Contextualizing Instruction in Adult Basic Education

1. Contextualizing Instruction in Adult Basic Education Laurie Weston Chair, Transitional Studies (252) 493-7439 Pitt Community College PO Drawer 7007 lweston@email.pittcc.edu Greenville, NC 27835-7007 Getting Involved:

2. What is Contextualized Instruction? • Hands-on • Experience-based • Relevant to work, home, community • Real Life • Addresses personal interests, goals

3. “A set of teaching, learning and assessment practices that: are aimed directly at developing the skills and knowledge that adults need to deal with specific situationsor perform specific tasks, and that they have identified as important and meaningful to themselves ‘right now’ in their everydaylives….. In addition, rather than focus only on the possession of basic skills and knowledge, contextualized instruction focuses on the active applicationof those skills and that knowledge ‘in a context.’ (And this context should be as ‘real-world’ as is feasible.)” http://efftips.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/faqwhat-is-contextualized-instruction/?blogsub=confirming#blog_subscription-2 (Equipped for the Future, retrieved 10/22/13) A collection of practices that “relates subject matter content to real world situations; motivates students to make connections between knowledge and its applications to their lives as family members, citizens, and workers; and encourages student persistence.” http://0347dbd.netsolhost.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Abstractforwebsite.pdf (Motheread/Wake Tech Research Project on Contextual Teaching, retrieved 10/22/13)

4. Why Contextualize Instruction? • To incorporate authentic workplace skills--planning, collaboration and cooperation, interaction, negotiation, sharing ideas, communication, building community, problem-solving, decision-making, time management, innovation

5. To increase retention of skills and information, use of higher order thinking skills, and achievement of goals • To increase motivation, class participation, and actively engaged learning because it connects learning to real life and relevant information. 4. To improve social and communication skills

6. To integrate and connect subject matter • To increase self-esteem—sense of accomplishment and value 7. Address a variety of learning styles 8. Provide for practical, real-life uses of technology, research, projects, information, skills, etc.

7. Five Approaches to Contextualized Instruction • Projects • Experience-Based Activities, Field Trips • Internet, Computer Activities • Games and Manipulatives, Hands-On Activities • Visual or Creative Arts Activities

8. Individual Projects

9. Home Construction Class Project

10. Field Trips/Experience-based Learning

11. Where are places close to your community that could be turned into instructional field trips? Try these ideas: Parks Other Parts of Campus Museums Warehouses Historic homes and other sites Nature Trails Construction Sites Factories Homes for sale Mines Stores Restaurants Zoos Local Merchants Aquariums Farms Docks Industries Experience-based Field Trips

12. Internet Activities • Projects • Snap-Shot Bios • Scavenger Hunts,Geo- and other Hunts • Virtual Field Trips, WebQuests • Research • Games • Practice

13. Technology/Field Trip Project • Incorporates technology (ie, design a powerpoint presentation). • Students choose problem, issue, location, topic • Involves problem solving, decision making, collaboration skills • Hands on learning, active involvement

14. Snapshot Bio Activity • Provides the opportunity to examine personal experiences with culture, family, history, and identity • Connects reading, writing, and other academic skills with social networks, websites, and the Internet • Provides experience with technology • Contextualizes learning • Removes stigma of “school” work • Inspires creativity • Promotes community within classroom

15. GEOHUNTS and Other Hunts • Incorporate technology • Provide fun ways to conduct research • Familiarize students with search engines, educational Internet sites, and the World Wide Web • Involve reading, organizing, writing, discerning, higher order thinking and problem-solving skills • Reinforce information, content standards, academic skills, vocabulary, etc. • Integrate variety of subject matter and skills

16. North Carolina GeoHunt • Piedmont • Coastal Plain • Wetlands • Forests • Lakes • Hills • Rivers

17. This is a map of the Piedmont of North Carolina.

18. The NC Piedmont sports many hills. (The word “piedmont” means foothills.)

19. At the base of some hills lie many fresh water lakes—most of them manmade.

20. Bordering many of the lakes, thick forests also grow in the NC Piedmont.

21. Surrounded by forests, rivers flow through the piedmont, winding their way to the ocean.

22. The rivers meet the ocean in NC’s Coastal Plain to form wetlands.

23. This is a map of North Carolina’s Coastal Plain region.

24. North Carolina GeoHunt • Piedmont • Hills • Lakes • Forests • Rivers • Wetlands • Coastal Plain Piedmont, Coastal Plain, Wetlands, Forests, Lakes, Hills, Rivers

25. Other Types of Hunts • Hunts may be designed to relate to economy, history, geography, geology, chemistry, astronomy, etc. (HistoHunt, EconoHunt, AstroHunt, MeasureHunt, MathoHunt) depending on interests, subject matter, or objectives. • You may want to provide specific vocabulary to guide the hunt or keep it more open-ended.

