Assignment #2: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 2 – Identifying Similarities and Differences.
Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part C and D. We’re trying to make the blog easier to read and more user- friendly. Thanks!
A. Guiding Questions for Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategies of identifying similarities in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment. (Complete – but do not post!)
• What is the purpose of asking students to compare?
• What kinds of activities do I use to help students compare?
• I can think of a time that I asked students to compare, and I was pleased with the results. Why did it go well?
• I can think of a time that I asked students to compare, and I was not pleased with the results. Why did it not go well?
• What questions do I have about using comparing in my classroom?
B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 2 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for identifying similarities and differences. (Complete – but do not post!)
C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to teach to your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may share how you would use this strategy in your classroom) – please post a brief reflection of how this went to the posting labeled Week Two: Identifying Similarities and Differences. Click on the “comment” link below.
D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Two: Identifying Similarities and Difference by clicking on the “comment” link below.
How has the information you read in this chapter on comparing affected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:
• How has reading this information affirmed some of what you already knew about comparing?
• What is something you now understand better about comparing?
• How might you change how you use comparing in your classroom?
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11 comments:
After reading chapter 2 I chose to use graphic organizers in a lesson to help my students relate better to two stories. I was hoping to improve their ability to discuss the characters, order of storyline, and similarities and differences between the two.
In the past I have read two different Gingerbread Man stories to my class and had them work on beginning, middle, end retell abilities. This time around I used the venn diagram organizers to compare the two stories with the class. I was amazed at how many details they remembered and how willing they were to share their thoughts about the story. They were able to remember all the characters (at times more than I could remember) and the order that the characters appeared. The diagram also allowed us to work on vocabulary when noticing the different names the two authors used for similar animals such as pig and sow.
I think that the best piece of this approach was that the venn diagram gave me a tool to have better discussion with my students. Sometimes it can be difficult to get kindergartners to participate in the type of dialogue that I'd like them to. This 'teacher directed' comparison was a wonderful tool that added many new levels of learning to our lesson.
D. Chapter 2 Reflection:
How has it confirmed my thoughts on comparing? I believe that I've known how to use comparisons in a number of ways but never understood the real importance of it. I've used venn diagrams before and charted out facts from GLAD science units to show similarities and differences with a number of things. I've never really understood how important it is to teaching students how to USE information. For example teaching students how to use their schemas to better understand new information. I've known of this importance but I think I'm realizing that quite often I do a lot of the work for them. More often than not, when comparing is happening in my class it is teacher directed. I have been let's say 'reminded' of how much of the talking I do instead of putting the ball in their court. I'd like to believe I teach my students to think for themselves and ask questions to make connections to their learning but I can always use the time to reflect on MY own learning as well. That was a mouthful! So here is what I plan to do differently.
It's difficult for me to think of ways to use this with kindergarten kids but I plan on adding analogies to my morning messages and working with my students to better understand how things relate. I also would like to use journal time as a place to use comparisons. Giving students an opportunity to use student directed comparisons to relate to stories or lessons taught. Allowing my kids to have a chance to draw out how something new is quite like something they already know about. I'm not sure how I'll go about this but I think they'd have a lot of fun with this. Another piece that I enjoyed that I'd like to create with my class is something similar to the "making a sandwich" metaphor for paragraph writing. I love how these kinds of metaphors help students understand what is expected of them. The clearer the expectations are the more often the goal is met. I also think this would help my ELL students. My plan is to do this for sentence writing. Creating this metaphor together as a class will only bring us closer as a community as well. Overall I found this chapter a lot of fun and very informational.
If I was still teaching in my fourth grade classroom I would love to incorporate one of the graphic organizers for classification into a unit on mammals. One of the goals of this unit was for the students to be able to identify characteristics of mammals. I would do a teacher directed classification task using the boxed table graphic organizer. I would provide the students with a list of animals and ask them to classify them into the following characteristics:
-has hair/fur
-has a backbone
-has two pairs of limbs
-drinks milk from it’s mother
They could complete this task with their learning buddy, and then as a class they would report their findings, and we would see if everyone agrees. I think this would be a successful lesson because it would require the children to take a closer look at different animals, and help them to sort out mammals from non-mammals in a format that is clear and concise. Now if I could just find a classroom to try it out on!
