Partial view of form:
Monday, June 22, 2015
Google Forms for Data Collection
Since 1st grade uses SBRC (standards based report cards), collecting data on all those standards is a must. My method the past 2 years has involved multiple paper grids with data from small groups, written assessments of various kinds, and teacher observations. And random sticky notes... I have lots of data, but shuffling all those papers may not be the most efficient way... Enter the Google Form! I have adapted my form from one I found through Twitter on a classtechtips.com blog post several months ago. My version has open spaces for entering the subject and the objective. Then I can use the form to enter the basics (mastered, nearly there, needs extra support, or other) as well as comments for individual students. Only the two questions about the subject and standard are required, so I can enter data for only the students in a small group without needing to click something for kids not in that group. Since Google Forms automatically date-stamps and saves data to a spreadsheet, it is searchable by name or subject. The data will automatically add on to the spreadsheet and you can start a new spreadsheet for a new grading period (or whenever you need to...) I opened the form on my iPad and made a shortcut to it ("add to homescreen") so I can click once, go to the form, and start recording data! I think this will definitely be an improvement!
Partial view of form:
Partial view of form:
Kahoot vs. Zondle
Both Kahoot and Zondle offer teachers options for group assessment games in a way kids find engaging. Both are easy to create with whatever content you choose. Both give students immediate feedback and provide the results to the teacher in a convenient spreadsheet format. I have used both in my 1st grade class and, despite the post title above, find no reason to use one or the other exclusively. What I plan to do in this post is compare them and show the advantages of each.
Kahoot is certainly the more widely known of the two. You will either create a multiple choice quiz for your content or search for one that you can use. Teachers can also share a Kahoot quiz with colleagues directly. To use Kahoot, students need to go to the website kahoot.it and enter the code for the game which you want to use. For future convenience, have students make a shortcut on their iPad (or other device) by clicking on "Add to homescreen". On your classroom screen you show the Kahoot quiz and on their devices they see the color and shape used to represent each answer choice. After each question, students get results and the leaderboard on the big screen shows the top scorers for the class. So an advantage of using Kahoot is ease of use - you create the quiz, but there is no need to set up a class and no app to download. On the other hand, the students do not see the answer choices on their devices - just the color and shape. This can be hard for younger students to manage. This also means it's confusing to make geometry quizzes because the shape that represents the answer may mislead students. (If answer choice A is triangle, but the Kahoot symbol for A is a blue circle...)
Zondle is the platform I use more often because it offers more choices. It does require teachers to set up their class on the Zondle website in advance. Kids download the app on their devices and then stay logged into the app. Like Kahoot, you build your quiz on the website (easily including text and images) or search for one by someone else. With Zondle you don't directly share your quiz by emailing it to a colleague, but others can "friend" you and have direct access to quizzes you create. In Zondle you can create multiple choice, matching, sequence, or text/number entry questions which gives you more options than Kahoot. However only the multiple choice quizzes can be used on group play. Also in Zondle the student devices show the whole question and answer choices (not just a color and shape code) which makes it easier for students to use. After each question, like Kahoot, students get immediate feedback on their answers. Zondle can also be used independently by students. They go to the app and to whatever set of questions they need to practice. This gives you the ability to have different kids working on different levels or different skills which makes differentiating easy. Students can play these question sets on "quick quiz" (just the questions) or Zondle will embed your questions and answers in a game (short game breaks after a few questions). So Zondle requires some extra set-up at the beginning, but then gives you more flexibility in how you use your quizzes. Zondle provides a "gradebook" with all your students' results that can be searched by topic or student and that tells you most recent scores, average scores, exact questions missed, etc. It also allows you to award Zondle badges to students which they can see within the app. Because you set up your students in classes, it is important to do one extra thing if your students will use Zondle quizzes in more than one teacher's class. You can set up a school group in Zondle so students only have one account to log into, but can see all the topics that are assigned to them by any of their teachers. This is necessary to prevent students from having multiple Zondle accounts with different user names and passwords...
So how do I use Kahoot and Zondle in class? In the whole class format, both work well for:
* beginning of class warm-up or review of a previous skill
* quick assessment for grouping students within a lesson
* summative assessment of a unit or topic
Because Kahoot quizzes are generally only used once, I have used them for review of high frequency spelling words or practicing a spelling pattern, quick math warm-ups, and science unit quizzes.
Because Zondle quizzes are generally reusable (both because they are done independently and because the question order and answer order are randomized) I have a whole bank of question sets I use in math for practice and assessment. I make question sets that increase in level of difficulty and students can work their way through them so they practice a skill at their level and move on when ready. Zondle questions can also be used for practice at home.
I could write a whole post on how to create the quizzes, but really both Kahoot and Zondle are pretty easy to figure out. One tip for Zondle: when making graphics, save them as .png files instead of .jpg because I have found the .jpg graphics sometimes get distorted when viewed on the iPad. This is a problem when your shapes are stretched so that the square is no longer a square or the equal fraction parts are no longer equal... If you want easy access to my 1st grade math questions (over 50 sets so far...) send me a Zondle friend request. Then you just need to copy any of my quizzes you like and you'll have your own copies to use or revise.
