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February 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 5
Literacy in Every Classroom Pages 84-85

Catlin Tucker

Let's honor the changing landscape of reading and writing.

Technology is fundamentally changing what it means to be a literate person. In my classes, I've witnessed a dramatic shift during sustained silent reading, as books have been steadily replaced by tablets and smartphones. It's clear that the convenience of a device is more attractive to students than the solid weight of a book. Similar shifts have happened in the realm of writing, as students opt for digital writing spaces over pen and paper. Here are two strategies to help students develop their online literacy skills.

Using Digital Text Collections

For most of my teaching career, I was limited to teaching the books available in my school's bookroom. Reading was a one-size-fits-all experience.

Now, I use StudySync-an online literacy program-to engage students in a wide range of readings. The StudySync digital library has more than 1,600 items, ranging from poems to short stories to famous speeches to excerpts from novels. I can search the digital library by genre, subject, Lexile level, publication date, or theme, quickly and easily finding appropriate texts.

If we're reading short stories, why does every student need to read the same story? Students are more likely to be engaged in the experience of identifying a theme or analyzing character development if they're reading a story that appeals to their interests and is appropriate for their reading level. For example, students who love science fiction might enjoy reading Ray Bradbury's "A Sound of Thunder," whereas students who enjoy adventure stories might prefer "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane.

This variety helps mitigate the biggest hurdle I face as an English teacher-the reality that many of my students don't enjoy reading by the time they get to me in 9th grade. My goal is to help them rediscover the joy of reading. That's a lot easier to do if I have access to a wide range of texts and can match those texts with specific readers.

In addition to the variety of texts available, StudySync features video previews to draw in reluctant readers, audio tracks to support struggling readers, and a built-in annotation tool. Each text is paired with questions and writing tasks that drive students back to the reading to grab textual evidence they can weave into their writing. StudySync is not free, but it's worth exploring for districts and schools looking for a 21st century literacy program to engage today's learners.

By using a resource like StudySync, I can focus my energy on identifying the best text for a particular student or group of students. I can spend more time working one-on-one with kids who need additional support or scaffolds as they read and engage with complex texts. I'm free to spend time differentiating my lessons to ensure all students develop as readers.

Creating Digital Student Notebooks

Writing in a digital world is different from pen-and-paper writing. Digital writing combines text with images and video, and it's written for an authentic audience, not just a teacher. My students have long written blog posts and published digital portfolios, but this year I decided to experiment with another idea. My students traded in their traditional binders and instead use Blogger to create dynamic multimedia notebooks.

I've often wondered how useful traditional notebooks are. Students lug these huge binders around in their backpacks, yet I rarely see them revisit their notes or pull resources from their binders. A digital notebook has several clear advantages.

First, it's accessible from anywhere as long as the student has a device and Internet connection. Having all their notes in one place is especially helpful to my "organizationally challenged" students who tend to lose everything. It also makes it much easier for me to check my students' work online-I just click on the link to their digital notebook, which I collect using a Google form, and everything I need to assess their progress and comprehension is in one easy-to-find location.

Second, a digital notebook enables students to combine text, images, and video to record and reflect on the work they're doing in each class. This year I'm co-teaching in science, where the digital notebook has been an absolute dream. When students conduct labs and experiments, we encourage them to document everything. They take photos, record time-lapse videos, and capture audio notes they can incorporate into their written notes and lab reports. Instead of relying on hastily written notes during a lab, students have multimedia documentation they can refer to, ensuring that their scientific writing is detailed and accurate.

Last but not least, the digital notebook is published online for a global audience, which encourages students to do their best work. My students' Blogger sites are visible to anyone online, and students often critique one another's notebooks and the content in them. When my students wrote a report on a lab they conducted to better understand the path food takes through the body, one student included fun facts about the digestive system ("Fun Fact: When you blush, the walls of your stomach turn red"). She was not asked to include this feature, and if I had been her only audience, she would not have thought to create it. But because she knew she was writing for an actual audience, she wanted her report to be interesting.

