Using Teacher Dashboard

Here is a screenshot of one of my classes on Teacher Dashboard:

We've been using Hapara Dashboard for a few years now and I have come to depend on it a lot as I share documents with students and give them feedback online with their assignments.  For instance, this screenshot shows that I have shared various documents already with my classes:

-Goal Setting Document: We will use this throughout the year to stop and assess our reading and writing. We will make goals and re-visit those during the year.

-40 Book Challenge: Students are challenged to read 40 Books this year at their level. This document is their "tracker". I can check in on students and see what they are reading and remind them to add their books to the list.

-Digital Notebook: This is their online notebook where they apply reading strategies from our mini-lessons with the books they are reading. I can check with them and see what they have done, offer feedback, and evaluate their skills. My co-teacher also has access to all of these documents so she can check on the English Language Learners.

-Book Reviews Notebook: Similar to the above. Students use this notebook to craft their book reviews which they then add to our class book blog. Last year, I had students write directly onto the blog. However, that meant I had to check their work on the blog and sometimes we had book reviews with spelling and grammar mistakes or missing requirements. This year, using the notebook and dashboard means that my co-teacher and I can check students' work and give feedback before they post to the shared blog.

I also love that I can click on the Blogger Posts button in dashboard and see all their recent posts on their own blogs. When we do a reflection in class, I can quickly click this button and monitor that students are actually on task and writing their reflections. We can also help them with their editing and ensure that they have completed the blog post before moving onto a new task/activity.

Of course, the other benefits of dashboard are that you can share out a copy of whatever document you want students to have. This creates a copy that is theirs, that they own. I can also set up "groups" in dashboard so that we can share a scaffolded version of documents with our level 1s and 2s that they can use to complete tasks and assignments. They do not need to wade through multiple documents to find theirs. I have also done the same with short stories; sending different stories to our three-four groups based on reading level.

Pyramids or Mummies?

Students have been working hard on a poster in small groups as a culminating activity for our study of Ancient Egypt. They were given a series of topics and had the opportunity to choose which topic interested them. They used classroom resources and websites to research and "dig deeper" on their topic. The emphasis was on finding new information that was not in our class textbook. Students were engaged in finding new facts and challenged to find at least 10 facts that the class might not know.

To gather their research, students used a shared google document so that they could collaborate even outside of class time. Then they identified the new facts and discussed how to present this visually on a poster so that they could share with the rest of the class. The tactile process of creating pyramids and drawing mummies was very engaging to students. 

Sumerian Piktochart Project

To complete our study of Mesopotamia we engaged the students in an Infographic project. We used the program Piktochart to create these. First students had to research on various topics we gave them and find information related to it. We gave them some guiding questions to help them and they worked in small groups to gather information on a shared google doc. We also gave them a list of credible websites to use in their research. After students had done the research, we had our tech integrator, Laura, come to class and show them how to use Piktochart. It did not take long for them to get the hang of it and they were off creating their own Infographics!

Here is an example of the directions given for one group:

Topic: Sumerian School and Writing (cuneiform)

Include: Your presentation should include the following information:

• Who went to school and what they went to school for
• The written language that they developed and how it worked
• The purpose for written language and the important role it had in Sumerian society
• Other related topics

Here are just a few of the projects created by students.


Example 1
Example 2
Example 3

Here is the rubric the students and teachers used.

RUBRIC

	MEETS	APPROACHING	DEVELOPING	BEGINNING
Creativity and Originality	-highly creative and imaginative. -used my own words.	-creative. -used my own words.	-not very creative but I tried. -may have copied sentences from sources.	-gave the facts. -used a lot of the sentences from sources.
Content	-information is complete and accurate. -clear and detailed -Everyone can learn from our presentation.	-Information is nearly complete and accurate -reasonably well detailed -We shared information from our lessons.	-Information is nearly complete, some inaccuracies. -few details -no new information was shared.	-Information is incomplete and many inaccuracies. -vague, no details -no new information was shared.
Sources of Information	-used many sources, both online and in textbooks. (4+)	-used sources, both online and in textbooks. (3+)	-used one or two sources.	-used one source.
Conventions	You have to look hard to find errors.	There are some errors but it doesn’t take away from the information.	There are many errors and it may make the information hard to understand.	There are many major errors and the information is hard to understand

Reflection Questions:

What did you and your partner do well during the research part of the project?

What would you do differently next time you do a project like this one?

How did you feel about using Piktochart for this project?

Blabberize!

This project was a lot of fun for students and they were able to work alone or with a partner. The concept is that they write a book talk from the point of view of the main character or the author. They use a program called "Blabberize" which is free. For this program you need to upload a picture of either the main character or the author and then you use the program to make the mouth of the character move to look like they are speaking. Students then write a script which they record so that it appears that they are talking. We had the students prepare the scripts ahead of time and practice because you have to do the tech part in one shot and publish it.

