http://edge.ascd.org/service/getFeed.kickAction?quantity=25 New blogs from Judith_Willis on ASCD EDge Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:21:41 GMT Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:21:41 GMT website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) website@ascd.org (ascdAdmin) KickApps Feed Builder 2012-11-28T04:21:41Z 32 http://edge.ascd.org/service/searchEverything.kickAction?as=127586&sortType=recent&tags=null 0 http://edge.ascd.org/_Bilingual-Brains-Smarter-38-Faster/blog/6479311/127586.html Psychology Today Published on November 22, 2012 by Dr. Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed. in Radical Teaching http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster   Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster     http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster       By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.   A Gift Parents Can Give Children that Money Can’t Buy Recent studies of children who grow up in bilingual settings reveal advantages over single language children, including both increased attentive focus and cognition. The findings correlate with prefrontal cortex brain activity networks, which direct the highest levels of thinking and awareness.   Compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback. The correlated neuroimaging (fMRI scans) of these children revealed greater activity in the prefrontal cortex networks directing these and other executive functions. (Bialystok, 2009; Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2007).   This increased executive function activation in the brains of children in bilingual settings extends beyond the translation of language intake and output. The powerful implications of the new research are about brainpower enhanced by growing up bilingual. The Brain’s CEO is a Late Bloomer   The networks that appear more active in the brains of bilingual children are part of the brain’s CEO networks, called executive functions. These are a constellation of cognitive abilities that support goal-oriented behavior including directing attentive focus, prioritizing, planning, self-monitoring, inhibitory control, judgment, working memory (maintenance and manipulation of information), and analysis.   It is not during the first months or even years of life that the brain undergoes its greatest changes with regard to cognition. These neural networks of executive functions are the last regions of the brain to “mature” as recognized by the pruning of unused circuits and the myelination of the most active networks that as they become stronger and more efficient. Executive functions such as selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are typically minimally developed in childhood. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation into the mid twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting.  What is Happening in the Brains in Bilingual Settings?   This aspect of bilingual research has focused on bilingual upbringing with one language spoken at home that is not the same as the dominant language of the country. The interpretations of researchers, such as Ellen Bialystok who compared responses of 6-year olds from bilingual and monolingual homes, suggest the bilingual brain is highly engaged in the cognitive challenge of evaluating between the two competing language systems. This requires executive function attention selecting and focusing on the language being used while intentionally inhibiting the activity of the competing language system.   When bilingual brains evaluate language, control and storage networks of both their languages are active and available. This ongoing processing, that seems instantaneous, is not reflexive or unconscious. It requires deliberate focus of attention on specific input and withholding of focus from simultaneous distracting input to analyze the language being used. Their brains need to evaluate and determine not only the meaning of words, but also which patterns of sentence structure and grammar apply and recognize nuances of pronunciation unique to the language of focus.   Bialystok describes this massive activity as exercising the executive functions early in bilinguals at work to decipher these multiple codes within each language. These control networks make choices, such as which memory storage circuits are the language-correct ones to activate from which to select the correct word, syntax, and pronunciation. The choices are demanding of a CEO that can simultaneously direct where ongoing new input is sent for successful evaluation and activate the correct language storage banks to use for response. These executive functions simultaneously coordinate the evaluation of the content of the messages and direct the response to that information. Implications for Brighter Starts   One of the most significant implications of the bilingual research is the recognition that even very young children’s executive functions appear responsive to exercise which strengthens them for future use. An example from the research is these children’s higher scores on cognitive testing.   This incoming research supports encouraging parents to retain use of their native language in the home, but too often, social pressures and mistaken beliefs often limit children benefiting from the bilingual brain booster.   One problem is parents concern that exposure to one language is less confusing for children. When I taught fifth grade in a school where most of the students’ primary language was Spanish, I recall recently immigrated parents of my students telling me that although they were just learning English, they tried to only speak English at home with their children. They felt that would help their children learn English more successfully and believed that exposure to two languages would be confusing and make the transition to their new schools more difficult. Another issue limiting the bilingual experiences was children’s desire to fit in. As my students’ English fluency improved, they would sometimes be asked by their parents to translate from English to Spanish during school conferences or meetings. When they did so, such as during “Back to School Night”, many were clearly embarrassed that their parents didn’t speak English and even tried to avoid having classmates hear them speak Spanish to their parents. When I would ask them about their reluctance, some would tell me that it made their parents seem “ignorant” when they did not speak English. My urging of parents to sustain the bilingual experience by speaking Spanish with their children in the home was thus resisted as children began to develop this bias against their native language.   The mistaken parental beliefs about confusing the brain with two languages and the response to their children’s negative responses to their native language cause these children to miss out on a unique and powerful opportunity to strengthen their highest cognitive brain potentials. One intervention educators and others in the community can do to avoid loss of the bilingual boost is to explain to new immigrants about the research and the strong impact they can have on their children’s academic success by retaining their native language in the home.   The other intervention is to lay to rest the mistaken assumption that the brain has limitations that are overwhelmed with duel language exposure. The more we learn about neuroplasticity, the more it appears the reverse is true. Experiences with new domains of challenge in general seem to strengthen the brain’s executive functions and cognition. This is evident on neuroimaging as well as in performance on the cognitive testing, reading comprehension, and success learning subsequent new languages. New challenges that include the use of judgment, analysis, deduction, translation, prioritizing, attention focusing, inhibitory control, delayed gratification, and pursuit of long-term goals are associated with increasing the number, strength, and efficiency of the executive function networks.   Just like our muscles become stronger with physical workouts, the developing brains of children in bilingual environments appear to build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks. This is the “neurons that fire together, wire together” phenomenon that in response to the electrical activations of messages traveling through them when used, executive function networks develop stronger connections – dendrites, synapses, and myelinated axons. For now, it appears that when families have another language that can be spoken in the home where children are being raised it could be an opportunity to both enrich their language skills and also provide a cognitive boost for their highest brain networks of executive functions.   The implications of the bilingual research raise considerations of what other early exposures before and during school years can be designed to promote these executive function activations in all children. What are the implications regarding introducing second languages to young children from monolingual homes? Perhaps grandparents, nannies, friendships with families who speak another language could spend time with the children, or parents could participate in parent-child language classes suitable for youngsters such as learning and singing songs with movements in another language.   Does the bilingual benefit on cognition also work on older children and adults who learn second languages to the point of fluency? I’ll address some of these questions in my next blog, including the relationship of executive function activation and building new networks of learning with reduction in the manifestations of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.    Psychology Today Published on November 22, 2012 by Dr. Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed. in Radical Teaching http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster   Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster     http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster       By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.   A Gift Parents Can Give Children that Money Can’t Buy Recent studies of children who grow up in bilingual settings reveal advantages over single language children, including both increased attentive focus and cognition. The findings correlate with prefrontal cortex brain activity networks, which direct the highest levels of thinking and awareness.   Compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback. The correlated neuroimaging (fMRI scans) of these children revealed greater activity in the prefrontal cortex networks directing these and other executive functions. (Bialystok, 2009; Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2007).   This increased executive function activation in the brains of children in bilingual settings extends beyond the translation of language intake and output. The powerful implications of the new research are about brainpower enhanced by growing up bilingual. The Brain’s CEO is a Late Bloomer   The networks that appear more active in the brains of bilingual children are part of the brain’s CEO networks, called executive functions. These are a constellation of cognitive abilities that support goal-oriented behavior including directing attentive focus, prioritizing, planning, self-monitoring, inhibitory control, judgment, working memory (maintenance and manipulation of information), and analysis.   It is not during the first months or even years of life that the brain undergoes its greatest changes with regard to cognition. These neural networks of executive functions are the last regions of the brain to “mature” as recognized by the pruning of unused circuits and the myelination of the most active networks that as they become stronger and more efficient. Executive functions such as selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are typically minimally developed in childhood. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation into the mid twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting.  What is Happening in the Brains in Bilingual Settings?   This aspect of bilingual research has focused on bilingual upbringing with one language spoken at home that is not the same as the dominant language of the country. The interpretations of researchers, such as Ellen Bialystok who compared responses of 6-year olds from bilingual and monolingual homes, suggest the bilingual brain is highly engaged in the cognitive challenge of evaluating between the two competing language systems. This requires executive function attention selecting and focusing on the language being used while intentionally inhibiting the activity of the competing language system.   When bilingual brains evaluate language, control and storage networks of both their languages are active and available. This ongoing processing, that seems instantaneous, is not reflexive or unconscious. It requires deliberate focus of attention on specific input and withholding of focus from simultaneous distracting input to analyze the language being used. Their brains need to evaluate and determine not only the meaning of words, but also which patterns of sentence structure and grammar apply and recognize nuances of pronunciation unique to the language of focus.   Bialystok describes this massive activity as exercising the executive functions early in bilinguals at work to decipher these multiple codes within each language. These control networks make choices, such as which memory storage circuits are the language-correct ones to activate from which to select the correct word, syntax, and pronunciation. The choices are demanding of a CEO that can simultaneously direct where ongoing new input is sent for successful evaluation and activate the correct language storage banks to use for response. These executive functions simultaneously coordinate the evaluation of the content of the messages and direct the response to that information. Implications for Brighter Starts   One of the most significant implications of the bilingual research is the recognition that even very young children’s executive functions appear responsive to exercise which strengthens them for future use. An example from the research is these children’s higher scores on cognitive testing.   This incoming research supports encouraging parents to retain use of their native language in the home, but too often, social pressures and mistaken beliefs often limit children benefiting from the bilingual brain booster.   One problem is parents concern that exposure to one language is less confusing for children. When I taught fifth grade in a school where most of the students’ primary language was Spanish, I recall recently immigrated parents of my students telling me that although they were just learning English, they tried to only speak English at home with their children. They felt that would help their children learn English more successfully and believed that exposure to two languages would be confusing and make the transition to their new schools more difficult. Another issue limiting the bilingual experiences was children’s desire to fit in. As my students’ English fluency improved, they would sometimes be asked by their parents to translate from English to Spanish during school conferences or meetings. When they did so, such as during “Back to School Night”, many were clearly embarrassed that their parents didn’t speak English and even tried to avoid having classmates hear them speak Spanish to their parents. When I would ask them about their reluctance, some would tell me that it made their parents seem “ignorant” when they did not speak English. My urging of parents to sustain the bilingual experience by speaking Spanish with their children in the home was thus resisted as children began to develop this bias against their native language.   The mistaken parental beliefs about confusing the brain with two languages and the response to their children’s negative responses to their native language cause these children to miss out on a unique and powerful opportunity to strengthen their highest cognitive brain potentials. One intervention educators and others in the community can do to avoid loss of the bilingual boost is to explain to new immigrants about the research and the strong impact they can have on their children’s academic success by retaining their native language in the home.   The other intervention is to lay to rest the mistaken assumption that the brain has limitations that are overwhelmed with duel language exposure. The more we learn about neuroplasticity, the more it appears the reverse is true. Experiences with new domains of challenge in general seem to strengthen the brain’s executive functions and cognition. This is evident on neuroimaging as well as in performance on the cognitive testing, reading comprehension, and success learning subsequent new languages. New challenges that include the use of judgment, analysis, deduction, translation, prioritizing, attention focusing, inhibitory control, delayed gratification, and pursuit of long-term goals are associated with increasing the number, strength, and efficiency of the executive function networks.   Just like our muscles become stronger with physical workouts, the developing brains of children in bilingual environments appear to build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks. This is the “neurons that fire together, wire together” phenomenon that in response to the electrical activations of messages traveling through them when used, executive function networks develop stronger connections – dendrites, synapses, and myelinated axons. For now, it appears that when families have another language that can be spoken in the home where children are being raised it could be an opportunity to both enrich their language skills and also provide a cognitive boost for their highest brain networks of executive functions.   The implications of the bilingual research raise considerations of what other early exposures before and during school years can be designed to promote these executive function activations in all children. What are the implications regarding introducing second languages to young children from monolingual homes? Perhaps grandparents, nannies, friendships with families who speak another language could spend time with the children, or parents could participate in parent-child language classes suitable for youngsters such as learning and singing songs with movements in another language.   Does the bilingual benefit on cognition also work on older children and adults who learn second languages to the point of fluency? I’ll address some of these questions in my next blog, including the relationship of executive function activation and building new networks of learning with reduction in the manifestations of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.    Wed, 28 Nov 2012 04:21:41 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Bilingual-Brains-Smarter-38-Faster/blog/6479311/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-11-28T04:21:41Z Blogs ASCD EDge Psychology Today Published on November 22, 2012 by Dr. Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed. in Radical Teaching http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster   Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster     http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201211/bilingual-brains-smarter-faster       By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.   A Gift Parents Can Give Children that Money Can’t Buy Recent studies of children who grow up in bilingual settings reveal advantages over single language children, including both increased attentive focus and cognition. The findings correlate with prefrontal cortex brain activity networks, which direct the highest levels of thinking and awareness.   Compared to monolinguals, the studied bilingual children, who had had five to ten years of bilingual exposure, averaged higher scores in cognitive performance on tests and had greater attention focus, distraction resistance, decision-making, judgment and responsiveness to feedback. The correlated neuroimaging (fMRI scans) of these children revealed greater activity in the prefrontal cortex networks directing these and other executive functions. (Bialystok, 2009; Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2007).   This increased executive function activation in the brains of children in bilingual settings extends beyond the translation of language intake and output. The powerful implications of the new research are about brainpower enhanced by growing up bilingual. The Brain’s CEO is a Late Bloomer   The networks that appear more active in the brains of bilingual children are part of the brain’s CEO networks, called executive functions. These are a constellation of cognitive abilities that support goal-oriented behavior including directing attentive focus, prioritizing, planning, self-monitoring, inhibitory control, judgment, working memory (maintenance and manipulation of information), and analysis.   It is not during the first months or even years of life that the brain undergoes its greatest changes with regard to cognition. These neural networks of executive functions are the last regions of the brain to “mature” as recognized by the pruning of unused circuits and the myelination of the most active networks that as they become stronger and more efficient. Executive functions such as selective attentive focus and the ability to block out distraction are typically minimally developed in childhood. These functions gradually become stronger throughout the years of prefrontal cortex maturation into the mid twenties. It is with regard to these executive functions that research about the "bilingual brain" is particularly exciting.  