I hope this gives you enough of an overview that you can decide which platform would serve your needs best. If you have any questions or further ideas for using Zondle and Kahoot, please share!
Kahoot is certainly the more widely known of the two. You will either create a multiple choice quiz for your content or search for one that you can use. Teachers can also share a Kahoot quiz with colleagues directly. To use Kahoot, students need to go to the website kahoot.it and enter the code for the game which you want to use. For future convenience, have students make a shortcut on their iPad (or other device) by clicking on "Add to homescreen". On your classroom screen you show the Kahoot quiz and on their devices they see the color and shape used to represent each answer choice. After each question, students get results and the leaderboard on the big screen shows the top scorers for the class. So an advantage of using Kahoot is ease of use - you create the quiz, but there is no need to set up a class and no app to download. On the other hand, the students do not see the answer choices on their devices - just the color and shape. This can be hard for younger students to manage. This also means it's confusing to make geometry quizzes because the shape that represents the answer may mislead students. (If answer choice A is triangle, but the Kahoot symbol for A is a blue circle...)
Zondle is the platform I use more often because it offers more choices. It does require teachers to set up their class on the Zondle website in advance. Kids download the app on their devices and then stay logged into the app. Like Kahoot, you build your quiz on the website (easily including text and images) or search for one by someone else. With Zondle you don't directly share your quiz by emailing it to a colleague, but others can "friend" you and have direct access to quizzes you create. In Zondle you can create multiple choice, matching, sequence, or text/number entry questions which gives you more options than Kahoot. However only the multiple choice quizzes can be used on group play. Also in Zondle the student devices show the whole question and answer choices (not just a color and shape code) which makes it easier for students to use. After each question, like Kahoot, students get immediate feedback on their answers. Zondle can also be used independently by students. They go to the app and to whatever set of questions they need to practice. This gives you the ability to have different kids working on different levels or different skills which makes differentiating easy. Students can play these question sets on "quick quiz" (just the questions) or Zondle will embed your questions and answers in a game (short game breaks after a few questions). So Zondle requires some extra set-up at the beginning, but then gives you more flexibility in how you use your quizzes. Zondle provides a "gradebook" with all your students' results that can be searched by topic or student and that tells you most recent scores, average scores, exact questions missed, etc. It also allows you to award Zondle badges to students which they can see within the app. Because you set up your students in classes, it is important to do one extra thing if your students will use Zondle quizzes in more than one teacher's class. You can set up a school group in Zondle so students only have one account to log into, but can see all the topics that are assigned to them by any of their teachers. This is necessary to prevent students from having multiple Zondle accounts with different user names and passwords...
So how do I use Kahoot and Zondle in class? In the whole class format, both work well for:
* beginning of class warm-up or review of a previous skill
* quick assessment for grouping students within a lesson
* summative assessment of a unit or topic
Because Kahoot quizzes are generally only used once, I have used them for review of high frequency spelling words or practicing a spelling pattern, quick math warm-ups, and science unit quizzes.
Because Zondle quizzes are generally reusable (both because they are done independently and because the question order and answer order are randomized) I have a whole bank of question sets I use in math for practice and assessment. I make question sets that increase in level of difficulty and students can work their way through them so they practice a skill at their level and move on when ready. Zondle questions can also be used for practice at home.
I could write a whole post on how to create the quizzes, but really both Kahoot and Zondle are pretty easy to figure out. One tip for Zondle: when making graphics, save them as .png files instead of .jpg because I have found the .jpg graphics sometimes get distorted when viewed on the iPad. This is a problem when your shapes are stretched so that the square is no longer a square or the equal fraction parts are no longer equal... If you want easy access to my 1st grade math questions (over 50 sets so far...) send me a Zondle friend request. Then you just need to copy any of my quizzes you like and you'll have your own copies to use or revise.
I hope this gives you enough of an overview that you can decide which platform would serve your needs best. If you have any questions or further ideas for using Zondle and Kahoot, please share!
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Math Games
Here are 2 games I created and used this year that my 1st graders enjoyed. Both were adapted from other games. Both could be adapted for other grade levels as well! When introducing new games, I post and explain the rules. Then we have a fishbowl game where some of us play and everyone else stands right behind the players and watches. At this level I am reiterating rules, especially places that may be tricky. Then when we play, I may sit with one group that might need more support and just monitor the rest of the groups. After students really understand the game, it could be used as a center or workstation activity.
Sequence:
When we were working on putting numbers in order, I was looking for a new way to have some fun practice. It dawned on me that my family enjoyed a card game called Chronology that involves building a time line of historical events. I used the same basic format without the history to play the game in class. All you need are some number cards in a cup or container to draw from and a card or something posted with the sentence stems that students need to say. I used a 100 chart cut up into individual pieces. You could take the difficulty level up or down by using different numbers. The game works best for around 4 players.
