The Compare and Contrast Brainies

The week of Thanksgiving is a week in which we all traditionally reflect upon all of the things that we are thankful for.  In my professional life I am very thankful for all of Whole Brain Teaching, but these last couple of weeks I have been especially thankful for the Compare and Contrast Brainies.  Below is a picture of my Compare and Contrast Brainies.  They hang at the top of my Brainie board.

                                                                   

It is now time for true confessions.  Up until a couple of weeks ago, I had completely ignored these two Brainies.  I knew that I needed to introduce them to my students.  I also knew how important these two critical thinking skills are; however, I just never got around to them.  This was partly due to the fact that I was so busy with so many other components of Whole Brain Teaching, that these very important Brainies kept getting pushed to the back burner.  I would look at them hanging there and feel guilty.  I kept telling myself that I would introduce them to my students when it was time to teach comparing and contrasting.  That, however, was very wrong thinking.  These two Brainies are not meant to be taught as part of a week long unit and only occasionally referred back to.  They are at the heart of critical thinking and should be used on a regular basis.

Once I realized this very important truth, I got to work.  My goal was to incorporate these Brainies into as many different lessons as I could.  Last week we were studying long "u" patterns, so I asked students to look at words with different patterns and share with me how they were the same and how they were different.  I also decided to try them in a grammar lesson.  We were studying past tense verbs, so I gave students a list of regular and irregular verbs and asked them to look for similarities and differences.  I even created a Genius Ladder around the Comparing Brainie.  Students were asked to compare ways that dogs and cats are similar.

However, my favorite lesson so far took place over two days.  I decided that I would ask my students to compare and contrast apples and oranges.  On the first day we focused on ways that they are similar.  I brought in an apple and an orange.  We began with a brief vocabulary lesson.  Since I have so many ELL students, many of them were not familiar with the words wedges, peel, or core.  I then placed a chart on the board.  At the top I wrote:  Apples are similar to oranges because ___________.  Underneath this sentence frame I created a T-Chart.  One side was for "Pitty Patter" proof.  (This is the WBT term for weak proof.)  The other side was for strong proof.  After providing my students with some think time, I asked them to share ways that apples and oranges were similar with their partners, using the sentence frame on the chart and the Compare Brainie.  (When saying "are similar to" students must lace their fingers together, which is the gesture for comparing.)  We used "High Five Teach", which means that students take turns teaching each other their sentences.  Peanut Butters (I call my partners Peanut Butters and Jellies.) went first.  I have recently started having my students stand when they are teaching their partners, and it has been very effective.  Peanut Butters shared their comparing sentence using the Brainies, and Jellies repeated their partners words and gestures.  They then gave each other a high five and Jellies shared.  This process repeated until I called the class back together with a "Class Yes".  I walked around listening, encouraging, and assisting as needed.  When we came back together as a class, I asked for students to share their sentences,  There is a very specific procedure for this.  I have listed it below:

Teacher:  "Diamond Eyes" on (students' name).
Student: (Stands) Class.
Class:  Yes.
Student:  Giant Mirrors and Words please.  (with gesture)
Class:  Giant Mirrors and Words please.  (with gesture)
Student:  Apples are similar to oranges because ___________________.  (with Brainies)
Class:  Apples are similar to oranges because _____________________.  (with Branies)
Teacher:  Give (student's name) a ten finger wooh!  (Class gives Wooh.)

Every time a student shared the class would vote with a thumbs up or thumbs down on whether they thought the proof was strong proof or "Pitty Patter" proof.  I would then write it on the appropriate side of the T-chart.  The class really surprised me at some of the strong proof that they came up with.  Here are a few examples:  they both grow on trees, they are both healthy, they both have juice.

We immediately followed this with a round of Prove It.  Prove It is a game that helps students prepare for standardized tests in a fun way.  (Please see my post which explains how to play.)  I gave my students a short passage that compared lions to leopards.  There were two questions, both in a testing format.  The students knew exactly what they needed to do to find the answer and were able to underline their proof with their red pens.  It was great to see how well they truly understood what it meant to compare two items.

The real fun, however, came during red/green writing.  (For an explanation of red/green writing, please see my post on the topic)  I asked students to write a paragraph that would answer the following question:  In what ways are apples and oranges similar.  The chart from the morning was on the board and the students got busy.  We have been talking about attaching "detail adders" to our "detail adders" and the students did a really nice job of this.  I took a picture of a  piece of their writing so that you could see what I mean by this.

