Drawing Conclusions: CSI Style!

This week, we did one of my favorite activities of all time with the 2nd graders on my campus.  The skill for this week in reading was drawing conclusions, so a few of the 2nd grade teachers asked me to help them come up with a CSI style mystery for students to solve by drawing conclusions.  So, we teamed up with our wonderful, go-with-the-flow, music teacher, Mrs. Brassard, and created a fun mystery for our students to solve.  

Making our Case
First, we had to come up with a case.  Since Mrs. Brassard is currently busy getting ready for the 2nd grade choir concert next week, we decided to make our case revolve around that.  Here was our case:

"Mrs. Brassard was getting ready for her upcoming concert, "Hats the Musical."  All of the kids were singing their songs all the time, and all they could talk about was, "Mrs. Brassard, Mrs. Brassard, Mrs. Brassard!"  Someone on campus (me - the librarian) didn't like that Mrs. Brassard was getting all of the attention.  In an act of jealousy, they poured black paint all over her sign!  Help Mrs. Brassard find out who ruined her sign.  Follow the clues that lead back to the jealous vandal, and solve The Case of the Black Paint Mystery!"

Creating the Crime Scene
Next, we had to make the crime scene.  We spilled black "paint" (really just black paper) on her beautiful sign and marked it off with very authentic looking CSI crime scene tape (although regular caution tape would work just fine).  

Mrs. Brassard is such a good sport that she also agreed to film a short video of herself discovering the sign and pleading with the students to use the clues and help her solve the case (in true "Blues Clues" fashion, I might add...haha). Click the image below to view the video.

Creating Clues/Evidence
Next, we had to come up with evidence/clues to give our students to help them solve the mystery.  Because these are 2nd graders, we couldn't make them too easy or too difficult.  Here's what we came up with:

Black footsteps that led down the hall in the direction of the library (I wore high heels on this day to hopefully help students eliminate the male suspects on campus).

Black paint and a "Read" apron stashed on a shelf in the hallway leading to the library.

An earring (that I wear all the time) and a strand of long brown hair found on the floor in the hallway leading to the library.

Black paint found in the girls' bathroom in the hallway leading to the library (thus eliminating all male suspects - hopefully).

Our final piece of evidence was a black thumbprint found on a library book on a shelf right outside the library.

Once we took photos of all of the evidence, I uploaded the photos to Flickr and created a QR code for each photo.  Then, we inserted the QR codes into a cool, CSI-style, caution tape task card, along with a written clue.  Here's an example:

Making Evidence Files
After making all of the clue cards, we placed them into CSI-style evidence files to distribute to student groups.

Solving the Crime
Then, we passed out an iPad to each group, reviewed how to use QR codes, and discussed the case with students.  And boy, oh boy, is Mrs. Brassard a good actress because the kids believed this case was very real (corny as it was)!!  

First, they scanned a QR code to watch her video, and afterward, they read the case description on the back of the card.  Next, students read each clue card and scanned the QR code to view the photos of the evidence.  The groups had to work together to draw conclusions and solve the crime.  They recorded their evidence, possible suspects, and final verdict on their Evidence Recording Sheet, and then reported it to the class at the end of the lesson.

I wish we could show you the video of the students at the end solving the mystery because it truly is priceless.  One little girl wanted to go tell Mrs. Brassard right that minute!  But, since we can't share it, here are a few photos of the kids enjoying the activity.

The girl in the green at the front of the class was literally jumping up and down, flailing her arms about, begging to go tell Mrs. Brassard.  SO FUNNY!!

If you're interested in doing a CSI style activity in your class, we did upload the products we used to complete this activity to our TpT store.  It truly was so much fun that we're planning to solve another mystery every time our skill in reading for the week is drawing conclusions.  The kids loved it so much that our math teachers are even brainstorming creative ways to use the activity in their math classes, too.  The sky's really the limit with this one.  Yes, it does practice drawing conclusions, but it uses higher order thinking skills and is so versatile!  It can be used in numerous grade levels and in any subject area.  Determining the difficulty level and subject area are up to you.  

Your crime could be a mystery involving someone on your campus like ours or even a celebrity students easily recognize so that they're instantly engaged in the activity; it could also involve a case where students are given clues to discover a certain number, letter, vocabulary word, mathematical concept, historical figure/event, scientific term, etc.  Be as creative as you want to be! 

If you do a CSI style activity in your class, we'd love to hear your ideas, and we hope your students enjoy it as much as ours did! :)

~Heather
Watson Works

12 Most Checked Out Halloween Books in my Elementary Library

For curiosity's sake, I recently ran a report to see which Halloween books were most frequently checked out in my elementary library in 2013, and these 12 won by a landslide:

1) Arthur’s Halloween by Marc Brown
2) Click, Clack, Boo! by Doreen Cronin & Betsy Lewin
3) Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
4) Druscilla’s Halloween by Sally M. Walker
5) Fancy Nancy: Halloween…or Bust! by Jane O’Connor
6) Froggy’s Halloween by Jonathan London
7) Halloween by Jerry Seinfeld
8) The Hallo-weiner by Dav Pilkey
9) Haunted House, Haunted Mouse by Judy Cox
10) I’m not Afraid of this Haunted House by Laurie Friedman
11) Scaredy-Cat, Splat! by Rob Scotton
12) There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat! by Lucille Colandro
Because of these results, we were inspired to create our very first QR code listening centers.  We included each of these Halloween titles, and we're super excited about them!!

Using QR code listening centers like these can drastically modernize and improve your listening centers.  Students will scan the QR Codes using a QR reader on their smart device (iPad, iPod, iPhone, tablets, etc.), then simply press play and listen to the stories being read by ME while they follow along in the book. A train “choo choo” will sound to alert students to turn the page. All of the narrations were made using AudioBoom.com, so this should help with districts who filter/block YouTube.

