A NEW HeidiSongs CVC Book is HERE!!!!

Happy Summer, everyone!  I hope that by now you are all finished with the school year and are done for the summer!  Today I am going to tell you about a brand new resource for teaching consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words that we finished just a month or so ago- our CVC Book, Volume 2!!!!  I have been wanting to create a second volume of this book now for quite a while, but there are so many important projects on my "to do" list that they all get piled up and then things take longer than we want them to.  But this one was finished in May, just in time for me to try it out with my kiddos for a little bit before releasing it to you here.

This book follows the format of our first very popular CVC Workbook Vol. 1, but includes new word families that were not included in the first book.

• Short A (–ad), (–ag), (–ap) Family Words:
bag, gag, jag, lag, mag, rag, sag, tag, wag, bad, dad, fad, had, lad, mad, pad, sad, cap, gap, lap, map, nap, sap, tap, yap, zap

• Short E (–ed), (–em) Family Words:
bed, fed, led, red, Ted, wed, hem, them, Em

• Short I (–id), (–im) Family Words:
bid, did, hid, kid, lid, mid, rid, Sid, dim, him, Jim, Kim, rim, Tim

• Short O (–od), (–og) Family Words:
cod, log, nod, pod, rod, sod, bog, dog, fog, hog, jog

• Short U (–ub), (–ud), (–um), (–up) Family:
cub, rub, sub, tub, bud, cud, dud, mud, hum, gum, mum, sum, yum, cup, up, pup, yup

Actually, I had the need to include some other CVC words quite some time ago, so I drew more of these pictures and threw them into my own personal workbook pages and have been using them with my students over the past year.  However, I really didn't have the time to illustrate all of the pictures necessary, so we wound up hiring a professional illustrator to complete the book, but asked him to stick with my established "Kid Drawn" style, because that's my favorite.  (After all, that's the only way I know how to draw, LOL!)

I LOVE the way it came out!  And it is just as effective as the last CVC book, of course!  It has all of the same features:

- Each unit begins with a set of large flash cards so that you can teach the children what the words and pictures are right from the very beginning, before you ever show them a worksheet.

This is one page of the large CVC flashcards.  They are about three inches square.

- There are small, student sized flash cards that you can copy using just one sheet per child for additional practice in reading and matching the words to the pictures at home, or for use in mini centers in the classroom.

These are the Student Flash Cards.  They are about one inch square.

- Each unit includes five different types of worksheets for practice in reading the words alone and within the context of easy sentences.

-  At the end of each unit, there are cut and paste sound sort worksheets for practice in sorting the pictures into word family groups.

This is one of the Sound Sort Worksheets for the short vowel a unit.

- The sight words that have been included build on themselves in difficulty, just as the first CVC book does, so that it may be used in conjunction with the first book.  For example, the unit with the short a words includes only ten sight words and six color words.  Sight words increase gradually with each unit until there are 25 sight words plus all of the color words included with short vowel u family at the end of the book.  Therefore, most Kindergarten children and first graders should be able to use this book and be successful with all of it.

These are the sight words that were included in each unit.  The new ones added to each unit are written in bold print.

In my class, this is the way I generally use these worksheets and flashcards.
1.  When I am ready to introduce the short a words, I get out those word family flash cards and we practice sounding out the words and matching them to the pictures for about a week on a pocket chart. 

This is one of my students from several years ago, matching words from the first CVC book on a pocket chart.

2.  Then, I send the student sized flashcards home with the children as homework for practice reading and matching the following week, along with the first worksheet in the unit.

This is what the format of the first worksheet in each unit looks like.

3.  Sometime during that week, we use the CVC Bingo Games that go along with each unit in my room at one of the centers.  (The bingo games are sold as part of the book download, but are NOT in the printed copy of the book.)  This is usually done with a parent volunteer.  I also use this bingo game as a phonemic awareness blending game, and tell the parent to simply tell the children the sounds of the letters and have them blend them together, rather than show the children the letters.  Then they have to guess the word that way.  When sound blending is brand new to them, we even play it by having the parent separate  the onset from the rime only, and have the children blend the word that way.  (Example:  The parent would say, "/h/  /am/" and the children would try to guess the word "ham.")  Once the children can do that, then we progress to blending the entire word together by sound only, and then to blending it by looking at the letters on the calling cards.

This is a picture of one of the bingo games from the first CVC book.

4.  On the second week of the unit, they get the second worksheet for homework, and we still continue to practice matching the CVC words on the pocket chart and playing CVC bingo as I described it above.

This is an example of the format of worksheet two in each unit.

5.  On the third week of each unit, I give my children the third worksheet for homework, and we continue practicing matching the words on the chart as needed and as time permits.

The third worksheet in each unit looks like this.

