REACH-OUT
Vol.2 no.5 April, 2000
REACH-OUT
Vol.2 no.5 April, 2000
UPDATE
This
is an update to the April REACH-OUT issue distributed to participants at the meeting
on April 25th. Included are
a list of the material shared at RREALS (April 27-28) and the material appropriate
to your school/level. Cassettes (upon request) will be available in a couple of
weeks.
All:
§
Désignation
des personnes-ressources intéressées à collaborer aux travaux de production des
programmes d'études et d'épreuves. (For those of you who are interested in working for
the MEQ on different committees relating to MEQ exams or programmes)
§
Summary
of the elements of the new primary program
§
Suggestions: Camps de jour
et camps d'été anglais
§
Grammar:
All you need to know booklet
§
Project-based
learning
§
'Sorry I don't speak English' article
Primary:
§
Grade 3
o
My Family
and I
o
My secret
calendar
§
Grade 4 - 5 - 6 activities
o
The Blue
Banana (4&5)
o
The
Picnic Dog (5&6)
o
New
House, New Friend (6)
§
MEQ:
Rationale for form-focussed instruction (integrated grammar)
§
Interactive
Grammar update
§
Everyday
expressions (miniatures)
Intensive
§
Tintin
and Asterix reading activities
Secondary:
1
§
Cooperative
Activity
§
EXAM:
Home Alone
2
§
EXAM:
A special Trip to the Îles-de-la-Madeleine
§
City
Project:
§
Movies
§
Activités
de CO: Objectives 1, 4, 5
§
Wonders
of the World
§
Upon request -
Extra activities for Act II
3
§
ESL
language Arts: "A guided visit of the National
Capital"
4
§
Mummification:
Internet questionnaire
§
American
Pie - Module based on the song
§
MEQ exams
with English instructions
o
June
1998 - ARTS
o
June
1999 - I would like to be like…
o
June
1998 - Free Time
June 1997 - On
the move
CP NEWS
April 25, 2000 in Windsor at the Tournesol.
8:30 - 11:30
AM
Information
and/or discussion on resources, SIG`s, SEVEC, communication, concerns, etc.
Evaluation
- policies, corrections, oral production grid. (activity)
The
Reform: News, video, future training sessions.
PM
1:00 -
Collaborative Computer
Workshop
Discussion, exchange, demonstrations and
experimentation. (lab.)
Bring
your questions, your problems as well as your suggestions and successes. A
self-help document of online tutorials and help sites will be distributed. The
aim of the document is to guide you to sites that will answer your questions on
"how to…" concerning using computer technology with topics ranging
from Windows to webpages and scanning. Need a refresher on using BIM for your
exams? Would you like email? How do other teachers use email with students? How
do you guide the students through an Internet research? What's a WebQuest?…
Becoming strategic in
the ESL classroom
This is
a two day session developed for RREALS and updated last summer by Jacquelyne
and Gerard Lord in the spirit of the new programme.
The
session is offered to all secondary and primary teachers in the school board. I
will be giving the workshop with Nicole
Bolduc, one of the primary consultants at the board who is an
authority on 'enseignment strategique'. Your principal has probably given you
an outline of the session.
Day 1
will be offered on the 'regional' planning day, May 19th and Day 2
is scheduled for Friday, June 9th with 'liberation'.
We hope
you will be able to attend and of course, we hope that you will find it useful.
Note: Meetings
and sessions this year are held in Windsor as per the wishes expressed by
participants at last year's meeting.
GUIDE
Kenneth
Mead - ESL-LA visitor ____________3
Best Friend - Friend from Hell 5
TITLE:
. . .AND THE ANSWER IS5
Battle-the-Verb:
________________
Alphabetical List of Educational Card Games:
Cardboard Cognition11
Classroom Strategies to Engender Student Questioning
1) Beginning A
New Unit (K-12)
2. Class Taxonomy
of Questions (K-12)
3. Questioning
Homework (K-12)
5. The Five
Minute Question(K-12)
7. Tourist in
Trouble (Foreign Language)
8.
Problem-Solving (3-12 Math, LOGO, etc.)
9. Pre-Writing,
First Writing, Re-Writing, Editing (3-12)
10. On Stage
(Music, Art, Athletics, Drama, Speech, etc.)
12. Test-Taking
Strategies (K-12)
13. Divergent and
Creative Thinking (K-12)
14. Key Words and
Question Stems
New Times Demand New Ways of Learning 21
The
traditional learning model is not relevant to real student needs
The
traditional mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of technology programs
don't work
Why Keep
Asking the Same Questions When They Are Not the Right Questions?
What is
effective learning and how can it be measured?
Some
Generative Instruction Strategies
What defines high technology performance and how can
it be measured?
Operability Indicators and Engaged Learning 27
The
Power - and Limits - of Centralization
Just in
Time, Just Enough with Hypertext
in
Concert with New Technologies
A Professional
Development Strategy
RREALS
The
next and final meeting this year for RREALS members is April 26 and 27th.
At this meeting, the completed mandates are exchanged.
On
going - check out the articles in the GUIDE
The
group is in preparation for a great summer and in search of your interested
students.
Station05 & the CSS site.
The new
Station05 home page is on-line and pretty neat! Check it out at http://Station05.qc.ca
Information
documents and oral production guides for CSS and MEQ exams are in the schools.