What is Happening in the Brains in Bilingual Settings?   This aspect of bilingual research has focused on bilingual upbringing with one language spoken at home that is not the same as the dominant language of the country. The interpretations of researchers, such as Ellen Bialystok who compared responses of 6-year olds from bilingual and monolingual homes, suggest the bilingual brain is highly engaged in the cognitive challenge of evaluating between the two competing language systems. This requires executive function attention selecting and focusing on the language being used while intentionally inhibiting the activity of the competing language system.   When bilingual brains evaluate language, control and storage networks of both their languages are active and available. This ongoing processing, that seems instantaneous, is not reflexive or unconscious. It requires deliberate focus of attention on specific input and withholding of focus from simultaneous distracting input to analyze the language being used. Their brains need to evaluate and determine not only the meaning of words, but also which patterns of sentence structure and grammar apply and recognize nuances of pronunciation unique to the language of focus.   Bialystok describes this massive activity as exercising the executive functions early in bilinguals at work to decipher these multiple codes within each language. These control networks make choices, such as which memory storage circuits are the language-correct ones to activate from which to select the correct word, syntax, and pronunciation. The choices are demanding of a CEO that can simultaneously direct where ongoing new input is sent for successful evaluation and activate the correct language storage banks to use for response. These executive functions simultaneously coordinate the evaluation of the content of the messages and direct the response to that information. Implications for Brighter Starts   One of the most significant implications of the bilingual research is the recognition that even very young children’s executive functions appear responsive to exercise which strengthens them for future use. An example from the research is these children’s higher scores on cognitive testing.   This incoming research supports encouraging parents to retain use of their native language in the home, but too often, social pressures and mistaken beliefs often limit children benefiting from the bilingual brain booster.   One problem is parents concern that exposure to one language is less confusing for children. When I taught fifth grade in a school where most of the students’ primary language was Spanish, I recall recently immigrated parents of my students telling me that although they were just learning English, they tried to only speak English at home with their children. They felt that would help their children learn English more successfully and believed that exposure to two languages would be confusing and make the transition to their new schools more difficult. Another issue limiting the bilingual experiences was children’s desire to fit in. As my students’ English fluency improved, they would sometimes be asked by their parents to translate from English to Spanish during school conferences or meetings. When they did so, such as during “Back to School Night”, many were clearly embarrassed that their parents didn’t speak English and even tried to avoid having classmates hear them speak Spanish to their parents. When I would ask them about their reluctance, some would tell me that it made their parents seem “ignorant” when they did not speak English. My urging of parents to sustain the bilingual experience by speaking Spanish with their children in the home was thus resisted as children began to develop this bias against their native language.   The mistaken parental beliefs about confusing the brain with two languages and the response to their children’s negative responses to their native language cause these children to miss out on a unique and powerful opportunity to strengthen their highest cognitive brain potentials. One intervention educators and others in the community can do to avoid loss of the bilingual boost is to explain to new immigrants about the research and the strong impact they can have on their children’s academic success by retaining their native language in the home.   The other intervention is to lay to rest the mistaken assumption that the brain has limitations that are overwhelmed with duel language exposure. The more we learn about neuroplasticity, the more it appears the reverse is true. Experiences with new domains of challenge in general seem to strengthen the brain’s executive functions and cognition. This is evident on neuroimaging as well as in performance on the cognitive testing, reading comprehension, and success learning subsequent new languages. New challenges that include the use of judgment, analysis, deduction, translation, prioritizing, attention focusing, inhibitory control, delayed gratification, and pursuit of long-term goals are associated with increasing the number, strength, and efficiency of the executive function networks.   Just like our muscles become stronger with physical workouts, the developing brains of children in bilingual environments appear to build strength, speed, and efficiency in their executive function networks. This is the “neurons that fire together, wire together” phenomenon that in response to the electrical activations of messages traveling through them when used, executive function networks develop stronger connections – dendrites, synapses, and myelinated axons. For now, it appears that when families have another language that can be spoken in the home where children are being raised it could be an opportunity to both enrich their language skills and also provide a cognitive boost for their highest brain networks of executive functions.   The implications of the bilingual research raise considerations of what other early exposures before and during school years can be designed to promote these executive function activations in all children. What are the implications regarding introducing second languages to young children from monolingual homes? Perhaps grandparents, nannies, friendships with families who speak another language could spend time with the children, or parents could participate in parent-child language classes suitable for youngsters such as learning and singing songs with movements in another language.   Does the bilingual benefit on cognition also work on older children and adults who learn second languages to the point of fluency? I’ll address some of these questions in my next blog, including the relationship of executive function activation and building new networks of learning with reduction in the manifestations of cognitive degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.    blogs nonadult false Bilingual Brains – Smarter & Faster text blog blogs 2063 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Blogs 0 6479311 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Primer-Neuroscience-and-Teaching-Strategies/blog/6102809/127586.html Judy Willis, M.D. M.Ed.jwillisneuro@aol.comwww.RADTeach.com                                  A Primer for Use in Teacher Education about the Neuroscience of Learning   Why Teacher Education Should Include Neuroscience      The neuroscience of how the brain learns and what influences the most successful brain acquisition and application of learning should be included in all teacher education programs.  Teachers need to be prepared with foundational knowledge to understand, evaluate, and apply the neuroscience of learning. With this knowledge they will be able to recognize future implications from this rapidly expanding field of research to increase the effectiveness of their teaching and build and sustain students’ joy of learning.      Teacher education needs to prepare tomorrow’s teachers with the knowledge and tools to prepare their future students for the game-changing realities globalization. The new common core standards align well with the preparation for students need to be prepared with the thinking skills already sought by employers. These skillsets are those described in the neurology literature for almost 100 years, and they remain the brain networks that can be strengthened so all students can participate in the opportunities and challenges in higher education, vocations, a global society.       Neuroscience is on the vanguard of producing research of increased quality and applicability to education. Functional neuroimaging gives us insight into what circumstances and sensory input most successfully promote the brain’s acquisition of new knowledge. Among those insights is evidence of increased metabolic activity in identifiable networks neural networks when information is encoded into memory, when memories are retrieved, and when executive functions use is associated with increased neural circuit activity in the prefrontal cortex.       Correlations to neuroscience research have yielded strategies most consistent with brain’s information processing now “visible” with functional neuroimaging. For example, when information is presented in ways that emphasize relationships to existing stored memory, the brain’s own patterning system increases successful memory acquisition.Teachers need to understand the why and not just the how of the most effective teaching strategies to have the motivation and positive expectations to best utilize these strategies. These topics include how the brain “pays attention”, encodes new input into working memory, uses neuroplasticity to construct long-term memory, is influenced by stress, and develops its neural networks of executive functions.       Especially critical is teacher awareness of the vast potentials of neuroplasticity that increases their opportunities to influence the development of their students’ brain networks of executive functions – their highest cognitive skillsets. Teachers with foundational understanding about the neuroscience and cognitive science of how the brain turns input into long-term memory and memory into transferable knowledge, will be the most prepared to guide all students to achieve their highest potentials.                   A Primer about the Neuroscience of Learning     Teachers are the caretakers of the development of students’ highest brain during the years of its most extensive changes. As such, they have the privilege and opportunity to influence the quality and quantity of neuronal and connective pathways so all children leave school with their brains optimized for future success.This introduction to the basics of the neuroscience of learning includes information that should be included in all teacher education programs. It is intentionally brief such that it can be taught in a single day of instruction. Ideally there would be additional opportunities for future teachers to pursue further inquiry into the science of how the brain learns, retrieves, and applies information. Teaching Grows Brain Cells    IQ is not fixed at birth and brain development and intelligence are “plastic” in that internal and environmental stimuli constantly change the structure and function of neurons and their connections. Teachers have the opportunity to help all children build their brains beyond what was previously believed to be fixed limits based on learning disabilities or the predictions of test scores or achievements.     It was once believed that brain cell growth stops after age twenty. We now know that through neuroplasticity, interneuron connections (dendrites, synapses, and myelin coating) continue to be pruned or constructed in response to learning and experiences throughout our lives.     These physical changes of brain self-reconstruction in response to experiences including sensory input, emotions, conscious and unconscious thoughts are so responsive that human potential for increased knowledge, physical skills, and “talent” in the arts is essentially limitless. There are conditions associated with the most successful strengthening of neural networks, such as guided instruction and practice with frequent corrective feedback. As neuroscience research continues more information will be available to guide teachers providing the brain with the experiences best suited to maximize its learning and proficiency.High Stress Restricts Brain Processing to the Survival State     The prefrontal cortex, where the higher thinking processes of executive functions (judgment, critical analysis, prioritizing) is also the CEO that can manage and control our emotions. Like the rest of the PFC it is still undergoing maturation throughout the school years. Students do not have the adult brain’s developed circuits of reflection, judgment, and gratification delay to overcome the lower brain’s strong influence.      Neuroimaging research reveals that a structure in the emotion sensitive limbic system is a switching-station that determines which part of the brain will receive input and determine response output. Brain-based research has demonstrated that new information cannot pass through the amygdala (part of the limbic system) to enter the frontal lobe if the amygdala is in the state of high metabolism or overactivity provoked by anxiety. It is important for teachers to know that when stress cuts off flow to and from the PFC, behavior is involuntary. It is not students’ choice in the reactive state when they “act out” and “zone out”.     Through interventions to go beyond differentiation to individualization (see article about video game model) it is possible to decrease the stressors of frustration from work perceived as too difficult or boredom from repeated instruction after mastery is achieved. Further information from neuroscience research reveals other causes of the high stress state in school and suggests interventions to reduce the stress blocking response in the amygdala.Memory is Constructed and Stored by Patterning      The brain turns data from the senses into learned information in the hippocampus. This encoding process requires activation or prior knowledge with a similar “pattern” to physically link with the new input if a short-term memory is to be constructed. The neuroimaging research supported by cognitive testing reveals that the most successful construction of working (short-term) memory takes place when there has been activation of the brain’s related prior knowledge before new information is taught.      When teachers work to clearly demonstrate the patterns, connections, and relationships that exist between new and old learning (e.g. cross-curricular studies, graphic organizers, spiraled curriculum) the probability of encoding increases. Teachers can help students increase working memory efficiency through a variety of interventions correlated with neuroimaging responses. For example, with opportunities to make predictions, receive timely feedback, and reflect on those experiences. These experiences appear to be increase executive function facilitation of working memory, such as guiding the selection of the most important information hold in working memory.Memory is Sustained by Use     Once and encoded short-term memory is constructed it still needs to be activated multiple times and ideally in response to a variety of prompts for neuroplasticity to increase its durability. Each time students participate in any endeavor, a certain number of neurons are activated.  When they repeat the action, the same neurons respond again.  The more times they repeat an action, the more dendrites grow and interconnect, resulting in greater memory storage and recall efficiency.      Retention is further promoted when new memories are connected to other stored memories based on commonalities, such as similarities/differences, especially when students use graphic organizers and derive their own connections. Multisensory instruction, practice, and review promote memory storage in multiple regions of the cortex, based on the type of sensory input by which they were learned and practiced. These are distant storage centers are linked to each other such that triggering one sensory memory activates the others.  This duplication results of storage increases the efficiency of subsequent retrieval as a variety of cues prompt activation of different access points to the extended memory map.     The construction of concept memory networks requires opportunities for students to transfer learning beyond the contexts in which it is learned and practiced. When information learned and stored in its own isolated circuit it is only accessible by the same stimuli through which it was obtained. These transfer activities activate memories to new stimuli and with other knowledge to solve novel problems. These simultaneous activations promote extended connections among memories that are the larger concept memory networks most applicable to future use.     Pattern recognition facilitation and opportunities for knowledge transfer extends the brain’s processing efficiency for greater access to and application of its accumulated learning. These teaching interventions will prepare graduates for future incorporation and extension of new information as it is becomes available. Students who have the guided learning experiences needed to construct concept memory networks will be have the best preparation for their futures. As the information pool expands, these students will continue to comprehend new information, consolidate it into their neural networks, and recognize, develop, and globally disseminate its new applications. The Future      As the research continues to build, it will be the obligation of those who prepare our future teachers to insure they understand and can apply the best current and future teaching strategies. This includes insuring that the teachers who graduate from their programs have the foundational neuroscience knowledge to use the fruits of the expanding pool of research to the betterment of all their own future students. That is a fascinating and exciting challenge to meet at a pivotal time in the evolution of education.ReferencesThe references used for this article are listed here. The published version of this article required that format. I can provide the specific annotations if needed. In addition, since it was written in 2005, newer research is now available on all topics described and incorporated in the articles I’ve written on these topics in recent rears. Teachers with neuroscience foundational knowledge will be able to seek, evaluate, and apply that subsequent and future research. Andreasen, E (1999) Human Brain Mapping, 8(4), 226-234. Wiley-Liss, Inc. Iowa City,   Iowa.Ashby, C. R., Thanos, P. K., Katana, J. M., Michaelides, E. L., Gardner, C. A., Heidbreder, N. D. (1999) The selective dopamine antagonist. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Christianson, S.A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2), 284-309).Chugani H (1998) Biological Basis of Emotions: Brain Systems and Brain Development. Pediatrics 102:1225-1229Dulay, H. and M. Burt. 1977: "Remarks on creativity in language acquisition". In Viewpoints on English as a second Language. (Ed.) M. Burt , H. Dulay and M. Finocchiaro. New York. Regents.Introini-Collision, I.Bl, Miyazaki, B., & McGaugh, J.L. (1991). Involvement of the amygdala in the memory-enhancing effects of clenbuterol. Psychopharmacology, 104(4) 541-544.Kato, N. and McEwen, B. (2003). Neuromechanisms of emotions and memory. Neuroendocrinology. 11,03. 54-58.Kohn, A., (2004). The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy. Education Week 9/15/04.      Krashen, Steven (1982) "Theory Versus Practice in Language Training" InnovativeApproaches to Language Teaching, ed. Robert W. Blair. Rowley: Newbury, 1982 p 25-  27.McGillivray, S. and Castel, A. (2011).Betting on Memory Leads to Metacognitive Improvement by Younger and Older Adults. Psychology and Aging, Vol. 26, No. 1, 137–144.Pawlak, R., Magarinos, A. M., Melchor, J., McEwen, B., & Strickland, S. (Feb. 2003). Tissue plasminogen activator in the amygdala is critical for stress-induced anxiety-like behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 168 – 174.Shadmehr, R., and Holcomb,H (1997). Neural correlates of motor memory consolidation," Science 277:821 Sowell, E. R., Peterson, B. S., Thompson, P. M. (2003) Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nature Neuroscience 6, 309-315.Wunderlich, K. et. al., (2005). Improving Learning Through Understanding of Brain Science Research. Learning Abstracts, Volume 8, Number 1. 41-43. Judy Willis, M.D. M.Ed.jwillisneuro@aol.comwww.RADTeach.com                                  A Primer for Use in Teacher Education about the Neuroscience of Learning   Why Teacher Education Should Include Neuroscience      The neuroscience of how the brain learns and what influences the most successful brain acquisition and application of learning should be included in all teacher education programs.  Teachers need to be prepared with foundational knowledge to understand, evaluate, and apply the neuroscience of learning. With this knowledge they will be able to recognize future implications from this rapidly expanding field of research to increase the effectiveness of their teaching and build and sustain students’ joy of learning.      