1. Each player draws a number card on their first turn and says the number they drew.
2. When every player has the first card of their number line, the next player draws a card, names the number and shows where it goes in their number line. At this point it will either be before or after their first card. The player then says, "47 is greater than 32." (or whatever their numbers are...) If this is done correctly, then that player has earned that card and it is now part of the number line. If any part is incorrect (reading the number, pointing to where it goes, comparing it to the neighboring numbers) then the number is passed to the next player. That player now has a chance to add it to their number line. They would still have to correctly state, "This number is 47. 47 is less than 62." If the number goes in between two numbers as the number lines get longer, players must compare it correctly to the numbers on both sides. If the second player also makes a mistake, the number is passed on and the next player gets to try to earn it. Because no players have the same numbers in their number lines, each player who tries the card still has to do their own thinking for where that number goes in their sequence. In the unlikely event that no one says the information for that number correctly, it would go back in the cup.
3. The next player to draw picks a number from the cup and play continues. Very important: After a player draws a number, they need to put the cup in front of the next player to draw a number. The number card may be passed on if players make a mistake, but the next person to draw is the next person in the circle.
4. Play continues until a player has 10 cards in their number line. (You can adjust this to make the game shorter or play for a certain amount of time and the player with the most cards in that time wins...) Interestingly, my struggling students said the game was harder at first when they only had one or two numbers on their number line. It got easier for them as their number lines got longer. So one adaptation might be to let students start by drawing 3 numbers and putting them in order to make a starting number line... (It may be that it got easier because they had done several examples already, of course...)
Post the sentence stems onscreen or on a board or put a card at the table for the group to use... The sentence stems I provided for my students were:
I picked the number ___ .
___ is greater than ___ .
___ is less than ___ .
5. Bonus: When we finished each student took a photo with their iPad and posted their number line to their blog with a couple of examples that told how they knew where to put the numbers. Here are a couple of examples: (chroo = true,by the way...)
Sequence:
When we were working on putting numbers in order, I was looking for a new way to have some fun practice. It dawned on me that my family enjoyed a card game called Chronology that involves building a time line of historical events. I used the same basic format without the history to play the game in class. All you need are some number cards in a cup or container to draw from and a card or something posted with the sentence stems that students need to say. I used a 100 chart cut up into individual pieces. You could take the difficulty level up or down by using different numbers. The game works best for around 4 players.
1. Each player draws a number card on their first turn and says the number they drew.
2. When every player has the first card of their number line, the next player draws a card, names the number and shows where it goes in their number line. At this point it will either be before or after their first card. The player then says, "47 is greater than 32." (or whatever their numbers are...) If this is done correctly, then that player has earned that card and it is now part of the number line. If any part is incorrect (reading the number, pointing to where it goes, comparing it to the neighboring numbers) then the number is passed to the next player. That player now has a chance to add it to their number line. They would still have to correctly state, "This number is 47. 47 is less than 62." If the number goes in between two numbers as the number lines get longer, players must compare it correctly to the numbers on both sides. If the second player also makes a mistake, the number is passed on and the next player gets to try to earn it. Because no players have the same numbers in their number lines, each player who tries the card still has to do their own thinking for where that number goes in their sequence. In the unlikely event that no one says the information for that number correctly, it would go back in the cup.
3. The next player to draw picks a number from the cup and play continues. Very important: After a player draws a number, they need to put the cup in front of the next player to draw a number. The number card may be passed on if players make a mistake, but the next person to draw is the next person in the circle.
4. Play continues until a player has 10 cards in their number line. (You can adjust this to make the game shorter or play for a certain amount of time and the player with the most cards in that time wins...) Interestingly, my struggling students said the game was harder at first when they only had one or two numbers on their number line. It got easier for them as their number lines got longer. So one adaptation might be to let students start by drawing 3 numbers and putting them in order to make a starting number line... (It may be that it got easier because they had done several examples already, of course...)
Post the sentence stems onscreen or on a board or put a card at the table for the group to use... The sentence stems I provided for my students were:
I picked the number ___ .
___ is greater than ___ .
___ is less than ___ .
5. Bonus: When we finished each student took a photo with their iPad and posted their number line to their blog with a couple of examples that told how they knew where to put the numbers. Here are a couple of examples: (chroo = true,by the way...)
Draw
This game was for practicing adding and writing the number sentences. You need a deck of playing cards with the face cards removed and some counters for scorekeeping. Students need something to write on (iPads, slates, paper...) This also works best for around 4 players.
1. The dealer deals 2 cards to each player.
2. Players can then decide to keep both cards or to trade in one card for a new one.
3. They then write the addition equation.
4. When everyone is ready, they show their equations to the group. The player with the largest correct sum takes a counter. Players will need to check that the person with the largest total actually has the correct answer.
5. Then the next person deals a new hand. Play continues until a player has 5 counters and wins. This makes for several shorter games and more chances for multiple winners.
Since there is an element of probability in deciding whether to keep your low card or try to get a higher one, we had a short conversation about that before playing: If your lower card is a 3, how many numbers are higher than that and how many are lower? Are you likely to get a higher number? What if your lower number is a 7? Are you more likely to get something higher or lower than 7 if you get a new card?
This game can be made more challenging by using 3 addends or easier by using only some of the cards. (aces through 6, for example) You could also play it with other operations.
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