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Unpacked Standards with guiding questions

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Unpacked Standards with guiding questions

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Blog- Alternatives to worksheets & packets

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I saw a video a few months ago that I haven't been able to get out of my head. In the video, a high school student named Jeff Bliss stood up in the middle of class and basically expressed his frustration to the teacher in the room:

Okay, now let's get something out of the way: Yes, this student was disrupting class and his behavior is disrespectful. I will acknowledge that. On the other hand, we don't know exactly what happened before the camera was turned on. Based on what he says in the video, my guess is that Bliss had just voiced some kind of concern, the teacher told him to quit complaining, and at that point, I guess he'd had enough.

What I have gleaned about Jeff Bliss from the internet is that at the time of the video, he was an 18-year-old sophomore. So apparently, at some point, he had not been successful in school. For some people, this takes away his credibility. For me, it makes him an even better source of information about why school isn't working for some students.

Disruptive behavior aside, the content of Bliss's outburst tells me that his teacher's primary mode of instruction is through packets. This was what got me. This is what made me watch this video six, seven, eight times over. Because I just believe him.

I believe him because I've seen it. I've seen classrooms where teachers deliver instruction overwhelmingly through worksheets, or packets of worksheets. I have seen my own kids' schoolwork come home, and I have asked friends, other parents with school-age kids, and colleagues who consult in lots of schools, and nearly all of them tell me that a lot of our students' instructional time is being spent hunched over some kind of worksheet.

That's a problem.

I want to spend some time looking at this problem from all sides: What distinguishes a "busywork" worksheet from something that delivers real value, why teaching with worksheets is usually not the best choice for learning, the reasons teachers default to worksheet teaching, and what other learning experiences would be better for our students.

Not all Worksheets are Created Equal

Let's start by agreeing on some terms.

First we need to define what we mean by "worksheet." Technically, a worksheet is anything printed on copier paper and given to students to write on. And since you can print just about anything on a piece of paper, we really can't say that worksheets per se are good or bad. That would be like saying "books" or "movies" are good or bad. It's a medium. A delivery system.

And there are plenty of instructionally rich things you can do with a worksheet: A graphic organizer is a wonderful tool for research, pre-writing, and notetaking. An excerpt from a primary source can be printed on a worksheet for close study and annotation. Worksheets can be used for analyzing data (like this collection from Maria Andersen), as scaffolds for notetaking, as tools for reflection, or as formative assessments. They can also be used as recording tools alongside more active experiences: data sheets for labs, planning sheets for group projects, and so on.

In my experience, when people criticize worksheets, they are referring to a specific type of worksheet, what I will call a busysheet, the kind where students are either doing work that's fairly low-level recall stuff-filling in blanks with words, choosing from multiple-choice questions, labeling things-or work that has no educational value at all, like word searches, word scrambles, or coloring stuff in cases where coloring adds no extra layer of understanding.

Sometimes the difference between a busysheet and a quality learning tool is obvious, and other times it's a judgment call. After talking to lots of educators about how they use worksheets in their classrooms, I think it's most accurate to say that every worksheet falls somewhere on a continuum: Some worksheets are clearly nothing but busysheets, while others, like note-taking sheets or data collection tools, directly support student learning; I'll call these powersheets. I think a lot of worksheets fall somewhere between the two. Because there is such a range, the only person who can really make the call is you.

Packets, to be clear, are simply a bunch of worksheets stapled together. They could contain a lot of powersheets, but when a student refers to them as frickin' packets, it's highly likely that they are mostly made up of busysheets.

Possible Busysheets in Disguise

Some formats have come along recently that have the potential to deliver the same kind of work we find in busysheets, only they don't always look like it. While each of these certainly could offer instructional value, they could also be just another way to keep kids still:

Computer programs or apps that have students performing the exact same activities we see on busysheets.

Interactive notebooks: These vary widely in quality, with some offering true interactivity and others just offering the same value of a worksheet, just colored, cut, and pasted into a notebook.

HyperDocs: If these are thoughtfully designed, they have the potential to offer wonderful variety, exploration, and differentiation, but they could also just be a new way to organize busywork.

The Problem with "Busysheet Teaching"

"Busysheet teaching" is when we use busysheets in place of other, better forms of instruction. This type of teaching might take the form of bell-ringers, homework, early finisher work, classroom centers, or even the main learning activity during regular class time.

So what's wrong with teaching this way?

It's disconnected from anything meaningful.
Busysheets isolate skills so much that students have trouble connecting them to real life. When a student sees little value in an activity, he is not truly engaged. Take this reading worksheet, which has students read a short passage about Maya Angelou, then answer four fill-in-the-blank questions about the passage.

This type of busysheet would most likely be used to teach reading comprehension or serve as a Black History Month activity.

Let's unpack these one by one.

Reading comprehension: Having students answer low-level recall questions about a passage of writing that offers no meaningful context doesn't do a lot to make them better readers. If the questions were more challenging, if they asked students to choose which textual evidence supports some particular idea, for example, that might move it up the continuum a bit more toward the power end, but is this the best way to give students reading practice? If students do this kind of work day after day, with passages instead of real books, they won't be reading enough. So much of what we call "reading instruction" is far inferior to having students read real books.

