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The Learning-Focused Connections Newsletter is a weekly link to exemplary practice and ideas that will help you as an educator to increase achievement in your classroom and school. Some weeks there will be a mix of articles in the mailer; other weeks we will follow a theme. We are all working with the same goal in mind, continuous improvement in student achievement.
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National LEARNING-FOCUSED Conference
February 2-4, 2009
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Registration Fee: $125.00 per person/day
Includes all conference materials (notebooks, flip charts, handouts)
Registrations after November 1, 2008: $150.00 per person/day
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Activating Background Knowledge in English Language Learners
by Carolyn Boyles
There are many challenges that face students whose native language is other than English and whose background experiences may have occurred in a different culture and geography. Early experiences may have been rich or chaotic but make up the life experiences of these students. We know that students build new knowledge on previously learned knowledge, and that compounds the challenge if our ELL students are not able to make connections between their previous knowledge and the new content they are learning in a new language.
An early but still relevant study by Steffensen, Joag-Deve & Anderson (1979) reminds us that when reading about unfamiliar content, students read more slowly, recall less information and are more likely to making distortions when recalling what has been read. So how can teachers get ELL students ready to learn new content using the strategy of activating background knowledge that is so effective for other students? Robertson (2007) suggests the following strategies to address this challenge. Students need to connect with literature on three basic levels: text to text, text to self, and self to the world. All students bring something to the classroom. It becomes important then as educators to become familiar with the backgrounds and/or prior knowledge of ELL students and help them make those connections. Teachers can start by researching the native countries and cultures of their students. When possible bring in references to the historical figures, musical and artistic traditions and geography of the students' home countries. Robertson gives the example that if students are studying civil rights in the U.S. in the 1960's, they may remember better if they relate it to historical and cultural information that has been shared with them by their parents of their native country.
Bring in resources that go beyond the textbook that will engage students and involve them in the learning process. Compare artwork depicting similar kinds of events as they occurred in different countries, such as revolutions, battles, the signing of a famous document, inaugurations, elections, protests, and major milestones. Perhaps students can share depictions of those kinds of events in their country as a way to open up the discussion and connect their experience to the content, as well. Use folktales, literature and stories from other cultures as a way of encouraging students to connect what they are reading to their own experiences. Media specialists will be helpful in this effort as there is a growing body of literature based on culturally relevant and connected works. Again, Robertson (2007) emphasizes the need to know as much as possible about your ELL students' culture and experiences.
It is important to do research as a teacher and not make assumptions if all or most of your ELL students speak Spanish. Move beyond the "Latino/Hispanic" label. Is this student a Mexican immigrant or a second generation Mexican American? Is he or she from Central America, a Caribbean island, or South America? Your students and their families have interesting histories and a rich cultural heritage to share. Even if you have to use translators, parents may be willing to come in to share their experiences. In co-teaching settings, this research can become the responsibility of the support teacher, or it can be shared among staff at each school. Some districts purchase or create their own culture snapshots to use as a starting point to understanding all of their students.
The more you learn about where your students come from, the more connected you will be to your students. This includes learning more about their language, culture, values, family, and home environment. This knowledge will help you to better support your students in the classroom and to receive more support from home. You can find information in books, articles, popular press and on the Internet.
For information to assist ELL students, and other students needing extra support, refer to Scaffolding Grade Level Learning.
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The Learning-Focused Strategies Notebook is now three different notebooks!
 In order to provide you with additional examples and strategies the Learning-Focused Connecting Strategies
and Planning Learning Units notebook (item 536) has been discontinued is now three different notebooks. Effective immediately, the previous single notebook (item 536) is no longer available for purchase. It is now three different books with the addition of over 200 pages of new content. Together, all three notebooks are The LEARNING-FOCUSED Instructional Strategies Model Set. This set of notebooks provides the resources and instruction for implementing the #1 framework for thinking about, planning, and delivering instruction using exemplary practices that focus on learning consistently and pervasively. The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies model is a framework for connecting all the components that define quality standards-driven instruction. It is the most comprehensive model available for connecting curriculum, instruction, and assessment in a logical, manageable planning framework.
