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Lesson Study Cycle #3: "In Kahoot(s)!"
May 5, 2020
In a series of 5 lessons, students will design a multimedia Kahoot quiz for the book "The Talking Earth" by Jean Craighead George.
Students are grouped into teams that play to their strengths, while allowing them room to improve on their challenges. They will be encouraged to delegate roles, share resources and help direct their peers in crafting a clear, comprehensive Kahoot quiz for their peers to try.
During lesson study observation, student teams will recall the story elements and vocabulary, and use their prior knowledge to create a 10-12 question draft of a Kahoot quiz.
Quick Links:
Work Samples (Completed Kahoot quizzes from lesson observation, quiz results and student surveys)
Literature Synthesis & Annotated Bibliography
Lesson Elements
Research Question:
How can we improve reading comprehension and writing skills based on the use of technology that is accessible to all students’ learning strengths?
Theory of Action
If we as teachers game-ify learning opportunities, then students will collaborate using Kahoot alongside their study guide/graphic organizer to build an interactive quiz, resulting in better engagement and internalization of comprehension questions with multi-modal answers.
Goals
Equity Goal:
How can students actively participate (student talk & collaboration) using technology and improve socially in a small group setting?
Content Goal:
Review Chapters 1-4 on, “The Talking Earth” and as a team, design a comprehension/vocabulary quiz using the Kahoot App.
Common Core State Standards
Literacy Goals
Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
Speaking & Listening Goals
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
Focus Student Work Examples
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Literature Synthesis
Our lesson study is bookended by a reading (and exploration) of the book “The Talking Earth” by Jean Craighead George. Prior to the Pandemic/Distance Learning system, our host teacher Dayna was teaching a 4th grade reading class at Newbridge Academy once per day for 45-60 mins. During those lessons, she would incorporate “The Talking Earth” alongside other reading programs (Readworks, Read Naturally, etc.). While reading “The Talking Earth” Dayna would employ a tactile-receptive system of having students take “notes” by folding a paper into quadrants and reproduce the action of the chapter in words and/or in drawings. Due to the Coronavirus, the classes moving online necessitated a change in academic hours, and the class was dropped down to a single 30 minute period each week.
Because of this change, Dayna has been reading the book aloud to the students, and checking for comprehension via call-and-response, and is also including small-group discussion at the end of each chapter. This lesson-inside-a-lesson taught students how to build a quiz for each other through the platform Kahoot, an online quiz-game platform that’s free to access.
“In Kahoot(s)” is a 5 part lesson designed to integrate technology into learning, by game-ifying the traditional concept of a quiz. By using the platform Kahoot, the students will be able to display their knowledge and new vocabulary in a multimodal fashion, bringing text, pictures and app comprehension together to create a game for their peers.
The concept of universal design for learning (UDL) helped frame both our guiding question and our goal itself. UDL strives to streamline and innovate lessons for all types of learners.
We used two specific guiding questions when building this lesson:
How can we improve reading comprehension and writing skills, based on the use of technology that is accessible to all student’s learning strengths?
How can students actively participate (student talk and collaboration) using technology, and improve social skill sets in a small group setting?
Our goal was to create a lesson that students were actively excited about using, while still using a quiz-like structure to gauge learning. The students had to take it a step further by being sure to phrase questions in an accessible way.
In order to make our lesson as authentic as possible, we focused our readings on lessons and studies specifically geared towards technology integration in the classroom. In nearly every article/study I read, there’s a positive correlation between the addition of “new” tech in the classroom (e.g. internet-linked iPads and computers) and student buy-in to the lesson. (
Bergeson & Rosheim’s study “Literacy, Equity, and the Employment of iPads in the Classroom” (2018) found that students preferred to read from iPads simply because they were more engaging, but there wasn’t a huge jump in comprehension (vs. traditional “book” learning). The two articles I read regarding technology and students with exceptional needs, Sulaimani’s
“Autism and Technology: Investigating Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding Technology Used with Students with Autism” (2017) and Bryans-Bogney’s “Tech-Based Approaches To Supporting And Engaging Diverse Learners” (2018) both champion using iPads in the classroom, since the tactile “feel” of working on an iPad allows them a multisensory experience while learning. More than that, a device allows students to independently seek out additional, clarifying information (via embedded links), which 1. Allows the student to take ownership of their learning, and 2. potentially allow for immediate answers when a teacher may be otherwise busy. Plus, the ability to incorporate programs like spellcheck and grammar/syntax checks like grammar.ly allow students to create cognizant writing which may have otherwise been challenging.
