Lights, Camera, Action! Sort of …

Readers Theatre

As an elementary educator, I find it crucial that learning in the classroom be creative and fun for students. Through working with primary aged students who are developing their reading skills, I find it even more important for these reading skills to be taught in an exciting, expressive manner to instill in them a love of reading. Let’s face it, learning to read is tough. It takes time, practice and many dreadful moments of getting stuck on that one word in order to move on and make sense of the big picture in front of you. There are so many little pieces that need to come together to turn these students into, what I call my students, rock star readers. So, the closest thing to a rock star, is an actor. And the closest we can get to acting when learning to read is … Readers Theatre.

What is it?

Readers Theatre strategy blends a students’ desire to perform with their need for oral reading practice (Bafile, 2005). It is often looked at and praised for what it is not. It is not a glitzy Broadway performance complete with detailed sets and costumes where the students are asked to memorize the script. This method of learning simply takes a story, or part of a story, and turns it into a script for students to read as they perform.

Essentially, there are five simple steps that should be followed to create a Readers Theatre. I browsed several places and found this list from Scholastic Instructor to be simple and straight to the point. The five steps are as follows.

1. Choose a script. Choose a prepared script, or have kids choose a book from which to develop an RT script.2. Adapt the script. If adapting, kids identify speaking parts (including narrators) and break down the story into dialogue.3. Assign Parts.  Kids might try out different parts to get a feel for them, then choose their roles themselves. 4. Highlight parts and rehearse.  Kids highlight their dialogue, then practice their lines at home and in groups during school. 5.Perform.  The cast reads the play aloud for an audience, often made up of parents or younger students.

Simplicity…how nice!

Readers Theatre is one of the most simple, engaging and fun activities for readers. As I mentioned before, it is not a Broadway production. It won’t dip into school funds, or your own. Basically the only thing that can limit this strategy is imagination (Prescott, 2003). It is always best to start simple, and keep it simple. It is also important to build rules and procedures of behavior and expectations for this activity. Kids should be familiar with the format of a script and it is important to teach them about the scripts before just handing them the paper. Prescott suggests that teachers can model fluent, expressive reading for their students during shared read-alouds. I find that with my young students it was also important to model what it looks like to follow along and to know when it is your turn to read your part. However, these are simple steps to model and if done correctly and right at the beginning, eventually the class will be able to jump right into a new performance.

Fluency and Comprehension

It is a fantastic tool for the development of fluency, which is an important piece in the development of reading comprehension. Comprehension is the key goal for every reader, because in reality, what’s the point of reading if you are not gaining anything from it? Through rereading and practicing their parts, students develop increased ability to read fluently (Worthy, 2005).  This then helps students understand and interpret what they read. It  has shown to have a dramatic impact on overall reading proficiency (Griffith & Rasinski, 2004). Fluency is the means to change a struggling reader into a confident reader and each time they read they have the opportunity to increase their ability. If they enjoy performing with Readers Theatre, it can only help them to want to keep reading.
After chatting with a few teachers in my school about this entertaining intervention, those that used it, had many positive examples and thoughts to share with me. Third grade teacher, Miss Kelli Booth, uses this intervention often with her students. In fact, my kindergarteners have often been the audience for some of these performances. Where last year, her students weren’t as eager as this years students, she told me she finds the intervention can work differently with different groups of students. This year, she is loving the intervention. She is finding it is helping her kiddos to become more fluent and expressive readers. They are also able to retell the stories they are turning into scripts better for her. She tells me “They love to perform. They work together to make simple works of art and half of the time they don’t realize that they are becoming better readers.” She’s looking forward to their latest performances this Friday.