This project allowed students to summarize their book, without giving away too much. It also required that they write up a script of what they would say and practice this (fluency) so that they could record it without errors. At the end of the project, students self-assessed their performance. The Checkbric they used is copied below the examples. In retrospect, I would like to have a different rubric next time we do this project. This was an idea that I found last year so we tried it out, but I think a more traditional rubric with Meets, Approaching, and Developing would have been less confusing for students.

What we notice about this project is that those students who are sometimes shy to speak up a lot in class seem to enjoy this because they can record their voice at home and re-do the recording as many times as they want. It seems to build confidence in them and they enjoy the project. Also, the students enjoy playing around with the technology and making the mouth move in a lifelike manner so they are engaged in creating the final product.

Student 1
Student 2 (2 students)
Student 3

Blabberize ChecBric

Student Checklist

Teacher Rubric

_____My finished product (Blabber) shows a great amount of original thought. Ideas are creative and inventive. My script is long enough (minimum 1 minute after recorded).  _____  (5 points) _____ My script shows excellent understanding or insight of my book (ex. character or author, setting, plot, conflict, etc).  There were no spoilers! _____ (5 points) _____ My pronunciation was clear and correct; my message was communicated easily; my blabber was animated and I showed enthusiasm. _____ (5 points) _____ I embedded my final product on my school blog. _____ (3 = yes; 0 =  no) Student Reflection: 1. What did you do best on this assignment? 2. How do you feel about using Blabberize as a technology/Web 2.0 tool in the future?  Did you like it or not like it? Explain.

5= excellent, outstanding ideas and content; easy meeting of expectations; animated; way above expectations - Wow! 4= proficient, interesting ideas and content; meets expectations 3= inadequate ideas and content; close, but overly broad or simplistic; revision still needed to meet expectations; some voice inflection. 2= limited, obvious ideas and content; unclear or minimal; tried to meet expectations, major revision needed to meet expectations 1= missing, absent ideas and content; lacks central idea or purpose; way off on the requirements; message poorly communicated on final Blabberize clip; not at all animated.  OR: no attempt to meet expectations Total ______ / 18 points

Literary Essay Rubric

In a recent Language Arts unit we worked on writing a literary essay about a main character. Our first example was to discuss the Third Little Pig from the popular fairy tale of the "Three Little Pigs. We worked on this example to understand the format of the essay and how to write a convincing claim. Next, we read a longer story, "Raymond's Run" and together we looked for evidence to describe the main character, Squeaky. Students annotated the text with possible character traits and relevant evidence. Within partnerships they then worked together to craft a claim about the character. We gave them the following visual to help them find a trait and then three reasons to prove this in their essay.

Students worked with their partner to write the Character essay for "Raymond's Run" and then they chose another story from a levelled set we gave them. They then once more worked with a partner to annotate, write a claim, find evidence, and explain their reasoning. Using the Rubric, they assessed themselves and then used the feedback to revise their essays together.

The final step in this unit was for the students to repeat the whole process independently using the character from the most recent fiction novel they have read. Students had confidence with this as they had worked with peers to understand the process and had practiced it multiple times.

Here is the rubric we used.

Making Connections Assessment

Making connections to our reading is something that all good readers do as they engage with the text. This assignment involved lessons about the types of connections we make to our texts and how to explain these connections. We also focused on trying to make deep connections as opposed to more shallow ones. Here is an anchor chart that was used to help the students with the different types of connections:
(INSERT ANCHOR CHART)

We discussed the meaning of shallow and deep (with visuals). Students then had a worksheet in which they had to work with a partner to identify if the connection was shallow or deep. Finally, after checking for understanding, students read their books and looked for connections of each type. When they found a connection that they considered a deep one, they used a post-it to mark the spot and later they completed the following table. This is one student example. Here is the RUBRIC used by the student to self-assess their work followed by his reflection questions and answers.

Type of Connection	Title, author, page number	My paragraph
Text-to-self	Boy, Roald Dahl, 75~166	My childhood has been similar to Roald Dahl's; I have also had to leave my friends and my family behind. When I came to India, I had many difficulties adjusting to the new environment. Likewise, Roald Dahl found it difficult to get used to boarding school. Also, because I was worried about being able to communicate in English, I was too nervous to ask questions to the teacher. Like me, Roald Dahl was scared to talk to the teachers, because he was afraid something bad might happen.
Text-to-text	Boy, Roald Dahl, 75~166	About a year ago, I read most of the Harry Potter series. Boy reminded me little bit about The Sorcerer’s Stone because both of the protagonists had very difficult childhoods. While Roald Dahl was mainly mistreated by his teachers, Harry was brought up by his uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia, who also treated him badly for 10 years. On the other hand, while the teachers in Boy hate everyone equally, Harry’s aunt and uncle especially hated him.
Text-to-world	Boy, Roald Dahl, overall	Since Boy was an autobiography, Roald Dahl could be trying to tell the reader about how it is to attend many boarding school. When someone goes to boarding school, their parents don’t know what happens to them every day, and the students have no power to control what happens to them. For many, this can be a frightening experience, since students in the real world can also get hit, abused, and mistreated.

