Getting Out of the Essay Rut Think about all the forms of writing that exist—letters, news articles, video scripts, infographics, press releases, etc. Why are we so hung up on using essays as the primary structure for students to demonstrate writing prowess? There can be little doubt, it seems to me, that we overuse essay writing in schools. And one result for our student writers is burnout. These teachers will often report back that when they defected from the essay and assigned an alternative writing project for a particular lesson or unit, their students got excited and became inspired in ways the teachers hadn’t seen before. Before I highlight a few essay alternatives, I want to say that I do believe the ability to write an essay is a critical skill all students need to acquire. The alternatives can be just as rigorous and demanding as the traditional essay, building the same skills and applications while also aligning to standards. Alternatives to the Traditional Essay The Benefits of Essay Alternatives
Att introducera en texttyp med hjälp av lässtrategier. | Strategier för lärande Idag hade jag en lektion i Svenska 2 med min samhällstvåa där vi hade de sista fyrtio minuterna på slutet till att komma igång med vårt nästa område, nämligen att skriva debattartikel. Eleverna hade tidigare på lektionen lyssnat på varandras utredande tal så jag ville göra något kreativt där de fick engagera sig och samtidigt använda och fördjupa sina lässtrategier. Upplägget blev väldigt lyckat så jag delar med mig av det i detta inlägg! Jag nämnde inte för klassen att vi skulle fördjupa oss i debattartikeln som genre utan skrev ut och delade ut (ja, ibland är det skönt med papper trots att vi är en 1-1-skola) debattartikeln ”Hjälp unga att hantera sina uppkopplade liv” och la på deras bänkar under rasten. När de kom tillbaka in klassrummet blev de indelade i par och så fick de i uppgift att komma fram till följande: ”Vad är det här för texttyp och hur vet vi det?”. Nästa steg blev att börja läsa vissa delar i texten lite mer noggrant. Åsa Relaterat Hej på er! I "Akademiskt skrivande"
Getting Inside Students' Minds: Why Misconceptions Are So Powerful "Students are not empty vessels," he says. "Students are full of all kinds of knowledge, and they have explanations for everything." From birth, human beings are working hard to figure out the world around us. But we go about it more like the early Greek philosophers than modern scientists: reasoning from our limited experience. Sadler says that cognitive science tells us that if you don't understand the flaws in students' reasoning, you're not going to be able to dislodge their misconceptions and replace them with the correct concepts. "It's very expensive in terms of mental effort to change the ideas that you come up with yourself," Sadler says. In one study, which he recently wrote about in American Educator magazine, Sadler gave 20 multiple-choice science questions to a group of middle school students. For example: 2. The wrong answer, d., was chosen by 59 percent of the students; only 17 percent chose the right answer, a. The study also gave the same test to these students' teachers.
Skrivmall för utredande text Scaffolding the Crosscutting Concepts: Graphic Organizers in Action in the Middle School Classroom The crosscutting concepts have great potential to help students connect their learning across grade levels and science disciplines, but they can easily become the forgotten “third dimension.” Last May, we wrote about developing a set of graphic organizers that help make the crosscutting concepts explicit for students and scaffold their thinking as students apply the crosscutting concepts to scientific phenomena. At the recent NSTA National Conference in Atlanta, we were excited to share the experiences of middle school teachers who piloted the graphic organizers with their students. You can find our presentation materials on the Conferences section of NSTA’s website (search any of our last names), or click here. In the following paragraphs, each teacher shares a brief reflection on her experience. Sixth-Grade Earth Science—Ducks Overboard (Systems and System Models) by Jessica Caldwell. Next, we read about ocean currents and made an overlay of the currents on a transparency. Authors
Engaging Students Through Computational Thinking By Allison DeGraaf In today’s technology-driven world, teachers have a new role in their student’s growth. Teaching used to be focused on learning and retaining information, but now we are changing how we teach so students can take what they’ve learned and apply it in school, work and beyond. This is where the thought process of computational thinking comes into play. Computational thinking is a higher-level process whereby students can decipher problems and form innovative solutions. At the Janesville School District, our teachers have found immense success inspiring learning and retention through computational thinking. With this in mind, we offer an outside-of-school program for students to learn about topics such as computer science, environmental science and engineering. Our program is available for any type of student who would benefit from extra learning opportunities – this ranges from students who may be struggling, to students who excel and would like an extra challenge.
