It's a given that we need to give kids notes and that they will not always be doing things like concept maps; however, there are some really simple things we can do to make those types of activities more student-centred and to make sure the kids see the information as meaningful.
3 Examples:
1. As the kids are taking notes, stop and use a cooperative structure like round robin or think pair share to have them review key points and process the information. Also, students can add simple images to reinforce key points.
2. After providing information to the students, give small groups a question matrix and have them create 5 review questions that touch on various levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.
3. If you are going to give kids notes, do so after you have given them a good task that requires them to USE the information you give them. For example, we assign 2 letters from the trenches when studying WW1. The task is given BEFORE we begin to study trenches and battles. Giving them the task, THEN providing notes, video clips, readings, etc. makes it more likely that the kids will see what you give them as valuable. We know that information we regard as irrelevant is quickly discarded by the brain, and that holds true in everyday situations. Therefore, it makes good sense to accept that kids will not see information as valuable just because we present it to them.
Any thoughts?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Some good ideas here! Sometimes putting little images beside their notes really helps students link information. I think metacognition is an important tool in teaching. Letting the students know why they are learning something is important because, as you say, the brain discards information that it does not find relevant. Giving the students a reason to keep these things in mind will really help their retention.
Post a Comment