New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

What is the great debate around the Science of Reading?

Let’s start with the basics: what is literacy? Literacy is the ability to read, write, speak, and listen. Over the decades, schools have shifted to adopt new theories and philosophies. Phonics, whole language, or balanced literacy are all monikers for how educators can teach students how to read. The Science of Reading (or SOR) is not a program. It’s the culmination of decades of research supporting a return to a highly structured set of approaches rooted in decoding skills and language comprehension. It is grounded in efficacy-based research, deconstructing how and why particular models of instruction work.

Balanced Literacy Vs. Science of Reading

For years, balanced literacy sought to find a middle ground between the pendulum extremes of phonics-first and whole-language advocates. Teachers shared their toolbox of strategies with students, from decoding to “three-cueing” to leveled readers. Yet such programs have been hard to evaluate in terms of efficacy. SOR education practices shies away from the popular guided-reading approach touted by Lucy Calkins and Jan Richardson in favor of an explicit focus on decoding and language comprehension.

Research shows that reading, unlike talking, is not a natural process for children. It takes more intentional instruction to achieve desired results and goals. Proponents of the Balanced Literacy vs Science of Reading point to the recent decline in reading scores as evidence that the prevalent methods of reading instruction over the past decade have failed. The Science of Reading emphasizes the importance of mastering foundational skills through a structured literacy approach to ensure effective strategies for learning to read.

Why is the Science of Reading important right now?

It’s hard to argue that we’re not in a reading crisis. Reading skills have declined in districts and states nationwide to historic lows. The learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic widened reading and math achievement gaps. It spotlighted the increasing discrepancy for Black, Hispanic, and other students impacted by educational inequalities. EdWeek reported that student results from the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) showcased that a third of 4th and 8th graders can’t read at the “basic” achievement level, which is the lowest. 70% of teachers of those 4th-grade students reported using remedial measures a couple of times a week. According to the results, even top readers have made little progress over the past three years. This lack of growth and widening gaps have turned educators and parents’ attention to what can be done differently regarding the SOR.

This map shows students from grade 4 scoring below basic in reading, by state:

What is the Science of Reading?

Many states have now adopted a much more rigorous approach to reading. The SOR approach zeros in on developing five core skill sets for emergent and beginner readers: fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension. It harkens back to 1986’s The Simple View of Reading research by Philip Gough and William Tunmer, which underscores the importance of two components: decoding and language comprehension. Think of it as an equation—reading comprehension is a product of decoding and language comprehension: RC = D x LC.

The algorithm’s simplicity belies the intricate and sophisticated sensemaking of letter sounds, words, and sentences. Dr. Hollis Scarborough’s 2021 Scarborough’s Rope Reading further details how the two intertwine, scaffolding skills and building toward automaticity.

With the SOR, instruction involves dedicated time and a systematic and intentional method of seeking out teachable moments for literacy across the curriculum. This evidence-based approach encourages educators to lean on what matters and what works. Turning research into practice, however, is not without time, effort, and money.

Here are the 10 components of the SOR:

• Print concepts
• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Spelling
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Oral language skills
• Reading comprehension skills
•  Background knowledge

To better understand Science of Reading strategies, look at this downloadable to refresh your understanding of key concepts and terms. Remember, there is no specific curriculum or program, so you’ll want to work with your school community to determine how to fold in these demonstrated methods.

How are states implementing the SOR?

States are falling victim to the age-old problem of education stumbling over change management. Many are pushing this newer school of thought with little explanation. Such harried rollouts breed confusion, suspicion, and defensiveness. Teachers are told to change their “best” practices and beliefs without time to make connections to the new methodologies. Timelines, incentives, and compensation are not being offered equitably. This push-and-pull pits educators against one another, and against change in general.

Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, and Mississippi have passed laws requiring a SOR approach. Others are going in with intensive training and Science of Reading professional development, overwhelming an already taxed and deflated teacher population. North Carolina is spending $54 million on a two-year training (LETRS) for all K-5 teachers. A common refrain is, “When you know better, you do better.” Many other states, such as Utah and Virginia, are leveraging ESSER funds to adopt such practices via instruction and training. However, the integration and implementation nationwide are uneven at best.

What are the benefits of the Science of Reading?

Time will tell; the benefits are to be seen. On the positive side, such a common and structured approach based on research should be easier to track and see results. According to a study by Amplify, many students in 43 states are seeing an uptick in the number of students on track to read at grade level by the end of the year.

The Science of Reading curriculum takes a scaffolded approach, promotes reading across the curriculum, and supports English language learners. While school leaders need to think systematically around benchmark assessments, resource allocation, and professional development, they also need to remember that teaching is both a science and an art.

Edtech implementation

Nearpod

According to an ESSA Level II study, 5th and 8th-grade students who used Nearpod had higher ELA achievement compared to similar students in their grade level who did not use it. This makes it an ideal tool when implementing SOR strategies. To explore some related Nearpod Science of Reading activities and lessons, visit the Nearpod library and search by standard. You can zero in on the English Language Arts (ELA) strands of Conventions of Standard English, Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, Knowledge of Language, Phonics, Word Recognition, Fluency, Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, or Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity to start. Consider duplicating a lesson and making modifications to meet the reading needs of your students. 

You can also create your own lesson or activity to target any of the 10 components of SOR instruction. Interactive activities such as Drag and Drop, Matching Pairs, Draw It, Immersive Reader, and audio responses can be used to teach your students fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension.

Here are some examples of lessons teachers can use:

Early Elementary Lessons (K-2)

• CVC Words (K-1): In this lesson on CVC words, students will learn to idenifty the beginning, middle and ending sounds of CVC words.
• Nonfiction Text Features (1-2): In this lesson on nonfiction text features, students will learn about features that help readers make sense of what they are reading.
• Retelling Key Details (1-2): In this lesson on retelling key details, students learn to identify and retell key details in a fiction story.

Grades 3-5

• Parts of Speech (3): In this lesson on parts of speech, students will identify nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives.
• Complex Sentences (3-4): In this lesson on complex sentences, the students will review simple and compound sentences and learn about complex sentences.
• Eight Parts of Speech (5-6): In this lesson on the eight parts of speech, students will define, identify, and use nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.

Grade 8-12

• Summarizing Texts (6-8): In this lesson on summarizing texts, students how to write a summary by identifying the main idea and key details.
• Annotation and Close Reading Strategies (11-12): In this English lesson, students learn annotation and close reading strategies. By the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain tips and tricks for effective close reading, and will practice annotating excerpts.
• The Paragraph: Concrete Details & Textual Evidence (9-10): In this lesson, students will explore the components of a good paragraph. They will learn to identify appropriate concrete details and practice using them with common transitions to strengthen an argument in a logical way.

Flocabulary

Flocabulary accelerates student learning by building academic vocabulary and comprehension through rigorous and authentically engaging instructional experiences. These K-12 standard-aligned video-based lessons and activities leverage the power of hip-hop, storytelling, and emotional connections to cultivate literacy across the curriculum.

Academic vocabulary is a leading indicator of student comprehension. Flocabulary strategically uses hip-hop as the foundational medium to teach vocabulary and provide the necessary in-context word exposure. While it starts in the video, Flocabulary infuses aspects of hip-hop throughout the lesson sequence. For example, students unlock components of a hip-hop beat while completing the Vocab Game and are tasked with writing a rhyme of their own in Lyric Lab.

The Art & Science of Reading

While we continue to research and seek improved methods for teaching SOR reading strategies — and all subjects—we also need to remember that educators are tasked with molding lifelong learners. In part, when it comes to literacy instruction, they need to promote a love of reading, extol the beauty of wordplay, and develop an appreciation for storytelling in children. We know that one size does not fit all in education. So we need to rely on quantitative and qualitative data and make time for continuous feedback and reflection inside and outside the classrooms to create skilled readers and masterful literacy educators.

Nearpod believes teaching is the most important job in the world. That’s why we’ve created a platform to help teachers engage every student. Nearpod offers 22,000+ rigorous lessons, videos, and activities used by 75% of school districts in the United States alone. If you’re ready to unlock the full instructional power of Nearpod at your school or district, we’re ready to talk!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post How to decode the Science of Reading appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Teaching reading comprehension strategies and writing skills through technology call for innovation and creativity; luckily, thinking on one’s feet and problem-solving come naturally to teachers. Nearpod takes much of the guesswork out of creating and teaching students quality reading and writing skills lessons. According to an ESSA Level II study, 5th and 8th-grade students who used Nearpod had higher ELA achievement compared to similar students in their grade level who did not use it. These 6 tips for teaching reading and writing in the classroom are quick and easy, but they also add quality content and student control to any ELA block. To access the activities and lessons mentioned here, sign up for free below to get started!

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

What resources can I use to teach reading comprehension using technology?

Nearpod has curated an English Language Arts (ELA) Lesson Guide for Grades K-8 so you can spend less time searching for resources and more time doing what you love: teaching. With ready-to-launch lessons, activities, and videos, these guides can help you remediate key skills, reteach concepts, and even prep for testing time.

Download lesson guide

6 Strategies and activities for teaching reading comprehension and writing skills

1. Build a foundation with phonemic awareness

The foundation of English and language arts skills is phonemic awareness, which is anything students can do in the dark. The ability to identify and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in spoken words is the basis for language itself. We talk before reading. If students aren’t successful in phonemic awareness, it predicts reading success or failure. That’s why it’s important for teachers to be conscientious and deliberate in teaching this reading skills and strategies. Nearpod’s many visual tools advance phonemic awareness instruction to new levels. There’s a vast array of activities teachers can create in Nearpd to teach phonemic awareness to engage and challenge students. Grounding reading instruction in background knowledge fosters deeper connections with content, making learning more meaningful.

