English is a core subject – and for good reason! Reading, writing and the creativity that brings them to life are arguably the keys to all human knowledge.
With Kami’s array of tools, you can make the process of English language learning more accessible as well as adding some all-important flair and fun to the mix. Cultivate classroom collaboration, enthusiasm for reading, and provide instant feedback with Kami today!
“My students would sit back while I worked under the projector…Honestly, it never felt like they were really with me as I modeled highlighting and annotating under the large projection screen. Then, I discovered Kami, and my lessons transformed.” Alexander L. Samia.
We teamed up with Alexander L. Samia, ELAR educator at Salyards Middle School and Kami Hero, to give you some great ideas to get started:
Getting your class settled and ready for work is a challenge for everyone – so how about starting up with a quick 15-minute writing exercise? With Kami you can get everyone in ‘the zone’ as well as exercising those vital writer muscles as regularly as possible.
In Alexander’s classroom he does just that:
Every Wednesday students access assignments through Google Classroom and respond to the writing prompt in Kami. In the ten minutes that they have to write, I can load each student’s writing sample and check-in on their progress in real-time while they draft.
When students finish, some can volunteer to share their samples on the big screen. I project their work onto the front board, and as a class, we can provide feedback to help them transform their technique. As we read a volunteer’s writing we collaborate as a class on the document in question. Each student highlights interesting elements, anything from a catchy hook to a thesis, using the Kami Mark-up tools, offering the writer positive feedback as we do!
For the students who don’t want to share, I’m able to access their writing at a later time, and they can check the file next lesson for my feedback.
Let’s face it, traditional workbooks or subject files have a lot of downsides. Pages, or even the whole book, can be lost, damaged, torn out or simply neglected. Once completed, work in a physical book is also uneditable preventing further insights or interaction.
So what’s the solution? Kami based notebooks of course. Here’s how it works in Alexander’s classroom:
Using Google Classroom, I pushed a notebook assignment, assigning it for each student to get a copy. This way, students can access their notebooks digitally for their research binder project, collecting information on a chosen topic, and presenting it in text.
Sharing is caring. ? Share your Kami docs with a simple link ?#remotelearning #onlinelearning #schoolclosure #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/2dauNPzSMI
— Kami - Your Classroom Sidekick (@KamiApp) March 18, 2020
Students use all of Kami’s tools to add images, videos and color to illustrate what they have discovered on their chosen topic. They even have the opportunity to customize font, add color, and links. Students love the way they can explore and share what they have learned.
What’s most inspiring is watching the students explore topics that they genuinely care about and report on them. When they are ready to present I am able to access their digital notebooks easily from my own device and keep their projects for reference or further work throughout the whole school year. Since implementing a program like this, I’ve had the opportunity to watch my students grow, and it is incredible!
What English language class would be complete without reading assignments? One of the most important skills in any student’s armory, reading is essential, but how can you push students to dig deeper into their texts and bring them to life? Alexander found Kami:
The resources available for my reading instruction, made possible through Kami, offer endless possibilities. First, I’ll load a reading into Kami and assign it straight through Google Classroom.
Note: Recently, Kami started adding a designated Google Classroom topic dropdown, which saves time and helps to keep my instruction organized.
? Calling all #GoogleClassroom users! Kami app now lets you select a topic when making Kami assignments - check out how ? pic.twitter.com/fxYPr5jJT5
— Kami - Your Classroom Sidekick (@KamiApp) December 3, 2019
When students open their reading assignments, they have so much fun playing and exploring the text through Kami’s tools (think Highlight, Underline, adding colored Text Boxes and Comments). The first time we did it, it felt like chaos, but I soon realized my students were doing something with reading that we weren’t doing before – they were exploring, and actively engaging with our text!
This alone was enough to persuade me to continue with Kami and my student’s progress over time has been nothing short of amazing. For instance, the Dictionary Tool provides a quick way to understand new words. The Comment options help students to express their understanding of the text while also collaborating and generating ideas together.