Black History Month: Giving students a packet of these types of busysheets-where the work and contributions of significant African Americans are reduced to one-page blurbs followed by some cute activity-is inadequate in so many ways. This article from Teaching Tolerance lists much more comprehensive and authentic ways to honor Black history in your classroom all year round.

It often misses the standards.
Even if they are labeled as addressing certain standards, the kind of work we see on busysheets often misses the mark. Take, for example, this typical grammar worksheet:

This type of worksheet, where students are asked to label or identify various grammatical constructions, has thrived for decades, and in the days before worksheets, it existed in the form of exercises from grammar books.

Apart from the well-established fact that teaching grammar outside the context of meaningful writing does nothing to help students become better writers, and in many cases makes them worse, the skills being practiced in this kind of worksheet don't actually teach or reinforce the goals set by our academic standards.

Here's what I mean: For convenience, I'll use the Common Core Standards as a reference. There is no mention anywhere in the standards of students being able to identify or label these verb tenses. Nothing. It does, however, require students to use them correctly in their writing. So it would make a lot more sense to show students these different constructions, then have them find places in their writing where they are using them. If they aren't using them anywhere, have them try it. They never ever have to actually know the names of the verb tenses or a whole lot of other grammatical constructions. Despite this, tens of thousands of students are required to complete busysheets like this every day. And I bet they get tested on the same kind of information, too. Meanwhile, little to no time is being spent giving them opportunities to use these constructions in their real writing.

It often has no instructional value.
By definition, a busysheet's goal is to keep students busy, not necessarily teach them anything. The most egregious types of busysheets are word searches, word scrambles, and and crossword puzzles, which might as well be a list of definitions with blanks next to them.

I have watched my own children do word searches for homework and stress out about not finding every single word because they would lose points. If there is any pedagogical justification for that, I certainly haven't found it.

It requires lots and lots of sitting still.
The more teachers use busysheets, the more students will sit and sit and sit. Yes, it's possible that there are teachers who use a lot of busysheets but have great alternative seating options in their classrooms, but my guess is that in most of the classrooms where busysheets are abundant, students are basically sitting in desks. This is far from ideal. In 2014, teacher Alexis Wiggins spent two days shadowing her students and was shocked to discover just how much time they spent sitting, and how exhausting that was. And we hear all the time about the studies that are confirming how dangerous it can be to sit for extended periods of time. So planning for extended periods of sitting, all day long, just isn't good for our kids.

It requires a ton of copying.
Anyone who has ever had to wait in line for a copy machine or found themselves staring desperately at a cryptic error message on the copier knows that relying heavily on worksheets wastes a lot of time and paper.

It gives you more stuff to grade.
Many teachers who use a lot of worksheets also grade them, calculating those points as part of a student's overall grade in a course. This approach creates two problems. One, it erases the value of formative assessment: If worksheets are meant to be used to teach students something or give them practice on skills they are learning, then why would students be penalized for making mistakes on them? I can see why teachers might give points for completion, but going through and marking wrong answers, then taking off points for something students are still actively learning is really missing the point: That's what summative assessments are for. The other problem is that this system creates a ridiculous amount of grading for the teacher. If you are going home with piles and piles of papers to grade, you're assigning too many things to be graded. If you can shift some of these activities from graded to "practice," you'll be giving students the practice they need without creating a lot of extra paperwork for yourself.

Why We Do It, and What to Do Instead

Teachers have a lot of reasons for leaning heavily on busysheets, and some of these may seem unavoidable. Let's look at the most common reasons, along with some ideas for what we can do instead.

1. No Textbooks, No Tech

If your school is short on materials and technology, it may be necessary to use printables to build your curriculum. Much of what we learn comes from reading things, so if you don't have good science textbooks, for example, worksheets and handouts can serve the same purpose. What's important is that we do this thoughtfully.

Even if you download a whole unit or curriculum, only use the parts that are going to provide value to your students, rather than just marching students through the whole thing.

Beware of cute: Some materials are so beautifully designed, they may make it hard to notice if they're thin on quality learning. If you can get both at once, awesome, but always scrutinize for the learning first.

Not all students need the same materials: Consider making some handouts and worksheets available to students as resources, rather than giving everyone the same stuff. Show them how to select the materials they need and where to store them for future reference.

2. Skills Practice

Many teachers use worksheets to give students practice in required skills. This seems to be most common in math (or, in the later grades, with things like chemistry equations). While this method obviously gives teachers some of the results they're hoping for, if you take a few things into consideration, you can probably refine the practice. Here are some questions to consider when heading to the copy machine:

How much practice is really needed? Does every student need the same amount of practice? Can they stop when they've had enough?

Would other activities be just as beneficial-or more beneficial-than practice problems? In this youcubed article, professor Jo Boaler describes four other ways to develop number facts and number sense. She also shared a strategy in a recent tweet where a problem is placed in the center of a paper and students use the corners of the page to show four different ways of solving the problem. These kinds of activities get kids to actually think and talk about the math they're doing, rather than just completing problem after problem.

