Domain 1: Design Question 2

1. Domain 1: Design Question 2 What Will I Do to Help Students Effectively Interact with New Knowledge?

2. Module 4 Identifying Critical-Input Experiences and Using Previewing Strategies

3. Reflecting on Current Beliefs and Practices. Please answer the following questions from page 48 on your index card. How do you typically introduce students to new content? To what extent do you emphasize a variety of learning modalities to introduce students to new content? How do you preview new content with your students?

4. Today’s scale 4= I understand and already fully implement this strategy in my classroom. 3=I understand this strategy, but I need to practice using it in my classroom. 2=I can explain this strategy, but I am no fully confident that I can use it. 1=I do not understand this strategy, and I do not currently use it in my classroom. 0=I stopped paying attention when I realized there was no food in this meeting.

5. Critical Input Experiences.What are they? As teachers, we know that there are some ideas or concepts that are MUST KNOW for students. Without this core base or foundation to build on students will not make connections to new material and will struggle to master new content. In short, this means some things are just “more important” than others. So the question becomes, How do we help students grasp this essential information?

6. Critical Input Experiences What should they be? CIE should be fast moving and engaging and are often strung together to provide varied content for students. • Visual • Dramatic • Narrative

7. What does that mean? VISUAL DRAMATIC Dramatizing content creates episodic memory that students can draw on. Think of it as flair! • These experiences require students to make a mental picture.

8. NARRATIVE How do I do this? To create Critical-Input Experiences, we as teachers have to do our homework. Meaning we have to preview new material ahead of time and create activities for students to make connections. Following are seven activities to help you do just that. • This experience is when new content is attached to a story. • When you introduce an idea or event as a story, students are able to remember it longer. • They make connections.

9. It’s all about activating prior knowledge! What Do You Think You Know? Overt Linkages Preview Questions Brief Teacher Summary Skimming Teacher Prepared Notes

10. What Do You Think You Know? • EXAMPLE: American History Q: In one minute, write down everything you think you already know about the Civil War? A: Could include: North vs. South, economic conflict, state’s rights, slavery • This strategy gives students the opportunity to share what they know or think they know about a concept. • Have students do a quick write or the first column of a KWL chart on the topic at hand. • Give them an opportunity to partner share and then a chance to share with the whole group.

11. Overt Linkages • In this experience, the teacher helps students identify connections between content they have already studied and the next CIE. • Example: Distinctions between criminal and civil law. Have students review current events about legal issues and determine if they would fall into criminal law or civil law. Ask students to revisit prior lessons about law to help make their determination.

12. Preview Questions Language Arts Example for Orwell’s Animal Farm. • What works of literature have you read in which central characters represent human virtues and vices? • What popular films have characters that represent the forces of good and evil? • Before you start an activity, ask students to keep these questions in mind. • Limit them to three, but no more than five questions. • Remember this is to increase understanding and activate prior knowledge, not to create stress about what they don’t know. We are building confidence in our learners.

13. Brief Teacher Summary • Use oral or written summaries before a new CIE to help students anticipate ideas, patterns, and concepts. • EXAMPLE: World History Before introducing modern farming/engineering practices on the Nile River and the building of dams, talk about the prior benefit of seasonal flooding and alluvial soil deposits. The upcoming CIE could be about the advantages and disadvantages of building dams allowing students to critique political decisions and public policy.

14. Skimming Tied closed to the SQ3R (survey-questions-read-recite-review) method. Used guiding questions for students to use as they survey a piece of text. Example: What are the major section headings? What do these headings tell you about the main ideas and important concepts you will learn about?

15. Teacher Prepared Notes Provide students with an outline of important concepts in an upcoming critical-input experience. This serves as an advanced organizer. Also an excellent strategy to meet the needs of our ESE and ELL students. Serves as a study tool to prepare for quizzes and tests.

16. Time to write! On your index card, describe how you have used at least two of the previewing strategies listed in this section.

17. Let’s evaluate. Here’s a handout! 4= I understand and already fully implement this strategy in my classroom. 3=I understand this strategy, but I need to practice using it in my classroom. 2=I can explain this strategy, but I am no fully confident that I can use it. 1=I do not understand this strategy, and I do not currently use it in my classroom.

18. Checking for Understanding Making a distinction between critical-input experiences and other types of activities. Using a variety of mediums to present new content. Previewing content by using the “What do you think you know” strategy Previewing content using overt linkages. Previewing content using preview questions. Previewing content using brief teacher summaries. Previewing content using skimming. Previewing content using teacher-prepared notes.

19. Module 5 Using Cooperative Learning, Curriculum Chunking, and Descriptions, Discussions, and Predictions

20. Reflecting on current beliefs and practices To what extent do you use cooperative learning and related small-group activities to help students process new information, skills, and procedures? To what extent do you chunk new knowledge in small increments? How do you use students’ descriptions, discussions, and predictions to reinforce their processing of new information, skills, and procedures?