2D. Reflection
As a teacher, and a learner, I realize that I am more comfortable with teacher directed comparisons, because of the structure and clarity of the task. Now I know that student directed comparisons can result in a wider range of answers. There is a place for both teacher, and student directed and I need to be more comfortable with both.
I now better understand that it is important to break down comparing into characterisitics. I was too general when having my students compare (compare today’s ten year old to ten year old on the OR Trail, versus compare activities of both ten year olds, clothing of both ten year olds, etc…) Breaking the comparisons into specific categories will help the students to focus more closely, and therefore come up with more answers.
It is nice to have some examples of graphic organizers that can be used in the classroom. I think Carrah’s idea of using the analogies as a part of her morning message is a great idea.
Hi Carrah - thanks for your week 2 reflections :) The Venn diagram is the perfect graphic organizer to use with young ones. I agree that student dialogue about text often thrives with the visual representation of the Venn. It provides younger students with the support they need to think critically about text. You are so right about so many of us taking so much ownership over the "thinking" because we're afraid kids aren't ready for it yet...yet we we take that leap...we are usually so amazed by the thinking that our kids can do. It's all about the Gradual Release of Responsibility: model, share, guided and independent practice. Thanks for being "brave" for your students :)
Hi Kay...sorry, I somehow missed your responses for this week...thanks for sharing your thoughts! I loved your idea of the teacher directed animal classification sort, but even more, I like your thinking when you said that there is a time and a place for both teacher and student directed comparing activities. So often with teaching (in all areas), it's about finding that balance and being making difficult choices about instruction given both curricula and time constraints.
C. Practice: I use several of these techniques comparing similarities and differences already in my class to help students learn vocabulary. One idea I liked that I hadn’t tried before though was the analogy idea. I created 15 analogies for my Spanish 4 students as they are already higher-level students who can make such associations more easily than Spanish 2 or 3 students may be able to. They are currently learning a list of verbs that goes way beyond what they have learned in the past. Some examples of what I came up with, in the target language of course, were car: ride, plane:____ eyes: see, ears:____, turn off: turn on, un plug:____. The students seem to enjoy the activity as it’s sort of like a puzzle or brain teaser. It was definitely another good way to get them engaged in the vocabulary and force them to really study their list to find the answers.
Another activity that I use often, in fact we did it in Spanish 3 today, is a classification activity. Students are asked to find 5 things in the chapter vocabulary related to each thing. For example; we are studying vocabulary related to travel right now and they had to write down 5 words related to each of the following things, 25 words total: customs, to fly, the tip($), to sunbathe, to take pictures. They were asked to find 3 words for each thing in their vocabulary and find 2 additional words in the dictionary. Students then compare lists and we brainstorm together on the overhead projector. This activity again forces them to review the vocabulary in a more interactive way rather than just staring at the words.
D.
The chapter outlined many techniques I’ve always used in my classroom, but the analogy idea was one I hadn’t tried, so that was good. I’ve always known that finding ways to actually use the vocabulary is much better than simply “drill and kill”, although there is a place for that at times as well. It’s reassuring to know that my techniques are supported by research and that I’m activating different thought processes. I don’t feel that reading this chapter will change what I already do, but it will add one more tool to my repertoire.
For my activity I had students compare Goldilocks with another version of the story called Pigtails. I made a Venn diagram and walked the students through writing down differences and similarities between the two stories. The students came up with a lot of interesting details, and were very engaged in the activity. I then had the students choose a story they knew and had them write another version. In partners they completed a Venn diagram to help them think about how they would modify the story, and then had some class periods to write and share in pairs and to the group what they had written. The students wrote some very creative stories and seemed to enjoy the activity.
