Over the past several years I have developed a strong interest in the literature relating the findings of recent brain research and its implications for improving student learning. Though the list of effective, “brain-friendly” practices recommended by the research is long and varied, three particular types of strategies stand out to me as unusually engaging and powerful: those involving movement, music, and storytelling. I refer to this collection of strategies as the “3 Game Changers.”

p: Kieran Gillard via photopin cc

As I have worked to incorporate brain-friendly practices into my teaching, I have found that children simply react differently to activities that include elements of movement, music, and storytelling. Even when compared to other research-based, effective practices, the 3 Game Changers offer unparalleled novelty, interest, stimulation, excitement, and joy. As a result, students become emotionally involved in these activities, pay more attention, remember better, and, in short, learn better. Strategies that incorporate movement, music, and storytelling also improve class morale, build self-esteem and enthusiasm for learning, and increase feelings of student “connectedness” to the class and to one another.

My belief in the effectiveness of music, movement, and storytelling is so absolute that I dedicated myself to gathering, adapting, and creating as many strategies and activities as I could that feature these elements. I put over 100 of these ideas into ROCK YOUR STUDENTS’ WORLD, my soon-to-be-released teacher resource book.

Here are two of my favorite ideas for improving student learning in the area of reading, one that incorporates movement and another that involves music.

The first features a specific type of movement that I call “concept-embedded” movement, in which the activity itself features a type of movement that represents, matches, or embodies the meaning of the content students are expected to learn. Thus, when students move around and participate in the activity, they are actually bringing the content to life.

The second capitalizes on the finding shared by Jerry Evanski in his book, CLASSROOM ACTIVATORS, that “music can...be used to ‘entrain’ information into the brain.” By entrain, Evanski means that teachers can set academic content to music to help students learn and memorize information. The best way to do this is through the use of familiar tunes that Amy Schwed and Janice Melichar-Utter, authors of BRAIN-FRIENDLY STUDY STRATEGIES, GRADES 2-8, refer to as “piggyback songs.”

Reading Around the Room

Comprehension often suffers when children read too quickly or fail to follow punctuation signals. To address these issues, my kids and I love to use a variation of a strategy suggested in Sharon Tate’s WORKSHEETS DON’T GROW DENDRITES and Patricia Wolfe’s BRAIN MATTERS.

Students stand in a large circle with a common text in their hands. On the “Go” signal, everyone reads aloud, in unison, from a predetermined starting point. While reading, everyone slowly walks forward. At every comma, students stop walking and pause in their reading for one second before resuming their walking and reading. At every period, exclamation point, or question mark, the kids stop and pause in their reading for two seconds before resuming their walking and reading. (You may need, of course, to add other movements or features should you encounter different types of punctuation.) The fact that the whole class does this together provides both a strong physical and vocal structure and helps children who may struggle following these rules on their own.

During our Reading Workshop’s fall “Reading Aloud Well” unit, this activity is an important part of my effort to help everyone read with fluency, volume, and expression. I try to have my students read around the room for a few minutes at the end of each Reading Workshop period. Even just three minutes per day for a couple weeks makes a huge difference in student reading proficiency.

The Cause and Effect Song

Understanding cause and effect is one of the most important reading comprehension skills children are expected to learn. The two scenarios that lead off the following song should help your students remember that the cause happens before the effect and that the effect cannot happen without the cause. (If you are interested, you can find a video of children performing this song on my YouTube channel.)



My untied shoelace made me trip (cause & effect)
The rainstorm made me go inside (cause & effect)
The cause happens first
The effect happens next
The effect happens beCAUSE of the cause (cause & effect)

If you find these two activities helpful and share my belief in the potential of movement and music to improve student learning, I encourage to ask yourself the same questions that I began to ask myself a few years ago whenever I needed to teach content that my students were likely to find abstract or confusing or that would otherwise require rote memorization. Ask yourself, “Is there a way that I can use or create a type of movement to help my students learn this material? Is there a way I can use music?”

Once you begin thinking along these lines, you are bound to unleash your creativity and come up with powerful lessons that children will remember for a long time.