Teacher education needs to prepare tomorrow’s teachers with the knowledge and tools to prepare their future students for the game-changing realities globalization. The new common core standards align well with the preparation for students need to be prepared with the thinking skills already sought by employers. These skillsets are those described in the neurology literature for almost 100 years, and they remain the brain networks that can be strengthened so all students can participate in the opportunities and challenges in higher education, vocations, a global society.       Neuroscience is on the vanguard of producing research of increased quality and applicability to education. Functional neuroimaging gives us insight into what circumstances and sensory input most successfully promote the brain’s acquisition of new knowledge. Among those insights is evidence of increased metabolic activity in identifiable networks neural networks when information is encoded into memory, when memories are retrieved, and when executive functions use is associated with increased neural circuit activity in the prefrontal cortex.       Correlations to neuroscience research have yielded strategies most consistent with brain’s information processing now “visible” with functional neuroimaging. For example, when information is presented in ways that emphasize relationships to existing stored memory, the brain’s own patterning system increases successful memory acquisition.Teachers need to understand the why and not just the how of the most effective teaching strategies to have the motivation and positive expectations to best utilize these strategies. These topics include how the brain “pays attention”, encodes new input into working memory, uses neuroplasticity to construct long-term memory, is influenced by stress, and develops its neural networks of executive functions.       Especially critical is teacher awareness of the vast potentials of neuroplasticity that increases their opportunities to influence the development of their students’ brain networks of executive functions – their highest cognitive skillsets. Teachers with foundational understanding about the neuroscience and cognitive science of how the brain turns input into long-term memory and memory into transferable knowledge, will be the most prepared to guide all students to achieve their highest potentials.                   A Primer about the Neuroscience of Learning     Teachers are the caretakers of the development of students’ highest brain during the years of its most extensive changes. As such, they have the privilege and opportunity to influence the quality and quantity of neuronal and connective pathways so all children leave school with their brains optimized for future success.This introduction to the basics of the neuroscience of learning includes information that should be included in all teacher education programs. It is intentionally brief such that it can be taught in a single day of instruction. Ideally there would be additional opportunities for future teachers to pursue further inquiry into the science of how the brain learns, retrieves, and applies information. Teaching Grows Brain Cells    IQ is not fixed at birth and brain development and intelligence are “plastic” in that internal and environmental stimuli constantly change the structure and function of neurons and their connections. Teachers have the opportunity to help all children build their brains beyond what was previously believed to be fixed limits based on learning disabilities or the predictions of test scores or achievements.     It was once believed that brain cell growth stops after age twenty. We now know that through neuroplasticity, interneuron connections (dendrites, synapses, and myelin coating) continue to be pruned or constructed in response to learning and experiences throughout our lives.     These physical changes of brain self-reconstruction in response to experiences including sensory input, emotions, conscious and unconscious thoughts are so responsive that human potential for increased knowledge, physical skills, and “talent” in the arts is essentially limitless. There are conditions associated with the most successful strengthening of neural networks, such as guided instruction and practice with frequent corrective feedback. As neuroscience research continues more information will be available to guide teachers providing the brain with the experiences best suited to maximize its learning and proficiency.High Stress Restricts Brain Processing to the Survival State     The prefrontal cortex, where the higher thinking processes of executive functions (judgment, critical analysis, prioritizing) is also the CEO that can manage and control our emotions. Like the rest of the PFC it is still undergoing maturation throughout the school years. Students do not have the adult brain’s developed circuits of reflection, judgment, and gratification delay to overcome the lower brain’s strong influence.      Neuroimaging research reveals that a structure in the emotion sensitive limbic system is a switching-station that determines which part of the brain will receive input and determine response output. Brain-based research has demonstrated that new information cannot pass through the amygdala (part of the limbic system) to enter the frontal lobe if the amygdala is in the state of high metabolism or overactivity provoked by anxiety. It is important for teachers to know that when stress cuts off flow to and from the PFC, behavior is involuntary. It is not students’ choice in the reactive state when they “act out” and “zone out”.     Through interventions to go beyond differentiation to individualization (see article about video game model) it is possible to decrease the stressors of frustration from work perceived as too difficult or boredom from repeated instruction after mastery is achieved. Further information from neuroscience research reveals other causes of the high stress state in school and suggests interventions to reduce the stress blocking response in the amygdala.Memory is Constructed and Stored by Patterning      The brain turns data from the senses into learned information in the hippocampus. This encoding process requires activation or prior knowledge with a similar “pattern” to physically link with the new input if a short-term memory is to be constructed. The neuroimaging research supported by cognitive testing reveals that the most successful construction of working (short-term) memory takes place when there has been activation of the brain’s related prior knowledge before new information is taught.      When teachers work to clearly demonstrate the patterns, connections, and relationships that exist between new and old learning (e.g. cross-curricular studies, graphic organizers, spiraled curriculum) the probability of encoding increases. Teachers can help students increase working memory efficiency through a variety of interventions correlated with neuroimaging responses. For example, with opportunities to make predictions, receive timely feedback, and reflect on those experiences. These experiences appear to be increase executive function facilitation of working memory, such as guiding the selection of the most important information hold in working memory.Memory is Sustained by Use     Once and encoded short-term memory is constructed it still needs to be activated multiple times and ideally in response to a variety of prompts for neuroplasticity to increase its durability. Each time students participate in any endeavor, a certain number of neurons are activated.  When they repeat the action, the same neurons respond again.  The more times they repeat an action, the more dendrites grow and interconnect, resulting in greater memory storage and recall efficiency.      Retention is further promoted when new memories are connected to other stored memories based on commonalities, such as similarities/differences, especially when students use graphic organizers and derive their own connections. Multisensory instruction, practice, and review promote memory storage in multiple regions of the cortex, based on the type of sensory input by which they were learned and practiced. These are distant storage centers are linked to each other such that triggering one sensory memory activates the others.  This duplication results of storage increases the efficiency of subsequent retrieval as a variety of cues prompt activation of different access points to the extended memory map.     The construction of concept memory networks requires opportunities for students to transfer learning beyond the contexts in which it is learned and practiced. When information learned and stored in its own isolated circuit it is only accessible by the same stimuli through which it was obtained. These transfer activities activate memories to new stimuli and with other knowledge to solve novel problems. These simultaneous activations promote extended connections among memories that are the larger concept memory networks most applicable to future use.     Pattern recognition facilitation and opportunities for knowledge transfer extends the brain’s processing efficiency for greater access to and application of its accumulated learning. These teaching interventions will prepare graduates for future incorporation and extension of new information as it is becomes available. Students who have the guided learning experiences needed to construct concept memory networks will be have the best preparation for their futures. As the information pool expands, these students will continue to comprehend new information, consolidate it into their neural networks, and recognize, develop, and globally disseminate its new applications. The Future      As the research continues to build, it will be the obligation of those who prepare our future teachers to insure they understand and can apply the best current and future teaching strategies. This includes insuring that the teachers who graduate from their programs have the foundational neuroscience knowledge to use the fruits of the expanding pool of research to the betterment of all their own future students. That is a fascinating and exciting challenge to meet at a pivotal time in the evolution of education.ReferencesThe references used for this article are listed here. The published version of this article required that format. I can provide the specific annotations if needed. In addition, since it was written in 2005, newer research is now available on all topics described and incorporated in the articles I’ve written on these topics in recent rears. Teachers with neuroscience foundational knowledge will be able to seek, evaluate, and apply that subsequent and future research. Andreasen, E (1999) Human Brain Mapping, 8(4), 226-234. Wiley-Liss, Inc. Iowa City,   Iowa.Ashby, C. R., Thanos, P. K., Katana, J. M., Michaelides, E. L., Gardner, C. A., Heidbreder, N. D. (1999) The selective dopamine antagonist. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Christianson, S.A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2), 284-309).Chugani H (1998) Biological Basis of Emotions: Brain Systems and Brain Development. Pediatrics 102:1225-1229Dulay, H. and M. Burt. 1977: "Remarks on creativity in language acquisition". In Viewpoints on English as a second Language. (Ed.) M. Burt , H. Dulay and M. Finocchiaro. New York. Regents.Introini-Collision, I.Bl, Miyazaki, B., & McGaugh, J.L. (1991). Involvement of the amygdala in the memory-enhancing effects of clenbuterol. Psychopharmacology, 104(4) 541-544.Kato, N. and McEwen, B. (2003). Neuromechanisms of emotions and memory. Neuroendocrinology. 11,03. 54-58.Kohn, A., (2004). The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy. Education Week 9/15/04.      Krashen, Steven (1982) "Theory Versus Practice in Language Training" InnovativeApproaches to Language Teaching, ed. Robert W. Blair. Rowley: Newbury, 1982 p 25-  27.McGillivray, S. and Castel, A. (2011).Betting on Memory Leads to Metacognitive Improvement by Younger and Older Adults. Psychology and Aging, Vol. 26, No. 1, 137–144.Pawlak, R., Magarinos, A. M., Melchor, J., McEwen, B., & Strickland, S. (Feb. 2003). Tissue plasminogen activator in the amygdala is critical for stress-induced anxiety-like behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 168 – 174.Shadmehr, R., and Holcomb,H (1997). Neural correlates of motor memory consolidation," Science 277:821 Sowell, E. R., Peterson, B. S., Thompson, P. M. (2003) Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nature Neuroscience 6, 309-315.Wunderlich, K. et. al., (2005). Improving Learning Through Understanding of Brain Science Research. Learning Abstracts, Volume 8, Number 1. 41-43. Mon, 21 May 2012 23:47:34 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_A-Primer-Neuroscience-and-Teaching-Strategies/blog/6102809/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-05-21T23:47:34Z Blogs ASCD EDge Judy Willis, M.D. M.Ed.jwillisneuro@aol.comwww.RADTeach.com                                  A Primer for Use in Teacher Education about the Neuroscience of Learning   Why Teacher Education Should Include Neuroscience      The neuroscience of how the brain learns and what influences the most successful brain acquisition and application of learning should be included in all teacher education programs.  Teachers need to be prepared with foundational knowledge to understand, evaluate, and apply the neuroscience of learning. With this knowledge they will be able to recognize future implications from this rapidly expanding field of research to increase the effectiveness of their teaching and build and sustain students’ joy of learning.      Teacher education needs to prepare tomorrow’s teachers with the knowledge and tools to prepare their future students for the game-changing realities globalization. The new common core standards align well with the preparation for students need to be prepared with the thinking skills already sought by employers. These skillsets are those described in the neurology literature for almost 100 years, and they remain the brain networks that can be strengthened so all students can participate in the opportunities and challenges in higher education, vocations, a global society.       Neuroscience is on the vanguard of producing research of increased quality and applicability to education. Functional neuroimaging gives us insight into what circumstances and sensory input most successfully promote the brain’s acquisition of new knowledge. Among those insights is evidence of increased metabolic activity in identifiable networks neural networks when information is encoded into memory, when memories are retrieved, and when executive functions use is associated with increased neural circuit activity in the prefrontal cortex.       Correlations to neuroscience research have yielded strategies most consistent with brain’s information processing now “visible” with functional neuroimaging. For example, when information is presented in ways that emphasize relationships to existing stored memory, the brain’s own patterning system increases successful memory acquisition.Teachers need to understand the why and not just the how of the most effective teaching strategies to have the motivation and positive expectations to best utilize these strategies. These topics include how the brain “pays attention”, encodes new input into working memory, uses neuroplasticity to construct long-term memory, is influenced by stress, and develops its neural networks of executive functions.       Especially critical is teacher awareness of the vast potentials of neuroplasticity that increases their opportunities to influence the development of their students’ brain networks of executive functions – their highest cognitive skillsets. Teachers with foundational understanding about the neuroscience and cognitive science of how the brain turns input into long-term memory and memory into transferable knowledge, will be the most prepared to guide all students to achieve their highest potentials.                   A Primer about the Neuroscience of Learning     Teachers are the caretakers of the development of students’ highest brain during the years of its most extensive changes. As such, they have the privilege and opportunity to influence the quality and quantity of neuronal and connective pathways so all children leave school with their brains optimized for future success.This introduction to the basics of the neuroscience of learning includes information that should be included in all teacher education programs. It is intentionally brief such that it can be taught in a single day of instruction. Ideally there would be additional opportunities for future teachers to pursue further inquiry into the science of how the brain learns, retrieves, and applies information. Teaching Grows Brain Cells    IQ is not fixed at birth and brain development and intelligence are “plastic” in that internal and environmental stimuli constantly change the structure and function of neurons and their connections. Teachers have the opportunity to help all children build their brains beyond what was previously believed to be fixed limits based on learning disabilities or the predictions of test scores or achievements.     It was once believed that brain cell growth stops after age twenty. We now know that through neuroplasticity, interneuron connections (dendrites, synapses, and myelin coating) continue to be pruned or constructed in response to learning and experiences throughout our lives.     These physical changes of brain self-reconstruction in response to experiences including sensory input, emotions, conscious and unconscious thoughts are so responsive that human potential for increased knowledge, physical skills, and “talent” in the arts is essentially limitless. There are conditions associated with the most successful strengthening of neural networks, such as guided instruction and practice with frequent corrective feedback. As neuroscience research continues more information will be available to guide teachers providing the brain with the experiences best suited to maximize its learning and proficiency.High Stress Restricts Brain Processing to the Survival State     The prefrontal cortex, where the higher thinking processes of executive functions (judgment, critical analysis, prioritizing) is also the CEO that can manage and control our emotions. Like the rest of the PFC it is still undergoing maturation throughout the school years. Students do not have the adult brain’s developed circuits of reflection, judgment, and gratification delay to overcome the lower brain’s strong influence.      Neuroimaging research reveals that a structure in the emotion sensitive limbic system is a switching-station that determines which part of the brain will receive input and determine response output. Brain-based research has demonstrated that new information cannot pass through the amygdala (part of the limbic system) to enter the frontal lobe if the amygdala is in the state of high metabolism or overactivity provoked by anxiety. It is important for teachers to know that when stress cuts off flow to and from the PFC, behavior is involuntary. It is not students’ choice in the reactive state when they “act out” and “zone out”.     Through interventions to go beyond differentiation to individualization (see article about video game model) it is possible to decrease the stressors of frustration from work perceived as too difficult or boredom from repeated instruction after mastery is achieved. Further information from neuroscience research reveals other causes of the high stress state in school and suggests interventions to reduce the stress blocking response in the amygdala.Memory is Constructed and Stored by Patterning      The brain turns data from the senses into learned information in the hippocampus. This encoding process requires activation or prior knowledge with a similar “pattern” to physically link with the new input if a short-term memory is to be constructed. The neuroimaging research supported by cognitive testing reveals that the most successful construction of working (short-term) memory takes place when there has been activation of the brain’s related prior knowledge before new information is taught.      When teachers work to clearly demonstrate the patterns, connections, and relationships that exist between new and old learning (e.g. cross-curricular studies, graphic organizers, spiraled curriculum) the probability of encoding increases. Teachers can help students increase working memory efficiency through a variety of interventions correlated with neuroimaging responses. For example, with opportunities to make predictions, receive timely feedback, and reflect on those experiences. These experiences appear to be increase executive function facilitation of working memory, such as guiding the selection of the most important information hold in working memory.Memory is Sustained by Use     Once and encoded short-term memory is constructed it still needs to be activated multiple times and ideally in response to a variety of prompts for neuroplasticity to increase its durability. Each time students participate in any endeavor, a certain number of neurons are activated.  When they repeat the action, the same neurons respond again.  The more times they repeat an action, the more dendrites grow and interconnect, resulting in greater memory storage and recall efficiency.      Retention is further promoted when new memories are connected to other stored memories based on commonalities, such as similarities/differences, especially when students use graphic organizers and derive their own connections. Multisensory instruction, practice, and review promote memory storage in multiple regions of the cortex, based on the type of sensory input by which they were learned and practiced. These are distant storage centers are linked to each other such that triggering one sensory memory activates the others.  