 The CVC bingo game continues once a week, unless there is a skill that I need the parents to work on that is needed more at that point.  I also spend one day of my language arts instruction with the children on worksheets four and five during the third week.  I copy worksheet number four on the back and number five on the front, and then work with the children in small groups so that I can listen to them read.  I like to see how they are doing in applying the skill of reading the CVC words within the context of these simple sentences since the vocabulary is definitely controlled.

I have my kids take turns reading the sentences aloud on the fifth worksheet in each unit while others are coloring it.

I really value the format of the fifth worksheet in each unit for this reason, because it has simple sentences for the children to read that incorporate the CVC words.  So, as the children are working, I stop each one for a few minutes and listen to them read some of the sentences from that fifth worksheet.  I like this a lot because I KNOW that they have never seen these sentences before, and therefore could not have memorized them.  (Sometimes the children easily memorize the sentences in the little books that I send home for reading practice, so it is hard to determine whether or not they are really mastering what I am giving them.)  This really helps me keep track of general reading achievement, and who needs extra help.  It's a sort of mini-assessment that is easy to give, since the rest of the children are busy doing the worksheet, and I only have to listen to them read a little to know how they are doing.

This is what the fourth worksheet in each unit looks like.

I hope that this book will meet your needs as well as it meets mine!  If you have any comments or feedback on it, I would love to hear it!  We are including a few sample sheets here, from the Short -ad Word Family, if you would like to try them out with your students next time you are with them.
We are now working on a CCVC book, and a CVCC book, too!  PLUS, we are also working on an alphabet workbook!  Busy, busy, busy!  Stay tuned, I'll let you know when they are ready. People always ask me if there is any music to go along with the CVC book.  And the answer is "not yet, but hopefully next year!"  Writing a song for each word family is on my "to do list."  I would like to make up some songs that would help children learn how to blend the sounds into words.  Right now, the only song I have is the "How Do You Sound It Out?" song from Little Songs for Language Arts.  And that is a great one that is highly effective, I think!  (If you would like to see a video of it and hear the song, please click here!)  At least my class really liked it and seemed to benefit from it.  So I'll be working on some more songs like that one in the near future.
Heidi

Motivating Kids to Participate in Music Activities

The question of how to motivate children to sing and move along to classroom music is often asked of me in my workshops and presentations.   The question was also asked on my HeidiSongs Facebook page by Sue Keeler, so I thought I would address it in a blog post, since student participation is essential to multi-sensory learning and a big part of learning through HeidiSongs.



Here is the question:

"I know it's been addressed before, but what are some 'positive' ways of motivating kids who refuse to sing the phonics songs, etc.? Of course, they haven't learned too many of them..."


Set Clear Expectations
First, I tell parents at the beginning of the year that non-participation in music is not allowed and will be treated as refusal to do any other academic activity would be treated. We learn from music and movement, just as we learn from doing worksheets- but we probably learn MORE from the music and movement! So if the child refused to do a worksheet, he would be disciplined in your classroom, right? The consequences are the same.  It’s very important that parents understand this, because you will need to get them on board in some cases.  A couple of times, I have asked a parent to stay for a few minutes after school to help me get a child to participate in music.  Together, we put on the songs and tried to get the child to sing and move along with us.  Once the child sees that this is what the parent wants and expects, they often do it. Most of the time, the parent is surprised and says, "WHAT????  He does it ALL the TIME at home!!!!"

Try Natural Consequences
I once kept a child in from recess and had her sing the songs and do the movements by herself at recess with the DVD because she was hiding in my classroom while the rest of the class was singing, etc. (This was a child that never wanted to do anything physical, and was over-weight. She didn't want to get up when I asked the class to stand, etc.)  It must have worked because she never did that again!

I have also sent children to my aide to sing the song and do the motions for her since the rest of the class was finished.  My only purpose in doing this is to make sure that the child knows that he or she should just cooperate, because in the end, he or she will still have to “do their work,” no matter what.  After all, if the child just refuses to cooperate and then “wins” by doing nothing, then the child has no reason to cooperate next time, right?

Move Enthusiastic Class Leaders to the Front
But as far as positive methods are concerned, I try to move the more naturally enthusiastic children to the front of the room, and the more reluctant children to the back. Their enthusiasm is contagious!

Catch Them Being Good and Make a Big Deal Over It
Also, when a child that doesn't usually participate much starts really "moving" or "boogie-ing" to a song, I often say, "Wow! Go Alfonso!" or something like that. "Look at ____ go!" (And I say that right in the middle of the song!)  That usually makes everyone want to do the same, of course.  So positive reinforcement works its same magic in this arena as it does in others!


Mix Favorite Songs In With Others That They Need to Work On
Making playlists that include songs that your children really respond too, mixed with songs that they may not like as well also helps. I try not to just keep playing ones that are not their favorites over and over without mixing it up with others that they really like. And their favorites change yearly!