Honoring the Digital Landscape

As the digital landscape continues to grow, we must provide students with the skills necessary to be literate, not just in print but also online. Using a variety of digital tools, teachers can begin to rethink the way we teach literacy, honoring the different spaces in which our students read and write.

Catlin Tucker is a teacher, international trainer, speaker, and bestselling author. Her most recent books are Creatively Teach the Common Core Literacy Standards with Technology (Corwin, 2015) and Blended Learning in Action (Corwin, 2016). She blogs at Catlintucker.com. Follow her on Twitter.

KEYWORDS

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Tools to Take Literacy Online - Educational Leadership

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February 2017 | Volume 74 | Number 5 Literacy in Every Classroom Pages 84-85 Catlin Tucker Let's honor the changing landscape of reading and writing. Technology is fundamentally changing what it means to be a literate person. In my classes, I've witnessed a dramatic shift during sustained silent reading, as books have been steadily replaced by tablets and smartphones.

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Nearpod: Foster a love of learning in every student

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Create active learning experiences students can’t wait to be a part of.

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Flip is a video discussion and sharing app, free from Microsoft.

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Flip (formerly Flipgrid) is a video discussion and video sharing app, free from Microsoft, built for classrooms and beyond. Learn more.

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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The Myth of Average:  Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty

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Differentiated Reading Instruction:Small Group Alternative LessonStructures for All Students

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Differentiated Reading Instruction:Small Group Alternative LessonStructures for All Students

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The Impact of Differentiated Instruction onStudent Reading Level Throughout the Responseto Intervention Model

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The Impact of Differentiated Instruction onStudent Reading Level Throughout the Responseto Intervention Model

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Differentiated Reading Instruction: What and How

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Differentiated Reading Instruction: What and How

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does the literature circle share out deepen students' understanding of the chapter?

2. How do the five roles help students strengthen their reading skills?

3. What are the benefits of asking students to speak for a set amount of time?

School Details

Kipp Truth Academy
1545 South Ewing Avenue
Dallas TX 75216

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Students in Daniel Knoll's fifth grade ELA class participate in a structured literary circle share out. Students come to class prepared to share something about the previous night's reading. They speak for two minutes and share based on rotating roles of summarizer, visualizer, inferencer, symbolizer and word detective.

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Thought starters

1. What are the benefits of having students prepare for their literature circle roles in a group?

2. |How is this strategy especially useful for English Language Learners?

3. |How could you modify this strategy for other types of group discussions?

School Details

S.F. International High School
1050 York Street
San Francisco CA 94110

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Preparing for Literature Circles with a Jigsaw

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Students in Kyle Halle-Erby's senior seminar class prepare for literature circles in groups organized by role. They begin the class in heterogeneous reading groups, but then move into role groups to prepare for the literature circle. Each group is assigned one of four roles. Students use each other to prepare for their role in the discussion.

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As of Monday, October 24, content that was on TweenTribune.com will now be available here on our new educational resources page and on our learning pages. While much of the content that you enjoyed will still exist, educators will unfortunately no longer be able to assign content to students. Tween Tribune has been a valued educational brand of Smithsonian magazine, and we appreciate your continued support.

Though the Girl Scouts of the USA initially declared itself a space for all girls, the reality was different for girls of color

Erin Blakemore

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As of Monday, October 24, content that was on TweenTribune.com will now be available here on our new educational resources page and on our learning pages. While much of the content that you enjoyed will still exist, educators will unfortunately no longer be able to assign content to students.

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Non-fiction

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America’s reading comprehension crisis.

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Active Learning

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Thanks for checking out this post on using "Four Corners" as a cooperative learning activity in the classroom. If you would like to view the other posts in this series of Cooperative Learning Strategies, you can find them here: "Expert Groups," "Q&A Match-Up," and "Circle Chats."