This duplication results of storage increases the efficiency of subsequent retrieval as a variety of cues prompt activation of different access points to the extended memory map.     The construction of concept memory networks requires opportunities for students to transfer learning beyond the contexts in which it is learned and practiced. When information learned and stored in its own isolated circuit it is only accessible by the same stimuli through which it was obtained. These transfer activities activate memories to new stimuli and with other knowledge to solve novel problems. These simultaneous activations promote extended connections among memories that are the larger concept memory networks most applicable to future use.     Pattern recognition facilitation and opportunities for knowledge transfer extends the brain’s processing efficiency for greater access to and application of its accumulated learning. These teaching interventions will prepare graduates for future incorporation and extension of new information as it is becomes available. Students who have the guided learning experiences needed to construct concept memory networks will be have the best preparation for their futures. As the information pool expands, these students will continue to comprehend new information, consolidate it into their neural networks, and recognize, develop, and globally disseminate its new applications. The Future      As the research continues to build, it will be the obligation of those who prepare our future teachers to insure they understand and can apply the best current and future teaching strategies. This includes insuring that the teachers who graduate from their programs have the foundational neuroscience knowledge to use the fruits of the expanding pool of research to the betterment of all their own future students. That is a fascinating and exciting challenge to meet at a pivotal time in the evolution of education.ReferencesThe references used for this article are listed here. The published version of this article required that format. I can provide the specific annotations if needed. In addition, since it was written in 2005, newer research is now available on all topics described and incorporated in the articles I’ve written on these topics in recent rears. Teachers with neuroscience foundational knowledge will be able to seek, evaluate, and apply that subsequent and future research. Andreasen, E (1999) Human Brain Mapping, 8(4), 226-234. Wiley-Liss, Inc. Iowa City,   Iowa.Ashby, C. R., Thanos, P. K., Katana, J. M., Michaelides, E. L., Gardner, C. A., Heidbreder, N. D. (1999) The selective dopamine antagonist. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. Christianson, S.A. (1992). Emotional stress and eyewitness memory: A critical review. Psychological Bulletin, 112(2), 284-309).Chugani H (1998) Biological Basis of Emotions: Brain Systems and Brain Development. Pediatrics 102:1225-1229Dulay, H. and M. Burt. 1977: "Remarks on creativity in language acquisition". In Viewpoints on English as a second Language. (Ed.) M. Burt , H. Dulay and M. Finocchiaro. New York. Regents.Introini-Collision, I.Bl, Miyazaki, B., & McGaugh, J.L. (1991). Involvement of the amygdala in the memory-enhancing effects of clenbuterol. Psychopharmacology, 104(4) 541-544.Kato, N. and McEwen, B. (2003). Neuromechanisms of emotions and memory. Neuroendocrinology. 11,03. 54-58.Kohn, A., (2004). The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy. Education Week 9/15/04.      Krashen, Steven (1982) "Theory Versus Practice in Language Training" InnovativeApproaches to Language Teaching, ed. Robert W. Blair. Rowley: Newbury, 1982 p 25-  27.McGillivray, S. and Castel, A. (2011).Betting on Memory Leads to Metacognitive Improvement by Younger and Older Adults. Psychology and Aging, Vol. 26, No. 1, 137–144.Pawlak, R., Magarinos, A. M., Melchor, J., McEwen, B., & Strickland, S. (Feb. 2003). Tissue plasminogen activator in the amygdala is critical for stress-induced anxiety-like behavior. Nature Neuroscience, 168 – 174.Shadmehr, R., and Holcomb,H (1997). Neural correlates of motor memory consolidation," Science 277:821 Sowell, E. R., Peterson, B. S., Thompson, P. M. (2003) Mapping cortical change across the human life span. Nature Neuroscience 6, 309-315.Wunderlich, K. et. al., (2005). Improving Learning Through Understanding of Brain Science Research. Learning Abstracts, Volume 8, Number 1. 41-43. blogs, learning, neuroscience, of nonadult false A Primer: Neuroscience and Teaching Strategies text blog blogs,learning,neuroscience,of 2178 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Blogs 0 6102809 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Kip-Glazer-HS-Poetry-Neuro-LOGICAL-Unit/blog/6073169/127586.html Sat, 12 May 2012 21:54:50 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Kip-Glazer-HS-Poetry-Neuro-LOGICAL-Unit/blog/6073169/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-05-12T21:54:50Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge lesson plan nonadult false Kip Glazer HS Poetry Neuro-LOGICAL Unit video blog lesson plan 394 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 6073169 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Kip-Glazer-HS-Poetry-Neuro-LOGICAL-Unit/blog/6073145/127586.html Sat, 12 May 2012 17:28:24 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Kip-Glazer-HS-Poetry-Neuro-LOGICAL-Unit/blog/6073145/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-05-12T17:28:24Z ASCD EDge nonadult false Kip Glazer HS Poetry Neuro-LOGICAL Unit video blog 280 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 0 6073145 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_HS-Lit-Poetry-Kip-Glazer-Neuro-LOGICAL-unit/blog/6073085/127586.html A R.A.D. Neuro-LOGICAL lesson on YouTube by Kip Glazer, H.S. Literature including strategies from Judy Willis and Sheridan Blau (NWP) http://bit.ly/M6XwKM    A R.A.D. Neuro-LOGICAL lesson on YouTube by Kip Glazer, H.S. Literature including strategies from Judy Willis and Sheridan Blau (NWP) http://bit.ly/M6XwKM    Sat, 12 May 2012 16:33:35 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_HS-Lit-Poetry-Kip-Glazer-Neuro-LOGICAL-unit/blog/6073085/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-05-12T16:33:35Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge A R.A.D. Neuro-LOGICAL lesson on YouTube by Kip Glazer, H.S. Literature including strategies from Judy Willis and Sheridan Blau (NWP) http://bit.ly/M6XwKM    lesson plan nonadult false HS Lit Poetry Kip Glazer Neuro-LOGICAL unit video blog lesson plan 532 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 6073085 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Judy-Willis-Edutipia-Blog-Three-Strategies-for-Using-the-Arts-to-Build-Student-Executive-Functions-Part-5-of-7/blog/5714507/127586.html edutopia staff blog by Dr Judy WillisThree Strategies for Using the Arts to Build Student Executive Functions (Part 5 of 7) http://bit.ly/xFnJO8Before information can be processed through executive functions, it must reach the prefrontal cortex (PFC), where higher order thinking occurs. The pathway to the PFC has potential roadblocks in the form of an information intake filter and an emotional switching station that determines if input reaches the PFC or is diverted to the lower, reactive brain. Embedding the arts into instruction and assessment promotes flow through these filters, builds growth mindset, and strengthens the actively developing executive functions. 1) The Arts Get Past the Brain's Attention Filter to Promote and Sustain AttentionAll learning enters the brain as sensory input, but not all sensory input is allowed in through the brain's attention filter. The brain admits only about one percent of the sensory input available to it each second. It therefore behooves teachers to be sure their instruction "makes the cut." This involuntary filter is in the low brainstem, and is called the reticular activating system (RAS). It gives priority to novel, unusual, curious sensory information. Listening to lectures and doing drills and worksheets are not novel or curiosity-evoking sensory experiences. That said, you can still snag students' attention by incorporating the types of sensory input that is favored for RAS selection. Here are ways you can incorporate some of the stimuli that get priority admission to the brain: •    Use color•    Use movement (through your own actions and with students)•    Incorporate music•    Incorporate changes in your voice•    Include curious objects•    Create positive anticipation of an activity that has previously been associated with pleasureStrategy 1 in the ClassroomYou've seen professional speakers engage an audience by starting off with humor or a question that promotes curiosity. Starting a lesson with something to immediately engage students is equally important. You can promote attentive intake with curious or compelling photographs, drawings, music, video clips of scenes of from theatrical productions, or by reading a book using different voices for different characters. Once the intake filter opens to your novel, unusual or curious sensory information, it is likely that the academic information following and relating to these openings will be "selected" by this involuntary attention filter. 2) Use the Arts to Advertise, Build Curiosity and Predict in AdvanceThere are some standards or units of instruction to which students are particularly resistant, especially when their previous experiences with the topics have been negative. When these units of instruction are coming up, curiosity promoting art, photos, objects, paintings, etc. previewed in the weeks or days leading up to the unit can promote interest as students predict what might be coming. You can prime student interest by using the research from the billion dollar advertising industry to increase the likelihood that their intake filters will select the sensory input of coming unit. Build anticipation and interest with visual arts as "coming attraction" hints. Strategy 2 in the ClassroomYou can reveal new parts of a covered poster, photograph or other curiosity-building symbolic representation every few days leading up to the unit as students enjoy making and changing their predictions as they interpret new clues. 3) Make Sure You Get Through the Emotional Filter to the PFCAs I have written before, a low stress, positive emotional climate is needed to open the pathways to the prefrontal cortex and ignite the most powerful neural networks therein. The amygdala is a switching station deep in the brain's emotional limbic system that determines if information will be conducted to the higher PFC where long-term retrievable memories are developed, or to the lower brain that "reacts" but does not "learn." When stress is high, the increased metabolic activity in the amygdala directs incoming information down to the lower brain. Boredom and frustration, when sustained or frequent, are stressors that promote the amygdala's hypermetabolic state and block input to the executive functions housed in the prefrontal cortex. Similarly, when input does not reach the PFC and its emotional control centers, the reactive lower brain will control behavior output. The involuntary reactive behavior outputs are then limited to those of animals when they perceive possible threat: fight/flight/freeze in the wild -- acting out or zoning out in class. The arts can reduce the stressors of boredom or frustration and help rebuild a growth mindset for students with a history of frequent academic failures. Because most children have experienced pleasure from the arts, either from active creative participation or pleasurable listening or viewing, incorporating these sources of past pleasure in a lesson reduces the brain's need for find its own engagement by the self-stimulation of "acting out," such as disturbing classmates or defacing desks and books, or the internal self-stimulation provided by their imaginations that gives the appearance of "zoning out." Indeed, we've all seen students act out (or zone out) while passively listening to classmates' reports or during a shared, whole-class reading. This is the behavior of all mammal brains when there is sustained boredom or frustration. To promote engagement and effort, students need early opportunities to find personal pleasure and relevance in the material they must learn. Strategy 3 in the ClassroomCreating art, instrumental music, dance moves or skits can be strong strategies to teach with engagement and can promote memory and executive function across the curriculum, such as fractions, patterns in science cycles, or historical and literature time/event progressions. You can promote increased attention by giving students the opportunity to create personal representations of the material they're hearing. One example would be to have them sketch while listening, creating visual representations of the content. Instead of passive inattention (and the associated behavioral problems and failure to make memory links), making diagrams, mindmaps and other symbolic representations will focus active listening and the greater likelihood of memory links. Preparation Note: As with all new approaches, students may need guided practice, models, frequent formative assessment and guiding feedback when these alternatives are used in place of traditional note-taking, particularly when the information includes important content knowledge and critical foundational information. Children's brains need to acquire memory associations that link pleasure with learning. The creative arts can provide this link through associations with the pleasures of creative experiences enjoyed during early childhood. In my next blog, I will cover the arts and the neuroscience of joyful learning. 
Previous blogs in this series•    Introduction and Overview: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part One: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part Two: The Brain-Based Benefits of Writing for Math and Science Learning by Judy Willis MD •    Part Three: Improving Executive Function: Teaching Challenges and Opportunities by Judy Willis MD •    Part Four: Three Brain-based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students by Judy Willis MD  edutopia staff blog by Dr Judy WillisThree Strategies for Using the Arts to Build Student Executive Functions (Part 5 of 7) http://bit.ly/xFnJO8Before information can be processed through executive functions, it must reach the prefrontal cortex (PFC), where higher order thinking occurs. The pathway to the PFC has potential roadblocks in the form of an information intake filter and an emotional switching station that determines if input reaches the PFC or is diverted to the lower, reactive brain. Embedding the arts into instruction and assessment promotes flow through these filters, builds growth mindset, and strengthens the actively developing executive functions. 1) The Arts Get Past the Brain's Attention Filter to Promote and Sustain AttentionAll learning enters the brain as sensory input, but not all sensory input is allowed in through the brain's attention filter. The brain admits only about one percent of the sensory input available to it each second. It therefore behooves teachers to be sure their instruction "makes the cut." This involuntary filter is in the low brainstem, and is called the reticular activating system (RAS). It gives priority to novel, unusual, curious sensory information. Listening to lectures and doing drills and worksheets are not novel or curiosity-evoking sensory experiences. That said, you can still snag students' attention by incorporating the types of sensory input that is favored for RAS selection. Here are ways you can incorporate some of the stimuli that get priority admission to the brain: •    Use color•    Use movement (through your own actions and with students)•    Incorporate music•    Incorporate changes in your voice•    Include curious objects•    Create positive anticipation of an activity that has previously been associated with pleasureStrategy 1 in the ClassroomYou've seen professional speakers engage an audience by starting off with humor or a question that promotes curiosity. Starting a lesson with something to immediately engage students is equally important. You can promote attentive intake with curious or compelling photographs, drawings, music, video clips of scenes of from theatrical productions, or by reading a book using different voices for different characters. Once the intake filter opens to your novel, unusual or curious sensory information, it is likely that the academic information following and relating to these openings will be "selected" by this involuntary attention filter. 2) Use the Arts to Advertise, Build Curiosity and Predict in AdvanceThere are some standards or units of instruction to which students are particularly resistant, especially when their previous experiences with the topics have been negative. When these units of instruction are coming up, curiosity promoting art, photos, objects, paintings, etc. previewed in the weeks or days leading up to the unit can promote interest as students predict what might be coming. You can prime student interest by using the research from the billion dollar advertising industry to increase the likelihood that their intake filters will select the sensory input of coming unit. Build anticipation and interest with visual arts as "coming attraction" hints. Strategy 2 in the ClassroomYou can reveal new parts of a covered poster, photograph or other curiosity-building symbolic representation every few days leading up to the unit as students enjoy making and changing their predictions as they interpret new clues. 3) Make Sure You Get Through the Emotional Filter to the PFCAs I have written before, a low stress, positive emotional climate is needed to open the pathways to the prefrontal cortex and ignite the most powerful neural networks therein. The amygdala is a switching station deep in the brain's emotional limbic system that determines if information will be conducted to the higher PFC where long-term retrievable memories are developed, or to the lower brain that "reacts" but does not "learn." When stress is high, the increased metabolic activity in the amygdala directs incoming information down to the lower brain. Boredom and frustration, when sustained or frequent, are stressors that promote the amygdala's hypermetabolic state and block input to the executive functions housed in the prefrontal cortex. Similarly, when input does not reach the PFC and its emotional control centers, the reactive lower brain will control behavior output. The involuntary reactive behavior outputs are then limited to those of animals when they perceive possible threat: fight/flight/freeze in the wild -- acting out or zoning out in class. The arts can reduce the stressors of boredom or frustration and help rebuild a growth mindset for students with a history of frequent academic failures. Because most children have experienced pleasure from the arts, either from active creative participation or pleasurable listening or viewing, incorporating these sources of past pleasure in a lesson reduces the brain's need for find its own engagement by the self-stimulation of "acting out," such as disturbing classmates or defacing desks and books, or the internal self-stimulation provided by their imaginations that gives the appearance of "zoning out." Indeed, we've all seen students act out (or zone out) while passively listening to classmates' reports or during a shared, whole-class reading. This is the behavior of all mammal brains when there is sustained boredom or frustration. To promote engagement and effort, students need early opportunities to find personal pleasure and relevance in the material they must learn. Strategy 3 in the ClassroomCreating art, instrumental music, dance moves or skits can be strong strategies to teach with engagement and can promote memory and executive function across the curriculum, such as fractions, patterns in science cycles, or historical and literature time/event progressions. You can promote increased attention by giving students the opportunity to create personal representations of the material they're hearing. One example would be to have them sketch while listening, creating visual representations of the content. Instead of passive inattention (and the associated behavioral problems and failure to make memory links), making diagrams, mindmaps and other symbolic representations will focus active listening and the greater likelihood of memory links. Preparation Note: As with all new approaches, students may need guided practice, models, frequent formative assessment and guiding feedback when these alternatives are used in place of traditional note-taking, particularly when the information includes important content knowledge and critical foundational information. Children's brains need to acquire memory associations that link pleasure with learning. The creative arts can provide this link through associations with the pleasures of creative experiences enjoyed during early childhood. In my next blog, I will cover the arts and the neuroscience of joyful learning. 
