Teaching + BrainPOP = Home Run in Learning

What says summer more than going to a baseball game and enjoying the sights, sounds and food at a baseball game? Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a couple of baseball games; and it got me thinking a lot about students and how they learn best.

Getting Kids on Base

In baseball, you're not going to score if you cannot get on base. In school, if students cannot access the content they are not going to be able to participate, much less meet grade-level standards. So how do we get students on base? BrainPOP is designed to introduce new and complex concepts to students and offer the background knowledge and vocabulary that students NEED to access the core curriculum and get in the game.

Education journalist Natalie Wexler in her book, "The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America’s Broken Education System–and How to Fix It," wrote that,

“Cognitive scientists have agreed for decades that the most important element of reading comprehension is knowledge and vocabulary about the topic.

This is one of BrainPOP's super powers!?Making rigorous learning accessible to?all?students is what students need, and content and vocabulary are the "hits" that unlock knowledge for ALL students.

Recognizing the important role vocabulary plays in every area of the curriculum–from reading and writing to math, science, and more–BrainPOP?and?BrainPOP Jr.?provides engaging activities to build content-related vocabulary and helps students make connections.?

Moving Runners in Scoring Position

In baseball, players need to move from first base on to second and third to get in scoring position. When players move from first base and beyond, they are prime to score a run when a batter gets a hit. Similarly, to maximize learning students need to have learning opportunities that are relevant, active and engaging. The more that we can get students thinking, talking, collaborating, writing & producing, the more that students will learn & remember. As Katie Martin states,

"Those who are doing the work are the ones learning, and when we get more learners reflecting, thinking, and sharing their ideas, we get more learners learning."

BrainPOP has multiple active learning activities, utilizing Universal Design for Learning, to foster access and support all students in being active participants in the game of learning!

Doubles, Triples (Apply & Assess)

Once we have students in scoring position, BrainPOP, has students apply their knowledge through auto-graded quizzes and Challenge activities as teachers assess grade-level concepts, common misconceptions, and essential literacy skills. Teachers can then use this data to inform future instructional decisions.

• Quizzes - Every?BrainPOP?topic includes a ten-question quiz that features questions that prompt higher-order thinking, challenging students to make inferences, apply concepts, and synthesize new understanding with prior knowledge.
• Challenge?-?Challenge activities are interactive activities (and auto-graded) where students can apply critical thinking skills related to the content that they learned.
• Pause Points?- Pause Points are questions and prompts that activate students’ background knowledge, while building subject-specific vocabulary. Students are active learners in these checks for understanding and can type, speak, or draw responses.
• Primary Source Activities?-??Accompany over 200?topics, challenging students to examine and interpret photographs, videos, diaries, speeches and other documents.

Home Runs (Deepen & Extend)

One of the sayings that I have said frequently over the years, is that we want our students to be, not just the consumers of knowledge, but also the producers of knowledge. BrainPOP provides various creative tools to allow students to apply their learning in creative and fun ways that truly allow students to apply their learning and demonstrate understanding in deep and impactful ways. The following are examples of ways that students can hit home runs and knock their learning out of the park are:

• Creative Coding?- Developed in partnership with Scratch Foundation and Vidcode , provides students with block and text-based coding projects spanning the K-12 curriculum.
• Make-a-Movie?- With Make-a-Movie, students make their own movies; which cultivates planning, organizing, writing, collaborating, and analyzing skills.
• ?Make-a-Map?- Make-a-Map invites students to make meaningful connections between concepts and reinforce knowledge using BrainPOP images, keywords, and movie clips.
• BrainPOP Science?-?BrainPOP Science (for 6-8th grades) has real-life application, investigations, simulations,?data manipulatives and?3D Worlds?that enable students to explore real-world phenomena.

Coaching

In baseball, coaches (or managers as they are called), help lead, strategize, game-plan, etc. to help players and the team be their personal best. Just as coaches help their players be their best, BrainPOP offers top-notch Lesson Plans (plus video tips, printables, learning activities and support resources & implementation ideas) on every BrainPOP topic aligned to academic standards.

Additionally, BrainPOP offers a wide array of Professional Learning opportunities that help teachers see ideal results by equipping teachers with best practices and ideas.

All of these resources help build teacher capacity and give districts, schools, classrooms, and students the "equipment" they need to become an All-Star!

Scoreboard

Just as baseball utilizes a scoreboard to see see who wins the game,

BrainPOP offers school and district reports to drive instructional impact and provide valuable insight into student learning. These reports help create a "scoreboard" to show how BrainPOP is used in the classroom, allowing administrators and teachers to make more informed decisions that benefit student learning by monitoring progress and guide learning and instruction.?

?? Empowering Kids to Shape the World Around Them & Within Them ??

At?BrainPOP, our mission is, “To EMPOWER kids to shape the world around them and within them.” As educators strive to provide the best instruction and learning opportunities for students, BrainPOP allows students to not only get in the game, but to win the game!