RAZ-Kids Kindergarten Trial (One Month of Use - March to April)

Raz-Kids is a web-based library of leveled texts, quizzes and data collection and reporting services offered through Learning A-Z.  I use these resources to support independent reading, partner reading, shared reading, read aloud and even small group work and guide my reading instruction.

The service mimics a leveled book library where the children browse through a variety of fiction and nonfiction texts.  There is the option for students to listen to the story,  read it themselves (with touch and tell support for various vocabulary words), and take a comprehension quiz.  Students earn stars (points) for every story and quiz.  The stars are used in the reward redemption are called Raz Rockets.

My kindergarten students began using this about a month ago and within a week there was a noticeable  improvement in the amount of reading they were doing as well as an excitement about reading. In the first 30 days, my 22 students read  91 hours  (mostly outside of the classroom). Raz-Kids runs on computers via the internet and runs on iPads with the download of the free Raz-Kids app from the iTunes app store.

In class the children use Raz-Kids when the children finish eating lunch and when they complete other tasks.  In class, the children have access to four computers.  This past week, the children  had the option of reading on Raz-Kids during their library workstation rotation time.  I knew the children would love this option in reading.  An unexpected surprise was that the younger (borderline struggling)students voluntarily have been spending the most time using this resource.  I do not set goals for any of the students, this is a choice based system in my class for both in and out of class reading.  It seems that my struggling students gravitated to this medium and in doing so have made significant gains from in moving forward to meet grade level expectations in reading.  It has really boosted their confidence and willingness to take risks in their reading and rather than shying away from reading out loud or with a partner, instead they are eager to read and they readily exclaim, "I can read by myself!".  Another delightful surprise was how animated and fluent the children were when they sent me recordings of their reading.  When they were at home, relaxed and choosing to read for themselves, they are quite entertaining in the way they use expression and voice when they read.  We talk about this as we listen to the children's reading as part of our Read Aloud and Shared Reading time.

The Basics:  

First, the teacher enters their student's names and assigns each student a icon password, a specific level of reading and choices on whether they have access to the whole book room (levels aa to Z) or just to a specific range of texts, the teacher controls the amount of time the students spend in  Raz Rockets and can assign specific reading records.  I found the initial setup extremely intuitive to follow and within a hour I had my whole roster setup, assigned each student a text to send me as an IRR and had sent individual emails to parents introducing the reading option and giving them written instructions on how to access the website. Within two days all my students had logged on and using Raz-Kids.

Next, the students read, record their reading to send to the teacher, take quizzes and begin earning stars.  As the teacher, I monitor what they are reading, how they are doing on their quizzes (detailed reports are given) and listen to their practice reading recordings they send me as well as the reading records that I assign them.  I toggle through the various tabs and choose the type and format of the report I want.  Each report is available either by class or by student.  There is also an option to have weekly report automatically sent to the teacher and parents.

These are some of the reports you can generate for each student. Below is a sample of the Skills report for one student.  I use this data to determine what small groups or individuals to pull for followup instruction and what type of instruction is needed.

The same type of reports are available for the whole class. Below is the report selection and then a copy of a class report.

Class Report on Class Skills for first month of use (point of interest - we have not covered Cause and Effect and just started Reality/Fantasy.  I will keep on eye on these over the next six weeks to see if these scores increase after formal instruction.)

Below is a sample of a Running Record - note the child sends me their recording of a text I designated. If you look toward the top of the picture you will see the triangle replay icon.  While the child reads the program calculates rate, I see the text and follow along.  If the child miscues, I simply click on the word and a pull down menu appears for me to record the type of miscue.  I can also write anecdotal notes on the reading.

Below is the recording of the student's Retell to go along with the recorded running record.  This is recorded as well and the teacher scores the retell using the Raz-Kids rubric.

Next is a copy of the quiz the student took for this same running record.

In addition to the formal Running Records that students can send to the teacher.  The children can opt to record any story they read and send it to the teacher as well as hear it played back to them for fluency (and fun).  My students ask that we use their recorded reading for read aloud in class!

