In Class and Contest Ideas
Computer Lab Setting (One of the most popular uses):
You can maximize your lab time by setting up your classes through Class Manager. Students
can be in multiple classes, and you can have as many classes as you wish. This will allow
you to run “class” reports AND create assignments by assigning specific Study Island topics!
***Note: Teachers do not have to create classes in Class Manager for students to use
Study Island. However, it is an effective tool for communicating expectations when the
content teacher is not in the room. This allows lab teachers, librarians, after school
tutors, and parents to know what the student should be working on.
While in the lab, the teacher will go over the lesson for a topic with the class. The teacher
will work through 3-5 problems from a test (See Captain Hook 1). The Study Island Lesson
should be opened on the student computer before the student enters a test so that it can
be referenced when needed. The students will be encouraged to work independently for at
least 10 minutes while the teacher puts together a small group to teach (call it Meet the
Chief). After 10-15 minutes, if students on the computer need some assistance and the
teacher needs more time to work with the small group, students at computers may be
paired up. Strong students can help other students.
Let’s recap:
Review Study Island lesson
Work 3-5 problems
Students work independently
Small group “Meets the Chief”
Students refer to Study Island Lessons and use Natural Reader when struggling
Strong students assist others
In-class Student Computer:
Have students sign up to use Study Island on your class computers when they have finished
work early.
Give in-class “computer time” as a privilege for receiving a certain number of Blue Ribbons
in Study Island, completing homework assignments, or other doing class responsibilities.
Encourage students to use Study Island at home, at the library, or at a friend‟s house. It is
completely web-based. All they need is an internet connection.
Just having the kids sit and practice takes away the assessment power of Study Island.
Match what students work on in Study Island to what they are learning in the classroom.
Classroom Response System (CRS) Session
Study Island is compatible with a number of clicker systems. See the Admin Page for a complete
list of compatible systems. There are two types of CRS sessions: Teacher Led and Student Paced*.
Teacher Led sessions allow teachers to project Study Island questions at the front of the
class. Students answer questions using the remotes. All of the data is stored in Study Island
for easy grading and data analysis. This mode of presentation will allow you to guide
student practice while focusing on state standards.
Student Paced sessions allow students to work on Study Island questions independently
with a Printable Worksheet, not a computer. Their work is still recorded in Study Island. All
you need is a teacher computer, clickers, and a Printable Worksheet. Here is a link to a
video on how to use Printable Worksheets with eInstruction: Student Paced CPS Session
*available with select CRS clickers
Instructional Activities:
CAPTAIN HOOK 1
Study Island can be used at the beginning or the end of a lesson. Ask your students three
Study Island questions each day or present the questions at the end of class to summarize
your lesson and check for understanding. Here‟s how: Select 3 questions from the Printable
Worksheet mode. Display the questions on the board with a document camera, a
transparency on an overhead, or a projector. Have the students answer the
questions and go over the answers as a class. You can take this as a grade at
the end of the week.
CAPTAIN HOOK 2
Select a study session in Game Mode. Display the test using the teacher‟s computer
and a projector. Work through three questions to preview the chapter for the students or to
give a summary to your lesson. Let a student play the game for the class.
LEADER OF THE ISLAND 1
Put students in groups of 2 or 3. Have them teach a lesson based on the Study Island
lesson available with each topic. The teacher can print the Study Island lesson out for each
student by opening the lesson and pressing Ctl P or right clicking and choosing PRINT.
Students can be graded based on creativity, thoroughness, presentation, and class success
on the Study Island test. “Leaders of the Island” can require their peers to write definitions
like those given in the Study Island lessons, but the presentation must include additional
explanations and paraphrasing. After each Leader of the Island lesson, the teacher gives
the students a quiz generated from the Printable Worksheet mode.
LEADER OF THE ISLAND 2
Generate a Printable Worksheet for a topic you‟ve studied. Break students into
groups. Give each group a different set of problems to solve from the Printable
Worksheet. Once everyone is finished, have each group demonstrate for the class
how they solved their problems.
FORMING TRIBES
Use Printable Worksheets to group students. First, select a topic in Printable Worksheet
mode. Then, open in Microsoft Word by clicking the blue link at the top of the page. Next,
change the order of the answer choices so there are an equal number of As, Bs, Cs, and Ds
as the correct answer. Cut the worksheet into strips, with one question on each strip of
paper. Hand each student a question as he/she enters the classroom. The student answers
the question to determine which group he/she is in.
ISLAND QUIZ
Give an “Island Quiz” at least once a week over the topics/standards covered in class. This
will give you an insight as to who needs remediation and who is ready to move on. The
multiple choice options from Study Island tests make quizzes easy to grade and involve
little to no preparation time. Plus, you know the questions are based on your state
standards!
VISITING THE ISLANDS
Organize students and their desks into groups of 3. These sets of desks
are your “islands”. Have printable worksheet from several different topics
at each group. Ask students to spend 10 minutes (or more if necessary)
at each table, then rotate to the next table for a different topic. It is okay
if a group doesn‟t finish all of the problems at each table. The team with the most problems
answered correctly at the end wins a reward.
STUDY ISLAND GAME
Display a Printable Worksheet with a document camera or a transparency on the overhead
(or project your computer screen on the front board with your chosen topic in Test Mode).