I'm going to bring this up again: If you're recording a grade on practice work, especially if that grade is based on accuracy, it's not practice!! Keep this in mind when deciding how many problems are really necessary to give students the practice they need.

3. Differentiation

Teachers often find that creating leveled packets of work is a simple way to personalize learning for each student. But again, does that have to mean each child gets one of three large, comprehensive packets? Let's look again at the suggestion I made earlier, where handouts (containing information) and worksheets (offering practice) are offered as resources, and students decide which they need. To see this idea fully developed, check out Natalie McCutchen's self-paced math classroom: Students work through units on their own, and they decide how much practice they need before taking the assessments, so some students do a lot, while others do very little.

4. Grade-level Alignment

In some schools, teachers are required to teach the same thing as their grade-level counterparts, on the same day, and document the whole process in detailed, standards-aligned lesson plans. When I talk to teachers about why they're burned out, it's policies like these that they often cite as completely draining them. This type of requirement also causes many of them to resort to teaching entirely with packets: Find a workbook that says it's standards-aligned, then everyone use the same set of pages every week. Done.

This makes for incredibly dry, uninspired learning, and unfortunately, I don't have a good solution for it. My best advice is to share this post with your administrator so they can see the impact that this type of policy is having. I would also urge you to question the integrity of the standards label: Is the packet really getting kids to do what the standard says, or is it a "lighter" version of that? These packets may act as a stopgap for now, but if your team has been using the same set for several years, now may be the time to look more closely at them to see if some pages could be removed and replaced with other activities.

5. Sub Work

When we have substitute teachers, sometimes packets seem to be the only option. This is another tricky one. If you really have no other option, at least do everything you can to make sure the worksheets lean more toward the "powersheet" end of the continuum. Another option that can work if you know you're going to be out ahead of time is to train a few students to lead the class in an actual lesson, then let the sub know that the plan is to let these students teach. This would obviously require a lot of work up front, and you need to have built a classroom culture where students want to behave while you're gone, but I do think it can be done.

6. Crowd Control

In overcrowded classrooms it seems impossible to do anything hands-on, any kind of group work, anything interactive. Worksheets keep everyone in their seat and under control. This, again, is more of a systemic issue that could only truly be solved at the policy level. With that said, I still don't believe worksheets are the only option. Sure, you might not be able to do big, sweeping hands-on stuff, but you can do paired work, set up tasks around the room in stations, or even split the class in half so that only some are doing the "active" work while others are seated and calm, then switch. More than anything, just don't throw in the towel on this.

7. Bell-Ringers & Morning Work

In order to maximize instructional time, we are advised to make sure students have meaningful work to do from the moment they walk into class; hence the birth of the bell-ringer. I have definitely seen the value of a good bell-ringer, and saw a huge difference between the year that I didn't use these and the years that I did. But if that work isn't really meaningful or isn't helping most kids learn, it's a waste. Here are some other options:

Have students do self-selected reading for the first 10 minutes of class.

Give students a great anticipatory set to introduce the day's learning. There are so many options for these, like the thought-provoking images that Christina DeCarbo-Wagners now uses instead of morning work, or the "appetizers" recommended by math teachers Matt Vaudrey and John Stevens in their book, The Classroom Chef.

Establish morning choice: Why not offer students a variety of choices for morning work? In this fantastic post, principal Adam Dovico describes how one teacher made this shift, allowing students to choose between artistic expression, problem solving, computer time, leadership, collaboration, and game time. The big key in making this successful was that she rolled it out slowly, giving students experience with each station first before giving them more freedom to choose later on.

8. Some Kids Like Worksheets

For some students, busysheets give them a nice, calm, quiet activity to pass the time. But this alone is no reason to make them standard fare in your classroom. What you can do is make busysheets an option for free time, as something to do to decompress, or as one of several options students might choose to practice a set of skills or test themselves on some aspect of your content-not for a grade, but for practice.

9. Students Need Fine Motor Practice

Early childhood educators sometimes rely on worksheets for handwriting practice or to have students color, cut, and glue items to develop fine motor skills.

Although worksheets offer one way to give students fine motor practice, there are lots of other ways to do it, too. This post offers 40 ideas for fine motor practice, and this one offers 30 more.

Once a child has gotten to a certain level of fine motor development, do they still need to keep practicing it the same amount as other students?

More Ideas

If you're going to cut down or eliminate your use of packets and worksheets, you'll have a lot more instructional time, and that's a good thing. Here are some things you can do with that time:

The Challenge: Do a Worksheet Audit

Everyone teaches differently, and as we have established, all worksheets are not created equal. There is no single prescription for what kind or how many worksheets you should be using with your students. Only you and your students can know that for sure.

So my challenge to you is simple: From now on, every time you're about to use a worksheet, ask yourself if it's contributing to student learning or if it's actually just keeping them busy. If it's the latter, start replacing your worksheets with better, richer alternatives. Your students will learn better, school will be more fun, and you'll waste a whole lot less time in line at the copy machine. ♦

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Are your worksheets contributing to meaningful learning, or just keeping students busy?