How It Works:

1. Choose four aspects of a topic that your class is currently focusing on.

2. Assign each of these aspects to a corner (or an area) of your room.

3. Present the topic and the four related aspects to the whole group and give the students some "think time."

4. Students can then choose a corner to discuss the topic.

5. Representatives from each corner can share what their respective groups discussed.

Why I Love This:

1. Student Choice: Students LOVE when they are given an opportunity to choose. They feel more empowered and respected, and thus take far more ownership over the outcome of the assignment.

2. Various Perspectives: The students are exposed to many different view-points in their corner, which can lead to great discussion.

3. Easily Prepared: This activity requires very little preparation on the teacher's part. The teacher simply needs to think of four (+/-) areas that he/she would like the students to discuss and then send them on their way.

4. Easy Implementation: This activity can take as little as five minutes and requires no advanced set-up (e.g. chairs set up, group formations, etc.), so teachers can use it instantaneously and then quickly return to the lesson.

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Four Corners: A Cooperative Learning Strategy (Post 4 of 5) * Teacher Thrive

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Thanks for checking out this post on using "Four Corners" as a cooperative learning activity in the classroom. If you would like to view the other posts in this series of Cooperative Learning Strategies, you can find them here: "Expert Groups," "Q&A Match-Up," and "Circle Chats."

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When I first started teaching, there was no such thing as an app, let alone a guided reading app. Aren't we lucky to be living in a time where things are made easier with technology.

Reading is still reading though and Dr. Seuss summed it up perfectly.

Sometimes it's easy to get overwhelmed with the fast pace of technology as well as the fast pace of the classroom and the every growing requirements. Guided reading is a vital part of the classroom and one that the classroom teacher must master on the go.

This list of running record apps for both Mac IOS and Android (scroll down) might help you in during your guided reading sessions.

Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPad.

The app provides embedded formulas for the accuracy and self-correction rate (no need for a calculator!), but of course, the teacher does all the coding and analysis. Once the running record is complete, it can be saved in a file or emailed. In addition, the app records the student's voice while the teacher simultaneously takes the record.

A great feature is that version 2.5 is integrated with Dropbox.

Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

The Running Records Calculator helps you calculate student Accuracy % and self correct ratio. Just input the number of words, errors and self corrections and your scores will be calculated for your automatically.

Requires iOS 3.2 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Simply enter the number of words read, number of errors and the number of self corrections.

RR will then feedback to you the error rate, percentage rate, self correction rate, and whether the text read is 'easy', 'instructional' or 'hard'.

Requires iOS 5.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.

The running record calculator will help you take the guesswork out of these questions. Simply punch in how many total words, errors and self-corrections your student made and press CALCULATE. An accuracy percent, error ratio and self-correction ratio will be instantly displayed!

This free version allows teachers to enter the total number of words read, and the number of errors and self-corrections made, then calculates the error ratio, reading accuracy, self-correction ratio, and instructional level.

A PRO version is in development which will allow teachers to populate and manage a database of students, track students' scores over time, and customize settings, including the instructional levels and thresholds.

his App combines all the standard running record calculator and stopwatch functions. Flagging lets you quickly refer back to the audio of difficult sections of the reading for more accurate scoring. With the push of a button, you will be able to see students' reading rate, percentage of accuracy, and self-correction ratio. Running Records Calculator is designed to be used by any teacher who assesses students using running records.

Punch in how many total words, errors and self-corrections your student made and press CALCULATE. An accuracy percent, error ratio and self-correction ratio will be instantly displayed! Let the app do all the pesky math for you! You've got enough on your mind already with all of those hard to remember recording conventions (symbols). Use our symbol cheat sheet to remind yourself how to record exactly what each of your readers is doing! We've included the marking conventions for all of the most common reader behaviors that you may need to record. Using the correct symbols will help you and future teachers read the running record without any problems.

A basic app with few features.

Quickly get the accuracy percentage, error ratio, and self-correction for your running record.

I would love to read about your experience with the apps. Feel free to leave a comment below.

I will add any new guided reading apps to this post as they are made available.

You may also like our very popular, Guided Reading Reminder Slips. Print the slips and give to students during your guided reading sessions. They are great if you want to make that home-school connection. Read more via our blog post . Or click on the image to se the preview file, feedback and description.