The next day we went through the exact same process, but this time we looked at ways that apples and oranges are different.  It went equally well.  I'd like to share with you a couple of my favorite strong proofs for ways that apples and oranges are different:  apples have black seeds and oranges have white seeds, oranges have wedges and apples don't.

The more I use the Comparing and Contrasting Brainies, the more that I see their power.  After Thanksgiving break we are going to look at how Thanksgiving and Christmas are similar and how they are different.  We are also going to be comparing and contrasting compound words with multisyllabic words.  I can't wait to see how my students do with both of these.

If you have not tried using the Compare and Contrast Brainies, I would encourage you to do so. If you are not familiar with the Brainies and would like to know more about them, go to www.wholebrainteaching.com.  Register on the site.  (Registration is free.)  You will then be able to access the Braine Game, which is one of the many free downloads.  Just scroll down the right side of your scree and you will see a bar labeled downloads.  The Brainie game will be the first download that you see.

The Five Step Lesson Plan

A fundamental part of Whole Brain Teaching is the five step lesson plan.  I love the five step lesson plan.  Mastering this lesson plan design will move you one step closer to teacher heaven.  What makes it so great is that it is easy to follow and can be used with any lesson or program that you currently use.  All you need to do is tweak the lesson to make it fit into the five step lesson plan.  Soon it becomes habit, and you are automatically writing up every lesson that you teach in this format.

Step One:  Ask a question.  This sets the stage for learning, because it causes your students to start thinking about what they will be learning about.  Recently, I was teaching a math lesson on more than/less than; so I asked my students the question, "What is more than less than?"  This is done using Teach Okay.  Below is an explanation of Teach Okay.

Teach Okay is all about student engagement.  Its structure is designed to create 100% participation in a lesson.  The way it works is simple.  After sharing a brief chunk of information with the class (in this case the question), the teacher claps her hands twice and says, "Teach."  The students clap their hands twice and say, "Okay."  They then make a full body turn to their partner and teach the information that the teacher just shared.  At the beginning of the lesson, they simply restate the question.  

When the teacher wants the classes attention, she calls them back with a class yes.  The class is expected to immediately turn, look at the teacher, and fold their hands.  The teacher then continues with the next part of the lesson.

Step Two:  Answer the Question.  Give the students the answer to the question that you asked.  This often means providing them with a definition.  In my more than/less than lesson I defined more than less than using gestures and Mirror Words.  Sometimes I will use Silent Mirrors or Magic Mirrors  Below is an explanation of Mirrors.

Mirrors is another student engagement strategy.  Students are expected to copy the words and/or gestures of the person teaching.  The teacher begins by stating the type of Mirror that he/she will be using and using the gesture for that Mirror type.  The students then repeat the name of the mirror and copy the gesture for it.  Mirrors stay on until the teacher says, "Mirrors off."  Here are the three types of mirrors:

Mirror Words:  Students are to repeat your words and copy your gestures.
Silent Mirrors:  Students only copy your gestures.
Magic Mirrors:  You put your hands behind your back, and students create gestures for what you are saying.

Teach Okay generally follows Mirrors.  This allows students the opportunity to teach each other, with the use of gestures, the information that you just taught them.

Step Three:  Expand.  This is where the actual teaching of content occurs.  It involves the use of Mirrors and Teach Okay.  It involves chunking the information being taught into small segments and having the students teach that information to each other.  The rule of thumb is that a teacher should never talk more than 30- 45 seconds at a time.  Any longer and we go into lecture mode.  This is when we start losing our students.  It takes a little bit of practice at first, but after a while it becomes habit.  My more than/less than lesson came from a program that our grade level is using called Engage New York.  I simply took the material that I needed to cover in the concept development portion of the lesson and put it in the Mirror/Teach Okay format.  Here is one example of this.  The lesson called for students to draw on a form that was provided three similar numbers using base ten blocks.  They then were to created their own problems using these three numbers and the more than/less than symbols.  Here is what I did.  After the students drew the base ten blocks for each number I revealed the following sentence frame:  _________is more than/less than __________ because __________________.  Then, using Teach Okay and Tag Team Switch (In Tag Team Switch students take turns sharing.  Teachers have a set procedure on who always go first.  In my class my students are labeled Peanut Butters and Jellies, and Peanut Butters always go first.  After taking their turns, the Peanut Butters will high five the Jellies and Jellies will take their turn.  This continues until the teacher calls the students back together using Class Yes.) the students create their own problems using the sentence frame that I provided.  Using the word because (WBT calls this a because clapper) is very important, because it asks students to give a reason (proof) for their answer.  As I walked around and listened to the students I heard lots of amazing proof.  They would say things like, "549 is more than 149, because it has more hundreds."  A couple of my higher students actually stated how many more hundreds:  "It has four more hundreds."  When I called the students back together I wanted them to hear each other's thinking.  I especially wanted the whole class to hear what my high students had to say.  So I asked those students to share.  They do not, however, share in the normal way.  They stand and using Class Yes and Mirror Words, they actually teach the class.  The class will repeat their words and gestures, just like they do mine when I am teaching.  This is the beauty of Whole Brain Teaching.  When one student shares, the whole class is still engaged!