Lastly, the interview conducted with Andrew Patriquin highlighted not only “...that similar technology is still being employed during my time in college,” but also that “...by installing programs like grammar.ly and utilizing the tech programs employed in classes such as Purdue Owl and citationmachine.net has streamlined writing” in his first year at the University of Redlands. (2020, Patriquin) This shows not only that technology immersion in high school is important, but that it has long standing applications later in life for all students. Plus, the integration of meaningful technology early on, be it in an essay, quiz, test or other check for understanding means that future use can potentially lead to more challenging and complex applications!
Annotated Bibliography
Bergeson, K., & Rosheim, K. (2018). Literacy, Equity, and the Employment of iPads in the Classroom: A Comparison of Secure and Developing Readers. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 173–181. doi: 10.18404/ijemst.408940
Bergeson and Rosheim’s study focused on the reading habits of students of various levels when presented with reading on a digital tablet (iPad) as opposed to a printout or book. When reading printed media, students engage their use of working memory to fill in comprehension gaps (with more difficult texts) and use it to process details, make inferences and store/recall information, and navigation of the reading is fairly straightforward.
Though the studies referenced didn’t see a distinct rise in comprehension between the two formats, students often preferred to read off the iPads because they felt more engaged and liked the quick and easy way they could access additional supplemental information via the internet if needed.
Bryans-Bongey, S. E. (2018). Tech-Based Approaches To Supporting And Engaging Diverse Learners: Visual Strategies For Success. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER), 11(2), 45–56. doi: 10.19030/cier.v11i2.10146
Bryans-Bongey’s study highlights the different levels of adaptive technology (AT) and how multimodal approaches boost comprehension for students with different learning profiles. Also, the article expands the idea of AT to not only include things like iPads or laptops, but also things that allow students to interact with the lesson in a more tactile fashion (eg storyboards/drawings).
The study also takes into account the ability to provide a reference point for class activities (eg. an end of class checklist, an outline of expectations, and/or a general overview of the day’s work). There’s also the element of personalization in her lesson outlines, where she directly addresses students that may need to self-advocate for additional time built into the page, without expressly calling out students with additional needs.
Kieran, L., & Anderson, C. (2019). Connecting universal design for learning with culturally responsive teaching. Education and Urban Society, 51(9), 1202-1216.
Kieran and Anderson’s article served as a fantastic link between last trimester and the current trimester, with a good primer for the core concepts of UDL. The article points out the decrease of homogenization in classrooms, which necessitates an increase in lesson differentiation.
By using the lens of CRP (which we refined last trimester) in conjunction with UDL, it allows us to craft authentic, accessible lessons for a wide range of learners.
The best summation of this article is that excellent UDL is built in conjunction with CRP, and not as a reactionary measure or addendum; if a lesson is built with CRP/UDL framework in mind, it won’t be something that one has to scramble (or feel pressured) to include.
Mcpherson, S. (2009). A Dance with the Butterflies: A Metamorphosis of Teaching and Learning Through Technology. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(3), 229–236. doi: 10.1007/s10643-009-0338-8
Mcpherson’s article highlights an ambitious teaching concept: merging the concepts of the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) and Universal Lesson Design (UDL) in a system composed of educators across the world (China, Canada, United States, Hong Kong and South Africa. The goal was to teach a lesson collaboratively about the life cycle of the butterfly, but the project also discovered information about learning and accessibility, specifically that a sole reliance on text based information was inequitatable for all learners. The study also looked at the link between Strategic Networks (mental/motor action to learn) and Recognition Networks (how we process and understand concepts/ideas). For example, by incorporating text-to-speech readers and tactile learning, the teachers were able to engage a larger percentage of their classes. Plus, using things like read alouds and text to speech helped boost comprehension for students with dyslexia, EL students and neurotypical students by modeling correct pacing, pronunciation and syntax.
Patriquin, Andrew (2020) personal interview
Andrew was a student of mine at High Tech High Media Arts for two years, and during his time there, he was very tech savvy (ProTools, Adobe suite, etc.) but it wasn’t until senior year when he started actively utilizing the grammar filter “Grammar.ly”. He has continued to utilize it while in college, and has also used text generator websites (such as Citation Machine and Citefast ) to aid in his paper citations. He first started using them during his senior year, but actively used all of them together in his freshman year at Redlands University.