Here are a few Nearpod ideas:

1. Use Drag and Drop for students to sort pictures based on beginning, middle, or ending sounds.
2. Use VR Field Trips where students search for items in virtual environments in lessons in an “I-Spy” manner: “I spy with my little eye something that ends with the /d/ sound.” Modify this activity to fit any phonemic awareness skill or make them more advanced as students progress.
3. Use the Draw It tool for students to upload pictures of multisyllabic and monosyllabic words, then have students segment and write how many syllables are in the word.
4. Use Matching Pairs to make pair cards to aid students in rhyming words.

2. Expand phonics skills

If the science of reading tells us anything, it’s that phonics must be systematic and explicit. Never leave students guessing. Inside the classroom, students work at various spelling levels. What teachers need most are phonics lessons that are easy to create and differentiate for all learners inside the classroom. Spending hours in front of the copier or cutting out game pieces for said activities isn’t ideal or efficient. Plus, teachers have to store all those games somewhere. Nearpod activities take so little time to create; once teachers make a lesson, it can act as a template for more differentiated activities.

Here are a few lesson ideas for phonics instruction:

1. Use Drag and Drop for students to create word sorts based on spelling patterns, prefixes and suffixes, and syllable types. For example, have students sort the three sounds of -ed, or -sion, and -tion.
2. Use Time to Climb to engage students in spelling. Answers developed vary from written to using pictures.
3. Make word chain questions to keep students on their feet with multiple spelling patterns. For example, have students start with the spelling “meat” and then have the next question be, “Would you like to ____________ after school?” It gets more complex spellers and higher-level thinking but in fun ways.
4. Create vivid slideshows that are charts for students to reference throughout the lesson. Upload R-controlled vowel charts, l-blend charts, diphthongs, and vowel teams. Students refer back to charts throughout the lesson. This is good for introducing phonics concepts or reviewing previously taught concepts.
5. Use Open-Ended Questions connecting the sound a phoneme makes with its grapheme (written form). Record a sound through Nearpod’s audio feature, and students write the spelling as their answer. Also, students can practice full dictation skills, where teachers record themselves saying a sentence, and students write what they hear.

3. Becoming fluent readers

Fluency is all about reading text like how people talk. The only way students become more fluent readers is by having multiple opportunities to read while also experiencing what fluency sounds like.

All of these activities give students much needed practice to help with accuracy, speed, and expression: 

1. Use Draw It for students to practice the “Scoop Phrases” technique. Upload graphic organizers for sentences where students have to group words together to train their eyes to read phrases instead of word by word. Students mark the sentences up, then read the phrases aloud.
2. Do audible Open-Ended Questions practice. Have students record audio of themselves reading a passage in the Open-Ended Question to you on Nearpod. To help with timed assessments, add a time limit to better prepare students for timed running records or other timed daily oral reading fluency assessments.
3. Use Nearpod’s Collaborate Board for practice with punctuation. Write a sentence without any punctuation and have students decide what punctuation would be best. The students read the sentence depending on expression – voice raised at the end for question mark (?), passion with an exclamation point (!), or even a calm tone for a period (.). This activity helps students realize that ending marks help us learn how to read with expression. 
4. Insert videos of Read Alouds into lessons for students to hear what fluent reading sounds like. Adults reading stories aloud help model expression, pace, and phrasing. You can also enable Immersive Reader on Nearpod for text-to-speech and parts of speech.
5. Use Drag and Drop to create nursery rhyme, poem, or sentence puzzles for students to put back together and read. By breaking those rhymes apart into individual words and putting them back together again, kids see how words build into sentences and stories in a natural flow.

4. Develop and improve vocabulary

Vocabulary instruction of the 21st century surpasses the days when students broke out dictionaries in class, searching through pages and transcribing definitions onto paper. At the time, that’s all classrooms really had at their disposal. Using Nearpod and its selection of activities, teachers build lessons that make words have more personal relevance. Students interact with content to make deeper connections for richer vocabularies when teaching reading strategies.

Try a few of these activities to give a boost to student vocabulary to reinforce instructional strategies for reading:

1. Use Matching Pairs to talk about ELA vocabulary. Many ELA vocabulary like explain, analyze, predict, summarize/compare & contrast, etc, are Tier 2 vocab terms that cross-curriculum. ELA is a good time to really learn and address these terms. Tier 2 vocabulary is high-frequency vocabulary on standardized tests. 
2. Use Fill In the Blank activity to build context clues awareness
3. Use Collaborate Board to create a “Graffiti Wall.” Post words in the question section and have kids add sticky notes to illustrate the term.
4. Use Draw It to make vocabulary sketch notes. Students can sketch instead of writing out definitions. Ask students to draw a sketch summarizing each word. It’s a lot more engaging and gives kids a picture for visual association and to help them remember the meanings.
5. Try Flipgrid. It’s great for vocabulary activities! Have kids record a quick video for each word, using their creativity to make it fun and meaningful.

5. Dive deep into reading comprehension

Reading comprehension all boils down to processing texts and making meaning, all while integrating these skills into what the reader already knows. Comprehension is no small feat. Students must read, re-read, mark up, and work with texts. They must practice answering questions literally and figuratively, inferring, drawing conclusions, and note-taking.

They can do all of these things using Nearpod in the following ways:

1. Pull in the texts you are reading and work on the overall comprehension skill – bring questions in from the core reading and writing curriculum to practice. Use Venn Diagrams and other templates from Nearpod’s activity banks.
2. Use Open-Ended Questions to develop their ideas and understanding of a text and practice writing or speaking independently. Responses can be typed, or voice recorded.
3. Use a Collaborate Board to share their understanding and compare/contrast their findings to their peers, or build off ideas that their peers share
4. Use a Draw It to have students explain their understanding of the text
5. Embed a PDF to model fluent reading and to have students practice close reading.
6. Do a Time to Climb with comprehension questions tied to stories students read to create friendly competition tied to literal comprehension and inferring skills

6. Make grammar interactive

Grammar is fun. Get students amped up about parts of speech and punctuation by making grammar interactive, colorful, and even humorous. These lessons are suitable for all age ranges and multiple levels. What’s also fantastic is students work with texts to help them discover voice and craft within the writing.

When exploring comprehension strategies for reading, use these grammar lessons to spark inspiration within students’ writing inside the classroom:

1. Use Drag and Drop for conjunctions. Give students phrases and conjunctions to create their own compound sentences. Create parts of speech sorts using Drag and Drop.
2. Draw It is a great way for students to practice their grammar revision skills. They can do a sentence or paragraph of the day and fix errors. It can also be used as a “Search and Find”. Find articles or stories to upload, and then challenge students to find specific grammatical examples such as prepositional phrases, adverbs, and past tense verbs, either regular or irregular. 
3. Use Draw It for the tried and true sentence diagramming. Students get a sentence and have to represent its grammatical structure pictorially. For younger students, have them color sentences by parts of speech. Coloring is proven to be calming while having them put their skills into practice. 
4. Use Fill in the Blanks to create a mad lib-like activity with parts of speech. 
5. Use Matching Pairs to match words with parts of speech, etc.
6. Make a Collaborate Board about “Why Spelling Matters.” Have students find funny or surprising pictures of misspellings, omitted punctuation, or other grammar errors from real life or the internet.

Build students’ reading comprehension using Nearpod

In the dynamic world of reading instruction, incorporating various strategies is key to helping students understand and engage with texts. From mastering letter sounds to tapping into prior knowledge, educators employ a rich toolkit to cultivate reading comprehension skills. Ultimately, these fun and multifaceted methods not only teach kids to read but also equip them with the tools to comprehend and appreciate the written word.

Methods of teaching reading and writing are fun and exciting. So many lessons can be made in Nearpod for all reading strands and writing. Once you get the hang of Nearpod’s platform, your library will be full of interactive and engaging ELA lessons. Hopefully, this list will propel you in the right direction.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Angelia Simpson

Angelia Simpson has been a first grade teacher for nine years. With a classroom full of minions, she balances the wonderful line of chaos and learning. Passions include writing, technology, reading, and Corgis.

The post 6 Fun strategies for teaching reading comprehension appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Early literacy requires exposure, practice, and repetition to help children learn to read and build their skills and make them lifelong readers and writers. A love of reading and all things literacy related cannot be cultivated early enough. We are a species that thrives on storytelling, from the early days of Homer’s orator skills to social media nowadays. Find ways to encourage partnership between your school’s teachers and families so that reading and writing are emphasized early and often.

Why is early literacy development important for students?

Developing early literacy skills is crucial for healthy brain development, and its importance extends far beyond success within a school’s walls. Obtaining basic literacy skills by third grade has been tied to higher academic success later in schooling and then in the workplace. Plus, there are physical and mental benefits, too. Reading 30 minutes daily has been shown to reduce heart rate and blood pressure. Lower reading scores in high school have been tied to health issues in adolescence and adulthood, partly because poor reading skills can affect informed decision-making about one’s health. Basic literacy and skills can help thwart the ills of poverty and even incarceration.

If a child is not reading at grade level by fourth grade, they are statistically likely to remain illiterate throughout their life.

LucyProject.org

Social and emotional wellness and strong literacy skills help support good mental health. Social and emotional learning can help support students in expressing themselves, their feelings, and their needs. SEL and literacy thrive in such supportive and nurturing classroom environments.

What are early literacy skills literacy skills examples?

When it comes to examples of literacy skills, the key areas are reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Then, the content areas become more nuanced as we begin to look at awareness of sounds, relationships between those sounds and letters, awareness of print, building comprehension, gaining vocabulary, and learning how to spell. These skill sets are the foundational blocks for literacy proficiency and growth.