When I listen to the children read their stories, I can correspond back to them with encouragement, praise and coaching - I can also give them additional stars!  I often will write to them and let them know that I will be asking them about the text - something like the main idea, the problem, the sequence of events, etc.  This personalizes the experience for the children and they are delighted to see messages waiting for them when they log in.  In addition to sending encouragement to the reader, I make notes on what I hear and need to work with them on - again, I use this for my guided reading time as well as conferencing.  I can print a report with all my anecdotal notes.

Below are samples of some of the leveled "tubs" that the children select books from.  The children can click on the icon with the ear to listen to the text, the eye to read it themselves, or the ? to take a quiz.

Below is the library of leveled texts the children can explore as part of the "On Your Own" option.  If the Reading A-Z package is added there are more than 1,100 texts to choose from.

Having this option in my class has helped me to work smart rather than hard in my reading instruction.  I find that having accurate and in-depth data at my fingertips give me the gift of extra time to devote to reading instruction.  The children and their parents love the option of having texts that are directly connected to the type of texts the children use in the classroom.  It takes the guess work out of what books to read at home and the parents are thrilled with how their children are excited about reading.

There are many reports and features that I didn't cover, sooooo ... I have saved the best news for last.  Learning A-Z offers free week-long trials for all of their products.  Raz-Kids is only one of a whole suite of product offerings (Reading A-Z, Vocabulary A-Z, Writing A-Z, Science A-Z and Reading Tutor A-Z).  The cost for each ranges from $29 - $90.  For a one year subscription for 36 students Raz-Kids is $89.95 -- there are discounts for bundled options and multiple classrooms.

The Learning A-Z website is rich in details, videos and plenty of information to help implement their variou products.

For more information and for free trials of their products click here:

Dreambox Learning: Trial - Kindergarten Week One

The first week with Dreambox Learning in my Kindergarten class has gone smoothly and the students as well as parents report that they really like it.

I teach in a full-day Kindergarten program, there are 22 students and we have four computers in our class.  In our district we have access to IWB's, document camera and access to weekly use of a computer lab.  I plan on using the Dreambox web-based learning during math workstation time, free choice (after lunch and completion of assigned work), small group instruction and as an after school resource.  This resource will complement our Math curriculum.  In order to move ahead with the trial I needed approval  from Dreambox and from our district's Curriculum Director.

Day One (April 1, 2013):
Dreambox and the district approved a month long trial.

Dreambox gave me an access code and assigned me a Dreambox Customer Support contact.

The combination of informative and helpful videos and links on the First Time Setup page were excellent.  When I hit a snafu while attempting setup my roster by importing the Dreambox Excel template, I  was able to figure out how to manually enter my class roster without the help of the Customer Support team .   Within a hour and a half my class roster was created, I had sent email's to my student's parents and had Dreambox linked to my class webpage.  The hyperlink on my webpage makes it easier for my students to access in class and from home.

I created a spot on the roster for myself so I could do some exploring and a place on the roster for a principal to also explore.  I found (as a first time user) that the initial start was sluggish (from an adult's perspective).  The program begins with  the user choosing their avatar character and then guides them through a series of mouse agility tasks.  My initial impression was the the response time between activities was slow with frequent "loading" times and I was a bit concerned my students might not find the characters engaging.  However,  my students do not find response time slow and they report that they like the user interface.

Day Two:
During class time I introduced and modeled Dreambox to the class.  A few children eagerly finished lunch and jumped on the computer.  The only thing I had to do was to tell them what picture password I had assigned them and they were off and running.  That evening at home eleven students had taken the initiative to sign on and were using the program.

Day Three-Five:
The students are enjoying Dreambox and the time they have spent using Dreambox ranges from 4:30 to :31 HH:MM.  I have not had any parents or students report any confusion or problems.  As the students watch each other on the computers they are sharing their results and their experiences on the various areas of "Adventure Park" and giving each other recommendations on where to go to "have fun".  After the first five days 20 of my 22 students are using this at school and at home.