Step Four:  Test.  This is where you check for understanding.  There are two ways to do this.  This first is with Yes/No Way.  The teacher makes a statement.  For example, 335 is greater than 353.  The students respond with "Yes!" (and a fist pump) or "No Way!" (hands on forehead and then quickly pulled off)  The other way to test is called QT (question time).  When you say QT to your students, they should say, "Cutie."  They then put their heads down and lay their hands flat beside their hands.  The teacher then makes the same type of statements that were used in Yes/No Way, but this time students keep their heads down and respond with either a thumbs up or a thumbs down.  The teacher uses a clip board to note which students need additional help.  Based on the results, you can choose to either move on to step four or go back to step three and reteach.  Please note that Yes/No Way is optional, but QT should be used in all of your lessons.

Step Five:  Critical Thinking.  This step asks students to engage in higher order thinking skills.  It is a critical component and should not be left out.  Often it will involve writing.  In my more than/less than lesson, this was the question that I asked my students:  Noah's number was 353.  Manuel had 35 tens and five ones.  Who had more?  How do you know?  Students had to write out their answer and show their proof.  

It is important to note that you do not have to do all five components in one day.  Depending on the subject, the time, and the material to be covered; I will often do steps one through three the first day.  The next day I will spend some more time on step three, and then go on to steps four and five.

I have found this format to be extremely successful.  The students are engaged throughout the entire lesson; this means few, if any, behavior problems, the students are excited about learning; they retain more information; and they have not asked me once this year, "How do I _____________."  They got it through the lesson format, because they were engaged!  If you have not yet tried the five step lesson format, I would highly encourage you to do so.  I can promise you that you won't be sorry.

The Scoreboard Version 2.0

The Scoreboard has often been referred to as the motivator.  It is a reward system that replaces team points, clip charts, cards, names on the board etc.  It is easy to implement; there is student buy-in and participation; and students are never singled out for wrong choices.  To get started all you need to do is draw a two column grid on your whiteboard.  On one side draw a smiley face and on the other side draw a frownie face.  When the class, or even a few students, performs well, briefly tell the class what they did (ex. Great diamond eyes and folded hands.) and ask for a "mighty oh, yeah".  Students will quickly clap their hands together and say, "Oh, yeah!"  While they do this, you will make one tally mark on the smiley face side of the scoreboard.  On the other hand, if the class does not perform well, you will briefly tell the class what they did (ex.  Too slow.) and ask for a "moaner groan".  Students will quickly shrug their shoulders and groan.  You will then place a tally mark on the frownie face side of the scoreboard.  It is important to note that children can be singled out for positive choices (smilies), but never should a student or group of students be singled out for negative choices (frownies).  When using the scoreboard always follow the + - 3 rule.  This means that smilies and frownies should always be within three of each other.  As coach B. says, "If you reward too much, the students become lackadaisical.  If you penalize too much, the students will become resentful."  This is why the +-3 rule is in place.  The reward can simply be the students knowing that they beat the teacher.  Other options are an extra minute of recess, one less homework problem, Mind Soccer minutes, or a one minute dance party.

I began the year using this basic scoreboard, and it has been very successful. I think it has worked so well because it is simple and motivating.  Students love the "mighty oh yeahs".  They have fun counting the tallies on each side and working hard to make sure that they do end the day with more smilies than frownies.  I see the value of the + - 3 rule, because a close score is part of the fun.  I compare it to a ball game.  When the game is a blowout, it is not as interesting.  It is the close score that keeps the spectators' attention.  The same philosophy applies to the scoreboard.  Without a doubt, it has been the best management tool that I have ever found.

