Unleashing Our Creativity

Research shows that when students create multimedia, it engages a wide variety of cognitive skills. Deeper learning and the development of critical thinking skills occur, allowing them to express what they've learned in meaningful ways that are unique to them.  

Through a grant generously funded by the B.E.S.T. organization, The Hive now has access to WeVideo - an online video editing tool for beginners. We chose this digital tool for a variety of reasons this year, which you will discover through this blog as the school year unfolds (hint: we're remaking literacy in relevant and exciting ways). We introduced WeVideo to students this week as part of a literacy unit on story themes. Students have been learning about the importance of story themes (the theme being one reason why an author writes a story - using the story to share a message with readers). We focused on one particular story titled The Wild Robot by Peter Brown. Students were able to identify a variety of relatable themes in this story. Having them write about those themes laid the foundation of what was about to come next. We took their thinking to the next level, asking them to create a video book trailer for the story that portrayed one of the themes that they identified in the story (initially launching the experience with a storyboard plan). Talk about total engagement - satisfaction and enjoyment x 10. We observed the development of several skills including, but not limited to creative thinking, critical thinking, vocabulary, and communication. Students will be sharing these book trailers with third-grade classes in an effort to promote this much-loved book. Today's guest bloggers reflect on this experience. Enjoy! (P.S. scroll to the end to find some examples of their amazing book trailers)

WeVideo is an amazing digital tool. It stretched my creativity and my thinking to the next level. I like WeVideo because I can be creative without too many rules.   - WowWriter

I used to think THEME was the topic of a story, but now I know that THEME is the message or lesson that the author wants you to take away from the story to help you in life or to be a better person.  - Cheeto111

Using WeVideo helped deepen my understanding of THEME because making a book trailer that portrays the THEME of the story without coming out and saying it made me have to think about what pictures and words I would need to use to represent it.  - Lonnie

WeVideo is a good digital tool to help us develop our literacy skills and it makes learning the skills super fun. It helped me think about THEME in different ways, which was really awesome and helpful.  - Wolverine12

WeVideo helped me deepen my understanding of THEME because I could represent the THEME with images instead of just words. Finding the right images took a lot of thought.  - WaterBottle1

Using WeVideo to represent the THEME took a lot of thinking because the pictures and the words have to be just right in order for them to go together and show the THEME without just saying it.  - Swagger_25

Using WeVideo helped me deepen my understanding of THEME. It was a lot of responsibility to find the right images and choose the right text that fit the story's THEME (True friendship means making sacrifices). If you haven't read The Wild Robot, you should. It's a very good book. - Pineapple

BELOW ARE A FEW OF OUR STUDENTS' BOOK TRAILERS

Meaningful Mathematical Discourse

When we take the time to have rich and meaningful conversations (productive dialogue) about our math experiences, and encourage students to participate, we're nurturing a supportive culture of questioning, reflection, and understanding. 

One of the key factors in math achievement involves supporting math language development. This includes asking critical questions, encouraging students to seek clarity, and accepting our failures as opportunities for real growth. In doing this, we're motivating and encouraging students to work together to facilitate productive mathematical conversations. Engaging in meaningful mathematical discourse offers students an opportunity to reflect on their math knowledge and understanding, make connections with prior knowledge, identify patterns, hone in on their reasoning skills, and develop their higher order thinking skills. As teachers, it allows  us to observe and evaluate their mathematical understanding and development so that we can better support their math growth as we address gaps in student understanding and refine and redirect their approaches to reasoning and problem-solving.

Students are enjoying the opportunities to present their ideas and mathematical strategies with one another. As they seek out, listen to, and value the ideas and perspectives of others, they are able to maximize their own learning while supporting the growth and achievements of others. This is one example of what taking ownership of mathematical knowledge looks and feels like in The Hive. 

This week's guest bloggers reflect on these experiences. Enjoy.

Math conversations help me improve in math because we get new ideas about math when we talk it out. It also helps me think differently and in new ways. It's really helpful to share math strategies.    - Blocky

I think the conversations we have about math are a good way to understand different strategies. It allows us to see what's going on inside each other's brains when we think about math.    - EarthySmurf

Having conversations about math helps me learn about math in different ways and it makes math more interesting. I like math talks.   - G-Money

I think our conversations about math help us improve our understanding of math A LOT. For example, I was having a really hard time with bar models and forgetting how to set them up. When someone came up to the board and showed the class their work and how they set up their bar model, I think that helped all of us.   - Cheeto111

Talking about math is one of the ways that we we help each other in The Hive.  - Elizabeth_Schuyler

Our conversations about math help us improve our understanding of math. For example, yesterday we had a "ripple effect". I shared something about how I worked out a problem and then a classmate piggybacked on that and in the end, we all learned something new from sharing and talking about our math strategies.   - Pineapple

Our conversations about math are helpful. For example, I thought I knew my math facts pretty well, but then a classmate showed us a simpler way to learn our facts and it's so much easier for me now.   - Pickle03

I think conversations about math help us share our strategies with each other. Sometimes some strategies are quicker and better than others, but people can make their own choices about the strategy that works best for them.   - Recycle14

