This space wil be used to post comments for and summaries of our Spring NTLT Book Club meetings. We'll be reading Classroom Instruction That Works, and discussing how ideas within the book can be applied to our classrooms.
Meeting #1: Chapters 1 & 6
Chapter 1 discusses the importance of past and current research in teaching. Chapter 6 looks at how different visualization strategies can help learners develop meaning, with specific emphasis on graphic orgainizers and mental images.
Personal Thoughts:
This fits in nicely with the High School's work with CRISS Strateies. If you have Smart Board (www.smarttech.com) software installed, several graphic organizer templates are available. You can also download some for MSWord or Powerpoint from www.microsoft.com.
Here's an idea (at least for grades 6-12): Try using multiple representations: put an outline next to a concept map, for example, but make sure they both contain the same information. Kids learn in a variety of ways - let them choose what makes the most sense or has the most meaning for them. What do you think of this idea?
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We didn't spend a lot of time on Chapter 6 in our meeting as time sort of ran out after we had discussed Esme & 7 Keys. However, here are some ideas that we discussed or that just popped into my head related to non-linguistic representations:
ReplyDelete*Use several. Kids' brains work in lots of crazy ways. Not anchor yourself to just outlining or just using idea webs. Take the "shotgun approach:" Use one type today, a different one in your next lesson, etc.
*Don't expect kids to parrot back to you the one way of organizing information that you put on the board. Give them the freedom to organize things the way they make the most sense to the kid. That's real meaning.
*Use kinesthetic means of organizing information. Have kids express their understanding my moving to different corners of the room, and then discussing their viewpoints with others in that corner. Rap. Dance. MOVE!
*Make physical models. This includes the good old shoebox diorama, maps (both 2-d and 3-d!), graphs (line, bar, pictograph, etc. Boy, what you can do with M&Ms!), and a variety of other projects where kids create a product.
*GHS is using CRISS Strategies - there are lts of ideas in that CRISS manual that link in directly with this topic. Also, NCREL has a wealth of resources!
By the way - has anyone tried Foldables, by Diane Zike? They're included with a lot of the Glencoe textbook materials, and they're AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteAlmost forgot: There were a few other suggestions, too!
ReplyDelete* Use highlighter tape in text to make important points 'jump out' at the reader
*Use flash cards (images, text/words, etc.) to help kids make connections between words and suggested imagery