Author: Larick

The first multi-branch library rollout in the United States!

Gwinnett County Public Library Introduces Learning alive™ Kits for Early Readers

Thanks to a generous donation from the Atlanta Retailers Association (ARA) that was matched by the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia, Alive Studios (https://bit.ly/2zvt5tF) is equipping all 15 Gwinnett County Public Library branches with its evidence-based Learning alive™ kits.

Alive Studios is a Gwinnett-based software developer that creates mind-boggling learning experiences to increase student engagement and improve early literacy. Students are motivated and inspired as they interact with 26 virtual zoo animals while learning the essential fundamentals of reading and math. Alive Studios’ programs use a technology called augmented reality (3D without glasses) to bring lessons to life. The learning kits are currently being used in more than 3,500 classrooms around the country.

“We’re very excited to be the first public library in the country to roll out this program,” said Shelly Schwerzler, the development manager at Gwinnett County Public Library. The library system plans to make this highly engaging learning experience available to children all around Gwinnett. “Our youth services team will be incorporating this new way to learn about letters, words, and sentences into our existing early literacy programs,” Schwerzler added.

The Learning alive Plus kit that will be donated to each library branch includes 26 letter cards, 97 sight-word cards, and 84 word-family cards. Each card is interactive and triggers multiple 3D animations depending on the word or sentence that is created. While learning to identify and sound out each letter, children are able to hear, see, touch, build, and speak throughout the lesson. This multimodal approach appeals to a broad range of learning styles and abilities, increases long-term retention, and is especially effective with at-risk students and English language learners. Also included are three Interactive Stories and a full, supplemental math program aligned to state standards for kindergarten.

“We are so thrilled to partner with Gwinnett County Public Library and have Learning alive available to so many children around Gwinnett,” said Cynthia Kaye, Alive Studios’ CEO and Chief Zoo Keeper. “What a generous gift from the ARA and Community Foundation!”

Library staff will be installing the learning kits this summer and will receive training on how best to use the reading and math supplemental curricula within their programs. “Our plan is to introduce Learning alive in a couple of our summer programs and then do a full rollout this fall for back-to-school,” said Schwerzler. “We will be using an online assessment tool to monitor the program’s effectiveness and to help us provide the best service for our community.”

Need an effective solution for ELLs? Check out this great article from THE Journal:

A kindergarten teacher pairs his research-based curriculum with 3D animals to teach and delight his kindergartners.

I teach at a Title 1 school and have 21 students in my kindergarten classroom. My students speak six different languages, and 95 percent of them are English language learners (ELLs). My approach to teaching is “relationships first.” I teach students, not curriculum, and I believe in creating high-quality lessons and curriculum and delivering that material in a FUN and engaging way! I have high expectations for my students and encourage risk-taking, exploration and fun!

When it comes to technology, the kids use iPads, laptops and Kindle Fires, as well as our Smart Board. For about two years now, we have used the augmented reality platforms, Letters alive and Math alive, and they have been a huge success in our classroom. A couple of months ago, we took things to the next level and started using the Sprout Pro G2 Learning alive Station. The station combines the 3D augmented reality cards of Letters alive and Math alive with the Sprout’s built-in high-res document camera and 20-point Touch Mat to give my students a highly interactive, cross-curricular 3D experience.

Implementation of the Sprout was seamless. With just the touch of two buttons, I was up and running. There are no cables to connect, and everything is contained in one piece of equipment. This eliminates a lot of the tech issues for the kids and teachers and means they can use it on their own. I love that the mat is like a second screen. The activities and interactive buttons project onto the mat in vivid color for kids to touch and explore! And makes the Sprout experience more like a touchscreen tablet that our students are so familiar with! This, along with the manipulative flash card sets, help with learning letters and letter sounds as well as word and sentence building; not to mention the math skills.

One of our favorite things to do is build words with Letters alive. I’ll say a word and students find the letter cards and spell the word. Then they push the button to hear the sounds and the word. This provides them with scaffolded practice with phoneme segmentation and blending their sounds into words. Once the students are familiar with this activity, it actually becomes an independent learning center that my students do on their own. They use picture cards and build the words on the card using Letters alive, and then write the word. This gives them a multi-modality approach to word work! For our classroom, this ability for students to use the technology is vital because it’s their classroom and their technology and their learning, and I want my students to have access to everything in their classroom!