OUR OWN
The Activities section includes great
suggestions from Bob Williams - L'Escale for ESL-LA and Robert Gauvin -
Ste-Marguerite for a verb game. Bravo!
ACTIVITIES
Kenneth Mead came to my class in the context of the ESLLA
unit, Time Quest.
This unit asks students to create a historical adventure story using one of the
5 historical periods studied in secondary 2.
Many students chose to work on the medieval period, and I invited Mr. Mead to
both motivate interest in the activity and to provide some background
information. He played the role of a medieval archer returning from the battle
of Agincourt in 1452. After explaining the historical background of the battle,
he took a student volunteer to be his squire and talked about the training and
life of an archer. He brought numerous weapons, including halberds, knives,
swords, arrows crossbows and English longbows, as well as helmets, gauntlets
and a mail shirt. Students were allowed to handle the arms and the costumes and
some tried their hands at the longbow. A high point was when he asked his
squire to kneel in front of a target with an apple on his (her) head. Of
course, the squire was quickly substituted for another, inanimate, dummy.
The preparation for the activity attracted the interest of many students during
the noon hour, and Kenneth was not adverse to allowing them to enter the room
and look at his collection. If you live in the Sherbrooke area, the cost is not
exhorbitant and I would recommend it to anyone doing this unit. Kenneth
recently immigrated to Canada from England and speaks little French, so the
activity would have to be reserved for advanced students.
Bob Williams
The following
exercise focuses on what students like best - least about friends. The exercise
allows students to practice a number of areas: expressing opinions,
comparatives and superlatives, descriptive adjectives and reported speech. The
overall concept of the lesson can easily be transferred to other subject areas
such as: holiday choices, choosing a school, perspective careers, etc.
Aim: Practice
expressing opinions, reported speech
Activity: Choosing which qualities would make a best friend and which
qualities would make an undesirable friend
Level:Pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate
Outline:
·
Help
students activate vocabulary by asking them for descriptive adjectives
describing good friends and bad friends.
·
Distribute
worksheet to students and ask them to put the descriptive adjectives/phrases
into the two categories (Best Friend - Undesirable Friend).
·
Put
students into pairs and ask them to give explanations for why they have chosen
to put the various descriptions into one or the other of the categories.
·
Ask
students to pay careful attention to what their partner says and take notes, as
they will be expected to report back to a new partner.
·
Put
students into new pairs and ask them to tell their new partner what their first
partner has said.
·
As
a class, ask students about any surprises or differences of opinion they
encountered during the discussions.
·
Extend
the lesson by a follow-up discussion on what makes a good friend.
Step 1: Put the following
adjectives/phrases into one of the two categories: Best Friend or Undesirable
Friend
confident in his/her abilities handsome or beautiful trustworthy outgoing timid punctual intelligent fun-loving rich or well off artistic abilities inquisitive mind possess athletic abilities well-traveled creative free spirit speaks English well interested in the same things interested in different things from the same social background from different social background loves to tell stories rather reserved ambitious plans for the future happy with what he/she has
Best Friend
Undesirable Friend
AUTHOR: Joann Ball; Comanche Schools, Comanche, OKOVERVIEW: Students need to be stimulated to think creatively.GRADE LEVEL: anyPURPOSE: To stimulate thinking.OBJECTIVES:1. To help students be aware that some situations have more than one answer.2. To increase others appreciation of creativethinkers.3. To encourage students to come up with their own "problems.”4. To stimulate creative thinking. ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:Before students come into the room, write this on the chalkboard: “The answer is dog. What is the question?”Students are to find as many questions as possible. You can set a time limit or have the activity last all day.RESOURCES/ MATERIALS: none.TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:In addition to using this activity with my ownstudents, I have used it when I oversee a class for another teacher for just a few minutes. It’s great for a short activity to fill in an extra time. Students can make their own problems with any number, i.e. “The answer is 3. What is the question?” I sometimes have students running up to me days or weeks later with "questions."
Battle-the-Verb
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Teacher input: |
3 Letter Word: ________________
Verb Tense:
_______________________________
5
Verbs: 1.________ 2. ____________ 3. _________ 4. ________ 5. __________
Column: 1 3 4 6 7
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1- |
2- To be |
3- |
4- |
5.Tohave |
6- |
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(Reproducible 1)
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Structure: |
Verb tenses conjugations |
Material: |
Reproducible 1 |
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Theme: |
variable |
Classroom set-up: |
Pairs |
Setting the scene:
Procedure:
Teacher
Input:
When both students are
finished completing the grid the battle can begin.
The Battle:
My sentence is: He has three small cats
Variations
Language
expected
Let’s
place ___words O.K.
My
letters are placed .
I’m
ready.
Could
you repeat please?
Let’s
ask our teacher’s opinion.
Player A : I’ll select the ______ and the verb___________.
(Pronoun) ( verb)
Here is my
sentence___________________.
Player B: Your sentence is correct and
you hit.The letter is _.It’s your turn again.
Your sentence is correct but you
missed. It’s my turn.
Your sentence is incorrect . It’s my turn. (Reproducible 2)
Example
Teacher Input:
5 Letter Word: _house______
4 Letter Word: _puck____
3 Letter Word: _hot___
Verb Tense: __simple present________.
5 Verbs: _play__ _sing___
_write___ _read___ _pull___
columns: 1 3 4 6
7
Student A
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3-sing |
4-write |
5.To have |
6-read |
7-pull |
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Student B:
Example: Your
sentence is correct and you made a hit.
