Krystle Miller iREAD Blog

Students in grades 6-8 ELD 1 and 2 will create their own questions (with answers) based on a text. This text will be Flocabulary's Science Hip Hop "States of Matter." Students will listen along to the song multiple times while following along with the lyrics and then they will come up with questions and answers. This will be done in groups. They will then record their questions and answers in MobileStudio. They will also have to include why learning how to question is helping their reading.

To prepare for this lesson, students will listen to Flocabulary's "We Get Atomic" and responsd to questions I have created. They will record their answers in MobileStudio.

Student sample- 6th grade ELD 1

Reflection:

Successes

This project was pretty easy for my students to do because it was modeled multiple times consistently. They had responded to questions that I had written myself so they knew how to write a question about a text to help them better understand. Without the introduction of questioning with the song "We Get Atomic" students would not have know what to do. I was also able to go around to 90% of the students to check their work before they recorded. Students now know how to use the iPods in groups and I was able to slelct helpers based on their knowledge of questioning and iPod technology. Many students suprised me with their ability to perform on this project. I was suprised at their level of oral fluency and how they were able to find the answers to questions. Diego L. is a "success." See above.

Challenges

The 1s had trouble searching the text for answers. They all wrote great questions but finding the answers for their own questions was a challenge. The Flocabulary text is really meant for high school students but there is so much engagement with the Hip Hop and the iPods students will just work harder to complete the assignment. The 1s tried as hard as they could but many of their answers were jibberish or didn't make sense. They are used to the answer being right next to the vocabulary word and with the higher level texts that isnt always the case. Also, some students still cannot make a sound file correctly in Mobile Studio. They name the file incorrectly, they put it in somebody else's folder, they make a text file and then try to record in it, ect. I showed them as a class over multiple days how I wanted to record in Mobile Studio but they really could have used a visual guide in front of them during the process. Finally, the most frustrating challenge with this project was that we had already studied states of matter briefly but many students did not use any of that knowledge to help them with these questions. They would ask me "Why are we doing this again?" and I told them we were going more in depth but many could not apply their earlier learnings to the more indepth study of states of matter. See below for an example of a 6th grade EL1 who's project was either jibberish or didn't make sence.

What I am going to do for next time

Next time I do this project I will make a guide for recording in MobileStudio that students can take with them to follw along. They know the magic buttom is edit but there are so many other steps to follow that they get lost along the way. I will also continue to model questioning with the song "We Get Atomic" and wrtie at least 1 question together for "States of Matter." I may have the EL 1s use the supplemental textbook for their questions and answers, not the Flocabulary lyrics. I would then have to model questioning with that book so students don't get confused. Some students don't realize that they can apply similar strategies to different sources. I did not end up having students record why questioning is important in reading but I think I will include that in the next project. It may be difficult for them to verbalize so they could answer the question by drawing a picture in MobileStudio.

6-8 ELD 1 and 2 students were to read the general 7th Life Science chapter on Charles Darwin and Evolution and create a Keynote summarizing the section they chose. In class we reviewed the section, listned to the chapter on CD and discussed the pictures and diagrams briefly. Students, in teams of 2, had to pick 1 section to summarize in their own words, including 1 vocabulary word identified in the general text. They also had to include a hand drawn picture. They will then record this project using the recording feature in Keynote. If all their work is done they can chose to add pictures from online reasearch online or add pictures using PhotoBooth. Students are not to research online until after their summary is written and recorded. I anticipate that many students will struggle with reading the general 7th grade science book and will record many many times to get it right. This is an advantage because they will feel successful afterwards and will practice oral language fluency. They will have 2 45 minute periods to do this.

ELD 1 Example - 7th grade

ELD 2 example - 8th grade

Reflection: Challenges

Students really struggled with readng the general text. They had trouble putting content and ideas into their own words. When the EL 1 and 2s tried their summary didn't make sense (to an English speaker). We used the general 7th grade Life Science text which was too challenging considering most students read below a 4th grade level. The supplemental text did not go in depth enough and did not even mention the word evolution. Other parts of the standard were addressed, such as natural selection and adaptation, but still the supplement lacked adequate information. If I decide to do this project next year, I will provide students with more time to complete this project and additional supplemental materials that include the word evolution and address the standard completely. Will give them more direct instruction summary writing support and support with putting new vocabulary in their own words. Next time I will also front load more vocabulary for them and pre-teach all the concepts for at least 2 days before starting with the general text. Jumping straight into the general text was not something that I will do again, even with the higher ELs.

Reflection: Successes

Students loved making their own drawings and took pride in them. Most of the drawings were done well. The drawing, the recording, and the technology use were the most engaging aspects of this project. Students did produce a lot of information in the short amount of time I gave them. Many students recorded 3 or more times for this project; something which I encouraged to practice oral fluency. I often told them that I wanted their recordings perfect, making some students motivated and others anxious.