Nearpod’s instructional delivery platform helps educators connect with their students through meaningful interactive learning experiences. Engage every student in their learning through impactful features, from collaborative tools to formative assessments, and use data to inform your next instructional decision. Whether you’re looking to enhance existing resources or supplement your curriculum with 22,000 standards-aligned lessons, videos, and activities, Nearpod has everything you need to facilitate transformational learning literacy experiences.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Teaching strategies for developing early literacy skills

Reading strategies

1. Embrace the Science of Reading

You’ve probably heard quite a bit about the Science of Reading (SOR). This newer movement relies on decades of research about the best strategies to employ for teaching reading. SOR is not a program but rather supports a return to a highly structured set of approaches rooted in decoding skills and language comprehension versus phonics, whole language, or balanced literacy.

Within Nearpod, you can explore the Nearpod library by standard or focus on one of the English Language Arts (ELA) strands for teaching reading: Conventions of Standard English, Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, Knowledge of Language, Phonics, Word Recognition, Fluency, Key Ideas and Details, Craft and Structure, Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, or Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity.

• CVC Words (K-1): In this lesson on CVC words, students will learn how to identify beginning, middle, and ending sounds within these fundamental three-letter words. This lesson can be a critical building block tool for young readers to explore phonemic awareness and sound-symbol relationships.

• Nonfiction Text Features (1-2): In this lesson on nonfiction text features, students will learn about text features that help readers understand the text they are reading. Students can gain an understanding of the various elements that assist in comprehending informational texts to help them effectively engage with diverse forms of nonfiction literature, reinforcing their journey to becoming proficient readers.

• Retelling Key Details (1-2): In this lesson on retelling key details, students can recognize and retell pivotal elements within a fiction story. This lesson underscores the importance of comprehension and narrative understanding.

2. Read aloud every day

It can’t be underscored enough that children start to reap countless benefits from reading every day—and from having someone read aloud to them. From an early age, kids who are read to can begin to understand concepts conveyed in books and other written materials before they can actually read independently. When you read aloud to kids, they not only lose themselves in stories but also learn to appreciate the lyrical nature and cadence of language. They begin to understand intonation and the rhythm and rhyme of the written word.

I still remember that my sixth-grade teacher used to read aloud to us for 20 minutes after lunch and recess. She called it “bulge” time. She would read a chapter or so each day, and it was a time for us to rest, recoup, and relax. I remember she even cried gently while reading Incident at Hawk’s Hill. Encourage your families to read aloud to their early literacy learners, as well as their older children, at home. Parents can read with their kids at bedtime or even record themselves reading aloud if they can’t be there in person.
In turn, with Nearpod, you can enable Audio Record for kids to capture their own read-alouds. Let them practice sounding out words, reading with punctuation, and bringing their personality to the storytelling. Additionally, Immersive Reader is available on Nearpod slides and activities. Have students use the text-to-speech feature to have the text read aloud to them.

3. Level up with chapter books

Don’t hesitate to read more sophisticated stories to children for developing early literacy skills. Often, a reader’s phonetic and comprehension skills don’t progress at the same pace. However, students can begin to appreciate concepts such as story elements and literary devices, and understand dynamic plot twists in stories that are above their reading level. Plus, they can engage their active listening skills and inferential reading skills as they hear more complex story arcs. If you’re interested in exploring reading material options, check out our list of 27 engaging books for beginner readers.

Nearpod’s Immersive Reader is an adaptive feature to help students unable to see text, those learning a new language, and even emergent readers. Early readers can employ the Immersive Reader to dive into a story or text that may not be at their current reading level.

Writing strategies

4. Hunt for letters

As students begin to correlate sounds and words with letters and better grasp the alphabetic principle, go Sesame Street-style and choose a letter of the day or week. Ask students to print the letter on a brown lunch bag and then focus on collecting items that begin with or contain that letter. Make a game of it, to engage a little extrinsic as well as intrinsic motivation.

Kids need to see letters and words, write them, and hear them to fully bring together the complex aspects of basic early literacy skills. Check out the vast library of Letter Lessons and letter-related songs, in which students focus on one letter in the alphabet, are introduced to the letter, and explore the sound that it makes.

5. Embrace invented spelling

Did you know that English has 44 phonemes, or individual sounds? English, however, does not have a 1:1 relationship between the written form (graphemes) and the spoken form (phonemes). Don’t let spelling get in the way of kids’ storytelling. Phonetic spelling, sometimes called invented spelling, happens as students try to make sense of sounds and letters. They may stumble on the many nuances of the rules of the English language, but make sure that this doesn’t hinder their overall progress. Sometimes, educators can use such non-words or pseudo-words as a tool to evaluate a student’s phonetic decoding ability. Likewise, looking for patterns in a child’s phonetic spelling can help you address which phonics rules should be readdressed or reinforced.

Here are some early literacy activities you can use:

• Phonetic Spelling (Grades K-1): In this Draw It activity, students learn about phonetic spelling by practicing spelling unfamiliar words.
• Spelling: Part 1 (Grades K-2): In this Drag & Drop activity, students learn about letter sounds by practicing their spelling through drawing.
• Spelling: Part 2 (Grades K-2: This is a continuation of the Drag & Drop activity mentioned above.

6. Highlight real-world examples of the written word

To support both reading and writing skils, point out everyday words not just in books but on the classroom walls and around the school. Make your classroom a print-rich environment with posters, signs, teaching aids, and student work to emphasize frequent sight words or words they may see frequently in the real world (like “EXIT”). Such sight or word recognition is a key skill alongside phonological awareness and decoding. Showcase the different types of writing as well—not just fiction and nonfiction, but also instructions, advertisements, signs, and newspapers. At home, encourage families to read what is written on cereal boxes, in comics, and out and about on the town. Children will begin to better understand not only the purpose of writing but also what kind appeals to them most. Forming early opinions around reading and writing empowers them to own these stages of literacy and processes.

Nearpod offers a Skill Builders series for early learners. Lean on the interactive Draw It feature to explore the lessons (Part 1 and 2) for Write and Draw Sight Words and Trace and Write the Missing Letters. Additionally, this lesson scaffolds for first and second graders with Identifying Sight Words (see Part 1 and 2).

Speaking strategies

7. Play with expressive language

Expressive language, aka, speaking, develops post-receptive language (listening). Early learners will often mimic what they hear; that’s why you hear quite emotive babbling from babies. Give kids the opportunity to play with language and literacy through pretend play, cooperative activities, and singing songs. Play a simple rhyming game so they can begin to understand the rules of phonics (and the exceptions!) and expand their vocabulary in the interim. Find several ways to incorporate songs or poetry into your classroom with creative ideas for teaching poetry to use as examples of literacy skills.

For early childhood education, specifically K-2 grade levels, consider using songs. After all, songs are poetry! Here are some video lessons with songs that can help teach about creative and expressive language, including letter recognition and knowledge:

• Frog On A Dog: In this fun and educational video lesson from Alphablocks, students learn about rhyming three-letter words with the word “dog.”
• Rhyming Songs: This engaging video lesson from Alphablocks teaches students about different letters from the alphabet, their sounds, and vocabulary words.
• The Letter S Song: In this cartoon video lesson from ABC Mouse, students learn all about the letter “S.”

8. Ask open-ended questions

Think of Bloom’s Taxonomy. In order to appeal to students’ higher-order thinking skills, ask questions that do not have a yes/no answer. Encourage them to form their own opinions and articulate their own perspectives through open-ended questions. Ask for supporting details and arguments. Open-ended questioning can involve asking kids how they feel, so that they begin to expand their vocabulary to define how they are doing or feeling.

With Nearpod, you can add open-ended questions to activities and lessons to help check for understanding. Additionally, such questions can be used to facilitate creative writing, using text or images as a prompt. To focus on the learning objectives for speaking, ask students to provide their answers using the interactive Audio Recording feature.

9. Encourage student-to-student conversations

Oral language development is a process involving semantics, phonological skills, pragmatics, syntax, and morphological skills (Moats 2010). It’s important to make time for meaningful conversations in the classroom between you and your students, to model how to listen, respond, and ask related questions. Then, encourage student-to-student conversations by creating collaborative activities where they have to take turns participating and articulating their ideas to each other. Encourage shared reading, where they can build comprehension skills while they converse about the characters and plot line. Students can practice retelling a story, too—this will give you a sense of how well they listened and how well they can recall the shared details and incorporate new vocabulary.

In addition to supporting emergent literacy learners, Nearpod also supports oral language skill development for English language learners (ELL) and English as a second language learners (ESL). Nearpod’s EL K-12 Program includes thousands of lessons, activities, and videos available to schools and districts. Check out this sample lesson!

Listening strategies

10. Encourage receptive language

Active listening differs from plain ol’ listening. I used to tell my students that they may be able to hear, but I’d question whether they could listen. Listening comes down to whether or not a child can make sense of the language they are hearing. And often, there can be aggravating factors, whether developmental, cognitive, or even health-related. Mitigate early literacy development obstacles by modeling what it means to be a good listener; ensure your students are positioned well within the classroom; remove noisy distractions and/or provide fidget toys to help with inattentiveness.

Check out this Nearpod interactive video lesson about Active Listening. In this one-minute video, a host explains what active listening looks like, and students consider the steps they can take to show speakers they are listening.

11. Give step-by-step directions

One way to encourage active listening is to give students directions and see if they can follow the instructions step by step. In the first two years of life, kids usually can follow a one-step instruction. But by 3-4 years of age, kids can begin to follow three-part directions, and most kindergartners can follow four-step instructions. Consider prefacing or adding numbers to the steps (e.g., “I’m going to ask you to do three things”) to support their working memory. Your words can be supported by visual examples or gestures, as well. These basic literacy skills will also encourage executive functioning and critical thinking. 

Once students can follow directions well, they can try their hand at giving clear and precise instructions. Using Nearpod, they can use words, images, and drawings with the Draw It interactive tool to give sequential steps to someone else. Take it one step further with Drag and Drop to have students sort and sequence images and text.

