Retrieval Practice

This week on the blog, I want to share a cognitive strategy to support learning in your classrooms.  That strategy is Retrieval Practice!  It is a simple practice where students retrieve and practice past learning. 

Check out this video all about Retrieval Practice!

It is so interesting to hear the reasons why cognitive psychologists support retrieval practice as a way to cement learning for students.  By using low stake quizzes to check in on students learning, you are able to force them to "RETRIEVE" new skills and  improved test scores.  The fact that the students were "quizzed" more allowed them to retain more information.  

Basically, if we spend more time asking students to retrieve information out of their brains and less time trying to put things in there... they will learn more.  

So,  how do we make this happen in the classroom?  Check out these super simple and easy strategies below!

Think Pair Share: Ask students to share what they have learned from a lesson with a partner. 

Low Stakes Quizzes: Quizzes or check ins that don't count against their grades.  Use games like Quizzes, Kahoots, and Polls.  

Brain Dumps or Storms: KWL, Can, Have, Are charts are GREAT ways to allow students to retrieve learning and then organize it.  The Teacher Toolkit has a great video on KWLs.  Check it out below!

Exit Tickets: A perfect way to do a QUICK informal check on learning.  Exit Tickets can be paper pencil or even verbal.  Check out Teach Thought for digital Exit Tickets!

Be sure to keep in mind, retrieval practice is NOT assessments!  Retrieval practice is ABOUT learning.  

Know that when using retrieval practice you will need to do it in small bursts over time.  When students struggle to recall concepts, they are actually making stronger connections about the topic in their brain. 

Check out these retrieval practice questions and guide to get your students thinking and retrieving!  Thank you Retrieval Practice on TPT!

Are all SHEETS Worksheets?

Welcome to the blog!  This week I wanted to share a total eyeopener!!!!  I LOVE the blog Cult of Pedagogy by Jennifer Gonzalez.  She even has her posts as a podcasts so you can listen and drive!

I stumbled across this post last Friday and it totally had me looking back at activities I used in the classroom. While the included video is tough to watch it did draw my attention to the post for sure.  

It really got me thinking about how not all worksheets are created equal and then I connected to our PD this year on BLOOMS.  We really focused on putting high quality activities in our classrooms.  Remember...more bang for our buck.  

My BIG take away from this blog was The Worksheet Continuum.  I wish I had this when I was in the classroom.  I loved a good packet for my mini lessons.  They helped guide students through the lesson and offered an accountability piece.  I still would have liked to dig through those packets with the continuum and figure out if I had any busy sheets in there.  

While digging for you all, I also came across this post too.  Lots to think about from The Measured Mom. 

I LOVE that she points out that not all sheets are equal and that there is definitely a place for "SHEETS" in the classroom.  I love some hands on learning but we do need that accountability piece. 

Power Sheets!  In thinking about these 2 posts, I feel like our curriculum guides and slideshows are filled with POWER Sheets!  Below I have listed some ways I know we are using POWER Sheets in our classrooms.  I see them every day!

In Reading & Writing: Students need to be able to record their thoughts and write about their reading.  Plus, graphic organizers are so powerful for comprehension and organizing a story.  They need to represent their vocabulary in frayer models so that they can dig deep and make connections to their text.  

In Math: Students need to be able to show their thinking when solving word problems with drawings and equations. Students need to watch flipped videos of decomposing numbers or fractions and then rework those using paper pencil. 

In Science: Students need to be able to record data and write their hypothesis on the outcome of an experiment.  Students need to draw complex diagrams and share them on Dojo with their parents.  

In Social Studies: Students need to create timelines and record historical events in graphic organizers. Students need to read historical texts and be able to answer high order thinking questions about what they have read using the graphic organizer they created. 

Remember, we are GROWING Learners!  Every garden needs to be weeded once in a while.  
I challenge you to WEED your classroom garden by examining your centers and packets.  Do you have any busy sheets in there?  What can you add to POWER up the learning? 

Why use PICTURE Books in math?

