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How much time is spent in your classroom or school on instructions versus instruction? Let's do some math. If a middle or high school teacher spends 10 minutes every 50-minute period on instructions for 180 days, then 36 full class periods were spent on delivering directions.

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NYSED General Information: (518) 474-3852

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Conferring Notes & Small-Group Planning Grid

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Conferring Notes & Small-Group Planning Grid

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Questioning Techniques & Critical Thinking Skills

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Questioning Techniques & Critical Thinking Skills

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Co-teaching and co-planning are core practices for Student-Centered Coaching. Use this short video to frame what that looks like for the teachers in your school. Or, use the video to clearly define the role of a coach as partner to teachers.

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ResilientEducator.com: Helping New & Veteran Teachers

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Resources to help you get back in the teaching groove

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Successful Social and Emotional Learning

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Successful Social and Emotional Learning

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5 Keys to Successful Social and Emotional Learning

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Studies show that sustained and well-integrated social and emotional learning (SEL) engages students and improves achievement. Explore classroom practices that make up the most effective SEL programs.

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Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships, and make better decisions. Without a doubt, these are critical skills for all learners.

In my years as a teacher, I know there is just not enough time for everything. So often, social and emotional learning gets put on the back burner to other important skills like reading, writing, math, history, and science. While these skills are certainly important, I would argue that it's even more important that kids develop their emotional intelligence through social emotional learning activities. Simply put, if kids are mentally and emotionally healthy, they are better equipped to face the challenges life brings. We just have to make the time to teach, discuss, and practice these skills! Best of all, there are many ways to integrate social-emotional learning into what you are already teaching.

Below I share 25 strategies for integrating SEL instruction and activities into the day. Of course, if you're looking for a solution that targets these skills more explicitly, I created a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills.

Just a note that these strategies were originally written for use in the classroom. While many of the techniques can be used during distance learning, I also recently wrote an article all about integrating social emotional learning during distance learning.
Here are 25 ways to integrate social emotional learning into your classroom:
1. Use Journal Writing. You can use daily journal prompts to help kids think about social-emotional skills in all areas. For example, you might ask kids, "When was a time you used self-control? What was outcome?" to focus on self-management skills. After writing, it's helpful to have students share their responses with a partner and with the class as a whole. Kids will be practicing writing, partner work, group discussion, and SEL skills all at the same time. I love this yearlong Social Emotional Learning Journal for just a few minutes of writing and discussion every day.

2. Use Read Alouds. This is one of my favorite strategies for integrating SEL into everyday learning because it is something educators do so often already. While reading, spend time talking about how some of the characters might think and feel. Use this time to highlight that this is perspective-taking, a skill we use to understand others' emotions and thoughts. Best of all, it can be done with any text you are already reading. Grab this free read aloud list for social emotional learning to get you started with some ideas.

3. Do Daily Greetings. Kids and young adults need connection! One positive and simple strategy is to start your morning with daily greetings. You can do this as kids walk through the door or during the first few minutes of class. If you are teaching online, greetings can even be virtual. Use this printable greetings poster to get started.

3. Hold Class Meetings. You can choose to hold a class meeting once a day as a "morning meeting" or just once a week. The purpose of a class meeting can be to boost each other up, to help solve problems, and plan class events together. Having this space for community can help promote a positive climate for all kids. Use this morning meeting set to get started.

4. Incorporate Art Activities. Art can be a powerful way to target social and emotional skills. Creating a self-collage can help kids develop better self-awareness about who they are. Painting and drawing can serve as positive coping strategies to manage stress. Having partners work together on a shared drawing can increase collaboration and relationship skills. There are lots of opportunities for learning with art!

6. Talk About Managing Emotions. No matter what age, all kids and young adults need practice managing their emotions. This is another skill that can be weaved into literature as you talk about character's feelings and needs. You might say, "How did Theresa feel when her mom left? How did she manage her emotions? Do you think it was a healthy way to manage them?" Additionally, be open with kids about how to manage their own emotions and give strategies for what kids can do in your classroom. For example, "If you are feeling nervous about the test today, remember to use positive self-talk. Tell yourself that you've got this!"

7. Give Responsibilities. Giving kids responsibilities and jobs helps build their sense of self-worth and gives the message that we are all part of a larger community. It's important that every student has some type of responsibility, whether it is a class librarian, lunch counter, or part of a "clean up crew".

8. Practice Problem-Solving Skills. If students have an issue or challenge to overcome, avoid solving it for them right away. Encourage kids to think about how they could solve their problem and have a 10 minute policy - students can get your help but they need to think about the problem for at least 10 minutes first. Often, kids will figure out a solution on their own or with a friend during that time. You can use these free social problem solving task cards or grab the full set to get started! Again, this is another skill that can be strengthened through literature by discussing characters, problems, and making predictions about solutions.

9. Build Community with Teamwork. For class projects and assignments, have students work in larger teams to complete a task. Teach students to assign different jobs when working in a team, so that all students have important responsibilities.

10. Encourage Positive Self-Talk. Self-talk is voice in our minds that reassures and encourages us. It also helps us control our emotions so we can deal with problems appropriately. Today, kids hear a lot of negative, so teaching positive self-talk explicitly is really important. Model this and encourage this every day. Use this free positive thoughts and affirmations list to get started.

11. Celebrate Diversity. Spend time discussing and learning about people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and ability levels. Kids need to hear, see, discuss, and understand that we are part of a larger community within our countries and world. Early discussions about diversity can help promote tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion for everyone.

12. Incorporate Hands-on Crafts. If your students need a craft break or activity before a holiday, use that time to promote social and emotional skills. The craft below is a Positive Self-Talk Flower Craft. Kids can add their own positive self-talk statements, color the craft, cut it out, and then keep it to help remind them how to use this helpful strategy. This is just one small example that can help to maximize your learning time by incorporating SEL into activities like crafts.

13. Encourage Reflection. After students complete a task, assessment, project, or assignment, encourage them to reflect about their own progress. This is a critical SEL skill that can be used across all curriculum, such as math, reading, writing, science, history, and more.

14. Practice Mindfulness. Using mindfulness in the classroom can help teach kids how to calm down before a big test, manage their emotions when they are upset, and just feel happier in the moment. Sometimes, kids don't really know how to calm down on their own. Teaching mindfulness can help kids learn breathing strategies, how to focus on just one thing at a time, and relaxing our bodies. You can use these Mindfulness Activities to teach kids these strategies right away.

15. Create a Calm Down Area. Not all kids will use this area, but there are some students who truly need it. Set up a small area in your classroom with a bean bag, a few books, a calm down jar, a few fidgets, and anything else you have that is calming. Students who need this space can sit, use coping strategies, and return back to class when they are calm again.

16. Promote a Growth Mindset. Embracing a growth mindset helps kids and young adults learn that we can accomplish our goals with hard work, good strategies, and persistence over time. Sometimes kids feel they are just as smart as they'll ever be (i.e. "I'm just never good at math, so there's no use in trying). This mindset can be detrimental to student growth, so it is worth investing time into teaching kids to embrace a growth mindset and instead say, "Math is tough but I'm going to study, work hard, and ask for help so I can accomplish what I want to." Use these free Growth Mindset Task Cards to get yourself started!

17. Encourage Kindness. One of my favorite ways to promote kindness is encouraging random acts of kindness. Set up a bin where students can write and add a note when they notice someone else doing something kind or helpful. Once a month, draw from the bin to award a small reward. You can also post the random acts up on a bulletin board so that everyone can see.

18. Play Games. It's helpful to have an assortment of games that focus on social-emotional skills, such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving. Read up more on how you can integrate social emotional learning through games. You can also read my blog post about games you can use to strengthen executive functioning skills, such as self-control, planning, attention, and more.

19. Provide a Daily Check-in. You can do this either through a morning meeting, or just a quick check-in for specific students in need. Have students identify how they are feeling and consider what they might need to improve their emotions in the moment.

20. Discuss Empathy. To me, empathy is one of the most critical skills for kids to develop. It is the foundation for considering about how others think and feel so that we can respond in socially appropriate and compassionate ways. You can practice empathy on its own or through literature by discussing characters and how they might feel in a variety of situations. I also love these social skills task cards to practice the skills when time allows.

21. Create SMART Goals. SMART goals are another way to help kids have control over what they want to accomplish in life. You can have students write SMART goals for an academic area that they need to improve or a social area that needs work. Make sure to check-in on these goals periodically so that students can identify if their strategies are working or not, and make decisions about how to change their approaches to make their goals a success.

22. Teach Coping Skills to Manage Stress. All kids and young adults experience stress even when we don't see it. It is so important to teach them actual strategies they can use when they are feeling overwhelmed. It's critical that kids practice these strategies when they are actually calm and don't need them. That's so they can effectively use those skills in the moment when they are struggling with emotions. I love this Coping Strategies Wheel to teach and practice some of these skills in a hands-on way.

23. Highlight Skills Throughout the Day. Just teaching or addressing some of these social-emotional skills isn't enough. When you see them in action in the classroom, highlight and encourage the skill! For example, you might say privately to a student, "I noticed you were frustrated when you couldn't work with the group you wanted and you did a great job using your self-control and flexibility to go with the flow and choose another group. Thank you." You can highlight the skills to the whole class, too. You might say, "Before this test, I want everyone to just stop and use some positive self-talk. Give yourself a compliment."

24. Teach Active Listening Skills. All kids need to learn strong active listening skills for success at school, with friends, and at their future jobs. Kids will use them in your classroom when you are teaching, when they are working with a partner on an assignment, and when they are just chatting with a friend.

25. Teach Group Ground Rules. Group work is an important part of learning in the classroom, but it is not a strength for all learners. Have your kids develop "Group Ground Rules" for what is important when working in a group. Some examples might be: Do your fair share of the work, stay with the group, and give everyone a chance to speak up. Continually remind students of these rules when working in groups or partners.

26. Practice Respectfully Disagreeing. People are going to disagree sometimes, so learning how to disagree respectfully is a critical skill (especially in our digital world). Have students discuss and debate topics, making sure that they actively listen to the other person and respect that opinion even when they don't agree. You can use these Free Communication Skills Lessons to practice!

Remember that a social-emotional learning isn't just one thing. It's an approach that brings all of these aspects into your classroom and supporting your learners every day. I also have developed a yearlong curriculum for elementary social emotional learning and middle school social emotional learning to help all kids learn these skills. Kids deserve to have them!

These are just some ways you can incorporate social-emotional learning into your already-busy classroom. If you have more ideas about SEL, please share!

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25 Ways to Integrate Social Emotional Learning

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Kids and young adults need social-emotional skills to be successful at school, home, and for the rest of their lives. These are the skills that help kids build confidence, understand their own strengths and weaknesses, collaborate with others, navigate social situations, develop strong relationships

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The Need for Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum in High Schools - Graduate Programs for Educators

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Students today need more than academic skills to succeed post-high school. Learn about the need for social-emotional learning curriculum in high schools.

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No matter what age you teach, social-emotional learning is an essential part of your curriculum. Social skills books for kids are crucial in the classroom for supporting conversations about social-emotional issues. That's why we gathered 50 (yes, 50!) social skills books for kids, including lots of great recent ones you may not have seen yet, that you can share to help kids build empathy, talk about emotions, navigate tough experiences, and more.

(Just a heads up, WeAreTeachers may collect a share of sales from the links on this page. We only recommend items our team loves!)

Books About Managing Fear and Anxiety and Taking Risks

1. Brave Every Day by Trudy Ludwig

Camila and Kai are both scared about their class's field trip to the aquarium, though they show it in different ways. It turns out that supporting each other helps them both.

Buy it: Brave Every Day on Amazon

2. A Case of the Zaps by Alex Boniello and April Lavalle

Robot Pi's class is planning a class trip to "where it all started, Olde Silicon Valley." (Ha!) It's supposed to be exciting, but Pi's worries quickly kick into "overdrive." The fun robot metaphors give kids helpful language for talking about anxious feelings. Bonus: We appreciate the incidental use of they/them pronouns for the main character!

Buy it: A Case of the Zaps on Amazon

3. The Whatifs by Emily Kilgore

Scary "Whatifs" follow Cora everywhere, and it only gets worse as she prepares for her big piano recital. Her outlook changes when Stella challenges her to turn her bad Whatifs into good ones.

Buy it: The Whatifs on Amazon

4. Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. Also check out the sequel Jabari Tries to talk about perseverance!

Buy it: Jabari Jumps on Amazon

5. The Camping Trip by Jennifer K. Mann

Ernestine is super excited to go camping for the first time with her aunt and cousin-until they reach the campsite, that is. Then everything feels scary, and she misses her dad.

Buy it: The Camping Trip on Amazon

6. Anita and the Dragons by Hannah Carmona

Fear of "dragons" almost overcomes Anita as she and her family prepare to emigrate from their home in the Dominican Republic. Her brother reminds her, "They aren't real dragons. They're just planes in the sky."

Buy it: Anita and the Dragons on Amazon

7. The Book of Mistakes by Corinna Luyken

Zoom meets Beautiful Oops! in this book about the creative process and the way in which "mistakes" can blossom into inspiration.

Buy it: The Book of Mistakes on Amazon

8. Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka

Learning to ride a bike is one of the most important milestones of childhood, and this book captures the emotional ups and downs of the experience.

Buy it: Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle on Amazon

9. The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti can't draw-she's no artist.

Buy it: The Dot on Amazon

Books About Friendship

10. Rulers of the Playground by Joseph Kuefler

One morning, Jonah decided to become ruler of the playground. Everyone agreed to obey his rules to play in King Jonah's kingdom ... everyone except for Lennox, because she wanted to rule the playground too.

Buy it: Rulers of the Playground on Amazon

11. A Friend for Henry by Jenn Bailey

Henry, who has autism, eagerly wants a new friend. But many of his classmates aren't quite the perfect fit he imagines. Then he builds blocks with Katie, and their tower is just right.

Buy it: A Friend for Henry on Amazon

12. Daisy by Jessixa Bagley

Teasing makes Daisy feel terrible. She spends much of her time alone, collecting treasures-until she realizes someone else is adding to her treasure shelf.

Buy it: Daisy on Amazon

13. The Invisible Boy by Trudy Ludwig

Meet Brian, the invisible boy. Nobody ever seems to notice him or think to include him in their group, game, or birthday party ... until a new kid comes to class.

Buy it: The Invisible Boy on Amazon

14. Ways To Make Friends by Jairo Buitrago

Friendship books are some of the most important social skills books for kids to have in the classroom. Toad works hard to make new friends. He tries lots of different strategies, including some unusual ones. We like that his experiences let kids know that sometimes making friends can feel hard or tiring, and that's OK!

Buy it: Ways To Make Friends on Amazon

Books About Identity

15. What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns by Katherine Locke

This is one of our favorite social skills books for kids for supporting developmentally appropriate conversations about pronoun choices. Let kids know they have options for the words that feel right-and that it's important to respect others' choices too.

Buy it: What Are Your Words? A Book About Pronouns on Amazon

16. Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty

We love all the Questioneers books to use as engaging class read-alouds, but this one is especially awesome for talking about strengths, challenges, and finding your own way to shine. Aaron Slater has a tough time writing a story to share in class, until he lets his love of art lead the way.

Buy it: Aaron Slater, Illustrator on Amazon

17. Like by Annie Barrows and Leo Espinosa

This quirky ode to human connection is a fun way to launch conversations about similarities and differences. How are humans like mushrooms, excavators, and hyenas? We love social skills books for kids that get classrooms talking and wondering together!

Buy it: Like on Amazon

18. Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy's grandma says they don't have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that is much too small.

Buy it: Those Shoes on Amazon

19. Home Is In Between by Mitali Perkins

If you're looking for social skills books for kids related to code-switching-navigating multiple cultures-Shanti is a positive role model for students. When she and her family move to the United States from India, the worlds inside her home and in the larger community feel very different.

Buy it: Home Is In Between on Amazon

20. My Very Own Space by Pippa Goodhart and Rebecca Crane

A little rabbit is trying to read his book in peace, but there's so much going on around him! Maybe he needs some space just for himself. ...

Buy it: My Very Own Space on Amazon

21. My Shadow Is Pink by Scott Stuart

This child's family is sure his shadow is blue, but it's not-it's pink. And the shadow loves dresses and dancing, and it definitely wants to be seen as it really is.

Buy it: My Shadow Is Pink on Amazon

22. Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

This young girl is intensely proud of her "eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea." She also loves that her sister, mother, and grandmother all share the same special feature.

Buy it: Eyes That Kiss in the Corners on Amazon

Books About Overcoming Challenges

23. I Love Strawberries! by Shannon Anderson

Jolie desperately wants to grow strawberry plants in the family garden, but her parents aren't on board. She takes on the challenges of convincing them she's responsible enough, earning money to buy plants, and caring for the plants once she plants them. This is a good one for talking about how achieving a goal can include lots of different challenges along the way.

Buy It: I Love Strawberries! on Amazon

24. The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned To Read by Rita Lorraine Hubbard and Oge Mora

Mary Walker was born a slave and persevered through challenges her entire life. At age 114, she finally fulfilled her lifelong dream of learning to read. She's an inspiration for us all.

Buy it: The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned To Read on Amazon

25. Argyle Fox by Marie Letourneau

Argyle Fox, with his signature style, wants to play outside on a springtime day, but the wind is wreaking havoc with his fun and games. As soon as he builds a card tower, climbs into a giant spider web, or takes up his pirate sword, here comes the wind: Woosh!

Buy it: Argyle Fox on Amazon

26. Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson

Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah's inspiring true story is nothing short of remarkable. Born in Ghana, West Africa, with one deformed leg, he was dismissed by most people-but not by his mother, who taught him to reach for his dreams.

Buy it: Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah on Amazon

27. Life by Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wenzel

There are so many wonderful things about life, both in good times and in times of struggle.

Buy it: Life on Amazon

Books About Kindness

28. A Small Kindness by Stacy McAnulty

Add this to your social skills books for kids to encourage kindness in the classroom. Simple text and sweet illustrations show a diverse class spreading kindness from one person to another in lots of doable ways.

Buy it: A Small Kindness on Amazon

29. John's Turn by Mac Barnett

When it's John's turn to perform at the school assembly, he's nervous, but his love for dancing gives him confidence. His classmates cheer him on. This is a one of our new favorite social skills books for kids to talk about encouraging others and giving each person their "turn" to shine.

Buy it: John's Turn on Amazon

30. When We Are Kind / Nihá'ádaahwiinít'íigo by Monique Gray Smith

This bilingual English and Diné book uses art inspired by Navaho culture to show how simple kindnesses have a lasting impact. It would be lovely inspiration for a kindness-themed class book or bulletin board.

Buy it: When We Are Kind / Nihá'ádaahwiinít'íigo on Amazon

31. The Smile Shop by Satoshi Kitamura

Disappointment washes over a small boy when he drops the money he's saved down the drain. A stranger in a photography studio chooses to make an unexpectedly kind gesture.

Buy it: The Smile Shop on Amazon

32. Pass It On by Sophy Henn

When you see something terrific, smile a smile and pass it on! If you chance upon a chuckle, hee hee hee and pass it on. Should you spot a thing of wonder, jump for joy and pass it on!

Buy it: Pass It On on Amazon

Books About Grief

Equal parts affirming and hopeful, if you need social skills books for kids to help cope with a friend moving, this is the one. Daniela can't believe Evelyn won't live across the street anymore. But focusing on cherished memories and keeping in touch helps her manage.

Buy it: Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away on Amazon

34. The Circles in the Sky by Karl James Mountford

This folktale stars Fox, who wonders about a dead bird in the forest. This book gives classrooms an inclusive and gentle way to talk about death.

Buy it: The Circles in the Sky on Amazon

35. Rosa's Song by Helena Ku Rhee

Jae misses his village in South Korea but finds comfort with his new friend Rosa, who lives in his building. Then Rosa and her family have to move suddenly. This reassuring story is helpful for talking about coping with surprise disappointments.

Buy it: Rosa's Song on Amazon

36. Dadaji's Paintbrush by Rashmi Sirdeshpande and Ruchi Mhasane

A boy and his grandfather connect through painting. When the grandfather dies, the boy can't face his art for a long time. Finally, painting again helps him heal.

Buy it: Dadji's Paintbrush on Amazon

Books About Feelings

37. Big Feelings by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

An energetic group of young friends has big plans for the day-until big, hard feelings get in the way. It'll take talking about it and being flexible to get the day back on track.

Buy it: Big Feelings on Amazon

38. I Am Okay To Feel by Karamo Brown and Jason "Rachel" Brown

A boy and his dad walk and talk about their feelings. We love how positive and relatable this book is for kids. Well-researched back matter gives adults lots of tools for talking with children about emotions too.

Buy it: I Am Okay To Fee l on Amazon

39. Great Big Feelings series by Hallee Adelman

These are invaluable social skills books that normalize big emotions for kids. Each book shares a relatable experience from a kid's perspective and ends with a positive coping strategy. These are also great examples of personal narrative writing (with details about feelings!).

Buy it: Way Past Afraid and Way Past Sad on Amazon

40. Cranky Right Now by Julie Berry

"I'm cranky right now and I have my reasons," says this main character. Bad moods happen to all of us. Get kids talking about how to sit with grouchy feelings and let them pass.

Buy it: Cranky Right Now on Amazon

41. The Shadow Elephant by Nadine Robert

Elephant feels really down. All his friends keep trying to distract him, but it turns out what he really needs is a friend to be with him and his hard feelings until they fade away. This is one of our new favorite social skills books for kids with a message that it's OK to just sit with difficult emotions.

Buy it: The Shadow Elephant on Amazon

Books About Honesty

42. Lying Up a Storm by Julia Cook

A storm is brewing ... whenever Levi doesn't like the truth, he kinda sorta makes up other stuff to say.

Buy it: Lying Up a Storm on Amazon

43. Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie by Laura Rankin

Ruthie loves little things-the smaller, the better. So when she finds a teeny tiny camera on the school playground one afternoon, she can hardly believe her luck. She wants to keep the camera in the worst way, but there's one little problem: It isn't hers.

Buy it: Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie on Amazon

44. I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

The bear's hat is gone, and he wants it back. Patiently and politely, he asks the animals he comes across, one by one, whether they have seen it. Each animal says no.

Buy it: I Want My Hat Back on Amazon

Books About Self-Control

45. Stop and Smell the Cookies by Gibson Frazier

If you're looking for a new social skills book for kids that tackles managing impulsivity in a positive and empathetic way, you need this one! Dash Gordon has big ideas, good intentions ... and a hard time reining himself in. When he's feeling down about having a tough day, his mom helps him learn a mindful breathing routine that really helps.

Buy it: Stop and Smell the Cookies on Amazon

46. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

Lilly loves everything about school, especially her cool teacher, Mr. Slinger. But when Lilly brings her purple plastic purse and its treasures to school and can't wait until sharing time, Mr. Slinger confiscates her prized possessions.