Give the students colored note cards, one color for each letter choice, A, B, C, D. Allow
students to see only one question at a time. Give the class an appropriate amount of time to
work out a problem. Then count, “1...2...3… SHOW „EM TO ME!” at which time all the
students raise the note card with their answer. Since the cards are color coded, you can
easily tell who has the answer correct. You can divide the student into teams and have one
person answer for the team and keep score. You can also keep the students separate and
pass out candy or stickers to those who get it right.
STICKERAMA
At the bottom of every Printable Worksheet is a list of explanations for each problem. Put
the students in groups of 3. Have a Printable Worksheet for each group. Cut the
Explanations into strips so that each strip of paper has an explanation. Be sure to cut off the
problem number. Members of the group work together to complete a Printable Worksheet.
They also must match the appropriate explanation to each problem. Students get stickers as
their group gets problems correct. These stickers can be kept on a board for everyone to
see or in a student-made sticker book.
o To ensure that every member is participating, you can require each student to show
work on their own worksheet or have one sheet per group and make sure each
student takes a turn answering a question.
o You can edit the explanations if you want. At the top of the Printable Worksheet
window is a blue link to “Open in Microsoft Word.” When the worksheet is in Word
you can make all the changes you want.
Other Useful Things to Print:
LESSONS
Next to every Study Island topic is a blue link to a “lesson”. These lessons are sets of notes
with definitions and a couple of examples to help students remember what they have
already learned. Print the lesson for students who need help keeping up with notes or who
might have an IEP requiring typed notes.
BLUE RIBBON AWARDS
Print Blue Ribbons and give them as rewards to your students/classes.
To find a printable Blue Ribbon: When you pass a topic, a Blue Ribbon icon appears on the
left. (The Pre-test is easiest because you simply complete 10 questions to pass—there‟s no
percentage requirement.) Click the icon to open a Blue Ribbon Achievement Award. Copy
the Blue Ribbon image and paste it in a Word document. Save this to use in the future. You
can adjust the Ribbon size to suit your needs. Print as many Blue Ribbons as you‟d like.
Decorate your room or hall. Hand them out to students when they win games. You can even
let the students earn privileges for every Blue Ribbon they earn!
Some ideas for Blue Ribbon Rewards:
Offer a Monday muffin breakfast.
Give a pass to automatically move to the front of the lunch line.
Create a Study Island spirit stick out of PVC pipe. The winner gets to be the keeper
of the stick all week!
Give bonus points on a test or quiz.
Offer a free 100 homework grade.
Contest Ideas
Blue Ribbon Competition
Create a competition encouraging grade-levels to compete against each other to earn the most
blue ribbons. Display student progress on a bulletin board in the hallway. We suggest printing out
Blue Ribbons and give them each a value of 5. As the year progresses, the students in each grade
can see how they have improved, as well as compete with the other grade level to have the most
Blue Ribbons by the end of the semester. This competition can also occur between individual
classes. The winners get a prize, like an ice cream party.
3rd
We suggest pulling a Blue Ribbon report for each grade level.
4th
Sailing through the Study Island Year
Create a bulletin board to look like the sea. On the far right side, place an island labeled “Study
Island”. Place large construction paper boats on the left side of the board. On each boat, put the
name of a class or grade level. As the students work through Study Island, move the ships along
the sea to checkpoints on your board. Name the checkpoints based on your goals, like “50 Ribbon
Island”, “5,000 Question Cove”, “1000 Minutes Bay”, etc.
Island Fever
Create a large thermometer out of poster board/construction paper for each class or grade level.
Number the thermometers from 0 to 100 (or higher) for the degree marks. As the students earn
blue ribbons, color in the thermometer with red ink to the degree mark they have reached.
Whoever reaches the top first or has the highest degree of blue ribbons by a certain date wins!
Reward the students for a job well done!
Are your students having a hard time reaching the Passing Goal and getting a Blue
Ribbon?
You can delete sessions with low scores that may be bringing the cumulative average
down. Teachers can delete a session by going to the Grade Book Report, By subject
broken down by topic, and clicking on the percentage they want to effect.
You can also change the passing goal (decrease 6% or increase 6%,12%,18%) to help
compensate for different learning levels. Go to “Adjust Student Difficulty” on the
School Stats page.
King’s Court
The students with the highest game scores are awarded the titles of King, Queen, Prince, Princess,
Duke, and Duchess. These particular students are given special privileges throughout their reign.
(The length of the “reign” is up to you.)
We suggest pulling the High Score report for each grade level. This will identify the number
of times a student appears on a high score table and at which ranking. Sort the table by clicking on
a column header. Remember: Students can only play the game if they get the question right, so
you are still encouraging high academic achievement.
Island Party
Students are awarded leis after passing all of the topics, and the class is awarded an Island Party
after all students have completed the program.
Blue Ribbon Raffle
Decorate the room with island decorations and establish a „treasure chest‟. Teachers
issue raffle tickets to their students for every ribbon that they earn. Once they collect
enough tickets, they can trade these in for prizes in the treasure chest. Prizes can be
privileges, donations from local business, or maybe something bought at the Study
Island shop. http://studyisland.promoshop.com
Marks the Spot
Students are given tickets after attaining so many ribbons which they exchange for one of
the X‟s located around the room or on a bulletin board. Under each X is a special reward.
The teacher signs the X and the bulletin board to track which X‟s have been uncovered.
Certificate of Completion
Give students a certificate of completion when they complete all of the work in their grade level.
There is an example of a certificate at the back of our administrator‟s manual or contact
[email protected] to have one emailed to you.