Invite Kids To Lead A Song with a Buddy
Over the last two years, I invited kids to come up and lead the songs for us. That really made it fun for some of them! If you can get some of the reluctant ones to come up with a friend, sometimes the positive reinforcement that they get from that helps, too. Usually once a few of them are "begging" for a chance to come up and do it, things change!

Make Sure Parents Understand That Their Attitude Matters
The only time I completely failed in getting a child to participate was several years ago, and in this case, I discovered that his father was telling him not to do it because “it was stupid.”  That poor little boy was certainly smart, but wound up knowing fewer sight words than anyone in the whole class, and this was probably due to his lack of engagement in so many of our class activities.  He was finally moved in February to another Kindergarten class at his father’s request.  Unfortunately, his teacher told me that he didn’t learn many new words in her class, either. 



I have included some of the Facebook responses that seemed helpful here as well, including my own responses to their suggestions.  Please feel free to leave a comment if you have other ideas to contribute!  All ideas are welcome.

Andrea Sims Gibbs:
 When I explain to the students that there isn't a choice of whether to sing or not to sing, I usually don't have to many problems. I address this problem from the beginning and then it becomes a non-issue. The love the silly movements that can be incorporated.

Krista Baczynski Claassen:
 I put the CD in my listening center. Even my quiet ones sing along when they're wearing headphones! (Of course it makes for a rather noisy center, but it works for me.)

Amber Monson Schaefer:
My own son was a kid who didn't sing. He had hearing issues as an infant and missed all the singing I did for him. He really struggled to get his words out and when he sung, it was slow. He could not get the words out to the rhythm and it really frustrated him. My advice is to just give them time and space. Show them how fun it is and keep them involved by dancing with them. They're still getting the academics from the song, even if they're not singing the songs.

HeidiSongs:  
That's good advice. I like it when a child is moving along to the best of their ability. A child that is unable to get the words out and is trying is a totally different thing than a child is will not cooperate.   All I ever ask of the children is that they participate to the best of their ability. And that really varies from child to child.  I do think that the children will learn more if they are repeating the words somehow, but again, each child needs to do it to the best of his or her ability.

Tammy Owensby Carpenter:
I agree, and looking back on it, the ones who didn't like to participate were the very ones who ended up being retained. In the end though all pretty much participated. I miss my daily "Heidi" fix with the kids..."unk spells unk like skunk, pee-u, pee-u!"  "Hey you bossy e, stop bossing me!"

Sheila Mack Gonzales:
The big thing I see here is know the child. As teachers we can usually tell who is shy and needs time and positive reinforcers vs those that tend to choose not to for the sake of not doing it and need a little more directive approach. I do like the suggestion of having a buddy and moving the more enthusiastic singers and dancers forward letting their enthusiasm spread and keeping eyes off the bashfuls until they are ready. :)

T Nell Woolworth:
As Dr.Jean said at one of her conferences, sometimes you just let them observe, and what they'll see is their peers having fun! Encourage, congratulate the fun and most kids will join in eventually!

Tammy Owensby Carpenter:
At circle time I say, "Whose gonna Participate?" They say "everybody" and I say "tell your neighbor, I'm gonna participate (they repeat) so you gotta participate." They love this and it does help!

Muriel Weidemann:
I have used many of the suggestions above. Also, reading a story like Horton and the Who where it emphasizes EVERYONE's participation has helped, too. However, in recent years, I have had more kinders who think it is somehow COOL to not participate. I'm unsure if this is because of their lack of participation in other areas of their lives such as entertainment or what. I have even explained to them how moving and singing help their brains develop and learn. Knowing the child is key... are they struggling or refusing?  And why?

HeidiSongs:
I, too, explain to them that this is how we learn, and this is why we do it.  We learn by doing, and not as much by watching.  They will learn a little bit by watching too, but they will probably learn more slowly.  The question again, as Muriel Weidemann said, is "why?" Why are they refusing?  That’s the key.  If you can figure out why and solve that problem, then the issue can often be overcome.

Tami O'Keefe:
Not all of my students sing the songs, but that is where the reward comes in to play; I use ClassDoJo, an online classroom management tool. After the 5 words of the day are played and the students tell me what words they listened to and then read them; They get points for reading the words. The points are earned toward popcorn and movie on Monday from the previous week.

How I Got 18 out of 23 Kids to Master 100% of Their Sight Words

Each year, as I am getting ready to assess my students for the last time, I do a quick assessment of the children's sight word knowledge and CVC knowledge, and some key skills in phonemic awareness, etc.  I also test their number identification from 0-30.  Then, I try really hard to get parents and volunteers on board to help get as many children to master as many skills and words as they possibly can before the school year ends.  Basically, I am trying to "squeeze" every last "point" out of them that I can possibly get!  Usually, I try to send home either RAN boards with all of the sight words, or lists of sight words that most of the children still need to learn.  And that usually does it!  Every year, for 20 years in a row in Kindergarten, I have had the majority of the parents try really hard to help their child master every single word and every single vowel sound, etc.  Sure, there have been a couple of exceptions involving everything from apathy, to poverty, to homelessness, and in addition,  every now and then you encounter a family in crisis.