The letter is K. It’s your turn again. Student underlines the K.
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2- To be |
3-sing |
4-write |
5.To have |
6-read |
7-pull |
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http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/Cardboard/CardTOC.html
CLASSROOM THEATER
SCRIPTS:
http://www.fictionteachers.com/theater.html
THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF SCRIPT:
http://raven.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/billygoat.htm
THE LITTLE RED HEN:
http://raven.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/redhen.htm
THE LEGEND OF LIGHTNING LARRY: (grades 2-6)
http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE01.html
From Now On
The Educational
Technology Journal
by Jamieson A. McKenzie, Ed.D.
and Hilarie Bryce Davis, Ed.D.
http://www.fno.org/toolbox.html
Pre-Writing,
First Writing, Re-Writing, Editing
On
Stage (Music, Art, Athletics, Drama, Speech, etc.)
Most of the strategies described
below have been developed and tested by teachers in Princeton, Madison and
elsewhere. They are offered as practical, effective activities that help shift
the focus of classrooms from teacher orchestrated mastery and memory of
information to student processing of information to create understanding and
improve problem-solving.
As one of the
primary goals of education is to develop autonomous but interdependent
thinkers, students deserve frequent opportunities to shape and direct classroom
inquiry. To fuel this inquiry, it is also essential that we validate the
importance of curiosity in the process of learning. While curiosity may have
killed the cat, there is no reason for us to kill curiosity.
If a class is
about to spend several days or weeks studying a particular topic or concept,
traditional practice and unit design gives the teacher primary responsibility
for identifying the key questions and the key answers. The outcome does not
have to be a didactic exercise in memory and mastery, if it uses students'
curiosity through questioning.
Try starting a
new unit by asking your class to think of questions that could be asked about
the topic; "What questions should we ask about the Civil War? about stars?
about dating? about nouns?"
If students are
not used to this type of experience, they are likely to echo the kinds of
questions they read at the end of textbook chapters or the kinds of questions
teachers generally ask around memory of facts and generalizations. A self-check
on the kinds of questions you ask is to try this exercise with your students -
they will probably ask the same kinds of questions you usually ask.
If you ask many
tantalizing and divergent questions in your classroom, your students are likely
to model after your behavior for example, "What would have happened if
Lincoln was shot in the first month of the war? Why did Lincoln only free the
slaves in the rebel states? How did it feel to be a woman in the path of
Sherman's army?"
If on the other
hand, they are used to information questions, they may ask, "Which states
joined the Confederacy? What were the six main causes of the war? What happened
at Shiloh? Who was the Union commander at Shiloh? When did the war end?"
As students begin
to suggest questions, it is essential that the teacher restrain judgmental
cues. It is better to list questions without verbal or body language comments.
Otherwise, students may play a game called "Please the Authority" instead
of liberating their curiosity. This is a natural response to criticism whether
it comes from the teacher or other students in the class. A key tool in
eliminating criticism is brainstorming. The four rules of brainstorming:
1. all
contributions are accepted without judgment;
2. the goal is a
large number of ideas or questions;
3. building on
other people's ideas is encouraged;
4. farout,
unusual ideas are encouraged.
As students begin
to generate questions in response to your initial question - "What could
we ask?" - they will need to be recorded. New questions can come from old
ones, as everyone reads them over when they are recorded on chart paper,
newsprint or the blackboard. Questions can fly more rapidly than most of us can
write, so it is advisable to delegate the writing to student assistants,
dividing the blackboard into sections and keeping four students busy. This
tactic keeps the pace fast and exciting. Younger children present a different
challenge because they need the pacing even more yet cannot help with the
writing. In this case it is helpful to enlist a parent volunteer or
instructional aide.
Once the
questions are listed and the storm of curiosity has subsided somewhat, it is
often useful to go through an exercise of categorization, asking the students
how they might group any of the questions. These categories can then provide
the basis for organizing and structuring the investigation for the next few
days or weeks. The list of categorized questions may not include all the
original questions if there is overlap among them. This is an appropriate time
for some evaluation to take place. Initial efforts may be somewhat clumsy if
students are not familiar with the task of categorizing. Ask, "which ideas
go together?" Questions about the Civil War may cluster into such groups
as People, Causes, Politics, Feelings, Military Strategies and others which do
not cover all possibilities or represent a complete set of categories. The
skill of creating categories which are mutually exclusive and comprehensive
must be taught over time. First efforts need not be precise. Eventually
students will use the categorizing step to generate even more questions as they
realize that they have omitted a parallel category or the process of
categorization leads them to extend one of the categories.
In most cases,
the categories students come up with as a result of this process will mirror
the standard topics you would have chosen. The fact that they came from the students,
however, adds intrinsic motivation for finding the answers. Just as in a
teacher-designed unit, categories can form the basis for research teams or they
can lead to a succession of class mini-lectures and discussions, depending upon
your preference as a teacher. Reading of text can be structured around the
categories rather than proceeding in a linear fashion, and it may become
necessary to broaden available information beyond textbooks. Teacher and
students can organize available supplementary information around the
categories.
Once students
have categorized questions, you might spend some time asking them to identify
which questions seem most interesting and which would be the least interesting.