Buy it: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse on Amazon

47. My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook

All of Louis's thoughts are very important to him. In fact, his thoughts are so important to him that when he has something to say, his words begin to wiggle, and then they do the jiggle, then his tongue pushes all of his important words up against his teeth, and he erupts, or interrupts others.

Buy it: My Mouth Is a Volcano! by Julia Cook

47. You Will Be My Friend! by Peter Brown

Today is the day the exuberant Lucy is going to make a new friend! But she finds it's harder than she had thought-she accidentally ruins the giraffe's breakfast and is much too big for the frogs' pond.

Buy it: You Will Be My Friend! on Amazon

48. Clark the Shark by Bruce Hale

Clark is a shark with zing, bang, and BOOM. He zooms into school, crashes through the classroom, and is rowdy at recess.

Buy it: Clark the Shark on Amazon

Books About Resiliency

49. Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae

Gerald the tall giraffe would love to join in with the other animals at the Jungle Dance, but everyone knows that giraffes can't dance ... or can they?

Buy it: Giraffes Can't Dance on Amazon

50. Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña

Milo feels like a "shook-up soda" as he takes the subway to visit his mom, who is incarcerated. He copes with his feelings by imagining the lives of his fellow passengers-and imagines the time when his family will be together again.

Buy it: Milo Imagines the World on Amazon

Use this four-step process when reading these social skills books for kids to reinforce the skills featured:

1. Describe: Talk with your students, and have them talk with one another, about what they think the main point of the story was. What social skills did the story define? How do you know? Why are these skills important? Can you make a connection to the story from your own life? Make a poster together, or have students write or draw in their journals about these social skills.

2. Demonstrate: Have a few students act out what the social skills look and feel like. Role playing different ways students can demonstrate these skills will help reinforce the behavior.

3. Practice: Plan activities where each child has to take a turn to practice the featured social skills.

4. Promote: Promote, support, and encourage children as they initiate and engage in behavior that demonstrates these social skills. Catch them being kind, flexible, honest, confident, and more!

Looking for more social skills books for kids? Don't miss:

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50 Children's Books for Teaching Social Skills

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This diverse collection of social skills books for kids helps launch classroom conversations about identity, perseverance, grief, and more.

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Student engagement is one of the most fundamental requirements of learning. Without an engaged mind, everything else-no matter the quality of the pedagogy or the cleverness of the technology-is futile.

And one of the useful ways to make improvements here is by having a strong relationship with your students. A well-organized classroom with engaged students who trust and feel valued by the teacher is a classroom that's set up for progress everywhere else.

So how can you build better relationships with students? Here are 12 ways that might help.

See also 10 Of Our Most Popular Articles About Student Engagement

How Can You Build Better Relationships With Students?

1. Know their story

If you don't know 'who' they are and 'where' they come from, any relationship is entirely academic.

2. Talk to students (in class and outside of class)

How do you learn their story? Unless they have a biography you can read, talking to them-and really listening-is the best way.

3. Explicitly value the child over the content

Of course, any strong teacher already does this. But to do so explicitly is to make sure the student knows this to be true.

4. Play games

Team-building games for critical thinking, for example. Games are fun and having fun together released dopamine improves learning outcomes. Games aren't anywhere close to the only source of dopamine-or even the best. But the bonding and 'socialization' that occurs is a kind of foundation for relationship-building with students.

5. Set them up for success

Creating activities or lessons that let every child shine would be great but, of course, isn't always sustainable/practical. What is accessible, however, is to intentionally create these kinds of opportunities throughout the year. Some students love to draw while others are social butterflies. Some love to speak publically while others thrive working behind the scenes on critical projects.

Students don't always have to be in these preferred 'sweet spots,' but they should have ongoing opportunities to show their talents and genius.

6. Assume the best in every student

If you do so, it will change the way you perceive certain events-behaviors, the quality of work in certain assignments, questions, etc. Sometimes you'll be 'wrong' by 'assuming the best' in what a student meant or hoped to do and create, but by starting from this point, you give students a chance to 'fail forward' and learn through their mistakes and learn to self-manage.

7. Interview the student

Not like a job but not merely an informal conversation, either. Have a set of questions you create beforehand to get a fuller picture of who they are and what they need from you.

8. Let students interview you

And let them do the same to you. If nothing else, what they choose to ask will help you understand them better.

9. Have a short memory

In large part, being a child is about learning what works is what doesn't. This requires mistakes. Lots of them. Provide clear and effective learning feedback when they fail or fall short, then move on.

10. Attend their extracurricular events

This is part of seeing them as people and not students. It will also have the effect of them seeing you differently, as well.

11. Perform (positive) home visits

Home visits can be an effective way of 'knowing their story.' Obviously, these need to be done as part of a concerted effort with your school or district. You can read more about home visits here.

12. Call home and celebrate successes early in the year

First impressions are so extraordinary because, in these early moments, the brain 'learns' someone or thing and then continues to look for data that reinforces that story. Daniel Kahneman's ' Thinking Fast and Slow ' provides a compelling look at this and other tendencies of the human mind (affiliate link).
12 Strategies To Connect With Students In And Out Of The Classroom

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12 Strategies To Build Relationships With Students

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Student engagement is one of the most fundamental requirements of learning. Without an engaged mind, everything else is futile.

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Strategies to Build Relationships With Students

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Strategies to Build Relationships With Students

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I n many classrooms, the Tier 1 support is provided with a consultant model . The classroom teacher can plan, ask questions and gather materials from a reading teacher or special education teacher....

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Vol. 81

No. 6

Abstract

What's a Rubric?

The Problem with Single-Point Rubrics

Using Rubrics for Feedback

A One-Legged Stool

Single-point rubrics have become popular in schools, but they may be leading teachers astray.

Credit: Monkey Business Images / Shutterstock

Abstract

What's a Rubric?

The Problem with Single-Point Rubrics

Using Rubrics for Feedback

A One-Legged Stool

Have you heard the joke about the four teachers who walk into a rubrics bar? The first teacher asks the bartender for a holistic rubric with a four-point scale. "That's a popular choice," says the bartender. The second teacher orders an analytic rubric with five traits. "One of our favorites," replies the bartender. The third teacher says, "Make mine a developmental rubric with six colored shot glasses." "My pleasure," comes the reply. When it's the fourth teacher's turn to order, she says, "I'd like a single-point rubric, please." The bartender looks perplexed. "I'm sorry ma'am," he replies, "but you can't order that here. This is a rubrics bar."

While the joke may or may not evoke a chuckle, we use it to make a serious point about rubrics. Let us explain.

What's a Rubric?

A rubric is an assessment tool consisting of three essential elements: 1) a set of criteria aligned to learning goals; 2) a performance scale typically consisting of three or four levels, and 3) descriptors that differentiate the levels of performance on the scale (Andrade, 2000; Brookhart, 2013; McTighe & Frontier, 2022). As suggested by the joke, there are three main types of rubrics-holistic, analytic, and developmental. All three rubric types share these three elements but render them in different ways.

Two general types of rubrics -holistic and analytic - are widely used for both providing feedback and grading student products and performances. A holistic rubric provides an overall impression of a student's work by considering all criteria simultaneously. Holistic rubrics yield a single score or rating for a product or performance. Figure 1 displays an example of a holistic rubric for a scientific investigation.

An analytic rubric, by contrast, divides a product or performance into distinct traits or dimensions and considers each independently. Thus, a separate rating is provided for each trait. Figure 2 presents an example of an analytic rubric for an oral presentation, showing three traits described across a 4-point performance scale.

Each identified trait in an analytic rubric is evaluated independently. As Figure 2 illustrates, a student may display a deep understanding of the topic but be weaker in their delivery -or vice-versa. Thus, an analytic rubric can provide more specific feedback to both learners and teachers to inform needed improvements.

A third type of rubric -developmental -describes growth along a fixed, novice-to-expert continuum, in which each level represents a key benchmark on the road to high-level performance. A familiar example can be seen in the sport of karate, where six different colored belts signify varied skills levels. Similarly, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages'well-known set of performance descriptors is a developmental rubric that is used in world language courses to gauge a learner's performance level and growth in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in the target language. It is worth noting that developmental rubrics are generally not linked to age or grade - they simply describe current performance levels.

The Problem with Single-Point Rubrics

In recent years, a related tool, known as a single-point rubric, has become increasingly popular with educators. Yet, as the "punch line" of the joke implies, it is actually not a rubric. Consider the following example of a single-point rubric (Figure 3) and see if you can tell why we make this point.

At first glance, the distinction between a single-point rubric and the other types of rubrics is not always easy to discern. It has to do with the focus on only one level of performance. As researcher Jarene Fluckiger (2010) explains :

The difference between a single and a multiple-point rubric is in the number of levels of performance described. The single point rubric describes only one level of performance, the proficient level. Therefore, the single-point rubric has only one set of criteria, or "one point," and that is the list of criteria, which shows proficient competence appropriate to the grade or learning contect (p. 19).

As this explanation and the example in Figure 3 reveal, a single-point rubric only contains one of the three essential elements of a rubric: a set of criteria. It does not include a performance scale and lacks detailed, descriptive language to explain the criteria and differentiate levels of performance. So even though it may be a useful tool for some purposes, it is clearly misnamed. (A more apt name would be something like a criterion-based feedback tool.

Using Rubrics for Feedback

Rubrics can serve two general purposes: they can provide feedback (formative), and they can be used for evaluation (summative, for example for grading). To be most effective for either purpose, a rubric must include the three elements described earlier in the article. These elements are essential to providing effective feedback to both learners and teachers to guide improvements in learning and instruction.

In their article "The Power of Feedback ," John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007) describe feedback as the "second part" of teaching. The first part is teachers' initial instruction to help students acquire new knowledge and skills, combined with assessment procedures to evaluate students' understanding and level of mastery. The second part-feedback-relates to three major questions:

"Where am I going?" relates to the learning goals or destination. It tells students what they're expected to learn and be able to do after engaging in a particular set of learning tasks. "How am I going?" describes the progress students have made toward those goals. In other words, it tells students exactly where they are on their learning journey. "Where to next?" identifies what actions students need to undertake to make better progress, and it clarifies what students need to do to achieve the learning goals.

A more recent study by Hattie and a team of colleagues (2021) asked more than 3,000 high school and college students which of these three feedback components they found most helpful in improving essays they submitted online. Not surprisingly, students consistently preferred the "Where to next?" information.

Well-developed descriptive rubrics, especially analytic rubrics like the one in Figure 2, are helpful for offering three different kinds of feedback: teacher feedback, peer feedback, and student self-assessment. The key is in the performance-level descriptions.

Rubrics support feedback because they turn what could be a 'judging' task into a 'matching' task.

Rubrics support feedback because they turn what could be a "judging" task into a "matching" task. In other words, when students and teachers use rubrics to provide feedback, they are not primarily judging or evaluating areas of strength and weakness but rather matching the work to the closest performance-level description. The advantage of full-blown rubrics for feedback purposes is that suggestions for improvement are indicated in the performance-level description for the next level of work. The feedback-giver can add individual comments as needed, of course, but the heavy lifting on the next step for learning progress is done by the rubric. Analytic rubrics are particularly useful for this task because they consider each of the salient traits, one at a time, allowing for more detailed feedback than the more general, overall descriptions found in holistic rubrics.

Developmental rubrics can serve as tools for feedback and improvement in a similar way. While a student's present performance is noted by the associated developmental-level descriptor, the next level in the progression specifies the necessary skills needed to advance-and these become teaching and learning targets for subsequent instruction by the teacher and practice by the learner.

A One-Legged Stool

Advocates for the use of single-point rubrics make the case that they should be used as tools for feedback, not evaluation and grading (Fluckiger, 2010; Wilson, 2018). We have already noted that single-point rubrics contain only one of the three essential elements of a rubric: a set of criteria. Without a performance scale, it lacks the performance-level descriptions that are the basis for using rubrics as feedback.

As we saw, the performance-level descriptions support students and teachers in matching student work to a level of work and providing suggestions for improvement in the description of the next level of work. Without the descriptive scale, effective suggestions for improvement can only be made by students or teachers who have both a sure grasp on the content area and an understanding of how learning progresses in that area. That is basically unfair and unhelpful to many students. The lack of a performance scale also means that single-point rubrics are not able to function as a connector for students between their learning and their final grade, as true rubrics do.

While single-point rubrics may have some value, we think of them as a one-legged stool-it may get you off the ground, but it is far from being adequate. We believe the use of more detailed, descriptive rubrics are far superior tools for feedback. And that is our single point!

References

Andrade, H. G. (2000). Using rubrics to promote thinking and learning. Educational Leadership, 57(5), 13-18.

Hattie, J., Crivelli, J., Van Gompel, K., West-Smith, P., & Wike, K. (2021). Feedback that leads to improvement in student essays: Testing the hypothesis that "where to next" feedback is most powerful. Frontiers in Education, 6:645758. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.645758

Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112.

McTighe, J., Doubet, K, Carbaugh, E. (2020). Developing Authentic Tasks and Projects. ASCD. p78.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

We empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use. We achieve this by offering transformative professional learning, fostering vibrant communities, and ensuring that digital tools and experiences are accessible and effective.

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The Value of Descriptive, Multi-Level Rubrics

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Single-point rubrics have become popular in schools, but they may be leading teachers astray.

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Instructional Insights / September 2024 / 3 Ways to Gauge Student Understanding

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A teacher uses three short-cycle assessment methods to check for her students’ understanding. To learn more, read Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey’s column, “Checking for Understanding,” in the September 20

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Strategies to Boost Student Connection to School

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Strategies to Boost Student Connection to School

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They know there is an adult at school who knows and cares about them.

They engage at least some of the time in activities they find meaningful and that help others.

They feel seen and welcome in school. (2023)

Over the past few years, many schools have implemented programs to promote student well-being, including increased access to counseling and new curriculum focused on supporting whole child development. But there are additional opportunities to build systems and structures that can help educators know their students more deeply, build stronger relationships, and make learning more relevant to students' lives-all of which can help to build stronger connections to school.

At the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), we partner with organizations to translate research on the science of learning and development into effective classroom practices and tools that help educators address day-to-day challenges. Today, this prominently includes addressing the gaps in connection and engagement that can lead to absenteeism. Just as we know that there is no single explanation for the rise in chronic absenteeism, we recognize that no single program or approach will create and sustain an environment of connection and belonging. But here are three innovative initiatives that show distinct promise and give schools new ways to deepen students' engagement with their education.

1. Seeing Students' Potential

When schools know more about the individual strengths and aspirations of their students, they can better support student success. Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS) works with schools nationwide to help them identify students from historically underrepresented backgrounds with the potential to succeed in advanced coursework (such as Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate), design outreach plans to engage them, and create support systems to ensure they succeed.

The EOS approach starts with the Student Insight Card, which provides 43 unique insights for each student with data from a survey developed to understand students' interests, aspirations, challenges, and barriers to enrolling in higher-level courses. The survey helps schools better understand their students and design ways to engage highly capable students in advanced coursework.

Enrolling more students with the interest and aptitude in advanced coursework expands opportunities for Black and Latino students to succeed in higher education and STEM fields. The work of EOS also demonstrates that schools can take a systematic approach that signals to students that educators care about their future and believe in their abilities, a key part of strengthening connection.

2. Expanding Graduation Pathways

In New Mexico, Future Focused Education (FFE) is part of a statewide effort to redesign graduation requirements and connections to the workplace to better prepare students for the future. The goal is to make learning more relevant and engaging by building new high school graduation pathways grounded in the unique needs of communities and the workforce.

FFE actively works with 47 local education agencies across New Mexico and expects that number to grow. As part of this collaboration, community members come together to create a graduate profile that defines the knowledge and skills that local educators, business, and community leaders believe are important as students transition to adulthood. The profile includes measures of academics and career readiness, as well as skills that honor students' cultural and linguistic identities.

Capstone projects allow high school seniors to demonstrate that they have mastered the skills in the graduate profile. During these months-long projects, students dive deep into topics that interest them, conduct research, and present their findings in public exhibitions of learning to school, family, and community.

These practices give students greater agency over their education, allowing them to connect school to their interests, identities, and communities. When students are engaged in their learning, they are more motivated to tackle challenges that stand in the way of their goals.

3. Building Teacher-Student Relationships

Yet teachers face challenges in building trusting relationships with all of their students, especially in middle and high school where each teacher may see more than 100 students per day. In collaboration with Gradient Learning, CZI brought together learning scientists, educators, students, and community partners to develop Along, a digital communications platform that supports relationship building between teachers and students. The tool gives teachers a meaningful and easy-to-use way to check in with each student and collect feedback that can shape their instruction. Along is grounded in research that shows that when students have positive relationships with their teachers, they are more likely to feel motivated and engaged in school, develop positive social and emotional competencies, and perform better academically.

With Along, teachers can connect with students by asking them research-informed questions designed to find out how they think and experience the classroom. For example, teachers might ask how students like to be recognized for their hard work. These insights can shape how teachers interact with students, and the feedback loop signals to students that their perspectives and voices are valued.

Creating Lasting Change

Connection can play a part in drawing students to school and combating chronic absenteeism-but it must be consistently woven into the fabric of the school day. By supporting conditions in schools where students see adults as partners in their learning, respecting their interests, and creating meaningful experiences both in and out of school, students are more engaged and excited about their learning.

Educators also need help to make these shifts. Tools like Along and resources from organizations like Equal Opportunity Schools and Future Focused Education can provide teachers and school leaders with the necessary support to address the needs of their students. Working with partners like these has reinforced our belief at CZI that with the right supports, educators can cultivate authentic, unique connections with students that are a critical part of addressing the absenteeism crisis.

Reflect & Discuss

➛ What steps have you taken in your school or classroom to increase students' sense of connection and belonging? Where do you think there is room for improvement?

➛ In your view, how are opportunities for advanced coursework and student engagement related? How is your school or district supporting such opportunities?

➛ What specific strategies do teachers in your school or district use to build strong developmental relationships with students? What supports do they need?

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3 Strategies to Boost Students' Connection to School

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New tools and resources can help educators deepen student engagement and belonging.

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Vol. 80

No. 9

Abstract

A Tug of War: The Thrill of Tech vs. the Basics

Has Edtech Really Changed How People Write?

The New Challenge of AI

Holding on to What We Know

Tech tools can ease many aspects of the writing process-but we still need to teach students the bedrock skills of writing.

Credit: artisteer / istock

Abstract

A Tug of War: The Thrill of Tech vs. the Basics

Has Edtech Really Changed How People Write?

The New Challenge of AI

Holding on to What We Know

I remember my first steps, as an English and writing teacher, into incorporating digital tech into teaching. In 2000, my second year of teaching, the staff in my school district got email addresses, and I remember how one teacher made the mistake of "replying all" to an email from the superintendent. The following year, I discovered that our school had one LCD projector available for checkout from the library. By fashioning a complex menagerie of cables, extension cords, and surge protectors, I could display my desktop computer screen on the pull-down projection screen for my high school English students. It was like magic.

I kept quiet about my lucky find, but at the time, most teachers had no interest in the LCD projector (or the patience to navigate the obstacle course of wires). I, however, did not hesitate to shift my instruction. After all, my classroom was equipped only with a brown chalkboard which, for unknown reasons, only tolerated a specific, ancient brand of yellow chalk. I "saved time" by no longer writing vocabulary, agendas, and due dates on the board; instead, I projected this information on a screen and added it to a class website. My students and I navigated our brave new world one click at a time. I modeled writing and revision with emerging digital tools, helping students become real-time editors. Taking advantage of the devices on our school's new computer cart, we revised thesis statements and first drafts, displayed and critiqued original poetry, and-when questions came up-searched the internet together for answers.

Next came computer labs for students, early versions of learning management systems, discussion boards, and teacher-created "webquests." More teachers got on board in using edtech. I remember my principal sharing an article about wikis because he thought it sounded like something I would like. I quickly fell in love with wikis, combining that tool with Crocodoc (does that ring a bell for anyone?). My creative writing students crafted collaborative multi-modal stories on wikis, while Crocodoc allowed my Honors English students to peer edit in a paperless environment for the first time. Such early collaborative models quickly made way for Google Docs, Zoom, and the Chromebooks that dot our learning landscapes today.

A Tug of War: The Thrill of Tech vs. the Basics

I look back now at my early efforts in using technology and see charming lesson experiments and more than a few miscalculations. More than once, I allowed my fascination with technology to eclipse the focus of my English lessons. As time went on, I became less enchanted by new tech programs; as much as I missed the excitement of those early days of education's technological revolution, I longed for a return to direct engagement with content. I wondered if I wasn't spending more time teaching how to use technology than how to write thoughtfully and critically. I wanted my students to harness the power of words, not just the power of technology, and to do this, they needed a deep understanding of language. I remember looking over the sessions at the 2014 National Council of Teachers of English convention and feeling relief that tech-focused sessions were no longer dominating, and we were finally returning our focus to reading, writing, and storytelling.

I admit, I still feel a tug of war-one side of me wants to return to basics, but the other side is enamored with the next big thing and addicted to innovation and breakthrough tools. I want to be on the cusp of something monumental in education, and I want my students there with me.

But I also want to hold on to good ideas-fundamental ideas-especially about writing.

I still feel a tug of war-one side of me wants to return to basics, but the other side is enamored with the next big thing.

Has Edtech Really Changed How People Write?

The answer to this question, it seems to me, is both yes and no. More than 30 years ago, Ernest Balajthy (1985) noted that with the advent of word processing, student writers would now be able to easily engage in revision, which had been "long advocated but ignored by both teachers and students as too mechanical and painful" (p. 25). Most writers, professional and novice, would surely agree that computers have revolutionized the process of revision. The nature of writing, however, hasn't changed, and revision can still be painful-just for different reasons. Writing is still hard and at many times solitary. Writers often depend on themselves for initial, generative ideas. And they need to cultivate a discerning eye, a thick skin, and an actual will to revise. Technology surely helps with some of this-but does it change the whole game?

Collaboration also helps the writing process. The collaborative features of the Google suite have recast the feedback loop that English teachers try to establish with student writers. We can invite more people into that loop, including classroom peers, writing center consultants and tutors. The more writers' eyes on a piece, the better. Having students engage with each other's work is easier than ever, and it is engagement that grows writers.

For example, a high school student may learn from reading another's work that yes, you can begin a sentence with the word "Because." Subsequently, that student will abandon their allegiance to an old rule of writing ingrained years ago at a different developmental stage. Such seemingly small gains can occur unnoticed, as students work asynchronously on Google Docs. These gains compound as exposure increases and students continue to view each other's work through critical lenses. Collaboration engenders opportunities for growth, and often the teacher may not be involved or even aware.

In addition to collaborative opportunities made possible through shared files and real-time editing, writers can now take advantage of tools like Grammarly, predictive text, and a dictionary full of synonyms only a right-click away, tools that make writing and revision easier than ever. Robert Murphy (2019) classifies these types of tools as "narrow AI," a type of artificial intelligence that can "perform a single, specific function" (p. 2). Most writers have come to appreciate this assistance. Students can even generate citations in MLA style, Chicago style, and more simply by accessing tools built into Google Docs.