I Photoshopped out the children's last names, as you can see.

But this year, it seemed to me that most of the parents that were going to help their children already seemed to have done so, and those children had pretty much mastered all of the words anyway.  And as for the rest?  Well...I really wasn't sure that any pleas for help would change the apparent behavior patterns of the rest.  

Even if you can't afford the yearly fee, I recommend that you sign up for the free 60 day trial at the beginning of the year and send home those personalized flashcards to help get your students started learning the basics.  Print off another set of flash cards again before the 60th day.

WELL... I decided to try again to get parents to help anyway, but to change my tactics this year as opposed to other years.  I just can't give up!  No matter what is happening in my own life, no matter how distracted I may feel with things like a daughter's wedding, no matter how many different places I am feel like I am being pulled at a time, the fact is that I just plain care.  I care how my kids do.  I care about their achievement.  And I also care that I myself learn and progress as a teacher.  It is important to me to get them to learn just as much as I possibly can get them to learn, no matter even if it seems futile with some of them in the group, and even though I haven't laid eyes on some of their parents for months.

I put each child's ESGI sight word flash cards in a bag with their name on it.

Considering this really is the lowest achieving class I have had in a long time, I knew I was going to have to try a little bit harder, and teach more efficiently.  I knew that the parents cared.  What was missing?  Was it time, skills, language, comprehension of the task????
I decided that it was really TIME that most of them lacked.  Many of them worked very long hours and had very little time to help their children.  Maybe if I made practice more efficient for them, their help would produce better results?

Sidewalk Chalk + HeidiSongs + ESGI Software = Success!

As luck would have it, a few months earlier this year in March I was offered the chance to give the ESGI Software a try.  The nice people from ESGI seem to show up at all of the major conferences, and I have had a chance to chat with them many times.  I had seen their presentation many times as well.  I knew that teachers RAVED about how this made testing more efficient, quicker, simpler, and made their lives easier, and they all thought that it was worth it.  I also knew that it was $150 per year subscription charge!!!

I sent the kids out to write their OWN personal sight words that they needed to work on.

Putting all of these things together, the part that wasn't making sense to me was the "it was worth it for $150 per year!  Yes, I like to be efficient, but I don't know how much more efficient I can be to make it worth $150 per year!  And I didn't picture it as useful to me because then I would still have to put those same scores into my own district's computer data system, so why bother?  (Okay, the part I really didn't understand was how much it would impact my test scores.)  However, Greg Gorman at ESGI offered to let me try it out for a year free of charge at the Southern California Kindergarten Conference.  (Actually, anyone can try it for 60 days free of charge.)

The kids ONLY worked on the words they didn't already know, since they each had their own bag of flashcards.

 The kicker for me to try it out and actually integrate it into my classroom was my knowledge that ESGI Software allows you to print personalized flashcards for every single child in the class in whatever subject you like.  Immediately upon testing, you can print off a copy for a parent or a volunteer that includes ONLY THE ITEMS THE CHILD NEEDS TO WORK ON.  I would like to say that again:  Just as soon as you finish testing, you can press the "print flashcards" button, and then a set of flashcards will be printed that includes only the items that the child needs to work on.  They are printed with the child's name and the skill that he is working on at the top of each card, so even if you don't get right to the printer, you can't mix up the flashcards.  You can get a set of flashcards that says, "Sounds" at the top, and another that says "letters."  So if the child needs to learn the names of the letters J, G, Y, and Q, then that's all the child would take home!  And then if the child needed to know the sounds of the J, H, V, Y, and F, then that's all he would take home! And you can send both sets of cards home, and with a quick explanation, they should still "get it!"  Yes, some children will be taking home a few half sheets of flash cards.  But that is the worst thing that could happen!!!!  The software can also print customized parent letters to tell parents what to do with those flash cards.

Giving each child their own personalized bag of flashcards was quick and easy with the ESGI software.

 That alone was what prompted me to go ahead and "figure out" how to use the software, and take the time to put in the specific words for my district's 50 sight words.   It didn't take very long to complete this task -maybe an hour- and that included my time putting my children's names into the system and trying to figure out how it worked. The only problem was that I neglected to change the font size on the words when I first put them in, so I had to go back in and change every single word later (another thirty minutes.)  So if you chose to try this, check the font size on your very first word and preview it after the very first word!  I used a 150 point Comic Sans Manuscript font in white and centered it.

