1. EDUC 242 - Instructional Strategies

8/12/2019 1. EDUC 242 - Instructional Strategies

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Seth Reicks

Instructional Strategies File

Education 269

Spring 2014

#1

Technique: Think-Pair-Share

Description: Think-Pair-Share is a versatile technique that works well in many situations, and I

see it as particularly useful as a technique for after reading a text. This strategy provides an

intermediary step between questioning and answering. Students are asked a question, given

time to think, then paired with a partner(s) to refine their answer by listening to the thoughts of

one or more of their peers, and then all of the groups can share aloud. The answers are more

likely to be detailed because of the extra step in the process (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 8).

Example of Use: When doing a unit plan assignment this semester in my Methods of

Secondary Education course, I incorporated a Think-Pair-Share for a marketing class after

having the students read a case study on Nikes marketing mix (the 4 Psproduct, price, place,

promotion), in which the students were to evaluate if they thought Nikes strategy was good

and why, or how it could be improved.

#2

Technique: Learning Stations

Description: Students work in small heterogeneous groups on tasks that are meant to

consolidate concepts that have been taught. The concepts are generally related to each other.

The stations allow the teacher more time to provide direct instruction to smaller groups of

students (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 9). I think this technique is more appropriate as an after

reading technique, because its use is usually intended to be after material has been learned or

taught, however, I think learning stations could also be used as a strategy during the reading.

Example of Use: In a software applications class I could set up learning stations for different

parts of Desktop Publisher or Photoshop. This would allow the groups to read and create the

product from the station, and afford me the time to go individually to the five or six groups to

provide them with individualized assistance as they are creating the assigned work.


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#3

Technique: Jigsaw

Description: Students are assigned to two groupsa home group and an expert group. Each

member of the home group is assigned a different text to read, and then the members of each

different home group that were assigned the same text gather together to discuss their

material. After collaborating to master the material, the members of the expert groups

reconvene back in their home groups with their teammates who are all now experts at a

different piece of information. The home groups then teach each other what they learned.

Example of Use: When doing a unit plan assignment this semester in my Methods of Secondary

Education course, I incorporated a jigsaw activity for a marketing class while covering the

production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept, and societal concept.

The students became experts on their assigned concept by reading the section in the book and

discussing it with their other expert group members. Then all of the experts met back in their

home groups and shared their knowledge.

#4

Technique: Quick Writes

Description: Quick writes are anticipatory activities in the form of brief writing tasks that are

done before reading in order to activate background knowledge and get students to think

about their own personal experiences. These are done at the beginning of an activity to initiate

a reading-writing connection (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 25). Quick writes are also handy

because they provide teachers with a chance to formatively pre-assess student knowledge, and

then utilize that information to help them know where to begin with the material.

Example of Use: I would like to use quick writes when delving into information in which

students will have to be able to form their own opinions that may vary from other students,

and will therefore require critical thinking and the ability to justify their reasoning. Debating

topics such as corporate social responsibility and ethics come to mind for me. When talking

about business ethics, I would like to begin by seeing what students think of when they think of

ethical behavior in business and what examples they can think of unethical business practices.

Doing an activity like this helps to get students thinking about the material, what they know


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about the topic, and what type of reflective thinking will be expected from them throughout

the lesson.

#5

Technique: K-W-L Chart

Description: A K-W-L chart is an anticipatory activity that activates prior knowledge by getting

students to formulate questions to guide their inquiry (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 35). When

creating a K-W-L chart, students write down what they know about a specified topic and what

they would like to learn. After the lesson is finished, students write down what they learned.

This is a technique that is done before reading since it is a good way to introduce a new unit of

study, because it allows the teacher to formatively pre-assess knowledge, allows students think

what areas within the lesson they are curious about exploring, and it also encourages them

think throughout the lesson about what they should be learning and recording.

Example of Use: I think that K-W-L charts are particularly useful in discussing specific people

and events that the students may have heard of and have some background knowledge with. I

would incorporate a K-W-L in an economics or finance class when discussing the Great

Depression or Great Recession. A K-W-L could also be useful in any business class when doing a

case study on a specific company or industry. In this instance, a K-W-L would allow me to see

what students know about that particular company or industry.

#6

Technique: Vocabulary Self-Awareness Chart

Description: A vocabulary self-awareness chart is a grid that lists the vocabulary terms, and

then has three columns for the students to place a checkmark based on if they know the term

well (can provide an example of the term and give a definition), somewhat know the term (can

either give an example or definition, but not both), or do not know the term (cant give an

example or definition). If the student knows the term well or somewhat, they fill in their

example and/or definition. As the lesson progresses, students should eventually checkmark the

box that indicates they know the word well and give an example and definition of the term.