But collaborative tools and narrow artificial intelligence shortcuts aren't a replacement for the writing process-a process that begins with a germ of an idea, a turn of a phrase, a desire to communicate, and includes personal exploration and discovery. These tools are merely conveniences provided by technology, some by a type of artificial intelligence that is inherently limited and may actually fail to meet some of our expectations. They will likely continue to improve, but even if such tools were to remain only as effective as they are now, they would adequately meet most writers' (and most writing teachers') needs for helpful shortcuts. When I talk about writing with colleagues at the high school and college level, they express comfort with current tools and their uses. They appreciate predictive text in emails, but still love to laugh knowingly when the suggestions miss the mark.

The New Challenge of AI

So it seems to me that for a moment in the third decade of this century, many writing teachers have stalled in our relationship with edtech. We've moved past the initial thrill of technology for technology's sake. We no longer rush to add the latest fad to our lessons. We want to focus on the basics and use technology to enhance, not replace, the foundations of writing. We have grown accustomed to the status quo-using narrow AI-and as tools like thumb drives and Prezis have come and gone, we've continued teaching writing.

But late last year, Daniel Herman's "The End of High School English" (2022) was published in The Atlantic. This vanguard piece posited that "the majority of students do not see writing as a worthwhile skill to cultivate," and that many writing tasks would be better achieved by a new generation of AI tools, ones that were stronger, better, faster. Soon after this, Elon Musk (2022) tweeted that "ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI."

Subsequent articles, blog posts, and Twitter rants ran the gamut in response. The paradigm-shifting potential presented by ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms began to pit teacher against teacher; some saw it as a disaster, some welcomed it as a game-changing instructional resource. In a matter of days, everyone had an opinion, and many fell victim to that same Zeitgeist of divisiveness that pervades our nation, our politics, and our everyday interactions. Teachers were deemed either Luddites incapable of adjusting or foolish dreamers willing to sacrifice a bedrock of education for flights of fancy. Some found solace in the idea of returning to paper and pen, while others jumped to inform their students of new possibilities for writing.

Hearing all this, it seems to me that once again, many educators are focusing more thought on the technology used for writing than on the writing itself-or the question of how to teach young people writing skills.

The real danger of AI in writing instruction is that we will buy into the notion that the product is more important than the process.

The dust has now settled somewhat. Companies have rushed in to offer detection services that can tell (at least for the time being) whether a text was written by ChatGPT, students have become more aware of the nuances of AI and its problems as well as temptations, and writing teachers have begun to experiment. What remains to be seen, however, is how we will meet this moment, as teachers and students. Will we recognize the true danger of AI writing tools? In my view, that danger is not students cheating. That danger isn't a teacher using the tool to write a first draft of a letter of recommendation due the next day, or asking AI for help with brainstorming or grammar.

The danger is that we will stop teaching the fundamentals of writing altogether, that we will buy into the argument that the product-an error-free piece of writing-is more important than the process. Honoring the writing process often involves multiple drafts, peer editing, review, and polishing, but it also involves exercising critical thinking, organization, and decision-making skills. Through this, students develop nuanced vocabularies and more complex ideas. They are also better able to articulate their thoughts and understand the writing of others. Some will even become writers.

The current situation with AI tools bears resemblance to other arguments about product over process. For example, if a math student can pass the final exam without help (this "product" showing they understand the concepts), does it matter if that student did the homework? In English Language Arts, the equivalent question has a clearer answer than in math: The process is more important than the product. The slow, deliberate nature of learning to write, revise, and write again can be difficult, even painful, but that process strengthens many important skills.

Holding on to What We Know

Can AI alleviate some of the struggle? Probably. We need to determine which parts of the struggle are necessary for development and which parts are simply extra work for students and teachers. We need to determine the ways AI can enhance the writing process without eliminating it, incorporating these new tools with the goal of building stronger writers and thinkers. We have work to do, but it is exciting work. Writing teachers are pioneers again, and although the path before us is not yet clear, we've been at the intersection of technology and writing before. We can hold on to what we know is true about writing while adapting to what will certainly change.

References

Balajthy, E. (1985). Artificial intelligence and the teaching of reading and writing by computers. Journal of Reading, 29(1), 23-32.

Herman, D. (2022, December 9). ChatGPT will end high-school English. The Atlantic.

Murphy, R. F. (2019). Artificial intelligence applications to support K-12 teachers and teaching: A review of promising applications, opportunities, and challenges. RAND Corporation.

ASCD is a community dedicated to educators' professional growth and well-being.

Let us help you put your vision into action.

We empower educators to reimagine and redesign learning through impactful pedagogy and meaningful technology use. We achieve this by offering transformative professional learning, fostering vibrant communities, and ensuring that digital tools and experiences are accessible and effective.

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In a Brave New (Writing) World, Let's Hold on to Some Basics

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Tech tools can ease many aspects of the writing process-but we still need to teach students the bedrock skills of writing.

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Meeting the Core Human Needs of a Teacher

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Meeting the Core Human Needs of a Teacher

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Meeting the Core Human Needs of a Teacher | Cult of Pedagogy

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How recognizing and meeting the need for belonging, autonomy, competence, self-esteem, trust, and purpose can help teachers truly thrive.

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A Tiered System of Learning Supports for Any Subject

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A Tiered System of Learning Supports for Any Subject

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Listen to the interview with Sarah Riggs Johnson and Nate Wolkenhauer:
Sponsored by Studyo and Scholastic Magazines+

This post was co-written by Nate Wolkenhauer.

This isn't really about math. Well, it is, but you could apply it to any subject area. I teach in a small 6-12 independent school with my colleague and friend, Nate Wolkenhauer. Nate teaches Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. I am a learning and behavioral specialist. Nate and I collaborate regularly to support students as math learners, and together we've developed a kind of system of strategies - some that apply to all students, others only needed for a select few.

You could think of our model as a pyramid, a little bit like the Multi-Tiered System of Supports you may already be familiar with. The first four strategies - the base tiers - are broad and describe how Nate builds a foundation for all students to feel supported and engaged. The last few narrow to a point representing just a small percentage of students who struggle with math. The lines between the "tiers" don't really exist for us though: The strategies build on each other and spiral back down, mutually reinforcing student learning and growth and empowering all kinds of students to learn math. And we believe they would work in any subject area.

Here we'll take turns talking about each strategy, and how each of us contributes to its success.

Tier 1: No-Pressure Relationships

Nate (Generalist)

The bottom layer - the foundation upon which everything else is built - is what I have come to think of as no-pressure relationships. These are developed slowly, over time, and although they have a positive impact on learning, they really have nothing to do with academics.

Early in my career, I had a student named Shawn who had a tough time at school. He found little success in academics, had difficulty controlling his anger, and struggled to form relationships with teachers and other kids. It was not uncommon for Shawn to throw chairs, push over desks, or shout "colorful language" at his peers and teachers.

When Shawn would scream at me, I would talk in a hushed tone. The louder he got, the more quietly I spoke. I removed him from situations that were agitating and allowed him to yell at me without taking it personally. When he had calmed down, I would have a real conversation with him. I wouldn't point blame or send him to the office; instead, I would allow him to talk out what he was feeling, re-evaluate how he reacted, and create a plan for the next time he felt upset. I began to praise Shawn for any little behavioral accomplishment. If he came to class and sat in his chair, I'd say, "Dude.. you're awesome. Thank you for doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing."

I also kept an eye on Shawn during recess. Some days he would join a game of football; other days he would hang out alone. On those days, I would go over and give him some attention. When he questioned me, I would say things like, " Nah, I'd rather just hang out and talk with you today." I tried hard to never make him feel like a burden. Some days we would talk. Some days I would just say, " Hey. You mind if I join you? Or would you rather just have some you time, " and he would opt to be by himself. I tried my best to create a no pressure relationship.

After the first month of school, the outbursts were less frequent and less severe. Shawn would sometimes have lunch with me; he'd tell me about family, about his weekend and his friends. As he got more comfortable with me, he began to take more risks academically. He knew that if he made a mistake with a math problem, I wouldn't be disappointed. I'd be genuinely proud of him for putting forth the effort.

Sarah (Specialist)

I find it hard to talk about how to support students with any subject without the foundation of building relationships. We are at this pivotal point where for all income levels, and all types of kids, building relationships has never been more important. We spend so much time on our screens that kids (and let's be honest, adults) are aching for them, even when they don't know it.

Nate has a hundred stories to tell like this one because he genuinely likes connecting with his students. Asking him to describe how he builds relationships with students is a bit like asking a fish to describe water. We can all be tired and dragging around the staff table in the morning, sipping our coffee, but when the kids walk into an area we call "the Hub," Nate is on his feet, high-fiving kids and asking about lacrosse games and chorus concerts and broken arms and little brothers.

In my work with kids, if I'm going to get a 12-year-old to talk about something they feel vulnerable about - not reading fluently, failing the test, not understanding the homework - then I need to be both vulnerable and honest with them. I also pay attention to what lights up their faces, and will often research their interests so that I can ask them questions later! This takes time, energy, and effort - and sometimes that detracts from the time we have to explain a math strategy, but the emotional investment pays off. Kids learn better from teachers that they feel "get" them and like them.

Tier 2: Stand On Your Chair

Nate

I am a fidgety person. I'm the guy standing in the back of the faculty meeting because I cannot physically sit for a full hour. So I am hyper-aware of how long my students are sitting. For me, movement matters.

In 2016, I started encouraging my students to stand on their chairs when they were addressing the class. I told them it was so they would be able to command attention from their peers - so they could get used to standing and speaking in front of a crowd. In reality, standing on chairs is different and weird and fun. The kids are getting up and moving, and they're excited to do something that is typically frowned upon in classrooms.

Purposeful movements can be even more impactful. If I sing the "Macarena," what might you start doing? What about the YMCA? When I link movements to specific math vocabulary, it gives students another toolkit to pull from. When a student gets stuck on a problem, I can just ask, "Show me a unit rate," and they will hold up a finger on one hand and place their other hand above it, creating a fraction bar. Then the lightbulb goes off. "Ohhhhhhh. That's right. Now I remember." For almost every chapter, we learn movements for different concepts or vocabulary. Sometimes they are dance moves with music, other times we just play Simon Says (which, even in 8th grade, is still a favorite of my students).

When I teach unit rates, I transform my room into a grocery store. I line up tables and fill them with various types of food. I then place prices for different brands of the same item using different unit rates. For example, Grade A eggs may cost $6.36 per dozen while Publix brand eggs may cost $12.78 per 2 dozen. Students run around collecting two items that are the same to find the best deal. They're moving, they're finding unit rates in a real-world situation, and they're invested in the math.

I try to include games in lessons as often as I can. When teaching ordered pairs on a four-quadrant coordinate plane, we play Quadrant Quest: Using painter's tape, we create a giant coordinate plane on the classroom floor. In groups of 4, students are given a stack of ordered pairs. One student starts at the origin and their teammates describe how they should move. If the ordered pair is (-4,5), the students would shout, "Move four spots to the left and five spots up!" The student moving needs to then say the ordered pair. The team that gets the most pairs in 90 seconds wins.

Sarah

We know enough about neurodiversity to know that the "sitting still and listening" way of doing school doesn't work well for many students. By using "multiple means of engagement," students who are not typically very engaged or motivated dial into the lesson. Adding movement, context, and an element of play to math classes helps kids learn, but what I even like to think about is the later effects. You take a student who has struggled with math and "doing school" in the past - maybe so much that they have anxiety about being in that class and identify as "bad at math." Now in math class, they are trying to solve problems, but they are also moving and smiling and even laughing (even if it's just at how goofy Mr. Wolkenhauer is). Their brain is releasing dopamine and rewiring itself to feel differently in that class. Students with learning differences who work with me end 7th grade saying math "used to be" their worst subject. This teaches them that they can learn anything.

Tier 3: "My job. Not your job."

Nate

On the first day of school every year, I have students act out this scenario. I start by bringing up two students. I ask student 1 to say, "I can't believe you don't know that!" I then reprimand that student. I put on my sternest face and say something along the lines of "Absolutely not. That's unacceptable."

Next, I ask student 2 to say, "Yeah. That's unacceptable." I then turn to student 2 and, using the same stern facial expression, I say, "My job. Not your job."

I explain to my kids that they need to trust me to handle situations that are inappropriate, regardless of who is acting inappropriately. I will stand up for you, but the second you make a snide remark or giggle at someone else's expense, I will call you out. There are no favorites.

This creates an environment where students know it is unacceptable to make anyone feel small or ostracize someone who makes a mistake. They quickly learn that I will not let any unkind comment or eye roll slide, which creates a classroom environment where students are more likely to take risks. They are more likely to raise their hand and offer up an answer. They are more likely to share their thoughts about what they might already know about a topic they haven't yet learned.

Sarah

If you teach middle school, you already know about math anxiety. The fear of getting the problem "wrong" starts early. By the time kids are adolescents, anxiety becomes a strong barrier to learning. More than anything, students do not want to mess up in front of their peers.

A kid with a learning difference will be even more worried about saving face and hiding their weaknesses. Answering a question in front of the class activates the same fight or flight response as if a "tiger was in a classroom" (Posey, 2018). Research reliably points to this emotion derailing kids' ability to learn (Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007). Nate combats this by consciously working to build - and maintain - a culture of respect in his classroom. The typical preteen practice of "one-upping" each other becomes uncool. However, his students also learn he does not hold a grudge, because he knows that sometimes the most vulnerable students are the ones making the poor choices. This makes students feel emotionally safe taking risks in the classroom. Showing consideration for how you want students to FEEL while they are learning helps clear away the tigers, so they can focus on the math.

Tier 4: "High Expectations, Flexible Means"

Sarah

When I support students, I'm very conscious of preserving the integrity of the test or assignment. I don't want to "over-help" a student for the sake of a good grade when I know they will need the skill in the future. To keep expectations high, I sometimes have to find different avenues for students to access or demonstrate the required skills or knowledge. This principle of "high expectations, flexible means" comes from Katie Novak's work on Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Last year, Nate and I both taught David, who has severe dyslexia. (Dyslexia is normally associated with reading difficulty, but math is a symbol system just like written language, so students with dyslexia can also struggle with math.) David also happens to be a charming, hard-working, genuine student, the kind you would bend over backward to help. So when it came time to grade his assessments, it was easy to want to overlook the negative signs he missed. We decided together, though, that it did not serve David to give him those points. He could use a calculator during tests, but he had to learn a strategy for tracking those negative signs. They are essential to the problem, and for his computation skills going forward. High expectations, flexible means. Dock him the points, but give him a way to earn them back.

Nate

Sarah already explained David's use of a calculator, but perhaps even more importantly, we built him up to feel comfortable and confident using his accommodations. When he missed problems or made the same mistake again and again on tests, we gave him the opportunity to look for those mistakes and celebrated when he was able to find them. When he bombed tests because of errors like missing negative signs, I would mark the problems he missed and allow him to correct them in Sarah's office for points back. We then sometimes showed him the before and after score to help him understand how putting the extra work in affected his grade. We sometimes would not let him turn a test in until he had checked all his negative signs and reduced fractions on problems #6, #13, #21, etc. We sort of forced him to practice double-checking his work and to learn what kind of errors he was commonly making.

David didn't need us to throw him some extra points for his effort. He needed us to be there for him, build him up, and help him reach his goals. Getting an "A" on a test is so much more satisfying when you have put in the work.

Tier 5: Learning Out Loud

Nate

My classroom is loud because of the constant conversation I ask my students to have with one another. I encourage my kids to "talk it out" and use their words to describe their thinking.

Sarah

Doing math out loud can also help students learn to generalize the language of math - words like equation, variable, inequality, and perpendicular are tricky for some students. The repetition helps them visualize and build schema for new vocabulary.

Nate

So why would I take talking away for tests? Freddy is a student who works tremendously hard. He asks questions when concepts are unclear and, when talking about math, is able to express his thinking clearly. The more he talks through the math and gets validation for his thinking, the better he can work through the concepts. But when it comes to test time, Freddy struggles to have those conversations in his head and tends to freeze up. He wants to talk through concepts or receive validation during the test but feels uncomfortable in a room full of his peers. For his most recent test, I asked how he would feel trying to take it with Sarah in her office. He agreed and scored a 98%. Sarah did not provide him with answers or explain how to complete problems, but she was there to validate his thinking. Freddy just needed space to talk himself through the test.

Sarah

Talking through tests also helps students stay focused. Eli is the type of kid who bounces. He goes for every fidget I have in my office. He twirls his pencil around the room and prefers my stand-up desk. Even when he comes to my quiet office for math tests, if left to his own thoughts, he ruminates about big numbers and spends 20 minutes testing the limits of the calculator. Students like Eli who have ADHD have difficulty with math not because they don't understand it conceptually, but because they struggle to sustain focus or organize themselves around multi-step problems. When I leave Eli to his own devices to finish a test, he will be on problem 2 after 40 minutes.

What helps him is to do math out loud. For a geometry test, I start with "Eli, let's go. Point to the formula you think you should use for this problem. What's the question asking for - circumference, area, or volume? - and talk me through it." Hearing himself talk through problems is enough stimulation that he stays focused through even the worst of surface area problems!

Tier 6: Test Pulling

Nate

When I was in high school, I cheated on a social studies test. I sat next to the bookshelf and placed my notes on a shelf in view. About halfway through the test, my teacher came over, took my test, and took the notes off the shelf. Of course, I denied it. I was a pretty good student but was not prepared for the test and had an immense fear of failure. This was an isolated scenario for me, but some students experience this feeling of defeat over and over, not because they didn't prepare, but for other reasons out of their control - anxiety, misread instructions, and so on.

Students who regularly do poorly on tests do not want to feel that failure. At what point should our perspective adjust to worry more about the child as opposed to the grade? I'm not saying we need to just reward a child who is failing to make them feel good. But there are situations where helping a child find some success on tests may be more important to them long-term than letting them fail again on their own.

Sarah

Nate lets kids do homework with him after school. He also lets me do homework with kids in my office. And for students who don't perform on assessments, he lets me help them during tests. Never had I ever met a teacher who so easily let go of the sanctity around tests. When I worried that I may be helping a student too much, he'd reply with, "That kid really needs a win right now."

We trap ourselves and kids into cycles of failure when we decide that tests need to be big, scary summations of progress and knowledge instead of a learning experience in themselves. Instead of letting a student fail another one, Nate let me ask the question - what if we helped her learn how to get better at taking math tests?

Because students are the most anxious about doing well during a test it can make it an ideal time for me to work with them. They usually are very dialed in because they want to make a good grade. Unlike when I meet with them after school, I don't have to compete with the video game they'd rather be playing - that's not an option during a test.

During a test, I use a strategy that I call, for lack of a better name, "pulling." I usually start by explaining that I cannot tell them the answers. Nor can I teach them how to do the problem, because it's a test. Their math teacher has to be able to see what they know and how they tackle problems. I explain that what I will do is "pull" what they already know out of them. I do this by asking a lot of questions.

What information does the problem give us?

What is it asking for?

How do you think we could set this one up?

What do you think you should do first?

What kind of shapes do you see here?

Didn't Mr. Wolkenhauer teach you all a song about this?

All questions are designed to pull out what they know but also to model a routine for what to do when they get stuck.

For students who struggle to generalize a strategy that worked well for them in the past, I will also casually say, "Oh, I remember that last time on the midpoint quiz, it helped when you first wrote your formulas on the top of your page..." or "I noticed that it helped you on the homework when we labeled the x and y axis."

When problems are broken down this way, 90% of students who come up for their tests start recalling what they learned and practiced in class. They do not need me to teach them anything! They just need me to ask the right questions, maybe validate their thinking, and then get out of their way.

Tier 7: Strategies for the 10%

Sarah

For a smaller group of students, the first six tiers are not quite enough. We have found that these additional strategies can help:

Highlighting, lined paper, and color-coding: Students who struggle with executive functioning often hit a wall when they're first learning algebra. Usually they understand the concepts, but they struggle with the organization. You need to accurately copy the problem and track steps on both sides of an equation. You have to notice details like negative signs and hold steps in working memory to remember where you are within a problem. In my office, I might be working on getting them to slow down, write out their work, and track/sequence steps. Highlighting equal signs, learning to solve problems down the page on lined paper (whether it is digital or real paper), and color-coding like terms or important parts of a diagram or figure can be helpful in teaching these students to track steps. For example, when students first learn about coordinate planes, color-coding the x-axis as red and the y-axis as blue and using those colors for values in coordinate pairs can help eliminate confusion about which is which until they get the hang of it.

Manipulatives: When people refer to using "manipulatives" in math, they mean any physical, tangible object that a student can manipulate to learn a math concept. For example, a set of 3D geometric shapes may help a student understand where the base of a pyramid or prism is much faster than a 2D picture of it printed on a worksheet.

Extra work with symbols: Students with dyslexia or other language-based learning differences may struggle with the vocabulary of math, calling an inequality sign by its elementary school name, "the alligator mouth thingy." Math is a symbol system just like the English language. It has directionality, order (that is NOT always left to right), and a sequence that matters! When you understand that 2x means "2 times (multiplied by) an unknown quantity represented by an x" that means you can read/interpret Algebra! It takes some students longer to learn to read the symbol system of Algebra. I try to be really explicit about this when I work with students. I will say, "So let's talk about what this symbol means because it can be tricky to know what operation we are supposed to be doing here!"

Limiting options: Math instruction has shifted in the last few decades toward teaching multiple ways of "seeing" and understanding quantity, computation, proportion, and patterns. If you are a parent, you may have noticed that the way your child is learning to solve problems is totally different from the "borrowing" method for multi-digit subtraction that we old folks learned in school. This is because we were not really understanding place value when we only learned "the borrowing trick." For students with learning differences in math, it can be helpful to start by learning just ONE way to solve. The debate between understanding the deeper meaning of math and learning a process for getting to the right answer is not always something I have time for, depending on the student I am working with. I will often try to solve a problem a couple of ways and have them choose the one they feel most comfortable with - that's the one we're going to learn, for now! I don't want them to get stuck because they could not memorize all 6 different methods for solving.

Calculators: The students whom we struggle most to support in math are the ones who do not have a strong concept of numbers, quantity, and the relationships between numbers. (The label for this is dyscalculia.) Shannon might need to turn to a calculator over and over again to see that 4/1 is just 4. This is not because she didn't try to memorize her math facts in the third grade or that she isn't capable of algebraic thinking. The numbers themselves just don't carry as much meaning for her. But students who truly struggle to understand numeric relationships can still learn higher-level math; just let them use the calculator! It supports their dyscalculia, working memory, and processing speed, but also lets them focus on what the problem is asking for. Problem-solving and reasoning are important beyond math!

