Whiteboards Stimulate Student Learning

from EducationWorld.com

Start with a "clean slate" this semester: introduce mini-whiteboards to your classroom! Students love working on their own whiteboards; and, it's a great way of keeping an entire class actively involved in a lesson. Included: Tips from whiteboard users plus alternatives to whiteboards!

Individual student whiteboards are the 21st-century version of the chalk slates used by students in colonial times. As thousands of teachers have found, whiteboards are a great way of actively involving students in the learning process -- and a terrific tool for immediate feedback and assessment.

Not to worry. If whiteboards are not for you, there are alternatives. More on those alternatives a bit farther down the page!

A Whiteboard for Every Student

Mini-whiteboards are easy to make.

If your students already have mini-whiteboards, skip the instructions below and go directly to the Whiteboard Lesson Plans. Scroll to the brief descriptions, then to the complete lessons.

• Most building supply stores (or your local hardware store) carry sheets of the material that builders use to line bathroom showers -- sometimes called melamine or tile board. A panel of whiteboard material, usually measuring 4 feet by 8 feet, costs about $10.
• Most stores will cut the panels to any size you wish -- especially if you tell them the whiteboards are for classroom use. First, however, you'll want to consider how you'll use the whiteboards. Most teachers find that individual boards cut to a size of 12 inches square work well, but boards can be cut to any size. For example:
• If you're a math teacher, you might want to cut the whiteboards large enough to use for long-division problems or equations or to draw number lines.
• If you're a language teacher, you might want long, thin whiteboards for teaching sentence diagramming.
• If you're a history teacher, you might want longer whiteboards that students can use to create time lines.

Before you introduce whiteboards to your students, you might want to know the following.

• The edges of cut-up whiteboard sheets can be sharp. Many teachers use brightly colored electrical tape to cover the four edges of each board. Perhaps the shop teacher in your school will put his or her students to work sanding those rough edges smooth.
• You will need a ready supply of dry-erase markers. Most parents are willing to supply markers for this use. If you maintain a classroom "wish list," you can add dry-erase markers to it. Otherwise, include them in your classroom budget.
• Provide a ready supply of paper towels or tissues for cleaning the boards. Many teachers have each child bring an old white sock from home.
• Determine in advance whether students will keep the whiteboards in their desks or in a common area of the classroom. If you keep them in a common area, students might write their names on their whiteboards at the end of each activity. Wherever you keep them, place each whiteboard in a resealable storage bag, along with a sock and a marker.
• Some teachers paint the backs of the whiteboards with chalkboard paint. That way, if a marker runs dry in the middle of an activity, the student can turn over the board and use chalk to complete the task.
• Keep a supply of whiteboards available for rainy day recess. Students love using them for games of tic-tac-toe or hangman. They also enjoy creating their own games and activities!
• Be sure students clean boards after each use. Markings left on the boards for long periods can stain them.
• If a board does become stained, try cleaning it with rubbing alcohol, hairspray, or a commercial cleaner. Test cleaning solutions first on a spare board because some solutions can damage whiteboards.
• Whiteboards come in handy when students are sitting on the floor for a group lesson. They can write on whiteboards placed on their laps.
• Individual students can use their mini-whiteboards to keep score during classroom games. That way, every student gets math practice!

Whiteboard Alternatives

If whiteboards aren't in your budget, or if the smell of dry-erase markers is an issue for you or some students, workable alternatives are available.

• Some teachers use sheets of pegboard material -- without the holes, of course -- instead of whiteboard; the smooth side of the cut sheets can be painted with blackboard paint to create mini-chalkboards.
• Other teachers cover manila file folders with black chalkboard contact paper. The students use chalk to write on their "response folders."
• If chalk dust is as big an issue for you as marker fumes, try covering manila file folders, hard cardboard, or white tag board with clear contact paper. Students can write on these mini-boards with crayons and clean them with tissues.

WHITEBOARD LESSON PLANS
Here are brief descriptions of the five lesson plans, with approximate grade ranges in parentheses. Scroll down for complete lesson plans.

Lesson One: Daily Numbers
Use this daily lesson to reinforce skills and improve student test scores in math and other areas of the curriculum. (Grades K-12)

Lesson Two: Handwriting Practice Made Easy
Students use lined whiteboards as they learn and practice handwriting skills. (Grades K-5)

Lesson Three: Whiteboard Jeopardy-Style Game
Help students use individual whiteboards to review content before a unit test or to improve skills in vocabulary, geography, math, and so on. (Grades K-12)

Lesson Four: Whiteboard Spelling Test
Students actively participate in whiteboard exercises that replace traditional (boring!) weekly spelling activities. (Grades K-8)

Lesson Five: Guess Which Word?
Engage students in a game that reinforces phonics and language skills. (Grades K-12)

Lesson One: Daily Numbers

Subjects

• Mathematics

Grades

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Objectives
Students will

• experience math success on a daily basis,
• receive daily reinforcement in a wide variety of math skills, and
• achieve higher scores on statewide tests.

