Using data from Raz Kids to guide instruction

This year I have begun using the online program Raz-Kids.  This is an online, leveled library that is easily accessible on both computers and iPads (through the use of the app).  What I love about it is that I can assign each student their own reading level.  Since I have students with a great variety of abilities (including one student reading at about the end of a 2nd grade level in kindergarten) I can easily differentiate for each student.  Additionally, each book comes with the ability to have it read to the student by a fluent reader, have the student read it to themselves, and has a comprehension quiz that goes along with each book.  My students have fun these highly engaging and the parents love having the ability to use it at home.  Another nice feature is that since my students learn Spanish, there are also Spanish leveled books available.  It has been such a hit in my class that every classroom in the school now has access to it.  (You have to purchase a subscription to use it.  Each class of 36 students costs about $100 a year.)

Comprehension Quiz results organized by skill

Besides just the great benefit of being able to assign each child a reading level, my favorite feature of the site are the reports it generates.  When students take quizzes for each book they are asked a variety of comprehension questions.  Their answers are automatically calculated and organized based on the skill  assessed.  This makes it easy to see what comprehension skills a students is proficient at, as well as seeing which ones they need more support in. 

Grid I made to organize data and look for trends.

To help guide my instruction I created and complied a spread sheet with the comprehension skills and students.  I then went through the reports generated by Raz-Kids for each students and marked the score on my chart.  Finally, I went through and marked any score under a 70%.  By doing this I could compare scores, quickly see which scores a majority of students need help in and create my instruction around that.  Now, this is just one tool and not the end-all-be-all when it comes to their performance but it is a great support and aide. 

Reading Compression guide sheet that was sent home.  Notice how certain skills are highlighted based of the data for each student.    

As an extension to this I also created a comprehension skill guide to be sent home to parents.  I gave a general definition of the skill, questions to ask while reading with their child to promote the skill, and then any additional activities I could think of to help with that particular skill.  I wrote a letter to the parents to explain how to use it. Then using the data from Raz-Kids and other assessments, I marked on the skills which ones their child could use more practice with. 


I am hopeful that with additional help in targeted comprehension areas both at school and from home will help my students improve in the areas they were struggling with earlier.  I will check back in a couple of weeks using Raz-Kids and create another chart to compare and monitor progress.

Integrating Writing and Science

I am always looking for ways to encourage my students to write.  This past week we started learning about the different animal groups in science (mammals, reptilies...) so I figured that it would be a great time to incorporate writing into science by creating animal reports.  We are doing one like this for each animal group we study.

These reports were teacher guided with the students filling in blanks.  I chose to do it this way as a way to provide students with a model for writing reports and as a way to insure that students get the important information we learned about each animal group in another manner (not just classroom discussion or from videos).  My goal is that after using these reports to model writing students will be better prepared to choose their own animal and crate a short report after the unit.

Problem Solving Club

Having married and engineer and discussing with him how we both come from very gender segregated careers, I have developed a passion for trying to encourage girls to get involved in STEM fields.  For those who are not familiar with STEM, it stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  We all know that these are some of the most important fields when it comes to our current society in terms of innovation.  However, a large gender gap still exists in STEM fields. So I have decided that I am in a position that I can do something about it, even if it is a small something. 

As a teacher I have the responsibility to empower every student to pursue their dreams and this also means helping girls realize that they are just as competent as boys are.


Besides encouraging girls in my own classroom I have also started a "problem solving club" at my school to encourage both girls and boys in grades 3-5 to think critically, persevere, and create.  We meet twice a month and during our time students solve riddles and then construct something to accomplish a task.  Afterwards we meet as a large group and discuss what we have learned. 

Although students may not realize it they are solving engineering problems while also working on communication and cooperation skills.

The students have had a blast with this and I love watching them problem solve, make realizations, and articulate the lessons they have learned afterwards.  It also has been a great community building activity.

I try to give them a different challenge each time and last night when we met they had to build something that could launch a marshmallow.  We had a couple work but the best part was what they learned even when they didn't work.

Some of the things students commented they learned after doing this activity was:


- Sometimes simple designs are the best
- Don't spend your time making it look cool.  Focus on making it solve the task.
- Make sure you test your idea
- Sometimes things that look good in your mind don't always come out the way you thought they would.