There are a number of variations to the basic scoreboard that are designed to keep the scoreboard fresh and motivating.  These variations can be found in Coach B.'s book Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids.  However, the latest and best version of the scoreboard just came out.  Coach B. has labeled it "The Scoreboard version 2.0".  It is also known as the Video Game Scoreboard.  The premise behind this score board is very simple.  It is played like a video game with ten different levels.  Each level has its own name and a unique set of challenges.  Bonuses are attached to each level, beginning with level two.  The first level is called Base Camp.  This level is designed to introduce the students to the scoreboard.  Students will earn smilies when they perform like students in the grade two years above their grade.  They earn frownies when they perform like students in the grade two years below their grade.  So in my room students earn smilies for performing like fourth graders and frownies for performing like kindergartners.  This is a very important part of the scoreboard, because it serves a dual purpose:  it provides a built in structure for practicing the rules and a motivator for students to follow the rules.  Let me explain:

When teaching students a new rule or procedure, wrong way/right way practice should always be used.  During wrong way practice students are asked to model the rule the wrong way.  In my case, I would ask my class to show me what it would look like in a kindergarten classroom.  Students demonstrate this and are praised for doing such a good job of showing me what kindergartners would look like.  We then talk about what the rule or procedure would look like in a fourth grade classroom.  Students would be asked to model what it would look like and would be praised for doing it like fourth graders.  The students are given the goal of always following the rule or performing the procedure like fourth graders would.  This is where the scoreboard comes in.  When students perform a rule or a procedure like a kindergartner, the tally goes on the kindergarten (frownie) side of the scoreboard.  When they perform it like a fourth grader, the tally goes on the fourth grade (smilie) side of the scoreboard.  Since kids always want to be perceived as older than they really are, they will perform at the higher level.

Level one also has a wildcard, if you choose to use it.  Instead of using smilies and frownies, you can name your levels and change the sound effects that students use when earning a tally.  For example, you might use "Captain" and "Crew" and change your sound effects to "Yo ho ho" and "Arg".  Another idea that works well for this time of year is "Farmer" and "Turkey".  Your sound effects could be "Yum Yum" and "Gobble Gobble".  My plan is to throw in a Wild Card at level two, but for level one, I am going to stick with smilies and frownies.

Advancing to the next level is easy.  It takes ten wins to advance to the next level.  A win is simply earning in one day more positive marks than negative marks.  I have chosen to place ten numbers at the top of my scoreboard and mark off one number with each win.  When all ten numbers are marked off, the class will advance to the next level.  I just began the Video Game Scoreboard this week.  My kids love it.  After all, what kid does not love video games.  Below is a picture of what my scoreboard looks like.

You will notice at the bottom that I did choose to keep "Beat the Clock".  I use this for lining up and passing out papers.  I simply count how long it takes for students to either line up or pass out papers, and I write that number down on the scoreboard.  The next time they try and beat that time.  If they do it is a positive mark.  If they don't it is a negative mark.  It is super simple and the kids love it.

As I already mentioned, there are ten levels to the scoreboard.  I have only talked about the first, because this is as far as my class has got.  Throughout the year as my class moves through the levels, I will share with you more about this exciting new scoreboard.  If you are ready to learn more about all of the levels, then just go to www.wholebrainteaching.com.  From there go to the drop down menu at the top of the page and click on "Goodies".  The first choice under "goodies" is "wbt tv".  When the page opens scroll down and you will find a video library of webcasts by Coach B.  The Scoreboard is webcast 584.  While there, please be sure to scroll through all of the webcasts in the library.  There you will find a wealth of information on Whole Brain Teaching.

The Genius Ladder

The Genius Ladder is at the heart of the WBT writing program.  At its core it is 10-15 minutes daily of oral writing practice, but in reality it is so much more!  It teaches sentence structure, parts of speech, grammar, and what a paragraph is.  It can also be a springboard to numerous writing assignments, as well as a way to reinforce content in areas like science and social studies.  Finally, it engages your students by bringing "funtricity" to your writing program.  Below is a picture of my Genius Ladder.  Mine is a little on the large side.  I have discovered that though not necessary, having a Genius Ladder this big definitely gets the kids attention, so I am okay with it.  The traffic light transitions on the side are not a part of the Genius Ladder.  The side of the ladder just seemed like a logical place to put them.

The Genius Ladder has four rungs to it.  The first rung is called "Blah Sentence".  Here you write a simple sentence with an article, noun, verb structure.  An example would be, "My dog ran."  For the first four or five weeks of the school year, my students would use "Teach Okay" to create new sentences, by first substituting the noun in the sentence with new nouns, and then substituting the verb in the sentence with new verbs.  In the first round an example of a new sentence might be "The girl ran."  In the next round they might say, "The dog barks."  I found that doing this daily provides students with a really good grasp of nouns and verbs, as well as the structure of a simple sentence.  At the end of "Teach Okay" I always ask two or three students to share their sentences with the class using "Giant Mirrors and Words."  This sharing provides another opportunity for a whole class model.  At this point in the year my students understand nouns and verbs, as well as the simple sentence structure, so we just read the Blah sentence.  When we are done, the kids love to say, "Blah, boring."  This allows us more time to spend on the higher levels of the ladder.