Previous blogs in this series•    Introduction and Overview: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part One: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part Two: The Brain-Based Benefits of Writing for Math and Science Learning by Judy Willis MD •    Part Three: Improving Executive Function: Teaching Challenges and Opportunities by Judy Willis MD •    Part Four: Three Brain-based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students by Judy Willis MD  Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:48:22 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Judy-Willis-Edutipia-Blog-Three-Strategies-for-Using-the-Arts-to-Build-Student-Executive-Functions-Part-5-of-7/blog/5714507/127586.html Judith_Willis 2012-01-16T21:48:22Z Blogs ASCD EDge edutopia staff blog by Dr Judy WillisThree Strategies for Using the Arts to Build Student Executive Functions (Part 5 of 7) http://bit.ly/xFnJO8Before information can be processed through executive functions, it must reach the prefrontal cortex (PFC), where higher order thinking occurs. The pathway to the PFC has potential roadblocks in the form of an information intake filter and an emotional switching station that determines if input reaches the PFC or is diverted to the lower, reactive brain. Embedding the arts into instruction and assessment promotes flow through these filters, builds growth mindset, and strengthens the actively developing executive functions. 1) The Arts Get Past the Brain's Attention Filter to Promote and Sustain AttentionAll learning enters the brain as sensory input, but not all sensory input is allowed in through the brain's attention filter. The brain admits only about one percent of the sensory input available to it each second. It therefore behooves teachers to be sure their instruction "makes the cut." This involuntary filter is in the low brainstem, and is called the reticular activating system (RAS). It gives priority to novel, unusual, curious sensory information. Listening to lectures and doing drills and worksheets are not novel or curiosity-evoking sensory experiences. That said, you can still snag students' attention by incorporating the types of sensory input that is favored for RAS selection. Here are ways you can incorporate some of the stimuli that get priority admission to the brain: •    Use color•    Use movement (through your own actions and with students)•    Incorporate music•    Incorporate changes in your voice•    Include curious objects•    Create positive anticipation of an activity that has previously been associated with pleasureStrategy 1 in the ClassroomYou've seen professional speakers engage an audience by starting off with humor or a question that promotes curiosity. Starting a lesson with something to immediately engage students is equally important. You can promote attentive intake with curious or compelling photographs, drawings, music, video clips of scenes of from theatrical productions, or by reading a book using different voices for different characters. Once the intake filter opens to your novel, unusual or curious sensory information, it is likely that the academic information following and relating to these openings will be "selected" by this involuntary attention filter. 2) Use the Arts to Advertise, Build Curiosity and Predict in AdvanceThere are some standards or units of instruction to which students are particularly resistant, especially when their previous experiences with the topics have been negative. When these units of instruction are coming up, curiosity promoting art, photos, objects, paintings, etc. previewed in the weeks or days leading up to the unit can promote interest as students predict what might be coming. You can prime student interest by using the research from the billion dollar advertising industry to increase the likelihood that their intake filters will select the sensory input of coming unit. Build anticipation and interest with visual arts as "coming attraction" hints. Strategy 2 in the ClassroomYou can reveal new parts of a covered poster, photograph or other curiosity-building symbolic representation every few days leading up to the unit as students enjoy making and changing their predictions as they interpret new clues. 3) Make Sure You Get Through the Emotional Filter to the PFCAs I have written before, a low stress, positive emotional climate is needed to open the pathways to the prefrontal cortex and ignite the most powerful neural networks therein. The amygdala is a switching station deep in the brain's emotional limbic system that determines if information will be conducted to the higher PFC where long-term retrievable memories are developed, or to the lower brain that "reacts" but does not "learn." When stress is high, the increased metabolic activity in the amygdala directs incoming information down to the lower brain. Boredom and frustration, when sustained or frequent, are stressors that promote the amygdala's hypermetabolic state and block input to the executive functions housed in the prefrontal cortex. Similarly, when input does not reach the PFC and its emotional control centers, the reactive lower brain will control behavior output. The involuntary reactive behavior outputs are then limited to those of animals when they perceive possible threat: fight/flight/freeze in the wild -- acting out or zoning out in class. The arts can reduce the stressors of boredom or frustration and help rebuild a growth mindset for students with a history of frequent academic failures. Because most children have experienced pleasure from the arts, either from active creative participation or pleasurable listening or viewing, incorporating these sources of past pleasure in a lesson reduces the brain's need for find its own engagement by the self-stimulation of "acting out," such as disturbing classmates or defacing desks and books, or the internal self-stimulation provided by their imaginations that gives the appearance of "zoning out." Indeed, we've all seen students act out (or zone out) while passively listening to classmates' reports or during a shared, whole-class reading. This is the behavior of all mammal brains when there is sustained boredom or frustration. To promote engagement and effort, students need early opportunities to find personal pleasure and relevance in the material they must learn. Strategy 3 in the ClassroomCreating art, instrumental music, dance moves or skits can be strong strategies to teach with engagement and can promote memory and executive function across the curriculum, such as fractions, patterns in science cycles, or historical and literature time/event progressions. You can promote increased attention by giving students the opportunity to create personal representations of the material they're hearing. One example would be to have them sketch while listening, creating visual representations of the content. Instead of passive inattention (and the associated behavioral problems and failure to make memory links), making diagrams, mindmaps and other symbolic representations will focus active listening and the greater likelihood of memory links. Preparation Note: As with all new approaches, students may need guided practice, models, frequent formative assessment and guiding feedback when these alternatives are used in place of traditional note-taking, particularly when the information includes important content knowledge and critical foundational information. Children's brains need to acquire memory associations that link pleasure with learning. The creative arts can provide this link through associations with the pleasures of creative experiences enjoyed during early childhood. In my next blog, I will cover the arts and the neuroscience of joyful learning. 
Previous blogs in this series•    Introduction and Overview: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part One: Understanding How the Brain Thinks by Judy Willis MD •    Part Two: The Brain-Based Benefits of Writing for Math and Science Learning by Judy Willis MD •    Part Three: Improving Executive Function: Teaching Challenges and Opportunities by Judy Willis MD •    Part Four: Three Brain-based Teaching Strategies to Build Executive Function in Students by Judy Willis MD  and, arts, blog, blogs, edutopia, learning nonadult false Judy Willis Edutipia Blog Three Strategies for Using the Arts to Build Student Executive Functions (Part 5 of 7) text blog and,arts,blog,blogs,edutopia,learning 663 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Blogs 0 5714507 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Math-Teacher-Resources/blog/5462732/127586.html Megan Davenport consolidated Mathematics Teacher Resources http://bit.ly/vSiwvv Includes a variety of lists such as these with comments such as these online resources for “making math relatable” Lemonade Stand: This classic computer game helps students learn the basics of running a business. Calculating a Car Payment: Students use formulas to calculate how they would pay for their dream car. Online Math Applications’ Trips: This site offers students lessons on the costs of owning a car as well as a number of other automobile-based activities. The Mint: The Mint provides students with information and tools on financial topics such as “Saving & Investing” and “Making a Budget” Ciese Classroom Projects: This site offers students a variety of real-world math problems and application.  Megan Davenport consolidated Mathematics Teacher Resources http://bit.ly/vSiwvv Includes a variety of lists such as these with comments such as these online resources for “making math relatable” Lemonade Stand: This classic computer game helps students learn the basics of running a business. Calculating a Car Payment: Students use formulas to calculate how they would pay for their dream car. Online Math Applications’ Trips: This site offers students lessons on the costs of owning a car as well as a number of other automobile-based activities. The Mint: The Mint provides students with information and tools on financial topics such as “Saving & Investing” and “Making a Budget” Ciese Classroom Projects: This site offers students a variety of real-world math problems and application.  Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:18:25 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Math-Teacher-Resources/blog/5462732/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-11-11T17:18:25Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Megan Davenport consolidated Mathematics Teacher Resources http://bit.ly/vSiwvv Includes a variety of lists such as these with comments such as these online resources for “making math relatable” Lemonade Stand: This classic computer game helps students learn the basics of running a business. Calculating a Car Payment: Students use formulas to calculate how they would pay for their dream car. Online Math Applications’ Trips: This site offers students lessons on the costs of owning a car as well as a number of other automobile-based activities. The Mint: The Mint provides students with information and tools on financial topics such as “Saving & Investing” and “Making a Budget” Ciese Classroom Projects: This site offers students a variety of real-world math problems and application.  lesson plan nonadult false Math Teacher Resources text blog lesson plan 420 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 5462732 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_The-beat-helped-me-read-faster-from-Jill-C/blog/5242741/127586.html  THe beat helped me read faster!!!” from Jill C. Yesterday, one of my students ran up to me at the end of independent reading and said, "Mrs. C, I found a way to read faster!  I was sitting on the beanbag chair and started moving my foot back and forth like a windshield wiper to a beat.  The beat helped me read faster!!" She was so excited that I asked her to write down what happened and then share it today during our reading mini-lesson.        I just finished your book: Brain Based Strategies in the Inclusion Classroom, and as a fourth grade regular education teacher in an inclusion classroom, your strategies have been very helpful. When my student had her insight, I hadn't yet mentioned to the students yet about your strategy to help them focus by having them listen to a beat, or tap, etc. Having read the book, I understand why she may have been so successful with her self-discovered strategy.      Here is the section from the book to which Jill is referring: PATTERNING FOR BRAIN ALIGNMENT      The brain receives information through the senses and not all sensory information in the environment reaches the cognitive processing centers of the brain. The brain sorts out the input, selectively focusing attention (through the filters of the RAS and amygdala) on the sensory information it recognizes as having survival or pleasure/interest value. Beyond those selective responses, the brain is most attuned to information that is recognized as patterns or categories it already has. (Coward 19990)       Students with attention deficits may have difficulty seeing the patterns in the information they are reading, seeing or hearing. If these students cannot select out the patterns in mathematical concepts, songs, spelling rules, or puzzles as effectively as their classmates, they are not only confused, but they also may be further frustrated by the stress of feeling different. This high stress level increases their difficulties in following the stream of information being delivered.       Music for patterning is based on theories suggesting that music can increase the attentive focus in students with AD/HD so they are better able link new information with preexisting brain networks (patterns). Neuroimaging during learning suggests that patterns or templates that connect new sensory data to neuronal networks increases success at converting short-term or working memories into long-term memories. (Calvin 2000)      It may be that these children with AD/HD can take the external pattern from the beat of the music or the ticking of a metronome and use it like lights on an airport runway as a guiding pattern upon which to align their thoughts. The sound pattern may become a guided landing strip, a structure onto which they can organize incoming academic information or connect ideas. For students with attention disorders, the multisensory stimuli around them are as difficult to separate into individual components, as it would be for you to hear one specific person’s voice in a chorus. With inadequate patterning the brains of students with AD/HD may not be able to follow one new idea before another intrudes and interrupts. (Jeffries 2003)      Interventions are proposed to help students with AD/HD develop brain-patterning skills that help them categorize the multitude of sensory inputs they receive. Attention and learning, for some students with AD/HD, appear to improve when strategies help them focus attention on stimuli. This may be why some children with AD/HD rhythmically tap pencils on their desks or their feet on the floor. The theory suggests that the external patterning rhythms help the process of aligning their brains’ attention networks to converge on a single predominant sensory input. This sensory focusing input, such as the music or rhythmic tapping, would then become the structure upon which they coordinate other incoming data; analogous to the way the pull of a magnet lines up iron filings in orderly direction. (Schneider 1993)     As counterintuitive as it seems to some parents, when I tell them how their children with AD/HD improved when they listened to music of their choice while doing math, most are willing to use the technique at home. I first demonstrate the recorded results of the individualized analysis of their children’s work with and without the music. The computerized math program I use keeps detailed records of time spent and concepts mastered. During conferences, students who are clear responders to music add their own description to what is demonstrated as increased mental efficiency on the computer analysis of their success.      Students say variations of, “Now I can see how this math problem fits together. It is as if the music makes my mind able to concentrate on the math.” It is as if they are able to hone their conceptual or abstract learning once their brains are aligned by the patterns established by music. The music seems to work like a graphic organizer to help students have a structure upon which to catalogue newly learned material.          Another way to think about benefit of patterning is to consider what attention deficit means. It is not really inattention, but rather attention in many different places simultaneously. Students with AD/HD don’t have awake electroencephalograms (EEG) that show patterns of drowsiness or sedation. In AD/HD, the brain’s metabolism and EEG activity is often normal or high, because their brains are responding to an excess of sensory input or their brains are more active as they seek a compelling sensory stimulus upon which to focus. This brain state of unfocused attention is appears to become more focused when students with AD/HD are provided with a sensory focal point, such as music, a metronome, or pencil-tapping. (Webb 1990)      The techniques that bring more enjoyment and positive emotion to the learning activity are not crutches, but adaptive facilitators that are appropriate and valuable, especially when students with attention deficits have so many pulls on their attention. It is possible that with time, these students will need less external patterning as their frontal lobes mature and they develop their patterning skills and executive functions. However, if they don’t have some assistance with focus and patterning while they are in school, students with patterning deficiencies contributing to their AD/HD may fall further and further behind.  THe beat helped me read faster!!!” from Jill C. Yesterday, one of my students ran up to me at the end of independent reading and said, "Mrs. C, I found a way to read faster!  I was sitting on the beanbag chair and started moving my foot back and forth like a windshield wiper to a beat.  The beat helped me read faster!!" She was so excited that I asked her to write down what happened and then share it today during our reading mini-lesson.        I just finished your book: Brain Based Strategies in the Inclusion Classroom, and as a fourth grade regular education teacher in an inclusion classroom, your strategies have been very helpful. When my student had her insight, I hadn't yet mentioned to the students yet about your strategy to help them focus by having them listen to a beat, or tap, etc. Having read the book, I understand why she may have been so successful with her self-discovered strategy.      Here is the section from the book to which Jill is referring: PATTERNING FOR BRAIN ALIGNMENT      The brain receives information through the senses and not all sensory information in the environment reaches the cognitive processing centers of the brain. The brain sorts out the input, selectively focusing attention (through the filters of the RAS and amygdala) on the sensory information it recognizes as having survival or pleasure/interest value. Beyond those selective responses, the brain is most attuned to information that is recognized as patterns or categories it already has. (Coward 19990)       Students with attention deficits may have difficulty seeing the patterns in the information they are reading, seeing or hearing. If these students cannot select out the patterns in mathematical concepts, songs, spelling rules, or puzzles as effectively as their classmates, they are not only confused, but they also may be further frustrated by the stress of feeling different. This high stress level increases their difficulties in following the stream of information being delivered.       Music for patterning is based on theories suggesting that music can increase the attentive focus in students with AD/HD so they are better able link new information with preexisting brain networks (patterns). Neuroimaging during learning suggests that patterns or templates that connect new sensory data to neuronal networks increases success at converting short-term or working memories into long-term memories. (Calvin 2000)      It may be that these children with AD/HD can take the external pattern from the beat of the music or the ticking of a metronome and use it like lights on an airport runway as a guiding pattern upon which to align their thoughts. The sound pattern may become a guided landing strip, a structure onto which they can organize incoming academic information or connect ideas. For students with attention disorders, the multisensory stimuli around them are as difficult to separate into individual components, as it would be for you to hear one specific person’s voice in a chorus. With inadequate patterning the brains of students with AD/HD may not be able to follow one new idea before another intrudes and interrupts. (Jeffries 2003)      Interventions are proposed to help students with AD/HD develop brain-patterning skills that help them categorize the multitude of sensory inputs they receive. Attention and learning, for some students with AD/HD, appear to improve when strategies help them focus attention on stimuli. This may be why some children with AD/HD rhythmically tap pencils on their desks or their feet on the floor. The theory suggests that the external patterning rhythms help the process of aligning their brains’ attention networks to converge on a single predominant sensory input. This sensory focusing input, such as the music or rhythmic tapping, would then become the structure upon which they coordinate other incoming data; analogous to the way the pull of a magnet lines up iron filings in orderly direction. (Schneider 1993)     As counterintuitive as it seems to some parents, when I tell them how their children with AD/HD improved when they listened to music of their choice while doing math, most are willing to use the technique at home. I first demonstrate the recorded results of the individualized analysis of their children’s work with and without the music. The computerized math program I use keeps detailed records of time spent and concepts mastered. During conferences, students who are clear responders to music add their own description to what is demonstrated as increased mental efficiency on the computer analysis of their success.      