References
CAST (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Retrieved from http://udlguidelines.cast.org

Immordino-Yang, M. H., & Damasio, A. (2007). We feel, therefore we learn: The relevance of affective and social neuroscience to education. Mind, Brain, and Education, 1(1), 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-228x.2007.00004.x

Novak, K., & Couros, G. (2022). UDL now! : A teacher's guide to applying universal design for learning. CAST Professional Publishing.Posey, A. (2018). Engage the brain: How to Design for Learning That Taps into the Power of Emotion. ASCD.

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Not Just for Math: A Tiered System of Learning Supports for Any Subject

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This system starts with strategies that work for everyone and narrows to techniques just for those who need the most help.

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Listen to the interview with Andrea Castellano and Irene Yannascoli:
Sponsored by Listenwise and Studyo

"Make your paper dirty."

I get some funny looks when I say it at first, but it gets the point across. What I mean is I'm looking for annotations. I teach third grade, when young readers typically transition from developing readers to fluent ones, and it's at this stage that they're ready to begin to analyze texts on a deeper level. For that reason, this is the perfect time to introduce them to annotation.

Annotation - marking up and making notes on a text - can be an extremely effective tool for improving comprehension and increasing levels of criticality and engagement. By making these metacognitive markings, students are able to process a variety of texts in unique and meaningful ways. The thing is, it can vary in effectiveness, depending on which classroom you look into, if it's being taught at all. You may have personally found that you aren't getting the results you want from your approach.

After some trial and error, I have developed my own method for teaching annotation, which I'll share here, along with the process my colleague Irene Yannascoli uses at the high school level. Whether you teach ELA or another content area, chances are your students read in your class. And if they read, there's a chance they might need to annotate. Hopefully this post can offer some strategies to help your students establish annotation as part of their regular reading practice.
[skip to high school process]
Elementary Process

Prescriptive vs. Responsive Annotation

One major hurdle students face is deciding what to annotate. Some students are hesitant to mark anything at all while others underline or highlight nearly every sentence in the text. Some teachers have attempted to remedy this by taking a prescriptive approach to annotation. They direct students to locate specific details and what to do when they've found them, saying things like, "find and underline the sentence that proves the character is sad," or "box two words you don't know in paragraph 2." It's like a scavenger hunt: Find three things, answer three questions.

I've used this approach in the past, and it certainly is a great way to get students to notice and name things, but what I kept noticing is that whenever I stopped prompting students to make their annotations, they stopped making them. They were so dependent on my guidance that they never took ownership of the process.

Eventually I realized I needed to teach my students to develop their own systems for annotating. The responsive approach I'm advocating here centers the reader on the basis that we all bring our own perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the text. As much as our interpretations are varied and nuanced, so are our annotations. Teaching students to navigate text as active readers helps them make sense of what they read. Artful annotation is what happens when they're inspired to respond in their own unique way.

Getting Started

One thing teaching has taught me is that straightforward visuals reduce cognitive load and allow students to concentrate on what's important. To simplify annotation for my students, I designed a template (below) with space on the left for me to paste the text and cells on the right and bottom for note-taking.

At the point in the year that we start this process, I've already taught all the literacy concepts they'll need for this activity, such as theme, figurative language, text structures, and more. What this template does is sort each concept into one of two lenses: key words & ideas, and craft & structure. We then comb through the text with these two in mind, asking and answering over and over, What is the author saying? and How are they saying it? To remind them of what to look for, I provide the following graphic on the template. This is a list of look-fors that encompass most of what they'll encounter as they read.

Modeling Responsive Annotation

To introduce responsive annotation, I use a direct approach to make my thinking as transparent as possible. In addition to modeling the use of metacognitive markers, I talk through each step of the process. Here's a sample breakdown of what that would look like in the early stages.

Introducing Each Lens

1. Choose the lens through which you will be approaching the text. In the introductory stage, it is recommended to read the same text twice - one session for key words and ideas, another for craft and structure. Provide the annotation look-fors as an anchor chart or include it on the template itself.

2. Give students a copy of the text and display your copy of the text for all to see. As students watch, read a section of text aloud, stopping to underline, box, and make notations.

3. Think aloud as you annotate. Read, stop, jot, explain. You are responding to the text as you encounter each element rather than searching the text for specific items. Students should either be watching or copying the teacher's moves at this stage.

Guided Annotation (Whole Class)

To help students learn to prioritize information, the teacher will pose questions that reinforce the points made in the explicit model. This will happen in lockstep as a whole class - independent practice comes later. This stage works best directly following the teacher model so students get to immediately put things into practice.

Guide students through the next section of the text, first by reading it together and then by asking open-ended questions related to the chosen lens. For example:

For Key Words and Ideas:
What is the author saying here?
What words seem important?
What part made you stop and think?

For Craft and Structure:
How does the author show you what the character is feeling in paragraph 5?
Who can find and annotate a connection between paragraph 3 and paragraph 4?
What does the author mean by _____?

Students take a turn with another section of the text. Prompt students to share their thinking and show what they did. This is a great opportunity to validate or course-correct as needed.

Guided Annotation (Individual)

When they're ready for the next stage, provide each student with a new text. Give several minutes to read and annotate, one section at a time. Circulate the room, monitoring and offering feedback. As students make their way through each section, give the green light to move on.
Giving feedback in real time adds encouragement and reinforces desired reading behaviors. This type of gradual release model works best when the teacher is responsive to the needs of the class, moving on only when they're ready.
Once they have the hang of it, students continue to read and annotate on their own. Those who need support can now be pulled into a small group. This is also a good time to implement partner annotation for students who may not be ready to read the text independently.

Continue to use the template to support students as they annotate for either key words and ideas or craft and structure. It can be modified to merge the lenses once they can do both with confidence. After several guided annotation lessons, students should be ready to annotate on their own without needing the scaffolding of this stage every time.

Discussion and Feedback
Now that students have a sense of what to look for when they read, what they need at this juncture is a chance to see what other readers are doing and compare it to their own work. This not only deepens their understanding of the text through discussion, it strengthens their grasp on what they should be noticing.

1. Gather the class and project student work (in my class, students volunteer to share). Prompt students to compare annotations, note their peers' insights, and offer feedback.

2. Allow students to "borrow" snippets of each others' annotations if they wish. This is intentionally a collaborative process that promotes the sharing of insights and ideas.

3. Students can use the template as long as it's needed. The cycle of discussion and feedback can continue indefinitely. At any point, the annotation look-fors can be edited for specific genres, content areas, or other purposes for reading.

Click here to make a copy of the elementary process for your Google Drive.

High School Process: Collaborative Annotation

Whether at the secondary or elementary level ( click here to jump up to elementary), the art of annotation is in making it meaningful. Responsive annotation does just this. Because students often believe there's a "right answer" when annotating, asking them what they notice trains them to use their own funds of knowledge as they read. Like my approach to teaching annotation in elementary, Irene Yannascoli gives her 10th graders the freedom to interact with texts on their own terms, deciding for themselves what is meaningful enough to annotate. She also wants them to use peer insight to practice concepts already reviewed in class, so she makes this annotation process collaborative.

Similar to the elementary approach in the previous section, this process has students consider the text through a given lens; in this case, four core concepts that have already been taught in class: identify (notice and name), analyze (explain and connect), evaluate (judge and discuss impact), and synthesize (put it all together). The purpose of the group annotation is to practice these skills collaboratively.

Introducing Each Lens

In order to set this up:

Choose 4 teaching points from your recent curriculum that you would like students to discuss and practice

Choose a passage that reflects the 4 teaching points.

For each of the teaching points, create guiding questions for students to reference while they annotate. It's not necessary for students to answer all of these guiding questions, and as they get used to the protocol they may use them less and less.

Irene's guiding questions are pictured below.

Note that these concepts and questions are specific to language arts study; they can be modified according to any subject or genre.

Independent Annotation

Start by reviewing the "Group Annotation Practice Protocol" slide (below) with the class.

1. Conduct a read-aloud of the passage. Ask students if they have any questions before they begin. To assess understanding, you may ask them to identify key terms in the passage or answer questions related to the who, what, when, where and why of the passage

2. Students re-read the passage independently and jot down their first thoughts.

This is a preliminary step before they annotate to capture a first impression of the passage, and makes space for any clarifying questions that might arise.

Group Annotation
After students have reread the text on their own, it is time to begin their annotations.

1. Students get in groups and each person claims a focus skill: Identify, Analyze, Evaluate or Synthesize. Now, each group member is following one of the 4 sets of guiding questions using the same passage.

2. After taping a copy of the text to chart paper, each student grabs a marker and for 15 minutes, uses the guiding questions to "make their posters dirty." Each student should be huddled around their chart paper, underlining, drawing arrows, and making notes next to the passage.

3. Circulate and observe each group, helping students deepen their thinking by asking questions and making connections between the annotations.

Discussion and Feedback

1. Students wrap up and review their annotations. Each person shares their thoughts and epiphanies from the annotation process.

2. While the group shares out, the "Synthesizers" answer their last two questions about the commonalities between peers and overall meaning of the passage. They write this on their posters.

3. Students then post their chart paper on the wall and conduct a gallery walk, during which they examine peer charts and make notes on post-its expanding, deepening or challenging the original annotations based on their own reading of the text.

Some sentence starters to move students beyond agree/disagree:
This makes me think about...
I can connect this to...
Additionally, this could mean...
I wonder why...

Students return to their original posters and read what other group members commented. They now have an opportunity to add any final notes, ideas or understandings. If time allows, conduct a whole group share-out: What was something that surprised you, inspired you, or made you rethink?

Assessment

At this point, it's up to you how to assess students for this activity. You might just treat it as a practice for building independent annotation skills and assess students individually on their own annotations on a future passage. You might choose to develop a rubric for this activity and give all group members a score on their poster. Or you might have students write a reflection about their strengths and weaknesses in the process and set goals for the future.
Click here to make a copy of the high school process for your Google Drive.[back to elementary process]
A Few Caveats

Although I explicitly model responsive annotation, I don't expect my students to copy my exact style. Yes, I do tell them to mark up the text as well as make notes in the margins, but I want my students to use metacognitive markers in ways that make sense to them. Some like to underline sentences, others highlight. I circle vocabulary words, others box them. Some enjoy creating their own symbols and methods of organizing their notes in the margins. Recently I've noticed a few students creating systems for highlighting in different colors complete with a key.

It must also be said that not every student needs to or should annotate when they read. Some process text better internally and find the annotation system slows them down or distracts them; others can't handle the multitasking element and just need to focus on reading. The supports provided for accessing the text are just a temporary scaffold anyway. As long as they can demonstrate that they understand what they're reading in other ways, (e.g., through discussion or answering questions) I really don't insist that they do it. But for the majority of students who find themselves glossing over key moments or struggling with comprehension, this process is extremely useful. Ultimately, the decision depends on you knowing your students and what works for them as learners.

So, Is This Really Worth It?

Since we've been teaching annotation this way, Irene and I have both observed a correlation between the quality of annotations on the page and the ability to comprehend text. Incorporating the look-fors into the annotation practice reinforces the concepts skills taught across the year. And the confidence our students have in themselves as readers has also grown. My students say things like, "Annotation has helped me become a better reader" and "Annotation helps me understand the text or the things I'm reading a bit more."

This process is about more than preparing students for standardized tests or giving them a strategy to boost their grades. Our students will be reading and comprehending texts for a very long time - hopefully, for the rest of their lives. While they won't always grab a pen when they sit down with a book, there will be many times they can put these skills to work. If the goal is to process what they're reading, annotation provides them with one way to do so.

Annotating, or "making your paper dirty" as we like to call it, is definitely an acquired skill. It takes time to learn, but more than likely, it's worth the effort.
References
Duke, Nell & Pearson, P.. (2002). Effective Practices for Developing Reading Comprehension. What research has to say about reading instruction. 3. 10.1598/0872071774.10.

Landmark College. (n.d.-a). Active reading (see also critical reading). Active Reading | Landmark College. https://www.landmark.edu/academics/writing-matters/wac-glossary/wac-active-reading

Lloyd, Z.T., Kim, D., Cox, J.T., Doepker, G.M. and Downey, S.E. (2022), "Using the annotating strategy to improve students' academic achievement in social studies," Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 218-231.

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The Art of Annotation: Teaching Readers To Process Texts

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Annotation can be a powerful way to improve comprehension and increase engagement, but its effectiveness can vary depending on how it's taught.

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Three AI teacher assistants, a curated collection of math activities, a website-building curriculum, a site for helping students change the world, and more.

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It's pretty well known in educational circles that cooperative learning is supported by research, but so many teachers still struggle with it, so when things don't work well, they give it up. In my observations of thousands of teachers, I've noticed that sometimes the smallest tweak in instructional approaches reaps the biggest impact, and group work is no exception.

I've gathered some of the most common efforts among teachers everywhere that aren't met with the same amount of effort and success from their students, and for each one, I offer a small tweak that can make big improvements. Sometimes the tweak is a shift in semantics, other times it might be a slight change in how information is presented, and in some cases, it focuses on how teachers react when students lean on them to "help" instead of doing the heavy lifting themselves.

The instructional methods are sorted into six categories: grouping structures, giving directions, assigning roles, support during student collaboration, the teacher's primary role, and the learning tasks. In each of these six categories, look for examples that describe how you approach or respond to group work, then consider these suggestions for elevating the effectiveness of student collaboration while limiting or reducing the energy you contribute.

Grouping Structures

When determining how students will tackle a task, our options are to have students work independently, with a partner, or in a group. Be more intentional with how you make this key decision by considering some of the thoughtful decisions around structuring student work.

Common approach #1: Inviting students to work with a partner if or when they like
Tweak: Select when, how, and why tasks are individual vs. partner work.
While the goal for allowing students to work with a partner any time they choose is intended to send the message that we can always get help from peers, it doesn't leave room for purposefully designing a task with collaboration in mind. The interactions between students is often not much more than a quick check to see if they got the same answer, rather than communicating their thinking along the way. So when you assign partner work, do it with intention.

Common approach #2: Choosing partners or groups randomly
Tweak: Optimize interest, level, connection, skill, personality, etc. to determine groups.
It's OK to have random groupings once in a while, especially when a quick engagement strategy is needed. However, if groups are primarily student choice or random, we miss the opportunity to mindfully align students with others based on a variety of factors.

Try using Clock Partners to organize multiple pairings. Here's how it works: Students make "appointments" with different peers at specific times. Then, when the teacher announces they should join their 3:00 partner, the pairings are already predetermined. Only you know that the 12 o'clock partner is a reading buddy, while the 6 o'clock partner considers how introverted or extraverted students are.

Common Approach #3: Assigning the same group size to all students
Tweak: Design groups of different sizes if warranted.
When flexibility is warranted, allow for a blend of solo, partner, and group structures. It can be effective to have groups of 4 or 5, a couple of partners, and a few students working alone. Depending on the task, you can offer varying levels of challenge based on their group structure.

Giving Directions

How students engage in active learning usually has steps or at a minimum some guidance. Students come to expect teachers to be the beacon of information when it comes to describing exactly - and I mean every minute detail - of what they are supposed to do.

Common Approach #4: Reading directions to students
Tweak: Give them time to independently read and repeat to peers.
Instead of reading directions, or even having a single student read them to the entire class, give your learners time to read independently, then repeat or paraphrase them to a partner. If your students often disregard the directions, this small tweak will not only give them two exposures (once when they read and once when their partner repeats), but it also gives you a point of reference. You can easily refer them back to the directions if they are going rogue in a way that jeopardizes learning.

Common Approach #5: Giving multiple steps in a row
Tweak: Post steps for students to revisit as needed.
Working or short-term memory is taxed when multi-step directions are expected to be retained for future reference. Instead of requiring students to remember all the steps of a complex task, provide a visual with them clearly stated.

Common Approach #6: Answering questions about the task
Tweak: Refer them to the resources provided or prompt them to problem-solve.
When you have provided an opportunity for students to review the directions and have made them accessible for reference as needed, there's no need for you to answer questions that they can clarify without asking you. Try to build independence and responsibility by encouraging students to access other sources to get the information they seek.

One way to accomplish this is to respond to their question with a question that prompts reflection or metacognition (see examples above). Answering questions with a question bounces the responsibility off of you and back on to them.

Of course, what you say is as important as how you say it. Cynical or sarcastic tones, when posing questions, can break down your relationship with students. Be sure your questions are delivered in a positive and productive way that strives to encourage students to activate their empowerment.

Assigning Roles

As adults who have ample opportunities to practice effective communication skills, it can be easy to overlook the fact that students do not always know how to balance partner or group tasks or communicate with peers. These are critical soft skills that can be fostered when collaborative tasks have structure and students understand the various roles group members or partners play when working and learning together.

Common Approach #7: Not differentiating between partners or group members

Tweak: Start with A/B partners.

The easiest way to elevate your intentionality and make student collaboration more effective is to assign names for your partners. A/B, red/gold, peanut butter/jelly, it doesn't matter. This simple detail assigns a speaker and a listener and structures the conversation to ensure the speaker is heard and the listener understands. It's the basics of the communication cycle where the sender (speaker) sends a message and the receiver (listener) provides feedback about the message.

Common Approach #8: Assigning roles without practice or models

Tweak: Plan mini-lessons on how to fulfill roles.

Don't get overwhelmed by this tweak. Just start with one skill at a time. Offer a mini-lesson that clearly explains how a quality summarizer, questioner, or detective would perform their role. Include models that students can critique or reflect on their effectiveness. In a small group, assign one person to execute that role, then rotate it to another group member or partner for the second part of the task.

Eventually, you will have a list of roles like the ones above that students understand how to apply in their collaborative groups. The goal is for all students to have all the skills and be able to apply these soft skills fluidly without the need to be assigned a specific role.

Common Approach #9: Giving only "housekeeping" roles to some students

Tweak: Assign academic or cognitive roles to everyone.

Jobs like "materials manager" or "time keeper" might be necessary to support groups in their journey to successful learning, but students should not have the sole role of making sure everyone has a ruler and a pencil. Every learner should be assigned a cognitive role that contributes to the learning of the group and each individual in it. Then, if you want to assign housekeeping tasks, they are add-ons to the academic roles. So for example, your summarizer might also be responsible for returning supplies at the end of the lesson.

Supporting Learning

Facilitating effective group tasks is no easy feat. It requires careful thought and intentional planning. When you have gone through the time and effort to coordinate a quality collaborative learning task, resist the natural tendency to slip into a teacher-directed mode every time a student seeks your help.

Common Approach #10: Chasing hands
Tweak: Provide tools and resources in advance so your help isn't needed.
During collaborative learning, the goal is for students to learn from and with one another - not you. Students already know you're the safety net. Ideally, we provide other options - such as appropriate tools, access to a text, sufficient or additional time, and opportunity to collaborate - that help them persevere through productive struggle before asking you for help. So for goodness sake, don't front load an invitation to seek you out at the first sign of difficulty by announcing, "If you need help, just raise your hand and I'll come over." Just think for a moment what this communicates and encourages.

Common Approach #11: Allowing individuals to ask the teacher questions
Tweak: Require students to access all resources, including other group members, before asking you.
When groups are truly working together, they tap into each other's expertise, knowledge, and thoughts. If an individual partner or group member has a question, do some investigation to make sure the other group members have been included in problem-solving before you were sought out. A simple question such as, "What have you tried so far?" will initiate conversation about potential options and could lead to an "aha" moment without your help.

Common Approach #12: Reteaching rather than systematically scaffolding
Tweak: Use prompting strategies to help learners help themselves.
During lessons, teachers are constantly checking for understanding through structured or casual formative assessments. When a red flag comes up indicating that learners have misconceptions, are struggling, or simply haven't met the target, it's natural to have an urge to support them. Rather than revisit a lesson to reinforce a concept or skill, trigger problem-solving by giving metacognitive prompts. Before repeating the key points of a lesson, try asking questions like What strategy might work?, Where have you seen a similar problem?, or How are you going to tackle this? These types of questions trigger students to think about the knowledge they already have, then apply it. When you jump to reteaching, you skip the opportunity for students to lead their own success.

Teacher's Primary Role

A collaborative learning structure positions students in the center of their learning. By design, the intent is for the teacher to take a passive role, seemingly invisible. It's often our nature to uncloak too soon and flip the lesson to be more teacher-centered during small chunks of time without even realizing it.

Common Approach #13: Spending your time answering questions and helping during group work
Tweak: Observe and gather anecdotal data while students are working.
Your primary role is to listen and watch as students build their learning. This is sometimes a mindshift that is hard to make and even more challenging to maintain. Carry a clipboard or tablet to document what students are grasping, what is challenging, and who has provided evidence of learning. Not only will your noticings be valuable assessment data, but you will be more aware of when you are pulled away from your task to assist students in doing theirs.

Common Approach #14: "Checking" in with groups
Tweak: Do not interrupt.
The gradual release of responsibility (GRR) is often referred to by its "I do, We Do, You Do" parts. Every time you approach a group and ask them how it's going, you effectively jolt them from the "You Do" part into the "We Do" phase of GRR. Unless you have a need to abruptly stop their learning progress and have them repeat what they've already done or learned, don't. Stay invisible by listening from a short distance to hear and observe how students are doing rather than interrupting them.

Learning Tasks

Learning targets, learning intentions, lesson objectives, or whatever you label as the purpose for the lesson, are almost always linked to content expectations. They communicate what students should know and be able to do in math, music, writing, and so on. When students have clarity on the learning target, it is much easier for them to work toward that goal. When teachers hold that level of clarity, instructional decisions during the lesson are intentional and therefore, more successful.

Common Approach #15: Grading a single project or assignment for all group members
Tweak: Learn collaboratively and assess individually.
I have been involved in countless conversations about group grading practices during collaborative learning. The research that supports collaborative learning applies to individual learners, not the group as a whole. The act of engaging with other learners while you're learning not only deepens the learning, but makes it more likely for students to remember it. However, group grades do not reflect how each student stacks up against the target. Activities that involve groups working together should be followed by individual assessment to gather accurate data about what each student took away from their group learning task.

Common Approach #16: Grouping students for simple tasks
Tweak: Design group work for complex tasks that require multiple thinkers.
Just because there is evidence that group work and student collaboration supports learning, doesn't mean it's always the best fit for every lesson and learning task. When a planned activity is simple and students are capable of completing it independently, you run the risk they will devalue working with their peers, regardless of the task, because they believe they don't need their peers. Select a collaborative structure when a variety of thoughts and ideas will benefit each individual's learning. Remember, group or partner work is more than just sharing the load to complete a task. Collaboration should offer a perspective or experience that single students would not have without their classmates.

Common Approach #17: Basing feedback solely on content
Tweak: Notice and assess speaking and listening skills.
Soft skills like problem solving, respectful listening, patience, articulating thinking, and many more are qualities educators and families expect students to exhibit. But too often, we don't necessarily give these skills attention unless they're exceptional or lacking. Instead of isolating your feedback solely on what students learn within your content area, pick a speaking and listening skill and include comments about how it is helping or hindering their group's effectiveness.

If you recognize one of these common approaches to group work in your own teaching style, give it a tweak and pay attention to the impact your subtle change makes on the effectiveness of group work.