Hi friends!  This month we have been focusing on the Math Workshop framework and digging into our district math PD during our PLC meetings.  As I was thinking about writing our weekly blog post,  it only seemed natural to continue diving further into how we can strengthen our math instruction.     

I know in PLC, we have talked a lot about centers and what each center can look like in your classrooms.  2nd grade had a great PLC focusing on using our pacing guide and resources to sort out centers that would work within their MATH workshop frameworks.  

I want to take a moment and think about our mini lessons, especially since many of our grade levels are beginning new clusters.  

Just like in reading, it is really important to have an engagement piece that will create connections for students in our later math lessons.  

I always love to start math lessons with an exploration of the math tools that we will be using during the math unit.  It is so important to give students the opportunity to touch, hold, feel and attempt to use those tools without our direct instruction.   

I love this video from Claire Brown.  Her students are exploring math tools during their morning tubs.  It is amazing how math naturally begins to happen.  I spy students sorting bears by size!  When the tool is then introduced in a math lesson, students will already have some schema about the tool from their exploration. 

Along with providing exploration with math tools, what else can we do to increase engagement and connections when we introduce new concepts? 

Picture Books!!!!  Can we use them in math to build engagement?  We sure can!
Keep these points in mind:

• Picture books can bring a real world context to math concepts. 
• Picture books help math "phobic" students to feel more comfortable by allowing them to see math in a new light. 

What Do We Do ALL Day & Sleeping Should be Easy  have blogposts introducing tons of math picture books to get you started! 

Picture books can be used in mini lessons to introduce new concepts and build a bridge to new learning.  Along with that,  picture books can help pose a problem for students to solve or be placed in a center along with a graphic organizer. 

Think about taking a well known picture book and creating word problems centered around the characters or the math naturally occurring within the story.  Better yet, use the picture book you are using during your mini lesson for reading! 

As you are choosing your picture books, keep in mind that there are 3 tiers of math picture books:

Fundamental Picture Books: These books are all about teaching math or math is the focus concept of the book. 
Check out these books on Epic Books!

Embedded Math Picture Books: These books have a stand alone story but there are deliberate connections to math concepts.  These types of texts work perfectly for read-alouds but teachers need to be sure to direct the students to the math within the text.  
Check out these books on Epic Books!

Connected Math Picture Books: The books do not have a math focus but easily lend themselves to making connections to math.  Teachers can do this through think-alouds and conversations. 

As suggestion for this type of book would be
The Grouchy Lady Bug by Eric Carle.

The Best Picture Books have a GREAT selection organized by content area.  Check them out below!

Number Talks in Review

Hi Park View! This week, I wanted to revisit a blog post that was shared last year.  Our Math Coach has put together a fantastic number talk resource and I love that each week number talks are placed in our math slides too.  It is the perfect way to get our students talking about numbers! 

I want us to keep in mind that consistent Number Talks give students the confidence to manipulate numbers/math in a way that makes sense to them. 

You have to check out this article about number talks from Sherry D. Parrish!  I love that in the article it is stated that the heart of a number talk is conversation! 

If you are looking to get more conversations started during your number talks check out these discussion starters from Anna Brantley! 

Here are some tips from Coach Alisan's presentation:

She shared an AWESOME website that had tons of quick-ready to use number talks. It is called, Which One Doesn't Below.  Check it out below!

Don't forget this GREAT Resource that was shared in PLC! 

I also found these FREE printable posters to add to your number talks from Primary Bliss!  I love the "I would like to defend my answer"poster-HELLO PEAK!

The Routty Math Teacher also has a great FREE file on getting started with number talks.  

A NUMBER Talk in K:

A NUMBER TALK in 1st Grade:

A NUMBER TALK in 2nd Grade:

A NUMBER TALK in 3rd Grade: 

This video really stresses the importance of number talks.  It digs into how number talks level the playing field for students who think differently about math. Allowing students to have the opportunity to use trial and error is essential in building confidence in math.

So in just 15 minutes a day, you can start improving your students' feelings about math and increase their number sense while also providing a safe place to share and learn. 

Happy Planning!