Steve Reifman is a National Board Certified elementary school teacher, author, and speaker in Santa Monica, CA. He has written several books for educators and parents, including CHANGING KIDS’ LIVES ONE QUOTE AT A TIME, EIGHT ESSENTIALS FOR EMPOWERED TEACHING AND LEARNING, K-8, and the soon-to-be-released ROCK YOUR STUDENTS’ WORLD, which features classroom strategies that incorporate movement, music, and storytelling. Steve is also the creator of the award-winning Chase Manning Mystery Series for kids 8-12. For Teaching Tips, articles, and other valuable resources and strategies on teaching the whole child, visit www.stevereifman.com. You can also follow Steve on Twitter (@stevereifman) and subscribe to his “Teaching Kids” YouTube channel.i>

Steve is offering Engage readers a 50% discount on his two new professional development courses on Udemy.com. You can view his available courses here and here. To take advantage of this offer, enroll by May 15th. You don’t need to complete the courses by then; you simply need to enroll.



Learning by Ear

Study: Musical training tones the mind, enhances learning

One of the many criteria for good fiction are characters that are so real they practically jump off the page and sit next to you while you read their story, voraciously turning the pages to see what happens next. But, what if those characters really did come off the pages in all their life-size glory?

I asked myself that very question and here is what happened:

My students and I were reading A WRINKLE IN TIME as a whole class; I read aloud while they followed along with their own copy of the book. As we read we also took notes about key story elements in the beginning, middle, and end; who the characters were and their particular traits; and the settings where the story took place. Each day we looked forward to our reading time together and spending time with Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin.

By the time we were finished reading the book we each had a deep understanding of the story as a whole. And then the fateful day finally arrived when we turned the last page in the book. We felt a melancholy that comes when all good things end. But we were not ready to leave our friends just yet.

That’s when I pitched the idea of making dioramas. The class was super excited about the project. But then I told them the dioramas would be life-size. “Cool!” and “Awesome!” were a couple of the many positive exclamations from my students. Yes, this does sound crazy and it is a daunting project at first blush—but trust me when I say it does all come together, and the end result is priceless in so many ways!

Below is a supply list and the process for completing the project from start to finish.

SUPPLIES

1. Large box—think super-size shoe box. I got three from my local bicycle shop. They are constantly getting new shipments of bikes. You can also try stores such as Lowes, Home Depot, and other similar stores that sell large appliances.
2. Paper Mache paste OR rolls of masking tape
3. Newspapers or other larger pieces of recycled paper
4. Poster paints (primary and secondary colors work best)
5. Paint brushes
6. Containers for paints and water for brushes
7. Old towels
8. Kids’ clothing and shoes
9. Yarn
10. Scissors
11. Butcher paper in blue, green, brown (if you can’t find them locally, they can be purchased online here)
12. Rulers and yardsticks

GETTING STARTED

Divide your students into three groups. Each will represent the beginning, middle, and end of the book. I let my students choose their own groups because at this time of the year, they all knew the rules about how to choose—namely, no one gets left out. However, I know sometimes it is better for the teacher to assign the groups, for whatever reason. Use your best judgment for your class.

Once you have the three groups, each will write a short summary of plot points for their portion of the story. Then, they will select a scene from their summary to diagram on paper. This is their “blueprint” for their diorama. Each group will also create a list of items they need, i.e., clothing for their characters, colors of paints, yarn for hair, etc. Let your students know that it is better to have too much detail rather than too little. It is easier to take away than to add.

CREATING THE DIORAMAS

The students will let you know what color butcher paper they will want on the background of their cardboard box. All you need to do is cut the pieces to the size of your boxes. For example, for a sky you would like the top half in blue and perhaps the bottom half in green or brown for landscaping. The students will then paint on the paper any additional items to complete their scene’s setting. Perhaps a house painted in the background, some trees, etc.

