Puzzle Race!

One way to engage students in learning is through competition. One competition that challenges students is a puzzle race. It's also low-prep and good fun :)

The preparation:

Find an image that you want students to piece together. I have used a blank world map (like the one below) and images of historical events and places for this activity.

In addition to the image, I write questions or give instructions as part of the image. For example, underneath my world map puzzle, I type 10 instructions, among them are things like, "Label the ocean that surrounds Antarctica" or "Color Africa blue" or "Draw a compass that includes just the four cardinal directions in the Indian Ocean." For other puzzles you might consider writing questions below it that encourage students to analyze the image.

Once I have the image (including any instructions), I cut up the image into 9-20 pieces. The number of cuts made and the way you cut the pieces are ways to differentiate this activity. For instance, cutting the image into squares, as opposed to unique shapes might lead to a more challenging task.

 Here's how it works:

I put students into teams. Each team gets a piece of construction paper, 2 glue sticks, colored pencils, and the puzzle. On my signal, students begin to piece together the puzzle. As they do, they learn what the instructions or questions are. Then, they race to complete all of the tasks. The first team to complete the activity correctly wins!

Virtue Badges: Motivating Kids Towards Greatness

"Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education." -MLK, Jr.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a conference for a learning management system called Canvas that our school division is adopting. If you've never heard about it, you might be interested in checking it out. Canvas is a neat way to build a course online--and it's free! I'll blog more about it in the future, but today I wanted to write about another idea that came about at that conference: Badges! That's right! Buttons with pins.

While we were at the conference, we were rewarded with badges for doing certain things--some of them silly and some of them significant. So for instance, if we stopped by the help desk, we got a "help desk badge." If we tweeted about the conference, we got a badge. If we took a picture of a panda, we got a badge. (Thanks, Panda Express for that one.)  The group I was with was pretty motivated to get these badges. And, if we are so motivated by badges, won't our students be too?

So, here's what I've decided to do: I'm going to give out badges to my students this year. That is, if I can raise enough money for them!  One of the decisions I had to make was what actions were worthy of receiving badges? While I contemplated giving badges for academic achievements, I have decided to give badges for good citizenship instead. Over the years, I have shared 12 different virtues with my students that I believe will help them be successful. In my history class, I find it easy to infuse these virtues as we study historical figures of the past. We have discussions about Frederick Douglass and determination, Phillis Wheatley and creativity, Robert E. Lee and loyalty, Clara Barton and compassion, Robert Smalls and courage, Lincoln and unity, and so on and so on.  The hope is that students would come to understand that there is much more to being successful in life than getting good grades, having a good job, or having lots of money.

My plan is to reward particular students or groups of students with badges throughout the year as they demonstrate certain virtues. The idea is that once they receive a badge they "wear that badge with honor" and continue to espouse the positive character trait. Following this logic, students couldn't earn the same badge multiple times, but could earn multiple badges once.

If you are willing to help me financially as I prepare for this plan, please click on this link: http://igg.me/at/mrpiedrasclassroom

If you aren't able to help out financially, please consider sharing the link above!

The Cactus Hill Grill: A Differentiated Menu

One of the most obvious ways to differentiate instruction is to provide students with an assignment that includes a "menu" of options for students to choose from. My Cactus Hill Grill lesson takes the menu idea a step further. It requires a lot of prep, but if you're willing to put forth the work, it's totally worth it. The Cactus Hill Grill activity is, in a sense, the reprisal of my initial archaeology lesson from early in the year. It is a review of archaeology and American Indians.

One of the things I decided early on was that simply giving a menu activity to students doesn't cut it. Sure, it provides lots of choices for students and allows students to work at their own pace, but what about teacher delivery? How can we have the students become more engaged in a menu lesson? How can we meet a child's need for fun? Are we doing all that we can to model creativity if all we do is hand students a menu? Sure, creating menus is a great start toward differentiating instruction, but does it lead to maximum enthusiasm and engagement?

TRANSFORMING THE ROOM
Because I decided to give students a menu, it only made sense to make the classroom look a bit more like a restaurant. I created tables with 4 desks and covered them with butcher-paper "tablecloths". On these table settings, I placed center pieces that included "Did You Know?" statements with random American Indian trivia.

"Tablecloths" that I made and used in 2012-2013 before I added my "Appetizer".

"Tablecloths" that I made and used in 2014 with setting.

I used my dry-erase board to display a welcome sign and Today's Specials. I prepared a GrooveShark playlist of American Indian music that I have playing when students enter the room. As they come in, they notice that the "Do Now", or starter activity, on my SmartBoard, actually says, "Appetizer."

THE APPETIZER
I meet the students at the door, with a passionate greeting: "Welcome to the Cactus Hill Grill...over 18,000 years of excellent customer service!" (They need to know that evidence that humans lived at Cactus Hill as early as 18,000 years ago makes it one of the oldest archaeological sites in North America.) As students come in, they see the tables and tablecloths. They take a seat and find a paper plate, a spoon, and a fork at their desk. On the back of the paper plate is the name of an American Indian group that we have studied. No tribes are repeated at the same table. Taped to the utensils are crayons for them to draw an image of their assigned American Indian group on the front of their plates. I usually give no more than 5 minutes for this appetizer. After completing the dish, I have students share their artwork and their knowledge of American Indian tribes with their tablemates--what's a restaurant without some conversation!


REVIEWS
Usually I will embed some content in the form of customer reviews on one of the boards in my classroom. Some examples are:

"You'll have a whale of a time!" -Inuit customer

"You're going to dig this place!" -Bob, the Archaeologist

THE MENU
A good menu will offer a variety of assignments that take into consideration different readiness levels, learning styles, and interests of your students.  Here is a menu for my Cactus Hill Grill:

KIDS' MENU
I usually have a "kids' menu" available for students who tend to struggle with the material and need something that's a bit more straightforward. Some students may also be unable to focus with a large variety of options. For these students, I offer a simple study guide for students to complete.

ABILITY TO WORK ONE-ON-ONE OR IN SMALL GROUPS
A good menu not only provides student choice, but it also creates opportunities for student independence. It gives students a chance to take an idea and run with it. So, while most of them are hard at work, I take the chance to work in small groups or one-on-one with kids who might need the extra help. In order to make this happen, though, kids need all the supplies readily available. You don't want students interrupting one-on-one sessions because they can't find something they need.

If you have other advice on how I could improve this lesson, I'd love to hear it...