Hacking Group Work is available on Amazon and Bookshop.org.

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17 Tweaks That Make a Big Difference in Group Work

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Cooperative learning can be a powerful learning strategy, but only if it works well. These small changes can make group work more effective in your classroom.

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From “Silent 20” to imaginary marshmallows, these teacher-tested strategies for all grade levels can help you snap an unruly classroom back to attention.

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Improving Your Teaching Practice Through Systematic Reflection

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Find time to reflect on your teaching practice year-round with these quick but powerful strategies, designed to drive improvement.

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New teachers-and experienced ones too-can find ideas here on how to stop disruptive behavior before it begins.

In the 1950s, psychologists Jacob Kounin and Paul Gump discovered a curious side effect of discipline: If a student was being disruptive and the teacher responded with strict disciplinary measures, the student might stop-but other students would start exhibiting the same misbehavior. Kounin and Gump called this the " ripple effect," and it demonstrated that efforts to control a classroom can backfire.

"The teacher who is interested in controlling ripple effects can generally do so best by giving clear instructions to the child rather than by exerting pressure on him," Kounin and Gump wrote.

Decades later, classroom management is still a thorny issue for teachers. Nearly half of new teachers report that they feel "not at all prepared" or "only somewhat prepared" to handle disruptive students, in part because the average teacher training program devotes just eight hours to the topic, according to a 2014 report from the National Council on Teacher Quality. This lack of training comes with a cost, as teachers report losing 144 minutes of instructional time on average to behavioral disruptions every week, which comes out to roughly three weeks over the course of a year.

Recent research confirms what Kounin and Gump discovered decades ago. A 2016 study found that while negative attention-reprimands like "Stop chitchatting!"-may temporarily stop misbehavior, students eventually became more likely to engage in disruptive behavior. Students in the study felt disengaged, had difficulty concentrating, and weren't able to effectively regulate their thoughts and emotions-a vicious cycle that "actually amplifies students' inappropriate behavior," the study authors explain.

8 Proactive Classroom Management Strategies

Instead of handling disruptions after they've happened, it can be more effective to set up conditions in which they are less likely to occur. Here are eight classroom strategies that teachers have shared with Edutopia, all backed by research.

1. Greet students at the door: At Van Ness Elementary School in Washington, DC, Falon Turner starts the day by giving each of her students a high-five, handshake, or hug. "During that time, I'm just trying to connect with them.... It's kind of like a pulse check to see where they are," she says.

In a study published last year, greeting students at the door helped teachers set a positive tone for the rest of the day, boosting academic engagement by 20 percentage points while reducing disruptive behavior by 9 percentage points-adding roughly an hour of engagement over the course of the school day.

For older students, give plenty of warning if you need them to follow instructions. Reminders and cues are helpful ways to encourage students to follow instructions without being overtly controlling or forceful. For example, if you can anticipate a disruption-such as students getting out of their seats if they finish an assignment early-give a short reminder of what they should do instead.

Reminders are commonly verbal, but can also be visual (flicking the lights to signal that it's time to be quiet), auditory (ringing a small bell to let students know they should pay attention to the teacher), or physical (using a hand signal to let students know to get back in their seats).
Courtesy of Emily Polak
But that doesn't mean choice is always bad. Giving students a sense of ownership in the room, paired with clear expectations for behavior, can have surprisingly positive effects. A welcoming space can reduce anxiety and boost academic performance. Emily Polak, a ninth-grade teacher in Madison, Alabama, gave her room a cozier feel by adding a couch, a loveseat, rugs, a coffee table, and posters. Her students decide where to sit-but if they can't get their work done, they get moved back to a desk. "Discipline issues have significantly decreased. My students seem to feel more relaxed and more motivated in a setting that honors their choices," Polak says.

It's also helpful to avoid using the word don't, suggests Alyssa Nucaro, a sixth-grade English teacher in Memphis. Students are more likely to listen to instructions that include clear reasons.

6. Set clear expectations: Instead of just displaying rules for behavior, have a discussion with your students about why those rules matter. Bobby Shaddox, a seventh-grade social studies teacher in Portland, Maine, works with his students to create a list of norms-words such as inclusive, focused, and considerate -to build a sense of community. "It helps us own the behavior in the classroom," Shaddox says. "Instead of a top-down list of rules that a teacher gives a class, these are words that we generated together. These are words that we believe in."

A 2017 study found that a teacher's nonverbal cues-such as smiling and making eye contact-can "reduce physical and/or psychological distance" with their students, boosting students' positive feelings toward the teacher and the course material while improving behavior.

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New teachers-and experienced ones too-can find ideas here on how to stop disruptive behavior before it begins.

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CHALLENGE: Students are less focused and engaged in the classroom.

Teachers, leaders, families, and policymakers have noted with alarm that student engagement has plummeted since schools returned to in-person learning. Many educators perceive that students' attention is constantly diverted by digital distractions, making sustained focus nearly impossible. In fact, a recent poll of 1,400 teachers across grades 4-12 found that 80 percent expressed concerns about students' engagement with classroom learning (Gradient Learning, 2023).

But we know schooling wasn't perfect in 2019; the pandemic and its consequences have highlighted problems that were hiding in plain sight. As practicing K-12 educators who've long written about various aspects of engagement, we believe a significant problem in discussing student engagement lies in how it's measured. Too often, measuring behavioral engagement, like physical signals of attentiveness, compliance in task completion, and the number of clicks on a digital learning platform, takes precedence. Cognitive engagement is routinely overlooked.

Real engagement isn't just engagement of students (signs of attentiveness and fulfilling requirements); it's also engagement by students, evidence that they are interacting with what they learn. Measuring "engagement by" means asking things like, How often do students pose questions about the content (not just task clarification)? Or make connections between ideas and concepts during discussions? Or act upon teacher feedback? Drawing on our experiences as educators and a book two of us coauthored on student engagement (Reeves, Fisher, & Frey, 2023), we offer four C's behind teaching practice that fosters engagement by students, and ways to put these four C's into practice.

1. Connections: Build the Foundation

Students thrive in classrooms filled with positive human connections. Healthy teacher-student relationships have strong potential to accelerate student learning (Hattie, 2023). But it's the student who gauges the quality of the relationship, so their perception matters. Students also feel connected to the learning itself when they perceive it as meaningful. Again, perception is key. We know why the content we're teaching is important, but do students? Two strategies can aid each kind of connection.

We know why the content we're teaching is important, but do students?

First, "campaign" for relationships. Fostering real teacher-student relationships, like most worthwhile efforts, requires frequency, duration, and intensity. So, identify a hard-to-reach student in your class and seek to establish (or rebuild) a relationship with them. Every day, for 10 days in a row, engage in a two-minute conversation with that student-in the hallway, during lunch, or in the bus line. Follow one rule: don't talk about school (Wlodkowski, 1983). Find out about their interests and let them learn a bit about you. Then identify the next student in need of connection and repeat the cycle. Doing this strategically throughout the year helps you continually reinvest in relationships.

The second strategy is baking in relevance. Relevance in learning can play a key role in student engagement-but relevance is mediated by the student's perception of the curriculum's value. At the lowest end of the scale of relevance posited by Stacy Priniski and her colleagues (2018) is personal association. For instance, a science teacher providing instruction about oceans may ask who has been to a beach before. While well-intentioned, the effect is short-lived. Personal usefulness is more sustained; the student sees how they can use what is being taught. That same science teacher might demonstrate how concepts about ocean temperature and wind speed will be used as variables in an upcoming lab experiment on hurricanes. At the highest level of Priniski's continuum is personal identification, in which learners link content to building their present and future identities. Sharing information on the high demand for data scientists and meteorologists could help students connect this content to possible future career identities.

Make relevance an intentional part of your daily practice by telling students why their learning is important. Why are we learning about word spacing in writing? Spaces help our readers read what we've written. Why are we learning about the product property of exponents? Mathematicians use this as a tool to make very large calculations simpler. When possible, link relevance to students' personal interests. Taylor, you're a skateboarder. Check out how lift and thrust make it possible for you to do those big ollies.

2. Conditions: Cultivate a High-Expectations Atmosphere

Students are incredibly sensitive to the expectations of their teacher. In one study, two groups of students in grades 2-7 who had similar levels of reading achievement at the beginning of the year showed markedly different achievement at the year's end (Rubie-Davies et al., 2020). The variable was the teacher's expectations: Students with teachers who overestimated their ability outperformed those whose teachers underestimated their ability.

High-expectations teachers set challenging learning intentions and success criteria, develop academic goals with their students, and rely on heterogeneous grouping. In contrast, low-expectations teachers ask more close-ended, low-level questions, group by ability, spend more time repeating directions, and reserve praise for correct answers (Rubie-Davies et al., 2015). To support high expectations, it's key to pair challenging learning goals with regular feedback so students can monitor their learning. Especially at the beginning of teaching content, assess formatively, using the learning intentions and success criteria in each lesson. Provide students with frequent opportunities to gauge their progress.

Research on teacher expectations reveals that even when low-expectations teachers try to differentiate lessons according to students' learning profiles, they ignore a central principle of differentiation: that the learning students ultimately achieve should remain constant while the paths to get there vary (Tomlinson, 2017). We telegraph low expectations when we accept a lower standard of work from a student in a misguided attempt to be kind. Instead, if a student struggles with the learning intention, scaffold and support their learning. Using heterogeneous groups-with academic diversity in each group-is one way to provide support, especially if a teacher designs group tasks such that collaboration is essential for success success. For instance, a math teacher we work with hosts a 15-minute Mastery Monday each week. Each learning group selects one math problem from last week's challenge set that gave at least some kids in that group difficulty, and the group makes another attempt to solve it together.

A warm classroom climate also supports high-expectations teaching by giving students an emotionally safe space to learn. Pair student feedback with high expectations and warmth: I'm giving you this feedback because I have high expectations for you and I know you can reach them. Use digital voice feedback extensions like Mote so students can hear your supportive tone of voice, not just read your words. And deliberately foster an emotionally supportive peer climate. Students must understand that help-seeking is an essential dimension of learning at high levels. Teachers can create posters with sentence frames for offering and accepting help or create a "help wanted" area in the classroom in which students can post requests. Peers can be taught phrases to say to each other as emotional scaffolds (such as "We can do hard things. Let's keep going") and students can be encouraged to ask themselves: Have I offered help today-and accepted help? Have I asked for help today? Have I politely declined help because I wanted to keep trying?

3. Challenge: Choose Policies that Encourage Persistence

The failure in how educators talk about failure is that while we claim it's essential for learning, grading policies tell students otherwise (Reeves et al., 2023). Teachers tell students a growth mindset is important, but then grade them on every attempt to learn. Students sometimes find themselves so far behind that within a matter of weeks, they realize they can't overcome the point deficit no matter what. Engagement plummets: the hoodie goes up and the head goes down.

Grades are often perceived as a mechanism for motivating disengaged students-but they rarely are. The field knows a lot about what does motivate kids to challenge themselves, including:

Feeling competent at what one is doing.

Understanding the significance of what one is learning.

Receiving actionable feedback about next steps in learning.

Having opportunities to make decisions (Reeves et al., 2023).

Two overall practices help educators revise their grading policies to maximize these research-proven motivators. First, separate product and process. Grades should be used to report academic progress compared to the standards being taught. But in many cases, a single number or letter is used to also convey a stew of non achievement factors, including behavior, attendance, and effort. This practice demotivates many learners.

The solution: Separately grade product criteria (which capture students' academic performance toward goals and reflect how they demonstrated learning) and process criteria (which reflect non achievement data that impact learning, like citizenship, peer relationships, and persistence). A more nuanced grading system makes it possible to report, for instance, that a skilled learner has problematic habits when it comes to collaborating with others-or to acknowledge a student who is not yet achieving at expected levels for his resilience (Guskey, 2020).

Another way to make grading serve motivation is to reconsider what goes in the gradebook. Practice work throughout the unit, such as in-class assignments and homework, should be collected and returned with feedback. However, this is practice, not the game; performance on it shouldn't contribute to the overall points earned. Reserve points for end-of-unit assessments of learning. We've successfully used such competency-based grading practices for 15 years at the school where we work. We also allow students who don't initially earn a passing score to retake another version of the exam after they've completed the unit's homework and attended tutorials (which cultivates persistence, resilience, and help-seeking). Students' motivation is reset because they've received actionable feedback, made a choice about whether to get help, and (hopefully) feel competent.

4. Control: Give It to Students!

Where does control of learning truly reside? Here's the news: it's not with us. Educators can create conditions and use evidence-based teaching practices, but it's the student who's in the driver's seat when it comes to learning. This doesn't mean we should fall back to the "I taught them, but they didn't learn" excuse; it means we should intentionally change instructional practices so that students drive their own learning.

Educators can create conditions and use evidence-based teaching practices, but it's the student who's in the driver's seat when it comes to learning.

Sharing control involves teaching self-regulation. When students have habituated to an external locus of control, they look to us for what to do next; this reduces the teacher to a supervisor of tasks. Strengthening students' internal locus of control requires boosting their self-regulation skills, especially their ability to do six things:

Know their current level of understanding.

Know where they need to go next in learning.

Select tools to guide their learning.

Seek feedback and recognize errors as opportunities to learn.

Monitor their progress and adjust their learning.

Recognize their understanding and teach others (Fisher et al., 2023).

These learning skills accelerate achievement because they cultivate active learning-and give students confidence to take on challenges.

Talk with students individually about their results from initial assessments and learning intentions you've set, to help them understand where they are in their learning and where they are headed. Create more opportunities for students to exercise choice and decision making, and regularly schedule events through which students actively seek feedback. For instance, at a designated time each week, have students leave a piece of work on their desks for their peers to provide feedback. All members of the class rotate from one desk to the next, leaving signed sticky notes offering tips and advice.

A second strategy that helps students control their learning is empowering them to set their own goals. As students develop self-regulatory dispositions, they'll be better equipped to set goals and monitor progress toward them. In conferences, help students, especially disengaged students, formulate self-referenced, "personal best" goals. For example, reluctant readers aren't necessarily going to be motivated by a grade-level Lexile goal that seems too distant. Better to set incremental goals that let them gauge progress, not just mastery ( Your reading gains this last month went from a 240 Lexile to a 280! That's your personal best. What's next?) Equip learners with the means to monitor their own progress, such as tracking how many pages they have read or how many math problems they have completed.

Tuning Them in to Learning

Getting students tuned in to learning requires more than getting them to pay attention and fulfill schoolwork requirements. It means seeing to it that students are enthusiastically engaging with content and fellow learners. Let's set up conditions to encourage such active participation. By thinking beyond the "grades-as-rewards" box in terms of motivation and focusing on the four C's discussed here, we'll increase the odds that students will focus on their learning, no matter the distractions.

Reflect & Discuss

➛ Have you found your students were more easily distracted the last year or so than they were before most schools went all-remote? Why do you think that is?

➛ What steps could you take to help students see greater relevance in their learning? Or to create a "warm" classroom or school climate of high expectations?

Better Learning Through Structured Teaching

An instructional framework any teacher can use to help students to be more successful and self-directed learners.

What to Try When Students Can't Focus

His book acknowledges that getting students to focus can seem like the Holy Grail. Lang shares approaches-from research and his observations of many classrooms-for garnering that attention. Chapters explore five key aspects of learning that compel students' attention: Community (the "least distracted class" Lang observed was one where the teacher regularly drew out all voices and connected students); curiosity; assessment; structure; and novelty (artists of all kind use these last two). Including assessment may seem odd, but many kids do focus when tested. Lang explains how to "take advantage of the attitude-focusing power of graded assessment without the collateral damage grades can cause."

Just as teachers hope to do for students, Lang (director of the D'Amour Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption University in Massachusetts) hopes to draw educators' focus away from "distractions" toward engaging kids:

We've been sidetracked in recent years by assertive voices who lay the entire blame for our distractible natures at the feet of our laptops and phones ... [but] teachers have always wrestled with capturing and sustaining students' attention. We need to turn our heads away from distraction and toward attention. Our challenge is not to wall off distractions, [but] to cultivate attention and help students use it in service of meaningful learning.

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To increase student engagement, think of engage as an active verb-and students as the ones doing the actions.

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To spur agency and critical thinking, educators can take steps to position students as knowledge builders rather than just consumers.

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Teaching Students to Talk Across Political Difference

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Teaching Students to Talk Across Political Difference

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Teaching Students to Talk Across Political Difference

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By deepening students’ discussion skills, schools can play a key role in bridging communication divides in our society.

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9 Ways to Help Middle Schoolers with Executive Functioning 

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9 Ways to Help Middle Schoolers with Executive Functioning 

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This post discusses the importance of focusing on developing executive function in middle school students.
As a high school learning skills teacher and mom of a middle schooler, I essentially work 24/7 on helping students with their executive functioning. Daily, I try to empower students to be independent learners and owners of their daily lives.

This, of course, comes with weekly mistakes, but it's important to remember that mistakes are both normal and vital to growth.
Note: you may also like to read our three-part series on executive functioning in teens. Go here to see the first article: What Are Executive Function Skills and Why Do Teens Struggle With Them?
What is executive functioning and why is it important to middle school students?

What exactly is executive functioning, though? As Rachel Ehmke from The Child Mind Institute says, "Executive functions are the essential self-regulating skills that we all use every day to plan, organize, make decisions, and learn from past mistakes. Kids rely on their executive functions for everything from taking a shower to packing a backpack or doing a book report."

So, if you're a parent of a middle schooler, you know there is so much growth that occurs during this time.

But staying patient with your middle schooler during these enormous developmental years isn't easy. Just last month, my son came home after school stating that he left his lunch box at school. Then, about twenty minutes later, we were midway to his soccer practice when he announced that he forgot his cleats.

Let's just say I took many deep breaths (so many deep breaths). At the end of the day, he wasn't late for practice, and he was able to get his lunch box the next day (which he remembered). Growth, right?

Kids aren't born with executive functioning skills, but neuroscience research has shown us that the human brain is moldable 一 especially for children and teens. Our brains can be rewired and transformed to develop certain skills with practice and repetition-a concept that's referred to as neuroplasticity.

Students will have a lot of opportunities to develop executive function in middle school. In a perfect world, your adolescent will have these skilled modeled at home and the classroom, but where should parents start?
You may also want to read: Signs Your Teen May Be Suffering from a Lack of Executive Functioning Skills
9 ways parents of middle schoolers can help develop executive function skills.

There's a lot going on in that developing adolescent brain during middle school. It can all be very distracting and overwhelming. Plus, all of a sudden, their independence and responsibilities quadruple.

Their executive functioning skills will inevitably lapse at times. Luckily, there's a lot we can do as parents to guide them through this transitional period in addition to the activities many teachers do in the classroom.

1. Applaud Growth

Try to praise when you see growth. Just like when we were in middle school, it's easy for adults to pinpoint all of the negative behaviors we're doing, so it's vital to applaud our tweens when we see them do even the little things right-like simply remembering their lunch box. Look for other opportunities to acknowledge what your child is doing right to affirm executive function in middle school development, such as getting up on their own, getting their backpack organized, or remembering to do their chores without being asked.

2. Self-Advocacy

Teaching our middle schoolers how to advocate and communicate is crucial for success. So, if let's say, Grandma is in the hospital and your child needs more time to finish their essay for English, encourage them to communicate that information with their teacher. Trust me, their teacher will appreciate it, and it will be a skill they'll need in college and beyond. ( You may also like to read: Five Simple Ways to Teach Your Teen How to Self-Advocate)

3. Pause

Slowing down is imperative when learning to have strong executive functioning. Since our soccer practice blunder, I now ask my son to simply pause and go over his mental checklist of everything he needs before we head out the door. The brain of an early adolescent is going at roller coaster speed, so pausing is a must so they have time to compose themselves and focus.

4. Write it Down

Okay, I will give you some words of wisdom here-never say the word "planner" to your tween or teen. I mean it. They will scoff, eye roll, and give you a giant mouthful of "That's so dumb."

Instead, model your own use of checklists for organization. From here, you can ask them just to get out some paper to write down what they need to do and remember for the week. Maybe, just maybe, they'll actually use an actual planner or other organizational tool on their own.

Big picture: they need to be the ones coming up with how they will write tasks down. ( Also read: 5 Amazing Organizational Apps for Teens)

5. Prioritize

Sometimes homework and other activities start piling up in middle school, so students need to start prioritizing what do first-including their social life. This is where firm boundaries come in on your part.

In our home, for example, it's a hard no to Fortnite before homework rule. We don't just throw down the rules, though; we have a discussion with our middle schooler about what they think they should prioritize. Developing executive function in middle school can often be about guiding them instead of mandating. ( Also read: The One Phrase You Need to Help Your Child Succeed in Middle School)

Once you help your middle schooler prioritize, time management gets much easier. But one way you can help them even more is by teaching them to set alarms and reminders for simple things like waking up or reminders to start practicing their violin. Another easy tool is to put everyone's schedule on a large family calendar where everyone can see. Visuals help those of all ages, especially middle schoolers.

7. Habits and Routines

Let's get back to the much-hated planner (their words, not mine). One reason students despise the planner is because they claim they don't need it due to their online gradebook. Almost all schools and teachers update their assignments daily, so to students, this serves as their reminder to complete tasks. Therefore, getting middle schoolers to get into the habit of checking their online gradebook is just one way to build a healthy habit. They can also get into the routine of when and where they're going to do their homework, practice their instrument, or anything else they need to fit in.

8. Chunking

In middle school, students start getting longer assignments and projects. For example, they may have an extensive research paper to do. Typically, the teacher will help with chunking these types of longer projects, but it's also helpful to check in with your middle schooler as well. You can casually ask them what their topic is or if you could read their rough draft. It helps you stay connected with your child's education while also getting them to see how getting many small tasks done gets them to complete the whole task in the long run.

9. Let Them Try It Their Way

This one can feel tricky as parents, but it's super important that we give middle schoolers agency.

Right now, my son is experimenting with his executive functioning. He's practicing how to remember what he needs for the day, where to do his homework, how to set reminders, and much more. So, as his parent, I'm learning when to shut my mouth (like when he listens to music during homework) and when to suggest a new way to tackle that skill (like using checklists instead of winging it). It's a tough tango, but practice helps.

Parenting teens and tweens is hard, but you don't have to do it alone. These posts may help:
A Teen's Messy Bedroom Doesn't Mean You Are Failing as a Parent How Guided Meditation Helped Me Grow Closer to My Energetic Tween Son Are You Tired of Your Teen Procrastinating? Here are 4 Ways To Help Five Awesome Reasons to Love the Middle School Years

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9 Ways Parents Can Help Their Child Build Executive Function in Middle School

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Enhance your child's executive function in middle school through 9 effective strategies you can do at home.

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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Imagine trying to learn a classroom lesson when you don't understand the language in which it is being presented. Teaching English language learners requires specialized strategies; and at the most basic level, one of those strategies is to "put yourself in their shoes."