The next level is the "Spicy Sentence".  At this level you add an adjective to your "Blah" sentence.  Just like the first level, students use "Teach Okay" to share their new sentences.  An example of a "Spicy Sentence" would be, "The large dog ran."  As students take turns sharing their sentences, they are constantly thinking of different adjectives.  Right now I have students that will create "Spicy Sentences" with two or three adjectives.  After "Teach Okay" I choose two or three students to share using "Giant Mirrors and Words."
I love this level, because students really begin to understand what adjectives are and how to use them properly in sentences.

The next level is the "Extender Sentence".  At this level the "Spicy Sentence" can be extended in any number of ways.  I decided to start my year by having my students extend their sentences using the "Connect 5 W + H" Brainie.  This Brainie is simply teaching students "who, what, when, where, why. and how."  I began by teaching my kids how to extend their sentences by answering the question "why".  We did this using the "because clapper".  We then answered the question "when" by extending our sentence with phrases like "in the morning" or "After dinner".  Finally, we answered the question "where" and students extended their sentences with phrases like "outside" or "at the "park".  Most recently we used both "when" and "where" to extend our sentences.  Next on the agenda is compound sentences.  Later in the year we will do prepositional phrases.  The same procedures are followed at this level as the previous two.

The last rung of the ladder is called the "Genius Paragraph".  We started working at this level about four or five weeks into the school year.  Here the extender sentence becomes the topic sentence, and students then add details, which are referred to as detail adders.  They also add a closing sentence, which is called a concluder. At this level I have students share with their partners, and then I usually ask one student to share his/her "Genius Paragraph" with the class.  Often I will use the oral writing practice as a springboard to my writing lesson and have my students write down their "Genius Paragraphs".

Just recently I tried my own innovation of the Genius Ladder which the kids totally loved.  I told them that they were each going to create their own ladder.  I provided them with a paper which had all four rungs on it.  On our class Genuis Ladder I posted the structure for each level.  For example, at the "Blah" level I had written "The/A/My noun verb."  I then guided students through each level of the ladder, which they wrote out on their paper.  At the extender level students chose how they wanted to extend their sentence.  Along the way students shared with their partners and with the class, just like we normally do.  The last step was to have the students write out their "Genius Paragraphs."  I was really impressed with the job that they did.  Even my special education students were successful.  To me this assignment was simply a testament to the power of the Genius Ladder.

If you would like more information on the Genius Ladder, you will find some great resources at the Whole Brain Teaching website.  Just go to www.wholebrain teaching.com.  Under Goodies on the drop down menu, go to wbt tv.  There you will find an archive of webcasts.  Number 504 is on the Genius Ladder.  Coach B. will explain to you everything that you ever wanted to know about it.  Also, if you register at the site, you will have access to the free downloads.  There is a great Power Point on the Genius Ladder, which will provide you with tons of sentences to get started.

Reflections

At the time I wrote this post I had been doing Whole Brain Teaching for about 14 weeks.  It was around the beginning of last May that I first discovered this gateway to teacher heaven.  I implemented each component that I learned about as quickly as I could, but there were some things (Super Improvers' Wall, Three Star Homework) that, because it was so close to the end of the year, I didn't get to try out until this year.  From the start I fell in love with Whole Brain Teaching.  The ideas were fun, simple, and easy to implement.  I can't tell you how many times I have said to myself, "I can't believe that I never thought of that."  The results were also amazing!  Some of them were expected, but I have to be honest.  Some came as very big, but very pleasant, surprises.

This week I found myself reflecting upon those unexpected results.  I would like to share some of my reflections with you.  It is my hope that if you are new to WBT or are thinking about trying it out in your room for the first time, you will find my experiences inspiring and decide for yourself to take the plunge into Whole Brain Teaching.

1.  I can not believe how hard students will work to earn a little star on a piece of paper.  I do not think I have ever seen anything as motivating as the Super Improvers Wall.  It is the buzz of the classroom.  I am always hearing things like, "I only need two more stars to level up."  The best part, however, is all I have to do is say to a student, "If you start writing neater (or whatever else the student needs to improve upon), you will earn a Super Improvers' Star."  The results are instant.  The student will start writing neater.  It still amazes me.