Keywords
algebra, computation, daily, math, measurement, money, practice, reinforcement, telling time, whiteboard

Materials Needed

• Individual student whiteboards -- see "A Whiteboard for Every Student" (above) for instructions
• Daily Numbers activities -- each should include ten math problems -- prepared by the teacher

Procedure
Daily Numbers is a great "bell-ringer" activity. As soon as students arrive in class, have them get out their whiteboards and do the ten math exercises on that day's Daily Numbers chart. Each student has in his or her desk a pad of scrap paper to perform math operations on. They write only the answers to the problems on their whiteboards.

Daily Numbers is the name given to this classroom bell-ringer activity because it's the name of a state lottery game. The owner of a local store provided one teacher with a Daily Numbers sign to hang above the chart on which the Daily Numbers math exercise is posted. Using the lottery game theme adds interest to the activity.

The ten problems that are part of each day's Daily Numbers exercise always include a variety of skills. Previously taught skills are continuously reinforced. For example, a third-grade teacher might post each day at least one addition problem that involves carrying (renaming) and one subtraction problem that involves borrowing. At least twice a week, students might be asked to do a problem that relates to other skills taught during the year. Examples:

• Determine the cash value of a series of drawn coins.
• Write in digital format (XX:XX) the time shown on a drawn clock face.
• Draw a line of a precise measure, such as 2 1/2 inches long or 12 centimeters long.

In short, all skills are regularly reinforced and no skill is allowed to fade.

This approach pays great dividends when state testing time comes around. All math processes students face on the test are fresh in their minds, thanks to Daily Numbers!

As students complete the Daily Numbers activity (it can usually be done in ten minutes) they can get started on their daily work. When all students have completed the Daily Numbers activity, review it one problem at a time. Call on a student to solve each problem. When the student has finished, ask all those who have the same answer to raise their boards.

Assessment
Assess students' math skills by monitoring their responses on the Daily Numbers activity. Once a week or once every two weeks, have students do their Daily Numbers work on paper for a grade. Every student should solve at least eight of the ten problems.

Lesson Two: Handwriting Practice Made Easy

Subjects

• Language Arts

Grades

• K-2
• 3-5

Objectives
Students will

• learn to print or write in cursive, and
• practice handwriting exercises.

Keywords
cursive, daily, handwriting, manuscript, practice, whiteboard

Materials Needed

• Individual student whiteboards -- see "A Whiteboard for Every Student" (above) for instructions

Procedure
At handwriting instruction time, students use special whiteboards as they would paper. Using the boards enables students to work until they are happy with their writing; they can erase until they succeed. Invite students who have created the best writing samples to go to the head of the class to show off their work.

Note: Ideally, students should use dry-erase markers that are the size of a pen or pencil for this activity. If they are not available, standard markers will suffice for initial instruction; transfer instruction to writing paper after students have mastered basic letter forms.

Assessment
After students have succeeded in the whiteboard writing lesson, they can permanently add the handwriting exercise to their handwriting booklets. The best samples of student writing might be displayed on a classroom bulletin board.

Lesson Three: Whiteboard Jeopardy-Style Game

Subjects

• This activity can be adapted for virtually all subject and skill areas.

Grades

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Objectives
Students will

• engage in a fun activity that serves as a review of important material,
• practice writing questions with proper punctuation, and
• practice listening and speaking skills during the game play.

Keywords
game, geography, jeopardy, punctuation, question, review, vocabulary

Materials Needed

• Individual student whiteboards -- see "A Whiteboard for Every Student" (above) for instructions
• Game questions -- and answers

Procedure
Use this activity to help students review material before a test or simply as a fun time-filler. The activity, based on the TV game show Jeopardy, can be used to review material in any subject and across the grades. The teacher states an "answer" and students write the correct question. As on the TV game, students' responses must be in the form of questions.

Students earn 10 points for each correct answer. You might assign different point values based on the difficulty of the question. Students can keep their own scores or a scorekeeper can be appointed. The scorekeeper could put a checkmark next to each student's name on a class list each time the student responds correctly. At the end of the game, the student with the most checkmarks is declared the winner.

This game can be adapted to almost any area of the curriculum. Following are three ideas for using Whiteboard Jeopardy across the curriculum:

Math: Practice multiplication facts by providing a number as the answer. Students write the factors that when multiplied result in that answer. For example, if the Jeopardy clue says, "The answer is 36," students might write "What is 6 x 6?" or "What is 9 x 4?"

Vocabulary: Build or review vocabulary by providing such clues as "This word is a synonym for easy." Students write "What is simple?" or "What is basic?"

