Technologically Speaking
Posted: August 25, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: apps, fonts, interactive white boards, smartphones, technology 6 CommentsHello again!
If you are like us, you are probably a little dust covered from working in your classroom and excited/anxious to meet your new students. As Kristi situated her rug in close proximity to the smart board, she was reminded of the many thoughtful questions teachers have been raising about technology and charting.
Can I display charts on the smart board to save wall space?
We discourage the display of charts on the smart board for a few a reasons. Yes, it saves space. And yes, it is neater, but it is difficult to display several charts at once. Children will all be working at their own pace on different aspects of reading and writing (and math and social studies and so on…) and will need information that is on a chart that is not just displayed on the smart board. Some children may even want to reference charts outside the time you display them on the smart board. Many a child looks to the “Stretching Words” chart in writing workshop, but also during math, and during inquiry time, and really anytime they have a pen to paper. When we choose which single chart to display the classroom is subject to our whim of what we think children need, but in a true workshop children will need diverse charts. We recommend displaying the chart for the units in a variety of ways: across one board if you have the space, and in smaller sizes if you don’t. The smart board does have powerful uses during reading and writing time, often as a way to prompt for behaviors and help kids track time. There are lots of downloadable times that you can use on your smart board. Pair this with a slide show of students reading and writing for a powerful reminder of what the time is for!
Smart boards, when paired with document cameras, can be a great way to look at student work up close.
Make space for charts to hang during the unit, so that children can reference the chart THEY need when they need it!
What if I make them on the smart board and print them out?
One amazing aspect of smart boards is that you can co-construct in real time and hit print. This can be a great way to add strategies onto an already existing (and growing) chart. You can use photographs from the classroom and choose the language together during a minilesson or share on your laptop. Once you hit print, you can attach the strategy to the chart you have hanging in the classroom. We do have just one hesitation in this being the ONLY way you add strategies to charts. Teachers in the primary grades can model a great deal implicitly when they hand write in front of their students: letter formation, basic drawing, resilience in the face of trouble. When you make charts with marker on paper, you are more closely modeling what they do in their independent time.
This can be printed out and added to a chart about behaviors during independent reading time
Should I copy and make charts for kids to paste into a notebook or keep in a folder?
The value of technology is that it makes replication easier. If I can print one, I can print thirty. We would advise you to print 30 of anything with caution. The one large chart (or smaller table ones) are meant to support the whole class. Giving a child a copy of every one can make materials management difficult for children. Instead we recommend taking a picture of, or printing, a chart that a certain child needs close at hand.
Recommend any apps to make charting easier?
Can we ever! If you are lucky enough to have a smartphone or an ipad, you can download and use the following. We are sure there are more, so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!
Snap:
Snap allows the user to take a picture and annotate it (there are other apps that do this, Kristi just happens to use Snap). You can hook your iphone up to your smartboard with a VGA cable and do it with your class, or load it to your laptop and print from there.
This picture was made in Snap to remind a small group of writers to use a two finger space when writing.
Pix Stitch:
Pix Stitch allows the user to combine a series of photos into a sequence. This app is useful when you want to show multiple images together. The free version lets you combine up to 5 photos at once. The app is intuitive and simple to use.
This grouping of photos reminds a child that when he is writing he should: plan, use a 2 finger space, and reread with a partner.
QRafter/Audioboo:
Chartchums has written extensively about this here.
iFontMaker:
iFontmaker (ipad only) allows users to design their own fonts for use on any type of computer. Kristi used this app to create a library of common chart images, so she can use them as she types in Microsoft word.
Kristi’s “chart art font” as seen in ifontmaker.
Let us know how technology makes your charting more powerful!
Happy (techno)charting!
Kristi and Marjorie
Tools of the [Chart] Trade
Posted: August 14, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: charts, Glue Sticks, markers, post-its, resources, sticky notes 6 CommentsYes, it’s that time of year again when the Sunday papers are twice as thick due to all the Back to School advertisements and circulars to excite and entice students, teachers, and parents alike. There’s nothing more satisfying than a shiny new binder, a brand new pencil case, and never before used pens, pencils and markers, especially for teachers. These are the tools of our trade. So as you are clipping coupons, marking your calendars with Teacher Appreciation events, and calling everyone you know to pick up a dozen one cent pocket folders (because that’s the limit per person), we thought we would share with you a few of our thoughts about the tools you will need to make the best charts ever this year.
One of the most important tools is the invaluable felt-tip marker. When shopping for markers there are a few things to consider:
A chart for teachers on choosing markers.
The type of tip you choose will depend on some personal preferences, like how it fits in your hand. After all you will be holding these markers all day, every day. Marker tips also come in several different shapes. For example, if you like your printing to have a calligraphy-type look, then a chisel point or a brush tip might work best. If you worry about how your handwriting looks, try a bullet tip marker because this kind of tip has a more consistent line and the thickness makes the writing stand out. If you tend to press down really hard as you write then a pointed hard tip might work best. Also, markers that have intense, rich, ‘juicy’ color that does not bleed through are always desirable, as are ones that last a long time. Another suggestion is to stock up on black and blue markers because these are the ones we recommend using for the bulk of the writing on any chart, which means they will tend to run out more often. The other colors are used more for accents or highlights, so last longer. As for price, shop the sales and clip those coupons.
