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A pre-learning tool that provides a context for the learning content. An advance organizer provides the learning content in a structure or framework that incorporates what the student already knows with what the teacher intends for the student to learn. Examples of advance organizers include but are not limited to graphic organizers, study guides, and chapter outlines.
Acronyms are invented letter combinations to cue memory. Each letter corresponds to one process in a chronological set of processes, such as the acronyms LISTEN (how to listen to a story) or HOW (how to neatly organize a paper), or to one idea in a set of related ideas, such as in NEAT (what to remember when you hand in a paper) or FRIENDS (ways to behave appropriately). Acrostics
are invented sentences where the first letter of each word in the
sentence provides a clue as to what needs to be remembered. Two
examples are EVERY
GOOD BOY DESERVES FUDGE (for remembering the lines in the G-clef
on sheet music) and MY
VERY EAGER MOTHER JUST SERVED US NINE PIES (for remembering
the order of the planets from the sun moving outwards). One way a child with a learning disability may acquire knowledge from printed materials is by listening to the content being read to him/her. Here are some specific ways:
Big ideas are the most essential information that the student must know at the end of the lesson, unit, or program. Kame'enui & Simmons (1999) describe "big ideas" as a curriculum design principle based on "concepts [or] principles … that facilitate the most efficient and broad acquisition of knowledge." Oftentimes, a student is expected to connect many separate pieces of information to form general knowledge of a concept. Capturing the big idea or big picture means that the student has grasped the most important details of a lesson, and can connect specific details acquired from that lesson to the general idea that the teacher wants the student to walk away with. To use big ideas for designing curriculum and instruction, follow these guidelines:
An example of how big ideas/big pictures is used in a classroom may be as follows: a teacher shapes the curriculum and instruction in his science class so that the big ideas of each lesson connect to the big ideas of the unit, which in turn leads to a broad understanding of a concept on which a student is expected to demonstrate knowledge in order to advance to the next grade. A skeleton of a chapter in a textbook. A chapter outline breaks the content of the chapter into parts and subparts, highlighting important general ideas and details that the student should learn. A chapter outline may serve as a kind of study guide and vice-versa.
Check lists A daily/weekly planner for day-to-day scheduling, and a calendar or monthly planner for long-term scheduling. These tools provide a natural structure for creating "to do" lists, checklists, and scheduling of homework assignments, projects, tests, and papers, and other school-related assignments. Such time management tools need not be purchased; they can also be personally created. In using these tools, however, it is important for the student to use them routinely; that is, the student should use her planner, for example, for all her assignments in all her classes (not just in her English class), and should refer to it daily to monitor work progress, update new assignments, and check off completed assignments. Concept maps Concept maps, also referred to as concept diagrams, content maps, semantic diagrams, or semantic maps, are often first used as a prelearning tool. A concept map visually captures what the student already knows about the learning topic (see examples provided), and by brainstorming further ideas about the topic with the student, the map begins to provide a context in which the student may think about the topic. The map may then serve as an ongoing activity and a "living" visual aid for the student to continue learning about and studying the topic, and finally as a review tool for the student to ensure that s/he has gained understanding of the topic. For further information on concept mapping, link to http://www.utc.edu/Teaching-Resource-Center/concepts.html.
Contracts A study/learning contract is a physical prompt for self-monitoring and goal planning. When a student enters into a contract, s/he agrees to meet a goal within a certain period of time and will be rewarded for meeting that goal by the due date. Building in specific features and processes for meeting the goal outlined in the contract, such as the steps that need to be taken in order to meet the goal (analyzing the tasks that need to occur that lead up to the finished product), the materials/tools needed to meet the goal, a schedule of mini-deadlines leading up to the final deadline, would better enhance the contract and serve as a more comprehensive "game plan" for the student. The contract should be created between the student and teacher, and would be greatly fortified with input from the student's parents. A discussion web (Bos & Vaughn, 1998, taken from Alvermann, 1991) taps into the student's critical thinking skills and enhances those skills by organizing and visually displaying both sides of an argument. A discussion web may be useful when for example a student is learning the pros and cons of legalizing marijuana, whether the electoral college should be abolished, or ethical considerations involving cloning.