Using the newspapers, instruct your students how to make limbs by rolling up newspapers into a tube. The feet and hands are created by bending the tubes at one end. Bodies and heads are created by crumpling newspapers into a ball and adding to it until you have a sphere the size you want, then secure the ends with masking tape. Some spheres and tubes will be smaller, for the child characters for example, and others for the adults will be larger. I had one group include the family dog so that required a little extra creativity on their part but they did a fabulous job!

Originally, I’d planned to use papier mâché for this part of the project, but then I realized that was not really necessary. Good ol’ masking tape was equally suitable, far less messy, and readily available. And the cleanup was nil!

Next, let your students select the colors of paints they want to use for painting faces and hands on their characters. Then they will select from the items of clothing an outfit for each character to wear. The yarn is used to create hair. Be sure to either use butcher paper or paint to create the “ground” or floor your characters will stand on. Some of ours were outside so the students made grass out of green butcher paper. Others were indoors so the students painted a pattern for a floor. Once the characters are fully dressed they are ready to mount onto the bottom of the cardboard box.

For mounting I used more masking tape to tape the feet to the box. I also used rulers and yardsticks to prop them up from behind. After each diorama is complete, ask the members of each group to reconvene to write a short synopsis of the scene their diorama is portraying.

SHOW AND TELL

Now is the moment you have all been waiting for—sharing your dioramas with the rest of your school! I was able to display ours on the stage, which was also in our cafeteria. They were a wonderful conversation piece for all the students to engage in while eating their lunches. When they were finished eating they needed to walk by the stage to throw away their lunch trash, which gave them an opportunity to see the dioramas up close and to read the synopsis for each.

AFTER THE SHOW

Your students will have had a creative, hands-on lesson in many subjects and they won’t even know it! The level of engagement and learning for each student will be priceless. Not to mention, you will have covered many curriculum requirements before the end of the school year including the five components of reading (phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension), writing, art using a variety of media, cooperation, and organization.

After the dioramas have been on display, they will need to be dismantled. All the materials can either be recycled. Or, if your students are like mine, they will want to take their characters home with them. I happened to use the book A WRINKLE IN TIME, but this project can easily accommodate any book and grade level.

I hope you have as positive an experience as I did with my fourth graders and their life-size book characters!

Kathleen A. Hunter, MS is a literacy tutor and aspiring children's book author. You can visit her online at www.KathleenHunterWrites.com.



Building Classroom Community, One Township at a Time

Using Music to Inspire Young Writers

Later this week, educators from all over the world will flock to the IRA conference in San Antonio to learn and reflect on current teaching practices. Thinking about the knowledgeable audience is a powerful motivator. It helps me to decide what to share and how to present it. The desire to not disappoint them pushes me to shoot for quality. An authentic audience forces me to work harder.

Back in my classroom, my students are my audience. The better I get to know them, the better I can meet their needs. Last August, when I kicked off the novel study of THE THINGS THEY CARRIED by Tim O’Brien, I discovered that eight of my 28 eleventh graders already knew what they were doing after graduation. They proudly announced that they had pre-enlisted in the military. As soon as they turned eighteen, all they had to do to make it official was sign on the dotted line.

When I asked them why they had made this commitment so early, their responses varied. Two students said it was the only way they could afford college. One said it was so he could fly jets. Three kids said they did it so they could learn a trade, and two said it was their only chance to gain citizenship status. When I asked the class what they knew about the US’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan, the room got depressingly quiet.

This tidbit of new information about my audience changed my focus. Not only did I need to teach these students how to comprehend O’Brien’s complex novel, I also needed to help them understand the consequences of war on a society and its individuals. A Scantron test wasn’t going to motivate them to dig into this difficult concept. They needed a real live audience to work for.

I needed some experts to help raise both the agency and urgency for my students. I landed on the idea of students participating in “roundtable conversations” with a variety of actual military stakeholders who understood first hand the effects of war. For this performance-based assessment, students would have to keep table conversations going for a full 90 minutes. They would have to be able to discuss the power of story and be well versed on current US conflicts and wars.

A crucial step in keeping me honest was to actually schedule a date for the roundtable talks. I sent out emails inviting guests with a military connection to join us. Surprisingly, people came out of the woodwork—many of whom needed to have audience to share their stories of war as much as my students needed to share their new learning.