A Research-Based Literacy Bootcamp

We first introduce Letters alive to each class during our 26-day ABC BOOTCAMP at the beginning of the year. ABC BOOTCAMP is our research-based curriculum for learning letters and sounds. We use the Letters alive animal cards to introduce the letter and sound before the class creates a circle chart for the letter of the day. The 3D augmented reality animal associated with the letter of the day really gets the students excited. Learning about the animal while learning the letter ties in science and connects this system to our STEM initiatives.

With Math alive, we use the interactive games to bring our greater than/less than lessons alive with Amos Alligator. The students predict which number or group will be bigger, then they move the symbol and we see which number Amos eats. This game on Math alive makes the students so enthusiastic and truly brings this skill to life for all types of learners!

One of the benefits I see to using augmented reality with my kindergärtners is that it brings abstract skills and concepts to life in a concrete way. This shift from abstract to concrete makes the skill and learning more accessible to our students.

The results are clear, too. At the end of ABC BOOTCAMP we have an average of 90% mastery of all letters and sounds. When using Learning alive as a supplement to our ABC BOOTCAMP curriculum, we’ve seen literacy scores improve—and the laughter and squeals of excitement are sure signs of the learning and engagement happening!

Our next project with the Sprout will be integrating it into our learning centers time so the students can use it 100 percent independently as a center choice. They will be able to set up their own augmented reality station and connect with their favorite animals, all the while working on word building, sight words, letter sounds and sentences.

Check out this great PodCast from CoolCat Teacher featuring Greg Smedley-Warren of Kindergarten Smorgasboard!

ENGAGING KINDERGARTNERS WITH TECHNOLOGY: AUGMENTED REALITY, IPADS, QR CODES AND MORE

Listen to the actual PodCast here!




Vicki: How can we engage kindergarteners with technology?

Today we have a kindergarten teacher from Nashville, Greg Smedley Warren @kindersmorgie, or as his students call him, “Mr. Greg.”

He does a lot of work on the Kindergarten Smorgasboard.

So, Greg… How do we engage kids in kindergarten with technology?

Keep it Simple in Kindergarten
Greg: Hi Vicki. Thanks for having me.

So, I’m all about keeping it simple. I’m always on the lookout for very simple ways that I can engage my kids with technology — ways that are easy for them, but also easy for me so I don’t spend a lot of time fumbling with technology trying to get it working and set up for the kids. So I’m always on the lookout for really simple ways that the kids can interact with technology.

Vicki: OK. Give us some of those ways.

Ipads and Augmented Reality
Greg: One way is iPads. Most of the kids are completely familiar with iPads and tablets and phones, so we have some iPads in the classroom with some folders. We have a reading folder and a math folder full of apps, so the kids know they can grab those iPads, open those folders, and use any of those apps.

We also use Augmented Reality in the classroom. We use a program called Learning Alive Plus from Alive Studios, which is an augmented reality software that works with letters, phonics, and word building. So we use that a lot. The kids actually use that during Center Time, so they’re working with that augmented reality to build words and sentences.

Vicki: Describe for us how that works, because I know there are a lot of people — even though we’ve had some shows — they might not know what augmented reality is.

Greg: Augmented reality is basically 3-D without the glasses. So when the kids are interacting with the software, the images are coming alive in 3D on the screen for the kids.

Vicki: It’s just floating in space, or somewhere in your classroom.

Greg: Yeah… it’s on the screen. So it’s on the monitor, or if you’re using a projector it’s projected on the screen or a SMARTboard. The best way to describe it — which I think everyone can relate to — is Pokemon Go. So if you’re kind of familiar with Pokemon Go, that’s augmented reality. That’s kind of what it looks like when the kids are using it in the classroom.

iPad Apps to Help Children Learn to Read
Vicki: What are some of your favorite “go-to”s for reading?

Greg: For reading as far as apps, we do Letter School, which is great for letter formation and letter recognition.

Montessori Words for Kids is my favorite, probably, of all for reading and literacy. It’s great for sound identification, segmenting sounds, word building, and decoding words. It’s very interactive. The kids love it. They work on their letters, and once they build a word, then they get 10 seconds to play and draw before they go onto the next word. So there’s almost that instant reward every time they build a word. The kids love that.