As a kindergarten teacher building the first blocks in my students’ reading castle, they aren’t always capable of reading a full script. I tend to use this intervention with my kindergarten enrichment RtI group. In this group I have all of the students who are currently able to read. I started using readers theatre with a very familiar story to these young readers, Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We know the life cycle of a butterfly helping us to understand the cycle in this story. We also know the story. I simply took the story, split it up into 4 different roles and the kids performed the story in small groups. The story was repeated several times reinforcing that repetitive reading. The first day we read the script, the kids were slowly getting used to following along and knowing when to read. The second day we did it they were familiar with the story and were able to be more expressive with their reading.  They loved this intervention. Being five and six years old, they still love to “play”. This is a way for them to practice their skills and use that creative, play learning that they so greatly benefit from. I also incorporated this in my class with our science unit on life cycles. We had a performance recently about the life cycle of a plant. After I taught my students the life cycle, I then put what they knew into a script. They were familiar with what they were reading because they already had the background knowledge. They recognized vocabulary and I kept the script simple with using a lot of the sight words that they already knew. They loved doing it and felt so proud of themselves at their performance. Therefore, I believe that Readers Theatre is fantastic for teaching concepts in other subject areas as well as reading.

The following is a clip of another first grade class in the Dominican Republic performing their readers theatre of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Universal Design of Learning

How does this relate to UDL? This method of learning offers many different opportunities for many different learners. It involves children in understanding their world, creating their own scripts, reading aloud, performing with a purpose, and bringing enjoyment to both themselves and their audiences (Bafile, 2005). There is something for every learner. The great thing about it is that it’s not just about reading it also gives students the ability to develop interpersonal, social, and collaborative skills (Prescott, 2003). 

Fun Sites:

Aaron Shepard’s Readers Theatre

The Power of Readers Theatre

Scripts and Plays

The Reading Lady

References

Bafile, C. (2005). Reader’s Theater: Giving Students a Reason to Read Aloud. Retrieved April 10, 2012 from Reading Rockets: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/39/?theme=print

Bell, M. (2006). Readers Theatre. Retrieved April 10, 2012 from Readstrong: http://myweb.stedwards.edu/mikekb/ReadStrong/readerstheater.html

Griffith, L. W. & Rasinski, T. V. (2004).  A focus on fluency: How one teacher incorporated fluency with her reading curriculum.  The Reading Teacher, 58, 126-137.

Prescott, J. (2003). The Power of Readers Theatre. Retrieved April 10, 2012 from Scholastic Instructor: http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/readerstheater.htm

Worthy, J. (2005). Readers Theater for building fluency:  Strategies and scripts for making the most of this highly effective, motivating, and research-based approach to oral reading.  New York: Scholastic.

Multisensory Math

Math Intervention Strategy – A Multisensory Approach

          “It’s time for math!”. Who would’ve thought these four small words could bring a child so much anxiety. They did for me. I was never a “mathlete” and since I have become a teacher I vowed to never leave primary land for the math becomes to complex for my literature brain. So, you can only imagine how I felt this year when I was asked to be the Kindergarten representative for our schools Math Committee. Once a month I sit through a K-8 meeting with the representative from each grade and when middle school starts talking, I’m lost. So here I am, with my phobia of math, trying to figure out the best way to teach my kiddos basic number concepts so that they are not as scared as their beloved Miss Carrier once was. With numbers being as scary and confusing as they are to some, I have found one of the best intervention strategies for my young math learners to dive in head first with a multisensory approach.

What is multi-sensory instruction?

           As educators, let’s face it, we never have a class where our learners are cardboard cutouts. Each of them is different and each of them learns differently. Whether a student needs more time to develop or grasp a concept, as effective teachers, we are constantly looking for new ways to help our struggling learners. Due to the wide variety of learners in my classroom I find that a multisensory approach to learning math would help students to learn by using multiple senses at one time. They would be taught mathematical skills through the visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic pathways of learning. This method of intervention encourages students to use multiple senses to gather information, link ideas, problem solve, understand relationships and store information (Logsdon, 2012).

         A multisensory approach begins by using concrete manipulatives to teach mathematical concepts.  Students then progress through the representative level of instruction until they are able to deal only with numerals/numbers at the abstract level (Zecher, 2012). Manipulatives are key to this multisensory approach. They are used by all students because research has shown that multisensory input is stronger than unisensory input for creating lasting associations and memories (Zecher, 2012).  This basically goes to prove they fact that students learn best by doing. They are using multiple senses keeping their brains active and involved in the learning, therefore this creates a stronger memory for the learner.
          Students are able to apply their knowledge across applications and are better at problem solving.  Some studies indicate that students who use manipulatives for concept instruction including at the algebraic level, equal and even surpass their peers in summative assessments and retain the material longer (Zecher, 2012).