Similar to strategic integration, elaborative instruction (also called elaborative interrogation) also calls on the child's background knowledge to learn new information. Unlike strategic integration, however, elaborative instruction is primarily used to learn sets of facts and paragraphs of factual information through a series of "why" questions (e.g., "Why does this statement make sense?" "Why is this statement true?") (Wood, Woloshyn, & Willoughby, 1995). In order to utilize this learning strategy, the student must have prior knowledge relevant to the concept being learned. The student is reminded to use his/her prior knowledge to answer why a factual statement is true. Elaborative instruction has been used in science (a study of plants, Woloshyn, Paivio, & Pressley, 1994), social studies (fact lists on geography and gender topics, (Pressley et al., 1988), and short, nonfiction reading passages (Wood, Willoughby, Kasper, & Idle, 1994). There are many ways of using flash cards (created from blank index cards) to learn and retain knowledge. The following are two related examples that involve the use of flash cards: Keeping a stack of index cards and a pen or pencil next to you, do the following:
Use the FIRST strategy to design an acronym or acrostic (under "Select a mnemonic device …."):
A kind of advance organizer. A graphic organizer displays what the student already knows about the learning topic prior to the lesson, indicates what the student is expected to learn, and captures what the student has learned at the end of the lesson. Examples of graphic organizers include but are not limited to story maps, discussion webs, and relationship charts.
The way in which a person perceives, transforms, reduces, elaborates, stores, retrieves, and uses information (Bos & Vaughn, 1998, taken from Atkinson & Shiffin, 1968; Neisser, 1976; Swanson, 1996). What a person does with information. "Awareness
and conscious regulation of one's own thinking and learning" (Wood,
Woloshyn, & Willoughby, 1995). The way in which a learner plans,
monitors, and controls his/her thinking. Metacognitive strategies
are used when a learner lays out plans to write a paper or study
for a test, stops and asks him/herself "Do I understand what's going
on?" when reading, and figures out another way to problem solve
if the strategy s/he is using does not appear to be working. Mnemonics Mnemonics are memory aids used to enhance recall of information. According to Bos & Vaughn (1998), mnemonic strategies "can be grouped into three types: organization and association, visualization or mental imagery, and rehearsal" (p. 318). Organization and association refers to how we categorize and place information in our minds. If we were given a random list of words, for example, we would chunk them into categories that would make sense to us so that we could accurately recall them. Acrostics and acronyms are other strategies that relate to the organization and association of information. Visualization and mental imagery are often used when learning vocabulary or memorizing specific dates or events. In the case of learning a new vocabulary word, a student pictures an interaction between the concept and the definition. In the case of memorizing the date of a specific event in history, the student pictures an image that triggers the event and then attaches another pictorial trigger that would recall the date of the event. For further examples of how to use mnemonics, link to http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/memory.htm. The relationship chart (also known as a relationship map) is similar to the story map; it provides an organized visual display of concepts, related vocabulary and the student's background knowledge of the learning content in a given chapter, lecture, or unit (Bos & Vaughn, 1998). Featured in relationship charts are examples and nonexamples of the learning topic, highlighting whether positive, negative, or nonexistent relationships exist among concepts and related vocabulary. Bos & Vaughn (1998) provide a detailed explanation of how a relationship chart is used in a classroom. For further ideas about relationship maps, link to http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/mapping.htm.
"Organized knowledge structures in memory" (Wood, Woloshyn, & Willoughby, 1995) that provide a context for processing information. Personal knowledge that helps organize new information. When a person reads a story, s/he frames the story in a context with which s/he is familiar. For example, if one were reading about a person grocery shopping, the reader may conjure up his last grocery shopping experience. If a student is reading far below the level of the textbook or content material used in class, Schumm & Strickler (1991) recommend the following:
SQ3R The
SQR3 method is survey, question, read, recite, review.
SQR3 is a technique that can be used alone or very effectively in pairs or small groups. Using this technique in a cooperative group, for example, can enhance student's understanding becuase of the chance to gain multiple perspectives and discuss how the information relates to other ideas. It is important that students attend to each stage of SQR3 and document their thoughts and ideas. Story
maps Strategic integration is described as "the carefully controlled combination of what the student already knows with what he or she has to learn so that the relationship between these two elements is clear and results in new or more complete knowledge" (Kame'enui & Simmons, 1999). Proper use of strategic integration incorporates new information with the child's pre-existing knowledge, ensuring that critical connections are made between the pre-existing and new information without confusing the child. Some of the critical features of this teaching principle include:
A learning and study tool used to highlight important ideas in a reading selection and to monitor the student's comprehension of the selection. A study guide often accompanies a chapter in a textbook and is frequently used for the student to prepare for a chapter or unit test. It may be a series of questions and/or activities that the student completes as s/he reads the selection. A study guide enhances the reading material, but does not replace it.
Some students have difficulty distinguishing important information from nonimportant information in a textbook or reading material. Underlining or highlighting key points may direct the student to focus on appropriate and pertinent details.
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