The Set (Item #800): $90.00
YOU SAVE $10 BY PURCHASING THE COMPLETE SET!
The descriptions of each book of The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model:
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Strategies Notebook:
This notebook is part 1 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Activating Strategies, Graphic Organizers, Acquisition Lesson Framework, Acceleration, Summarizing, and Model Implementation.
Notebook Item #801: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Connecting Extending Thinking Notebook:
This notebook is part 2 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Extending Thinking Activities and Lessons, and Model Implementation. Extending Thinking is the #1 strategy for increasing achievement. Implementing The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model ensures that all teachers include extending thinking lessons and activities consistently and pervasively in their instruction.
Notebook Item #802: $40.00
The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model
Planning Units for Learning Notebook:
This notebook is part 3 of 3 for The Learning-Focused Instructional Strategies Model. This notebook provides instruction and resources on the Model Overview, Learning Units, Rubric Assessment, and Model Implementation. This is the notebook for "putting it all together"!
Notebook Item #803: $20.00
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Tips On Questioning Techniques That Challenge Minds
by Cindy Riedl
"To question well is to teach well. In the skillful use of
questions, more than anything else, lies the fine art of teaching."
Earnst Sachs
Despite the fact that good questioning effectively improves learning, studies show that proper questioning is seldom practiced in teaching. Most often, questions are solely used to asses students' knowledge rather than a technique to expand it. The goal should be to diversify questioning techniques and seize the many unexplored advantages of good questioning.
What are the results of good questioning during teaching?
- Helps students to participate actively in lessons
- Provides an opportunity for students to express their ideas and thoughts
- Allows students to hear divergent opinions from peers.
- Draws attention and highlights important points in the lesson
- Helps develop confidence and feelings of success in students, leading them beyond the conventional patterns of thinking
What types of questions should teachers plan before instruction that are more challenging than factual questions that are typically used to get information and test rote memory?
- Clarification Questions intend to provide clarity. Such questions have important clueing effects and help students to revisit their earlier statements with alternative perspectives, i.e. "What did you mean by ____" "Can you rephrase what you have just said?"
- Broadening or Extension Questions enlarge the existing theme, explore implications of the response and can be useful in opening up further possibilities, i.e. "Do you know any other situation where this can be applied?"
- Justifying Questions probe for assumptions and explore reasons for particular answers. These questions require significant comprehension and reasoning skills, i.e. "You mentioned ______ as the most likely cause of ______. What are your reasons for such a response?"
- Hypothetical Questions are used to explore students' understanding of complex situations, i.e. "Suppose this happened. How would you revise or rearrange ___?"
What are some tips about effective questioning during instruction?
- Phrase questions clearly and succinctly.
- Ask questions with specific intention.
- Allow ten to fifteen seconds of wait time after asking a question before requesting a student's response.
- Encourage students to respond even if they are wrong.
- Probe students' responses to help them clarify ideas, reasoning process, or expand on their thinking.
- Do not make automatic assumptions that failure to answer the question is due to ignorance.
- Make conscious efforts to ask higher cognitive order questions! Justifying, clarification, hypothetical questions and questions about questions are better in promoting higher order thinking skills.
- Use redirected questions that address the same question to several students and distribute responsibility. This technique shifts the focus from teacher-student interactions to student-student interactions.
- During questioning use fewer questions that begin with what, when, where, who and which and more questions that ask why, how, suppose, justify, defend and elaborate.
What should teachers do when students fail to answer any questions?
- Ask if the question is clear to them.
- Ask if they want you to rephrase the question.
- Ask which part of the question they do not understand.
- Ask if the question is too difficult.
What should teachers do when a student's response is incorrect?
- Provide the opportunity for revisions by not responding immediately, thus allowing the student time to come up with another answer.
- Ask subsequent questions in a manner that contains clues to the first question leading the student to the correct answer.
- Re-frame the question so that the wrong answer becomes correct.
- Treat the wrong answer as plausible but in need of further elaboration and consideration.
- Declare perplexity over the response, i.e. "Tell us more."
What are the benefits of extending 'wait time'?