 How does this technique help teachers differentiate?

          As educators, knowing your students and knowing these multisensory approaches can only help to make your students’ learning experience a successful one. It is thoughout that many students have a certain are where they are strongest and it can be called their learning style. This research suggests that when students are taught using techniques consistent with their learning styles, they learn more easily, faster, and can retain and apply concepts more readily to future learning (Langsdon, 2012). 

          Teachers need to discover which learning styles are best for each of their students. Once they come to this conclusion, they must design their intervention lessons to make them most effective. The following are some examples of activities to use in each of the sensory areas. They can be used for any kind of academic later, however the picture examples are related to examples of a math multisensory activities I have used with my students.

 

Visual

Text, pictures, technology/media, use of color for organization, graphic organizers

In first grade, we used colored squares to learn about fractions.

 

Auditory

communication devices, podcasts, film, music, song, auditory games, speaking

We ended our 5 senses unit with popcorn day. We used our sense of hearing to count how many times we heard the popcorn pop. We also closed our eyes and listened for the kernels to drop into the popper to test our awesome counting skills. It was fun to use our ears to count!

 

Tactile

manipulatives, clay, textured objects, finger paint

We used this activity to help us learn the "tricky teens". They were to make one row of ten bears to show one group of ten in the first column of boxes. In the second column, they added a "few more" than 10 to show the tricky teens were 10 and a "few more".

 

Kinesthetic

movement games, large motor activities, competitive games

We used this kinesthetic activity on our Football Friday. I made the field and we used it to hop the lines and count by tens. We also did simple addition flashcards. If they got the answer right, they were able to toss to football into one of the buckets and if they made it, they moved to that line. They kept tossing down the field until they made a touchdown!

 How Does This Help Students?

With this approach your students are learning by doing what works best for them, as long as you as the teacher, have taken the time to learn how your students learn best. I read several articles that talked about the use of manipulatives throughout the education life span. I found it interesting that students who use manipulatives for concept instruction, equal and even surpass their peers in summative assessments and retain the material longer (Zacher, 2012). So often educators view manipulatives as a child’s helper and not as the adolescent and young adult helper. However, as studies show, the use of manipulatives across the age gap does help.

Types of Manipulatives

You can turn pretty much anything into a manipulative. This picture just about sums it up …

There are the standard manipulatives like calculators, money, two-color counters, buttons, paper clips, tooth picks, string, playing cards, rulers, dice, graph paper, spinners, thermometers, pattern blocks, dominoes, cuisenaire rods, geo-boards, tangrams, etc. (Bellonio, 2012). Then there are the manipulatives you find around the house, or out shopping, that you can turn into just about anything. Things such as food, empty egg cartons, bottles, straws, containers, pizza boxes, old games, little trinkets and so on. I’ve recently started collecting those fabulous clementine boxes and turning them into all different kinds of games. Manipulatives can be used to teach mathematical concepts such as counting, numbers, money, sorting, math facts, fractions, place value, and almost every other concept in our math vocabularies (Kawas, 2010).

I mentioned turning old games into manipulatives. Using board games and card games along with cooperative learning are ways that students can become involved in a positive mathematical environment (Bellonio, 2012). The use of games motivates the students to learn and half of the time they don’t even realize that they are playing to learn. One of my kids favorite games in the tumbling number tower. I took a Jenga game and wrote numbers 1-100 on each block. We use this as a number reconitiong game so we start the year out playing 1-10 and adding more blocks as we advance. I can also scale the game down for students that are struggling with that number recognition skill. It’s a simple matter of adding and taking out blocks. Now is that too hard for us to do? Utilize what you have and you will be golden.  

This multisensory strategy also shows students that you are interested in them (Kawas, 2010). By taking the time to figure out your students not only as people, but as learners show them that you believe that they can do it, no matter how much anxiety they may have on a topic. So not only are their skills becoming stronger, but so is their confidence which also forces them to want to work harder.