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Welcome to The Ultimate Guide to Math Centers Blog Series, so far we've talked about how important it is to do centers.

Now, let's talk about planning math centers.

There are several things that you need to consider before you jump in head first.

You maybe thinking, "Greg, I need to get started RIGHT NOW!"

I hear you. I know that you're excited and I'm excited for you, but if you don't take the time to pre-plan then you'll run into trouble later on. It's like having a house with no foundation. There will be cracks.

PLUS you're not a robot, your math center time may look a little different than a teacher in another grade level or district. For example, you may only have 20 minutes to do centers, while another teacher has 60.

Now, take a deep breath and set aside some time to reflect on these 8 major areas of center implementation that will impact how you set up centers in your classroom.

Area #1: Time and Frequency

How much time you have in your math block will have an impact on how your center time looks. Ideally, it would be nice to have 45 - 60 minutes dedicated to math centers everyday.

But keeping it real, you may not have that amount of time.

So unless you are going to advocate for more time (which I encourage you to do!), be realistic so that you have quality over quantity.

Area #2: Routines and Procedures
What routines will you have in place for:
- transitions - math conversations - early finishers

- clean up - partner work - group work

Be proactive because this will make or break your centers. Take some time to think of all of the little things (like the list above) that happen during math centers that require routines and procedures.

Try not to assume what you think kids should already know..... more than likely they don't know it. You get to set the expectations with your students.

Area #3: Student Groupings

Do you have a class of 13 or a class of 31? Take some time to envision how that will impact your center time.

In my experience the perfect group has 4 students (it was just something about adding that 5th student - LOL). However, if you have a very large class, you may need groups of 5.

You can always test group size out and switch things up later.

Area #4: Student Movement

We all have different teaching styles. You may love for your students to get up and move to a new area of the room for their next center or you may want to keep everything they need at their desks.

Guess what? Either way is fine.

The important thing is that you have a SYSTEM for what you want to do and that kids are able to work with each other and have meaningful math conversations. To find out more about this, check out my course Math Centers 101.

Area #5: Classroom Space

Based on your classroom size, can students spread out?

Is there a dedicated area in your room to store extra materials? (i.e. closet or cabinets)

Small room. Huge room. No closets. Bookshelves or Cubbies.

Do a quick survey of your room and think about where you can store your math materials. Knowing your classroom size may also help you make decisions about student movement and group sizes.

Area #6: Student Needs

How will you know if your students have an emergency?

What should a student do if they have a question?

Of course the ultimate goal during math center time is having zero distractions so that you can work with your teacher led group...

But emergencies do happen, so what then?

Think about a way for students to get your attention during an emergency.

Area #7: Materials

Where will your math centers be stored in your room?

What materials will you use?

How will students get their materials?

Are any materials off limits (i.e. pencil sharpener)?

There are three main categories of materials for centers:

(1) center activities - games, recording sheets, etc.

(2) manipulatives - base ten blocks, geoboards, etc.

(3) other items - pencils, crayons, etc.

Pssst..If you need great grade level centers to fill up those storage bins, check them out here.

Area #8: Behavior Expectations

This has a very close connection to your routines and procedures. We all want our students to be accountable for their own behavior, but we have to explicitly set those expectations from the start.

Now you have it..... all 8 topics to consider before jumping into math centers.

I know that this can all seem overwhelming, so I urge you to choose only 1 to 2 areas to focus on at one time. This way, thinking about the whole picture becomes much more manageable.

Once you select the areas that you want to focus on, be sure to leave a comment telling us which ones you selected and why.

Looking to grab the reflection sheet that has all 8 areas and questions? Download the FREE 8 Things to Consider When Planning Math Centers Reflection Sheet by clicking on the picture above.

Join me for the Next Post: Organizing Math Centers

All of these questions got your head spinning? Take a deeper dive into Math Centers NOW with my video course where I walk you through all of the steps...

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8 Things to Consider when Planning Math Centers

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Welcome to The Ultimate Guide to Math Centers Blog Series, so far we've talked about how important it is to do centers. Now, let's talk about planning math centers. There are several things that you need to consider before you jump in head first. You maybe thinking, "Greg, I need to get started RIGHT NOW!"

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This is a simple one but feel free to use anything else you find and like better! The important thing is to record your time with students and use observations to adjust instruction.

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Questions to ask when planning for routines & procedures

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Questions to ask when planning for routines & procedures

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Classroom routines and procedures for elementary checklist to help you know all the little details to teach your students the first few weeks of school to have your entire school year run smoothly - I've compiled them all into a list for you! :)

- How to politely enter and exit the classroom

- How and when to turn in homework, homework folder, or parent notes

- Where to put packed lunch

- Where to put backpack, coat, etc.