(Visited 35,287 times, 4 visits today)

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Running Record Apps for the Classroom - Clever Classroom Blog

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When I first started teaching, there was no such thing as an app, let alone a guided reading app. Aren't we lucky to be living in a time where things are made easier with technology. Reading is still reading though and Dr. Seuss summed it up perfectly.

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Organized by learning preferences

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College@Home Blog: 100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner

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College@Home Blog: 100 Helpful Web Tools for Every Kind of Learner

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Less eyestrain!

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You can now read textbooks with BeeLine! Click here to get 50% off your first month!

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Suffering from screen fatigue? We're here to help! BeeLine Reader makes reading on-screen easier, faster, and more enjoyable. We use a simple cognitive trick - an eye-guiding color gradient - to pull your eyes through long blocks of text. This helps you read more effectively and maintain your focus better.

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BeeLine Reader: making reading on-screen easier and faster.

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You can now read textbooks with BeeLine! Click here to get 50% off your first month! Add to Chrome Read Faster and Easier, All Day Long Suffering from screen fatigue? We're here to help! BeeLine Reader makes reading on-screen easier, faster, and more enjoyable.

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One of the top frustrations of classroom teachers is behavior management. Keeping your little learners engaged, focused, and respectful is a constant process. Easier said than done though, right?

Perhaps this collection of apps from South Carolina math and engineering teacher Chris Beyerle can help. They aren't a panacea and technology can only go so far, but having these tools in your arsenal will keep you better equipped.

Included are popular tools like ClassDojo, noise monitors like Too Noisy, screen time managers like Screen Time, and even fun utilities like Traffic Light!

Which apps do you use for managing your classroom?
14 Recommended Classroom Management Apps Image attribution flickr user thecuriousoysters

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14 Teacher-Recommended Classroom Management Apps

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One of the top frustrations of classroom teachers is behavior management. Keeping your little learners engaged, focused, and respectful is a constant process. Easier said than done though, right? Perhaps this collection of apps from South Carolina math and engineering teacher Chris Beyerle can help.

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Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. Children are taught, for example, that the letter n represents the sound /n/, and that it is the first letter in words such as nose, nice and new. We've found great apps that give kids practice with basic phonics skills, including recognizing the letters of the alphabet, learning upper case and lower case letters, alphabet matching, and word building. These apps help kids work on listening skills while also practicing spelling and building their vocabulary.

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Phonics instruction helps children learn the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. Children are taught, for example, that the letter n represents the sound /n/, and that it is the first letter in words such as nose, nice and new.

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I have introduced several book reader apps in the past, Sylvan Dell, Reading Comprehension Camp, to name a few. Each reader app has its own unique features and reading range to attract different users. Today I have another one I want to share, and of course, it has its own unique features that are going to be very attractive to many families. It is so far one of the book reader covering biggest age range - from 2 to 12, it offers complete free access to hundreds of books with free membership.

It is called Bookboard. I like the mechanism it sets up that kids can only see a limited selection of books (around 10) at a time, although there are more than 400 books in the app. This makes it easier for kids to choose books on their own. The selection is based on kids age and gender to begin with, then based on the books they read.

Another good feature that will encourage kids to read more is the unlocking system. Kids will see a red bar at the bottom of the screen. The more they read, the longer the bar goes. Once the bar reaches the end, they unlock another book.

So far the book selection my son has is age appropriate. I am glad they also have chapter books, as many other reader apps mostly cover books for younger kids. On the screen shots you can see the wide variety of books they have: picture books for young kids, non-fiction books, chapter books, ...

To access the books, you do have to sign up. Membership is free. After initial sign up, you will receive an email for confirmation, then put in some more information, such as kids age and gender. I think this helped the app find the right book for my son, since he received recommendation he liked all the time and all at his level. You can also put in more than one child and each will receive different book recommendations. They also offer paid membership if you want to have access to the audio part of the books. With the free membership, you can still read the books, just without audio function. For us for now, the free membership works just fine. With the school started, I think it will help on finishing the reading assignments.