12. Play games

Try a simple Google search and you will find a plethora of classroom games and activities that require active listening. Most don’t even require special resources or expensive props. Try games that require students to follow directions, like Hokey Pokey. Similarly, they will need to listen well to succeed at activities like musical chairs, musical statues, or stop/go games. Introduce popular games such as Follow The Leader, Simon Says, or I Spy. Bring music into your classroom games to further underscore basic literacy skills such as sounds, words, rhythms, and basic comprehension.

Consider using Nearpod’s Time to Climb to create your own creative way. It’s a favorite for teachers and students!

Teach early literacy skills with Nearpod

There are many factors that contribute to a child becoming literate—not all of which are within teachers’ control. However, teachers model a love of learning each and every day, and most will admit to being avid readers, maybe even writers as well. At the very least, they appreciate the art found in literacy and extol its lifelong benefits. Nearpod can help support teachers in instructing early literacy learners and partner with families to continue developing early literacy skills 24/7 throughout a learner’s first years.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post Essential teaching strategies for developing early literacy skills appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Every year, the month of May is officially designated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage (AAPI) Month. May was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in the United States on May 7, 1843, as well as the completion of the transcontinental railroad by a large Chinese workforce on May 10, 1869. AAPI Month serves as a reminder of the rich tapestry of cultures, histories, and contributions woven into the fabric of American society by individuals of Asian and Pacific Islander descent.

Classroom activities to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month

As racist anti-Asian attacks continue to rise across the US, it is more important than ever to recognize the diverse history of Asians in America and amplify Asian American identities, culture, and achievements. Nearpod has curated free resources to help teachers celebrate AAPI Heritage Month in the classroom. From fostering a deeper understanding of historical contexts to celebrating contemporary achievements, these resources aim to empower educators in amplifying diverse narratives and nurturing inclusivity within their classrooms. Let’s delve into classroom activities curated by Nearpod to honor AAPI Heritage Month and uplift AAPI communities.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

1. Enter students in the Celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Contest

Learning about and elevating Asian voices and stories is an important step in the fight for racial justice—and research suggests that when students guide their own learning, they become more engaged, create more connections between their schoolwork and the real world, and develop critical thinking skills that help them succeed in school and beyond. Nearpod’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Contest offers an opportunity to empower students to create their own mini-curriculum.

Students can research any American of Asian or Pacific Island descent who has made an important contribution to history or culture, then write a 150- to 250-word informational script about that person’s life and achievements. One winning script will be turned into a Nearpod Original Video! Find more information, including an announcement video and contest packet with official rules.

Inspire students to enter by introducing them to our 2021 winner: Phoebe Lee. Phoebe and her script were featured in a Nearpod Original Just a Minute video, and she was also invited to attend the filming session virtually. She used her voice to honor Asian American civil rights activist in this lesson about Yuri Kochiyama. She chose Kochiyama as her figure because she wanted to teach others about her courage and inspiring activism. Click here to see all student winners.

2. Introduce diverse viewpoints with Perspective Analysis lessons

In the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle, it is crucial for students to deepen their critical-thinking skills. Nearpod’s 50+ Perspective Analysis lessons provide opportunities for students to examine their own perspectives, as well as analyze perspectives presented in text, videos, and other media. Use these AAPI Heritage Month ideas below!

In one lesson, students read Ha Jin’s poem “All You Have is a Country,” in which the speaker describes his one-sided longing for China, the country he left behind. After reading, students consider whether the poem is a “mirror,” reflecting some of their own life experience back at them, or a “window,” introducing them to a new experience or perspective.

In another lesson, students watch a video about why the word “Asian” is now preferred to “Oriental.” They map out which ideas and perspectives are centered in the video, which are given only a quick mention, and which are left out entirely. Then they think about why those perspectives were included or ignored. 

Other Perspective Analysis lessons talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act and civil rights activist Yuri Kochiyama. You can also create your own version of this lesson structure, selecting the texts, videos, or other media that best fit your classroom needs.

3. Browse all of Nearpod’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month lessons

We’ve curated a collection of 20+ premade lessons to help you honor AAPI Heritage Month in your classroom. Teach students about important events in Asian American history, like Japanese internment during World War II and the annexation of Hawaii as the 50th state. Celebrate the lives and achievements of Mabel Lee, Fred Korematsu, and other historical figures. Or take a mini field trip to Guam or Hawaii with Nearpod’s Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip lessons.

Here are more AAPI Heritage Month activities we recommend exploring:

• Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month: In this holiday lesson, students learn about the origins of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month and how people celebrate it. Students learn about cultural heritage. Explore the K-2 lesson and 3-5 lesson.
• The Dark History of the Overthrow of Hawaii: In this AAPI history video for grades 6-12 from TED-Ed, students learn how Hawaii became a US territory.
• What Led to the Chinese Exclusion Act?: The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law of its kind. In this video for grades 9-12, students learn how it came to be and why it was unprecedented. They follow a character seeking answers, and reflect on the role of this act in our history.
• Feudalism in Japan: In this 9-12 social studies activity, students will understand facts about the Feudalism in Japan using Nearpod’s interactive quiz game, Time to Climb.

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Nearpod

We’re so excited to see you use these activities in your classroom! Although May is AAPI Heritage Month, it’s important to highlight Asian American and Pacific Islander figures, heritage, and culture year-round. Use these lessons and activities to celebrate in May and during any other time of the school year. And don’t forget to enter Nearpod’s AAPI Heritage Contest!

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Katie Choi

Katie Choi is a senior curriculum manager at Nearpod.

The post Classroom activities to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

When the early reports post COVID sounded the alarm on the lack of student progress, The Los Angeles Times highlighted that the disparity was greatest among disadvantaged populations. And while the recent news is less promising than hoped for, there are shining examples of learning tools that are making a difference—Nearpod being one of them.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Research reveals Nearpod’s positive impact on math and ELA performance

LearnPlatform by Instructure, a third-party edtech efficacy research company, first partnered with Nearpod in 2023 to successfully conduct an ESSA Level III study. LearnPlatform just released a second independent study highlighting that Nearpod has earned an ESSA Evidence Level II rating designating “Moderate Evidence” for impacting student outcomes as shown in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) spring tests. The team looked at a sample of 6,087 students from 25 schools in one California K-12 district during the 2022-2023 school year to determine the impact of Nearpod on student performance. 89% of the students were from low-income backgrounds, 20% were English language learners (ELLs), and 13% had Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).

What is ESSA Level II Evidence?

ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act signed by President Obama in 2015, is a commitment to equal opportunity for all students. It emphasizes the importance of evidenced-based investment in products proven to make a difference by publishing rigorous research on their efficacy.

The study performed by LearnPlatform satisfied all of the ESSA evidence requirements for Level II: Proper design and implementation, including: 

• Valid and reliable outcome measure that is not overaligned with the intervention 
• Baseline equivalence for treatment and comparison groups 
• Statistical controls through covariates 
• At least 350 students in the analysis sample 
• Representative, multi-site study
• At least one statistically significant, positive finding

Nearpod’s designation as meeting Level II requirements means that the researchers were confident that the increased scores observed during the study were due to an intervention using Nearpod.

The research questions focused on the following:

• What was the impact of Nearpod on students’ ELA and math 2022-2023 summative outcomes? 
• What was the impact of Nearpod on ELA and math 2022-2023 summative outcomes for English language learners? 
• What was the impact of Nearpod on ELA and math 2022-2023 summative outcomes for students on an IEP?

Nearpod’s ESSA Level II Evidence

Zeroing in on grades 4-8, the quasi-experimental study aimed to better understand the impact of Nearpod on the students’ learning outcomes. Worth noting is that this sample of students was 85% Hispanic and 14% Black or African American—representative of student populations most at risk. The study found that with 83% of the students interacting with Nearpod-created content for an average of just 7.2 weeks (which amounted to an average of 16 sessions launched), there was a statistically significant impact on student learning overall and for those with IEPS.

Key Results: English Language Arts (ELA)

Looking at adjusted CAASPP scale scores for English language arts (ELA) achievement, those who used Nearpod compared to students in similar grades who did not use Nearpod had higher scores in the following grades:

• 8th graders had higher scores: 2558 v. 2534
• 8th graders with IEPs had higher scores: 2469 v 2430
• 5th graders with IEPs had higher scores: 2428 v 2404

Key Results: Math

Looking at adjusted CAASPP scores for math achievement, those who used Nearpod compared to students in similar grades who did not use Nearpod had higher scores in the following grades:

• 8th graders had higher scores: 2516 v. 2486
• 6th graders had higher scores: 2501 v. 2483
• 6th graders with IEPs had higher scores: 2424 v 2393

Impact student learning with Nearpod

Nearpod continues to be a “fan favorite” since its introduction more than 10 years ago, due to its rigorous approach to engaging students in active learning. Classroom teachers and school administrators rely on Nearpod’s vast library of expert-created content, intuitive interactive learning activities, and real-time data reports, which have a proven track record of leading to better instructional strategies and better student outcomes.

Educators can tailor their approach to engage students in high-quality, research-backed interactive lessons, whether for the whole class, small groups, or 1:1 instruction. At a time when math and reading scores continue to sound alarms, this impact study and ESSA Level II recognition will continue to bolster educators’ confidence in leveraging Nearpod across the curriculum. Nearpod is dedicated to improving the instructional experience for all kids by making sure that they can make real-world, relevant connections through culturally responsive pedagogy. And these outcomes don’t just address short-term needs—they also enable schools to build positive cultures by looking long-term when it comes to leaning on data-driven methodology to increase motivation, engagement, and retention. Along with better outcomes, such efforts can promote a deeper sense of belonging and dedication to 21st-century skills for students, plus progression growth and job satisfaction for teachers.

Start using Nearpod

Despite the dismal data about reading and math achievement scores nationwide following the COVID shutdown, we are beginning to see a few glimmering examples of schools helping students make strides forward. Early on, Nearpod doubled down on its commitment to help schools modify their instructional plans in order to reengage students into hybrid and in-person instruction. And this most recent recognition of earning the second-highest ranking, ESSA Level II, showcases how Nearpod can be part of a school’s comprehensive solution to helping all students reach higher and achieve more.

