“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”
― Mark Van Doren
― Mark Van Doren
A Strategy or Best Practice to teach vocabulary.
During Week 2 of our synchronous section, we explored literacy strategies through an activity called "From ELA Standards to Literacy Strategies." As part of this activity, I discovered a strategy for comprehending material called, "Summarizing," as outlined in an article titled "Summarizing in Science" from the American Museum of Natural History.
Summarizing is a crucial skill for determining the importance of text. It involves condensing a full text or large sections of text into a concise summary, allowing readers to grasp the main ideas and key points. Good readers can summarize well and identify the main idea of a section.
Teachers can demonstrate what effective summarizing looks like in practice. Students are then encouraged to practice summarizing with a partner, either aloud or silently. This allows students to refine their skills before attempting to apply the strategy on their own.
As students better at summarizing, they can do so independently by annotating text margins or writing paragraph summaries. Summarizes helps students develop the skill to comprehend long and sometimes, complex material effectively.
Two Strategies or Best Practices to support English Language Learners.
During Week 3 of the course, we explored strategies within Sheltered Instruction that supports English learners' language acquisition. Through our learning activities, I discovered two effective strategies:
1. Visual Supports: I learned about the power of visual aids such as graphic organizers, which help students comprehend and reinforce ideas. Visual supports can take various forms, including graphs, charts, maps, and images. These visual tools assist English learners in understanding content by providing visual representations that enhance comprehension and meaning.
2. Realia and Manipulatives: Another strategy I learned about is the use of real-life objects (realia) and hands-on objects (manipulatives). These tangible materials allow students to interact physically with the content, facilitating experiential learning. By engaging with physical objects, students can deepen their understanding through sensory experiences, as they hold, touch, and manipulate the materials.
Two Strategies to support speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing.
During Week 2 of the course, we discussed and learned about strategies to support speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing that fall under Universal Design for Learning (UDL). I discovered two effective strategies:
1. Graphic Organizers: Graphic organizers are visual tools that help students organize information and their ideas. They support speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities by helping students brainstorm, outline, or analyze content. Graphic organizers can work with diverse learning styles and abilities.
2. Choice Boards: Choice boards offer students options to demonstrate understanding or to practice language skills. A choice board consists of a board with tasks, or activities, related to speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing. Students can select the activity they wish, the one they feel most comfortable with. By providing choice and self-responsibility, you can better engage and motivate students.
Two Strategies to differentiate instruction for students with differing needs.
During Week 3 of our course, I learned about two strategies to differentiate instruction for students with differing needs:
1. Flexible Assignments and Assessments: This is when teachers provide options for students to complete assignments and assessments based on their strengths and needs. It could include offering different formats for demonstrating understanding, such as written response, or a presentation, or a multimedia project, like a slideshow. And a teacher can assess students differently because of different abilities and learning styles, such as extended time, or alternative formats.
2. Adjustable Levels of Challenge: A teacher can provide activities that can be adjusted to meet the needs of students. For examples, a teacher can provide additional materials, step-by-step instructions, or peer tutoring for students who need extra help. And sometimes teachers can offer materials for students who need more of a challenge. Adjustable levels of challenge helps meet the needs of all students.