The sign up process is all through the website. Once you sign up, you can read the books on iPAD - simply follow the instructions at the end of the sign up process and put an icon on your iPAD screen (with just one simple tap), and everything functions just like an app.

It is a great reading resource for kids. I highly recommend. To sign up, visit the sign up page

If you would like to check it out or purchase it, please use the link provided below. The cost is the same to you, but iGameMom gets a small percentage. Thanks for your support! Note: The link works for all countries.

For more free digital book options, please visit10 FREE Reading Programs Continuous Offering Free Books for Kids

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FREE App: Access Hundreds of Children's Books for FREE via Bookboard

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I have introduced several book reader apps in the past, Sylvan Dell, Reading Comprehension Camp, to name a few. Each reader app has its own unique features and reading range to attract different users. Today I have another one I want to share, and of course, it has its own unique features that are going to be very attractive to many families.

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Quick end of class assessments

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What Is Closure?

Closure is the activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression, a phenomenon that Colorado State University professor Rod Lucero calls the recency effect.

Teachers use closure to:

Check for understanding and inform subsequent instruction

Emphasize key information

Tie up loose ends

Correct misunderstandings

Students find closure helpful for:

Summarizing, reviewing, and demonstrating their understanding of major points

Consolidating and internalizing key information

Linking lesson ideas to a conceptual framework and/or previously-learned knowledge

Transferring ideas to new situations

Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. See my favorite closure strategies below!

Creative Closure Activities
1. Snowstorm
Students write down what they learned on a piece of scratch paper and wad it up. Given a signal, they throw their paper snowballs in the air. Then each learner picks up a nearby response and reads it aloud.
2. High-Five Hustle
Ask students to stand up, raise their hands and high-five a peer -- their short-term hustle buddy. When there are no hands left, ask a question for them to discuss. Solicit answers. Then play " Do the Hustle" as a signal for them to raise their hands and high-five a different partner for the next question. (Source: Gretchen Bridgers)
3. Parent Hotline
Give students an interesting question about the lesson without further discussion. Email their guardians the answer so that the topic can be discussed over dinner.
4. Two-Dollar Summary
Kids write a two-dollar (or more) summary of the lesson. Each word is worth ten cents. For extra scaffolding, ask students to include specific words in their statement. (Source (PDF): Ann Lewis and Aleta Thompson)
5. Paper Slide
On paper, small groups sketch and write what they learned. Then team representatives line up and, one and a time, slide their work under a video camera while quickly summarizing what was learned. The camera doesn't stop recording until each representative has completed his or her summary.
6. DJ Summary
Learners write what they learned in the form of a favorite song. Offer extra praise if they sing.
7. Gallery Walk
On chart paper, small groups of students write and draw what they learned. After the completed works are attached to the classroom walls, others students affix Stickies to the posters to extend on the ideas, add questions, or offer praise.
8. Sequence It
Students can quickly create timelines with Timetoast to represent the sequence of a plot or historical events.
9. Low-Stakes Quizzes
Give a short quiz using technologies like Socrative, BubbleSheet, GoSoapBox, or Google Forms. Alternatively, have students write down three quiz questions (to ask at the beginning of the next class).

Have kids sketch a book cover. The title is the class topic. The author is the student. A short celebrity endorsement or blurb should summarize and articulate the lesson's benefits.
11. Question Stems
Have students write questions about the lesson on cards, using question stems framed around Bloom's Taxonomy. Have students exchange cards and answer the question they have acquired.

Kids answer the following prompts:

What takeaways from the lesson will be important to know three years from now?

Why?