Foster a love of learning in every student with Nearpod. Teachers can sign up for free below to access and create interactive lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post Research reveals Nearpod’s positive impact on Math and ELA performance appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

April is National Poetry Month, an annual celebration established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States. It is a time to celebrate the diversity and richness of the literary arts and explore how poetry can inspire, uplift, and transform us. Teaching poetry activities can be a fun and creative experience, and there are many ideas you can use to help students understand and enjoy this literary art form. Whether you are a seasoned teacher or new to teaching poetry, these creative Poetry Month ideas will have your students engaged and appreciating poems.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Poetry Month Activities: 6 engaging ideas for teaching poetry

1. Teach the foundations of poetry

Before reading and analyzing poetry with students, it’s important to teach them foundational knowledge. Although art is subjective and poetry is art, there are many basic elements students should know about beforehand. After all, understanding the work that goes into it and its history will help students appreciate these literary masterpieces.

Here are some lessons, activities, and videos you can use to introduce poetry in the classroom:

• Identifying Elements of a Poem (Grade 2): In this Matching Pairs activity, students strengthen their understanding of the elements of a poem and identify poetic elements in sentences.

• What Is Poetry? (Grades 4-8): In this investigative video from Nearpod Originals, students learn that poetry can be almost anything—but often includes figurative language and sound devices. They also consider how song lyrics are a form of poetry.

• Learn Zillion’s Poetry Series (Grades 4-8): This poetry lesson collection from Nearpod and Learn Zillion includes lessons about reading and writing poetry, covering topics such as setting, mood, theme, structure, symbolism, and more. Choose a lesson, launch it as is, or modify it to fit your student’s needs.

2. Inspire students to write poems using virtual reality

Poetry tends to be descriptive and visual, so pricing them with inspiring visuals can result in creative writing. Instead of simply showing a static image for visual inspiration, immerse them into a setting using a Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trip. Don’t worry, no headsets are needed for this! Students will need to have their own devices, such as a laptop, tablet, or smartphone, or teachers can simply project the VR experience on a screen in front of the class.

Here are some VR lessons you can use for free:

• Ode to the Simple Things (Grades 6-8): In this VR lesson, students explore odes and how poetry can be about simple as well as complex things. Students take a virtual field to a beach with many pebbles, then write an ode to pebbles.

• Conjuring the Senses (Grades 6-8): In this VR lesson, students explore how imagery of the five senses can enrich the meaning of a poem. Students take a virtual field to the Thames River and consider how the river would affect their senses.

3. Create Drag and Drop activities to practice magnetic poetry

Of all the fun poetry activities, magnetic poems and poetry frames can be adaptable for many grade levels. Nearpod’s Drag and Drop feature allows teachers to create digital magnetic poems. Use this tool to have students enter words or phrases to create their own poems. By having students drag text or images in a Drag and Drop, they can create more descriptive poems. Try out this activity.

In the poetry prompts and draggable words, teachers can add higher-level vocabulary or simple decodable words depending on students’ abilities.

4. For young writers, use poetry frames

Poetry Frames are another excellent source of inspiration for young writers. These graphic organizers can easily get students started writing their own poems. Teachers can create their own frames or upload premade ones into the Drag and Drop background. Help students model lyrics or even sonnets. If you have students create various frames, consider making poetry books with their work. Try out this activity.

5. Boost creativity visual or concrete poetry

Poetry is filled with imagery, and pictures are great resources to spark ideas. Try these Poetry Month ideas to incorporate visual imagery into your lesson plans:

• Using Nearpod’s drawing assessment tool, Draw it, students can create their own concrete poems, which are poems that take the shape of their topic.
• Teachers can upload PDFs of poem examples to accompany directions. Use poems by Jack Prelutsky or Shel Silverstein for a fun twist.
• Create a lesson where students can choose their own visual to inspire a poem. They can then write their poem using the Draw It or Open-Ended Question tool. This grants more creative freedom for students to take their poetry to new and interesting places.
• Students can write concrete poems directly into the lesson. Not only can teachers upload reference images into the Draw It activity, but students can also upload their own images or explore on Google Safe Search.

6. Shared poetry using the Collaborate Board

Good ideas often come with a little help. Shared poetry gives writers an extra boost. Using the Collaborate Board activity, the class develops shared poetry. Creating a shared poetry lesson in Nearpod is quick, simple, and impactful with these steps: 

• Add an activity slide and select Collaborate Board.
• Type your lesson topic into the directions box. The beauty of this activity is that teachers have total control over the prompt – being as specific or broad as is necessary while still fostering creativity. Add a simple visual image as reference media to allow for multiple interpretations or give detailed directions/instructional aids for students to mimic certain poetic devices or styles. 
• Assign your shared poetry lesson to the class by sharing the lesson code with students. So much flexibility is given that teachers can allow students to add to the shared poem individually or work in small groups.
• The whole class sees what’s being contributed to the poem in real-time. It’s a great opportunity to discuss poetry ideas and share thinking, even sharing comments!

Collaborate Board’s design layout allows students to add audio recordings and videos! Results are unexpected but wholly unique and diverse. The real trick is to pick broad topics while also being relatable. Themes like love, friendship, or nature give room for interpretation but are not too broad to disconnect students. Read the poem aloud to see their masterpiece come to life.

7. Use Flocabulary’s poem videos

Did you know that Flocabulary videos are available on Nearpod? You can use Flocabulary’s videos to create an interactive Nearpod lesson or video with embedded formative assessments. Explore more poetry activities using Flocabulary.

For example, you can teach middle and high school students Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” through this adaption. Dive deeper into the literary devices by using the Tone & Mood lesson with The Raven adaptation.

You can find these lessons by searching “poetry” in the lesson library and then clicking “Flocabulary” in the Partners filter.*

*Only available to users with access to Flocabulary.

Start teaching poetry activities with the help of Nearpod

We’re so excited to see you use these tips in the classroom! Not only can you use these activities and ideas for Poetry Month, you can use them when teaching poetry to kids at any time of the school year. Nearpod’s interactive activities and lessons will keep your students engaged and learning, while supporting you as their teacher through real-time insights.

New to Nearpod? Teachers can sign up for a free Nearpod account below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons. Administrators can schedule a call with an expert to unlock the full power of Nearpod for schools and districts.

Angelia Simpson

Angelia Simpson has been a first grade teacher for nine years. With a classroom full of minions, she balances the wonderful line of chaos and learning. Passions include writing, technology, reading, and Corgis.

The post Poetry Month Activities: 7 creative ideas for teaching poetry appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

What are literacy skills?

While many equate literacy with reading, developing literacy skills actually encompasses listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The focus on reading comes from the fact that while human brains are wired to speak, they are not wired to read and write. Reading development is not a natural process, and therefore kids do not learn to read as they learn to talk. A 1998 article from ASCD refers to the reading process as “linguistic gymnastics,” highlighting how unnatural the pursuit is and why it requires rigorous instruction. Hence, the shift towards the teaching of reading relies on the decades of research behind the Science of Reading.

Why is reading and literacy important?

Reading and literacy hold paramount significance within the classroom, serving as the cornerstone of effective education. Reading comprehension is the gateway to acquiring knowledge across all subjects, allowing students to grasp complex concepts, explore diverse perspectives, and engage critically with the curriculum. Literacy skills foster improved communication, both written and oral, enabling students to express their ideas articulately and engage in meaningful classroom discussions.

According to Reading Rockets, key predictors in preschool for reading and school success are:

• Oral Language: listening comprehension, oral language vocabulary
• Alphabetic Code: alphabet knowledge, phonological/ phonemic awareness (the ability to discriminate sounds in words), invented spelling
• Print Knowledge/Concepts: environmental print, concepts about print

Such reading skills and strategies can strengthen self-expression, interpersonal communication and relationships, reading comprehension, and a readiness to learn.

10 Teaching strategies: How to improve reading skills in the classroom

To help develop strong readers, educators should focus on the following teaching reading strategies to explore how to teach kids to read with the help of Nearpod.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons.

1. Focus on the fundamentals

The Science of Reading (SoR) is not a program but rather a rigorous approach to reading based on decades of research rooted in decoding skills and language comprehension. There are 10 components to the Science of Reading:

• Print concepts
• Phonological awareness
• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Spelling
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Oral language skills
• Reading comprehension skills
• Background knowledge

When it comes to the Science of Reading, shore up your own prior knowledge and seek out quality resources so that you can help lay a foundation for reading success and know how to improve reading skills.

Nearpod allows you to filter by standards to find lessons aligned with the Science of Reading for foundational skills instruction. Choose one of the English Language Arts (ELA) strands in the dropdown menu to discover lessons you can teach or duplicate and modify to meet your students’ needs. 

2. Revisit and refresh decoding skills

When it comes to emergent and beginner readers, educators must focus on the intricate construct of fluency, phonemic awareness, vocabulary, phonics, and comprehension. Helping students be able to decode is a fundamental problem-solving skill when it comes to encountering unfamiliar words in the text. English, in particular, is a complex language with many rules it then breaks. Equipping your students with decoding skills and giving them many instances of practice throughout the years is foundational to their academic success and developing literacy skills.

Discover many related Nearpod lessons from Lalilo, such as word families, vowel sounds and patterns, and contractions. Students practice orally and in writing using Lalilo’s playful interactives and Nearpod activities.

Additionally, with the Immersive Reader integration, students can access text-to-speech, read-aloud, translation, picture dictionaries, syllabication features, and more for any piece of text on the Nearpod lesson.