- How to do lunch count if your school does that

- What to do after they've put away their backpack, done lunch count, etc. (have a specific task like start morning work or start morning tubs)

- When they can access backpacks/cubbies during school day (and IF they are allowed to)

- How to sharpen pencils or get a new pencil / what to do if pencil breaks

- How to safely handle scissors

- How to push down marker lids until they click

- How to push down glue stick lid until it's tight

- How to get more glue out of a glue stick (show the height to stop turning it)

- How a table/desk should look when it is clean

- How to get textbooks, notebooks, and other supplies when needed (Who gets them - each person or a table leader? Where do they get them? How do they put them back neatly?)

- How to walk in line (Blog post with a ton of tips coming soon!)

- How to ask to get a drink

- How to ask to go to the bathroom

- How to ask to go to the nurse

- What you should ask to go to the nurse for vs. what they can handle themselves in the classroom (in that same 20 Classroom Management strategies post above, definitely also download the free "Ouchie Lotion" label I put on there to save soo many trips to the nurse)

- How to raise hand to ask a question / talk

- How to sit (crossed legs, hands in lap, mouths closed, etc.)

- How to sit at their desks/on the carpet/at small group table when you're teaching

- How to respectfully walk from seat to carpet

- How to respectfully walk from the carpet to their seats

- What to do when someone (child or adult) enters the room (NOTHING. Mind your business :))

- When a student is allowed to approach your desk or small groups table without being called (if they are ever allowed to)

- How and where to turn in work done in class

- How to check their work before they turn it in

- What to do when they're done with work (might be different for each time of day)

- What to do with work they don't finish in class

- How to always put their name on their paper and any other info you have them do (first and last name, student number, etc.)

- How to clean up during transitions

- What to do if you were absent (Blog post about this coming soon!)

- What happens if they don't finish their work in class

- What happens if they don't turn in their homework

- How to know what group you're in

- How to get center materials

- How to clean up and put away math materials

- The voice level to talk during centers (again, a perfect time to use my voice level chart -I recommend the Indoor Iguanas level for center time)

- What to do if your partner is absent during math centers

- How to always have your finger following along

- How to sit respectfully during reading groups

- How to ask for editing or help

- How to edit their work on their own first

- How to use the word wall (or personal dictionary if you use them) to correctly spell words

- Where to put writing that is in progress (or any work that is in progress for that matter)

- What to do when done with writing (I highly recommend my No Prep Writing Crafts for a fun writing activity they can do when done with their main writing OR as their main writing. That post explains how they're made and used but I've also written posts for Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Oct, Nov, and Dec that show the different fun writing crafts for the month. You can get to them all by going to my big Miss Giraffe Blog Posts List to find each post full of pictures and ideas)

- Voice level again (it's important to establish the voice level you expect during each part of the day since it changes. Writing time is typically Quiet Turtles whereas centers would be Inside Iguanas, in-classroom breaks would be Chatty Chickens, etc.)

- How to respectfully listen to someone else share their writing

- How to put books back & where they go

- When they are allowed to get a book & if they have to keep the book they select or if they are allowed to switch it out (and, if so, how many times)

- How many people are allowed in the library at a time

- How to walk with a book (ex: hug it until you get to seat)

- How many books they are allowed to have at their seat at a time

- How to behave in the lunch room

- How to behave in specials

- Hallway behavior (no running, talking, peeking in other classrooms, touching bulletin boards, etc.)

- Bathroom etiquette (what to do/not to do in bathroom, count to 30 (or whatever) while washing hands)

- How to line up quietly while they wait for you to pick them up from recess or specials

- How to log in to computer and/or devices

- How to handle devices (how to walk with them, get them, put them away, how to use them)

- How to get to websites, apps, etc. you want them to use & how to log in if needed

- When they are allowed to access technology

- How to pack up to go home

- How to line up to go home

- How to exit the classroom and walk out of the school respectfully

- Where to go after school (bus riders, parent pick up, etc.)

If you need some fun materials or want visuals to teach some of these routines, I created these really fun behavior pocket chart centers with 126 different classroom and school rules/routines/situations for kids to sort as a Responsible Choice or NOT Responsible!

Each card has a school situation or classroom behavior that kids sort as either being a Responsible Choice or NOT Responsible - these fit perfectly in a pocket chart!

They can also be used whole group to show kids on the carpet the cards of what to do and what not to do so kids have visuals when you discuss all the routines and procedures with your new students! They are also a lot of fun to act out together on the carpet (either do it yourself to model or choose a student volunteer for each). The "NOT Responsible" ones are super fun to act out :) They make great discussion starters for talking about rules on the carpet at the beginning of the year or any time they need a reminder.

There are SO many cards including how to behave in the classroom, how to behave at recess, how to behave in the lunch room, how to behave during centers and in reading groups, how to behave in the hallway, how to line up, how to be kind to others, etc. so you can pick out the cards that apply to those specific categories to organize into small lessons for each time of day so you can make a lot of different behavior lessons out of these cards.

I plan on using them that way to make a lot of anchor charts out of these at the beginning of the school year for different lessons like Morning Routine Expectations, How to Behave at Recess, How to Behave in the Cafeteria, etc. so I will try to remember to add those to this post as I make them so you can see examples! :)

Here are some more pictures of them so you can see some more examples!