Which questions are the easiest to answer? the hardest? Why? What is it about
questions that makes some easy and some hard to answer? This kind of discussion
should lead naturally to the development of a Taxonomy or Typology of questions
for your classroom (the next activity listed below). Once students begin to
label different types of questions, questions become powerful tools for
thinking. Thinking about thinking and thinking about questioning both tend to
strengthen the power for student thought.
When students
begin to label the different kinds of questions, they learn to select different
kinds of questions to perform different kinds of thinking. No matter what the
level of schooling, some kind of label can work effectively.
Teach students
that questions are like tools in a tool box. They would not pull out a screw
driver to saw a board. Nor would they use a hammer to unscrew a bolt. Jobs
require a choice to tool. Thinking requires a choice of questions. For most
students who have never thought consciously about how they think or question,
the thinking tools lie unassorted, unlabeled and unidentifiable in the bottom
of the box. They tend to reach into the box and pull out the first tool (or
question) that comes to hand (or Mind). This leads to hammering instead of
sawing, planing instead of drilling.
To introduce
students to the idea of categorizing questions, bring in a tool box of tools
and ask them to suggest how they might be organized in the toolbox based on what
they do. An alternative manipulative activity is to ask students to sort
colored shapes into categories based first on color, then on shape, then on
both. For older students use figures with multiple characteristics, such as
complex geometrical figures, or something familiar and interesting to them such
as the latest movies - "Put the last five movies you saw into categories
based on how you liked them, their subject matter, their general popularity,
their style, their characters, their plot, or their related economic
factors."
Primary students
may begin with three or four types of questions. As they scan the questions
generated at the beginning of a unit, they may come up with types such as
"Fact Questions" and "Why Questions" and "Imagine
Questions." Or they may find other names. It does not really matter, for
the important thing is to start them thinking about questions. The more time
you devote to thinking about questions, the more likely they are to discover
new types of questions that do not fit nearly into their first typology. The
class should then discuss the new type and agree upon the wisdom of including
it.
In a similar
fashion, middle school and secondary level students can create a typology
around their own questions. The labels and types will probably be more
complicated, but first efforts will also shift over time as they struggle with
questioning.
As students'
sophistication with labeling questions grows, it is fun to share the thinking
of others in this area. Share Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) and Taba's strategies
with your students. Ask them to critique these other models. Ask them to relate
them to their own.
And why do we
bother with a time-consuming activity like developing a typology of questions?
Because once students have the labels, you can lead them to practice each type
of question thoughtfully. You can show a film and ask each student to think of
three "why?" questions to share with the class at its conclusion. You
may assign a story to read and ask for three "inference" questions. Suddenly
the students can reach into their questioning tool box and carefully select the
saw for sawing and the plane for planing.
Put your
classroom questioning typology to work with your homework assignments. If
students read an assignment, let them form questions for the next day's
discussion. Research substantiates improved comprehension scores for students
who question as they read. Ask them to:
- write three
comparison questions about the story they are reading;
- find the most
interesting question left unanswered by the reading;
- identify the
question the author was trying to answer;
- write a
question that will demand at least ten minutes of thought to answer;
- find a question
which has no answer, or two thousand answers or an infinite number of answers;
- ask a question
that is the child of a bigger question that they can then ask the rest of the
class to identify.
Ask them to
identify the most important and the least important questions. They will
discover that in the beginning, there are many unimportant questions, but only
a few profound ones. Those that matter grow and expand to give birth to many
more of their own kind.
If the homework
is skill oriented (algebra problems or word problems), have them jot down three
questions that bothered them or stimulated them or intrigued them as they did
their work. Ask them to keep track of the question that "got them
unstuck" after they had been stuck on a problem for a while. Ask them to
list the questions they asked at the end of the assignment to asses the quality
of their effort. These are the tools of learning how to learn that enable the
student to cope when the standard approach fails. Even knowing that there are
alternate routes to a goal can give them the will when they need it to keep
searching.
Use the typology
to bring meaning to homework and thoughtful involvement to practice. The next
day's classroom exchanges will reverberate with enthusiasm once they catch the
spirit of inquiry.
Television
interviews are a pervasive cultural reality. Every student has a picture of a
reporter holding out a microphone to ask questions of an accident victim or a
rock star or a politician accused of graft. Questioning is firmly entrenched
when it comes to the news media. A wise teacher builds upon such models, for
the students readily ape the questioning styles they have seen on television so
often. Unlike many textbook publishers, reporters like to ask questions that
flow from or stimulate curiosity, because unlike schools, televisions do not
have captive audiences. A reporter will ask the victim how he or she is
feeling, the rock star why he or she used drugs and the politician why he or
she betrayed his or her constituents. Sometimes we are offended by the boundary
lines of decency that curiosity compels these people to cross, so a recent rock
song portrayed the phenomenon as "We love dirty laundry." We should
expect considerably more sensitivity from our students, yet the model can work
powerfully for us as we explore the issues surrounding any human event being
studied in a classroom.
If your class is
about to read a story or see a film about an event, tell them in advance that
you will ask one of them to act as one of the main figures in the story or film
once it is over. The rest of the class will take turns asking that student
interview questions. It is important to ask all students in the class to
actually write out at least three questions to ask. Students may otherwise rely
upon a small number of highly active and vocal students to carry the effort.