13. Dramatize It
Have students dramatize a real-life application of a skill.
14. Beat the Clock
Ask a question. Give students ten seconds to confer with peers before you call on a random student to answer. Repeat.
15. Find a First-Grade Student
Have kids orally describe a concept, procedure, or skill in terms so simple that a child in first grade would get it.
16. Review It
Direct kids to raise their hands if they can answer your questions. Classmates agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs down) with the response.
17. CliffsNotes, Jr.
Have kids create a cheat sheet of information that would be useful for a quiz on the day's topic. (Source (PDF): Ann Sipe, " 40 Ways to Leave a Lesson")
18. Students I Learned From the Most
Kids write notes to peers describing what they learned from them during class discussions.
19. Elevator Pitch
Ask students to summarize the main idea in under 60 seconds to another student acting as a well-known personality who works in your discipline. After summarizing, students should identify why the famous person might find the idea significant.
20. Simile Me
Have students complete the following sentence: "The [concept, skill, word] is like _______ because _______."
21. Exit Ticket Folder
Ask students to write their name, what they learned, and any lingering questions on a blank card or "ticket." Before they leave class, direct them to deposit their exit tickets in a folder or bin labeled either "Got It," "More Practice, Please," or "I Need Some Help!" -- whichever label best represents their relationship to the day's content. (Source: Erika Savage)
22. Out-the-Door Activity
After writing down the learning outcome, ask students to take a card, circle one of the following options, and return the card to you before they leave:

Stop (I'm totally confused.)

Go (I'm ready to move on.)

Proceed with caution (I could use some clarification on . . .)

Download the PDF cards for this exercise. (Source: Eduscapes)

These 22 strategies can be effectively altered or blended. And they are great opportunities to correct, clarify, and celebrate.

Do you use a closure activity that's not on this list? Please share it in the comments.

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22 Powerful Closure Activities | Edutopia

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Too many university supervisors and administrators criticize the absence of lesson closure, the activity that ends a lesson and creates a lasting impression. Like contracting your bicep at the top of a dumbbell curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson. Find 22 closure strategies in this article by Todd Finley.

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Understanding and using for advanced learners

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Using Curriculum Compacting To Challenge the Above-Average

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Curriculum compacting is a flexible, research-supported instructional technique that enables high-ability students to skip work they already know and substitute more challenging content. As the dialogue about better ways to restructure our schools goes on, teachers still face the challenge of providing equitably for the broad differences in students' abilities, interests, and learning styles.

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Formative Assessment

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Alternative assessmen

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My students has had a fabulous time learning about the Statue of Liberty. In fact, my friend who cuts my hair told me that some of my students came into her beauty shop telling her all about the information they had learned about the Statue of Liberty! Now that makes me want to turn a cartwheel to know that my students were so excited to share what they had learned, they had to share it with the beautician!

The week long lesson that I used was a part of Discovery Education. (Now, I am NOT being paid or even asked to endorse Discovery Ed, but I personally think this is worth sharing!) My school system had Discovery Ed about 10 years ago, but unfortunately, budget cuts forced us to drop it. This year, we have it again, and I have just learned about the Discovery Ed reading lessons that are aligned with Common Core Standards. These lessons are fabulous, and my students had a wonderful time learning! If your school has Discovery Ed, these reading lessons are worth checking out. Because of copyright, I cannot share the lessons from Discovery Ed., but I added my own wrap-up to the week long lesson that I can share with you.

To end our week-long study on the Statue of Liberty, I pulled a book off of my shelf to share with my students. Some of the facts in the book were new, while many of the facts reviewed the information that they had already learned.

Before I read the book, I simply had the students to draw a T chart in their reading journals and label the left side "Information I Already Learned" and "New Information." As I read the book and they wrote the information they heard in the correct column. I paused at the end of each page to give them time to write. (Sorry, I forgot to take a pic of someone's journal. Although, this was nothing fancy, but it served its purpose.)

Next, I instructed students that they would take the information they had written down to create a "One Pager." A One Pager is a great "After" reading strategy and is a great way to evaluate student learning. For this one pager I required:

1. Two questions about the Statue of Liberty with answers

2. One Opinion or Connection about the Statue of Liberty.

I was so impressed with the results, and the students loved sharing everything that they had learned.

A "One Pager" is a great "After" reading strategy that your students will enjoy, and can be used with just about any nonfiction lesson that you have been studying. One Pagers also make a wonderful final assessment.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a blessed day!