 

I tested a few of the children myself, just to see how the software would work, and then I turned the rest of the testing over to my aide and a few trusted volunteers.  You can also see the video here that I took of a friend's little preschool age child, (with her permission,) so you can see how easy it is to use it.  Some of our testing was done on the iPad, and some was done on the laptop.  The interesting thing was that the children overwhelmingly did better with the very large type on the screen than they did on my testing paper with regular sized 18 point font print.  It is also possible that some of my volunteers were simply more generous with their scoring than I would be, but then I tested a few of them myself both ways, and the children that were struggling did MUCH BETTER on the computer with the very large font!  I suppose it makes sense: when we practice with large type on flash cards that it's no wonder that we do better when shown a large type word to read.  I am wishing that I had retested a few of them with the large print flashcards, just to see if the recognized those words, but there is only so much time in the day.  However, I wasn't sure if using this software actually followed the district guidelines for testing, so I didn't use the computer for my final sight word testing to submit for report cards. 

This is what the flash cards come out looking like when they are printed.

By now, I bet you are wondering what sidewalk chalk has to do with this blog post, LOL!  One of the ways that I encouraged the kids to practice their sight words was to give them a bag of their OWN sight words, have them read them to a volunteer, and then try to write them with side walk chalk outside during their motor development time.  I think that it was very effective!  But the great thing was that in prepping for what I considered to be a fun/educational activity, I wound up with a class set of personalized sight words flashcards in zip lock bags- right before we went into our last six or seven weeks of school!

You can play all kinds of drill and practice games, calling out specific words for specific children using ESGI flash cards.

We used those flashcards again and again for games, activities, and also just plain old tutoring with some of my FANTASTIC volunteers this year!  They really zeroed in on my neediest students and pulled them out and just helped them work on their sight words!!!!  One of them is my retired teacher friend, Janice Lawson.  Another was a university student that was studying to be a teacher, and who needed to complete hours in a classroom for a class at the university.  The children came to affectionately refer to her as Miss Sarah, and the pair of them were worth their weight in gold!

How do you like my shadow????? :)

 Each Tuesday, they would take those sight words and drill the children on them whenever they finished  their work.  They both came just once a week on the very same day, but it was just enough to really help.  The other volunteers also helped, most of them coming weekly- about three more of them came once a week, and one of these moms was also a part time teacher that was just wonderful to have in my classroom.  Lucky me!  

I think that the most important change I made was that I maximized the time that I had with my volunteers.  And having the personalized sets of flash cards made it so that every activity made a real difference!  I retested the children on their flashcards about every other week, and for the first time in a few months, I saw a drastic improvement!  When I first tested them with the ESGI software about six or seven weeks before the end of school, about eight or nine of my 23 kids knew all 50 of the district's sight words. The rest of them knew anywhere from 31 to 49 words with the average amount probably being 46 words.  I had sung the sight words songs as often as I possibly could.  We did all of the things that normally did, but I still felt that they could do better; especially those two children that still knew only 31 and 39 words.  I can tell you that I actually felt ashamed of their progress!  What in the world was going on?  I was certain that the difference was that there wasn't much time to help these kids at home.  Here's what I did:

1.  I made their learning time more efficient for those parents by giving parents sets of personalized flash cards with the ESGI software.
2.  I made sets of personalized flash cards for games and activities at school.  That way, I made the most of every precious minute, because I knew I couldn't count on parents to do this for me.  The buck stops here.
3.  I used those sets of personalized flash cards for volunteers to tutor the kids at school one-on-one whenever possible.
 4.  I retested the kids on those sight words about every other week, or even more often for the neediest ones.  If I was SURE that they knew a word in their baggie, I removed it.   Then I sent NEW flash card sets home with the kids.

I sent new sets of flash cards home about every other week, too.  I attached short notes that said things like, "If your child can learn these words, then he will know ALL 50 of the kindergarten sight words!!!!!"  I figured that this would be an encouraging, short note that would help parents realize that the help I was asking for might be something that they had time for, and could make a real difference!  If I could catch parents at the door at dismissal, I would hand them the flash cards personally and ask them to help.

I attached short, simple notes like this to the flash cards I sent home.

The ESGI Software can generate reports that tell you which sight words your class knows the best and which ones they know the least, statistically speaking.  So I printed a list and modified my sight word power point so that the words that the most kids lacked came up many more times than the ones that they mostly knew.  (My power point presentation includes a photo of each child holding a sight word printed on a large piece of construction paper.  I have enough pictures of the children holding words to cover our whole list of sight words.)  We also used these printed pictures for other activities.

I made a Power Point drill for my class, with each of them holding a sight word.  I repeated the words that they class needed the most many more times than the ones that most of the children had mastered.

 Having looked at the children's test results, all sorted and printed over and over again, I felt like I had a better and better idea of what each and every child knew in the class, especially as far as those sight words were concerned.  When I put on the sight word songs, I knew which ones to make sure that I played every single day.  And when we played games as a whole group, I knew exactly what to ask each child as well.

