Classworks is a valuable tool for kindergarteners as they develop a relationship with technology that will be foundational for the rest of their lives. Using Classworks in the kindergarten classroom enhances students’ comfort level with computers and tablets. This article reviews how you can use Classworks assessments and instructional activities effectively with your kindergarten students.
It's important to keep Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) in mind when determining how to engage your students with Classworks. While students in grades 1-8 spend the majority of their time working independently in Classworks, this is not the case for kindergarten students.
1st and 2nd Academic Quarters
During the first half of the school year, integrate specific Classworks activities into your small group and whole class instruction planning. While every situation is unique, we recommend that the majority of kindergarten students engage with group instructional work rather than working independently.
Let’s look at an example from a kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Jones:
Mrs. Jones is writing her lesson plans for next week and has identified and prepared the core curriculum resources and activities for her students. Now she can add supplemental materials from Classworks to reinforce and extend learning. Mrs. Jones presents objectives to the whole class and also uses small group rotations as part of her plan to meet the diverse needs of her students. She found two types of instructional resources in the Create tab within Classworks: Classroom Math Problem Sets, and standards-based math activities (see below for how to search and assign these activities). She will also use a Classworks offline Enrichment Project.
Mrs. Jones reviewed the “Classroom Math” problem sets and selected “K-4 Count From a Given Number - Kim and Bob Counting Together” because it supplements the math lesson she is teaching this week. She will use one of the questions during a whole group activity and use her interactive whiteboard to solve the triangle problem while using digital tools and resources.
Mrs. Jones decided that students would complete the other two problems from this activity during this week’s small group rotations. To facilitate this, she has printed out these problems and has prepared a copy for each learner.
She also adds two standards-based math activities: “Counting Numbers to 20”, and “Counting Objects 1 - 15”. She chose activities where students count out a number of objects in a game environment. Mrs. Jones will model how this game works and then call students to the interactive whiteboard to engage with the “Counting Plants” activities with support.
Mrs. Jones also identified the Classworks Offline Project “Number Book” for her lesson.
Mrs. Jones' Plan
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Weekly Learning Objectives:
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Math
: Count forward beginning from a given number within the known sequence (instead of having to begin at 1). K.CC.A.2
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Whole Group
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Monday
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Classroom Math Problem Set - K-4 Count from a Given Number - Kim and Bob Counting Together (Triangle Question)
Mrs. Jones models solving this question from the problem set using her interactive whiteboard.
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Wednesday
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Counting Numbers to 20 - Counting Plants Activity -
Mrs. Jones will model and then call on students to work through the remaining levels.
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Friday
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Counting Objects 1 - 15 - Counting Plants Level 2 Activity -
Mrs. Jones will model and then call on students to work through the remaining levels.
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Small Group Station A
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Small Group Station B
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Number Book Offline Project (Students will create pages for their number books)
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K-4 Count from a Given Number - Kim and Bob Counting Together (Star Question)
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Small Group Station C
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Small Group Station D
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Number Book Offline Project (Students will create pages for their number books)
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K-4 Count from a Given Number - Kim and Bob Counting Together (Diamond Question)
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Mrs. Jones also incorporated Classworks activities into her Reading/ELA lesson plans for this week. She selected the Mini-Lesson from Initial and Final Consonants since it includes brief text samples she can use to model how to isolate initial and final sounds. She also selected and assigned practice activities from an instructional unit that students will complete during their small group rotations this week.
Mrs. Jones models how to complete each portion of a Classworks unit for the entire class before having them go to their small group stations.
Mrs. Jones outlined her plan below.
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Reading/ELA:
Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words. RF.K.2.D
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Whole Group
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Classworks Custom Instruction - Initial and Final Consonants - the Mini-Lesson component
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Small Group Station A
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Small Group Station B
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Letter Identification 3 - Cave Game Letter Recognition 1
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Letter Identification 3 - Cave Game Letter Recognition 2
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Small Group Station C
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Small Group Station D
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Initial and Final Consonants - Word/Bonus Initial P and Word/Bonus Final K
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Initial and Final Consonants - Word/Bonus Initial F and Word/Bonus Final T
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Mrs. Jones uses this same process as she pulls specific activities from Classworks during the fall semester.
Winter Academic Screening
Classworks recommends waiting until the Winter to screen your kindergarten students. This screening window typically occurs at the end of the 1st semester. So, what does this screening process look like? Take a look at how Mrs. Jones administers the Classworks Universal Screener to her students.
Classworks recommends waiting until the Winter to screen your kindergarten students. This screening window typically occurs at the end of the 1st semester. So, what does this screening process look like? Take a look at how Mrs. Jones administers the Classworks Universal Screener to her students.
The kindergarten team at Mrs. Jones school used their school’s testing calendar and developed this screening plan.
The Classworks Universal Screeners are administered online, Mrs. Jones has been preparing her students for this type of assessment by modeling how to answer multiple-choice questions. She also spends time talking about the purpose of the screener and why it’s important to take time with each question.
Mrs. Jones’ students are familiar with rotating to different stations during their small group instructional time. The assessment plan follows this already familiar process by having students complete the screener using their station schedule during the 2-week testing window.
Mrs. Jones used the table below to map out when students will complete the Reading/ELA and Mathematics screeners.