Ipad Apps for Math
For math, I’m a big fan of Monkey Math School, because it’s not just focused on one skill. It’s a constant review of all the kindergarten math skills that we work on.

My kids’ favorite math app is called Subitizing Tree, which works on that all-important math skill of subitizing, which is basically number fluency. The kids love that. I hear them all day long, jumping up and down and screaming and cheering because they were able to subitize with that app.

So those are some of my favorites.

Vicki: Cool! So you have iPads, you have all of these things, you’re doing Alive Plus, which is augmented reality.

What else?

QR Codes and Kindles
Greg: We also do a lot with QR Codes. We use Amazon Kindles with our QR Codes. I’ve found that the Kindles work great with the QR Reader. I’ve never been impressed with the KIndles as far as using a lot of apps, but they work great for QR Codes.

I’ve created several sets of QR Codes for math and literacy. The kids use the codes, they scan the codes, and an image of a document pops up. They might be doing sounds or counting or shapes or word building. The kids really love that they can use the QR codes around the room and interact with technology that way.

Vicki: It’s kind of like passing out digital papers. Is that how you would kind of summarize the QR Codes?

Greg: Pretty much. My kids use them during Center Time. A lot of teachers actually post them around the room, so the kids are walking around the room with their tablets, scanning the QR Codes and working on them that way.

Vicki: Yes. And I believe that QR Codes are now built into the iPAd iOS for Apple devices.

Greg: Awesome. Oh, that’s good to know.

Vicki: Yeah! New little tidbit. I just read it, like last night.

Greg: (laughs)

Vicki: OK. Lots of cool things. What else?

Interactive WhiteBoard Uses in Kindergarten
Greg: Like I said, I’m a big fan of keeping it simple. So that’s really what we use, as far as technology.

We do have an interactive whiteboard in the classroom as well that we use a lot for whole group instruction. The kids use the SMARTboard during centers, so they’ll be doing some word building and word writing, and those kinds of things.

One of the things that I use my SMARTboard for is a lot of teacher things. So like in the morning, we take attendance. As the kids come in each morning, their pictures are on the SMARTboard. They move their picture from home to school, to show that they are at school.

And then I have what I call my boombox, which is a PDF document that has clipart linked to songs and videos that we use on YouTube. Whenever I want to pull up a song for the kids to use, instead of typing in the name or something, or searching for it on YouTube, I’m able to just touch on that boombox, and it will immediately open that song or video. It just makes my life a little bit easier as a teacher and keeps things moving.

What Mistakes Do You Make Using Technology with Kindergarteners?
Vicki: Have you ever made a mistake when you started using technology with kindergarteners?

Greg: Oh gosh. All the time.

Of course there’s always that inevitable, “The technology fails.”

But my biggest issue is always with YouTube, it seems like. One minute YouTube works great, and the next minute nothing will load. Or you pull up a video and even though it is a kid-friendly video, a kindergarten video, the ad before it is something inappropriate, so you’re scrambling to try to turn if off or make it stop.

That’s really where I struggle with technology — just, “Is it going to work today, is the internet going to work today, and then something inappropriate popping up on YouTube which is unfortunately not a lot that we can control.

Vicki: So what, Greg, is advice that you have for kindergarten teachers who feel a little bit scared of using technology in their classroom?

Greg: I get it. It’s new. It kind of seems like it’s more to have to do. So I would just say start slowly. If you’re comfortable with a technology, try to bring that into your classroom. Kind of build on it from there.

I always tell teachers, “We expect our kids to show up every single day and take risks. As teachers, we need to be willing to do the same thing.”

If technology is an area that we’re kind of scared of, maybe that’s a risk we need to take. We need to bring in some more technology into the classroom.

I always just say, “Go for it!”

The worst that can happen is that it cannot work. It can fail. And we can have great conversations with our kids about how, even as adults, we fail. Now we can learn from that, and we can be better.

I’m all about taking risks, so I always just say, “Jump in and go for it!”

What To Do When Technology Fails?
Vicki: Oh, that’s so great!. I have to ask this. What do you do when the technology just crashes and doesn’t work? That strikes fear in the heart of teachers!