3. Emphasize fluency

Fluency is a key indicator of reading progress. Fluency refers not only to the speed at which one can read (words per minute) but also to the accuracy with which one reads (words read correctly per minute: wcpm). As teachers give oral fluency tests, they also listen for prosody, which is how one reads with expression or intonation. This use of emphasis—pausing, variations, and rhythm—is indicative of a reader’s sense of semantics and plays a role in how to improve reading skills.

Nearpod can help you record, monitor, and track your students’ fluency progress. Students use the record feature to submit a voice recording of reading a passage on an Open-Ended Question. Watch this quick video to see how:

4. Understand the argument against three-cueing

The Science of Reading leans away from three-cueing— identifying words through meaning (semantic), structure (syntactic), and visual (graphophonic), often referred to as MSV. The new methodology deems this constructivist theory of reading as “guessing” or downplaying phonics and instead argues that students’ eyes need to stay on the text to establish letter-sound knowledge versus skipping to picture cues. While picture cues can aid in understanding meaning or comprehension, they should be secondary to using the networks in our brains to read. Explore the concepts behind the Science of Reading in more depth to better understand this research-based approach to developing decoding skills and language comprehension.

5. Make cross-curricular connections to develop early reading skills and strategies

Sometimes, you may hear educators talk about “literacy across the curriculum” or shifting from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” As children gain basic reading skills, they need to practice using such newfound knowledge in other subject areas and disciplines. Such cross-curricular connections will allow them to lean in and personalize or individualize their learning pursuits. Some students may be more motivated or engaged in reading about dinosaurs in science or Medieval castles in social studies. They may be captured by the rhythm of poetry or the mind-bending word problems in math.

As mentioned before, Nearpod’s vast library can help you find subject-specific lessons and reading materials that take a rich, multimedia approach to engage students, whether as a whole group or in a student-directed approach. Also, Immersive Reader permits students to take ownership of their learning since they can use the tool in any lesson as needed.

6. Challenge higher-order thinking skills

Refresh your understanding of the revised levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Consider ways to challenge students’ higher-order thinking skills when reading by asking questions around key action verbs like compare and contrast, predict, support, defend, critique, investigate, and develop…just to name a few. Such methodologies to improve reading comprehension go beyond just a baseline understanding or recall of details.

Flocabulary accelerates learning and academic vocabulary through rigorous and authentically engaging instructional experiences. These video-based lessons create emotional connections by harnessing the power of music, as well as visual art, storytelling, humor, drama, and poetry. It builds higher-order thinking with a lesson sequence that moves learners through Bloom’s Taxonomy: lesson Video for Create, Vocab Game for Understand, Break it Down and Read & Respond for Apply, Quiz for Analyze, and Lyric Lab for Create.

7. Encourage storytelling

Part of literacy is the ability to write. One way to foster a love of reading is to help children become storytellers in their own right. Find ways to weave creative writing into your language arts block, and don’t let emerging literacy skills hold back students’ imaginations. They can use inventive spelling or even audio tools to encourage their play with language and their understanding of story elements. And definitely host a publishing party where writers can read their stories aloud.

Nearpod’s virtual reality (VR) tool can help inspire creative writers! Students don’t need headsets, just their own devices, or teachers can project the VR experience on their screens. Check out these lessons as models of ways to use VR in language arts:

• Creative Writing Practice: Nature’s Inspiration: In this mini-lesson, students explore Yosemite and Hawaii to find inspiration for writing.
• Creative Writing Practice: Tallest Building: In this lesson, students explore the Burj Khalifa: the tallest building in the world. They use this location as inspiration for their creative writing tasks.
• Creative Writing Practice: The Igloo House: In this lesson, students explore an igloo house in California to spark their imagination and inspire narrative writing.

8. Seek out supplemental tools

With today’s technologies, there are many tools and software available to help you support and/or intervene when teaching a child to read. Adaptive technologies mean that each child can learn at his/her own pace with personalized strategies. Turn to your colleagues for recommendations and share such with students’ families so that the pursuit of reading becomes a whole-school community goal.

Nearpod’s mission is to make teaching easier with the interactive tools, resources, and content teachers need in one place. Teachers have the ability to create slides, embed interactive assessments, get real-time student insight, and access a library of standard-aligned resources streamlined into one platform.

9. Play with words

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Regardless of the time of year, weave poetry into your classroom to encourage practicing reading strategies for students. Poetry not only encourages word play with its rhyming, rhythms, and descriptive verse, but it also introduces the subtle, sophisticated nuances of figurative language in an appealing way.

With Nearpod’s Draw It tool, have your students create concrete or shape poems. These visual poems draw out the inner artists in a lyrical way.

10. D.E.A.R.

Do you remember the concept of Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) from Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series? Develop a love of reading with your students as early as possible by giving them daily opportunities to immerse themselves in reading deeply. Introduce them to various genres and authors so they can personalize and individualize their own reading journeys. Series are a great way for kids to grow their appreciation of an author’s style, plotline twists and turns, and character development. Explore 27 engaging books we recommend for beginner readers.

Teach reading skills with Nearpod

These are just 10 strategies to help support reading proficiency— a pursuit that needs to be done early and often with children. Consider the ways you can approach oral language and reading development each and every day in your classroom when teaching kids. What are the tricks and tips that you have found to be effective in your classroom over the years? And then seek out ways to learn from others. Which strategies exemplified by others, would you like to try?

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons.

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post 10 Teaching strategies: How to improve students’ reading skills appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Fostering a love for literacy with books for beginning readers should be started way before one can actually read, spell, or even utter a word. As Frederick Douglas said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free,” which, when reading between the lines, has several figurative, as well as literal, connotations.

Getting young children hooked on reading takes a dynamic interplay of practical skills combined with storytelling elements. Many educators support a balanced literacy approach by blending phonics and whole language to engage beginning readers. While the discipline of literacy itself is laden with a lot of “big” words, which require some unpacking, the science of reading also demands a bit of artistry from both teachers and authors. In short, literacy comes down to a magical mix of sounds and meanings!

What are the 10 components of the science of reading?

The science of reading (SoR) pulls research from across the disciplines of education, educational psychology, developmental psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive science. To understand best practices, you must dive into the 10 components that combine foundational literacy skills with knowledge-based competencies:

1. Print concepts
2. Phonological awareness
3. Phonemic awareness
4. Phonics
5. Spelling
6. Fluency
7. Vocabulary
8. Oral language skills
9. Reading comprehension
10. Background knowledge

How can I teach foundational literacy skills?

Before assigning or reading books for beginner readers, you’ll want to employ a mix of evaluation strategies to establish a child’s baseline for literacy. Beginning with decoding, you can work with students to better understand their knowledge of the alphabetic principle or their ability to break words apart or blend them together.

When looking at fluency, you may want to rely on running records to gauge students’ accuracy at reading passages of connected text within one minute’s time. Reading comprehension can be evaluated in several ways, from answering factual questions, to completing close passages, to summarizing or retelling a story. Such diagnostic and formative assessments help determine which skill sets need strengthening. That way, literacy “muscles” work together to fully immerse a reader into a book of his or her choice.

Resources to support teaching beginning readers

With Nearpod, you can get real-time insights into student understanding through interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities. Teachers can create interactive lessons and access premade standards-aligned lessons with Nearpod’s engaging features.

Plus, key partners, such as Lalilo, Alpha Blocks, Sesame Street, and Read Works, have published content on Nearpod to encourage literacy skills.

Check out some of the resources you can use in your classroom to teach early readers:

• In the video, Using Nearpod for Reading Fluency Progress Monitoring, a teacher shares how they use Nearpod to teach reading fluency.
• In Nearpod’s The Letter lessons, students focus on one letter in the alphabet, are introduced to the letter, and explore the sound that it makes.
• In Nearpod’s Phonics Family lessons, students learn to recognize and write words containing different phonics families. 

• In Neaprod’s Identifying Sight Words: Part I, students begin to discover how sight words can help them in both reading and writing.
• In Nearpod’s Parts of a Book, students explore the concepts of print to raise their awareness of how books function.
• In Nearpod’s Retelling Key Details, students are challenged to use their comprehension skills to recall details to retell a story.
• In this Learnzillion ELA lesson, students explore how to gain a better understanding of what they’re reading and how to revise their thinking as they read.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons.

27 Engaging books for beginner readers

New and revered authors and illustrators add artistry to reading and hook young and old readers with the power of storytelling. And introducing kids–– whether they be 1. emergent readers, 2. early readers,  3. transitional readers, or 4. fluent readers––to the power of the written word is key in progressing from learning to read to reading to learn.

From Caldecott to Newbery, from Coretta Scott King to a National Book Award, there are many ways to discover notable titles. Additionally, sites like GoodReads.com showcase user reviews for books for all ages. Keep reading to explore the best books to teach reading.

What types of books are best for beginning readers? We’ve taken the liberty of categorizing some books to consider!

Books that promote word play

The well-known picture book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. embodies the best of wordplay. From the rhythm to the rhyme to the repetition, children begin to hear and repeat the beat of the written and spoken word, as well as begin to anticipate what’s coming next. Parroting or guessing an upcoming word from memorization is a positive sign that children are beginning to associate words and meaning to the letters written on the page. This concept is similar to how children begin to develop number sense when learning math. Additionally, the alphabetic principle comes alive in this book through the personification of both upper and lowercase letters in the whimsical illustrations. No wonder it is both an ALA Notable Children’s Book and a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book. (Note: the board book is an abbreviated version of this now-classic story.)

While Dr. Seuss is the king of wordplay, others have mastered the art as well:

1. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
2. Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
3. Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? By Bill Martin Jr.
4. Moo, Baa, La La La! by Sandra Boynton
5. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy E. Shaw

Books for leveled readers to develop strategies

To engage children in reading, one can turn to leveled readers, which rely on stories told through developmentally-appropriate words. Children begin to recognize that speech is represented in print: graphemes are sounds related to letters, while phonemes are sounds related to words. Though the English language has 44 speech sounds, there are only 26 letters to represent them. Scaffolding these skills allows us to build toward multi-syllable words and more complex sentence structure.

