#GoogleClassroomdifferentiation

This week I participated in the #innovatingplay/#gafe4littles slow flip chat about connections.
In one of the post I mentioned how I differentiate assignments for my students to help meet their needs
at their level and connect with them at their level. This prompted a request for some examples of how I
do this. Therefore a blog post was born.

Google Classroom has a wonderful feature that allows you to assign activities to students.
When I first started using the program the only way to give a specific student a slide deck was to label
assignments with their name or number and then they had to search for it in the stream. If any of you
know the struggle of the stream in Google Classroom with Kindergarten, it is real.That is why I was so
ecstatic when they gave you the option to select a specific student or students.

Google has started up a wonderful Youtube series called EDU in 90. In this series Google for education
designers/developers tell you about an Google EDU product in 90 sec. In this specific video they are
talking about how to differentiate in Google Classroom:

I always start off differentiating listening activities. I use the Edpuzzle extension to help take out ads
from YouTube stories that are on their level. This can take lots of hours searching because if you are
like me you find one and then hear a song that kinda sounds like a Justin Timberlake song you heard
and then you remember he just released a new album AND WE’RE OFF on the rabbit trail and then
you remember oh yeah back to books. LOL!

The next thing I have differentiated are animal research report forms. Every year at the end of the year
my kiddos pick an animal to research and do a report about in anticipation of our Zoo field trip. I like to
make sure that students have research that they can kinda navigate specifically for their animal. So I
will search for information on their animal at their reading level and then send that research specifically
to that kiddo.

Once students start to pick up some basic CVC and a handful of sight words reading. I will use Fluency
Tutor to give students differentiated reading passages. Students listen to the passage as many times as
they need and then record themselves reading the passage. It sends it directly to my drive and I can
listen and mark it as a reading record. Then meet with students to discuss how they think they did.

I will admit I could be better at differentiating but finding the time is hard. I have great intentions to make

differentiated activities for my students for everyday of the week, but…. LIFE #thestruggleisreal. I have
gotten to a few things, but mostly use differentiating for sending links. Here are some of the activities I
have created for differentiation with students.

Name Building: First name with help, first name no help, first and last name.

Math: 100's chart match, 100's chart fill in missing 10, 100's chart fill in 5's, 100s chart fill in

#productspotlightTYMTR

#productspotlight

Today I am going to spotlight the educational website Teach Your Monster To Read (TYMTR).
This is a website that helps to build students phonics and phonemic awareness skills with online, board,
and physical movement games for FREE. I discovered this product from frustration with my reading
curriculum, which was really lacking in meaningful phonics instruction. The interaction between the online
gaming and then transition to classroom learning with board games is amazingly impactful and allows
students to feel successful. Here are the reasons my students and I love Teach Your Monster to Read.

Students Reasons they LOVE Teach Your Monster To Read:

1-I get to create a monster: Students get to create an avatar monster they can add to as they
continue to learn.

2-It’s easy to get into: Students only have to click on the link and then type their name, no tears
over complicated passwords. Students can hop right in and play easily.

3- It’s fun: Students LOVE the games, they even will self collaborate and challenge themselves
(collaborate on their own without teacher saying anything) on levels that they are seeing for the
first time. They don’t even play for the person they will tell them how to do it.

4- I am learning: Students who often are struggling in class are suddenly successful. I often here
students sounding out words, and then telling everyone around that they just read the word cat.

Teacher things I LOVE Teach Your Monster To Read:

1-Logging in is SIMPLE: TYMTR allows the teacher to select their login method. Students can have
a username and a password, type their name and a password, or just use a specific class star code
and their name to login. I copy the star coded link into our Google Classroom under the About tab.
Students click on the link and  type in their name to access their educational gaming experience.

2-Grouping: TYMTR allows the teacher to set students into groups where you can differentiate the
content for those students.

3-Table Top Games:  Not only is it a fun way to practice pre-reading/ reading skills it also has a section
for Teachers to print off games similar to what students see online to play in class. These board games
are great parent volunteer centers!

4-Movement Games- Some of my favorite parts are not the online gaming, but the content for teachers
to print off for free and use in their classroom. Movement games like Pirates and Sailors where students
have to quickly match a graphic (lemon) with the letter l. The pirate then swipes it off the island and the
Sailors have to try and get as many matches before time is up. My kiddos LOVE this game!

5- Data: I love the systematic breakdown of how the students are doing on each portion of the games.
I can see the specific letters and the percentage of correct responses to that letter throughout their
learning. For example Bob was working on herding sheep into the correct phonics pen, working on the
letter k, I can go and see that for the letter K he was answering and identifying the correct pen 80% of the
time, but on the next game for the letter A he was only answering correctly 20% of the time. This can
then help me to differentiate and specify instruction.

6-FREE: Our favorite price as educators is $0. This product is amazing because it has so much and is
educational impactful for that favorite price FREE.99.

Please feel free to comment and ask any questions you may have about this fabulous resource.