You could also pull them out in small groups to teach little behavior lessons at your table! Have kids sort them in front of you, talk about each one, etc.

I hope you enjoy these!!

If you use them in a different way, I'd love to hear about it!

If you want these, you can get them here:

Also, if you are New to First Grade (or new to Kindergarten or 2nd), definitely check out this post I just published last weekend:

You can also check out all my favorite blog posts organized by topic here:

Go to the Classroom Management section for more fun ideas like these!

If you enjoyed this, I have a LOT more posts I plan on posting soon. Here are some ways you can follow along:
Pinterest
TeachersPayTeachers(so you can see when I post new resources!)
Facebook
Instagram

Thanks so much for reading!!

Here's a pin you can use to save this post to read later if you want! :)

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Classroom Routines and Procedures for Elementary Checklist

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Classroom routines and procedures for elementary checklist to help you know all the little details to teach your students the first few weeks of school to have your entire school year run smoothly - I've compiled them all into a list for you!

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Daily Routines with Word Sorts - This Reading Mama

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This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure policy for more information. Welcome to This Reading Mama! I'm on my second week of Teaching Spelling Through Word Study, a 10-day series with the bloggers of iHomeschool Network. If you've missed any of the posts from this series, feel free to click HERE or ...

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Task cards allow my students to be independent learners and I can use them in a variety of ways in the classroom. At the basic level task cards are a set of cards that have tasks or questions written on them. They are one of the many teaching tools that I find very effective when it comes to reinforcement and assessment.

They are also an effective alternative for student worksheets that may seem to be boring at times. It's not advisable to use them when introducing a topic, because they are meant to be done during practice and review.

Task cards can be implemented in many ways. I use them individually, in pairs, with small groups, or as an activity for the whole class. It really depends on the topic I am discussing and the knowledge and skills of the students regarding that particular unit.

My teaching partner has created a years worth of middle school science task cards. This is an amazing resource that we use often in our classes.

Here are some creative ideas you can try with your task cards. Students have enjoyed using task cards in my class.

1. Individually, task cards can serve as reinforcement for students who need more time achieving the specific skill needed for a topic. They are better alternatives to worksheets in my opinion. While using task cards, students are asked to answer as many or few as they can. I can then use them as a formative assessment to gauge student knowledge.

2. Task cards can also be done at home. I sometimes give them as homework so that my students can practice the skill even when they are outside my classroom.

3. Preparing challenging task cards are also good for students who are very fast in picking up the lessons. They can be set aside for students who have completed their other work and used as an enrichment.

4. Task cards allow students to move around the room which is always a plus in my book. Set high expectations for what the movement looks like.

5. Task cards can also be used in small groups. You can divide your students and present one task card at a time. Have them write their answers on the whiteboard for comparison before discussing the next one.

6. You can also use task cards in game-like activities like "Scoot". Students will be given different cards to answer for a certain period of time, perhaps 2 to 3 minutes will do (depending on the questions or tasks and grade level of the students). Students will then answer it on their own. It can be written in their notebooks, papers, or in a task cards journal. When the allotted time is up, the teacher will say "Scoot!" All students must move and answer another card that awaits them. (Another version of this is to let the students pass on the task cards to his or her seatmate once the time to answer is up.)

7. Another game we play is called "Back to Back Game". In this game, a pair of students will be given the same task card to answer. They will either sit or stand with their backs against each other. The teacher will read the task aloud so the whole class will have the chance to hear it. The students will then answer it, either by personal whiteboards or hand signal and turn to each other to find out if they have same answers. Discussion will follow after that.

8. Use them for small group interventions. I often have students stay after school for tutorials and we break out the task cards so that I can really hone in on what they are struggling with. They give me a good point of reference to where the gaps are.

9. You can also integrate these cards in board games (free board printables here). Unanswered or incorrect answers would mean a miss turn. Students must answer his or her task card first before taking turns. Better yet, let the students make up the rules.

10. Another game which would make students move is "Around the Room Game". Task cards will be placed all over the room hidden and the students must try to look for them. Once they found one, they will answer it. You can give extra points for students who can answer correctly.

11. Another game, which is very engaging and quick to do is what we call "Order up". The mechanics of this game is to rearrange the cards and paste them consecutively on another sheet. Each card will have two parts - answers and questions. Two cards will have the "Start" and "Finish" clues, which obviously will go on the first and last spot. The "Start" clue has a question and you will have to find its answer to be glued next to its spot. This also contains another question for you to answer. You will repeat the directions until you come up with the "Finish" card.

12. If you want to have a paperless version of this task card activity, you can use the computer.tablet, text polls, or personal whiteboards.

13. Task Cards are also best for reinforcing Cooperative Learning Activities/ Strategies. You could give your students sets of task cards to answer with their group. In doing so they develop unity and camaraderie.

14. Interactive Notebooks can also be used when working with task cards. You can create words and tell the students to group them accordingly, inserting each card in specific slots.

15. You can also use the task cards to record the progress of your students. We often use them as an assessment or a quiz grade.

Do you have any ways that you use task cards? I would love to hear about them in the comments.