One such series of leveled readers is Pete the Cat: I Can Read! Series by James Dean, which relies on high-frequency and sight words, (did you know that adults can recognize 30-70,000 words on sight?) in combination with repetitive text. Leveled readers use illustrations to challenge kids to use pictures or contextual cues to make educated guesses when faced with an unfamiliar word. Such books for elementary provide a balance of accessibility and challenge.

Additional titles to consider for leveled readers are:

1. BOB Books by Bobby Lynn Maslen
2. Step into Reading (various titles and authors)
3. Scholastic Reader (various titles and authors)
4. I Can Read Kids Books (various titles and authors)

Comic & graphic novels to challenge readers

As kids begin to “level up” and want more advanced story elements, comic and graphic novels provide an engaging way to pull in the most reluctant readers while challenging the hungriest reader. These illustrative chapter books for beginner readers invite them to use a myriad of skills while they’re drawn into the episodic chapters or more complex plotlines. Take the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Williems as an example; the brevity of text dances with picture cues to weave a more sophisticated plotline. Readers of varied levels will respond well to the interplay of text and illustrations and be proud to finish a  book with a bit of heft.

Additional comic and graphic novels we recommend:

1. Baloney & Friends by Greg Pizzoli
2. Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanto
3. Big Nate: In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce
4. Dog Man or The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Chapter book series to pique the interest of beginner readers

Speaking of series: chapter books are an effective way to reinforce foundational story elements, like character development, plot conflicts, and figurative language. These series are a great way to hook readers into picking up the next book as they become invested in the genre, the characters, and the author’s style. One of the best chapter books to teach reading is The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket since it actually speaks “up” to readers. Snicket (a pseudonym) draws in readers with diverse characters, a dramatic story arc, and his unique tone. He actually explains in writing the definitions for the more advanced vocabulary he uses.

Regardless of a child’s reading level, consider reading chapter books aloud or encouraging kids to listen to audio versions since comprehension skills can often outpace fluency skills. This form of modeling lets the reader enjoy the story while teasing how a story should sound. Often the challenge for educators is finding high-interest books that have a low(er) reading level.

Don’t forget to encourage student voice and choice in picking titles. In doing so, you will encourage them to recognize how reading is a personal journey. Think back to the titles you loved as a child—you can rest assured many have had staying power!

Additional titles:

1. Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel
2. What Should Danny Do? series by Adir Levy 
3. Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
4. Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park
5. The Baby-Sitters Club series by ​​Ann M. Martin
6. Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner
7. Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene or Hardy Boys series by Franklin W. Dixon

Ways to use technology to teach beginner readers

As you embark on the adventures of teaching literacy, make sure to weave in the magic of storytelling with the foundational skill sets. Today’s technology can give readers access to thousands of titles and appeal to various learning styles and adaptive needs. Interactive activities such as Drag & Drop or Draw It can be leveraged to create your own engaging lessons!

Not only does Nearpod have lessons for developing beginning readers, but the platform includes assistive tools to support emergent readers:

• 3 ways text-to-speech transforms your classroom through Immersive Reader
• How to use audio recording as reference media 
• How to add audio as a slide
• How to enable student audio submissions for an Open Ended Question
• 5 ways to use Interactive Video in the classroom

Start teaching beginner readers with Nearpod!

Now you can continue building your lesson library, as well as your actual library of online and hard copies of the best books for beginning readers! Make sure to include your students in conversations about which books they enjoy and why; such “mini-conferences” can help you assess which skills need more support. Lastly, promote “reading across the curriculum” to strengthen these foundational literacy skills and cultivate students’ love for reading early and often. Encourage each and every child to be a lifelong learner.

New to Nearpod? Sign up for free below to access these resources, interactive activities, and engaging lessons.

Interested in reading more about this topic? Check out this blog post: 6 Fun strategies for teaching reading comprehension

Darri Stephens

Darri Stephens is a dedicated LX (learning experience) designer, passionate about creating quality content and programs for kids, families, and educators. With MAs in Education from both Harvard and Stanford, and work experience at best-in-class ed tech organizations including Wonder Workshop, Nickelodeon, and Common Sense Education, she is steeped in the design thinking process and committed to agile and iterative project management, which has resulted in multi-award-winning programs and products.

The post 27 Engaging books for beginner readers appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Nearpod gives you real-time insights into student understanding through interactive lessons, interactive videos, gamification, and activities. Students can join from their devices to participate in the lesson through simple steps. Learn how to teach your students how to use Nearpod in simple steps. With Nearpod for elementary educators, you can access standards-aligned premade lessons, activities, and videos, and create your own. To access the activities and lessons mentioned here, sign up for free below to get started!

Why is it important to use technology in education for elementary school students?

Kids can surprise you. I think that’s why I’m still at the edge of my seat even after nine years of teaching first grade. This infographic published by Everyday Family shows that 57% of kids under 12 have used a mobile device for educational purposes. Oddly enough, there seems to be this misconception that technology isn’t suitable for early education classrooms, and it’s been my personal experience that this is incorrect. There are many benefits to using teaching in the classroom. Teaching elementary students with technology provides them opportunities to learn at their own pace, increases their engagement and participation, helps build their skills in operating devices and software, creates fun learning moments, and prepares them for future careers.

How to use technology in the elementary classroom

1. Interactive activities

With one simple click, young students connect to learning in ways that far surpass paper pencils and cutting and gluing. You can still create hands-on and interactive learning experiences for your students with technology. Have them use digital drawing whiteboards, drag and drop activities, virtual reality experiences, and more.

Nearpod’s activities are perfectly suited for primary students. Activities like Draw It and Drag and Drop allow students to show what they know, even ones who have yet to master basic typing skills.

To help students just learning to read and write, Nearpod gives assistive tools such as: 

• Student-Paced Mode
• Audio Responses
• Text-to-Speech in Immersive Reader
• Various Multimedia Instructions 

2. Videos and activities for reading

Video’s growing role in the classroom makes it the newest genre alongside fiction and informative texts. More than that, young learners respond to interesting, Interactive Videos. My students retain more reading concepts when I teach through Nearpod than just big books and anchor charts alone. My reading program tasked me to teach the concept of characters to my students. I showed the “Story Elements for Kids: What is a Character?” Interactive Video. Whole-group teaching on the carpet evolved beyond pointing to a poster and reading a big book. I was able to expand my lesson by gauging student understanding during instruction through questions embedded in the video. There are many more reading videos to choose from in Nearpod’s Lesson Library and other subjects, and teachers can link these videos to more activities when creating a lesson. When searching for lessons, filter by subject, standards, and grade level to find content that’s right for your classroom.

Test out some of these Nearpod activities on the carpet and see how the little learners leap off the carpet to participate in reading instruction: 

• Time to Climb
• Matching Pairs
• Memory Test
• Fill-in-the-blanks

3. Teaching phonics

Primary teachers, raise your hands if every student in your classroom needs the same phonics skill. If someone raised their hand, it was probably to go to the bathroom. This happens to me all the time when I’m teaching! What I’ve come to learn by teaching first grade is that phonics is subjective. In early education classrooms, phonics is instrumental to reading, spelling, and breathing. Maybe not the last one, but close. Many students need different phonics skills, meaning we must meet all students on their level. Nearpod saves time and energy for differentiated phonics activities. I love using Drag and Drop to make word sorts. I also tie Nearpod videos to the lesson to help reinforce spelling patterns. My kids adore Alphablocks! Check out the lesson I created on Nearpod using Alphablocks. This gives me station activities while I read with my students. I give each group a code to complete their activities and check student progress through reports.

Here is just a short list of activities you can create in Nearpod to amp up your phonics. With these tools at your disposal, the phonics possibilities are endless.

• Use the Matching Pairs feature for letter-sound correspondence with pictures and words.
• Use Drag and Drop to create word sorts for different spelling patterns. 
• Use Draw It for students to label words and identify syllable types (helps with identifying consonant letters vs. vowels).
• Use Collaborate Board for students to think of and practice spelling words that follow sound patterns.

4. Using multimedia in math

A great math supplement is a thing of beauty. No curriculum is perfect enough to give teachers everything that they need when they need it. That’s just the hard reality we face. However, Nearpod’s library of math videos, lessons, and activities helps guide my math instruction in the right direction. There are so many math concepts to choose from that are all aligned with standards, so I don’t question the content I assign my students. Nearpod even gives teachers high-quality videos with partners such as:

• Flocabulary
• Sesame Street (Shout out to Cookie Monster!)
• Numberblocks
• LearnZillion
• Khan Academy
• Nearpod’s original content

Browse Nearpod’s Lesson Library for math concepts you are teaching for that day. It saves time and prep work while you still ensure that students learn math skills just right for them. All you need to do is filter by grade and subject in the Nearpod library. Premade lessons are at your fingertips and already aligned with standards.

5. Virtual reality for science and social studies

I live in the middle of nowhere! It’s true. Being in a small town is nice for the most part, but we don’t have access to many resources for science and social studies. I still want to broaden my student’s horizons when teaching science and social studies. Younger students are curious about the world around them. Nearpod’s Virtual Reality (VR) Field Trips help add relativity to both social studies and science.

VR experiences help my early education kids see cultures and people vastly diverse from themselves. Nearpod includes social studies lessons that prepare my students for the beauty of how large and diverse the world truly is. The content is truly rich in cultural diversity and inclusivity. I love all things spooky, and to celebrate my mom’s Mexican heritage, I found a wonderful Dia De Los Muertos lesson to share with my students. I loved it and so did they.

