I work with amazing people, and I see great things in classes often. Yesterday, I walked through a 4th grade class reviewing poetry vocabulary. Hmmm. For most 9-10 year olds, poetry isn't much more than "I see London; I see France..."
Not this time. There was yelling, high-fiving and smack talking - if you can smack talk poetry vocabulary.
The class was using Kahoot (www.getkahoot.com). They competed against each other to recognize various poetry vocabulary like cinquin, free verse, and limerick. It was beyond the regurgitation level of understanding; it was actually the conversation and excitement that intrigued me.
When students discuss - and even argue about meaning and use and provide examples, they are gaining an enormously deep connection and understanding of that concept.
After they finished and the winner gloated in his glory momentarily, they asked to "play again." The teacher laughed and said there wasn't time and they'd already done it twice.
Amidst the loud groaning and pleading, I heard a sweet girl in the back say, "we have 14 minutes."
I laughed. Really? You're begging and whining to do poetry vocabulary?! Are you kidding? I laughed. Seriously. Who cares about iambic pentameter and AABBAA patterns?
Apparently, when paired with a great 2.0 tool, 4th graders do.
Now, if someone could find a tool to make paperwork more exciting....
Meanwhile, I think I'll just hangout in 4th grade and enjoy the excitement.
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