Multisensory Math Programs:

• TouchMath
• Math-Cabulary
• Stern Math
• Multisensory Math

Am I a Multisensory Teacher?

You bet! Being a primary teacher it is a given that you have to use the multisensory techniques, not only for your struggling students, but for all of your students. I have come to find how my students learn best. I incorporate that information into my lessons in order to challenge the more advanced students and assist my struggling students at the same time. My classroom is flooded with colorful manipulatives, games and more. They are all located where the kids can see them and they know exactly where to find what they need. This allows them to use these manipulatives if they finish early or have some spare time. They’re always open and ready to use (as long as they get put back where they belong, of course :)! ). The multisensory approach makes learning fun. I love when my kids are working and hearing them chit chat about how much fun they are having. Something that may have scared them at the beginning is now fun because we’ve taken the time to find how they learn best. It’s a simple as that.

We had a guest speaker recently who shared this quote with us, so I will leave you with this food for thought …

“Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Einstein

 

References:

Bellonio, J.L.(2012). Multi -Sensory Manipulatives in Mathematics: Linking the Abstract to the Concrete .Retrieved March 5, 2012 from Yale-New Haven Teaching Institute:   http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2001/6/01.06.12.x.html

Logsdon, A. (2012). Make Multisensory Teaching Materials. Retrieved March 5, 2012 from About.com Learning Disabilities: http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/instructionalmaterials/p/mulitsensory.htm

Kawas, T. (2010). Intervention Strategies. Retrieved March 6, 2012 from Mathwire.com – Standards-based math activities: http://www.mathwire.com/games/countinggames.html

Zecher, M. (2003). Multisensory Math. Retrieved March 5, 2012 from The Multisensory Training Institute of  The Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center : http://multisensorymath.com/

 

Executive Functions and the Use of Yoga

Let me paint a picture for you …

The bell rings and another day in kindergarten is ready to begin. The little ones come running in the door ready to tell stories and very unable to sit still. Papers start flying around in an unorganized manner. Crayons begin to rumble. Bodies start bouncing. The directions of what to do, well those are just flying over these pint sized heads. Welcome to the world of learning how to use the set of mental processes we know as executive functions.

In kindergarten we are just learning how to be in school. At this point, if my students are having difficulties with executive functioning, I’m not too concerned. However, as they continue to grow as students and we see these weaknesses in executive functioning an intervention needs to be put into place. This past year I attended a conference and listened to a speaker who stated “everyone once in a while, kids minds wander. If they look like their not paying attention, let’s face it, they’re not. Their body is in another place and needs to move”. This has stuck with me since that day. Kids are kids. They can’t be expected to sit still and be on task throughout their whole school day without the incorporation of movement. This is where the use of yoga can play such an important role.

Why use yoga?

Yoga seems to be taking over the world of health and exercise. Everywhere you look or listen, someone is talking about or practicing yoga. So why use this form of exercise in the classroom? Yoga in the classroom can be a great benefit to students and enhance the learning environment. The word yoga means to bring together or unite (Kiraly, 2012). More precisely, it means to unite the mind and body. It focuses on physical postures, breathing and concentration. The purpose of this intervention is to keep the children moving, calm and engaged in order to be able to focus and perform at their best academic level. Now, am I a certified yoga instructor? No! And that is the beauty of using yoga in the classroom. It doesn’t have to be perfect, you don’t even have to call it yoga. Through yoga, your students are moving, calming and getting ready to get their mind and body to focus and work together. As long as your activity combines these three acts of moving, calming and engaging, your intervention will be successful.

There are so many different ways and opportunities to use this intervention in your classroom and all findings from studies show that, believe it or not, it works! It is seen that children who have executive functioning weakness often have trouble with focus, attention, organizing, memory, time management, transitions, regulating emotions and dealing with frustration (Gini, 2011). One study I read from Adele Diamond and Kathleen Lee showed that all successful yoga programs involve repeated practice and progressively increase the challenge to executive functions. Therefore, it is important to start using this intervention technique at a young age so that students can begin to self monitor. They will begin to know when a break is needed and a strategy for them to use in order to help them find their focus again. It is also thought that early training in this area may lessen widening achievement gaps later on.