More than 5 million children in U.S. schools are classified as English language learners (ELLs), according to the Department of Education. These students face the dual challenge of learning the material while also learning the language, as their teachers face the added challenge of using the right educational strategies to help them succeed.

Some of the most effective English language learner strategies start with common sense and respect for cultural differences. Simply getting to know the students is considered to be an essential part of the process.

For educators who teach English language learners, developing a deeper understanding of their unique needs and the best practices for teaching them has many benefits. These include:

Better and easier lesson planning

Improved ability to monitor student goals and achievements

The satisfaction of making a difference in the lives of young people learning to communicate in what can be a pretty confusing language

Here, we will review a range of time-tested English language teaching strategies that benefit students and educators alike.

How Can ELL Strategies Help Me as an Educator?

In addition to achieving better learning outcomes for students, embracing best practices and strategies for working with English language learners offers some fundamental, organizational benefits for educators as well.

For example, when you have a well-thought-out plan for engaging and teaching your ELLs, you are able to more effectively manage your lesson planning and monitor the progress of your students. You will also waste less time on strategies that don't work for your students.

Ultimately, an organized and focused approach to teaching non-native speakers is also the most effective way to create a solid foundation for them to become autonomous learners in English.

What About Using 'Scaffolding' for English Language Learners?

Scaffolding can mean a number of things when it comes to language development. First, it can refer to allowing students to continue limited use of their first language while learning English. Though the point is to train students to become independently proficient readers, writers and speakers of English, allowing native speech can help students figure things out, rather than go silent if they don't understand or know an answer.

According to CollaborativeClassroom.org, "A scaffold is a temporary framework that is put up for support and access to meaning and is taken away when the student feels success and masters tasks, concepts, and, in this case, language acquisition."

The use of sentence frames - partial sentences that include blank spaces where students fill in missing words or information - is another example of scaffolding-type techniques that can help students learn language. In a broader context, scaffolding refers to giving students the support, context and tools they need to learn new materials, ideas or skills.

11 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners
1. Cultivate relationships
This one is a "no-brainer" no matter what language you speak. As a teacher, getting to know each student helps you understand who they are, where they come from and, perhaps, gain some insight into what teaching and learning styles are most effective for them.

For the students, knowing that your teacher cares enough to make the effort to get to know you as a person can have a motivating effect. It contributes to an atmosphere in which each student feels known and appreciated, and is therefore more likely to fully open themselves to the learning process rather than succumb to feelings of reticence or shyness that can often accompany a lack of language skills.
2. Be culturally aware
Since many English language learners come from outside the U.S., part of creating the ideal learning atmosphere may include cultivating an appreciation of diversity. Developing an awareness of each student's background, religious and cultural practices may also provide insights that affect how you interact with a particular student (for example, if they come from a cultural tradition where eye contact with adults is viewed as disrespectful).

At a very basic level, engaging in discussions about the different cultural backgrounds of students helps everyone get to know each other and reinforces the idea that different cultures include many similarities and differences - an important concept when some students are in the process of acquiring a new culture and language. Some educational advocates also suggest home visits as an effective "extracurricular" way for educators to invest in building rapport.
3. Teach language skills across all curriculum topics
In many cases, your English language learners may also be receiving specific English as a Second Language instruction from an ESL specialist. However, it is helpful for teachers of all curriculum topics in mainstream classrooms to understand and embrace the role of language teacher as well.
4. Speak slowly and be patient
You have a lot of material to cover, but there is no need to rush. In fact, teachers of ELLs are encouraged to consciously slow things down. This can mean:

Speaking in a slower, measured cadence

Being a bit more aware of your enunciation

Allowing extra time (an additional 3 to 5+ seconds) for students to respond

The extra seconds give all students a little extra time to think and formulate a response. "Researchers have found that typically most teachers give 1 to 2 seconds between asking a question and expecting a student response," Larry Ferlazzo, a teacher, education blogger and co-author of "The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide," told Edutopia. "The same researchers have shown that if you wait 3 to 5 seconds, the quality of responses is astronomically greater."
5. Prioritize "productive language"
Speaking and writing are sometimes characterized as "productive language" because they both literally require students to "produce" language output, in contrast with reading and listening, which are described as "receptive" skills.

Teachers who are not language specialists may not be aware that English language learners are likely to develop those receptive skills first. It is important to emphasize the fact that evidence that students are reading, listening or understanding does not necessarily equate to progress in expressing themselves through fluency in speaking or writing.
6. Use a variety of methods to engage learning
The idea here is to provide students with multiple options for taking in information, processing and making sense of ideas, and sharing what they are learning. This is often referred to as "differentiated instruction" - an educational practice that involves recognizing that "students each have their own unique gifts and challenges; interests, aptitudes and learning styles" and tailoring instruction to meet students' individual needs.

According to Edutopia, "All kids learn better when they engage with material in multiple ways: Lessons that involve writing, speaking, drawing and listening, for example, give students four opportunities to deepen their understanding of the work. For ELLs, those additional engagements also provide a little breathing room so they can work through the language barrier."
7. Utilize visual aids
The strategy of using visual aids also connects to the idea of differentiated instruction, which is considered central to teaching English language learners. In this case, it is understood that some students are "visual learners" whose ability to digest and process new concepts and material is enhanced by the use of pictures, diagrams, charts and other visual tools.

The belief is that combining "nonlinguistic representation" along with the linguistic component of each lesson benefits all students and not just English language learners - the operative strategy here is to "show" as well as "tell." In addition to pictures, diagrams, etc., teachers are encouraged to write everything on the board so students can see as well as hear the information.
8. Coordinate with the ESL teacher
Since ELLs are often receiving specific English as a Second Language instruction from an ESL specialist, it can be very helpful to check in with their ESL instructors. Doing so can help the educators involved develop a fuller understanding of how regular classroom work can support ESL instruction, and vice versa.

Such discussions can yield insights into individual students and their learning styles or challenges; they can also be helpful for sharing information about curriculum topics, potentially providing ESL teachers with ideas for highly relevant vocabulary words that can reinforce academic lessons.
9. Pre-teach new vocabulary words
When you have a challenging reading assignment coming up, some experts encourage you to preview or "pre-teach" new vocabulary words that may be unfamiliar to ELLs, or even to give them a copy of the article or link to the material ahead of time.
10. Build in some group work
Instructor-led, whole-class activities may make up most of your class period but it can also be very helpful to build in time for group work as well. This is because it affords additional opportunities for ELLs to practice their language skills with peers in a less formal, lower-risk setting.
11. Respect moments of silence
Many new language learners tend to be a little reticent and quiet, opting for silence over speaking up and saying something "wrong" in a language that is still unfamiliar. Therefore, teachers are encouraged to be mindful of this and not be too aggressive in forcing students to open up at the outset. Ongoing support and patience is preferable to pressure, since such initial silence is considered to be a normal stage in learning a second language.

Academic Support for Teaching English Language Learners

Teachers whose work involves supporting the language development of non-native speakers also have the opportunity to take courses that are focused on skills, techniques and best practices for teaching English language learners.

For example, the University of San Diego offers an online course titled "Teaching Strategies for ELLs" that is ideal for K-12 teachers. Participants earn 2 graduate-level extension credit units while focusing on:

Ways to integrate language acquisition and academic content learning

Assessment approaches that measure student achievement within a linguistically diverse classroom

Research-based strategies for differentiating instruction to promote student learning

To learn more about the curriculum, expected learner outcomes and cost, contact us today or review the "Teaching Strategies for ELLs" course page.

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University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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11 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners [For Any Teacher] - University of San Diego - Professional & Continuing Education

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11 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners [For Any Teacher]. Advance your career with professional and continuing education from the University of San Diego.

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Instructional Strategies for ELL Learners

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Instructional Strategies for ELL Learners

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Supporting Middle School English Language Learners Through Morphology Instruction

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Teaching multilingual students about Greek and Latin roots in words can help them systematically build their knowledge of English.

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."
@YoukiTerada via @edutopia
https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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A collection of evidence-backed tips to help students cross the bridge from confusion to clarity.

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."
@YoukiTerada via @edutopia
https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."@YoukiTerada via @edutopia https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd
— Cult of Pedagogy (@cultofpedagogy) March 28, 2024

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."
@YoukiTerada via @edutopia
https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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A collection of evidence-backed tips to help students cross the bridge from confusion to clarity.

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."
@YoukiTerada via @edutopia
https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd

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"Here are six essential scaffolding activities, all drawn from research, that can be used alongside your lessons to help all students succeed."
@YoukiTerada via @edutopia
https://t.co/h8ghbIgdWd

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6 Foundational Ways to Scaffold Student Learning

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A collection of evidence-backed tips to help students cross the bridge from confusion to clarity.

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Brain Blasts Hook 'Em Lesson Starters.JPG

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You can only get so far talking TO your students, right? When the conversation only flows in one direction, you miss out on a valuable opportunity to really dive deep into a topic. That's why I feel it is really important to teach students how to have a meaningful and valuable conversation with you, the teacher, as well as with their peers.

This is called "accountable talk."
Before I go on, let's make sure we are all on the same page.
Accountable talk to me is an intentional open-ended conversation where participants listen, add on to each other's comments, and use clarifying questions to make sure they are understanding what others are saying. When students participate in accountable talk, they can have richer and deeper conversations that go beyond surface-level thinking.

Accountable talk is especially powerful in settings like literature circles and other small group activities where you want students to take an active role in their learning.

It forces students to really focus in on what other students are saying. In order for students to participate in accountable talk conversations, listening is a must!

You May Also Like to Read: USING LITERATURE CIRCLES IN THE UPPER ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

It gives students an opportunity to participate in healthy debating. In accountable talk, students are encouraged to challenge and even disagree (respectfully, of course) with what their peers are saying. In return, students learn to back up their opinions and ideas with facts and details.

It helps develop public speaking skills. It's easy for students to respond to others with "yes," "no," or another short response - or even say nothing at all! But with accountable talk, students practice and learn the skills it takes to have a real conversation that flows two ways.

It supports reluctant talkers. We all know those students who just blend in to the conversation, not adding anything of real value to the group's discussion. Accountable talk prompts (as you'll read about in a minute) provide a scaffold for students who may not know how to effectively engage in a conversation.

It promotes higher-level thinking. In accountable talk you're not just having conversations that have one answer or one point of view. Instead, you're inviting students to think critically about what their peers are saying and respond in meaningful ways.

Just like everything else we teach in our classrooms, students have to be explicitly taught how to have these conversations. We must provide them with a TON of modeling and practice.

One way to introduce the concept of accountable talk is to model for students different types of phrases that they can use to promote accountable talk. These may seem a bit scripted, but it provides the necessary supports for students who are just learning how to have these conversations. Phrases like...

These all help the students to create and maintain a conversation that is open-ended with opportunities for other students to jump in and add their own two cents to the conversation. I have found that it helps to break accountable talk into three groups of phrases and comments to help students really master the art of accountable talk. These categories are:

To begin teaching your students to use this type of conversation, try using accountable talk in a whole-group setting. Display for students the different types of phrases that they can use to keep the conversation engaging.

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Teaching Your Students to Use Accountable Talk - THE CLASSROOM NOOK

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You can only get so far talking TO your students, right? When the conversation only flows in one direction, you miss out on a valuable opportunity to really dive deep into a topic. That's why I feel it is really important to teach students how to have a meaningful and valuable conversation with you, the teacher, as well as with their peers.

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9 Questions to Ask When Planning and Reflecting

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9 Questions to Ask When Planning and Reflecting

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Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒 
Relevant 🙌  
Universal 🌎 
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔
https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV

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Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒 
Relevant 🙌  
Universal 🌎 
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔
https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV

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Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒
Relevant 🙌
Universal 🌎
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV
— edutopia (@edutopia) July 3, 2023

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒 
Relevant 🙌  
Universal 🌎 
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔
https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒 
Relevant 🙌  
Universal 🌎 
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔
https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Meet the 9-question practice picker checklist! It helps teachers evaluate whether their lessons are:

Student centered 🧒 
Relevant 🙌  
Universal 🌎 
Likely to foster critical thinking 🤔
https://t.co/F8Ghe2oeBV

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Executive Functioning Activities: 50 Skill Builders for Kids of All Ages!

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A master list of a wide variety of executive functioning activities to improve skills for your children or students. 50 fun activities!

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5 Strategies to Improve Listening Skills

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5 Strategies to Improve Listening Skills

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Middle and high school students not listening is a common complaint, but listening is a skill like any other-it can be improved with practice.

It often ends with a sigh of relief. The feeling of knowing-they got it. You explained it, offered time to process, and asked for clarification-you know the cliché question "Does everyone understand?" As you peered into the crowd, youngsters nodded with assurance, giving you overall satisfaction. They definitely got it!

A minute later the question gets asked, "What do we need to do again?"

This behavior happens often in the classroom. Whether it be with understanding directions, comprehending a topic, or gaining insight into new content, sometimes students simply don't understand.

Listening is tough. And as teachers, we need to develop strategies that offer opportunities to listen with understanding.

The 2 Types of Listening

Passive listening can best be explained as hearing something without responding to it. In the classroom, this might look like students listening to music, texting during class, or watching an enticing YouTube video. This does not necessarily mean that students are not listening-they might be, although their full attention is not front and center. As a result, their ability to identify details might be diminished. Passive listening tends to result in confusion.

Active listening involves listening, reacting, and responding to another individual. It's a way of indicating that you understood what was said. Mostly, the signals that show you "understood" can come through gestures (nodding, thumbs up, facial expressions, etc.) or by verbal confirmation. While these active listeners might not immediately understand fully, they figure out ways to get to understanding.

Ultimately, the purpose of listening is to gain understanding. Not just for directions but for lectures, discussions, and activities. Listening to understand is a practice that takes commitment and focus; however, sometimes it's not always that simple. As teachers, we need to make sure that all students in the classroom have opportunities to display this practice.

Most likely your students don't come to school with the ability to effectively listen. We need to fill in listening skills just as we would fill academic gaps in learning.

5 Strategies to Try in Your Classroom

1. Three to Flee. (Best fit for presentations.) This strategy encourages active listening, participation, and opportunity for sharing insight.

Whether it be students or teachers presenting material, keep the audience on their toes. A powerful way to do this is by stopping every 5 minutes to ask for three takeaways, insights, or pieces of information about the material. If the presenter does not get three responses from the audience, they wait. In order to flee, or move on, the presenter needs three.

2. Bundles, Bullets, and Views. (Best fit for understanding directions.) Are you a paragraph (bundle), orderly (bullets), or visual (views) type of person?

Research suggests that when you write things down, you tend to remember them better. This thinking is similar to understanding directions. In the classroom, you might find that students struggle with following directions on assignments, projects, and activities. By providing students with three options-bundles, bullets, and views-you offer choice in how they best process directions, although it doesn't hurt to use all three.

This strategy is quite simple. When providing directions to a classroom full of listeners, allow them to engage in this strategy. They can write out the directions in paragraph form (bundle), list the directions in order (bullets), or draw a picture (view).

3. Scales and Signs. (Best fit for checking in.) A thumbs-up is a positive indicator. A 10 on a scale of 0-10 is fantastic. That's it-keep it concrete and straightforward. This strategy for understanding how and where students are in their level of understanding is efficient and effective. This may look like your students rating themselves on how well they understand a reading piece by pointing to a number. Or it might sound like students doing a quick round of "yay" or "nay" in reference to whether they grasped a math concept. Not only are they communicating that they get it, but also you are offering them an opportunity to self-measure and clarify their understanding.

4. What is it that you do not understand? (Best fit for general understanding.) It's all about the way you phrase it. If you ask students, "Do you understand?" most of the time you get nodding heads or crickets. Phrasing the question this way, "What is it that you do not understand?" encourages students to think and respond.

Another way you can phrase this question to the class is by asking, "What about this idea does not make sense?" The more students engage in clarifying questions, the more inclined they are to develop the habit of metacognition. Getting your students to think about their thoughts, knowledge, and feelings about a topic offers much more certainty for teachers than just receiving a nod.

5. The Interval Clock. (Best fit for group work.) Allow the clock to manage time for listening to one another. Begin by setting a timer for a specific amount of time you believe your students should talk and listen to one another's ideas about a specific assignment or topic.

In a history class, getting students to engage in this strategy might sound like this: "In your groups, you will have 5 minutes to discuss a historical figure that all of you believe would be worth researching. Listen intently to one another's ideas, thoughts, and suggestions. Be ready after 5 minutes of discussion to share your group's ideas with the class."

What were some ideas that your group came up with?

What is a suggestion that a group member made?

Can anyone summarize your group's conversation?

Here are some great questions you could ask to show that your students were listening:

If listening can improve productivity, avoid misunderstanding, and improve accuracy, why wouldn't we teach this skill? It would be rewarding to hear less of What do we need to do again? and more of I understand!

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5 Strategies to Improve Students' Listening Skills

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Middle and high school students not listening is a common complaint, but listening is a skill like any other-it can be improved with practice.

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Tips for Teaching Middle and High School ELLs

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Tips for Teaching Middle and High School ELLs

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What do educators of middle and high school English language learners (ELLs) need to know to support their students' success? Take a look at these strategies and recommendations for some ideas to help you get started.

For additional ideas, see the other articles in this series:

Educational experience

Middle and high school students who come to the United States as teenagers may have attended school in their native country. If so, educators can tap into their experience and skills. When teachers show students that they can use the skills they already possess, students gain valuable confidence.

At the same time, some students may have interrupted or limited schooling. These students also possess valuable personal experiences and perspectives that are an important resource in the classroom. Help students to make connections to content by tapping into their background knowledge and look for opportunities to make associations between things that students have experienced in their own lives, as well as ways to make your instruction more culturally responsive.

In addition, identify the skills that students with interrupted education need so you can explicitly teach the skills they need to access grade-level content. For many helpful tips on how to navigate these questions, see the following:

Using students' languages as a resource

Students' home languages are a valuable resource. Even if you don't speak those languages and are not working in a bilingual setting, there are way to tap into them to support instruction.

For example, ELL exeprt Dr. Diane August recommends a number of research-based strategies that draw upon the home language such as the following:

using bilingual glossaries

providing background information in students' home languages

peer work in students' home languages

explicit instruction in how to use cognates (words that are related across languages such as English and Spanish) or build on their own skills in their home language.

In addition, older students will be able to discuss similarities and differences in the their first language and English. For example, they will recognize similarities and differences in alphabet, cognates, or root words. For the more advanced learner, you can explore sentence structure: "In English, we build sentences using Subject-Verb-Object." Does your student's language follow the same sentence structure? Ask them and guide them to help reveal and compare. See more ideas in Students' Home Languages as a Resource.

ELL instruction

Lesson planning

There are many ways to make grade-level content more accessible to ELLs. As part of your planning, it's important to:

identify background knowledge needed to understand the lesson

connect content to students' experience

identify content and language objectives

identify key vocabulary and academic language needed for the lesson

scaffold and differentiate instruction

incorporate peer learning into your instruction.

Learn how to use these strategies in the following articles:

Literacy and language skills

One of the biggest differences between elementary ELLs and middle and high school ELLs is that everyone is learning literacy in the primary grades. By the time students reach middle and high school, they are expected to be literate. For ELLs who are not, they need explicit instruction in how language works in areas such as:

Phonics

Phonemic awareness

Word families

Vocabulary

Reading

Grammatical structures and their uses

In addition, students may need instruction in how to:

read and write sight words

form a complete sentence

develop a paragraph

access grade-level text in different content areas.

Collaboration between classroom teachers, ELL specialists, and reading specialists can make a big difference in supporting older students' literacy development since each colleague brings an important perspective. Consider asking administrators for more collaboration time and professional development to address these areas of instruction.

For additional ideas, see the following articles from Colorín Colorado:

Age-appropriate materials and strategies

Teaching basic language skills is essential, but it's important not to make students feel like they are doing elementary work. Beginning level materials geared for teenagers and adults can be difficult to come by; however, learning basic reading and writing skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics is essential to the development of comprehension. Give rationales for the teaching of such basic skills as well as the procurement of materials targeted to older students if needed.

Learn how to engage ELLs as readers through strategies such as frequent comprehension checks and higher level thinking activities.

Learn about pre-reading strategies that will lay the groundwork for ELLs to tackle new texts. Watch as these strategies are put into action to help ELLs learn "A Christmas Carol".

Writing instruction

It's also imperative to explicitly teach writing styles as well. It's okay to make writing formulaic because this gives students a handle on where to start. ELLs need to know the rules of the game.

Use rubrics for writing assessment so that students know ahead of time how they will be graded. Rubrics allow you to grade specific parts of an assignment: content, grammar and usage, presentation, spelling, mechanics, etc.

See how Michelle helps her high school ELL students turn their brainstorm into a paragraph.

Learn how Michelle guides her ELLs through the brainstorming process as they prepare to write a journal.

Video: Using sentence frames with ELLs

Collaboration in your school community

Look for opportunities to draw on your colleagues' knowledge and expertise. You may be able to build on the helpful experience of:

ELL teachers

Library staff

Reading teachers

Content-area teachers

Speech pathologist

Bilingual staff

Share your collaborative successes with colleagues and administrators - that way you can advocate for more collaboration time together. It takes a school village to teach a child, and each member of the community as an important part to play in ELLs' success!

Classroom Videos

To see additional strategies in action, take a look at the following classroom videos featuring middle and high school classrooms:

In this lesson, middle school students read an excerpt from the novel Travels With Charley by John Steinbeck about a man who takes a road trip with his dog. ( Related resources available)

In this lesson for high school ELLs, students discuss the language used in Nelson Mandela's 1964 Court Speech "An Ideal for Which I am Prepared to Die." ( Related resources available)

In this standards-aligned lesson, students read a letter that Captain John Smith of the English Army wrote to Queen Anne in 1616. ( Related resources available)

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Tips for Teaching Middle and High School ELLs

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What do educators of middle and high school English language learners (ELLs) need to know to support their students' success? Take a look at these strategies and recommendations for some ideas to help you get started.

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Tips for Educators of ELLs: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12

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Research shows that vocabulary development is one of the most important skills students need to acquire to become English-proficient. Here are some strategies to help you get started! These strategies are geared towards grades 4-12 but can be adapted for younger students. These tips are available as a one-page handout to download and print.

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Strategies for Creating an Effective Co-Teaching Relationship

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Strategies for Creating an Effective Co-Teaching Relationship

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When general and special education teachers collaborate as equals, their students benefit.

Throughout my career as a special education teacher, I've had many opportunities to co-teach in collaborative classrooms. Some of these experiences were positive, others more challenging. With the ever-increasing demands of today's classrooms, many school districts are relying on co-teaching to meet the needs of all learners. Yet teachers aren't often trained in co-facilitation.

It's important to fill this gap. Below, I offer insights on how to begin.

Treat Each Other as Equal Partners

In my view, the most important element of a successful, inclusive classroom is parity. For collaborative teaching to be effective, both teachers should be viewed as equals.