Sulaimani, Mona (2017) Autism and Technology: Investigating Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding Technology Used with Students with Autism
International Journal of Special Education Vol.32, No.3, 2017
Sulaimani’s study dealt predominantly with a series of 6 special education teachers who utilized new technology, and one that refused to adopt and use technology. The idea was to explore the benefit of incorporating new technology into classrooms, specifically as a way to boost response and comprehension of material.
The best takeaway that the teachers found was when they “game-ified” the lesson to make it more interesting for neurotypical and neuroatypical learners.
The best takeaway that the teachers found was when they “game-ified” the lesson to make it more interesting for neurotypical and neuroatypical learners.
Prebrief and Debrief
5/5/20 Observation Pre-Brief
Learning goal FS 1 - C (Michael):
Use kind words with her peers
Use kind words
Be a more active participant - Dayna believes she will have to prompt her a little more
Learning goal FS2 - S (Bailey):
Be more focused in the lesson
Be able to follow along and track the lesson
Be more of a leader and an active participant
Take ownership of work
Be a leader
Learning goal FS3 - O (Sarah & team):
Be more comfortable problem solving
We predict that he will be more of an active participant in this lesson
Self advocate more with his group
UDL Goals:
Sustaining effort and patience
Self-regulation
Language & symbols
Comprehension
Expression and communication
Executive functions
We used two specific guiding questions when building this lesson:
How can we improve reading comprehension and writing skills, based on the use of technology that is accessible to all student’s learning strengths?
How can students actively participate (student talk and collaboration) using technology, and improve social skill sets in a small group setting?
Our learning goal was to create a lesson that students were actively excited about using, while still using a quiz-like structure to gauge learning. The students had to take it a step further by being sure to phrase questions in an accessible way.
Debrief:
Dayna:
-Dynamic
-Considerate
-Group 1 was really engaged
-The flow of the lesson went well and the overall group was participating
-Majority of students answered questions and could think critically about the book
-Group 1 built off of each other
-A next lesson could be about punctuation and editing
What could of gone better / hopes for next time:
-More time
-Zoom is tricky
-A computer would be more helpful than an ipad
Questions / wonderings:
Wondering how their test is going to go?
Wondering what modifications can be made for specific students?
Would reading questions out loud on the quiz be helpful?
How would this go in the future? (Creating more quizzes)
Lower stakes quizzes - what could that look like in the future?
How could a Kahoot / live quiz look like in an actual classroom?
How applicable is a Kahoot quiz in a synchronous setting (the classroom)?
Equity Commentator:
-Most students participated, however slightly unequal
-First group there was not as much shared air
-Cognitive demand - push for reasoning
-Students pushed for answers but would have liked “What made you say that?”
-Wanted more of students explaining why they thought about what they were thinking
-What is the thinking that we want students to be doing?
-Simple moments about asking for students responses that are more personalized
-Student, “I did not think that the sharing was even”. What if there was a time there to ask students, “Hmm, why do you think that?”
-How could we restructure the time to get through 3-ish questions and dive deeper into each?
Bailey:
FS#1:
when asked to do something she got started immediately and was focused. Only girl in the group.
Asked question and responded quickly (1-2 word answer)
Cold call question from Dayna = quick answer
“Interested and scared” when giving options for charager feeling
11-15 only participating if called on (but ALWAYS had an answer and participated)
@ halfway point she was more hesitant to answer. “I don’t know” and got an assist from Jace.
Not talking towards end, but was cold called for the big ideas, and said “I wasn’t sure”
Wondering: how could we elicit more participation from her? Was she more comfortable answering yes/no questions. How could the gender dynamic be better feeling (less status/posturing) in the future?
Sadie confirmed an answer about mirage
FS#3:
Talked whenever called upon
Sometimes eager to answer
Worked with Jace and shared ideas several times
Wanted to be in on picking the pic (that was his role)
Michael:
FS#1: :
Did not see the aggressive mood that we anticipated could have happened
10:51 - helpful to other students and modeled for Lucia
Went back to her original thought
Medium tone of voice
10:31 - thumbs up / held up her pencil
First one to answer a question
10:55 asked if they could choose a questions
10:36-10:40 was not with the group.