Better to embrace all members of the class. Unlike answers, questions carry
little risk because the activity has made it acceptable to identify what it is
that you do not know. The more typical classroom activity involves concealing
what it is that you do not know. When questions are nurtured, admitting a lack
of knowledge is rewarded. It is the first step in learning and problem-solving.
Some questions
deserve 10 seconds of thought. Others require days or even months. Great
questions span centuries of human civilization (i.e., "why are we here?"
"How do we know?" "Can we know?" "How can we know if
we know?").
Research into
wait-time for American classrooms paints a distressing picture. Many teachers
wait less than two seconds for the answer to each question and ask hundreds of
questions per hour. These types of questions are generally recall questions
demanding little thought.
Label thinking
questions by telling a class that a particular question is a one minute or a
five minute or a ten minute question. Let them struggle with some of the multi-century
questions. Ask them what their minds do when they tackle such questions. Refuse
to call on students while they are meant to be thinking. Encourage students to
jot down ideas while they are thinking about questions. Encourage them to list
other questions that may help answer the original question. Show them how one
question may be the grandparent of any other questions. When the time period is
over, have them draw pictures of how their minds jumped and moved and
considered. Break down the thinking into its elements and show how the process
works. Do not allow students to answer profound questions "off the tops of
their heads". What do we mean by that expression? If we don't answer from
the top, where do we answer from? Show them the structure of thought that
should underlie an informed conclusion to a demanding question. Work through
the supporting arguments on the chalkboard so they can see that the main idea
is supported by a framework of other thoughts. Use metaphors such as tree
trunks and roots to help students visualize an otherwise complex process.
Far too many
students pass through school retelling the story of books they have read or summarizing
lines from the dust jacket. A favorite book report question is "Tell what
you liked about this book and why you would recommend it to a friend." Too
often we read responses that go something like, "I would recommend it
because it was very interesting to read." These reports can be dreary for
all involved, but student questioning can provide a highly desirable
alternative. Using the class developed typology, ask students to formulate and
answer three questions of their own that fit a particular type (i.e., "Ask
three comparison-contract questions.") These questions can provide a
refreshing shift from the normal fare. Another approach is to develop a list of
book reporting questions as a class activity. Students may then select from a rich
menu each time they complete a report.
Critical to all
of these activities, however, is some kind of guided practice in how to think
through such questions. Introducing one type of question at a time with models of
how it can be answered is one way to introduce the thinking skills required.
The students' questions as they proceed through the activity provide one guide
for their thinking. The teacher's careful analysis of the students' progress in
thinking through the questions is the other essential ingredient. (continued)
Much foreign
language drill revolves around student answers to teacher questions. One way to
turn this around is to assign students a problem-solving situation as homework.
For example, tell students that they are lost on the street in Paris and need
to find the way back to their hotel.
§
What questions would they ask bystanders?
§
What questions would they be asking themselves?
§
Who would they ask?
§
Who could they expect to know the answers to their questions?
Another example
would be to tell them they wish to make a hotel reservation but do not know
much about the hotel. What questions would they ask of the desk clerk to
determine if the hotel meets their needs?
After several of
these scenarios are presented by the teacher, students can make them up for
others to try (including the teacher!). They can categorize the questions and
develop a useful guide for problem-solving with questions. Advanced groups can
attempt to find out the necessary information with the fewest number of
questions. Other challenges can be to ask only one kind of question, such as
fact, or compare/contract questions; to take turns with someone else asking
questions; to limit the vocabulary that the students can use in the questions.
When students are
working at math problems and they run into difficulty, some students persevere
and untangle the knot of confusion which is blocking them. Many others quickly
give up and start waiting in line at the teacher's desk. Sadly, real
problem-solving begins when we are stuck. Students must learn the questions to
ask which will help untangle the knot. Provide students with a list of
"heuristics" (problem-solving strategies) which they should try out
before asking for help:
·
Reading the problem aloud
"What is the problem
here?"
·
Drawing, charting, graphing, creating a model
"What would this look like in a
picture, drawing, in another form, in the form I like best?"
·
Identifying the problem
"What am I stuck on? What do I
need to know?"
·
Breaking the problem into manageable parts
"What are the smallest pieces I
can break this down into and still have it make sense?"
·
Trial and error (guess and test)
"What might work? What can I
try?"
·
Listing of alternatives
"What are all the things I
could do?"
·
Considering similar problems from the past
"What do I know about that is
like this?"
Basic to many of
these strategies are questions such as "What do I know? What don't I know?
What do I need to know? How can I find out? What is the real problem? What are
the parts of this problem? Are some of the parts easier to solve than others?
What are the characteristics of this problem? Have I seen others like it? What
strategy worked then? Which strategy do I need now? These are powerful
questions which the most powerful thinkers use on the toughest of problems.
Students can use such questions to move from trial-and-error to systematic,
thoughtful problem-solving. They can empower your students if you encourage
them and teach them to use questions as thinking tools.
Pre-writing,
warm-up exercises can flow smoothly if they begin with a question-listing
process. One way to avoid writer's block is to allow students to identify all
of the questions that might be interesting to explore. If a teacher requests an
essay about "loyalty, " for example, a student might start by listing
such questions as;
► "What do I
mean by loyalty?"
► "What do
most people mean by loyalty?"
► "When does
loyalty become an issue in my life?"
► "When was
the last time someone was disloyal to me?"
► "How well
are the ideas connected?"
► "Am I
assuming that my readers have background in this area?"