 

At the end of the year, I had very decent scores!  Eighteen children learned all 50 of the district sight words-100%!!!  The other scores were:  41, 48, 48, 49, and 49.  Not bad at all, if I do say so myself!!!!  I think that they did a great job, particularly since I know that they started out as a much lower group than I usually have!  I am totally sold on the combination of HeidiSongs and ESGI Software together to easily and efficiently customize learning centers, games, activities, and parent communication to teach smarter, and not work harder or longer hours. 

A One-On-One iPad Program in Kindergarten!

Last spring, I was fortunate enough to visit Trost Elementary School in Oregon that is using iPads and iPods in one-to-one situations at every grade level!  This school has done so much with mobile technology that Apple now sponsors classroom tours through their school for educators.  As luck would have it, it also happens to be the school that my husband's sister, Julie Johnson works at as an Intervention Specialist!  So my husband and I flew ourselves up to Portland, and then drove south for about an hour to Canby, where the Canby School District is implementing some very BIG ideas in technology in a beautiful small town setting.  After that, we had a chance to catch up with his "little sister" and her husband that we really don't get to see often enough.  What a wonderful "excuse" to visit Oregon and his family!  :)

In addition to these groups, there was another group with the teacher behind the camera.

The Apple Mobile Technology Classroom Tour started out with a presentation by Joseph Morelock, Canby's Director of Innovation and Technology.  It was extremely interesting and informative, and I enjoyed it immensely!  I don't have too much time here to tell you all about it, but I think you can find out about their many successes here on their Blog or their Tech Info Wiki.  Also, the achievement data for the classes that are using the mobile technology is really impressive!  You can view the data by visiting their blog and clicking on the link for the iPod Achievement Data.

One Kindergartner Learns on His iPad.

Funding
The biggest question most people have when I tell them about the program that I saw is "How did they fund it?"  That certainly was my first question!  My sister-in-law Julie explained that they decided to purchase technology rather than curriculum, and then work together to create their own curriculum that they would need to meet the standards.  So rather than spending many thousands of dollars on, for example, a Harcourt Brace adopted language arts program, they used existing materials and then supplement by creating their own materials together.  This allows them to spend the rest of the money on mobile technology such as iPads and iPods.  Each teacher was also given an allowance to spend on apps from the iTunes App Store.  When the teachers decide what they want, they let their administrator know and then it is purchased in bulk and installed on their devices for them.

Shh!  Everybody's working!

How many iPads do they really have?
One thing about the program that caught my attention was that they did NOT have one-on-one devices in every single classroom by any means!  The teachers that were chosen for this program were chosen from a pool of teachers that applied for in-district grants for technology money- about $2000 each.  Then, when the quality and innovation of a certain application caught their eye, they would decide to give that teacher enough devices for the entire class, rather than just enough for the $2000!  Talk about hitting the jackpot!  This is great for the teacher that gets it, but it made me wonder about jealousy issues and inequity issues coming up amongst staff members.  It also made me wonder about the possibility of teacher evaluations based on student test scores, and what would happen if one teacher had a much better evaluation due to having better test scores due to better equipment.  However, none of this seemed to be a problem to the staff members that I talked to; they all seemed very positive about the programs in place and happy about them being implemented at their school and district.  As of 2012, the Canby School District has 4,750 students, 1,840 student computers, 850 iPads, and 1,920 iPod Touches.  We were told that of the 850 iPads that they had last year, only one got lost and just one was broken. 

The children were so engaged that they barely noticed the 5-10 visitors in the room!

The Kindergarten Program
Of course, being a Kindergarten teacher with a special interest in the use of iPads in the classroom, my main area of interest was the Kindergarten classroom and its one-on-one iPad program.   So my husband Greg and I went to the Kindergarten classroom first to check out their program.

The old meets the new:  wooden blocks next to the iPad storage cabinet!

Dual Language Immersion with iPads in Kindergarten
Because Trost Elementary School serves many Spanish speaking children, they have a very popular dual immersion Spanish/English program that begins in Kindergarten and runs all the way through fifth grade.  And it was this dual language program that was given the one-on-one iPads to use in the Kindergarten program!  There were some children in the class whose primary language was English and many whose primary language was Spanish; however, it appeared that all of the children were being given their reading lesson in Spanish with the teacher.  The children were taught in Spanish in the morning and English in the afternoon.  However, while we were there, the children were using apps in both English and Spanish.  (Apparently there is a real lack of quality apps in Spanish.)  My sister-in-law tells me that by the end of fifth grade, all of the children are able to switch back and forth from English to Spanish quite easily and can read and write in both languages on command!  Years ago when I first started teaching, I taught a bilingual first grade class for five years, so I found it interesting to watch in all of the classrooms.