Book Blogs: Engaging and Building a Community of Readers

"I need a book recommendation." 
"I don't know what to read."
These are just a few of the questions middle school readers may have when they enter the library or a classroom. To help them select books and to give them a chance to make recommendations about the great books they are reading, they only have to head to our Grade 6 Book Blog!

We have all students as authors on this blog and we show them how to write a Book Review (see anchor chart below). After some lessons that talk about the ingredients of a persuasive book review, we set the to work on writing their very own review and encourage them to comment and write reviews every time they finish a book they want to share. 

All students enjoy sharing their reading and this blog builds a strong community feeling as they are all able to share, no matter what their interests and reading levels might be.  Even the most reticent student will write a review and get encouragement from peers when they make a comment. This encourages a community feeling in our class and among our grade 6 students.

We also have a rubric to accompany these reviews and at certain points in the year we ask that a review be assessed according to this rubric. Here is the rubric we use.

There is a link to our Book Blog in the links section. Here is a typical example from one of this year's students. I particularly like the voice in the last line.

   The book I finished is called The 39 Clues: The Maze Of Bones. The author's name is Rick Riordan. Every page was worth reading. It was filled with mystery and action. It's about Amy and Dan Cahill(sister and brother) whose parents have died and they are living with their Grandmother. Then suddenly their Grandmother also dies. All of Amy and Dan's relatives come to the funeral and Grace(the Grandmother) wrote in her will, that there would be a contest where there would be clues all around the world and only one team would succeed. They could either accept the challenge or take the 1,000,000 dollars which was under each one of their chairs. Of course, Amy and Dan accepted the challenge(I would have gone for the 1,000,000 dollars). They had a babysitter called Nellie who was also going with them around the world to find clues. All their relatives would do anything to win the contest. Even if it meant hurting other relatives. That is only the beginning. Little did they know that their journeys would take them to Paris, Italy and many more places; but I won't spoil the rest. You just need to read this book to find out what happens next.

   I would rate this book 5 stars because it has the 2 genres I like: action and mystery. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes fast pace action and mystery books. Like I said, EVERY PAGE IS WORTH READING.

Memoir Rubric for Self-Assessment

This year students wrote memoirs as their personal narrative for our first writing unit in language arts. We spent a considerable amount of time on mini-lessons that addressed the following:
*generating story ideas
*characteristics of memoirs
*hooking the reader with a good lead
*zooming in on the main event
*showing not telling using the senses
*satisfying conclusions
*revision and editing skills

During the process, the students periodically self-assessed and set goals for the continuation of their memoirs. As a final assessment, they were asked to self-assess using the following rubric. The rubric begins with a grade 4 level to the left and works towards a grade 7 level of writing proficiency. This rubric was adapted from materials from TCRWP (Teacher's College Reading and Writing Project). The original rubric is about 4 pages long; however, we knew that this would overwhelm our student population in which many of them are ELL's. So, we adapted this rubric to make it more manageable.

For many years now I have believed strongly that students should always assess their work before the teacher does so. It is imperative that they can reflect on what they have written and identify on a rubric what they have achieved and where they need to focus their attention for future work. In my experience, very few students are unable to assess their writing. Some students do have inflated ideas of where their writing is on a rubric and some are way too hard on themselves. But, for the most part, they are usually right on the mark and I often agree with their assessments of themselves.

We also added reflection questions for the students at the end of the rubric. This is often the section that I enjoy reading the most and which gives me the best insight into what the student is like as a writer. I am regularly amazed by some of the thoughtful responses to these questions by my students as they are able to tell me what went well, what they struggled with, and what they would remember for the next time. This set of reflection questions also included which mini-lesson they found most helpful- a great way for me to judge which ones were effective and to work on strengthening my practice.

Here is the rubric.

Here is an example of a student's thoughtful reflection on her writing:

Reflection: Answer the following in complete sentences with details.

1. What was the purpose of writing a memoir?
I think that the purpose of writing a memoir was to challenge ourselves by changing settings (flash back) and then reflect on a certain moment.

2. What was the easiest part about this assignment?
The easiest part of writing the story was to get the ideas and put them all down.

3. What was the hardest part about this assignment?
The hardest part was to describe my feelings and the story to make the reader really understand and feel what I feel.

4. What mini-lesson helped you the most?
I think the mini lesson that helped me the most was the best times last times one because it’s how I got the idea of how to make a good and powerful story about my cousin.

5. Which parts of this assignment helped you to develop your skills as a writer?
The ending part, it helped me understand that the best ending aren’t the ones that are the longest and have the most complicated words. Infact an ending can be short, simple, and very powerful.