When we were sharing our bar models, I liked how lots of people got to share. One day, we were at the beginning of a math conversation about bar models and I thought I knew EVERYTHING. By the time the last person finished sharing, I knew a lot more than I did before we started. I learned that you can never know everything. There is always something new to learn. That's what I love about The Hive.   - WowWriter

Our math conversations help me a lot. One time, a classmate had a strategy that taught us how to check our work. This has helped me a lot with my own math work. Another time, a classmate came up to the board to show how to make sense of word problems and it really helped me.   - Dream

Conversations about math can help you see how other people think about math and so it helps you understand math better. When you hear someone explain how they were thinking about a math problem and how they solved it, it can help you understand how to solve it yourself.    - GoatLover

Sources:

Curtis, Jeannie. “More Talking in Math Class, Please.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 31 Oct. 2017, https://www.edutopia.org/article/more-talking-math-class-please.

Audrey Jones, et al. “Let's Talk Math! Implementing Math Talk in the Classroom.” Mrs. Winter's Bliss, 23 Sept. 2020, https://mrswintersbliss.com/math-talk-in-the-classroom/.

“Talking Math: How to Engage Students in Mathematical Discourse.” Getting Smart, 29 Sept. 2015, https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/09/29/talking-math-how-to-engage-students-in-mathematical-discourse/.

It's Getting a Little Sketchy In Here

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Let's first talk briefly about the power of visible thinking. 

Learning is the consequence of thinking. Expecting students to think deeply can be a challenge. How exactly should we expect our students to do this? What does it mean to think? How do we know what or how they're thinking about something if we can't see their thoughts? When we give our students specific tools to help them better structure and deploy their own thinking, learning outcomes improve. When we help them build, connect, and refine their thinking in more overt (visible) ways, we are essentially helping them to develop their metacognitive skills, which leads to better thinking. Visible thinking routines provide a window into what students understand and how they are understanding it. As teachers, this offers us an opportunity to be intentional about how we plan and adjust our learning experiences to help our learners dig deeper into content, and hear and see each other's questions, insights, and perspectives so that we can support the development their thinking habits and refine their thinking as needed.

There are a plethora of ways to make thinking visible and we will explore many of them in The Hive this year. One of the ways we recently asked students to process information visually, was through a sketchnoting exercise related to the pollination process. Sketchnoting is a form of visual note-taking where students (or really anyone) listen to, synthesize, and visualize ideas about what they are learning about through a combination of picture drawings, diagrams, and text. Creating these visual notes during our exploration of the pollination process and then having students participate in a gallery walk of their classmates' sketchnotes, was an engaging way for students to share and build upon one another's knowledge, ultimately gaining a deeper understanding of this information.

This week's guest bloggers reflect on this experience. Enjoy.

Sketchnoting helps me understand what I am learning because drawing pictures about what I've learned makes sense to me.   - Lonnie

Sketchnoting helps me see how other people are thinking about what we are learning about.  - McLovin

Sketchnoting helps me learn because it's easier to learn with art. When I created my sketchnote about pollination, I felt like I was learning more.  - WowWriter

Sketchnoting helps me better understand what I am learning about and it allows other people to see how I visualize my learning and maybe it will help them.   - EarthySmurf

I think sketchnoting is helpful because drawing what you learned is sometimes easier than writing about it. For example, describing the crown of a hummingbird would be better to see in a drawing with arrows and labels.   - Horse321

Sketchnoting is a great to to explain what I learned because I enjoy drawing and showing my learning with pictures.   - Elizabeth_Schuyler

Sketchnoting helps me to blend (synthesize) my ideas and make sense of what I am learning. Doing this with pictures is helpful for me.   - Dream

Sketchnoting helps me understand my learning more because when I sketchnote, I am drawing pictures and writing words, not sentences. Sketchnoting makes learning really fun and makes a lot of sense to me.  - Koala333

Sometimes I forget what I learned, but when I create a sketchnote, it helps me remember it better. Also, I can easily look back at my sketchnotes to help me instead of reading pages of notes.  - Lightning24

Sometimes it's hard to understand words, but pictures can help with that. Drawing pictures with short text helps me visualize my learning.  - GoatLover

When I am learning about the process of things, Sketchnoting is really helpful. It helps me understand what I am learning because it's easier to understand a process through drawings and text.  - TheBeeGuy101

Sketchnoting helps me to remember what I am learning about. The drawings are really helpful. - Zombie

Sketchnoting helps me organize my crazy mind.  - Strawberry

Sketchnoting forces me to think more deeply about what I am learning.  - Giraffe

Sketchnoting helps me see what I am thinking in a different way. It's like talking pictures.  - Wolverine12

Sources:

“Project Zero's Thinking Routine Toolbox.” PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero, http://www.pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines.

H, Sean. “What Is Visible Thinking Really?” Ideas Out There, 12 Apr. 2020, https://seanhamptoncole.wordpress.com/2017/09/02/what-is-visible-thinking-really/.

Making Thinking Visible - Harvard University. http://www.pz.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/makingthinkingvisibleEL.pdf.

Schwartz, Katrina. “Why Teachers Are so Excited about the Power of Sketchnoting - Mindshift.” KQED, 3 Nov. 2019, https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/54655/why-teachers-are-so-excited-about-the-power-of-sketchnoting.