2.  Everyone does their homework!  I think it is a combination of the choices that students are given with three star homework and the motivation of getting to play Mind Soccer on Fridays that produces these results.  I have to be honest.  I was very skeptical at first about giving kids a choice.  I thought that many of them would take the easy way out and simply do one star homework.  What I discovered, however, is that almost all of them are doing three star homework.  They are choosing to do all of their homework neatly and correctly for the privilege of playing Mind Soccer.  Which leads me to my next reflection.

3.  Who would have ever thought that a review game would generate so much excitement.  Mind Soccer, however, does just that.  You can literally feel the buzz in the room on Friday afternoons.  It is like a countdown until Mind Soccer begins.  It is amazing that students will work so hard to earn the privilege of reviewing everything that they have been learning.  Wow!

4.  Getting kids to write in complete sentences with all of their periods in the right places has never been so easy.  It is only the beginning of November and all of my students, including my special education students, punctuate properly.  This is my twenty fifth year of teaching, and I have never seen this before.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not saying that they are perfect and never leave out a period here or there, but overall they have got it!  Right now I am thinking about one of my special ed students that I will call Dan.  Dan did not use any periods in his writing.  One day I sat with Dan and showed him how to find his periods by listening for the clicks.  (The click goes along with the "Midnight Phone Call Test".  This is the WBT way of teaching what a complete sentence is.  The idea is that if someone calls you in the middle of the night and you pick up the phone to answer, is what the person on the other end of the line saying to you a complete message?  If it is, then it is a sentence.)  I have my kids hold an imaginary phone to their ears and pretend to hang up when they hear the click (the end of a complete message).  The next day I noticed that Dan was still not using periods in his writing, so I challenged him to listen for the clicks himself and offered him a Super Improver Star if he could put all of his periods in the right places.  Not only did Dan put them all in the right places, but he has been punctuating perfectly ever since.  To what do I attribute this?  I think it is a combination of all of the WBT writing techniques, but if I had to pick just a couple, I would say that oral writing and the Brainies have made the biggest difference.

5.  Rule Two (Raise your hand for permission to speak.) really works!  We all have blurters in our rooms, but rule two will put an end to the blurting.  It still amazes me how well it works.  If a student calls out, I simply say, "Rule Two".  The class repeats the rule, the calling out stops, and I never have to address the one who did it.  Soon those students learn to stop calling out.  The key is consistency.  I have been very careful to never address a student who calls out, but to always say "Rule Two".  As a result, I rarely have blurters anymore.  There have been a couple of times when I have gone two or three days without ever having to say, "Rule Two".

6.  Not once this year have I heard the words "I don't know what I'm suppose to do".  The use of "Mirrors" and "Teach Okay" keeps the students engaged, so that they actually focus upon and understand the directions being given.  Wow!!!

7.  My struggling readers love coming to group, are excited about reading, and believe in themselves.  This is thanks to two wonderful WBT reading games that I use everyday with this group of students.  They are Super Speed 100 and Super Speed Rhyme.  What I like best about these games is that they provide my students with the multiple repetitions that they need in order to learn.  What my kids like is that they can see their growth as they work to beat their scores and fill up a page of stars with smiley faces.  (They get to put a smiley face in a star each time they beat their previous score.  One page full of smiley faces earns a Super Improvers Star.)  Both games are free downloads on the Whole Brain Teaching website.  

8.  My students actually reread and edit their writing!  I attribute this to red/green writing.  (For more information about red/green writing see my post on this topic.)  They do not want that red mark on their paper, so they are very diligent about the things that I am looking for.  When they get a green mark they will often say, "Yes."  I have also had students point out something to me that they want me to mark with my green pen.  Of course, I am happy to oblige.

9.  The Brainies are a hit, and many of my students will use them even when I have not asked them to.  When Coach B. came out with the Brainies I knew that they would be motivating.  I guess I just did not have any idea how motivating they would be.  I also did not realize how much of an impact they would have on students learning.

10.  Teaching is really fun!  I enjoy coming to work everyday.  Learning is really fun!  The kids enjoy coming to school everyday.  Our classroom is just a really fun place to be, and I love every minute of it.

For more information about any of the techniques that I mentioned within my reflections, please go to www.wholebrainteaching.com.  There you will find a number of amazing free downloads, as well as a library full of webcasts by Coach B., the founder of Whole Brain Teaching.