I am really glad I read this chapter. I don't do nearly enough comparing and contrasting with my students. Honestly, this is something I almost never do with them. I now know that it is more important than I thought to teach them about comparing and plan on using Venn diagrams more in the classroom. I would like to use some of the other ideas from the chapter as well, but I plan to start by incorporating more Venn diagrams into my weekly lesson plans.
C. In chapter two, I was struck by how much of what I already do is valid. I make comparisons, I use diagrams, I create metaphors to increase language understanding of vocabulary etc. What I appreciated is the research behind the practice and and the awareness I NOW have that will encourage me to use the practices more concretely and in a more student centered way.
Metaphors create a visual image that cements understanding, regardless of how abstract the connection is. P.E. teachers do this all the time, allowing for a comparison to help inform a child's movement. "Roll like a log." etc.
I was working on a pre-reading activity to enrich vocabulary for content reading in a 4th grade class. This was an activity the students were going to use in the computer lab on a site called, Mr.Nussbaum's.com. The site creator has a cloze reading activity with a list of vocabulary words to insert. Using the site as a visual on the overhead, and direct instruction I went over the vocabulary, sometimes with a metaphors, to enrich the meaning of challenging words. It was not appropriate for all the words and time doesn't allow for too much detail. As an example the word attract was given in relation to crickets. I explained that the word "attract" is creating a glue or a magnetic force so that two animals are drawn together. I went on from there quickly, trying to add as much detail as possible.
If I had more than 25 minutes with students, I would have brought the students back together after they did the activity to check for understanding and and to see if they could work in pairs, or a group, to create more metaphors with the vocabulary and the reading information on crickets as a whole.... The sound their wings make is a symphony orchestra outside my window at night. The rubbing wings create a magnetic sound for their mates. etc. So much could be done with any kind of vocabulary and metaphor that enriches the meaning of the content and the words themselves.
D.
As stated above, the chapter has made more clear the importance of using comparisons to improve understanding, cement information and scaffold content. I think we all have used comparisons, but I really appreciate the research that supports the use in the classroom.
I would increase the variety of comparison that I use. For instance, I haven't used much analogy in the classroom. I would also like to increase the use of graphic organizers as visual additions that can really help those students that need to see things charted out.
As a teacher, I realize there is always more strategies that can be used to get students to learn. I know that comparisons ALWAYS have helped me to learn things better. A comparison is the added connection that glues the information to the brain. I will strive to incorporate it into my work with kids.
For this activity, I chose to use a venn diagram to compare the properties of acids and bases.
Students used a small sheet of construction paper to create a foldable where the venn diagram could be open and have the properties of JUST acids on the left, and bases on the right.
When the students folded the venn diagram together, the overlap on the circles came together, showing the similarities between them.
In the past, I had simply had the students take notes, supplemented with discussion on this topic. Q/A with the kids showed that the venn diagram really helped them remember the properties better.
While I already used comparisons in classroom instruction, the chapeter in the book definitely gave me more ideas on how to implement the concept of compare/contrast into lessons in various, unique ways.
I can see myself using comparisons more in the future, and am glad to see that the techniques I am using are backed with research.
Thanks Karen, Sacha, Hank, and Suzie for adding your comments. I think it's so interesting to see the way teachers at each end of the education spectrum (primary-secondary), incorporate identifying similarities and differences into their coursework. Karen, I think your analogy vocabulary activity was great in that I could see how motivating it would be to get the students to build their vocabulary in an interesting way. Hank and Sacha both used Venn Diagrams to guide their students to compare, but at two different levels of education (primary and middle). We frequently use comparing "out in the real world", when we compare movies we've seen, restaurants we've eaten at, or ski runs on our favorite mountain. In the classroom, the process of comparing can deepen students' understanding of the knowledge they are learning. Suzie, I loved the way you used metaphors to build vocabulary understanding with your cloze activity during computer lab time...I also checked out the Mr.Nussbaum's.com site and thought it looked pretty interesting. I'm going to share it with the aide who works in our computer lab. Thanks again for sharing everyone!
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