Often, a special education teacher co-teaches in a general education classroom. When entering the room, both teachers should be viewed just as that-the teachers. Too many times, as a special education teacher, I've walked into a classroom and encountered the assumption that I was only there to work with students with special needs.

But for classrooms to be most effective, every person in the learning community, from teachers, to paraprofessionals to students, must view co-teachers as equal entities there to work with all students. When a teacher is viewed as "less than" a teacher, they have a lesser impact in the classroom.

For example, I once co-taught fifth-grade social studies. On my inaugural day in the district, I walked into the room, and six heads turned; these students had not met me yet, but they walked to the back of the room and sat at a table where I was sitting. I looked at them and asked, "What are you doing?" "Social studies," they replied. I sent them back to their desks. My co-teacher stopped what she was doing and gave me a questioning look, as if to say, "What're they doing?" It was obvious that their previous co-teachers required students with special needs to work with the special education teacher in the back of a regular education classroom. They were separating themselves by rote.

For teachers, it can be difficult to find a common planning time. However, co-teachers must work together to find a way to communicate-whether via email, text, meeting before or after school, or having phone conversations. Having a consistent flow of information and ideas enhances parity. In addition to instructional planning and discussing roles and responsibilities for each lesson, you can share information about specific students, types of disabilities and their impact on student performance, or content gaps you can work to strengthen together.

I think back to my first teaching position, when the concept of co-teaching was relatively new. In a co-taught elementary science class, I was told by my counterpart that as the special education teacher, I was expected to sit in the classroom, and if the science teacher needed help (such as with handing out materials) or a student demonstrated inappropriate behaviors, I would get the nod to step in.

But the strategy above-treating both teachers equally-means this model is inappropriate. Both teachers should assume that the class is "our" class and never "my/your class." They should both have responsibility for preparing lessons, planning activities, creating assessments, and teaching.

Be mindful that neither teacher is the primary source of instruction while the other offers support. If one teacher is always teaching the main lesson, the second is seen as a helper and not viewed equally by students (or colleagues). Instead, work with your co-teacher to devise a plan for frequently switching roles and responsibilities.

When both teachers are teaching, learning improves. Content knowledge, teaching strategies, assessments, classroom management-all are doubled. Teachers grow and learn from each other, improving the quality of the educational experience for all students in the room.

Co-Own Accountability

Another way to create parity is ensuring that both teachers feel responsible for all students' outcomes. Share the goal of student learning and achievement.

In the scenarios above, it was clear that the expectation was for one teacher to be concerned with the general classroom population, while the other was expected to work only with certain students. This segregates some students within their own classroom and wastes resources.

No matter which co-teaching model you choose, make it a practice for both teachers to work with all students, and have student success at the forefront of the strategies you employ. For example, rather than referring to, say, "Mr. Vogel's students" during pull-out subjects or small group activities, be sure that all students interact with both teachers and don't feel grouped in any particular way.

Co-teaching presents powerful opportunities to learn from colleagues-deepening their understandings of disabilities and how they affect student performance, for example, or filling in content gaps to strengthen the teaching experience.

I was a high school learning support instructor for a portion of my career. I was assigned to co-teach an algebra class. I was completely intimidated by the content. That year, we worked with a student diagnosed with cerebral palsy who used a wheelchair for mobility. The algebra teacher also seemed intimidated by creating an inclusive learning space. Working together, we were able to grow professionally, and all students benefited.

Co-teaching, when done collaboratively, can be an amazingly powerful tool in today's schooling environments. When both teachers are viewed as equal entities, the success of the classroom will be evident.

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Strategies for Creating an Effective Co-teaching Relationship

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Too often, co-teachers aren't viewed as equals. These strategies can help them form a relationship as an effective team.

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Co-teaching, wherein two professional educators co-plan, co-instruct, and co-assess, can be daunting. It requires far more than putting two adults in a classroom with students, whether that classroom is brick and mortar or virtual. We offer strategies to help novice and veteran co-teaching teams avoid pitfalls, embrace actions that make a difference, and take steps to promote positive outcomes.

Do

Establish roles and responsibilities. Communicate about how you will share the workload while still ensuring that rigorous content and specially designed instruction are provided.

Don't

Teach to the middle. This excludes the majority. Instead, proactively use Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, which help more students access the learning with multiple engagement, action and expression, and representation. More on UDL is available at .

Do Better

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Co-Teaching Strategies: Dos, Don'ts, and Do Betters

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Co-teaching, wherein two professional educators co-plan, co-instruct, and co-assess, can be daunting. It requires far more than putting two adults in a classroom with students, whether that classroom is brick and mortar or virtual. We offer strategies to help novice and veteran co-teaching teams avoid pitfalls, embrace actions that make a difference, and take steps to promote positive outcomes.

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What are the most important qualities of a teaching assistant?

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How to answer an interview question “What are the most important qualities of a teaching assistant?”. A key question I have asked in interviews.

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New teacher lesson plan format for K-5. Please make sure to make a copy before typing on the Google doc.

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Six Effective Ways to Support ELL Students

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Six Effective Ways to Support ELL Students

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The new question-of-the-week is:
What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach English-language learners?
This series is part of a longer series of questions and answers inviting educators from various disciplines to share their "single most effective instructional strategy."

There are many more to come!

Today, Valentina Gonzalez, Denita Harris, Cindy Garcia, and Deedy Camarena offer their responses.

Before we get to today's guest, I'd like to share my own answer.

Two that contributors to this series don't mention and are ones I like to use often are the Language Experience Approach (LEA) and Total Physical Response (TPR).

Two particularly useful posts that have not yet made it into that summary collection (I update them every summer) are Thirteen Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL Newcomers and Ten Strategies for Teaching English-Language Learners Online.

Now, to responses from today's guests:

Picture Word Inductive Model
Valentina Gonzalez is a former classroom teacher with over 20 years in education serving also as a district facilitator for English-learners, a professional-development specialist for ELs, and as an educational consultant. Valentina delivers professional development and coaches teachers on sheltered instruction strategies. Her work can be found on Seidlitz Education and on MiddleWeb. You can reach her through her website or on Twitter @ValentinaESL:
Shifting the way we approach teaching English-learners can have a positive effect on their success in our schools. When we see our English-learners' assets first, we recognize everything they come with and value not only their culture but also the content and literacy they bring to the table.

I've found the Picture Word Inductive Model (Calhoun, 1998) to be one of the most effective instructional techniques in my experience teaching ELs. The benefits of using PWIM with English-learners are many. This literacy technique is quite flexible and can be used cross-curricularly no matter the grade level, language level, or content. PWIM leverages students' funds of knowledge and builds upon them. Through the PWIM, ELs are engaged in thinking and in all language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing with scaffolds and supports such as visuals and sentence stems or frames. This method can be used in all grade levels and cross-curricularly.

These are the steps I use to implement an adapted version of PWIM with English-learners and how each step benefits ELs:

This engaging instructional strategy helps to lower students' anxiety levels, which increases participation. After using the PWIM with numerous student groups, these are some tips I can offer to educators who haven't tried it before:

Carefully select images that are compelling to your age group of students.

Try color coding or chunking labeled words (ex.: all verbs in orange, adjectives in blue, etc.).

Keep in mind students' language-proficiency levels when creating sentence stems and frames. Students with advanced English proficiency will benefit from more sophisticated sentence structures.

Don't stress about doing it all in one day. Gage your students and make adjustments as needed.

On a subsequent day, use the generated words as a sorting activity. Ask students to work with a partner to put the words in groups and label the groups.

Co-create a sentence-patterning chart with the class. Some groups of students may need this level of support during Step 7.

Below is an example of a PWIM and sentence-patterning chart mash up. Combining these two techniques enhances ELs' listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English.

Sentence Frames
Denita Harris is a curriculum coordinator for the MSD of Wayne Township, Indianapolis. She has over 20 years of experience as a teacher, assistant principal, and district-level administrator. Harris is the recipient of the 2019 INTESOL (Indiana Teacher of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Best of the Best in K-12 Education, and the 2017 and 2020 African American Excellence in Education Award. Find her on Twitter @HarrisLeads:
The single most effective strategy I have used and would highly recommend when teaching English-language learners is the use of sentence frames for writing and speaking, the productive skills, accompanied with a word bank, word phrases, and/or pictures.

English-languagelearners possess a wealth of knowledge, and it is our obligation, as educators, to tap into their knowledge and continue to build upon what our students already know and can do. We must remember our students are in the process of learning a new language and are not in the process of learning a language; therefore, we can provide the words and the grammatical structures of the new language to help guide them in speaking and writing.

Here is an analogy to consider. English-language learners have the tools (vocabulary in their native language). They come to us with these tools; however, while learning English, they may not yet know the names of all the tools or how to use them properly to accomplish a task completely (speaking or writing in English). Our responsibility is to provide our students with the names of each tool (vocabulary in English) and demonstrate to them, through sentence frames, how they might utilize these tools to accomplish a complete task (express a complete thought or sentence in English). A sentence frame can be made up of only one sentence or several sentences to assist students in structuring paragraphs.

The use of sentence frames for writing and speaking not only give English-language learners a framework to communicate through both oral and written language, sentence frames also help build students' self-efficacy. When students have the language to contribute to classroom discussions and are able to express their thoughts on paper, they begin to feel a part of the classroom community, and that makes all the difference.

Comprehensible Input
Cindy Garcia has been a bilingual educator for 14 years and is currently a district instructional specialist for PK-6 bilingual/ESL mathematics. She is active onTwitter @CindyGarciaTX and on her blog:
The single most effective strategy that I used to teach English-language learners is comprehensible input. Comprehensible input means that the teacher speaks in such a way that students are able to understand what is being said even when they do not know or understand all of the words being stated. Below are some strategies to make input comprehensible:

Slow down rate of speech and enunciate clearly. As students are listening, they are also working to process what is being said and how that fits with what they already know. At the same time, ELLs are translanguaging and making sense of teachers' academic language. ELLs are developing their English language, and it is very important that they hear those initial and ending sounds of words in order to add them to their vocabulary. Sometimes when we speak too quickly, we drop important sounds such as "ing".

Avoid figurative language and idioms. While these phrases might make sense to you and emphasize a point, to ELLs they might break down their comprehension. Students will probably end up with a literal translation that makes no sense. For example, saying it was a piece of cake will be translated to it was a portion of a dessert, not it was easy! Not only that, but ELLs might stop listening as they try to figure what that idiom means.

Use gestures and total physical response (TPR). Language can sometimes be abstract and not precise. There can also be words that exist in English that do not exist in other languages. For example, toes do not have a Spanish equivalent. In Spanish, we have hand fingers and feet fingers. Using exaggerated gestures can help make the meaning of new vocabulary more clear to students. Using TPR, students also learn to associate a movement with a word, and that will make it more likely that they internalize that new vocabulary.

Collaborative Summarizing
Deedy Camarena is the coordinator for English-language development (ELD), dual and world languages, at the Santa Clara County Office of Education in California:
Second, students find one partner to dialogue with and " create a negotiated list that reflects their combined agreement on the three to six most important ideas." Once students have discussed the most important ideas, they turn them into one, collaborative 15-word summary. Teachers can strategically pair up students, or students can choose. Students must first determine the negotiating rules they will follow. For example, act respectively, cite evidence to prove your opinion, or use academic-language sentence frames, such as Kate Kinsella's, for discussing and collaboration. Students use these sentence frames to support the function of negotiating and intentionally use academically language correctly. The purpose of negotiating with their partner is to "identify who or what is the most important in the section, [and] identify what the subject is doing,"( English Learner Toolkit of Strategies).

Third, have each pair meet with another pair. One student from each pair reads their summary. Then, they dive in and renegotiate a common summary for their new group of four and add it to their graphic organizer.

Fourth, each group of four chooses another group of four to repeat the renegotiating process. Once again, the group will add this new summary to their graphic organizer.

Fifth, ask groups to edit their summaries for meaning, language, and word choice. As the focus of Collaborative Summarizing is utilizing purposeful dialogue to practice oracy, this could be an optional step.

Sixth, chose one student from the group to present the summary to the class. As ELLs have varying comfort levels of reading in front of a class, give the students time to practice in their group. Once a sufficient amount of time has passed, bring the class together to listen to the summaries.

Thanks to Valentina, Denita, Cindy, and Deedy for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign-new ones are not yet available). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column.

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The Six Most Effective Instructional Strategies for ELLs-According to Teachers (Opinion)

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Teachers share their "go-to" strategies for teaching English-language learners, including sentence starters and Total Physical Response.

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Looking for some strategies to engage our youngest learners? Here is a list of ways to do that during your day.

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Teaching Strategies for Elementary School (1)

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Practical ways to improve your classroom management.

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Quick Reference Guide for Classroom Management

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Learn How to Play Teachers vs Students—A Fun Classroom Management Game

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Learn How to Play Teachers vs Students—A Fun Classroom Management Game % %

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The #1 Strategy for Oppositional Defiant Kids | Brian Mendler, That One Kid

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Need help with unpacking and understanding the standards? Here is a great document to help with that.

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I don't know about you, but when I sit through a faculty meeting or professional development session of any sort, I start getting antsy by the 30-minute mark. If you can relate, just imagine how your students must feel when they've been sitting for too long. Educational brain breaks are the perfect way to help your students redirect their energy and focus when they start to fade.

I find it super-beneficial to incorporate quick mindful, physical, and mental check-ins with my students as a regular part of my classroom routine. These breaks include all types of movement, yoga and breathing exercises, as well as jokes, quick videos, and more. The activities I use have helped me throughout my lifetime, so I love sharing them with my students. Here are my favorite educational brain breaks that are sure to increase productivity and give your kids a much-needed way to unwind before the next lesson.

Mindful Educational Brain Breaks

1. Use transition times for mental check-ins

Transitions are a big part of the elementary school day. When I first started teaching 19 years ago, I was surprised by just how much time it takes to get ready for specials or to bring students back from centers. It's hard not to feel like that's lost time. That's why using transition time for mental health check-ins is such a game changer. Mental health check-ins can help students get in touch with their emotions, refresh and recharge, acknowledge and cope with negative thoughts and overwhelming feelings, and be more focused throughout the day.

2. Pretend to breathe like an animal

Source: Stephanie Sanders

This video shows students how to pretend to breath like some of their favorite animals. The snake breath involves hissing while slithering from side to side, while the whale breath has students pretend to breathe out through a blowhole! Tap into creativity by picking other interesting animals and acting them out through breath.

3. Do a 10-minute guided meditation

These guided meditations are educational and are perfect to use as brain breaks whenever you and your students just need to breathe. Catch your breath with any of these 20 guided video meditations.

4. Practice "focus ball" breathing

Walk your kids through the following exercise: Stand or sit with legs and feet together. Bring your palms together in front of your chest. Keep your fingertips touching as you pull your palms apart, forming a ball with your fingers. Press your fingertips together until you feel the muscles in your hands and arms activating. See if you feel your core tighten too. Now close your eyes and as you breathe in, inflate your ball, and as you breathe out, flatten the ball by pushing your palms together. (Repeat these instructions for 60 seconds).

Learn more: Mindful.org

5. Try the old ear-nose switcheroo

This is a quick and easy challenge to reset the brain. Instruct kids to touch their left ear with their right hand and at the same time touch their nose with their left hand. Then have them switch their hands and touch their right ear with their left hand and their nose with their right hand. Switch back and forth a few times. Then have them close their eyes, take a deep breath, and blow it all out.

Learn more: YouTube: Ear-Nose Switch

6. Take a yoga break

Source: The Pyjama Foundation

Inspire kids to move, stretch, and practice mindfulness with yoga. These printable yoga cards make it easy to incorporate yoga into your educational brain breaks. Each page includes a picture and description of the pose, and each page includes poses of increasing difficulty from level 1 to level 5. And don't worry, it's not a huge time commitment. The sequence on each card is designed to take only a few minutes.

7. Stretch it out

It's never a good idea to spend too much time sitting in one position. Allow kids to take a break and bring some flexibility back into their spines. Have them stand with their feet shoulder-distance apart. Put their left hand on their hip and raise their right hand overhead. Lean to the left and stretch their arm as far as they can to the left. Repeat on the right side. Then stand tall and slowly roll down one vertebra at a time until their hands reach the floor (or at least their shins). Have them take a deep breath then slowly roll back up. Repeat as necessary.

Learn more: Mom Junction

8. Focus on sound

Have kids sit quietly with their eyes closed. Ring a chime or gong. Have them listen carefully to the chime, feeling the vibration in their body as the sound reverberates and then slowly fades. Tell them to breathe slowly and deeply as they focus on the sound.

9. Do a quick mindfulness activity

Mindfulness activity cards provide great educational brain breaks. Stash a pack in your desk and pull them out whenever you need them. Each card will give a prompt for kids to try that will let them refocus and recharge. Perfect for moments when you need to bring down the energy in the room.

Buy it: Mindfulness Cards for Kids at Amazon

10. Chill out with this cross-body exercise

Have kids stand tall and cross one leg in front of the other while pressing the outsides of their feet together. Now have them cross their arms over each other at the wrists. Clasp their hands and curl their arms into their chest. Take a few breaths, and uncross and cross the opposite way for a few more breaths.

11. Float with jellyfish

When you really need to take the energy in your room down a notch, turn off the lights, set a timer, and put on a calming video. For example, Cat Trumpet put together a jellyfish aquarium video where kids will find themselves under the brilliant blue sea in the middle of a swarm of jellyfish. They'll be mesmerized by the slow, fluid motions and lulled into calmness by the soothing music.

12. Break out the hot hands

This is a good break when you sense a weariness in the air. Have kids rub their hands together vigorously until they warm up. Tell them to close their eyes and place their hands over their eyes. Instruct them to breathe deeply as they clear their minds and refocus.

13. Try cat and cow poses

Source: Flow and Grow Kids Yoga

Have kids start on all fours and then give them the following instructions to complete the cat and cow yoga poses: Place your shoulders over your wrists and hips over your knees. Arch your back to the sky and tuck in the tailbone (cat pose). Let your head fall between your arms. From there, sink the belly towards the ground, and lift the chest and chin (cow pose). Gently alternate between the two poses while breathing deeply.

14. Do nothing for two minutes

Never underestimate the power of stillness. When the energy gets a little ramped up, and it's time for the entire class to take a pause, have them drop everything and glue their eyes to the screen as you show this countdown. The gentle lulling of the waves and the sight of the sun sparkling off the water will reset their nervous system in a jiffy.

Learn More: Calm

15. Spread your wings (in slow motion)

Walk your kids through this winged movement: Sit cross-legged on the floor. Stretch your arms down by your sides with your palms facing inward toward your body. Slowly raise both arms while rotating hands forward. When your arms reach shoulder level, your hands should be facing forward. Continue raising arms, slowly rotating palms so that by the time hands are overhead, palms are facing each other. Slowly lower arms, repeating the rotation (palms facing each other, palms facing forward, palms facing sides) until they are once again resting at your sides. As you raise and lower your arms, stretch them as long as you can, as if you are scraping the sides of the room and the ceiling. Repeat slowly three times, breathing deeply.

Physical Education Brain Breaks

16. Play Silent Ball when you have downtime

You can play a quick game of Silent Ball anytime, anywhere. Play a quick three-minute game right before dismissal or before transitioning to a new activity. All you need is a small squishy ball. The rules are simple: 1) stay quiet and 2) don't drop the ball when passing it around. This activity is one of those educational brain breaks that builds a positive classroom community, fosters friendly competition, and boosts nonverbal communication. Enjoy the silence.

17. Line up in unique ways

Kids are very social and curious beings. Most of them love to chat with one another at any chance they can get. Lining up to leave the room for anything is the perfect chance for them to mix and mingle. Make a more productive use of this time by having students line up in special ways. Some fun ideas include lining up in alphabetical order by name, by birth date, or by height order.

18. Just jump!

Sometimes kids just need to bounce their energy out. Have them pretend they are bouncing on a mini-trampoline (this will keep their movement on a vertical plane instead of all over the room), and give them a couple of minutes to let loose!

19. Take a cue from the stadium

Here's one for a group of kids-start the wave! Beginning at one end of the room, kids stand up and throw their arms overhead, bringing them back down as they return to their seats. Each row follows until you reach the other end of the room. Amp it up by encouraging your kids to tap their feet or tap their hands on their legs so that they are in constant motion. This activity works great on Zoom too!

20. Stir the pot

Have kids visualize they are standing in front of an enormous cauldron. Inside the cauldron is an ooey-gooey pot of caramel. Take hold of a large stirrer and plunge it to the bottom of the pot. Slowly begin to stir in a clockwise direction. Have them use their whole body to help get a full range of motion in their wrists and shoulders. Instruct them to throw their hips into the action. After a minute or two, reverse the direction.

21. Make it rain

Conjure up a rainstorm! Sitting or standing at a desk or table, have kids tap one finger on the desk, then two, then three, then four, then their whole hand until you all feel like you're in the middle of a deluge. Work your way backward from five down to one as the storm ebbs away.

22. Energize with these

First, instruct kids to touch their left elbow to their right knee, then touch their right elbow to their left knee. Switch back and forth, going slowly at first, building speed until they are going at a vigorous pace. Next, do some windmills by standing tall with their feet shoulder-width apart and their arms stretched out. Bend at the waist and touch their right hand to their left toes, then their left hand to their right toes. Switch back and forth.

23. Make X's and O's

Walk kids through the following exercise: Sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground and legs together, curl your body into your lap, folding yourself into a tiny O shape. Next, open your arms and legs wide, forming an X shape with your body. Pull back into an O shape, then back out to an X shape. Repeat three times.

24. Energize in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Get hearts pumping with a quick sequence of exercises. Call out five actions for your students to do as quickly as they can. For instance, five jumping jacks, four push-ups, three sit-ups, two squat jumps, and one tree pose.

25. Take a cruise on an imaginary skateboard

Have your kids line up next to a wall and place one hand on the wall. Tell them to plant the foot closest to the wall and swing the other leg, as if pushing off the ground on a skateboard. Start slowly, with tiny swings, moving up to power pushes. Repeat on the other side.

26. Take a break to groove

Music is a great way to reset the mood in a room and raise the energy level. Put on a fun song and have a 30-second freestyle dance party. Here's a big list of school-appropriate songs for kids.

27. Or take it to the next level

Teach your kids the steps to popular dances such as the Cha-Cha Slide, the Macarena, or the Kidz Bop Shuffle.

28. Ramp up with a round of cherry pickers

This easy activity will get your students' hearts pumping and give their brains a boost. Have them jump up off the ground, then down to the floor into a push-up position. From there, instruct them to hop their feet up into a frog position, then pop up to a standing position.

29. Clap on, clap off

When you say "clap on," kids clap their hands vigorously together. When you say "clap off," they stop as quickly as they can and freeze. Or follow along with this a fun video.

30. Skip it out

When the energy is fading and kids need to get their blood flowing, put on a peppy song and pull out the imaginary jump ropes. Have kids skip or jump rope in place until the song ends.