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15 Ways to Use Task Cards In Your Classroom | Kesler Science

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Task cards allow my students to be independent learners and I can use them in a variety of ways in the classroom. At the basic level task cards are a set of cards that have tasks or questions written on them. They are one of the many teaching tools that I find very effective when [...]

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31 Terrific Ways to Use Task Cards with Your Students - Minds in Bloom

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Do more with your task cards! Here are 31 ideas for making your lessons even more fun and engaging using resources you already have. Plus, you can download a free…

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A new era of standardized testing is quickly approaching with the dawn of the Common Core Standards assessments in the fall of 2014. And districts all over the country are adjusting their curriculums to meet the challenge. The Common Core requires students to think and learn in a much deeper way, and one of the best ways to facilitate that deeper learning is to get kids writing. Not just in English class, but all the time.

"Writing is an absolute imperative for success with the Common Core," said Steve Peha, founder of Teaching That Makes Sense, a national education consultancy specializing in literacy, leadership and school-wide change. "The Common Core and its associated tests set a significantly higher bar for student achievement. When you include the Next Generation Science Standards, it's pretty easy to see that kids are going to have to be much better writers than they have ever been before. Writing regularly, in all subject areas but especially in math, social studies, and science is going to be crucial."

What Is Writing Across the Curriculum?
Writing Across the Curriculum is a movement that began in the 1970s and is gaining a lot of attention these days. It is designed to boost children's critical thinking skills by requiring them to write in all of their
classes-from math to social studies to science-and not just in language arts. And it's a perfect fit for Common Core.

The new standards will require that content area teachers reinforce the benchmarks that ELA teachers traditionally have covered in their classrooms. This means that the burden of literacy will shift to the entire teaching staff. Math, science and history teachers will be tasked with using writing assignments to help kids learn the subject matter at hand, whether it's photosynthesis or algebra. Going forward it will be more important than ever that teachers coordinate their lesson plans in support of the Common Core Standards.

Why Write Across the Curriculum?
Learning to write, and write well, is a crucial life skill. Not only does it help one succeed in school, it's vital to success in the "real" world too. Writing has become essential in today's wired world. We communicate through the written word on a daily basis via email and text.

And when today's elementary and middle school children enter the work force, they will be expected to know how to fire up their computers and write coherent, intelligent content pretty much no matter what field they choose.

In addition, studies have shown that writing helps boost student achievement across the board because it actively engages children. It requires them to take in information, organize their thoughts, sort through all of the information they've received and then process it. "Writing is the most extensive brain workout a kid can get," said Mr. Peha. "It includes reading, logic, motor coordination and if writing for an audience, social emotional intelligence." In other words, there are a lot of benefits to writing:

Writing aids retention. It helps children remember and understand material much more than passive forms of learning like reading and listening. "Writing helps with mental recall," said Mr. Peha. "It cements a concept in a kid's brain more than anything else."

Writing increases the depth of knowledge on a subject and helps students master any specialized vocabulary or terminology related to the topic.

Writing develops critical thinking skills. When a child has to research something, organize her thoughts and then write about it in a clear, concise way she's flexing her mind.

Writing promotes independent thinking. In order to write, you have to have a point of view.

Writing Across the Curriculum Benefits Teachers
As daunting as writing across the curriculum may sound to some teachers, there are a lot of positive things about incorporating writing into your lesson plans!

Writing is a great way to engage allof your students! You won't just hear from the kids who are always throwing their hands up.

Writing helps teachers monitor student progress and gauge their strengths and weaknesses. "Writing lets you know where your students are at more than any test," said Mr. Peha. With regular writing assignments as part of your curriculum, you don't have to wait for a big exam to see if the kids are getting it.

Writing helps you see gaps in instruction so you can adjust your teaching to insure that all of the students get what you're talking about!

Writing saves you time! Writing can be a very efficient way to cover multiple standards at once because it is such a complex, multifaceted task. In science, for example, you can get a glimpse of students' hypothetical and procedural thinking by analyzing a written lab report.

Students learn best by writing. "Kids learn the most through writing," said Mr. Peha. "If you're only going to do one thing, writing is the highest payoff activity you can pick."

Getting Started With Writing Across the Curriculum
Some teachers have expressed concern over writing across the curriculum. Math and science teachers may worry they'll have to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching writing skills and have to become experts in the six traits of writing or give up their evenings to grading stacks and stacks of papers. But that's not the goal of writing across the curriculum. The point is deeper learning, not a perfectly developed writing product as one would aim for in English class. There are many ways to incorporate writing into lesson plans without requiring a teacher to become a six traits whiz.

Here are seven awesome ways to bring writing into your classroom no matter what subject you're teaching:

1. Journal Writing: Journal writing is a great way to create confident writers. Journals are an informal place for students to summarize their thoughts and think about class content, no matter what the subject. You can give the children writing prompts or just let them write freely!

2. Think-Pair-Share: After a lecture or presentation, invite the children to record their thoughts. Then pair them up with another student and have them discuss the topic. Finally, open the discussion up to the whole class. You'll find that by organizing and writing their thoughts before the discussion, the kids will have much more insightful things to add to the conversation!