Study Explores What Makes Strong Science Teachers | UVM Today | The University of Vermont A new study shows that eighth-grade science teachers without an educational background in science are less likely to practice inquiry-oriented science instruction, a pedagogical approach that develops students’ understanding of scientific concepts and engages students in hands-on science projects. This research offers new evidence for why U.S. middle-grades students may lag behind their global peers in scientific literacy. Inquiry-oriented science instruction has been heralded by the National Research Council and other experts in science education as best practice for teaching students 21st-century scientific knowledge and skills. Published in The Elementary School Journal, the study investigated whether the educational backgrounds of 9,500 eighth-grade science teachers in 1,260 public schools were predictive of the level in which they engaged in inquiry-oriented instruction.
Schools Should Teach Science Like Sports Suppose you wanted to teach children to play baseball or softball. How would you go about doing it? One approach might be to sit them down and start having them memorize the rules of the game, the dimensions of the field, the names and statistics of past players, and a host of other facts. You would stop teaching them periodically to review the material in preparation for multiple-choice assessment tests. Why have we thought that this process would work with teaching science to children? The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are intended to be a cure for this approach. The Next Generation Science Standards were completed in 2013, and so far about half of American students are committed to learning science aligned with these principles. It is tempting to suppose that things really won't change much: schools that used to teach to one set of standards will just be teaching to a new one. This example suggests several things about the next standards.
Project Based Learning & California Marine Protected Areas Project Based-Learning (PBL Units) Project based learning provides students with authentic learning experiences that engage students in the learning process. As students work collaboratively to solve a real world problem, students work on critical success skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. CRYSTAL COVE UNIT -Saving the Intertidal Zone PYRAMID POINT UNIT - The Story of the Coho Salmon POINT LOBOS UNIT - Caring for the Kelp ANO NUEVO UNIT - Protecting the Food Web of the Elephant Seals California Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) PORTS has teamed-up with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to teach students about California’s marine protected areas (MPAs). MPA information is included in five units of study: The Salmon Lifecycle Elephant Seals Kelp Forests Tide Pool Ecology Science of Habitat Restoration and Protection In addition to live videoconferences, students can also dive into MPAs through this innovative PORTS curriculum: MPA Curriculum
More Talking in Class, Please Providing consistent, structured time for students to participate in collaborative conversations can improve the overall classroom environment because once the need to sit quietly is replaced with opportunities to discuss course content, the amount of off-topic talking declines. Both small group and whole class discussions can provide these opportunities. Small Group Discussion Recommendations Teachers can facilitate quick small group collaborative conversations during class and provide immediate opportunities for students to verbally process their learning. Students often benefit from a few moments of quiet before speaking. Create class and individual discussion goals, and be sure to give students time to reflect on their success. I use two guided discussion strategies—idea interchange and revolving discussion—to provide students an opportunity to move around and discuss their ideas with their peers. Another way to do this is to assign each group a home location, where they’ll start out.
Developing Students' Ability to Give and Take Effective Feedback Training kids to give effective critique is one of those teaching strategies that takes some time on the front end, but can save a lot of time once students get good at it. It’s common for students to give unhelpful, general or unkind feedback that doesn’t do much to advance a peer’s goals for the work, but Lukas found when she carefully trained students on some conversational “commandments” and attitudes around peer critique, 12-year-olds could give feedback as well as any adult. Even better, when kids got feedback from peers, she found they internalized it more. But incorporating peer critique into the classroom does take time, which is most effectively spent on bigger, meatier projects that students are invested in improving. Lukas advises teachers she works with to use the adapted Six Hat feedback strategy only on assignments that require students to do several drafts, so they have time to incorporate the feedback they received. Pick work that matters.