Geography: Test students' knowledge of state geography with such clues as, "This southwestern state is home to the city of Tucson" (What is Arizona?); or, "This state is bordered by eight other states" (What is Missouri?).

Assessment
The student(s) with the highest score(s) might earn a prize, such as a pass good for a night of no homework or 5 extra points on the next quiz or test.

Lesson Four: Whiteboard Spelling Test

Subjects

• Language Arts

Grades

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8

Objectives
Students will use a variety of whiteboard activities as practice for weekly spelling tests.

Keywords
bee, dictionary, game, spelling, whiteboard, words

Materials Needed

• Individual student whiteboards -- see "A Whiteboard for Every Student" (above) for instructions

Procedure
Replace a traditional (boring?!) weekly spelling lesson with an active whiteboard lesson. Following are a few possibilities for using whiteboards to keep students actively interested in their weekly spelling lists.

Whiteboard ABC: For each spelling list word, read aloud a sentence in which the spelling word has been replaced by a blank space. Example: We walked ___ the park on the way to my aunt's house. Read the sentence to see whether students can identify the spelling word that belongs in the blank. Then give the students three possible spellings of the missing word. Example: a. though, b. thru, or c. through. Prepare a chart or overhead transparency ahead of time with the choices, or write them on the chalkboard as you do the activity. Have students write the correct spelling of the word on their whiteboards and hold them up. Students who make the wrong choice can correct their work. When all students have written the correct spelling of the missing word, go on to the next sentence.

Whiteboard Pre-Test: Use the whiteboard on pre-test day. Say each spelling word. Have students hold up their whiteboards after writing the word. Because this is a pre-test, students can have multiple opportunities to correctly spell the words. Encourage students who misspell words to record misspelled words on a separate piece of paper. That sheet can serve as the list of words that will require a little extra study time.

Whiteboard Spelling Bee: Use words from previous spelling tests in an all-class whiteboard spelling bee. With students in their seats, say a spelling word, give them 30 seconds to write it, and have them hold up their boards. Students who misspell the word are removed from the game -- temporarily -- and stand along one classroom wall. Next, say the second word. Give all students -- including those against the wall -- 30 seconds to spell that word. If a student in the group against the wall spells the word correctly, that student can take his or her seat. Those who cannot spell the word remain along the wall, where they will be joined by the students who misspell the second word. As the number of seated players shrinks to less than half the class, you might focus the game of elimination on the seated players only. Continue until one student remains seated.

Assessment
Students should correctly spell at least eight of the ten words on the final spelling test.

Lesson Five: Guess Which Word?

Subjects

• Language Arts

Note: This activity could be adapted for many subjects and skills.

Grades

• K-2
• 3-5
• 6-8
• 9-12

Objectives
Students will

• listen to clues to a mystery word, and
• use phonics and language skills to figure out a mystery word.

Keywords
game, language, mystery, phonics, spelling, syllables, theme

Materials Needed

• Individual student whiteboards -- see "A Whiteboard for Every Student" (above) for instructions

Procedure
Provide students with a list of ten words. See example below. The words can be from a current unit of study or spelling list or tied to a timely theme.

Winter Words

• blizzard
• freezing
• precipitation
• sleet
• snowstorm
• flurry
• icy
• scarf
• snowman
• toboggan

Say, "I am thinking of a word on the list. Which word am I thinking of?" Students guess the word and write it on their whiteboards. Then provide students with three clues to the actual word. For example, the first clue might be

• The word I am thinking of is a two-syllable word.

That clue narrows the list of possible words to six. Any student who has a two-syllable word written on his or her whiteboard could still be correct. Those who have one- or three-syllable words must erase the word and choose one that meets the criteria established so far. Then provide a second clue:

• The word I am thinking of is a compound word.

That clue narrows the list to two words -- snowstorm or snowman. Any student who has a two-syllable compound word written on his or her whiteboard could still be correct. Those who have any of the other words must erase the word and choose one that meets the two criteria established so far. Then provide the third clue:

• The word I am thinking of is a synonym for the word blizzard.

How many students have the correct word, snowstorm, written on their slates? How many had it from the beginning? from the first clue?

Continue the game with a different set of clues. For example:

• The word I am thinking of has at least two syllables.
• The word I am thinking of has a suffix.
• The root word of the word I am thinking of is a six-letter word.

Continue the game with an additional set of clues. For example:

• The word I am thinking of includes two consecutive letters that are the same.
• The word I am thinking of is a two-syllable word.
• The word I am thinking of would be described as a light snowfall.

Continue the game with an additional set of clues. For example:

• The word I am thinking of is a one- or two-syllable word.
• The word I am thinking of is a noun.
• The word I am thinking of is an item of clothing.

Assessment
Students correctly identify each mystery word. After giving each clue, try to verify that all students have written a word that matches the clues provided.

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