Greg: (laughs)

It really does. But you know, I think as our kids are getting so much more used to technology, they’re now used to technology not working.

I think it’s gotten a little bit easier, because the kids are like, “Oh, it’s not working.” Or they’ll immediately say, “Oh, the internet’s not working.” They just kind of roll with it, and we move on.

Of course, they’re going to be disappointed. But we just kind of move on to whatever’s next, try to keep going, and not let it completely derail the lesson or derail the whole day.

Vicki: Really, though… what percentage of the time does it actually not work?

Greg: Probably 5-10% or less.

It’s not a major everyday occurrence, but it does happen. And of course, it always happens when you’re being observed and evaluated by administration.

Vicki: (laughs)

Greg: Never fails.

Vicki: (laughs)

Oh my goodness! That is what happens, isn’t it?

My principal always seems to come in when I have the wildest, craziest things happening, and I’m just like, “I don’t even know how you’re going to evaluate me on this.”

Greg: Exactly.

Vicki: And then you’re so scared about what they’re going to think.

Greg: Right.

Vicki: OK. So Mr. Greg has just shared lots of great ideas for our kindergarten classrooms. But here’s the thing. If he can do it in kindergarten, you know you can do it with any age.

It’s part of being a remarkable teacher. We’ve had so many fantastic ideas.

Get out there and try some of them today.

We see it in our inboxes. We read it in our news articles. We can Google it and find countless studies and blog entries. The issue isn’t awareness any longer, the issue is how are we going to address our country’s literacy problem. Like hamsters on a wheel, this summer could mark the beginning of the United States’ 11th year with unchanged illiteracy rates.

For the record and to springboard into a discussion about solutions, let’s recap some dismal US literacy facts:

• 67% of students are not proficient in reading by the end of 3rd grade.
• Students who are not proficient by the end of 4th grade are 66% more likely to wind up on welfare or in prison.
• Students who don’t read proficiently by the 3rd grade are 4 times likelier to drop out of school.
• Students who are retained to repeat a grade will cost a District an average of $10,000 each.
• The US illiteracy rate hasn’t changed in 10 years.
• 85% of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate.

Prior to fourth grade, our educational system’s literacy plan is about learning to read; from that point, it’s about reading to learn. The basic system doesn’t cater well to deviations. Therefore, we have a countless supply of data around the failures. However, we do not offer many solutions to the crisis.

Unless you have lived under a rock, or have spent the last five years on your own private island playing Naked and Afraid, you know these stats about the lack of reading proficiency among our early learners and what the consequences are if not addressed. What you may not have heard is there’s a growing tribe of solution seekers looking for answers to the problem.

America has a plentiful supply of entrepreneurs hungering to invent the next widget that successfully resolves a problem; but not many who are aggressively pursuing the literacy crisis. Educators are increasingly looking for actions they can take in PreK to 1st grade as a proactive measure against failing academic and social futures; yet, they’ve been stifled by lack of funding, lack of solutions, and lack of proven curriculum.

It’s hard to solve any issue without finding, defining, and exposing the root of the problem. Teachers commonly cite student engagement as a major contributor to not learning and not retaining the presented information. In their personal lives, today’s children are exposed to so many neurological stimulants in an average day that a typical classroom curriculum simply doesn’t hold their attention. Therefore with low engagement, learning is hindered and retention of information is minimal. Studies show that the average attention span is now around eight seconds – and that is for adults.

A second, more challenging contributor to the literacy crisis is the variation in students’ individual learning styles and abilities. Some students learn by seeing; some by hearing; and others by doing. If curriculum is not presented in a blend of these learning styles, the inevitable occurs and the students enter the path to failure. Yet more often than not, a lack of resources can restrict a teacher’s ability to cater to and catch those who are falling behind.

As a mother of four, including two adopted sons from overseas, Cynthia has personally experienced the struggles with teaching children how to read. She tried everything on the market to help them but nothing worked. Faced with this challenge and in search of a “better way,” she was able to pull from her career experience as a CEO of an educational products provider. Having been introduced to Augmented Reality (3D without the glasses), she knew this could be the secret sauce we needed to capture young imaginations and increase engagement.