You can also use these listening centers on desktop/laptop computers by having the document open on the screen and allowing students to click the QR codes which are hyperlinked to the narrations of the stories on AudioBoom.com.

I can't wait to use these in my library this year!  We hope you like them, as well! :)

~Heather
Watson Works

Engage Students with Kahoot!

One of my favorite new activities to do with my students using technology is Kahoot.

 

What is Kahoot?
Kahoot is a game-based learning classroom response system that can be used to assess students' knowledge in a fun, interactive way.  If you've ever used the CPS clickers (Classroom Performance System), then you'll love Kahoot because it is much more user friendly for both teachers and students and even more engaging.  And the best part is there's no pesky, temperamental flying saucer sensor for the students to aim at with their responses.  All you need is Internet access (wi-fi if using smart devices) and a computer/laptop/iPad/tablet/smart device per teacher and student/group.

No more clickers!

No more pesky, temperamental flying saucer sensor!

How do You Use Kahoot?
Teachers create a free account at getkahoot.com, and then they can browse through a selection of quizzes made by other educators or create their own.  (For a step-by-step user guide, download our FREE Kahoot Teacher Guide.)  Once they've selected or created a quiz, it can be launched and projected for students to view and join from your computer/laptop/smart device.  To view an example of a Kahoot I created for my library, click here.

Students join the game by going to kahoot.it and entering the game pin on their computers, laptops, iPads, or other smart devices.  Students will proceed to answer a series of questions by selecting the shape on their screens that corresponds with the correct answer.  As students answer, Kahoot ranks students by their correct responses and how quickly they answer.  This makes the game highly competitive for students and even more fun!  At the end of play, teachers can choose to download the results to an excel spreadsheet in case they wish to monitor comprehension and/or give a grade. 

Why Should You Use Kahoot?
1. It's FREE!
2. It's EASY!
3. It's a TOOL for formative assessment!
4. It's ENGAGING!
5. It's FUN!

We hope you enjoy using Kahoot with your students.  If you have any questions or comments, please comment below or email us at watsonworks1@outlook.com.  We look forward to hearing from you!

~Heather
Watson Works

To download our FREE teacher user guide, select the image below and download.

First Day of Fall Frenzy - ONE DAY ONLY SALE

Happy Fall, Y'all!  

In southeast Texas, there are very few things better than the first day of Fall.  It's the first sign that we won't have to suffer from the near 100 degrees, near 100 percent humidity weather for much longer.  

In honor of this long awaited day, we are offering 7 our favorite "F" products from our store at freakishly low prices on Tuesday, September 23rd only:

PHONICS:

1st Grade Phonics & Spelling: 

Lessons and Assessment Week 1 

$4 (reg. $8)

FROGGY SEQUENCING ACTIVITIES:

$0.50 each (reg. $1.25)

Froggy Goes to School

Froggy Learns to Swim

Froggy's First Kiss

FRACTURED FAIRY TALE UNITS:

$1 each (reg. $3/$4)

The 3 Little Pigs vs. The Three Little Pigs 

& the Somewhat Bad Wolf Mini-Unit

The Classic Three Little Pigs vs. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs Mini-Unit

TEXT FEATURES:

$1 (reg. $3) 

 Find it in the Text! A Text Features Unit

 

We wish you all a HAPPY FALL!  We hope you enjoy the cooler weather and these fantastic deals! :)

~Heather & Ashley
Watson Works

QR Code Listening Centers (Part 2)

After writing last week's post, How to Create a Listening Center Using the Audioboo App & QR Codes, we thought it might help to show you an example of one we made and give you a few extra tips to make it work in your class.

I LOVE the Froggy books by Jonathan London, so I created a FREE listening center card to accompany our Froggy Goes to School Sequencing Activity. (Please excuse my Texas twang...Haha!)  Click the picture on the right to download the listening center card for free.
Once you've printed/cut/laminated the listening center card, you should:

1. Download a QR reader to the smart device(s) your students will be using in the listening center.
2. Obtain a copy of Froggy Goes to School from your personal collection, school library, public library, local book store, or online, and place it in your listening center.

• Suggested storage - Glue an index card sized library pocket on the inside cover of the book.  Place the listening center card inside the pocket.
  
3. Place the smart device in your listening center, along with some headphones/earbuds (make sure the device is connected to the Internet).  If you'd like multiple students to listen to the story at the same time from the same device, consider purchasing a headphone splitter.
   
4. Train students how to operate the smart device, QR reader, and the listening center.

Then, your students should:

1. Scan the QR code using the QR reader on the smart device located in the listening center.
2. Put on the headphones/earbuds.
3. Press play and follow along with the book.  Note: A train "choo-choo" will sound to alert students to turn the page.

We hope you enjoy our free listening center card.  Comment below or email us at watsonworks1@outlook.com if you have any questions.  We'd love to hear from you!

~Heather
Watson Works

How to Create a Listening Center Using the Audioboo App & QR Codes

Thankfully, listening centers with cassette tapes are finally becoming a thing of the past!  Woohoo!  :)

For many, they’ve been replaced with smart devices and QR codes.  If you’re someone who has been curious about how to create your own listening center using QR codes, check out our FREE guide for using the FREE Audioboo app to record yourself reading a story and linking it to a QR code. 

*Note: The instructions provided are for iPad users, but the Audioboo app is also available for Android, Google Play, Windows, and other smart devices.

We hope this helps you revamp your listening centers this year! Email us at watsonworks1@outlook.com if you have any questions.

~Heather & Ashley
Watson Works 

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