The student may
find that particular questions are especially appropriate for his or her
writing. Certain questions may only apply to non-fiction, others only to
poetry. If the class has a bank of editing questions, each student can choose
the best questions to use for each occasion.
Working with peer
partners for editing is facilitated by questioning. Again, the class can
develop a list of helpful questions to ask after reading someone's work. This
acts as a guide for students as they work together to give each other advice
and help with their writing.
Performers can be
taught to use questions to analyze and evaluate the elements of their performance.
The questions are used to identify which aspects need modification, practice or
refinement. For example, a singer may tape his or her performance and listen
with a questioning ear and mind, asking such questions as:
"How well
did I enunciate?"
"Was the
tempo appropriate?"
"Did I
convey the mood I wished?"
This questioning
is usually done by the coach or teacher who asks these kinds of questions from
past experience with the standard criteria for excellence. A large part of the
value of a mentor is the modeling of standard setting that they do. As the
student internalizes the questions which point toward high quality performance,
they become their own best critics.
The more
opportunities you can provide for students to objectify their performance, the
better questioners they can become. Audio and videotape, a typed manuscript, a
transcription of a conversation help the performer ask and answer questions
which will lead to improvement. In order to translate the information into a
program of change, questions must convert data into recommendations. They are
the vehicles for change.
Much of the
research done in school is topical in nature. Students are asked to "go find
out about" a certain person, place, event or topic. The main skill
involved is the gathering of information. Students who have been taught
to ask questions can use them to accomplish this immediate assignment and to
lay the groundwork for doing research which begins with a question. The
"go find out about it" research project can begin with students
asking questions. Ask them: "What questions can you ask about how to do
this assignment?" They may ask such things as:
§
"Where do I find out about it?"
§
"Where do I start?"
§
"Which references are very general to give the big
ideas?"
§
"Which references are too detailed for what I want to
know?"
§
"What resources can I use besides books?"
§
"How will I know what is important about the
topic?"
§
"How will I know how to organize the ideas?"
Notice that these
kinds of questions lead students to develop a plan based on a clarification of
their goals and what they know about available resources. The essence of this
type of research assignment is finding enough information to give a general
description. "A" papers hit all the high points on the topic, are
well-organized and well-written. Every student can be guided by the questions
which produce a quality description if we give them the questioning tools.
A more
meaningful, curiosity driven version of the research project begins with
student questions. Students should be able to guide research. The teacher can
require types of questions which cannot be answered directly from a book. For
example, if a student asks, "Which Civil War general was the best?"
the gathering of information eventually leads to a student judgment based upon
criteria. This evaluation task involves the student seeking information for the
purpose of answering a question he or she posed, a very lifelike and lifelong
activity. Instead of an assignment in a High School Health class to "go
find out about a topic in human sexuality," students discuss dilemmas in
human sexuality such as parenting, birth control and parent/teen conflict.
Their research paper assignment is to choose a dilemma to address in detail,
presenting both sides of the issue and drawing a personal conclusion. Under the
careful guidance of a teacher and with support for answering questions they
care about, research papers can become a source of great satisfaction to
students.
It should be
standard practice to encourage students to read questions before tackling comprehension
passages. After reading the questions, the student should ask questions such
as, "What will I be looking for? What clues would guide my skimming? What
key words will give away the location of the answers?" A variation on this
theme is the questioning, skimming, reading strategy called SQ3R (Survey,
Question, Read, Review, Recite). Students must learn to do word searches
through passages with a question acting like a magnet sweeping through a pile
of junk.
These kinds of
questions need to be practiced so that they become a kind of self-talk routine.
The more automatically they are engaged, the more confident and successful a
student will be when confronted with a test item. Make it a standard practice
to have students jot down the questions they asked before reading. You can
increase the value of this exercise by including a grade for this part of the
assignment. Create opportunities for transfer, giving them test-like exercises
in which they make up questions before reading.
Another major
test-taking strategy is thoughtful "guessing strategies" which help a
student narrow down choices based on their knowledge. These strategies are
based on questions such as:
§
"Are there any answers that are obviously wrong?"
§
"Are there any words such as 'always,' 'never' or
'completely' which may indicate an answer is too strongly worded."
§
"What clues may guide me toward the right answer?"
Give students an
opportunity to generate these questions and others that they have when
confronted with multiple choice questions. Explore the strategies that the
questions suggest. This can only strengthen the students' confidence in
test-taking and their own toolkit of questions.
There are many
questions that can help students to "think laterally" (deBono) or
"get out of the box." This ability to extend beyond the obvious and
the time-worn is an essential ingredient in effective problem-solving because
it helps to generate the unusual and imaginative solutions we associate with
the skill of synthesis, the rearranging, modifying and combining of
elements in novel ways to achieve desired and often startling results.
SCAMPER is one
set of questioning strategies that works well. Students can be taught to ask
how to change an existing product, item or idea by asking how to Substitute,
Combine, Add, (Modify, Magnify, Minify), Put
to other uses, Eliminate, and Reverse (Eberle, 1972). SCAMPER
tools are used on answers that we already have to questions, when we need a
detour in our thinking to see something in a new way. It requires the
suspension of judgment and a playful attitude. Many of the ideas will not lead
anywhere, but they may add up to be more than the sum of their parts.
To use SCAMPER
tools, take the answer to a question such as, "Thoreau wrote Walden"
and ask the questions:
S "Who else
could have written it?'