3. Quick-Writes: Quick-writes are great ways to get students to practice writing and critical thinking skills. They're designed to focus the student's thinking. Set a timer for 10 minutes and give the children a writing prompt. You can show them an historical picture, read a quote from your favorite scientist or ask them to write about how they'd use a math theory in real life. Anything that gets them thinking...and writing! Not only are quick-writes quick to write, they're incredibly quick to review as well. Short writing is going to be as important as long writing with the Common Core Standards. All children will have to express coherent thoughts in both short and long time periods.

4. Self-Assessments: Throughout the year invite the students to write about how they think they're doing in class! Ask them what the most difficult part of the class has been or what they've loved learning. Not only will they get practice writing, you'll get valuable insight into how your students are learning and what you can do to help them even more!

5. Real World Writing: Think about the type of writing most often done in your discipline and have the students do it! For example, mathematicians write theorems and textbook problems. Scientists write lab reports. Journalists in all fields write articles. Have the kids create a website or a pamphlet for some real world writing experience. This not only gives the students hands-on experience in the discipline, but fulfills the Common Core requirement that students produce not only short writing assignments, but longer, more involved assignments too.

6. Note Taking: There isn't a ton of writing development in scribbling notes as a teacher is talking. But you can use note taking to flex your students' writing skills if you tweak things a bit. Mr. Peha loves using "summary note taking" as a writing exercise. He suggests breaking your lectures down into 5 to 10-minute chunks and inviting the students to summarize what you spoke about at the end of each block. They'll get to flex both their writing and retention skills and you'll get a break to catch your breath!

7. Research Projects: The Common Core Standards require all students to be able to research a topic in any discipline and write about it. So ask your students to write research-based arguments, not just persuasive arguments. The goal is for all children to become self-directed learners that are adept at researching (and writing about!) a wide variety of subjects.

Writing across the curriculum is a wonderful way to get kids writing and learning in bigger, better, deeper ways. Is your school working on writing across the curriculum? Please share what you're doing in the comments.

Looking For More Writing Help?Check out our collection of free writing across the curriculum resources!
Go Now.

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Writing Across the Curriculum: What, How and Why - WeAreTeachers

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By Deva Dalporto A new era of standardized testing is quickly approaching with the dawn of the Common Core Standards assessments in the fall of 2014. And districts all over the country are adjusting their curriculums to meet the challenge. [...]

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Government Webquest - World Government and Civics Class

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This webquest is designed to help you learn about the different kinds of government in the world. You will also be deciding which form of government would be best for a new civilization.

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ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies practice and assessment materials.

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Get real-time data on your students' performance in Adaptive practice, Assigned practice, Inquiry Based Lessons, Fact Practice, Writing, and more.

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Username: rvillagra Password: dcsm5209

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Reading A-Z: The online reading program with downloadable books to print and assemble | Reading A-Z

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Award-winning reading solution with thousands of leveled readers, lesson plans, worksheets and assessments to teach guided reading, reading proficiency and comprehension to K-5 students

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Science stuff galore! Sharepoint.

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Teaching Channel - Writing HOT Questions

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Teaching Channel - Writing HOT Questions

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Francisco use Bloom's Taxonomy to help students write questions?

2. What can you learn from Ms. Francisco about teaching multiple strategies?

3. How does Ms. Francisco encourage students to use their personal reactions?

School Details

Orange Grove Middle Magnet School
3415 North 16th Street
Tampa FL 33605

Data Provided By:

Teachers

Thristine Edwards Francisco

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Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. How does Ms. Francisco use Bloom's Taxonomy to help students write questions?

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Teaching Channel - Writing HOT Questions

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Teaching Channel - Writing HOT Questions

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Video Examples of Student Discourse (ELEM & SECONDARY)

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Video Examples of Student Discourse (ELEM & SECONDARY)

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Student Discourse - ACPS Talent Development

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How do talk moves encourage students to make connections with each other?

2. Which talk moves do you use in your classroom?

3. Which could you add?

4. What can you learn from Ms. Simpson about encouraging students to change their minds?

School Details

Lakeridge Elementary School
7400 South 115th St
Seattle WA 98178

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Fourth grade teacher Lynn Simpson uses a variety of talk moves to encourage participation and collaboration. Lynn explains how asking students to repeat each others' thinking encourages deeper understanding. By adding on, students build off of their peers' ideas. Lynn describes how her class devised their own "agree" signal to use during discussions.

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Limiting “Teacher Talk,” Increasing Student Work! - Peers and Pedagogy

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“Wah waah wah waah wah wah…” We all know the famous muted trumpet of adults in Charlie Brown’s world, especially their teacher, Miss Othmar. After five years teaching elementary school, I’m confident that I’m not boring my kids to sleep but I do wonder if I strike the right balance between “teacher…

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Unpacked Standards with Standard Specific Questions

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Unpacked Standards with Standard Specific Questions

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This page is the main page for the Unpacked ELA Standards. It contains the links to the other pages with unpacked standards.