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Teaching Nonfiction Reading Strategies: One Pager

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My students has had a fabulous time learning about the Statue of Liberty. In fact, my friend who cuts my hair told me that some of my students came into her beauty shop telling her all about the information they had learned about the Statue of Liberty!

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One big advantage of mobile devices in education is the convenience it brings. Children's dictionary apps are great proof of how technology can help kids' learning. With these apps, kids don't have to carry those big heavy dictionaries with them, and they can not only check for spelling and meaning of the words, but also hear the pronunciations of the words. Since we first introduced dictionary apps, I have found some more good dictionary apps for kids, some are even free.

Best Children's Dictionary Apps

Merriam Webster Dictionary: it is free to download. The free version has ads in it, but the ads mostly stay at the bottom of screen. I found it ok to use the free one. But if you don't like the ad, you have option to buy the non-ad version via In-App Purchase. I like the voice search function a lot. Since many time, kids know how to say the word, but don't know the spelling. This makes it easier for them to find the words they need.

Dictionary.com: it is also free, with option to download the non-ad version. Compared to Merriam Webster, it has more words, but the ads are more prominent. For younger kids who are easily distracted, Merriam Webster will be a better option, but for older kids who know how to ignore the ads, this one is better with more content.

Picture Dictionary for Kids is designed for younger kids like preschoolers. There are enough words in the dictionary and each word has a picture. It is perfect as the first dictionary for kids.

Dictionary for Kids is another one with pictures, but with more content than the last Picture Dictionary. It could be a good transition between the last picture dictionary and a regular dictionary for adults.

Cambridge Dictionary is free to download with In-App Purchase for the full version. It has both English and American pronunciations. The thesaurus feature gives you related words and phrases at every definition, which is very handy when you are trying to find a replace word for your writing.

The Free Dictionary is free with option to upgrade to non-ad version. In addition to apps, it also has application for the internet, that you can download onto your computer, which enables you to look up words when you are reading on the internet.

Advanced English Dictionary and Thesaurus with Audio is another free dictionary from Princeton University. It is easy to search word, with audio. The price for the full version is less than most other dictionary apps.

You may also like Best Spelling Learning Tools for Kids and Best Grammar Learning Tools for Kids

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One big advantage of mobile devices in education is the convenience it brings. Children's dictionary apps are great proof of how technology can help kids' learning. With these apps, kids don't have to carry those big heavy dictionaries with them, and they can not only check for spelling and meaning of the words, but also hear the pronunciations of the words.

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8 Different Ways

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Do you struggle to make one worksheet work for your whole class? Are you trying to differentiate without pulling your hair out? I have been there, and I feel for you.

While I am not a worksheet kind of teacher, I do understand that they have their time and place in just about every classroom. While they are necessary, they can be difficult to reach every student with, and in the modern classroom that poses some serious issues. Differentiation is such a buzzword these days, as it should be with individualized learning, but it can add a lot to a teacher's workload.

It doesn't have to though! Differentiation isn't always a big sweeping change in what you are doing, sometimes it is more about how you structure an assignment, than it is about the assignment itself. With this being said, I would like to share my 8 favorite ways to differentiate a worksheet.

A highlighter is a magical little tool. It is super easy to stick one in your pocket or clip it to your lanyard so that you have it at a moment's notice to whip out and be ready to differentiate like a boss. I use a highlighter to select items for a student to complete. I use this tool when there are specific items that I need to see student's progress on. When using a highlighter it usually means that I am the one selecting which items need to be completed, and it is usually more than half of the items.

Sometimes I will ask the student which item they are struggling with and work with them on that item, and then highlight items that will compliment their learning based on that item. A fringe benefit of using the highlighter is that students love the color that is added to their paper. My favorite highlighters are the Frixion erasable highlighters, because a teacher reserves the right to change her mind.

Evens or Odds is a great tool for students that struggle to complete an entire worksheet, but still need practice, or students who get bogged down thinking about completing a lot of items. This differentiation strategy is as easy as it sounds, students simply complete either the even or odd numbered items.