Why do kids love it? How can it help them?

Yoga comes from nature. Where do we usually find kids at their happiest playing? Outside! The poses of yoga are based on elements of nature and animal poses (Kiraly, 2012). What child doesn’t like to pretend to be an animal sometimes? These poses involve shifting and flexibility which can show the children different perspectives. Yoga also teaches children about self regulation (Diamond & Lee, 2011). Yoga can be challenging. Where the mood of yoga is calming it teaches children to deal with challenging situations in a relaxed manner. So even if a pose or movement is difficult, they need to remain calm to figure out how to solve their problem. Yoga can also show children their strengths and weaknesses (Kiraly, 2012).

 Barbara Gini, , RYCT states three fantastic ways to use yoga in the classroom. She gives examples of using yoga to improve focus, release stress, and improve social skills here at the follow website.

http://bodylogique.blogspot.com/2011/09/3-easy-ways-to-use-yoga-in-classroom-to.html

Want to know what I think?

I use these techniques, as well as others, in my classroom almost every day. I took a workshop a couple of years back about the use of yoga in the classroom. I learned a lot about the practice and am still continuing to learn more about it. One of my favorite parts of my research was the article that said you don’t have to call it “yoga”, there is not a specific, ‘by the book’ way to use it. I think that this gives teachers the flexibility to know their students and find what moving, calming, focusing activity works best for them. I’ve talked with teachers I work with that also use yoga in their classrooms who praise the intervention. As a kindergarten teacher, I like to call the technique “my miracle”. We have quiet time every day and during this time we do yoga. I find it not only regrouping and calming for them, but for myself as well. It is a very long day for these youngsters and if I don’t give them this time, I lose them for the afternoon, as well as myself.

Some GREAT yoga books for kids!

• The ABC’s of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Anne Power
• Yoga Pretzels: 50 Fun Yoga Activities For Kids & Grownups  by Tara Lynda Guber, Leah Kalish, Sophie Fatus
• Storytime Yoga: Teaching Yoga to Children Through Story by Sydney Solis
• YogaKids: Educating The Whole Child Through Yoga by Marsha Wenig

Want to learn more? Here are some links we love:

http://www.yoga4classrooms.com/about-yoga-4-classrooms

http://bodylogique.blogspot.com/2011/09/children-yoga-executive-function.html

http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/education/hagin_consultation_center/zen_ef[1].pdf

References

Diamond, A. & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from American Association for the Advancement of Science: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/333/6045/959.abstract

Gini, B. (2011). Children, Yoga & Executive Function. Retrieved February 5, 2012, from SMArt Kids (Using the Body’s Logic): http://bodylogique.blogspot.com/2011/09/children-yoga-executive-function.html

Kiraly, Z. (2012). The Zen of Executive Functions. Retrieved February 3, 2012 from Fordham University: http://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/education/hagin_consultation_center/zen_ef%5B1%5D.pdfhttp://www.fordham.edu/images/academics/education/hagin_consultation_center/zen_ef%5B1%5D.pdf

McCloskey, G. (2010). The Role of Executive Functions in Childhood Learning and Behavior. Retrieved  Feburary 5, 2012, from Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation: http://www.lanlfoundation.org/Docs/George%20McCloskey.pdf

All About Me

Hello! My name is Jamie and I’d like to welcome you to my blog! I am a 2008 graduate of Keene State College with a BS in Elementary Education. I am currently teaching kindergarten in Fremont, NH and I am loving every second of it. I am working towards my Masters degree in Reading and Learning Disabilities at Rivier College in Nashua, NH.

Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to be a teacher. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have had an impact on a child’s life. I take the time to get to know each and every one of my students as individuals and as learners. This helps me to use my creativity to come up with the best methods to teach each of them. When it comes to planning my lessons, I don’t look at my whole class, I look at each kiddo to figure out what I need to incorporate in order for them to take the most out of what I am teaching them.  I love experimenting with new ideas, games and activities for my young learners. This way they are easily motivated and excited about learning, and that’s what counts. After all, learning to count is good, but learning what counts is better. Happy blogging!