After two years of R&D, Letters alive was released as a Supplemental Reading solution for Pre-K to 3rd Grade and was our small contribution to the mission of improving literacy rates. Unfortunately, by the time the solution was ready, Cynthia’s youngest son was entering his teen years and becoming another illiteracy statistic. Cynthia knew then that we had a mission much bigger than herself and made a vow to do everything in her power to prevent this from happening to other children.

We aim to equip educators with engaging solutions that help young learners become proficient in reading and math by 3rd grade. We celebrate any other solution providers who can also deliver effective tools towards this cause. This is a nationwide crisis and requires a united effort to bring about literacy improvements.

Ultimately, we can research ourselves into oblivion hashing through the consequential social failures that occur as a direct result of not addressing this crisis; but until we get serious about tapping into innovative solutions that make a positive difference, we are just hamsters on the wheel of illiteracy.

Will You be Someone’s Favorite Teacher?

I was recently asked to name my favorite teacher. Now, considering it’s been over twenty years since I’ve had a teacher, it took me a minute to think. But even after chewing on it for a bit, I realized not only did I not have a particularly favorite teacher, I barely had any memorable teachers at all. Thinking through my 17 years of schooling, I could only recall about six teachers by name even though I’ve had well over 50. I remembered them because they were creepy, crazy, or creative… not necessarily because they were favorites.

What makes a teacher a favorite? I think the answer is pretty simple: a favorite teacher is one who singles you out with positive, individual attention and gives you a few direct compliments that are specific to your gifting. I’ve asked several people this question. Most people actually do have a favorite teacher; and their reasons are mostly the same. This singled out educator held a coveted position because he/she gave individual attention and directed words of wisdom and encouragement specifically to the student.
Why are most teachers forgotten? I think that answer is equally simple: most teachers are forgotten because they teach classes, not individuals. The students are treated as one body, with very little, if any, individual attention. I reflected more about my 17 years of schooling and certainly confirmed this fact in my own experience.

Throughout our school years, we are but mere chalkboards (showing my age) on which teachers can mark with wisdom. Some marks are beautiful, cherished, and protected from defacing. Other marks are scribbled, softly written, and blow away with time. Yet, there are also marks that are deep, hurtful and scar through the years. Teachers hold this power. They can shape, mold and build, or they can simply have no lasting effect at all. The best teachers, the ones that are recognized and remembered, know this to be true.

Will you be remembered? And if so, how? Who was your favorite teacher? Why were they special to you? Think about this and make these next few days/weeks count for each of your students. Leave a beautiful mark. Tell each of them how special they are and that you believe in them. You may be the only person to ever tell them this.

Teach, lead, love.

Early childhood educators attending the National Title 1 Conference in Salt Lake City this week will be treated to a hands-on experience of the latest in 3D augmented reality (AR) curriculum.

Alive Studios has announced that it will launch and demonstrate their newly integrated Learning alive Suite of AR-based learning products that supplement reading and math curriculum for early educators. Administrators and district-grouped educators are encouraged to visit booth 535 early to schedule a hands-on demonstration.

Math alive, a full-year, game-based supplemental math curriculum, is the newest addition to the Learning alive Suite. Math alive uses AR to engage students in 7 essential units of math comprehension. The 3D technology engages children, who say they learn “without even realizing it.” The Lesson Plan Manual is directly mapped to Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten and makes classroom integration seamless. Math alive allows students to interact with some of the same animals from Letters alive, the flagship product from Alive Studios. The combination of reading and math makes the Learning alive Suite comprehensive over subjects and further engages students.

The full Learning alive Suite includes Letters alive, Math alive, and Storybooks alive. Both Letters alive and Math alive feature curriculum guides that make classroom integration effortless with lesson plans, worksheets and activities, enabling full learning integration. Storybooks alive includes captivating, digital, interactive stories that teach children honorable character traits.

39 STATES PIONEERING AUGMENTED REALITY LEARNING

Letters alive is already being used in Pre-school and Kindergarten classes throughout the United States. “We use Letters alive to reinforce what our children are learning in the classroom,” says Raquel Baldwin of Baldwin Academy in Tamarac. “To see the look on their faces when they see the animals come to life is truly amazing. The children seem to be much more engaged and focused on what they’re learning.”