The event was set for November 7th and thinking about it made my stomach churn. These military roundtable talks held high stakes. I realized students would either shine or flop based on the way I prepared them. If I didn’t adjust my instruction to meet their needs, we would all be embarrassed. Way back in July when Sam Bennett (my instructional coach) and I began brainstorming this unit, I had no idea how this final demonstration of understanding would unify my day-to-day planning. I was even more surprised how it created urgency in students to stick with complex reading and writing.

As kids reworked their final arguments stating their position on the US’s involvement in Afghanistan, I planned minilessons that would help them support their thinking and write more clearly. Students were highly invested in their learning, knowing that the background knowledge and skills they were building would better prepare them for an audience bigger than a unit test.

D-Day

On November 7th, 20 military “experts” came to school with the intent to eat lunch and talk about war. Our guests represented stakeholders ranging from disabled vets to military wives. There were sons of soldiers and active duty colonels. Some of the guests were damaged by war and others were empowered by their military experience. One guest was the father of a young marine who vehemently opposed the US’s involvement in Afghanistan. Another was a father who desperately wanted his daughter to enlist because that’s what his family did.

p: USF Iraq (Inactive) via photopin cc

During lunch, students held their own keeping conversations going. Using what they learned about the novel and current US conflicts, students put visitors at ease and the conversations flowed. Kids listened carefully to the guests’ thoughts about war and were not shy about sharing opinions and questions about its effects on society and individuals.

I was surprised by the power this experience held. I encouraged students to keep an open mind and compare their thinking with that of people who held differing perspectives. The following day, students wrote reflections. Ugo was struck that so many vets said that not only were they affected by war but so were their entire families. After hearing from people who saw combat, Jose didn’t think that his classmates who claimed to be ready to die were really ready to “sacrifice their life.” Fahrraan was concerned about PTSD and wondered how we were going to help the men and women returning home “keep their feelings in check.”

What Mattered Most

The military roundtables helped me determine what was important when it came to selecting text, assignments, and minilessons. If what I was planning didn’t prepare kids for November 7th, it came off the table. Both the students and I relied on that final demonstration of understanding to keep us on track. Without that military roundtable serving as students’ final demonstration of understanding, my day-to-day planning would have been disconnected.

I’m sorry to report that my next two units of study didn’t have the urgency of the first one. Why? I didn’t have a final demonstration of understanding paired with an authentic audience. I didn’t fully appreciate the power of this. My next two units were missing an important piece and since I was the only one giving feedback, students reverted back to playing the “game of school.” They didn’t have the motivation of a real-world audience to work for.

How Will You Get Smarter for Your Audience?

As I sit in sessions this year, I will get the chance to explore my own practice. There are specific things I want to get smarter about. For example: What authentic audiences are others using to create urgency in their students? How are teachers giving students opportunities to show growth over time? What final demonstrations of understanding have others tried?

When the catalogue of “snackable-size” sessions comes in the mail next week, I’ll decide from whom I’ll learn. I’ll relish in the knowledge that presenters have worked hard to prepare for their audiences and because of this, I know that I’ll get a little smarter about this incredibly complex job I do as a teacher.

When I return home, I will be re-energized and ready to end the year with a bang.

Come see Cris Tovani at IRA 2013. She will be presenting "Harnessing Literacy Instruction to Meet the Demands of the CCSS" on Saturday, April 20, 2013.

Cris Tovani has taught Grades 1–12 for the past twenty-nine years. In addition to teaching and being an instructional coach, she is a nationally known consultant focusing on content comprehension and assessment in secondary classrooms. She is the author of the books I READ IT, BUT I DON’T GET IT (2000), DO I REALLY HAVE TO TEACH READING? (2004), and SO, WHAT DO THEY REALLY KNOW? (2011), which investigates how teachers can progress monitor, assess, and grade students’ thinking and performance with fairness and fidelity. Her newest DVD, TALK TO ME (2012), is a collection of reading and writing conferences that demonstrates how secondary teachers can maximize purposeful talk to get the best out of kids.



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