26. Virtual Field Trips • Provide experiences with places students may not be able to visit or provide introduction to places students may visit. • Incorporate problem solving and higher order thinking skills • May be interactive • Connect with prior learning and/or new learning • Provide high interest and motivation

27. Virtual Field Trips Also • Incorporate a variety of sites, media, activities, and skills. • Integrate subject matter and variety of content. • Give students opportunities to interact with and see people and places from all over the world.

28. Guiding Students through a VF • Design a VF worksheet. You can find sample worksheets on the net. Design questions and activities according to your objectives for the lesson/class. • It is important to design a worksheet or guide sheet for VF that helps focus students. • Questions should allow for higher level thinking rather than simply “seek and find” type questions. • Ask yourself, “Can a student answer the questions on the worksheet by simply skimming and searching for the answer or do they really have to dig?”

29. Three other ideas for integrating the Internet in your curriculum: CreateAGraph Webquests On Line Time Line (Sample websites available on handout)

30. Manipulative/Hands-On Activities • Fractions • Cooking • Sentence Structure • Subject/Verb Agreement • Parts of Speech • Play-Doh • Pi Day • Measurement • Graphing • Geometry

32. Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll Twasbrillig and the slitheytoves did gyre and gimble in the wabe. All mimsy were the borogoves and the momerathsoutgrabe.

33. Silly Proverbs Game subject/verb agreement • Birds of a feather flock together. • Birds of a feather make light work. • Great minds think alike. • Great minds are not always what they seem. • Bad news travels fast. • The early bird travels fast.

34. Creative/Arts Activities • Dangling Participles • Cooking • Play Doh • Projects • PowerPoints, Prezis

35. Resources • Suggested Websites for resources, activities, ideas: • General info, training, resources for the adult basic skills teachers: • http://www.abspd.appstate.edu/ • http://ncbsonline.net • For ideas, strategies, activities, suggestions, etc. for incorporating technology into your teaching: • http://www.schrockguide.net/ • http://ferrellmw.wix.com/abs2012 (this site contains many additional urls; click on links on row that begins with HOME) • For additional research information on teaching the adult learner, try these websites: • www.teach-nology.com • www.texascollaborative.org • www.ncsall.net(no longer funded, but still good info) • www.tcall.tamu.edu (Texas center for adult literacy)

36. For adages and misplaced modifiers try these websites: • http://www.learn-english-today.com/proverbs/proverbs.html • http://www.manythings.org/proverbs/ (has quizzes and crossword puzzles) • http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/LP/LA/dangling_modifier.htm • Virtual Fieldtrips: • The White House: http://whitehouse.gov/history/whtour • Plimoth Plantation: www.plimoth.org • Mount Vernon: www.mountvernon.org/learn/explore_mv/index.cfm/ • Biltmore House: www.biltmore.com • Forbidden City of Beijing: www.stuebegreen.com/wonderland/ • Directories of virtual tours and activities by subject area: • www.techtrekers.com/virtualft.htm • http://www.uen.org • CreateAGraph • http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/ • On Line Time Line (can only save by printing): www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/timeline/

37. lweston@email.pittcc.edu(252) 493-7439 • Family Oral History Website suggestions: • 10 Principles of Family Oral History • http://www.baylor.edu/oralhistory/ • Genealogy.com – a good place to start searching • http://www.genealogy.com/index.html • Examples from High School Student projects: “What did you do in the War Grandma?” • http://www.stg.brown.edu/projects/WWII_Women/tocCS.html • Where I’m From, George Ella Lyon: http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm(Google for more) • For Classwide polling using smartphones/ipads • www.socrative.com