6. Writing instruction through technology

The landscape of writing has morphed into something wholly original. I am an early education teacher that believes in mixing old and new. Yes, I still use primary paper, pencil, and journals, but I also give my first graders opportunities to write through technology. Creating lessons through Nearpod allows writing to be more interactive and hands-on while instructing young writers along the way. The worst thing is having students hate writing; my students love expressing their writing through technology. The many accessibility features in Nearpod, such as Immersive Reader and audio recording, help emerging writers more than ever before. Students record their ideas, write them with the Draw It activity, or practice their typing skills. This helps those young writers who cannot hold an idea to write it down on paper. Pictures and videos spark writing ideas more than simply giving a writing prompt. There are many grammar and writing videos and lessons for primary grades in Nearpod to make writing more hands-on and interactive.

Technology also aids students who struggle with handwriting. Oftentimes, you find that even students at early ages don’t like writing with paper pencils but ideas flow more naturally through a keyboard. Don’t we as teachers need to allow all learners the ability to access their potential? Younger students need more exposure to expressing ideas through a keyboard. This helps teachers with technology standards but in fun, innovative ways.

Get started using elementary classroom technology with Nearpod

Young learners are curious and inquisitive. Through practice and patience, early education students are well suited to use technology within the classroom. The first step is to place the technology into their tiny hands and Nearpod will help you take those first steps with confidence. I’m sure your youngins will take to technology like a duck to water!

To access the activities and features mentioned in this blog post, sign up for Nearpod for free!

Angelia Simpson

Angelia Simpson has been a first grade teacher for nine years. With a classroom full of minions, she balances the wonderful line of chaos and learning. Passions include writing, technology, reading, and Corgis.

The post How to use technology in the elementary classroom appeared first on Nearpod Blog.

Educators can increase students’ word knowledge through effective vocabulary activities. Teachers know their vocabulary instruction is effective when students apply words and their meanings in various contexts. Providing students with multiple representations of new vocabulary and opportunities for multimodal inputs and outputs will help students learn and remember vocabulary. They can also learn to discern the meaning of unfamiliar words independently.

6 Effective vocabulary activities and strategies for teaching

1. Explicitly teach vocabulary within content-rich instruction

Effective implementation of a vocabulary strategy begins with a well-planned lesson. Research suggests that direct instruction through instructional routines is more effective and efficient than allowing students to discover word meanings independently (Birsh, J. & Carreker, S., 2018). It takes repetition and frequent use for new vocabulary terms to “stick” and become a part of students’ everyday language and academic conversations.

Nearpod has ready-made core subject lessons (math, science, English and language arts, and social studies) explicitly teaching vocabulary terms. Education.com lessons also pre-teach vocabulary before content instruction.

The Nearpod English Learners Program* provides teachers with the content, tools, and organization to create daily differentiated learning experiences that maximize language acquisition for all learners. While the lessons were written for students learning English, they are also helpful in general education classrooms. In the lessons, students learn content-specific information and vocabulary simultaneously! Students also use the new vocabulary in the same lesson, helping them remember the word’s significance and meaning.

*The Nearpod EL program is available to users with a Nearpod school/district account that can access the add-on lesson program.

2. Create a vocabulary and content-rich lesson with a few clicks

Don’t see a ready-made lesson on a topic you want to teach? That’s okay. You can use Nearpod’s Slide Editor to create your own vocabulary-specific slides and embed interactive vocabulary activities and assessments for students.

Here’s an example of a vocabulary instructional process you can follow in your teacher-created slides:

1. Prepare your Nearpod lesson by adding a video with the word pronunciation as Reference Media in a Collaborate Board. You can embed a video from YouTube or upload your own video. You can also enable Immersive Reader for students to have them see the definition and other properties of the vocabulary word.
2. Start your instruction by saying the new word aloud and having students repeat it. Have students type or record their answers on the Collaborate Board.
3. Provide a student-friendly definition of the word. Insert images and example sentences into the slide. (Read more about student-friendly definitions in vocabulary activity #3!)
4. During instruction, connect the word to other vocabulary terms students already know. Add a Matching Pairs activity to have students connect words to definitions.
5. Ask students to use the word aloud and in their writing. Allow them to submit their responses on an Open-Ended Question or Collaborate Board.

3. Provide student-friendly definitions

The vocabulary strategy of using student-friendly definitions is essential for learners to understand new word meanings. Dictionary definitions can be hard for students to understand, and they do not always fully capture the word’s meaning. Additionally, there is often more than one definition. When improving vocabulary, multiple definitions can make it difficult for students to know which is correct given the context of the lesson or reading passage (Beck et al, 2013).

To write student-friendly definitions, use everyday language in the context of a relatable example. For example, take the word “commend.” Here’s how you can share student-friendly definitions:

If I “commend” a student, I give them compliments or praise because they probably did something that impressed me. The “praise” I give would be in public. An example sentence is, “I commended Eli for his efforts during the spelling bee.” The word “commend” implies that I praised Eli publicly for his work at the spelling bee. Can you think of something someone did that you would commend them for?

In this example:

1. I introduced the word’s definition. 
2. I provided context and an example sentence. 
3. I asked students to use the word immediately after learning its meaning.

If the class is reading a book with the word “commend,” using a book excerpt to connect the student-friendly definition is another avenue you can pursue.

4. Use interactive videos in your vocabulary instruction

Along with providing a student-friendly definition, have students interact with the word in various ways. Students can better remember and understand new meanings by bringing in other modalities (Birsh, J. & Carreker, S., 2018). You can use videos and music to provide auditory and visual communication. Videos and songs can model how students can use newly learned language!

Nearpod Original (NPO) videos are helpful when teaching students about specific topics. Adding an NPO video to a lesson can add a multimodal dimension. Videos often show real-world representations and offer further examples of the word in context. To check students’ comprehension, you can add questions in the video. The video will pause at specific points and prompt a  question to check students’ understanding and keep them engaged in the video lesson.

The Personification Nearpod Original perfectly explains the meaning of personification and provides context for the word, as seen in the two poems. Consider using Nearpod Original videos when vocabulary activities to teach your students.

If you want to use a video from YouTube, you can create your own Interactive Video by adding the video and your questions to the lesson. YouTube videos embed into Nearpod so students can watch a video about the water cycle or any other topic without navigating away from Nearpod or viewing pop-up ads.

5. Strategically choose which vocabulary words to teach in the classroom

There is only so much time in the day for instruction and student practice. When teachers decide to teach vocabulary explicitly, the terms should give students the biggest bang for their buck. Teachers can efficiently use instructional time by introducing academic vocabulary students frequently encounter in multiple subject areas (Beck et al, 2013; Birsh, J. & Carreker, S., 2018).

Teaching tier two words is one way to introduce new vocabulary strategically. Tier two words appear in multiple subjects and can sometimes have multiple meanings. This distinction is helpful for students to improve their vocabulary.

How to teach Tier 1, 2, and 3 vocabulary words

Understanding the tiers can help you choose which words to teach in your vocabulary activities. Students encounter tier-one words in everyday language. They will likely learn words such as “like,” “swim,” and “run” through hearing and participating in conversations. Tier two words appear in multiple domains and written text, making them high-utility words. Since students would not typically encounter them in conversation, they would benefit from explicit instruction of words like “contradict” or “maintain.” The most infrequent terms are tier-three words. These words are subject-specific words learners would infrequently use, such as “economy” or “counterclaim.” Keep in mind that even though general guidelines differentiate the different tiers, there is some overlap between the types of terms.

Nearpod EL’s academic vocabulary lesson series contains many tier-two words. The word “Energy” is an example of a tier two word.

Ask yourself these questions when selecting words for vocabulary activities:

• Can students comprehend the process, reading passage, or concept even if they do not know this word? If they cannot meet any of those criteria, teach the word!
• Will learners encounter this word in other subjects or later grade levels? If they meet one of those criteria, teach the word!
• Can learners make connections between the new words and words they already know? The term may be worthy of a direct instruction moment if the answer is yes.

After instruction, practice newly-acquired words in a competitive, fun way with a Time to Climb! The gamified activity allows for photos or text as the answer option.

6. Get students involved in choosing the vocabulary words they want to learn

Let students select fascinating words for a book the class reads aloud or from their independent reading time. If there is no time to teach student-chosen words, encourage them to learn the new words. Then they can teach the class the word through a vocabulary presentation!

For their vocabulary presentation, students can use a Draw It interactive activity in Nearpod to draw a picture or create a diagram. As they present the new word, they can reference the drawing.

The presentation will help the presenter remember the word, and the audience may learn a new word too! Using a simple Frayer Model Draw It template to share the word is one vocabulary-sharing visual presenters can use. Frayer Models bring in the multimodal aspect of communicating through drawing and writing.

Use these vocabulary activities in your classroom

This list of vocabulary strategies is by no means comprehensive. There are many more effective strategies available to improve vocabulary retention. Choose the method that will meet your students’ needs and time constraints. This list can inspire some ideas and show you how easy it is to implement vocabulary activities with Nearpod.

With Nearpod, you can create interactive lessons and activities in one place. You can also use our premade standards-aligned resources across all subjects and grade levels. Sign up for free now to use these tips and explore the power of Nearpod!

Interested in reading more about this topic? Check out this blog post: 6 tips for teaching reading and writing skills in any classroom

References and Further Reading

Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., Kucan, L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2013a). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction (2nd ed). The Guilford Press.

Birsh, J. R., & Carreker, S. (Eds.). (2018). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills (Fourth Edition). Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company.

Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching Children to Read. (n.d.). ww.Nichd.Nih.Gov/. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/nrp/smallbook

Wexler, N. (2019). The knowledge gap: The hidden cause of America’s broken education system–and how to fix it. Avery, an imprint of Penguin Randon House, LLC.

Jennifer Sobalvarro

Jennifer is a forever educator with over 10 years of experience in education. Her mission is to create research-informed educational experiences that engage students and inspire learning.

The post 6 Effective vocabulary activities and strategies for teaching appeared first on Nearpod Blog.