Each iPad is numbered, and the students know which one is "theirs."

Organization and Use
When we entered, the Kindergarten teacher had divided her class into four groups.  One group was with an instructional aide that was giving a lesson; another group was getting a reading lesson with the teacher; and the last two groups were at two separate tables and were working with their iPads independently.  They were all doing fine with it, of course!  Each child had a set of headphones on, and this helped greatly in keeping the noise level at a minimum.  With this type of classroom management arrangement, the children spent two different group times on their iPads.

Headphones are cleverly stored in zip bags with pictures in magazine racks, right there with all of the other supplies!

The Apps for the Day are in a Special Folder on the iPad
I talked to the teacher later during her recess break, and she told me that she had the apps that they could work on for the day in a special folder.  She had taught the children to find that folder and work only on the apps that were in it.  I wondered if I would see any children straying from the designated apps in this folder to do something else, but I never did!  They all were following her directions beautifully, with no behavior issues or any technological issues that she had to deal with in the middle of her lesson.   The teacher said that it is no harder to teach them how to use their iPads than it is to do anything else, and they adapt to the rules and how to get them out and put them away quickly.

The children line up to put their iPads away in the correct numbered slot.

I did notice that some of the children seemed to switch frequently from one app to another, though, within the folder.  I'm not sure if it was simply that the apps were not holding their attention very well, or if they just wanted to explore everything in the folder before deciding what they wanted to do the most.  But there was quite a bit of switching from one app to another.  My Kinders do this too, and I assume that it is a result of their itty-bitty attention spans!  Giving them more than one app to choose from during a session is a good way to deal with that sort of problem.

The children also put away their headphones.  Devices are charged in the storage rack.

Transitioning and Storage
I stayed in the Kinder classroom long enough to see what would happen when the children transitioned from one group to another.  Each iPad was numbered and had a slot where it should go that was also numbered.  The children were trained to put their device in the correct slot.  Then they found a zip bag with their name and picture on it, and put their headphones in it.  There were numbered slots for the headphones as well, and the children put them away too.  Then the next group got their own iPads and headphones and continued on with their turn on their devices.  There was a lady that was helping the children with the transition, and we assumed her to be a volunteer.  However, she didn't seem to be helping them at all with the iPads during the group time.  It just didn't appear to be necessary!  And I can imagine that this is true;  my students rarely need help, except when they are having trouble sharing the iPads.  And in this case, this wouldn't be an issue!

A volunteer helps attach the cords to recharge the iPads.

Just Imagine...
I would have liked to have seen the class using the iPads in a whole group situation, but unfortunately, that was not on the teacher's lesson plan for that day!  My sister-in-law sent me a picture of them using them all for a lesson, though.  (See the photo below.)  It sure made me DROOL with envy!  Just imagine...
     *  No need for white boards or dry erase markers.  The children can just use their iPads and write on the white board app!
     *  Every child can easily see photos and videos that you put on the iPad, and participate in discussions about them.
     *  No need to purchase, color, construct, laminate, set up, or tear down elaborate learning centers; just give them apps for whatever you want them to work on and let them go.
     *  No need to waste any paper for practice writing equations, shapes, or numbers, or letters!  All of the children can write them on their iPads, and erase easily.  Nobody needs an eraser!
     *  Imagine being able to simply take away the iPad from a child who is misbehaving or refusing to pay attention, and giving him or her a pencil and paper instead!  Do you think he would try a little harder to follow directions next time?
     *  Imagine giving your students apps that would challenge them and let them learn and grow at their own pace, rather than trying to keep everyone on the same page on the same day?

This picture was taken on another day when I was not present.  Looks like a dream, doesn't it?

Are you ready to give it a try?  I am!!!
I loved this inspirational quote from James Cameron that was given to us at the end of the tour:
"If you set your goals ridiculously high and it's a failure, you will fail above everyone else's success." 
Now if I only had the power to set this plan in motion and make it happen at my own school!!

To see some blog posts on Heidi's favorite apps, please click:
Great iPad Apps for Pre-K and K! 
More iPad Apps, and a New Counting Creatures Addition Book!
Seven Weeks Down:  More Fun with Counting Creatures, iPad Apps, and More! 
Three Weeks Down and I LOVE My Class!
Teaching CVC Words:  What to Do When They Are STILL Not Getting It!

I regularly review apps and tell how we are using them in my Kindergarten class.  Sign up for our email updates and follow my blog to make sure that you don't miss any!

Sounding Out and Making New Words with the New Sounds Fun Word Building Kit!

A child uses the Sounds Fun Word Building Kit to make a word and write it.

I've been waiting a long time for this kit, and I am super excited to be able to share it with you now!  I put this project on my wonderful husbands (very long) "to do list" a few months ago, and it finally made its way to the top of the list.  So I now finally have my wonderful Sounds Fun Word Building Kit!  I'm only sorry that there is so little time left in the year to make use of it.

