Teaching Vocabulary

So one of my personal goals for second semester is to teach vocabulary in new ways. Through SIOP training, I have been inspired by some of the techniques that were presented. I always knew that the way vocabulary is taught has a lot to do with how much they retain the information. It is something, I will admit, I've always struggled with. It is not something I learned how to do in college, nor is it something someone should have taught me. It is something that I figure out what works better through trial and error; and what works for one group of students might not work for others. I realize this is really important, especially for ELL, and ESL students. These techniques also benefit all students.

Some of the techniques that I really like (and it's fun for students):
Vocabulary hunt - match the word to the definition, partner, etc.
Define in own words
4 square cards (word, sketch, definition)

I am committing to starting a WORD WALL. My question for you: Do you have a word wall? And what are some fun things you have done to teach vocabulary (key word: fun.... no typical note taking, etc.)

The end of Semester Tests *whew*

I am so glad to be done with all those tests. 22 classes to review with, test, and grade. I feel like I didn't even see my students during that time. I am so glad to be back to actual art lessons.

I learned a lot though from the last few weeks. Here are the highlights:

1. A semester's-worth is too much information for an elementary student to remember all at once.
2. This semester I will strive to give a small quiz at the end of each unit instead. And maybe a cumulative test at the end to see if they retained the info, depends how the quizzes go.
3. Asking them to switch papers and check each others is a mess unless it's multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank, but this is art and it can be hard to write an art test in that format. It's easier to check them myself, and doesn't use class time.
4. Tests should be written so that I can hand it to another adult and they could administer it to a student, without additional instructions from me.
5. Tests should be written so that a parent can look at it and understand what their child was supposed to do, and can understand why the child got something right or wrong.
6. It's really hard to write a test where the child's success is only dependent on one skill. (The skill you are testing). If I ask them to draw a red wavy line and they draw a yellow one is it because they don't know their colors or their lines? Tests should be written so it's obvious.
7. Sometimes it's ok to put a hint on the test. 3rd grade memory retrieval isn't as good as mine, it's ok to give them a few starting colors to help them fill in the rest of the color wheel. They are 3rd graders.
8. Ditto for 5th graders. A word bank would have worked wonders.
9. It is very interesting to read a test to a student one-on-one and watch the gears in their brain turn as they answer questions, pause, erase their answer, etc, and finally end up with the right answer.
10. Tests give you eye-opening information about your students and about your teaching. I have a better idea of which students I need to check in with more, and which ones clearly pay attention. I also know which concepts were taught better than others, and what I need to improve for next time.
11. I will continue to use tests/quizzes to assess my students because of #10. But I will always think wistfully of the time we could have spent painting instead. (Maybe I need to make the tests paintable! Hmmm.....seriously......)
12. Lastly, I am still struggling to find the balance in the art room between teaching specific concepts/vocabulary/skills and allowing creativity/freedom/exploration. Both are important, and both take time. I am trying to weave them together.
    

Artist's of the Month

I started something new this year at Sun Path- much like Eagle Creek we are doing Artist's of the Month each month. The students can be picked for having awesome artwork, a good attitude, being helpful, basically going above and beyond in the art room.

My plan was to pick 1 artwork for each grade level each month and they will be framed and displayed in the office for the month. However, it doesn't ever seem to work that way! There is always some grade level that isn't done with a project. 1st grade always has something to display of course, but 5th grade spends so much time on their artwork that it doesn't work out. So the 1st month I did 2 first and 3 second, then the next month I picked some 3 fifth, 1 third, and 1fourth.

So my new plan of action is to pick an amount from the grade levels that are finished. However, there is always a class (or two) that is a little behind and I might not ever get to pick from them!

My question is how do I make it fair by the end of the year? Or does it not matter? It would be nice in the end to have about the same amount of students from each grade level..... For instance this month I have 2 first, 2 third, and 1 fourth grader.

Continuing Homework Struggles

In my last post I explained the things that I would be doing in order to increase homework completion rates of my students. Well, since that time I have had the oppoturnity to implement some of these new approaches with some success. I have decided to also talk to the students and find out what their attitude towards homework is. I will be implementing this questionnaire at the beginning of next semester so that I can begin work with a new group of students. I plan to use some of the strategies that I mentioned in my last post, but also utilize new strategies and techniques that represent some of the students' responses. For instance, in an informal question and answer session with current students, a lot of them were enthusiastic about have homework sent via text message and twitter each night before it was due. I will try to implement this strategy next semester among many others that will hopefully increase homework completion as well as overall assessment grades.