Chapter 9

Chapter 9 : Differentiating Large and Small Group Instruction

Resources:

1) Myedlab

2) http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/summ.php

a. Good tips for teaching note taking skills.

3) http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/105

a. More teacher tips on how to teach students note taking skills.

Summary:

· Vary instructional groups based on students’ academic skills and readiness; interest in and knowledge of the content; learning strengths, challenges, styles, and preferences; and socialization.

· Smaller groups of students with diverse strengths and challenges are good for inclusive classrooms as they help you teach effectively and promote interactions amongst your students.

· Whole-group instruction is most appropriate when you want to introduce content to all students or maintain a sense of classroom community.

· When its essential to focus instruction on the learning of a smaller number of students, it may be necessary to group students by their levels of mastery of the material. Sometimes you can assign them to groups randomly or allow them to choose their groups.

· In grouping students, make sure that they get to work with all of their classmates, and don’t’ group them only based on their learning ability or success.

· Differentiating Large Group instruction:

o Have students work collaboratively

§ Collaborative Discussion Teams- can be used throughout the presentation. After a certain amount of time , 10-15 min., teams can respond to discussion questions, react to material presented, or predict what will happen or what is to be discussed next. Teams can then be called on to discuss their responses, At end of presentation, teams can summarize main points and check each others comprehension,

§ Send a problem- groups make up questions that are answered by other groups. This is done by developing a list of questions related to the material being presented , have them record the answers to the questions , and pass the questions from group to group.

§ Numbered Heads together- assign students to mixed ability groups, assign each group a number, break up the oral presentation by periodically asking the groups a question then choose a group number to call upon and have that group raise their hands. Next get someone from the group toi say the answer that the whole group had agreed upon.

§ Think-Pair-Share – 1) pair students randomly, 2) give students a question, problem, or situation; 3) ask individual students to think about the question; 4) have students discuss their responses with their partners; 5) select several pairs to share their thoughts and responses with the class.

o Encourage students to participate and ask questions

o Help students take notes

§ Strategic note-taking form- contains teacher prepared cues that guides students in taking notes and prompts them to use effective note-taking skills during oral presentations

§ Listening guide- a list of important terms and concepts that parallels the order in which they will be presented in class.Students add to list by writing supplemental info and supportive details.

§ aSkeleton/slot/frame outline- or guided notes present a sequential overview of the key terms and main points as an outline made up of incomplete statements with visual cues such as spaces, labels, and letters that can help students determine the amount and type of info to be recorded.

§ Highlighting main points- to help students determine important points to include in their notes, emphasize them by adjusting your pace and rate of speaking, pausing for attention, usinfg introductory phrases , and changing inflection.

· Oral quizzing is another method to help students identify important points. This is where the teacher alots time at the end of class to qsk and aswer questions related to the material presented.

§ Peer note takers and digital recorders- when selecting peer notetakers consider how well the students takes notes, their mastery of the material,be sensitive to those who need help taking notes. Digital recorders can be used by students to record the information that is presented in class and then listen to it after.

· Teach note taking skills and strategies

· Foster students listening skills

o Use cues p.338

o Listening materials

o Listening and learning strategies

· Gain and maintain students attention

· Motivate students

o Extrinsic motivation- taking actions as a result of external consequences such as tangible rewards and approval from others.

o Intrinsic motivation- refers to taking actions as a result of internally based consequences and is viewed as a higher level of motivation then extrinsic motivation. P.341 It is therefore a good idea when possible to use this type of motivation over extrinsic motivation and rewards.

· Create a supportive and Rewarding learning environment

· Offer a meaningful, interesting, age-appropriate, creative, interdisciplinary, and appropriately challenging curriculum and instructional program

o Problem-based learning- involves students working collaboratively to create and examine solutions to real – life and community based situations and problems.

o Students also enjoy learning about things that peeks their interest

o Involves students in the instructional phase so that they have greater commitment to and control over their learning which can increase motivation

§ Attribution training- involves teaching them to analyze the events and actions that ;ead to their success and failure.

o Give and solicit feedback- giving students feedback and soliciting feedback from them and their classmates involves and motivates students and builds academic relationships with them to supports their learning.

· Elements of Effective Teacher-Centereed Instruction

o 1)Establish the lesson’s purpose by explaining its goals and objectives

§ Anticipatory set- a statement or an enjoyable activity that sparks students’ interest by touching on their prior knowledge

o 2) Review prerequisite skills, and activate prior knowledge

o 3) Use task analysis, and introduce content in separate steps followed by practice

§ Task analysis- a systematic process of stating and sequencing the parts of a task to determine what subtasks must be performed to master the task.

o 4) Give clear, specific, and complete directions, explanations, and relevant examples

o 5) Provide time for active and guided practice

§ Practice activities provide all students with numerous opportunities to respond so that you can ensure that they have mastered the skill

§ Academic learning games- helps to motivate students to practice skills learned

o 6) Promote active responding and check for understanding

§ use questioning to check for understanding

§ Active student responding p.350

· Response cards

o 7) Give frequent, prompt, and specific feedback

§ Process feedback- you praise students and reinforce their answer by restating why it was correct

§ Corrective feedback- also refered to as error correction involves your identifying errors, showing students how to correct them, giving students the opportunity to engage in the corrective response, and acknowledging them for it.

§ General feedback- responses are identified simply as correct or incorrect

§ Right only feedback- only correct responses are identified

§ Wrong only feedback- only wrong responses are identified.

§ Instructive feedback- promotes learning by giving students extra info and teaching on the task or content.

§ Prompting

§ Praising

§ Student-Direct feedback- students can be taught and encouraged to use self-monitoring and self- correction skills to record and analyze their own progress.

o Element 8: Offer Time for Independent Activities

§ End lessons by giving students independent activities to do that help them practice the material just learned.

o Element 9: Summarize main points, and evaluate mastery, maintenance, and generalization

§ Homework is good way to evaluate

· CLasswide peer tutoring pg. 360

· Jigsaw- each group member has a particular job in the group

· Learning together approach