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Whether you are a primary or secondary grade level teacher, one aspect of teaching most teachers agree upon is the importance of formative assessment in the classroom. Agreeing with this statement myself, I integrate formative assessment into my daily instruction. The formative assessments given, however, are not where I choose to stop when reflecting on my lessons and collecting data. Instead, I also choose to integrate a feedback loop with my students where my students have an opportunity to receive feedback on their formative assessment, and, based on my feedback, enhance their formative assessment. As a kindergarten teacher, Seesaw has been the tool that has helped me to be the most successful in this process.
One lesson where I successfully implemented this formative assessment and feedback loop through using Seesaw was when teaching and assessing my kindergarten students’ knowledge of five key digraphs: sh, ch, wh, th, and -ck. Wilson’s Fundations curriculum explains to students that digraphs are defined as consonants that “stick together” to create one sound, even though there are two letters. Digraphs differ from consonant blends since digraphs are two letters that, together, make one sound and consonant blends are two letters that, together, make two sounds.
When teaching digraphs to students, the Fundations curriculum focuses on students learning a “letter-keyword-sound” that helps students to create a grapheme-phoneme connection. I choose to introduce digraphs for a number of days before the curriculum introduces the digraph concepts through a warm up where students are reciting the grapheme-phoneme for all 26 letters and these five digraphs. Then, with strong grapheme-phoneme retention for these digraphs, my students begin both encoding and decoding words that include digraphs. Some of the words used may be: bath, mash, duck, chop, and whim.
The Lesson
When implementing this phonics lesson and formative assessment, my students had been learning about these five digraphs for a week and a half. I created the formative assessment to gauge my students’ understanding of these five digraphs so I could have data-based evidence on how I should proceed with my teaching. The lesson I taught students surrounding these digraphs had three key components: students recited a grapheme-phoneme for each digraph, they encoded by writing words that contained each digraph, and they decoded by reading words with digraphs.
I created a Seesaw activity to formatively assess my students on these three key components that had been modeled and practiced in the lesson. In my Seesaw activity, my students had to match the digraph grapheme with the Fundations keyword, which we do during our warm up when students chorally recite the letter, keyword, and sound for each large sound card. Students then used the drawing tool on Seesaw to write four letter words with digraphs based on what was dictated to them in the app, which I modeled and we practiced on a Fundations whiteboard during the lesson. Lastly, students read words with digraphs using the Seesaw microphone, simulating a modeling and guided practice routine we practice each day.
Formative Assessment and Feedback
My greatest objective when creating this Seesaw activity was to formally gather data on my students’ encoding and decoding digraph knowledge so I can better target my instruction in future lessons. Keeping this objective in mind, I created a Seesaw activity that augments a traditional oral and paper/pencil formative assessment where “tech acts as a direct substitute, with functional improvement” (Israelson, 2015, p. 342). I used the technology platform as a way to gather my students’ understanding of digraphs through the move tool, drawing tool, and voice tool. This allows me to gather information that I would have to pull students aside one-on-one to gather without the availability of technology.
A large component of Seesaw that makes it my go-to technology integration platform in my instruction is the use of feedback I can provide for my students in a timely manner. After my students have completed and submitted their Seesaw activity, Seesaw gives the teacher the opportunity to review each students’ Seesaw activity, leave feedback or a comment for the student, and “send back” the students work so students can review the feedback where students can make revisions before re-submitting their Seesaw activity. Feedback is a necessary piece of formative assessment that teachers cannot always find the time to implement into the daily classroom routines. This feedback or commenting feature (can be given auditorily for primary grades) allows my students to listen to my feedback during breakfast time the next morning and learn from the formative assessment given which points my students in a positive direction for further learning and integration of the lesson objective.
Lesson Audience
This lesson was created for a kindergarten classroom in the second half of the school year. The ideas within this lesson, such as the step-by-step visuals and feedback feature of Seesaw, can be modified to meet the needs of students across primary grade levels as Seesaw is created primarily for grades k-3.
Goals and Standards
LESSON GOALS AND STANDARDS
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.K.3 – Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
Literacy Objective: Students will be able to read and write digraphs used in CVC words.
DIGITAL LITERACY GOALS AND STANDARDS
ISTE Standard: ISTE 1.1.c – Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways .
Digital Literacy Objective: Students will be able to apply their knowledge of digraphs when writing and reading on the Seesaw platform. Through the teacher feedback tool, students will also be able to listen to teacher feedback and edit their Seesaw activity to help students improve their digraph knowledge.
Materials & When Materials are Used
Fundations Large Letter-Keyword-Sound Cards: Used during the grapheme-phoneme anticipatory set of the lesson. I mix up all of my cards and show them to students one card at a time. Students chorally say the letter-keyword-sound to all 26 alphabetic letters and the five newly introduced digraphs.
Fundations Standard Sound Cards: Students continue the grapheme-phoneme connection without a keyword present. These cards are in a pocket chart on my board and students identify the grapheme and it’s phoneme. Then students decode words I build using the Fundations Standard Sound Cards. During this lesson, I built words with digraphs. Students read these words by tapping out the sounds and blending them together.
Fundations Whiteboard and Expo Marker: Students have the opportunity to also practice encoding words by writing words with digraphs on their Fundations Whiteboards.
Individual iPad, Headphones, and Stylist for Each Student: In order to complete the independent formative assessment activity successfully, students will need an individual iPad and headphones so they can hear directions and words being read to them. A stylist is not required, but it does allow students to write on their iPads using pencil grip and allows them to think about less tasks as they encode the words they hear.
Seesaw App: The independent formative assessment is complete through a lesson on the Seesaw app. You can find the Seesaw for this lesson here. This app should be downloaded to students iPad’s and students should be logged into the app prior to this lesson.
Seesaw Magnet Images for Multi-Step Directions: As I am giving students directions for the Seesaw lesson, I place various magnetic images of the different Seesaw tools on the board to show visual multi-step directions.
Note: I begin using these magnets at the beginning of the year when students are experiencing Seesaw for the first time through simple, single task activities such as students taking a selfie and drawing crazy hair on their picture. For a simple lesson such as the selfie lesson, I would put up a “add respond” magnet, then a “camera” magnet, followed by a “drawing tool magnet”, and finishing with a “green check” magnet. As I model taking my own selfie, I put these magnets on the board in a vertical order for students to refer back to when they are completing the activity independently. I continue using these magnets throughout the year as a visual reference for my students.
Instructional Plan
If you would like a complete, instructional plan of this lesson, please click here.
Resources
“English Language Arts Standards ” Reading: Foundational Skills ” Kindergarten ” 3.” Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2020, http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/RF/K/3/.
Fundations Teacher’s Manual Level K. Second ed., Wilson Language Training Corporation, 2020.
“ISTE Standards: Students.” ISTE, 2022, https://www.iste.org/standards/iste-standards-for-students.
“The Difference between Blends and Digraphs.” This Reading Mama, 16 Apr. 2020, https://thisreadingmama.com/difference-between-blends-and-digraphs/.
About the Author
Hello! My name is Haydn Crouse and I am currently in the M.A. Curriculum and Literacy program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am also a kindergarten teacher in St Vrain Valley School District. I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado with a CLD Endorsement. During my time as a kindergarten teacher, I have found a passion for supporting my students in their literacy development.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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