Ss engagement in Mr. Reséndiz’s class with @usekamiapp as they analyze author’s use of literary devices in a poem @NSMS_mustangs pic.twitter.com/hA2ZjRbrm7
— Fanny T. Vides (@fanny_vides) January 8, 2020
Additionally, there is the use of Highlighting and Markup tools to identify information and concepts, again all done collaboratively to create excitement around discoveries. One time, while reading Captain Underpants– with it’s all exciting “flip-o-rama”– students created animated gifs of their own and added the creations to the Kami file. We all laughed while we shared, and my students had no idea that they were even learning!
?️ Keep your #remotelearning lessons accessible to everyone. Check out Kami Text-to-Speech tool:#distancelearning #schoolclosures #FutureReady pic.twitter.com/ks6tkVbx7z
— Kami - Your Classroom Sidekick (@KamiApp) March 15, 2020
?Vocabulary learning has never been so easy! Empower your students to find their own definitions with the Kami Dictionary tool ?#OnlineLearning #RemoteLearning #vocabulary #FutureReady pic.twitter.com/IsNOBEJnPg
— Kami - Your Classroom Sidekick (@KamiApp) March 17, 2020
A fitting companion to good reading and comprehension is, of course, strong writing skills. In Alexander’s classroom, the main writing task for students is story journalling, made more exciting using Kami files:
This chunk of instruction reflects the students’ writing exploration, and Kami enhances my ability to help them. Similar to their research binders, their writing journals reflect a student copy, accessed through the Kami application. Students draft stories and I am able to give individual online feedback in response to their personal compositions. Each student requires different feedback, and Kami helps me to target these skills.
Hats off to @katylynboyett for using @usekamiapp to help her students enhance their writing skills! #RocketWriting #RocketStar ???? pic.twitter.com/bWkYFssWIs
— Dan Stitzel (@mr_stitzel) February 7, 2020
Some students benefit greatly from using Kami’s Speech-to-text tools or recording their pieces via video comments that I can later transcribe – instead of being confined to just typing. By working on their devices they can also use additional tools like spell check or even word-prediction software to help them.
Similar to reading, I’ve also found that a lot of my students like to incorporate images, which really helps them to develop original ideas. Kami also works for my students who prefer to handwrite their work in more than one way. Some choose to use a stylus and fold their laptops as if it were a sheet of paper, while others prefer to use an actual pen & pencil and I can snag a photo of their writing and store it in their digital journal.
A ?️ speaks 1000 words - so add them to your PDFs!
— Kami - Your Classroom Sidekick (@KamiApp) March 12, 2020
Here's how with Kami:#onlinelearning #FutureReady #DistanceLearning #edtech pic.twitter.com/43xouGppBy
Feedback is an essential element of learning. In the English classroom, technical comments about grammar and spelling need to be coupled with longer-form explanations about the direction of work or further prompts – all of which must be individualized for the specific student. Giving quality feedback can be tough and time-consuming, which is why having good digital tools at your disposal is so useful. For Alexander, Kami has helped immensely with this:
Sending my Ss home for a 4 day weekend with a study guide for our test on Monday. Thanks to @usekamiapp I can leave helpful hints for them as they work through their problems at home! #STEMtech #biologyteacher #biology #technologyintheclassroom pic.twitter.com/HCpHa0Ur80
— Joann Garcia (@Ms_Maestas) February 13, 2020
Regardless of how students choose to express their ideas, Kami helps me to provide meaningful, and individualized feedback. Using the markup and pen tool, I am able to make revising suggestions and check for grammar rules. Additionally, I can use the Kami signature tool to store some images and stamps for quick comments, acting as if it were a sticker tool. I’ve even begun exploring with this signature tool as a means to provide graphic organizers for my class, quickly pasting them into the student’s journal to help with their organization.
“My students continue to engage, explore, and collaborate in ways they would have never been able to through traditional techniques. Kami transformed my classroom, lessons, and instruction for the best!” Alexander L. Samia.
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