Proper Nouns and the Complexor Game

Since I began teaching the WBT way, whenever I am thinking about how I am going to introduce a new concept to my students, there are two words that I always keep in mind:  engaging and funtricity (a WBT buzz word).  I know that these two things will always lead to student learning, so I want them to be at the heart of all of my lessons.

Last week my writing focus skill was proper nouns.  In the past my introductory lesson for proper nouns included a lot of brainstorming.  Whole class brainstorming did not seem to fit into my new WBT criteria for lesson planning, so I decided to think of another way to teach it.  I wanted something that would make proper nouns exciting and keep all of the students engaged.  After some thought, I decided that the Complexor Game would work great with proper nouns.

The Complexor Game is part of the Whole Brain Teaching Writing game, which can be downloaded from the WBT website.  The Complexor game breaks down writing into very small skills.  Each complexor focuses on a different skill.  Examples of complexors are subject verb agreement, making a list with commas, using the word because correctly in a sentence ...  And the list goes on.  Teachers print off the Complexor that they want to use and give a copy to each of their students.  The complexors provide a sample sentence frame and a sentence frame for the students to orally fill in.  The best part, however, are the word lists at the bottom of each complexor.  Students can no longer say that they can't think of anything, because a number of different options for filling in each sentence frame are already provided.  Students simply need to choose from the list the ones that they like.

Every student works with a partner.  In my class the partners are called Peanut Butters and Jellies.  Peanut Butters always go first.  Their job is to create as many sentences as they can in one minute using the sentence frame provided, while Jellies use their whiteboards to keep track of their partners' scores.  Each correct sentence is one point, and in my class students can not earn that point unless they use the target Brainies.  I choose the target Brainies based upon the Complexor we are doing.  For example, if the Complexor is on the correct use of the word "and", then students are expected to use the "and" Brainie when they are creating their sentences.  I always tell the scorekeepers to watch carefully, and to only award a point if the target Brainie is being used.  After one minute their scores are tallied and they are given a second minute to try and beat their previous score.  They love this!  Of course, if they beat their previous score, their partner will give them a ten finger Wooh.  Roles are then reversed, and the same process is repeated.

Although proper nouns is not a Complexor within the Writing Game, I decided to use the Complexor game format to teach it.  I began by putting three posters on the board.  One had days of the week, one had months of the year, and the third had holidays.  I started my lesson on proper nouns with the Question/Answer format from the WBT five step lesson plan.  I then showed my students the list of the days of the week and explained that days of the week are proper nouns and they must always be capitalized.  Students were then asked to create sentences using the days of the week.  I emphasized using the capital Brainie when they said the day of the week within their sentence, because it is a proper noun and must be capitalized.  After a few examples, the students were ready to play.  Students then used the format I described above for the complexor game with their days of the week sentences.  For every correct sentence using capital Brainies, students received one point.  Students were very good about watching for capital Brainies and correcting each other if they didn't use them.  I then repeated the same process for months of the year and holidays.  It was a lot of fun.

I also wanted to introduce students to names as a proper noun, but I decided that this was a little too broad for the Complexor game, so I had the students take out their "Yes/No cards".  These are simply laminatd notecards.  One side is colored green and has the word yes written on it.  The other side is colored red and has the word no written on it.  I introduced the name rule and then simply said a word, such as Target.  If students thought the word should be capitalized, they held up the yes side when I said, "Show me."  If they thought the word should not be capitalized, they held up the no side instead.  This allowed me to see who had the idea and who needed extra help.

The next day I wanted to see how well my students could transfer what they had learned about proper nouns to their writing, so we had the "Proper Noun Challenge".  I gave students fifteen minutes to write as many sentences as they could using proper nouns.  I had the posters up from the day before, and I encouraged the class to think of the sentences that they had shared with their partners the previous day during the Complexor Game.  Every time they used a proper noun, they had to underline it.  I walked around with a red pen and green pen, circling in green any proper noun I saw that were underlined, and circling in red any word that was underlined/capitalized and shouldn't be, or any proper noun that was not capitalized.  At the end of fifteen minutes, students counted up the number of proper nouns that they had.  The person who used the most proper nouns in their writing got a 100 finger sizzling Wooh with firecrackers.  It was very exciting!

Remember, any lesson can be made engaging and fun.  It just takes a little thought and a little creativity.  I am finding that the more I do it, the easier it becomes.  Just remember, when you are planning your lessons, always think of engaging funtricity and you can never go wrong.

The Super Improver Wall

If you do not already have a Super Improver Wall in you classroom, I have just three words for you:  Put one up!  In twenty-five years of teaching I have tried just about every management system and method for motivating students that you can think of.  Never have I found anything that is so effective and so easy to implement as the Super Improver Wall.  Below is a picture of what my wall currently looks like.