10:55 asked Chelsea a question and Chelsea asked about pictures
Chelsea said she had another vocab word
Chelsea answered a few Qs “ I don't know”
When prompted explicitly she corrected Dayna
Said that some people took more turns than others
FS#3:
On time and focused
10:06 thumbs up to camera
Pick pictures and answer questions
Seemed distracted by something off screen - lost focus
What does ____ mean in the story?
Ori offered to spell a word - went off screen - spelled the word wrong - Ori doubled down on his answer - Jase came in and helped
Volunteered a answer
Promoted to answer a question
Chose a fake picture to go with the wrong answer - higher order thinking mindset
10:28 - wanted to go get something
Diego was being a distraction
Sadie self advocated that it was loud to prompt Ori
Questions: Technology challenges - it is hard to tell who is speaking when someone is working on the ipad - it led to confusion when different people were talking when screen sharing was happening
Question There were a lot of leading questions and not inquiry questions - were they just parroting back? How do we give students a voice when they have been impacted by so much?
Lesson mod for second group: read the rubric aloud to Chelsea because she is the most impacted, whereas in the first group, Dayna invited Sadie to read the rubric.
Lesson study takeaways / next steps:
Dayna: In the future, I will create a video, front-loading them with the graphic organizer a day or two in advance. Next time, I would do a brain-gym activity with the students to get them more focus and in the green-zone for learning.
Michael: I wonder how frontloading could help my students during synchronous learning, but still add in prompts to encourage them to recall the front loaded info (e.g. the rubric). How can I prompt and support students who may be blindsided by new info that doesn’t correspond with the frontloaded text.
Bailey: No real synchronous meetings in (my classes) I wonder how to give student “think-time” and equitable participation with a technology barrier. I wonder how my students whose reading have impacted can actively participate and make sure that their voice is heard in an online setting? Impact on code calling on student confidence?
Reflection
This lesson study cycle was fascinating, and a wild way to end the series! Like in cycle #1, I was acting in a supporting role, as Bailey (a 3rd grade multi-subject teacher) and I helped develop a lesson plan for Dayna, who is teaching 3rd and 4th grade students at the NewBridge School. Before all of the COVID-19 madness happened, our group’s focus was on integrating technology in a meaningful way into our classrooms, and you’d think with a new reliance on distance learning, that would be a slam dunk, right?
While it did force technological integration, the inability to control the speed of the rollout, the accessibility of technology and the ability to have a consistent connection to the internet all played major roles in our execution. Compounding this, prior to the distance learning mandate, Dayna was meeting with students for reading support for 225 minutes (or more) per week. After the distance learning switch, she has 30 minutes per week, per group.
Many of her students only have a single device (iPad), which means they’re limited in terms of what work can be done while on Zoom, and when a student is accessing another program on the iPad, they aren’t able to stay virtually “in class” as the iPad shuts off their camera.
Through trial and error, Dayna found a workaround for this system, where a student could still listen, but also “cast” their screen (via screenshare) to the other students in the group, allowing them to give real-time feedback as they worked.
Also, Dayna was sure to build the quiz system on Kahoot, a super accessible platform that allowed students to work on it, across a variety of devices. It’s reliance on big-block text inputs, picture-heavy interface, simple symbols and an intuitive interface means that students have multiple points of access. If students use a phone, the answer buttons are color-coded and feature bold symbols, so even if students are colorblind or may have challenges tracking, the simple response interface is super accessible!
All of Dayna’s students (focus or otherwise) were absolutely lovely, and each of their strengths and quirks showed through! It’s clear that Dayna has built meaningful relationships with each and every student, and when she called on each directly (via call and response), they were excited and truthful, and eager to volunteer information and/or support.
In fact, that may have been one of my favorite moments of the lesson study: two students answered “I’m not sure” or “I don’t really know” when Dayna asked them a comprehension question. The fact that they’re willing to be vulnerable with their peers (and teacher) is HUGE! And as soon as the student admitted it, their peers rushed in to support them. When one student (operating the iPad) had a moment of struggle navigating the Kahoot interface, and two of the other students (who were viewing by screen share) quickly chimed in to help the student access the screen he needed. It was a fantastic show of technology integration and real-time problem solving that was amazing to see live!
Moving forward, if I was to integrate this type of system into my classes, I would definitely make sure that all students were able to access multiple devices, to minimize the amount of dark time (e.g. time that students aren’t directly available on-screen), and perhaps frontload some of my students with processing challenges, give them a shorthand reference card as a scaffold, and have them play around with the interface prior to familiarize them with the program.