To add a little bit of fun, and instantly engage students, I will play a quick game of evens or odds with them to determine whether they will be completing the Evens or Odds items. It gets them pumped every time.

This strategy, much like Evens or Odds works well when students should be completing about half of the items on a worksheet. This differentiation strategy is great for students that seem to get overwhelmed looking at an entire worksheet, so by folding the paper in half, they have less to look at and can be less intimidating. Similarly, you can continue folding the paper into fourths if a student needs to look at even less.

Similarly, I have cut up worksheets into smaller pieces to give to students who need a little more to help ease their anxiety. In this case I give students one piece at a time, but often wind of giving them the whole assignment, just in pieces.

This differentiation tool is amazing for students that need a little bit of control, because it offers choice. In this case I generally have a highlighter and meet with a student. I tell them what the different sections are and use my highlighter to split up the items based on standard. Then I write in highlighter how many of each item I expect them to complete. Finally, I leave the highlighter with the student to choose. It becomes their responsibility to choose items for each standard to highlight and complete.

It absolutely amazes me how students exceed my expectations just about every time I use this strategy. The idea that the teacher is allowing them the choice of which problems they wish to complete is empowering, and they really take it on.

This differentiation strategy is great for students that are fully capable of completing an assignment, but lack the motivation or follow through. A challenge can take on many different forms, but it is basically simple reverse psychology. It sounds a little something like, "This is a tough one, it is actually something I would ask fifth graders (if you are teaching fourth grade) to do, but I think you might be able to get through it. What do you think?"

Then I ask students to tell me how many of the items they think they can complete correctly, and we essentially make a little wager. Usually it is something along the lines of if you complete ___ items correctly then you can take your shoes off for the rest of the day.

This strategy works with a very specific type of student, and not every time, but it can be a life saver.

I am a huge proponent of cooperative learning in every aspect, but it is a miracle worker when it comes to differentiation. It is a powerful tool for all learners, but it is especially great for our English Language Learners.

My favorite cooperative learning structure for completing a worksheet is Sage-N-Scribe, because it allows students to help each other all while voicing exactly what they are doing.

To complete Sage-N-Scribe

1. Partner A has the pencil

2. Partner B thinks out loud while Partner A scribes for them giving them praise or corrections

3. Partner A and Partner B switch rolls and repeat

This strategy is amazing for all students, because voicing their thinking really makes them work on their metacognition and work on academic vocabulary. It also allows me, as the teacher, to hear how my students are doing.

This differentiation strategy can go one of two ways:

1. The teacher writes an extension question on the board for students to respond to.

2. Students create their own extension question to respond to.

Both of these options are powerful, but I would argue that the more creative questions and explanations come from the students.

I love this strategy when we are working on mastery. While students are working, as they show mastery of a standard I given them a pen, I used purple, and they were then allowed to move around the room and offer help to other students.

This tool can be really powerful in giving confidence to students and giving them control of their learning. It is also a great motivator to get students working. I purposely look for students that sometimes struggle to give the almighty purple pen to, because they are actually getting more practice while helping others.

These eight strategies have worked miracles for me, and I know that they can be a great set of tools to add to your toolbox as well. What strategies have you tried?

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Do you struggle to make one worksheet work for your whole class? Are you trying to differentiate without pulling your hair out? I have been there, and I feel for you. While I am not a worksheet kind of teacher, I do understand that they have their time and place in just about every classroom.

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Tiered Texts

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It's time to improve literacy skills during social studies instruction and ensure that readers of all abilities have what they need to access grade-level social studies concepts.

Join us on Thursday, December 7 for a look at scaffolded materials that provide extra literacy support while building key social studies concepts and skills.

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Newsela | Content and assessment platform

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Content Aligned To National & State Standard, Flexible To Support Relevant Curriculum. Find the Perfect Piece Of Content For Lessons. Go beyond the book.

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Examples of Learning Contracts/ Choice Charts

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Examples of Learning Contracts/ Choice Charts