Children needed very little coaching to figure out that if they simply changed a beginning or ending sound, they could make an entirely new word with very little effort!

The Sounds Fun Word Building Kit gives children a way to practice building, writing, sounding out, and reading words with the Sounds Fun Phonics spelling patterns.  To use the kit, all you need to do is make copies of the alphabet cards and the Sounds Fun Word Building Kit cards necessary for the word families that you are working on.  Cut the cards out and scatter them on the table or post them on a pocket chart.

We found it easiest to put all of the Sounds Fun picture cards on the pocket chart.

We scattered the plain letters on the table.

Then you can either provide the children with a list of words that you want them to work on building, or give them pictures of the words that you want them to build by using the flash cards from the Sounds Fun Workbooks.  Or, you could also simply let the children create the words of their choice by providing no word list or pictures at all.  However, holding the children accountable for making a certain amount of words and writing them down is a good idea for children that are working independently in centers. 

I had my students write their words down in their journals and try to read them back to a friend.  The kids did an awful lot of singing from the Sounds Fun CD and DVD while they were building their words!  It was really fun to watch them go!  The only problem that I had with the activity was that since I told the children that writing the words down was the goal, that I found that many children simply skipped the word building part and copied the words off of my list straight onto their journals and told me they were done!

I started by giving the kids a list of words to try to build.  I removed it later; they did better without it.

Because this was happening, I decided to remove the word list and just told them to make as many words as they could with the cards and write them.  However, some children needed to have a minimum number of words to complete in order to be “finished,” so at that point, I designated a number for that.  Thankfully, my higher achieving students kept right on going as usual, trying to beat each other by being the one to make the most words anyway!  (It was, of course, the lower achieving students who were fixated on doing the least amount of work possible.)

One of my students tried to write the word, "ice cream!"

To avoid this kind of situation, it is probably best to give children the flash card pictures of the words from the Sounds Fun Workbooks and have them build the words that they see, but also let them know that they can build other words that they know with the cards when they are finished.

Often, building one word led to another!  The next word this child built was "week."

The cards can also be used to teach children to sound out words, not only for making words of their own.  We played another game with the cards this week to try this that was really fun for everyone!  It’s called “The Queen Game” and it’s sort of a “teacher vs. kids” game.  In order to play this game, all you need is to tell the children that you are the queen (or king, if you are a male teacher!), and then draw a picture of yourself on a white board wearing a crown, and label it “queen.”  (I also wear a plastic tiara while I play this game!)  Then I draw a picture of a few kids on the white board and label it “kids.”  Then, just ask the children any questions that you want, and give the kids a point for any question answered correctly.  BUT... the queen gets a point for any question answered incorrectly, or if someone talks when it’s not their turn, or if any other rule is broken, etc.  In the end, the kids always win, and the queen is a bad sport, so she always cries!  The children find this hilarious, LOL!

I used the Sounds Fun Kit cards and wrote letters on the white board with them for kids to sound out for the Queen Game.  Even my lower achieving students did quite well sounding out these tricky words!  Amazing!

The questions that I asked consisted of taking the cards and making words out of them.  Then I asked the children to sound out the words and read them to me.  I was absolutely AMAZED at their ability to sound out very difficult words, as long as the Sounds Fun picture cues were there!  I was SO pleased that I have to say that I am incredibly excited about these cards as a resource for kids that are just on the cusp of being ready to read harder words than just CVC words!  Even my lower students had very little trouble sounding out words such as “shout,” “cheek,” “thing,” and “book.”  All they had to do was say the sound that went with each of the Sounds Fun characters/letters, and say the plain letter sounds that were written on the white board with them, and blend them together.  I think that even the children themselves were surprised at how easy it was!  The picture cues with the letters embedded right into them provide a real crutch for those that need it.  If they know all of their letter sounds and Sounds Fun sounds, and have been taught to blend sounds together, then they can read these words.  Hooray!!!

Even "tricky" words like this were decodable for my little ones, as long as the picture cues were there!

 As far as other activities are concerned, I think that kids would also enjoy cutting and gluing down their words onto another paper to save them and take them home.  I think that they would probably also enjoy making word books out of them!  Hmmmm... the creative juices are flowing!  In any case, this kit definitely makes a nice, open ended phonics literacy center that would be meaningful to kids throughout the year, even if they never wrote any of those words down.
Some other extensions of this kit that come to mind are:
1.  Glue magnets onto the backs of the cards and have the children build words with them onto a magnetic white board, and then write the word directly underneath it.
2.  Paint shellac over the top of the pictures onto ceramic tiles and having the children build the words with the tiles. 
3.  Making an art project and having the children label it with the cards and glue them down.
4.  Have the children glue down a word and illustrate it.
Can you think of any others ideas?