The other tool chart makers will need is paper. For those of you who have been following us for awhile, you know that in addition to the classic chart paper pads (both lined and unlined, white and colored, full-size and half-size), we often use large florescent colored sticky notes which allow us more flexibility in how we build charts with students. Ready made 6” x 8” post-its come in neon green, orange, yellow, pink, blue, and red and are available in many office supply stores, retailers and on the internet. But, we also love being able to turn any piece of paper into a sticky note with the use of a repositionable or restickable glue stick. What’s nice about this favorite tool is we can purchase multi-colored 8-1/2 x 11 copy paper and use this to make our charts. Besides being able to be used over and over again, there is no sticky residue left behind. Below is an example of a chart that used both the ready-made post-its and the self-made sticky notes.
On the left are 6×8 Post-its and on the right the sticky notes are made from 8-1/2 x 11 copy paper using a repositionable glue stick.
Lastly, children love seeing themselves on the charts hanging around the room, so plan on having some kind of digital camera, smart phone, or tablet that will allow you to take snapshots of your students in action as they follow the strategies and steps you have taught. Together you and the children can choose which photos are the clearest examples and add them to the chart to remind and reinforce the problem-solving stance that will help everyone become more independent and resourceful as learners. If you adhere these photos to the charts using a repositionable glue stick it will make it easier to change and update the photos as needed. Remember, the more you touch a chart and revise it, the more likely the children will pay attention to it and actually use it!
Kristi used photos of some of her students and added speech bubbles to show what they said about their theories.
Have fun shopping and let us know if you have any other must-have tools in your chart-making toolkit.
Happy Charting!
Marjorie and Kristi
Working Smarter Not Harder
Posted: August 2, 2013 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: grammar, morning meeting, parents, shared reading, twitter 6 CommentsHello Everyone!
Hopefully wherever you are in the world, you are staying cool and relaxed this summer! If you are like us, and we think you are, now is the time when seed possibilities for next year are blossoming and growing into actual ideas. In the interest of self preservation and having a life, all the ideas we are growing are bound by one rule: does it take the same amount of energy (or less) but create something better? We would love to share what we are thinking with you, in the hopes that you will share yours with our community, and provide feedback and variations in the vein that many heads are always better than one. Below you will find some of the grumbles of the year in bold, and our thoughts of revision below that.
Morning meeting always takes so looooooooong, but I believe in the community building it provides!
Kristi tried a morning meeting and an end of day meeting when they revised the daily news, but always ran out of time. This year she is going to try two meetings: morning meeting- conquering some of the necessary (but time eating) routines: greeting each other, counting the days, reviewing the schedule, then segue into shared reading. Then the class will have an afternoon meeting right after lunch, the focus of this meeting will be TALK: whole class conversations about “news”, a chance to work on oral storytelling, and a review of the afternoon schedule. Daily whole class conversations helped Kristi’s class tremendously with language and listening skills, but it was often cut short – an afternoon meeting protects this time, and also allows for some social skills work since much of the news after recess will be drama filled!
Daily news revised at the end of the day, then edited the next day during shared reading.
I love sharing with parents but compiling the letter takes a long time, and gets exhausting!
Twitter offers restricted accounts, which means you approve who can join and who can see your tweets. This year I am opening a classroom twitter account for families. It takes two seconds to tweet a photo, and Kristi’s goal is to tweet a daily picture. Less work for her, but more consistent interaction for the parents. A picture is worth a thousand words, so the 140 character limit is a little misleading.
Tentatively, Kristi is also thinking of a monthly twitter chat for families. Topics like: reading at home, helping with spelling, math games…These chats are becoming more and more mainstream, and all a parent needs is a smart phone (which is sometimes more prevalent in homes than a computer).
She is also planning on a shared google calendar. She keeps one for herself, why not share it with families? It can have publishing parties, birthdays, trips, and parents visits in a place that everyone has access to. Not only that – it sends alerts!
Urg…grammar….
That incomplete mental thought is typical of many primary teachers’ feelings about grammar work. We know workbooks don’t work, but when are we working on these important skills? Here are a few low key thoughts that integrate grammar into daily routines:
- Revise the morning message written in the beginning of the day at the end of the day. (We will go to gym becomes We went to gym)
- Play with grammar in shared reading: which animals are male and which are female in Mrs. Wishy Washy? The only way you know is by the he or she used in the line “Oh lovely mud” said the _____ and he/she rolled in it.
- Read aloud more books that deal with grammar, like the excellent Exclamation Mark by Amy Rosenthal (available here)
This chart uses some very familiar characters to help remember pronouns.
What are you puzzling through this summer? What lightening bolts have struck you? We would love to hear it! You can tell us in the comments, @chartchums (twitter), @MrazKristine (twitter) or chartchums@gmail.com.
Happy (thinking about) charting!
Warmly (figuratively and quite literally),
Kristi and Marjorie
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