                                                                         

To get started you need ten different levels.  The name of each level should be in a different color.  It doesn't matter what you name your levels.  Many people will give them names that match their classroom theme.  For example, a good friend of mine who teaches at my school has an eighties them in her room.  Her levels have names like "Rock Star" and "Producer".  All students will start on the first level, which should be in white.  In my room it is the beginner level.  Students' names are written on cards that match the color of the level that they are on.  The cards are placed on the board.

Now here comes the fun part!  You start looking for improvements in your students.  When you see one, you or the student colors in a star on the student's card.  The improvements could be in any area.  Below I have listed some examples of some of the things that my students have earned stars for:

                                                          1.  Making smarter choices
                                                          2.  Beginning to use the Brainies
                                                          3.  Better or more consistent gestures
                                                          4.  Improvements in writing
                                                          5.  Improvements in Super Speed Math
                                                          6.  Folded hands and laser eyes
                                                          7.  Being a better partner
                                                          8.  Growth in reading

The point is that the improvements can be in anything!  The students are not competing against each other, but against themselves.  It is often your lower students that have more stars, because they have more room for improvement.

When a student has received ten stars, he moves up to the next level on the board, and his new card is the color associated with that level.  I will sign the back of the old card and send it home with the student, along with a certificate for moving to the next level.  I tell my class when a student reaches level four, I will take his picture with two of his friends.  They will be asked to pose for a silly picture.  This picture will go face down on the board and the stars the student earns will be colored on the back of the picture.  When a student has earned ten stars, the picture will be turned over and revealed for the first time.  We haven't got there yet, but I am very excited.  I can see how motivating this will be.

I would like to share with you my favorite story so far this year about our Super Improver Wall.  I have a little boy in my class who I will call Johnny.  (This is not his real name.)  Johnny is in special education and one of the lowest students I have ever had.  Johnny entered my room three days into the school year, not knowing how to read or write anything.  When he did write a letter or two, there was no letter/sound correspondence at all.  I had been working with Johnny, showing him how to sound out words and write down the sounds that he hears.  He was beginning to get the idea and would do this when myself or another teacher was sitting with him and giving him a lot of support, but he would not do any writing independently.  So one day, about the middle of the third week of school, it was the end of the day and we were doing red/green writing.  I had given Johnny a very simple sentence frame:  I like ________.  The day before I had helped Johnny write "I like video games."  The next day, however, I wanted Johnny to fill in the frame on his own.  He had sat for the first five minutes of red/green writing and done nothing.  So I walked up to him and whispered, "If you can write an "I like" sentence before we clean-up, you will get a super improver star."  I have to be honest.  I did not expect him to do it, but I figured that it was worth a try.  A couple of minutes later I looked over and he had his journal in the air shaking it.  He looked very excited.  I went over and saw that he had written:  "I like fit video games."  I was so excited!  He had sounded out the word fight, and copied video games from the day before.  I did not care that it wasn't spelled right.  What mattered was that he had written that sentence in under two minutes, along with his very first word that had letter/sound correspondence.  Not only did he get a super improver star, but I had the class give him a hundred finger Wooh.  (Okay, maybe I did get a little carried away with the hundred finger Wooh, but it was a very exciting moment.)  This is the power of The Super Improver Wall.  It is amazing!

I also have a card on the wall.  I decided to put it up after my mentor, Nancy Stoltenberg, suggested it.  Having my own card up has brought another layer of fun to the wall and has shown my students that everyone has something that they can improve in.  Right now there are two things that I am working on.  In the morning I always hand the bag that had our breakfast cards to a student to hold while we are going through the line.  However, I always forget to take the bag back after I've passed out the cards, and the student has to remind me.  I was told that if I remember on my own I might even get two stars!  I am working very hard on this.  The other area in which the students have told me that I can earn a star is our "Beat the Clock" section of the scoreboard.  I am constantly writing our seconds for "papers out" next to "line" by accident.  My students have promised me a star if I quit doing that.

As you can see, the scoreboard is very motivating and a lot of fun. Coach B., the founder of Whole Brain Teaching, has done a great webcast on the scoreboard.  You can view it by going to www.wholebrainteaching.com.  Under "Goodies" click on the first link entitled "wbt tv".  There you will find a library of webcasts that Coach B. has done.  The Super Improver Wall is number 503.  You can also find many examples of walls that other teachers have done by simply going to Google and typing in "Whole Brain Teaching Super Improver Wall".