Students say variations of, “Now I can see how this math problem fits together. It is as if the music makes my mind able to concentrate on the math.” It is as if they are able to hone their conceptual or abstract learning once their brains are aligned by the patterns established by music. The music seems to work like a graphic organizer to help students have a structure upon which to catalogue newly learned material.          Another way to think about benefit of patterning is to consider what attention deficit means. It is not really inattention, but rather attention in many different places simultaneously. Students with AD/HD don’t have awake electroencephalograms (EEG) that show patterns of drowsiness or sedation. In AD/HD, the brain’s metabolism and EEG activity is often normal or high, because their brains are responding to an excess of sensory input or their brains are more active as they seek a compelling sensory stimulus upon which to focus. This brain state of unfocused attention is appears to become more focused when students with AD/HD are provided with a sensory focal point, such as music, a metronome, or pencil-tapping. (Webb 1990)      The techniques that bring more enjoyment and positive emotion to the learning activity are not crutches, but adaptive facilitators that are appropriate and valuable, especially when students with attention deficits have so many pulls on their attention. It is possible that with time, these students will need less external patterning as their frontal lobes mature and they develop their patterning skills and executive functions. However, if they don’t have some assistance with focus and patterning while they are in school, students with patterning deficiencies contributing to their AD/HD may fall further and further behind. Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:01:35 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_The-beat-helped-me-read-faster-from-Jill-C/blog/5242741/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-10-03T05:01:35Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge  THe beat helped me read faster!!!” from Jill C. Yesterday, one of my students ran up to me at the end of independent reading and said, "Mrs. C, I found a way to read faster!  I was sitting on the beanbag chair and started moving my foot back and forth like a windshield wiper to a beat.  The beat helped me read faster!!" She was so excited that I asked her to write down what happened and then share it today during our reading mini-lesson.        I just finished your book: Brain Based Strategies in the Inclusion Classroom, and as a fourth grade regular education teacher in an inclusion classroom, your strategies have been very helpful. When my student had her insight, I hadn't yet mentioned to the students yet about your strategy to help them focus by having them listen to a beat, or tap, etc. Having read the book, I understand why she may have been so successful with her self-discovered strategy.      Here is the section from the book to which Jill is referring: PATTERNING FOR BRAIN ALIGNMENT      The brain receives information through the senses and not all sensory information in the environment reaches the cognitive processing centers of the brain. The brain sorts out the input, selectively focusing attention (through the filters of the RAS and amygdala) on the sensory information it recognizes as having survival or pleasure/interest value. Beyond those selective responses, the brain is most attuned to information that is recognized as patterns or categories it already has. (Coward 19990)       Students with attention deficits may have difficulty seeing the patterns in the information they are reading, seeing or hearing. If these students cannot select out the patterns in mathematical concepts, songs, spelling rules, or puzzles as effectively as their classmates, they are not only confused, but they also may be further frustrated by the stress of feeling different. This high stress level increases their difficulties in following the stream of information being delivered.       Music for patterning is based on theories suggesting that music can increase the attentive focus in students with AD/HD so they are better able link new information with preexisting brain networks (patterns). Neuroimaging during learning suggests that patterns or templates that connect new sensory data to neuronal networks increases success at converting short-term or working memories into long-term memories. (Calvin 2000)      It may be that these children with AD/HD can take the external pattern from the beat of the music or the ticking of a metronome and use it like lights on an airport runway as a guiding pattern upon which to align their thoughts. The sound pattern may become a guided landing strip, a structure onto which they can organize incoming academic information or connect ideas. For students with attention disorders, the multisensory stimuli around them are as difficult to separate into individual components, as it would be for you to hear one specific person’s voice in a chorus. With inadequate patterning the brains of students with AD/HD may not be able to follow one new idea before another intrudes and interrupts. (Jeffries 2003)      Interventions are proposed to help students with AD/HD develop brain-patterning skills that help them categorize the multitude of sensory inputs they receive. Attention and learning, for some students with AD/HD, appear to improve when strategies help them focus attention on stimuli. This may be why some children with AD/HD rhythmically tap pencils on their desks or their feet on the floor. The theory suggests that the external patterning rhythms help the process of aligning their brains’ attention networks to converge on a single predominant sensory input. This sensory focusing input, such as the music or rhythmic tapping, would then become the structure upon which they coordinate other incoming data; analogous to the way the pull of a magnet lines up iron filings in orderly direction. (Schneider 1993)     As counterintuitive as it seems to some parents, when I tell them how their children with AD/HD improved when they listened to music of their choice while doing math, most are willing to use the technique at home. I first demonstrate the recorded results of the individualized analysis of their children’s work with and without the music. The computerized math program I use keeps detailed records of time spent and concepts mastered. During conferences, students who are clear responders to music add their own description to what is demonstrated as increased mental efficiency on the computer analysis of their success.      Students say variations of, “Now I can see how this math problem fits together. It is as if the music makes my mind able to concentrate on the math.” It is as if they are able to hone their conceptual or abstract learning once their brains are aligned by the patterns established by music. The music seems to work like a graphic organizer to help students have a structure upon which to catalogue newly learned material.          Another way to think about benefit of patterning is to consider what attention deficit means. It is not really inattention, but rather attention in many different places simultaneously. Students with AD/HD don’t have awake electroencephalograms (EEG) that show patterns of drowsiness or sedation. In AD/HD, the brain’s metabolism and EEG activity is often normal or high, because their brains are responding to an excess of sensory input or their brains are more active as they seek a compelling sensory stimulus upon which to focus. This brain state of unfocused attention is appears to become more focused when students with AD/HD are provided with a sensory focal point, such as music, a metronome, or pencil-tapping. (Webb 1990)      The techniques that bring more enjoyment and positive emotion to the learning activity are not crutches, but adaptive facilitators that are appropriate and valuable, especially when students with attention deficits have so many pulls on their attention. It is possible that with time, these students will need less external patterning as their frontal lobes mature and they develop their patterning skills and executive functions. However, if they don’t have some assistance with focus and patterning while they are in school, students with patterning deficiencies contributing to their AD/HD may fall further and further behind. lesson plan nonadult false “The beat helped me read faster!!!” from Jill C. text blog lesson plan 940 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 5242741 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-2-Tammy-Renyard39s-RAD-bio-lesson-plan/blog/5036144/127586.html   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations:       IC: Image•Connections       IQ: Image•Questions       IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: 1.Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). 2.The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. 3.The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. 4.Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. 5.A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s) G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s)     ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations:       IC: Image•Connections       IQ: Image•Questions       IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: 1.Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). 2.The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. 3.The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. 4.Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. 5.A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s) G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s)   Sun, 14 Aug 2011 08:53:24 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-2-Tammy-Renyard39s-RAD-bio-lesson-plan/blog/5036144/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-08-14T08:53:24Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations:       IC: Image•Connections       IQ: Image•Questions       IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: 1.Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). 2.The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. 3.The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. 4.Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. 5.A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson. G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s) G•O•S•S•I•P Go Out and Selectively Search for Important Points   Name: ___________________________        Date: _______________________                               My ideas                             Partner 1 _____________________________                             Partner 2 _____________________________                             Partner 3 _____________________________ Reflections                     Goal(s)   lesson plan nonadult false Part 2 Tammy Renyard's RAD bio lesson plan text blog lesson plan 630 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 5036144 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-3-Tammy-Renyard39s-RAD-bio-lesson-plan/blog/5036147/127586.html Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will                      G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson.     ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will   Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will                      G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson.     ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will   Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:54:36 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-3-Tammy-Renyard39s-RAD-bio-lesson-plan/blog/5036147/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-08-14T04:54:36Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  Habitat Squirrels prefer to live where there is an abundance of food. Usually, this is an area with nut- and seed-producing plants. Squirrels also like areas that produce many grasses and plants, because the new plant shoots are edible. Squirrels have to live in places that have trees, even in a city. This is because squirrels build nests in the trees, specifically for bearing young. It keeps the baby squirrels safe from harm when they are very young and left alone while the adult squirrels are searching for food. Red Squirrels live in forests usually. The gray squirrel is the most common squirrel in America and is often found near cities and people. In the winter when the time of nesting is over squirrels live in tree trunk holes to stay warm, or they find their way into local home's attics. Foods Since squirrels are from the rodent family of mammals, they are primarily vegetarians. They love eating acorns and other nuts, all kinds of seeds, fruits, mushrooms and young plants. They will also eat twigs and barks if the other foods are scarce. Even though squirrels prefer these foods occasionally they will break away from vegetarian foods to enjoy a small frog or a bird egg. Squirrels that are near people also will eat scraps, dog food and even raid the bird feeders. Squirrels don't always eat their food right away. They bury it around the ground, in fallen trees, and anywhere that seems a good hiding place. Later they did it up when hungry. Although they do this year round, it is done to a greater degree in the fall to prepare a store of foods for winter. Anatomy Squirrels have teeth that continually grow so that they stay sharp. They use their teeth to crack open nuts, and for chewing through things to get to food. Often when squirrels chew on wires or rocks, they are keeping their teeth worn down a bit but still sharp. Their claws are used for digging up stored foods or for tearing down barriers to get to foods. Their paws are flexible with individual digits allowing them to reach into small places and to hold on to the small foods they eat. A squirrel's bushy tail is also used in an indirect way during a food search. The tail helps the squirrel balance among the tree branches or along fences and roofs, so they don't fall while finding food. The last part of anatomy that helps a squirrel find food is its big eyes that can see to the sides very well. However, they are not good for seeing directly in front of them so for that they rely on their keen sense of smell to locate the food.   Source:  http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Squirrels-Habitat-and-Food-Sources   Gene Package: Colors Texture of fur Nose length Size Claws Teeth (grinding, pointy) Tail size   New Habitat: Island Rocky ground near beach – large groups of rocks with crevasses Crabs and other beach life Dirt/sand inland with shrubs and bushes but spread out Some berries and variety of flowering plants Predators – hawks, snakes Climate – warm desert-like inland, cooler by the water   TASK:  Survival of the Fittest – Divergent Evolution/Speciation – Your team must create two viable squirrel species that fill two different niches in the new habitat.  You must justify the physical attributes and behavioral attributes of the two new squirrels as they relate to their specific niches. Squirrel Population 1 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size   Squirrel Population 2 Attribute Justification Color   Texture of Fur   Nose length   Size   Claws   Teeth   Tail Size     ID - Image Details (with words and definitions)   Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Species A group of similar-looking (though not identical) organisms that breed with one another and produce fertile offspring in the natural environment.         Niche Combination of an organism’s habitat and its role in that habitat.                 Reproductive Isolation Separation of populations so that they do not interbreed to produce fertile offspring.                 Speciation     The evolutionary process by which new biological species arise.                 Word Definition Images pictures•feelings•colours•sounds• textures•scents•motion Details What is important to remember? Darwin’s Finches 13 bird species on the Galapagos Islands.  All evolved from a single ancestral species.  All exhibit body structures and behaviours that enable it to live in a different niche.      Adaptive Radiation Process, also known as divergent evolution, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.        Divergent Evolution (same ancestor) Pattern of evolution, also known as adaptive radiation, in which one species gives rise to many species that appear different externally but are similar internally.      Convergent Evolution (different ancestors) Phenomenon in which adaptive radiations among different organisms produce species that are similar in appearance and behavior; opposite of divergent evolution.     Analogous Structures   Structures that are similar in appearance and function but have different origins and usually different internal structures.  ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will                      G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   ID: Image•Details A page is set up in two columns, one titled images and the other titled details. As learners work with a chunk of text (print, media, experience…) they sketch and/ or use words to identify sensations, images, feelings, important ideas, connections … on one side of a page and then sift through those ideas to generate important details to remember on the other side of the page. A/B partner-talk is structured into the processing. Through the interactions learners explain their understandings, notice similarities and differences and add new learning and insights to their own thinking before demonstrating their understandings. Variations: IC: Image•Connections IQ: Image•Questions IQS: Image•Questions•Synthesis ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P and Image•Details ID are learning processes from BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, (February 2012): www.smartlearning.ca. Permission is granted to Judy Willis to feature G•O•S•S•I•P  and Image•Details ID, in a lesson sequence developed by Tammy Renyard, as long as copyright information is included at the end of the lesson.     ID Image•Details