C "If
Thoreau had had a co-author, who could it have been?"
A "What
would Thoreau have written in the 21st century?"
M "What
could we modify in the work to intensify the theme?"
P "How does
this work apply to the lives of suburbanites?'
E "What
would be the effect of eliminating this work?"
R "What
would be the antithesis of Thoreau's view?"
One of the
benefits of using the SCAMPER tools with students asking the questions is that
they both ask and answer the questions. The questions, though often very
divergent, require a thorough going knowledge of the required content.
Evaluation of student thinking and competency in the subject matter are
accomplished through an analysis of the coherence of the question asked, answer
given, and next questions posed.
Students can learn
to distinguish between questions by stems which can be listed on a classroom
chart. They quickly discover the difference between "how,"
"what," "when," or "where" as opposed to
"why," "what if," "suppose" and "in what
ways might". Teachers may then request that students formulate questions
with certain stems.
Sometimes
questions which start with "why" are fairly easy, at other times,
they are unanswerable. What makes the difference? Ask students to propose a
reason for the varying difficulty of "why" questions. Are they easier
for some people than for others? Why? How does the two-year-old's why differ
from last one written here? As students speculate about the answers to these
questions, they will refine their use of the tools they know and exercise their
muscles as tool shapers and tool makers.
One way to judge
the quality of a question stem is how many answers it creates. A question stem
such as:
"How is a noun
like a tennis match?"
could cause unending
discussion exploring the nuances of each. Challenge students to make up
questions using a stem that starts the flow of ideas. The longer the ideas keep
flowing, the better the question stem was. Try one like the following:
"Just
suppose Thomas Jefferson had not participated in the drafting of the
Declaration of Independence. What would have happened differently?"
You can convert
most textbook-type questions into thought-provoking ones using the SuperThink
strategies described in a book by that name (Davis, 1981, DandyLion Press).
The classroom
climate is a key variable in the process of learning through questions. When
teachers wind up a strained explanation of a difficult new concept just as the
class bell is about to ring and they ask, "Does anyone have any
questions?" It is not at all clear to students from the tone and body
language that student questions are sincerely desired. On the contrary, the
message is that no questions should be necessary, particularly ones which
require lengthy or involved answers. Indeed, to ask questions at this point is
also to risk the wrath of the students as well as teacher for keeping them from
their next class.
There are many
alternatives to the "Are there any questions?" approach. The
classroom climate which promotes student thinking and questioning has students
write down questions at the end of the period. Every student is asked to write
an anonymous question that will be answered in writing or verbally the next day
in class. Every student can write a question, because the teacher who cares
about stimulating curiosity, teaches what is not knows as well as what is
known. The combination has to produce questions in everyone! Another approach
is to pause during a lecture or discussion and ask students to formulate a
question about the content just discussed. After a moment to jot down questions
individually, pairs of students compare questions and answer the questions.
Interesting or unusual questions are shared with the whole group. The exercise
should take 3 - 5 minutes and will help ensure understanding and involvement in
the material.
But the key to
climate is the attitude of teacher toward questions. Are they viewed as
digressions, annoyances, to be hurried through, to be answered correctly, to
show what students do not know? Or are they tools for the job of learning, toys
for playful minds, full of puns, answers for other questions, an indication of
powerful thinking, a celebration of curiosity? Are they answered with care,
given special place in discussions, written without answers, given without
requirements, extended with more questions?
If a teacher
desires student questions, they must be greeted with enthusiasm, a commitment
of time and an unthreatening manner. As students begin to receive the rewards
of asking questions, the phenomenon will occur with increased frequency and
quality. If out goal is to teach people how to learn through passing on the
best of what we already know, then our best hope is through nurturing curiosity
and the tools to quench its thirst.
Table of Contents | Previous Section | Next Section |
Recent research builds a
powerful case against what used to be accepted "truths" about
learning and technology. First, there is strong evidence that traditional
models of learning, traditional definitions of technology effectiveness, and
traditional models of the cost effectiveness of technology don't work. In place
of these old assumptions, researchers are positing new ways of looking at
learning that promote:
This section
details the indicators that educators and policymakers can use to measure the
effectiveness of technology in learning.
Today's workplaces and
communities - and tomorrow's - have tougher requirements than ever before. They
need citizens who can think critically and strategically to solve problems.
These individuals must learn in a rapidly changing environment, and build
knowledge taken from numerous sources and different perspectives. They must
understand systems in diverse contexts, and collaborate locally and around the
globe.
These attributes
contrast sharply with the discrete, low-level skills, content, and assessment
methods that traditional ways of learning favor. The new workplace requirements
for learning are incompatible with instruction that assumes the teacher is the
information giver and the student a passive recipient. The new requirements are
at odds with testing programs that assess skills that are useful only in
school.
Traditionally, we have
determined the effectiveness of a technology program vis-a-vis a
"regular" program by comparing student outcomes on standardized
tests. Numerous researchers, however, question the utility of this method. When
the North Central Regional Education Laboratory (NCREL) surveyed experts about
traditional models of technology effectiveness, respondents said:
Similarly, the
typical way to determine a technology's cost effectiveness is to compare the
costs of the technology-enhanced program against the costs of the traditional
program. Some researchers decry this approach, pointing out that such cost
analyses assume that we should continue teaching the same things, rather than
change with changing times. Additionally, cost-effectiveness data could
constrain development of innovative applications of technology.