Audra Cervi, K-3 Reading Resource teacher at Audubon Park Elementary in Orlando, agrees. Cervi says the students “love the new flashcards because the letters actually come alive! Children are 100% engaged, watching every movement on the board. They are so excited to learn about the letters and the sounds!”

Audubon Park’s primary Special Education Teacher Mary-Elizabeth Langston says her students benefit from this rich, positive learning experience. “I hear the children throughout the day repeating the sounds they learned. We’re starting to see the difference in how they form sounds and words… there’s a willingness to learn that we had not seen before.”

LETTERS ALIVE:

Letters alive is a supplemental reading curriculum currently in use by educators in 11 countries and in hundreds of classrooms across the United States. Letters alive was designed in alignment with Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten classrooms, as well as early childhood reading within grades 1 – 5 for ESL students, RTI students and students with special needs.

The curriculum gets students excited about reading by using the same mind-blowing, computer-generated augmented reality technology implemented by the Imagineers at Walt Disney World, only in the classroom, where 26 alphabet cards spring to life to help students grasp key concepts in reading.

Each card features an animal that corresponds to a letter in the alphabet, but these are not just simple flash cards or basic animations; These animals pop up in 3-D with no glasses needed, and seem intelligent as they amazingly respond to the questions and sentences that students will build. Even reluctant learners enthusiastically respond to the animals, sounds, and movement. [more]

MATH ALIVE:

Math alive gets students excited about math by helping teachers teach math to early learners in a new and engaging way. Lessons and activities are mapped to Common Core State Standards for Kindergarten. Math alive develops critical learning skills that children need to meet major milestones throughout the school year at Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade levels. Math alive uses 45 skill-based interactive games and the latest “mind-blowing technology” — Augmented Reality. [more]

STORYBOOKS ALIVE:

Storybooks alive makes reading fun and engaging for children with digital interactive storybooks. They can read the stories themselves or have the program read it to them. Children are able to interact with the pages of the digital book with the same lovable animals that are in Letters alive and Math alive. One character trait is incorporated in each digital story. (i.e., being on time, courage, or kindness) Each story has mini games and activities that are aligned to Common Core State Standards. [more]

ABOUT ALIVE STUDIOS:

Alive Studios is the world’s first augmented reality learning company, dedicated to engaging early learners for success in reading and math. Offering research-driven tools backed by a proven teaching methodology that kids love, Alive Studios delivers Letters alive, Math alive, and Storybooks alive  in 11 countries and in classrooms across the United States. More information at www.alivestudiosco.com

JOURNALISTS NOTE:

To receive interviewing contact information for parents, teachers, school, or district administrators, please contact Ian Bryan, 828.713.3310, pr@alivestudiosco.com.

For independent research:             http://bit.ly/K-12study

About Learning alive:                     http://alivestudiosco.com/

 

OK, we’re back from Santa Clara! What an awesome time at the PK1 Show!

This two day show was small but power-packed. It is always so cool meeting like-minded people who get jazzed about teaching PreK – 3rd Grade children. We met so many fantastic folks from all facets within California’s PK1 initiatives. The demos of our Supplemental Reading and Math Solutions were such a blast! We never stop smiling thinking about people’s facial expressions when they first see our Augmented Reality characters jump of the screen and respond to the curriculum activities.

California has a real push behind TK-1, the transition of children from Kindergarten to First Grade. Thank goodness they recognize the importance of striving to get the kids proficient in reading and math early on; This establishes the solid foundation for their continued education. We hope to be a small part of that effort.

Our Supplemental Reading and Math Solutions are the first ever to infuse Augmented Reality into an educational curriculum. The level of engagement and excitement from kids is unparalleled and teachers are loving it in their classrooms. This is what we are attempting to convey during our demos. God bless the neighboring exhibitors who have to endure our 26 characters chirping, bellowing and roaring through the showroom aisles. Hah!

If you were one of the many who stopped by to see us, drop us a line and say “hello.” We’d love to hear from you and are so excited to have been introduced to the great things going on in California early education.

Oh! And a HUGE congratulations to Katie Uebner for winning our drawing for the FREE copy of the Learning alive Suite, our Supplemental Reading and Math Software Solution for PreK to 3rd Grade (valued at $1,295).