31. Make like a blender

Tell kids it's time to make fruit smoothies. Ask them to pretend they are in a blender and they are strawberries (or blueberries or bananas, etc.). Dramatically pour orange juice or yogurt into the air in front of you. Tell kids when you flip the switch that they need to wiggle and jiggle (separately, not together) until they are each individually blended up. Start with a slow speed, moving up to medium speed, fast speed, and finally turbo speed. And then reverse it! Start at turbo speed and go back to slow speed.

32. Celebrate with a silent cheer

This activity is perfect for the end of an activity or a sustained amount of work time-especially for kids who are learning remotely. Let kids stand up and silently cheer and gesture in celebration. How animated can they get?!

33. Do a full-body workout

This kid-friendly exercise video is great for your body and brain! Kids can follow along through a set of workout moves that will get their blood pumping.

34. Play popcorn

Students will all be sitting in their chairs, and at any time, a student can jump up and say, "Pop!" Once they do, that student remains standing. If two students pop up at the same time, everyone takes their seats, and the game starts over. How quickly can the entire class pop without having to start over?

35. Hit the wall

Pushing against a solid object is a good way to displace extra energy from your body. Have kids stand facing a wall with their arms stretched out in front of them, palms on the surface of the wall. Push the wall away with all their strength for a count of ten. Relax for five seconds, then push again. Other activities they can do at the wall include calf stretches and wall push-ups.

36. 3, 2, 1 blastoff!

Instruct kids to stand and then squat down with their hands on the ground in front of them. All together, count down 3, 2, 1. When you get to zero, they should push up like a rocket, jumping as high as they can-letting all of their energy burst from their center.

37. Quick as a snap, wink

This is a quick and easy refocusing activity. Tell kids to snap their left fingers while they wink their right eye. Switch to snapping their right fingers while winking their left eye. This activity is particularly effective for younger learners who may find both activities challenging.

38. Balance break

A great way to get kids out of their chairs is to practice balance. Have them hop on one foot. Then up the ante by having them stand on one foot and bend their other knee out in front of them.

39. Tabletop push-ups

Kids can use their desk, a chair, the side of their couch-anything really. Have them place their hands on the table and focus their eyes in the center, moving down slowly and pushing back up.

40. Try some facial gymnastics

Have kids get their silly on for 30 seconds. Tell them to wiggle their eyebrows up and down as fast as they can. Then try to raise one eyebrow at a time.

Mental Brain Breaks That Are Educational

41. Take a comedy break

Comedy is a great release when the atmosphere is feeling a little intense. Show a funny video clip or have kids volunteer to tell a joke or pose a few silly riddles. We have compiled a number of jokes by theme on WeAreTeachers for kids of all ages for guaranteed laughs. For example, your students will love one of our most recent additions, 34 Cat Jokes for Kids. From there, you can find dog jokes, seasonal jokes, food jokes, and much more.

42. Share fun facts

In addition to joke compilations, we have plenty of fun fact lists on our site with themes that will thrill your students. Plus they're an educational way to teach your students new information during brain breaks. Get started with these fun feline facts to accompany the jokes above. Meow!

43. Practice another language

Source: startasl.com

Teach your kids the alphabet in sign language. Use brain breaks to practice by singing the ABCs while signing the letters. Then practice vocabulary words by spelling them out loud while signing the letters.

44. Find out how it's made

Remember that classic Sesame Street video about how crayons are made? We watched in awe as crayons rolled off the assembly line, wrapped in paper, and then slipped into those familiar cardboard boxes. Kids today are just as fascinated by how things are made! Here are our favorite videos about how things are made-from fireworks to LEGO.

45. Take a doodle break

According to researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang, downtime is essential for brain health. Kids need time for their growing brains to integrate and process the vast amount of information they receive each day. In other words, it is actually beneficial to give our kids time to allow their minds to wander. Try this: Set a timer for three to five minutes and let kids silently doodle with pencil and paper or a dry-erase board and marker while soft, calming music plays in the background.

Learn more: Sage Journals

46. Try a directed-drawing activity

Directed drawing activities walk your students through the process step-by-step so anyone can create their very own masterpiece. Teachers can lead the session by drawing on the whiteboard or chart paper while students follow along. Even better, there are plenty of videos on YouTube that lead the lesson, giving you a little break too. We have done the work and gathered some our favorite free directed-drawing activities for kids. Grab your favorite art supplies and get creative!

47. Gather your favorite GIFs

Make a slideshow of your favorite GIFs and have your kids act them out. Funny animals are a good place to start!

48. Find the object

Kids don't even have to get out of their seats for this one, but they can! Have one student start by finding an object and saying, "I see something beginning with the letter [fill in the blank]." The first person to guess the item correctly gets to choose the next object. This can be a fun one to play on Zoom too! You can have kids add in additional clues to help.

49. Clap for a little call-and-response

Pep things up with a little call-and-response clapping. It's simple to do and is often used in the classroom to get students' attention. Simply clap out a pattern that your kids will repeat back to you. Switch out the pattern a few times until everyone is focused and engaged. Alternatively, try a vocal call-and-response. Sing out a few riffs and have kids echo the tune back to you.

50. Color yourself mellow

Even grown-ups have picked up on the coloring craze as an excellent way to calm down and zone out. Put on some nice mellow background music, set a timer, and pass out some of these free mandala coloring pages.

51. Try a brain-break spinner

One way to make sure educational brain breaks are effective is to change up activities. Check out these online movement spinners for Wheel of Fortune-type games that help you add variety to brain breaks!

53. Would You Rather?

Students of all ages love participating in Would You Rather? videos, which can be found all over YouTube these days. Each video is approximately 8 minutes long, and students are given two scenarios where they choose which one they would rather participate in. Topics range from food items to activity choices to places to visit and more. As students choose the scenario, they move to either the right or left side of the room. Students then perform 30-second rounds of a specified exercise before repeating the process with another choice. Some of our favorite Would You Rather? channels include PE with Mr. G, Phonics Man, and Fix and Play. Students love when their teacher participates with them in the fun!

Learn more: PE With Mr. G

52. Write it out

Don't underestimate the power of journaling or creative writing. Give your kids a 5- or 10-minute break to open up a page of their notebook and write about anything they'd like. They don't have to share it with the class or do anything else with it; just use the quiet time to focus on something they love and want to write about.

Educational Video Brain Breaks by Grade Level

54. Brain-break compilations by grade level

If you are looking for a sample of brain breaks suitable for your students by grade level, look no further. We have created separate links of 25 videos each for individual grades at the elementary level. Go down the list and find your favorite!
Kindergarten Brain Breaks First Grade Brain Breaks Second Grade Brain Breaks Third Grade Brain Breaks Fourth Grade Brain Breaks Fifth Grade Brain Breaks
What educational brain breaks do you love? Share them in the comments!

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Quick, easy educational brain breaks that will help students re-energize, refocus, and give their brains a much-needed boost.

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Strategies for Learners with Attention Issues

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Brain breaks are a powerful and effective way to address self-regulation needs, help with attention, and impact learning in the classroom. Brain breaks are movement breaks! They are movement opportunities that enable all of us to re-group and re-focus. Learning can be exhaustive to our kids. They are struggling through the day's activities while sometimes striving to pay attention through sensory processing issues or executive functioning needs.

Brain break activities, or movement breaks can be used as part of a sensory diet or in a whole-classroom activity between classroom tasks. Here are all of the brain break resources here on The OT Toolbox. Whether you need a quick brain break, ideas to add movement to the classroom, or a scheduled sensory diet of regulating tools on hand, you'll find many brain breaks here!

Movement Breaks or Brain Breaks?

Maybe we should consider the term movement breaks.

There have been studies done on the effectiveness of movement breaks. Specifically, one study showed that increasing movement in students increases engagement in learning. It's thought that then information retention improves as well Marzano (2012).

What happens during a brain break?

Traditionally, movement breaks are a short (3-4 minute) movement opportunity or a break from seated learning, that is incorporated into the classroom. Students may stop work on the task at hand, or perform the movement activities as part of a transition activity.

As a result of the movement break, students are able to "shift gears" and relax, breathe, and refocus after expending attention or concentration on a task or problem.

A short brain/movement break, especially those which get the whole body moving in a rapid, cardiovascular activity increases breathing rate and the oxygen in a child's bloodstream. This may increase concentration and capability to focus on a learning task.

Brain and body breaks that are effective are typically those which stimulate the entire body.

Movement breaks occupational therapy professionals use integrate the body's sensory systems with intentional movements, or motor plans. Brain-movement activities utilize the important basis of the sensory system:

Movement breaks and proprioception

Brain breaks often incorporate heavy work activities, or proprioception.

The proprioceptive system receives input from the muscles and joints about body position, weight, pressure, stretch, movement and changes in position in space during movement, at rest, and during activity.

When we move, the body is able to grade and coordinate movements based on the way muscles move, stretch, and contract during activity.

Proprioception refers to the amount of less pressure and force the muscles and joints exert in a task. In a movement activity, we are able to coordinate our movements effectively to follow a movement pattern.

Examples of heavy work brain and movement activities include:

Animal walks

Wall Push-ups

Chair push-ups

Traditional push-ups

Carrying a heavy load like a stack of books or laundry basket

Proprioception breaks occurs with Simon Says activities, when following a brain break YouTube video, or when following a movement exercise card.

Along with these examples, you can get tons of ideas for proprioception activities here. These are great ways to add heavy work to the classroom, home, or therapy clinic.

Movement Breaks and Vestibular Sensory System

The brain also must coordinate input about gravity, movement, and balance involving the vestibular system. Vestibular activities or movement activities are those that offer movement through various planes.

Movement that stimulates the vestibular system utilizes receptors in the inner ear when changes occur in position in space. With the addition of input from the eyes, and feedback from muscle and joint receptors (proprioception), we are able to move through space.

Vestibular sensory input is a huge component of brain breaks.

Movement can be calming or alerting and when it comes to brain break activity, these are the key goals. We may want to calm an unfocused classroom so they can attend and focus in learning. Or we may want to "wake up" a class of fatigued and drowsy students.

Adding a few vestibular activities can have a big impact on attention and focus.

Movement activates the vestibular system and the vestibular system allows movement and participation in tasks.

Vestibular brain and body activity can include breaks such as:

Dance

Simon Says

Spinning

Kneeling on your knees

Crawling

Walking on your tiptoes

Doing somersaults

Navigating monkey bars

Bouncing on a trampoline

Vision and Brain Movement Activity

A final piece of the brain break puzzle is the vision system. To motor plan and complete a movement, in most cases, we need to move in our space. Activities like moving heavy items, completing jumping jacks, following a dance movement, or navigating our space requires some aspect of the visual system.

Specifically is visual motor integration.

Visual Motor Integration- This combination of movement and visual information refers to several areas: including visual perception, visual processing skills, and eye-hand coordination.

The integration of these areas enables the eyes to perceive information through the vision functions so that one can process visual information information in order to perform coordinated hand (and body) motor actions. This integration results with motor task completion.

Visual motor integration includes a perceptual component that allows one to move through space and offer the necessary amount of force to complete movements in the area we are in.

Types of Brain Breaks

Weslake and Christian describes three types of break activities in their paper, "Brain breaks: Help or hindrance?" Those types of brain breaks include:

Each of these activity breaks are ones that you've probably subconsciously incorporated into your day to day activities.

A quick stretch of the arms...a walk to the water fountain during a hectic work day...a phone call to a friend when stressed about a big decision. Kids can incorporate mental and physical gear shifts too!

Physical Brain Breaks- include physical and sometimes vigorous movement activity. These activities might include Yoga, jumping jacks, running in place, dancing, or other motor tasks. These types of physical breaks can promote increased cardiovascular capabilities and increased oxygen like described above, making them a great tool in learning.

Breathing Brain Breaks- These exercises include deep breathing and visualization. These types of breathing breaks can be great for mental health, including as a mental break that allows for the student to 're-group" and re-center themselves in the task at hand. Breathing activities might include gentle stretches, rolling the neck, or raising the arms above the head, or shaking out the hands when standing.

Mental Brain Breaks- These mental breaks involve a break from a task requiring a lot of concentration and "switching gears" to a low concentration type of task, such as playing a game, answering trivia questions, or telling jokes.

All of these types of breaks add to learning by way of providing a quick focus change and a means to address needed breaks during periods of high concentration.

Using a variety of brain break activities may be the most beneficial, however, it depends on the make-up of the class as a whole when it comes to classroom breaks between activities.

Brain Break Activities for Kids

Try some of these brain break activities to inspire movement, regulation, attention, and concentration, listed below. Some of the printable pages are available as free downloads that you can add to your therapy toolbox.

List of Brain Break Ideas

First, check out this list of movement breaks in the classroom for school-based brain breaks. Remember that adding propriceptive input or vestibular input, and visual input, as well as a combination of these sensory systems.

Seated Brain Break Ideas

Remember also that postural changes adds sensory input to all three of these sensory systems. Changing postures can offer a brain break opportunity even without equipment. You'll find more ideas listed in our resource on flexible seating ideas and our resource on DIY flexible seating.

Many board games offer a seated movement activity to help kids refocus. Use some of these brain break games to get you started (you'll find standing and heavy work games listed, too!)
Other seated brain break ideas include:

Laying on the floor on belly

Sitting cross legged (crisscross apple sauce)

Using a sensory cushion

Kneeling at a table

Sitting on a stool

Straddle sitting (with back of chair turned around, child rests chest on chair

back)

Add foot support- Add a book or block under feet to be grounded.

Sit on a therapy ball sitting

Working on a vertical surface (easel, chalk board, Smartboard, bulletin board, wall)

Sitting on a partially inflated beach ball

Asymmetrical sitting position

Crossword puzzles

Reading while wrapped up tightly in a blanket- Read our blog post on a burrito blanket to get started.

Watching a movie under a weighted blanket (appropriately fitted to the individual)

Standing brain break ideas

These ideas can be integrated into the classroom or at home while completing tasks in a standing position.

Standing breaks- use a timer or an app for reminders (Apple watches offer this reminder option)

Use a standing desk that raises and lowers

Or add something under a laptop or writing space to raise the surface for standing

Take a break and go for a walk

Do a wall sit for a short time

Cross crawl exercises

Can routines be adjusted to impact and prevent this period of difficulty? Perhaps a granola bar or apple could be offered just prior to that period. Can you add a short walk around the classroom to gather materials or a walk through the home to pick up clutter that adds movement before a difficult time. It may be something as simple as stretching or getting a cool glass of water.

Consider self-regulation.

Self-regulation needs are greatly impacted by movement breaks. Taking a look at some of the strategies listed in that blog post, you'll see that most are centered on movement!

To finish out this resource, let's get you a huge list of brain breaks!

Animal walks

Yoga

Nature walk

Movement

Heavy work (Try these themed heavy work activity cards)

Running, walking

Deep breaths (try these themed deep breathing cards)

Listening to music

Talking to someone

Activities listed under the other areas

Stretching

List out accomplishments

Help someone

Reach out to a friend

Activities listed under the other areas

Talk to someone

Rest

Build a puzzle

Read a book

Color or draw

Think about positive mindset strategies

Enjoy nature

Drink a glass of water

Listen to music

Write in a journal

Activities listed under the other areas

PUSHING Brain Breaks

Chair push ups

Wall push ups

Push a large therapy ball or medicine ball along the floor and up the wall as high as you can go

Pushing a box across the room - fill a box with books or toys and kneel in front of it. Push the box across the room.

Push a cart full of books

Fill a laundry basket with laundry and ask your child to push it through the house.

Push a wheelbarrow or trolley

PULLING Brain Breaks

Take laundry out of the washer or dryer

Pull a wagon

Pulling on a rope - tie a rope to a tree, pole or secure door handle. Hold the rope and see how far you can lean back while pulling on the rope. You only need one person for this tug-of-war game!

Tug of war - if two or more children are available have a game of tug of war

Pull up bar - it may be tricky for children to perform pull ups but just hanging from a bar is great work for muscles.

Pulling and stretching a piece of theraband or stretchy material.

JUMPING Brain Breaks

Trampoline - this provides endless hours of heavy work activity. Wonderful proprioceptive input while children enjoy the pleasure of jumping.

Jumping on a mattress on the floor or couch cushions placed on the floor.

Rocket jumps - crouch down and place your hands on the floor next to you. Count down from ten and leap into the air raising both hands up to the sky. Repeat the rocket launch a few times.

Star jumps / jumping jacks are great for co-ordination and heavy work.

Sitting on a small therapy ball and bouncing up and down.

Hopper balls with handles are also a fun way to bounce around.

LIFTING Brain Breaks

Carry a stack of books

Lift and move chairs to sweep

Lift laundry baskets

Carrying bags - allow children opportunities to carry bags of groceries or laundry at home

Weighted backpack - place a few magazines in a backpack and encourage your child to walk around with the backpack for a few minutes.

A message could be placed in the backpack and your child could deliver this message to a family member at home or to another teacher at school.

Carry a stack of books

Carry a full tote bag

Weighted stuffed animal

CHEWING AND SUCKING Brain Breaks

Fruit leather

Sports water bottle

Chew gum, dried mango, or other dry fruit

Drink think liquids through a straw e.g. yogurt, thick milkshake

Specially designed necklaces, bracelets and toys are available for chewing.

Chew on a straw

Blow through a straw

Eat crunchy snacks

Drink a smoothie through a sippy cup with a straw-type top

Use a "crazy straw" in a cup. The smaller opening is great for oral motor input.

Play "Simon Says" with mouth exercises: Suck cheeks in/puff cheeks out/Make a big "O" shape/Stretch out the tongue

Chew gum

Use a straw to suck and pick up pieces of paper. Transfer them carefully to a cup using only the straw.

Movement Breaks

Movement breaks look different at different stages of development.

For age-specific brain breaks ideas, try these middle school brain breaks for older students and our resource on brain breaks for high school.

After school is a common time for movement needs. After a long day sitting at a desk, children come home and often decompress. This can look like anger, frustration, and behaviors. While the behavior may seem inappropriate, the actions are often times a needed response to self-regulate based on the long day of holding it together while at school.

Some students may benefit from an after school brain break in the form of regulating snacks or decompression for a short period. Others may require fidget tools during homework. Each individual will be different!

Even as busy therapy providers, we need the power of self-care strategies. Something as simples as simple as taking a quick walk between clients, using relaxation breathing, or stretching can be a huge help

These are resources for self-reflection, mindfulness, self-care strategies, and easy ways to include movement breaks.

Many research studies have discussed the use of both brain breaks and movement breaks in an integrated manner in our daily routines as a tool for attention, mental health, cognitive function, stress management, and well-being.

For example, a study (Maher, et.al, 2006) found that the use of a brain break program in the classroom led to increased on-task behavior and academic achievement These findings suggest that "brain breaks," can be an effective way to enhance physical activity and cognitive performance in children.

Final thoughts on Movement breaks

Any child (and adult) benefits from an activity break during periods of high concentration and learning. Use these strategies along with your child, or use one of the three types of movement breaks we talked about today!

Think about the time of day that is typically the most difficult. Is there some way that brain breaks can be added to this time? Schedule it in!

References:

Marzano, R. J. (2012). A Moving Proposal. Educational Leadership, 69(7), 88.

Mahar MT, Murphy SK, Rowe DA, et al. Effects of a classroom-based program on physical activity and on-task behavior. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006;38(12):2086-2094. doi:10.1249/01.mss.0000235359.16685.a6

Weslake, Alyssa and Christian, Beverly J. (2015) "Brain Breaks: Help or Hindrance?," TEACH COLLECTION of Christian Education: Vol. 1: Iss. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://research.avondale.edu.au/teachcollection/vol1/iss1/4

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Brain Breaks and Movement Breaks Kids Love - The OT Toolbox

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Use these brain breaks, or movement breaks, as a mental shifts using input from the proprioceptive, vestibular, and visual systems.

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Creating partnerships with parents positively impacts student achievement and the overall school experience for the child

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In their book, Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School Professionals, Marilyn Friend and Lynne Cook identify "co-teaching as a specific service delivery option that is based on collaboration." As a service delivery option, co-teaching is designed to meet the educational needs of students with diverse learning options.

Students at all academic levels benefit from alternative assignments and greater teacher attention in small-group activities that co-teaching makes possible. Co-teaching allows for more intense and individualized instruction in the general education setting increasing access to the general education curriculum while decreasing stigma for students with special needs. Students have an opportunity to increase their understanding and respect for students with special needs. Students with special needs have a greater opportunity for continuity of instruction as the teachers benefit from the professional support and exchange of teaching practices as they work collaboratively.

Co-teaching involves two or more certified professionals who contract to share instructional responsibility for a single group of students primarily in a single classroom or workspace for specific content or objectives with mutual ownership, pooled resources and joint accountability. (Friend & Cook 2016)

Six Approaches to Co-Teaching

1. One Teach, One Observe. One of the advantages in co-teaching is that more detailed observation of students engaged in the learning process can occur. With this approach, for example, co-teachers can decide in advance what types of specific observational information to gather during instruction and can agree on a system for gathering the data. Afterward, the teachers should analyze the information together.

2. One Teach, One Assist. In a second approach to co-teaching, one person would keep primary responsibility for teaching while the other professional circulated through the room providing unobtrusive assistance to students as needed.

3. Parallel Teaching. On occasion, student learning would be greatly facilitated if they just had more supervision by the teacher or more opportunity to respond. In parallel teaching, the teachers are both covering the same information, but they divide the class into two groups and teach simultaneously.

4. Station Teaching. In this co-teaching approach, teachers divide content and students. Each teacher then teaches the content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction for the other group. If appropriate, a third station could give students an opportunity to work independently.

5. Alternative Teaching: In most class groups, occasions arise in which several students need specialized attention. In alternative teaching, one teacher takes responsibility for the large group while the other works with a smaller group.

6. Team Teaching: In team teaching, both teachers are delivering the same instruction at the same time. Some teachers refer to this as having one brain in two bodies. Others call it tag team teaching. Most co-teachers consider this approach the most complex but satisfying way to co-teach, but the approach that is most dependent on teachers' styles.

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Six Approaches to Co-Teaching - State Education Resource Center

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In their book, Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School Professionals, Marilyn Friend and Lynne Cook identify "co-teaching as a specific service delivery option that is based on collaboration." As a service delivery option, co-teaching is designed to meet the educational needs of studen...

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CSUMB CO-TEACHING - Preparing for Co-Teaching Checklist

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As we prepare for co-teaching, do we…
❏ have both of our names on the classroom door and the board?
❏ each have a designated space in the classroom?
❏ both have comparable/shared materials and resources? As we prepare for co-teaching, have we….
❏ explained the

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10 Ways Parents Can Help Their Child with Math

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10 Ways Parents Can Help Their Child with Math

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This is a great resource to share with parents at parent teacher conferences.

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Artificial Intelligence in Education A One-Pager for Teachers What is AI Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computer systems that simulate human intelligence. It can analyze data, recognize pa (1)

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Proactive Strategies for Classroom Management