There are no definitive
answers to questions about the effectiveness of technology in boosting student
learning, student readiness for workforce skills, teacher productivity, and
cost effectiveness. True, some examples of technology have shown strong and
consistent positive results. But even powerful programs might show no effects
due to myriad methodological flaws. It would be most unfortunate to reject
these because standardized tests showed no significant differences. Instead,
measures should evaluate individual technologies against specific learning,
collaboration, and communication goals.
What we have learned
from these reactions to traditional ways of learning and evaluating technology
is that we must change the questions and the processes. Specifically, we must
establish a clear vision of learning and goals for a school, district, or other
unit. Without this vision, there can be no criteria for evaluating technology
effectiveness or costs.
Our framework builds
upon a framework developed by Barbara Means of SRI International. Means
identified seven variables that, when present in the classroom, indicate that
effective teaching and learning are occurring.
These classroom
variables are:
We took these
variables and reorganized them into a set of eight categories of learning and
instruction: vision of learning, tasks, assessment, instruction, learning
context, grouping, teacher roles, and student roles. We then expanded the
definitions of Means' variables with information from recent research on
learning and instruction and added many new variables. In all, there are 26
variables or 26 indicators of engaged learning. These appear in Table 1.
1.
Vision of Learning Indicators. Vision of learning indicators describe the goals of engaged
learning. These indicators underlie the philosophy and theme that drive all the
other indicators discussed here - tasks, assessment, instruction, learning
contexts, grouping, and teacher and student roles. We define engaged learning
in terms of four indicators.
In engaged learning
settings, students are responsible for their
own learning; they take charge and are self-regulated. They define
learning goals and problems that are meaningful to them; have a big picture of
how specific activities relate to those goals; develop standards of excellence;
and evaluate how well they have achieved their goals. They have alternative
routes or strategies for attaining goals - and some strategies for correcting
errors and redirecting themselves when their plans do not work. They know their
own strengths and weaknesses and know how to deal with them productively and
constructively. Engaged learners are also able to shape and manage change.
Engaged learners are strategic. They know how to learn and
constantly develop and refine their learning and problem-solving strategies.
This capacity for learning how to learn includes constructing effective mental
models of knowledge even though the information may be very complex and
changeable. Strategic learners can apply and transfer knowledge to solve
problems creatively. They can make connections at different levels.
Engaged learners become energized by learning. They derive
excitement and pleasure from learning. Learning is its own motivator and
results in a lifelong passion for solving problems, understanding, and taking
the next step in their thinking and activities.
Engaged learners are collaborative. They value others and work
with them skillfully. Collaborative learners understand that learning is
social, that they must be able to articulate their ideas to others and must
have empathy and be fair-minded in dealing with contradictory or conflicting
views. They have an ability to identify the strengths of others. Collaborative
learners typically value diversity and multiple perspectives.
2. Task
Indicators. In engaged
learning, tasks are authentic, challenging, and multi-disciplinary. Tasks are authentic when they are important to
learners and learners use their knowledge of the subject matter in much the
same way that real-life practitioners use that knowledge. Students learn
authentic tasks in context, practicing basic and advanced skills together as a
means to learning big concepts. In other words, they learn by doing.
Challenging tasks are typically complex and involve sustained amounts of
time. They require students to stretch their thinking - and often their social
skills. Challenging tasks
are authentic in that
they are about real-world problems and projects, build on life experiences,
require in-depth work, and benefit from frequent collaboration.
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Multidisciplinary work requires wholly integrated instruction. It blends
disciplines into thematic or problem-solving pursuits, usually in the form of
projects because most work in real life involves multidisciplinary projects. 3. Assessment Indicators. Assessments that promote engaged learning ask students to
demonstrate their knowledge and skills in authentic tasks, projects, or
investigations. Performance-based
assessments are meaningful, challenging experiences that involve
planning, development over time, presentations, and debriefings about what
students learned. Students should take part as much as possible in planning
the unit in which the assessment occurs, the criteria for evaluating the
assessment, and various forms of self-assessments such as keeping journals. Performance-based
assessments are also generative.
Students construct their knowledge and develop real products and services,
perform in some way, organize events such as conferences, create artistic
works, and the like for an audience that cares. At
its best, performance-based assessment is seamless
and ongoing. That means that the plans, standards and criteria,
products, performances, presentations, and debriefings are all instruction at
the same time that they are assessment. And vice versa. Movement from one to
the other is transparent to the student. Students generally perceive a
well-designed hands-on assessment as a challenging and meaningful learning
activity. Performance-based
assessments raise issues of equity and standards. It is critical to have equitable standards - ones that apply to
all students. Parents and students, as well as teachers, should be familiar
with those standards and be able to evaluate the performance of an individual
or group against them. 4. Instructional Model Indicators. The most powerful instruction is interactive and
generative. Interactive
instruction actively engages the learner with the resources and learning
context to construct new knowledge and skills. Generative instruction, like generative assessment, brings learners
with different perspectives together to produce shared understandings. While
learning in traditional instruction is a two-person situation (the teacher
and the student), in generative instruction learning is a three-person
situation (the teacher, the student, and others). Thus, in generative
learning, there is co-construction of knowledge; learning occurs as the
result of interactions among the learner, the teacher, and others.
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