21. Recommendations for classroom practice Using grouping to enhance students’ active processing of information. Presenting new information in small chunks. Using descriptions, discussions, and predictions to enhance students’ understanding of new information. Using formal techniques for critical-input experiences.

22. Using Grouping to Enhance Students’ Processing of Information • Cooperative learning provides students with the opportunity to observe and experience multiple perspectives. • Pairs and triads work the best, but larger groups can be used. • Benefits? • Gives students the opportunities to see how their peers see new material. • Also allows students to observe how other students react to their processing of information. • Teaches students how successful groups operate (social skills).

23. Components of successful groups: Be willing to add your perspective to any discussion. Respect the opinions of other people. Make sure you understand what others have added to the conversation. Be willing to ask questions if you don’t understand something. Be willing to answer questions other group members ask you about your ideas.

24. Presenting new information in small chunks • Human working memory is small and can handle only a few bits of information at one time. • Too much information floods the system, frustrates children, and causes them to disengage or shut down. • Students need to process new content in small increments based on their readiness level. • That’s why previewing and assessing prior knowledge is so important! • The more they already know, the larger the chunk of information can be.

25. Using Descriptions, Discussions and Predictions to Enhance Understanding • After each small chunk is given to students, give them opportunity to work in small groups to describe, discuss, and make predictions about the new information. • The teacher should monitor the small groups, giving guidance as necessary. • Then, lead a whole group discussion about what students have discussed. • Finally ask students to make predictions or speculate about what is coming next.

26. Common elements ofdeclarative and procedural knowledge Students must summarize what they have heard, read, or observed Clearing up confusion about conceptions Predicting

27. Formal techniques for CIE Reciprocal teaching-small groups of students are responsible for discussing and analyzing key sections of text. Then they take turns as the discussion leader who guides the conversation. Jigsaw Cooperative Learning Tasks- four-person group wherein each person becomes an expert on their assigned topic. They return to their group and teach their fellow group members. Concept Attainment-students respond to examples and non-examples of a concept.

28. Activity Box Which of the three formal strategies described in this section-reciprocal teaching, jigsaw, and concept attainment- have you used in the past?

29. Checking for understanding Scale Concept 1.Using grouping to enhance students’ active processing of information. 2. Presenting new information in small chunks. 3. Using descriptions, discussions, and predictions to enhance students’ understanding of new information. 4. Using the formal techniques of reciprocal teaching, jigsaw, and concept attainment. 4= I understand and already fully implement this strategy in my classroom. 3=I understand this strategy, but I need to practice using it in my classroom. 2=I can explain this strategy, but I am no fully confident that I can use it. 1=I do not understand this strategy, and I do not currently use it in my classroom.

30. Module 6 Helping Students Elaborate on New Content, Summarize and Represent Their Learning, and Reflect on Their Learning

31. Reflecting on your current beliefs and practices How do you use questions to help your students process new information, skills, and procedures? How do you use questions and follow-up probes to encourage students to elaborate on insights and inferences they have drawn in response to new knowledge, particularly new content they have learned in critical-input experiences? To what extend to do you have students write out their conclusions about their experiences? How do you use nonlinguistic representations such as graphic organizers as tools for students’ elaboration on new knowledge? To what extent are students in your classroom actively engaged in self-reflection and self-monitoring about their acquisition and application of new knowledge?

32. Recommendations for classroom practice Asking questions that require students to elaborate on information Having students write out their conclusions Having students represent their learning nonlinguistically Having students reflect on their learning.

33. Asking Questions That Require Students to Elaborate on Information General Inferential Questions Elaborative Interrogations Extends reasoned inference questions required students to provide logical support for their conclusions. Students have to explain and defend their logic • Default questions-asks students to fall back on their own background knowledge • Reasoned inference questions- use information from critical-input experiences to speculate on what is likely true about something they have studied.

34. Having Students Write Out Their Conclusions and Nonlinguistical Representations Note-Taking Strategies Common Graphic Organizers Characteristic Pattern Sequence Pattern Process-Cause Pattern Problem-Solution Pattern Generalization Pattern • Informal outline (71) • Free-flowing Web (72) • Cornell Notes (73) • Academic Notebooks (Interactive Notebooks)

35. Having Students Reflect on Their Learning Reflective Questions and Journals-ask students to respond in a four-five minute free write to reflective questions. Think Logs-asks students to reflect on their understanding and use of a key cognitive skill. Example- How would you explain classification to a friend? Exit Slips- prior to leaving class, ask students to respond to a specific reflective question

36. Checking for understanding SCALE CONCEPT Using general inferential questions. Using elaborative interrogation questions. Using a variety of ways for students to write out their conclusions. Having students represent their learning nonlinguistically. Having students reflect on their learning. 4= I understand and already fully implement this strategy in my classroom. 3=I understand this strategy, but I need to practice using it in my classroom. 2=I can explain this strategy, but I am no fully confident that I can use it. 1=I do not understand this strategy, and I do not currently use it in my classroom.