This is an activity to incorporate before, during, and after reading. It is helpful before reading

as a pre-assessment and to introduce students to what they are expected to learn, during


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reading to provide students clues of what to look for, and after reading as a reference for

students.

Example of Use: Vocabulary self-awareness charts would translate to any subject because they

are a great way for students to access their own understanding and comfort with the terms at

the beginning of the lesson, and fill in the missing pieces of their comprehension as the lesson

progresses. I would specifically use vocabulary self-awareness charts in classes where there are

a lot of terms that your typical teenager doesnt encounter very often, such as the terms in a

personal finance classloans, interest, mortgage, depreciation, annuity, perpetuity, and fixed

and variable costs.

#7

Technique: Vocabulary Cards

Description: Vocabulary cards provide students the opportunity to create a visual

representation of what a word means to them. The vocabulary cards are created by dividing a

sheet of paper into a quadrant; in the top left quadrant the student records the vocabulary

term, in the top right the student defines the term in their own words, in the bottom left the

student creates a graphic representation of the word, and in the bottom right the student uses

the word in a sentence. This post-reading activity is useful after students have been presented

with the material and need to be able to store it into their memory. Vocabulary cards are good

for this purpose because they are similar to flash cards, except they provide students with their

own personal definition and visual representation of the word. Aside from quizzing themselves

on terms, vocabulary cards provide students with an easily accessible reference tool to use

when completing a task that requires an understanding of the vocabulary. The cards allow

students to concentrate on meaning, use, and representation of terms in order to make them a

part of their permanent vocabulary (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 54).

Example of Use: I would use vocabulary cards in a class where students will need to frequently

reference terms that are needed in order to complete a somewhat lengthy process (i.e. longer

than a class period). The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a business class where

my students would take part in a multi-step process is in an accounting class when students are

given a simulation of transactions to record. There are many terms related to the types of

transactions that need to be recorded into different accounts. Using vocabulary cards for these


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terms for the types of transactions and accounts will help to eventually make the bookkeeping

process become automatic for students by the end of the simulation.

#8

Technique: Questioning the Author (QtA)

Description: The questioning the author technique is a strategy that is done during and after

reading. This technique allows students to build meaning from the content by analyzing and

questioning the authors purpose in their writing. The questions are intended to serve as

prompts for the students to develop ideas and construct their own understanding. The teacher

should serve as a facilitator, guide, initiator, and even responder in this activity (Fischer and

Frey, 2011, p. 85-86).

Example of Use: Throughout the business classes that I may teacheconomics, accounting,

finance, marketing, entrepreneurshipI plan to regularly incorporate current events articles

related to the business field being studied. By bringing in news articles based on an authors

research, opinions, and predictions, I will spark lively debate amongst my students, in which

they will be required to relate the content they are learning in class to what the author is

arguing for or against. Questioning the author activities provide a structured way for students

to create deeper levels of understanding by formulating and justifying their own arguments and

counterarguments.

#9 and #10

Technique: Graphic Organizer

Description:Graphic organizers are ways to visually organize ideas to show the relationships

between the information; usually done by placing the terms or concepts into bubbles or

squares and drawing connecting lines between them (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 101). Graphic

organizers are handy tools to use at all phases of reading comprehensionbefore, during, and

after reading the text. They can be used beforehand to activate prior knowledge and introduce

students to what they will be learning, during reading as a means of taking notes, and after

reading in order to review the content (Fischer and Frey, 2011, p. 104).

#9


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Technique: Graphic OrganizerConcept Maps

Description: A concept map has a central theme or term with lines running off it that connect

to other ideas that are correlated to the main theme or term. The teacher shouldnt just

dictate the construction of the map for students to copy the information, but invite to students

to help create the map in order for them to be able to construct their own meaning (Fischer

and Frey, 2011, p. 106).

Example of Use: I would use a concept map in a class where there are broad concepts that are

composed of many smaller ideaseconomics comes to mind in this instance. For example,

when talking about exchanges, related ideas would include supply, demand, prices, costs,

complements, replacements, taxes, and price floors and ceilings.

#10

Technique: Graphic OrganizerFlow Diagram

Description: A flow diagram is a way to organize concepts or terms within shapes and using

connecting arrows in order to show the steps in a process, sequence or timeline (Fischer and

Frey, 2011, p. 106).

Example of Use: I would use a flow diagram in a course that involves specific procedures that

must be followedsuch as accounting. A flow diagram would be useful in in accounting

journals and financial statements and reports because of the many processes that must be

followed when recording and keeping track of expenses, loans, and sales.

Documents

1. EDUC 242 - Instructional Strategies