Pros:

• The interface for both the student and teacher "user-friendly" and easy to navigate.
• My struggling learners are the students who have logged the most time so far and they are enjoying this web-based, differentiated learning experience.
• Students are enthusiastic about using this resource and are having fun while learning.
• The features which instruct the user when they miscue are wonderful (i.e. demonstrating a more efficient way to build a group of 60 - the pacing, the labeling and the explanation are excellent to support learning and clarity - it is like having a tutor sitting with the student).
• The Class Reports (Summary, Proficiency, Progress, Usage, CCSS and Roster) are informative and innovative.  I really appreciate how it lists what areas the child is working in and the option to print the page, email the report or export in an Excel Spreadsheet format.  In addition the option to view a Weekly or Detailed report on each student is an empowering feature to inform future instructional steps for individual, small group work.
• The Manage Students reporting and navigation is informative and easy to use.
• My experience in working with the Dreambox Learning staff has been professional, informed, responsive and enjoyable.
• There are many levels of support through hyperlinks and videos for teachers as well as parents which makes the website and product easy to learn and navigate.
• Parents like the option of being informed on their child's progress via email updates and I like the feature of the Parent Letter to send home to inform parents about the program.
• I appreciate the options to tailor how much access students have to the "reward" areas like the Carnival  or House to ensure that the students are spending time learning vs. playing.

Cons:

• I like the use of the "math box" (a.k.a. rekenrek) for numeration work, however I would like to see a greater diversity in virtual manipulatives.  I wonder if the children will quickly become bored with the same virtual manipulative.  I found that as a user I was disappointed to consistently see the same manipulative in each of the lessons/games throughout the various areas in Adventure Park.
• It would be helpful to have the option to print user cards with their password on it to send home or to keep in their math notebook (RAZ-Kids has this option).
• Being limited to use on computers is restrictive, this will be a stronger and more viable product  when it supports iPad and Android based tablet formats.  My understanding  is that Dreambox is looking to do this in the 2013-2014 school year.
• When this is released for use on tablets, I think there needs a "writing" option for both problem solving (showing their thinking) and practicing number formation.
• At this point in time only three of the five CCSS standards are covered (Operations and Algebraic, Counting and Cardinality and Number is Base Ten).  There are no lessons for Data and Measurement or Geometry.  My understanding is that Dreambox wanted to initial focus on numeration accuracy and are planning to add to their offering in the future.
• Within the first week my stronger students have already nearly mastered the Kindergarten curriculum established in the Dreambox program.  I wonder how Dreambox measures mastery and if the standards for mastery are set too low, perhaps there should be some way to report details on mastery or an assessment and then assessment report.
• In the Student Detail report it would be helpful to see what lessons (a.k.a. stories) from the Adventure Park are associated with specific CCSS standards.
• It would be helpful to have an "Exit" button in each of the areas in the Adventure Park.  Currently the students need to go "Back" to the entrance of the park in order to "Exit".  This is time consuming during in class transition times.
• Cost - I wonder if the cost of $25 per student, per year will be too costly especially for Kindergarten when you consider that only 60% of CCSS is supported and within one week many of students have already mastered what is offered for Kindergarten.  Finally there is the drawback of  being limited to running on computers only at this point which limit students access to this resource in the classroom.

Overall impression after first week.

I am delighted with how this resource offers opportunities for learning math that have are not otherwise available.  The children are really enjoying this resource and it will be interesting to see if their enthusiasm is sustainable over the course of the month trial.  It was an easy and efficient, intuitive installation and I feel like I have strong support from the Dreambox team.  I think the strengths are in the reporting features, the user interface and the reward system which makes it engaging for students as well as teachers, parents and administrators.  I would like to see more diversity in the characters, avatars and math manipulatives offered.  It would be a stronger product if it were priced like RAZ-Kids offered by Learning A-Z at around $100 p/class of 25 for a year.

http://www.dreambox.com/

The journey begins ....

March 2013:  My school district invited teachers to create and submit a grant that integrates technology into the classroom.  I submitted a grant for mini-ipads for each student with protective cases, storage cart, a fund for educational apps and subscriptions a suite of web-based learning subscriptions from Learning A-Z  (Reading A-Z, RAZ-Kids, Vocabulary A-Z, Reading Tutor) and Dreambox Math.

This blog will chronicle the journey of moving from a traditional instructional model to a 1:1 mobile learning environment.