS AN ADVENTURE...
Riverside Preparatory Students:
....juniors at Riverside Preparatory investigate local colleges.
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being accepted to college and Leonardo da Vinci once said, document their own “I have been impressed with the experiences. The Riverside Preparatory students will visit urgency of doing. Knowing is college campuses, interview not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we “real life” college students and must do.”
college professors.
Juniors at Riverside Preparatory have applied this inspiring quote to their pursuit to higher education. This year the Junior class is not only reading about going to college, they are writing a book about their journey. This book will be a guide to themselves and other students through the sometimes confusing and exciting college application process. The book will include all the topics that need to be explored when applying to college. Some of these topics include; application process, financial aid, state versus private institutions, majors and minors, the SAT, and life on campus. The students in Mrs. Vennes’ class presented their ideas to the High School Principal, Mr. Bell and the Dean/Counselor Mrs. Rivera. Some of their ideas include having a comic book theme, and medieval “knight” inspired theme. Students will continue to investigate the long process of
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