For students:
- More meaningful answers
- Improved accuracy
- Improved length
- Fewer 'no answers'
For teachers:
- Higher order questions
- Precise formulation of questions
- Varied and flexible questions
- Convey teacher's attentiveness
In conclusion, teachers who plan specific questions before the lesson are more successful at providing questions that elicit higher level thinking from their students. Good questioning is a major determinant of the success of instruction reflected in higher levels of student achievement. All it takes is thoughtful planning of questions that encourage students to engage in critical thinking.
Resources:
Bacon, Tim. Asking effective questions: a collaborative problem solving technique. ThoughtWorks Inc, UK. http://www.primeeight.co/AskingEffectiveQuestions.AgileTimes.pdf
Cotton, Kathleen (2001). Classroom Questioning. School Improvement Research Series, Close-Up # 5. http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/3/cu5.html
McComas, W.F. & Abraham, L. Asking More Effective Questions.
Rossier School of Education. http://www.usc.edu/program/cet/private/pdfs/usc/Asking_Better_Questions.pdf
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Motivating Students In The Science Classroom
by Toni Enloe
 Imagine a classroom where things roll uphill, pennies dance and objects fall upward. Wouldn't you like to be a student in that magical learning environment?
In his book, Influencing Human Behavior, Harry Overstreet states, "Action springs out of what we fundamentally desire and the best piece of advice which would be given to would be persuaders, which you and I are , whether it is in the home, in
business, in school, or in politics is: First arouse in the other person an eager want. He who can do this will have the whole world with him. He who cannot, will walk the lonely way." The use of discrepant events in the science classroom can
"arouse" students' curiosity and create that "eager want" to learn.
Tik Liem (Invitations to Science Inquiry) describes a discrepant event as an event that "causes a discrepancy in what is physically observed and what the observer thinks should happen - surprising, counter intuitive, unexpected,
paradoxical, mind capturing, and intuitive-offending." In Learning-Focused terms this translates to the perfect activating strategy, the activity that will create the "eager want."
A study, done by Liem on the effects of using discrepant events on concept retention, revealed that teachers who used discrepant events as part of their classroom instruction had a significant increase in the retention of new concepts. He pretested students before the instruction and then administered three post-tests.
Test A: administered immediately after the lessons
Test B: administered one month after the lessons
Test C: administered three months after the lessons
When comparing his control group (discussion and reading about discrepant events) to his experimental group (using discrepant events to introduce and teach new concepts), Liem concluded that the group taught using discrepant events retained the science concepts longer.
Liem puts forth a three step approach to teaching with discrepant events that incorporates both acquisition and extending thinking activities.
1. Presentation (Activating Strategy)
During this step, the teacher may present the students with the names of the objects and the operations but cannot tell them why something is happening.
2. Interaction (Teaching Strategy)
Through a series of guiding questions, the teacher gradually leads the students to the main reason for the occurrence. Through this process students apply the tools of scientific inquiry.
3. Involvement (Extending Thinking)
In an effort to solidify their learning, students are given a variety of opportunities to apply their new knowledge to similar events based on the same concept.
Though Liem does not specifically mention summarizing or sharing, students should be allowed to share what they have learned.
He adds that there are five essential elements that must be in place for the event to be successful and valuable. As the teacher you must:
1. Arouse your students' interest.
a perplexing problem that appears magical
2. Use simple materials.
every day things that students recognize
3. Use multiple gateways.
demonstrating, choosing a volunteer, involving students in a related activity
4. Include examples.
real life applications
5. Show joy and enthusiasm.
contagious excitement
The questions then become:
- Why should I use them?
What students know to be true is not what they see, creating cognitive dissonance. This dissonance piques student curiosity and opens their minds to alternative
explanations.
-When do I use them?
Use discrepant events to engage students to learn the new concepts and/or to unlearn a predetermined misconception.
The use of discrepant events moves students toward the bottom of the Learning Pyramid into active involvement. When students are motivated, they put forth more effort. That effort impacts their self esteem, their self efficacy and ultimately
their academic achievement. If we can do that as classroom teachers, we have done our job!
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Past Connections Articles
Past Connections articles are available through the archive tool of this newsletter. Please click here to view the resources.
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