   Name: ___________________ Date: __________ Task: __________________________________________   Images Sensations: feelings, sounds, colours, tastes, scents, textures, sizes, patterns, motion… connections Details What is important to remember? Chunk 1     2     3     4     Reflections I noticed Goal(s) Next time I will   lesson plan nonadult false Part 3 Tammy Renyard's RAD bio lesson plan text blog lesson plan 657 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 5036147 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-1-of-3-RAD-NeuroLOGICAL-Bio-11-by-Tammy-Renyard/blog/5036139/127586.html [image][image] [image][image] [image][image] Tammy Renyard - Vice Principal Victoria High School, Great Victoria School District 61, British Columbia trenyard@sd61.bc.ca Thanks to Karen Edwards and David Young – Biology teachers at Victoria High School for their insights.   Biology 11 – Evolution Learning Outcome – Describe the process of evolution. Differentiate among and give examples of convergent evolution, divergent evolution and speciation Guiding Questions/Learning: How does reproductive isolation lead to speciation? What are Darwin’s finches an example of? How do many available niches affect a species in an environment? Compare and contrast convergent and divergent evolution.   Role: Naturalist - capturing images and important details and publishing results in Scientific America.  Write in the role of Darwin to explain the task. Note: Students will need to understand species, niche, and adaptive radiation. Connect Steps of Lesson How is this step neuro-logical Goal: To be able to describe the process of evolution.  To work with partners and small groups to extend your learning and engagement.    Task:  Survival of the Fittest – creating two squirrel populations that fill two different niches. Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island.   Activate Prior Knowledge – G.O.S.S.I.P(SMARTLearning Tool) – Species, evolution (natural selection), niches                 Predict – A/B partner – predict what happens when one species is separated geographically.   Question – A/B partner – with your partner come up with one powerful question about evolution.  Given the theory of evolution is the basis for biology – what are you wondering?  What one question if we could answer it for you now would help you as we move forward? When students know the goals and tasks at the beginning of the learning, they are better able to pay attention to key ideas throughout the lesson.                     A novel event – engages students in that it’s called “Gossip”.   Activates prior learning in a safe, supported way.  Working with a partner in a structured, accountable, way allows more positive emotion, more brain activity.  “When there is connection to prior knowledge or positive emotional experience, new information passage through the limbic system will be enhanced.”– J. Willis p. 44 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Predicting and Questioning – further priming the brain for the learning.      Open-ended – discuss with a partner and then share their idea.  Less stress as it is a team not an individual response but still has accountability in the sharing.  “Prime the pump…open-ended questions that do not have a single, definite, correct answer and that are student centered…” J. Willis p. 42 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning.  In this case – students are generating the questions from an open-ended question.   Process Chunk 1:  Tool: Image Details (SMARTLearning Tool) -  give key vocabulary – direct instruction – students come up with images and important details to hold their learning.  They share their image with a partner – verbally communicating their thinking behind the image.  The tool is slightly adapted from the original Image Details by Susan Close.                 Chunk 2:  Video Clip of Darwin’s Finches (notes on back of ID).  Remind students of the task.         Chunk 3:  Squirrel Mini Task Students get a hand out with generic information about the habitat and genes.  Brainstorm as a class a variety of animals that we know that live in the type of climates given.  What are some of the attributes of those animals?  Students work together to extend their understanding of niches and divergent evolution.  Students will have to justify their squirrel species.    Learning is broken up into different “chunks” to keep students engaged and allow for brain breaks.    Chunk 1 – incorporates the use of images to help students hold onto their thinking.  The words are discussed and students have to come up with an image to hold their learning.  “If they draw a sketch of their visualizations and verbally communicate them to partners, or write about them in their own words, multiple brain pathways will be stimulated to enter long-term memory because they have personalized and interacted with the information.” – J. Willis p. 10 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Brain Break – “altering the mode of instruction”.  – J. Willis p. 17 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Video clip of the Galapagos Islands.  Student sketch or take notes of important ideas with the task in mind.  Reminding of the task is important so students are focused on information that will support them in the next chunk.   Students are numbered and get up and move into new groups.  Standing and moving is essential in the lesson and is then followed by the new activity.  Students work in small groups of 3 (max 4).  Students are given a limited amount of time to develop their two populations.  High level of engagement as students personalize the learning and create original squirrel populations.  High level of learning as they work to justify the attributes they include.  “The goal in these student-centered lessons is to increase student engagement by supporting their intrinsic motivation and allowing them to be creative and solve problems…” – J. Willis p. 43 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Transform Mini Clip- Charles Darwin      T- Chart – develop criteria with students about needs to be present in their writing as they write like Charles Darwin.  How does a naturalist write?  Specifically looking for key vocabulary and sophisticated thinking.   Walk to Talk:  Students walk with a partner (just around the room) to share what they will include in their article.        Set the Image:  “You are a naturalist who has happened upon an island.  You have the opportunity to study a population of squirrels on the island.  You notice there are a variety of squirrels and are able to ascertain that they have all come from a common ancestor.   You are excited about your discovery as it confirms your thinking about the Finches.  You can’t wait to share your findings in Nature Magazine.”   Task: Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island. Clip on Charles Darwin to help them step into the role.  Insight into the man – who he was, what he believed etc. To support student achievement – criteria is co-developed so that students will be successful.  There is ownership for the criteria and students internalize what needs to be done.      Walking helps students consolidate their thinking.  The talk gives them a chance to rehearse and clarify their understanding before they demonstrate their learning independently.   Having students consider themselves as a naturalist allows for a deeper connection to the writing/learning.  Personalizing the learning bumps up both engagement and understanding.  Students synthesize all that they have learned and independently apply their understanding to the task.  There has been ample scaffolding, partner and small group work, a variety of learning strategies or tools and a clear understanding of the task.  “The more ways the material to be learned is introduced to the brain, the more dendritic pathways of access will be created.” – J. Willis p. 4 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Reflect What did you notice about your thinking and learning today or through this sequence?   (The learning sequence or lesson would likely be two or three classes depending on how long the class has each day.  Two 80 minute blocks is more than enough time). Have students step back and consider the different strategies/learning tools that were used.  Working with a partner G.O.S.S.I.P. Image/Detail Small group – mini task simulation Use of video clips Writing in Role On the back of their article, students reflect on what worked well for them, where they found learning more challenging and set a goal for next time. Reflection/Meta-cognition – it is critical for students to recognize how they learn best.  In order for students to be able to independently use strategies, they must first recognize when learning is powerful for them as an individual.    G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   [image][image] [image][image] [image][image] Tammy Renyard - Vice Principal Victoria High School, Great Victoria School District 61, British Columbia trenyard@sd61.bc.ca Thanks to Karen Edwards and David Young – Biology teachers at Victoria High School for their insights.   Biology 11 – Evolution Learning Outcome – Describe the process of evolution. Differentiate among and give examples of convergent evolution, divergent evolution and speciation Guiding Questions/Learning: How does reproductive isolation lead to speciation? What are Darwin’s finches an example of? How do many available niches affect a species in an environment? Compare and contrast convergent and divergent evolution.   Role: Naturalist - capturing images and important details and publishing results in Scientific America.  Write in the role of Darwin to explain the task. Note: Students will need to understand species, niche, and adaptive radiation. Connect Steps of Lesson How is this step neuro-logical Goal: To be able to describe the process of evolution.  To work with partners and small groups to extend your learning and engagement.    Task:  Survival of the Fittest – creating two squirrel populations that fill two different niches. Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island.   Activate Prior Knowledge – G.O.S.S.I.P(SMARTLearning Tool) – Species, evolution (natural selection), niches                 Predict – A/B partner – predict what happens when one species is separated geographically.   Question – A/B partner – with your partner come up with one powerful question about evolution.  Given the theory of evolution is the basis for biology – what are you wondering?  What one question if we could answer it for you now would help you as we move forward? When students know the goals and tasks at the beginning of the learning, they are better able to pay attention to key ideas throughout the lesson.                     A novel event – engages students in that it’s called “Gossip”.   Activates prior learning in a safe, supported way.  Working with a partner in a structured, accountable, way allows more positive emotion, more brain activity.  “When there is connection to prior knowledge or positive emotional experience, new information passage through the limbic system will be enhanced.”– J. Willis p. 44 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Predicting and Questioning – further priming the brain for the learning.      Open-ended – discuss with a partner and then share their idea.  Less stress as it is a team not an individual response but still has accountability in the sharing.  “Prime the pump…open-ended questions that do not have a single, definite, correct answer and that are student centered…” J. Willis p. 42 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning.  In this case – students are generating the questions from an open-ended question.   Process Chunk 1:  Tool: Image Details (SMARTLearning Tool) -  give key vocabulary – direct instruction – students come up with images and important details to hold their learning.  They share their image with a partner – verbally communicating their thinking behind the image.  The tool is slightly adapted from the original Image Details by Susan Close.                 Chunk 2:  Video Clip of Darwin’s Finches (notes on back of ID).  Remind students of the task.         Chunk 3:  Squirrel Mini Task Students get a hand out with generic information about the habitat and genes.  Brainstorm as a class a variety of animals that we know that live in the type of climates given.  What are some of the attributes of those animals?  Students work together to extend their understanding of niches and divergent evolution.  Students will have to justify their squirrel species.    Learning is broken up into different “chunks” to keep students engaged and allow for brain breaks.    Chunk 1 – incorporates the use of images to help students hold onto their thinking.  The words are discussed and students have to come up with an image to hold their learning.  “If they draw a sketch of their visualizations and verbally communicate them to partners, or write about them in their own words, multiple brain pathways will be stimulated to enter long-term memory because they have personalized and interacted with the information.” – J. Willis p. 10 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Brain Break – “altering the mode of instruction”.  – J. Willis p. 17 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Video clip of the Galapagos Islands.  Student sketch or take notes of important ideas with the task in mind.  Reminding of the task is important so students are focused on information that will support them in the next chunk.   Students are numbered and get up and move into new groups.  Standing and moving is essential in the lesson and is then followed by the new activity.  Students work in small groups of 3 (max 4).  Students are given a limited amount of time to develop their two populations.  High level of engagement as students personalize the learning and create original squirrel populations.  High level of learning as they work to justify the attributes they include.  “The goal in these student-centered lessons is to increase student engagement by supporting their intrinsic motivation and allowing them to be creative and solve problems…” – J. Willis p. 43 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Transform Mini Clip- Charles Darwin      T- Chart – develop criteria with students about needs to be present in their writing as they write like Charles Darwin.  How does a naturalist write?  Specifically looking for key vocabulary and sophisticated thinking.   Walk to Talk:  Students walk with a partner (just around the room) to share what they will include in their article.        Set the Image:  “You are a naturalist who has happened upon an island.  You have the opportunity to study a population of squirrels on the island.  You notice there are a variety of squirrels and are able to ascertain that they have all come from a common ancestor.   You are excited about your discovery as it confirms your thinking about the Finches.  You can’t wait to share your findings in Nature Magazine.”   Task: Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island. Clip on Charles Darwin to help them step into the role.  Insight into the man – who he was, what he believed etc. To support student achievement – criteria is co-developed so that students will be successful.  There is ownership for the criteria and students internalize what needs to be done.      Walking helps students consolidate their thinking.  The talk gives them a chance to rehearse and clarify their understanding before they demonstrate their learning independently.   Having students consider themselves as a naturalist allows for a deeper connection to the writing/learning.  Personalizing the learning bumps up both engagement and understanding.  Students synthesize all that they have learned and independently apply their understanding to the task.  There has been ample scaffolding, partner and small group work, a variety of learning strategies or tools and a clear understanding of the task.  “The more ways the material to be learned is introduced to the brain, the more dendritic pathways of access will be created.” – J. Willis p. 4 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Reflect What did you notice about your thinking and learning today or through this sequence?   (The learning sequence or lesson would likely be two or three classes depending on how long the class has each day.  Two 80 minute blocks is more than enough time). Have students step back and consider the different strategies/learning tools that were used.  Working with a partner G.O.S.S.I.P. Image/Detail Small group – mini task simulation Use of video clips Writing in Role On the back of their article, students reflect on what worked well for them, where they found learning more challenging and set a goal for next time. Reflection/Meta-cognition – it is critical for students to recognize how they learn best.  In order for students to be able to independently use strategies, they must first recognize when learning is powerful for them as an individual.    G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   Sun, 14 Aug 2011 04:48:51 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Part-1-of-3-RAD-NeuroLOGICAL-Bio-11-by-Tammy-Renyard/blog/5036139/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-08-14T04:48:51Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge [image][image] [image][image] [image][image] Tammy Renyard - Vice Principal Victoria High School, Great Victoria School District 61, British Columbia trenyard@sd61.bc.ca Thanks to Karen Edwards and David Young – Biology teachers at Victoria High School for their insights.   Biology 11 – Evolution Learning Outcome – Describe the process of evolution. Differentiate among and give examples of convergent evolution, divergent evolution and speciation Guiding Questions/Learning: How does reproductive isolation lead to speciation? What are Darwin’s finches an example of? How do many available niches affect a species in an environment? Compare and contrast convergent and divergent evolution.   Role: Naturalist - capturing images and important details and publishing results in Scientific America.  Write in the role of Darwin to explain the task. Note: Students will need to understand species, niche, and adaptive radiation. Connect Steps of Lesson How is this step neuro-logical Goal: To be able to describe the process of evolution.  To work with partners and small groups to extend your learning and engagement.    Task:  Survival of the Fittest – creating two squirrel populations that fill two different niches. Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island.   Activate Prior Knowledge – G.O.S.S.I.P(SMARTLearning Tool) – Species, evolution (natural selection), niches                 Predict – A/B partner – predict what happens when one species is separated geographically.   Question – A/B partner – with your partner come up with one powerful question about evolution.  Given the theory of evolution is the basis for biology – what are you wondering?  What one question if we could answer it for you now would help you as we move forward? When students know the goals and tasks at the beginning of the learning, they are better able to pay attention to key ideas throughout the lesson.                     A novel event – engages students in that it’s called “Gossip”.   Activates prior learning in a safe, supported way.  Working with a partner in a structured, accountable, way allows more positive emotion, more brain activity.  “When there is connection to prior knowledge or positive emotional experience, new information passage through the limbic system will be enhanced.”– J. Willis p. 44 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Predicting and Questioning – further priming the brain for the learning.      Open-ended – discuss with a partner and then share their idea.  Less stress as it is a team not an individual response but still has accountability in the sharing.  “Prime the pump…open-ended questions that do not have a single, definite, correct answer and that are student centered…” J. Willis p. 42 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning.  In this case – students are generating the questions from an open-ended question.   Process Chunk 1:  Tool: Image Details (SMARTLearning Tool) -  give key vocabulary – direct instruction – students come up with images and important details to hold their learning.  They share their image with a partner – verbally communicating their thinking behind the image.  The tool is slightly adapted from the original Image Details by Susan Close.                 Chunk 2:  Video Clip of Darwin’s Finches (notes on back of ID).  Remind students of the task.         Chunk 3:  Squirrel Mini Task Students get a hand out with generic information about the habitat and genes.  Brainstorm as a class a variety of animals that we know that live in the type of climates given.  What are some of the attributes of those animals?  Students work together to extend their understanding of niches and divergent evolution.  Students will have to justify their squirrel species.    Learning is broken up into different “chunks” to keep students engaged and allow for brain breaks.    Chunk 1 – incorporates the use of images to help students hold onto their thinking.  The words are discussed and students have to come up with an image to hold their learning.  “If they draw a sketch of their visualizations and verbally communicate them to partners, or write about them in their own words, multiple brain pathways will be stimulated to enter long-term memory because they have personalized and interacted with the information.” – J. Willis p. 10 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Brain Break – “altering the mode of instruction”.  – J. Willis p. 17 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Video clip of the Galapagos Islands.  Student sketch or take notes of important ideas with the task in mind.  Reminding of the task is important so students are focused on information that will support them in the next chunk.   Students are numbered and get up and move into new groups.  Standing and moving is essential in the lesson and is then followed by the new activity.  Students work in small groups of 3 (max 4).  Students are given a limited amount of time to develop their two populations.  High level of engagement as students personalize the learning and create original squirrel populations.  High level of learning as they work to justify the attributes they include.  “The goal in these student-centered lessons is to increase student engagement by supporting their intrinsic motivation and allowing them to be creative and solve problems…” – J. Willis p. 43 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning Transform Mini Clip- Charles Darwin      T- Chart – develop criteria with students about needs to be present in their writing as they write like Charles Darwin.  How does a naturalist write?  Specifically looking for key vocabulary and sophisticated thinking.   Walk to Talk:  Students walk with a partner (just around the room) to share what they will include in their article.        Set the Image:  “You are a naturalist who has happened upon an island.  You have the opportunity to study a population of squirrels on the island.  You notice there are a variety of squirrels and are able to ascertain that they have all come from a common ancestor.   You are excited about your discovery as it confirms your thinking about the Finches.  You can’t wait to share your findings in Nature Magazine.”   Task: Write in role of Charles Darwin to explain what happened to the Squirrel population on Victoria Island. Clip on Charles Darwin to help them step into the role.  Insight into the man – who he was, what he believed etc. To support student achievement – criteria is co-developed so that students will be successful.  There is ownership for the criteria and students internalize what needs to be done.      Walking helps students consolidate their thinking.  The talk gives them a chance to rehearse and clarify their understanding before they demonstrate their learning independently.   Having students consider themselves as a naturalist allows for a deeper connection to the writing/learning.  Personalizing the learning bumps up both engagement and understanding.  Students synthesize all that they have learned and independently apply their understanding to the task.  There has been ample scaffolding, partner and small group work, a variety of learning strategies or tools and a clear understanding of the task.  “The more ways the material to be learned is introduced to the brain, the more dendritic pathways of access will be created.” – J. Willis p. 4 Research-Based Strategies to Ignite Student Learning   Reflect What did you notice about your thinking and learning today or through this sequence?   (The learning sequence or lesson would likely be two or three classes depending on how long the class has each day.  Two 80 minute blocks is more than enough time). Have students step back and consider the different strategies/learning tools that were used.  Working with a partner G.O.S.S.I.P. Image/Detail Small group – mini task simulation Use of video clips Writing in Role On the back of their article, students reflect on what worked well for them, where they found learning more challenging and set a goal for next time. Reflection/Meta-cognition – it is critical for students to recognize how they learn best.  In order for students to be able to independently use strategies, they must first recognize when learning is powerful for them as an individual.    G•O•S•S•I•P This tool is great for activating and extending background knowledge, and for gathering ideas before summarizing and synthesizing information, after learning.  Learners G•O•S•S•I•P by Going out and Selectively (or systematically) Searching for Important Points, using the principles behind real gossip. Process: Learners are set up in A/B partners or in groups of four (two sets of A/B partners). The teacher invites learners to discuss how effective G•O•S•S•I•P works, and to co-construct criteria for powerful gossiping. The teacher models the G•O•S•S•P process with one team, inviting the onlookers to notice important details in the process. Each learner uses the criteria and what was demonstrated, to set a personal goal for using G•O•S•S•P to activate and summarize knowledge. A concept or question is offered, and learners generate their own ideas and questions in relation to the prompt, in the first box on their papers.   Variation 1: A/B partner interviews, and then G•O•S•S•I•P to exchange ideas. One partner explains what (s)he knows. The other partner listens, asks clarifying questions, summarizes what (s)he heard, then jots down important points in words or graphics, in the box labeled My Partner ___’s thinking. After jotting the ideas down, (s)he confirms the information to ensure (s)he captured the essence of what the person said. Roles reverse. The partners thank each other and prepare to move. When they find a new partner, their job is to pass information they gathered from their first partner, and to capture information their new partner gathered. They write the name of the person they meet with, and his or her information in a new box. They thank the person and move to another person, repeating the process. Each time, they pass-on the ideas they just heard.   Following the gathering of ideas, each person returns to their A/B partnership or team. At this point Lettered Heads works wonderfully to stimulate and extend thinking, before each individual summarizes what (s)he knows, understands and wonders. If we are in A/B teams, they collaboratively summarize their findings, and their questions about the topic. One member of the team reports out to the class, using a reporting frame: My partner ___ and I know ___. We wonder ______. Note: Once learners are comfortably using G•O•S•S•I•P and Lettered Heads, we stretch to justify the wondering by having each team explain the thinking behind the questions they generated. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder.   Variation 2: Individuals are part of a team, and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and bring back information to share with their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move about explaining their understandings and questions, and capturing ideas and questions from partners. Each time they greet a new partner, they pass-on information gathered from what they have heard. The process ends when each person has four filled boxes, or when the teacher calls, “Time.” Learners return to their team, and use Lettered Heads (‘A’ going first…) to explain the information and questions each person gathered. One letter is chosen at random by the teacher (role of the dice etc) to report out a summary of the team’s findings. The team rehearses the person reporting out. This stimulates review and elaboration of the information. One team presents its information; subsequent teams add only new information and new questions. The process ends with each person summarizing what they know, understand, and wonder. Variation 3: Concept development… going for the big ideas, after processing new information. In this version individuals are part of a team and head out to G•O•S•S•I•P and Mine for Gold, then bring back information to their team. After jotting down their own ideas in the first box on their page, they stand and move to a new partner. Their job is to ask “What’s important about…?” and when the person answers, they ask, “Why is that important?” When the person answers again, they press for deeper understanding by asking, “And, why is that important?” When the partner gives a further statement, they respond one last time with, “Why is that important?” They write the final statement or nugget in their box, and then roles reverse. Teams gather and discuss what was important by sharing the big ideas that came out of the G•O•S•S•I•P. They summarize the big ideas and prepare to present and justify them. One member of the team is selected randomly, and the team rehearses that person. The team uses a reporting frame: “My partners ___, ___, and ___ think ___ was important because___. We also think ___ was important because ___.” The process ends with each person personally writing to explain and justify what was important.   ©Susan Close Learning. G•O•S•S•I•P, Lettered Heads and Mining for Gold are learning processes in a collection called, BrainSmart Tools: 21st century pathways for powerful learning, publication date February 2012: www.smartlearning.ca.   ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….   high, lesson plan, school, victoria nonadult false Part 1 of 3 RAD NeuroLOGICAL Bio 11 by Tammy Renyard text blog high,lesson plan,school,victoria 731 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 5036139 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Writing-Promotes-Memory-In-Wisdom-Out/blog/4875866/127586.html This is Part III, the last of a series of blogs on the importance of writing in STEM subjects.   Part I: Why Writing is Crucial to STEM Part II: It’s About Me! Not Just Someone Else’s Science and Math   The process of writing can provide a template the brain can use to detect and extend patterns. When students have opportunities to write about the concepts underlying the math and science facts and procedures, they guide their brain’s increased pattern building. As patterns expand, this further increases the brain’s ability to find the patterns in new, subsequent topics. A cycle whereby intelligence builds more intelligence – that can be assisted by the representation of writing. These students will have the ability to use these conceptual networks, such as what fractions really represent, to recognize patterns running throughout their courses in mathematics and science, as a series of ideas they can use to interpret their world.   Writing in narrative, expository, and mental mapping formats can promote promotes mental manipulation and active processing of learned information through the executive functions in the prefrontal cortex. Mental manipulation is not what happens when students passively repeat procedures over and over on worksheets. Practice really does make permanent – as long as the practice involves reflection, communication, and activation of newly formed memory networks to promote their transformation into well-connected, myelinated, durable memory circuits.   When the brain reconstructs mathematical or scientific facts and procedures into writing, that communicates how these are related or connected to other things they know, students personalize the facts into understanding. The process of writing offers the time for this mental reflection and repeated network activation.   When writing is an act of developing mental relationships that joins isolated facts into conceptual knowledge bundles, students have the understanding to recognize when formulas and procedures are needed and, when necessary, to reconstruct those tools to solve new problems. These students are not dependent on working memory to hold on to isolated networks of rote memorized formulas, that may have become faulty from lack of application) while solving new problems. They can devote more of the brain’s limited working memory to processing the new information.   During the school years, especially from ages 8 – 18 there is the most rapid phase of maturation taking place in the prefrontal cortex. This is a critical time in a child’s learning as the brain is shaping the individual’s development of executive functions. These include judgment, critical analysis, induction, deduction, delay of immediate gratification for long-term goals achievement, recognition of relationships (symbolism, conceptualization), prioritizing, risk assessment, organization, creative problem solving, and the ability to identify one’s emotional state, exert emotional self-control, and reflect about emotional response choices.   When information is taught with opportunities for students to process learning using the executive functions, they strengthen these control networks as they are undergoing their most rapid maturation. Writing about science and mathematics promotes executive function processing as students evaluate and respond to new information and, through the reflection inherent in the guided writing process, develop new insights.   Written communication can be included in assessments that go beyond plugging data into formulas when students are asked to explain their thinking, why they selected a procedure, or what previous knowledge they used to solve problems. This reflective writing engages executive functions such as metacognition, thought organization, deductive or inductive thinking, and consolidation of knowledge, as well as activating the memory networks to promote the durability provided by neuroplasticity.   As students grow and learn, they continue to expand their experiential database. The more experiences they have, the more likely they are to have a fit when they compare new experiences with previous ones. In this context, the neural correlates of intelligence might be considered a measure of students’ ability to make accurate connections to existing patterns in their cortical networks of stored information - to acquire new learning and apply what they know to make accurate predictions and solve new problems.   Let’s be sure the STEM philosophy that “A literate nation not only reads. It computes, investigates and innovates” and recognizes writing as critical for that literacy. Let’s make sure students can write on!   Thanks for reading the series on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. This is Part III, the last of a series of blogs on the importance of writing in STEM subjects.   Part I: Why Writing is Crucial to STEM Part II: It’s About Me! Not Just Someone Else’s Science and Math   The process of writing can provide a template the brain can use to detect and extend patterns. When students have opportunities to write about the concepts underlying the math and science facts and procedures, they guide their brain’s increased pattern building. As patterns expand, this further increases the brain’s ability to find the patterns in new, subsequent topics. A cycle whereby intelligence builds more intelligence – that can be assisted by the representation of writing. These students will have the ability to use these conceptual networks, such as what fractions really represent, to recognize patterns running throughout their courses in mathematics and science, as a series of ideas they can use to interpret their world.   Writing in narrative, expository, and mental mapping formats can promote promotes mental manipulation and active processing of learned information through the executive functions in the prefrontal cortex. Mental manipulation is not what happens when students passively repeat procedures over and over on worksheets. Practice really does make permanent – as long as the practice involves reflection, communication, and activation of newly formed memory networks to promote their transformation into well-connected, myelinated, durable memory circuits.   When the brain reconstructs mathematical or scientific facts and procedures into writing, that communicates how these are related or connected to other things they know, students personalize the facts into understanding. The process of writing offers the time for this mental reflection and repeated network activation.   When writing is an act of developing mental relationships that joins isolated facts into conceptual knowledge bundles, students have the understanding to recognize when formulas and procedures are needed and, when necessary, to reconstruct those tools to solve new problems. These students are not dependent on working memory to hold on to isolated networks of rote memorized formulas, that may have become faulty from lack of application) while solving new problems. They can devote more of the brain’s limited working memory to processing the new information.   During the school years, especially from ages 8 – 18 there is the most rapid phase of maturation taking place in the prefrontal cortex. This is a critical time in a child’s learning as the brain is shaping the individual’s development of executive functions. These include judgment, critical analysis, induction, deduction, delay of immediate gratification for long-term goals achievement, recognition of relationships (symbolism, conceptualization), prioritizing, risk assessment, organization, creative problem solving, and the ability to identify one’s emotional state, exert emotional self-control, and reflect about emotional response choices.   When information is taught with opportunities for students to process learning using the executive functions, they strengthen these control networks as they are undergoing their most rapid maturation. Writing about science and mathematics promotes executive function processing as students evaluate and respond to new information and, through the reflection inherent in the guided writing process, develop new insights.   Written communication can be included in assessments that go beyond plugging data into formulas when students are asked to explain their thinking, why they selected a procedure, or what previous knowledge they used to solve problems. This reflective writing engages executive functions such as metacognition, thought organization, deductive or inductive thinking, and consolidation of knowledge, as well as activating the memory networks to promote the durability provided by neuroplasticity.   As students grow and learn, they continue to expand their experiential database. The more experiences they have, the more likely they are to have a fit when they compare new experiences with previous ones. In this context, the neural correlates of intelligence might be considered a measure of students’ ability to make accurate connections to existing patterns in their cortical networks of stored information - to acquire new learning and apply what they know to make accurate predictions and solve new problems.   Let’s be sure the STEM philosophy that “A literate nation not only reads. It computes, investigates and innovates” and recognizes writing as critical for that literacy. Let’s make sure students can write on!   Thanks for reading the series on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. Fri, 15 Jul 2011 17:52:30 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Writing-Promotes-Memory-In-Wisdom-Out/blog/4875866/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-07-15T17:52:30Z ASCD EDge This is Part III, the last of a series of blogs on the importance of writing in STEM subjects.   Part I: Why Writing is Crucial to STEM Part II: It’s About Me! Not Just Someone Else’s Science and Math   The process of writing can provide a template the brain can use to detect and extend patterns. When students have opportunities to write about the concepts underlying the math and science facts and procedures, they guide their brain’s increased pattern building. As patterns expand, this further increases the brain’s ability to find the patterns in new, subsequent topics. A cycle whereby intelligence builds more intelligence – that can be assisted by the representation of writing. These students will have the ability to use these conceptual networks, such as what fractions really represent, to recognize patterns running throughout their courses in mathematics and science, as a series of ideas they can use to interpret their world.   Writing in narrative, expository, and mental mapping formats can promote promotes mental manipulation and active processing of learned information through the executive functions in the prefrontal cortex. Mental manipulation is not what happens when students passively repeat procedures over and over on worksheets. Practice really does make permanent – as long as the practice involves reflection, communication, and activation of newly formed memory networks to promote their transformation into well-connected, myelinated, durable memory circuits.   When the brain reconstructs mathematical or scientific facts and procedures into writing, that communicates how these are related or connected to other things they know, students personalize the facts into understanding. The process of writing offers the time for this mental reflection and repeated network activation.   When writing is an act of developing mental relationships that joins isolated facts into conceptual knowledge bundles, students have the understanding to recognize when formulas and procedures are needed and, when necessary, to reconstruct those tools to solve new problems. These students are not dependent on working memory to hold on to isolated networks of rote memorized formulas, that may have become faulty from lack of application) while solving new problems. They can devote more of the brain’s limited working memory to processing the new information.   During the school years, especially from ages 8 – 18 there is the most rapid phase of maturation taking place in the prefrontal cortex. This is a critical time in a child’s learning as the brain is shaping the individual’s development of executive functions. These include judgment, critical analysis, induction, deduction, delay of immediate gratification for long-term goals achievement, recognition of relationships (symbolism, conceptualization), prioritizing, risk assessment, organization, creative problem solving, and the ability to identify one’s emotional state, exert emotional self-control, and reflect about emotional response choices.   When information is taught with opportunities for students to process learning using the executive functions, they strengthen these control networks as they are undergoing their most rapid maturation. Writing about science and mathematics promotes executive function processing as students evaluate and respond to new information and, through the reflection inherent in the guided writing process, develop new insights.   Written communication can be included in assessments that go beyond plugging data into formulas when students are asked to explain their thinking, why they selected a procedure, or what previous knowledge they used to solve problems. This reflective writing engages executive functions such as metacognition, thought organization, deductive or inductive thinking, and consolidation of knowledge, as well as activating the memory networks to promote the durability provided by neuroplasticity.   As students grow and learn, they continue to expand their experiential database. The more experiences they have, the more likely they are to have a fit when they compare new experiences with previous ones. In this context, the neural correlates of intelligence might be considered a measure of students’ ability to make accurate connections to existing patterns in their cortical networks of stored information - to acquire new learning and apply what they know to make accurate predictions and solve new problems.   Let’s be sure the STEM philosophy that “A literate nation not only reads. It computes, investigates and innovates” and recognizes writing as critical for that literacy. Let’s make sure students can write on!   Thanks for reading the series on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. brain, brain-based, judy willis, learning, math, neurology, rad, science, stem, writing nonadult false Writing Promotes Memory In – Wisdom Out text blog brain,brain-based,judy willis,learning,math,neurology,rad,science,stem,writing 1232 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 1 4875866 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Understanding-by-Design-Meets-Neuroscience-Judy-Willis-MD-MEd/blog/4460028/127586.html                    Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience                                  [image]Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.Consider the Best Computer Game Model: In the most compelling computer games, think about what the player gets after working through the challenges of each successive level. When they succeed at mastering the skills of the new level, they don’t get prizes, money, hugs, or teacher approval. They get recognition of their incremental progress by being promoted to the next level of play – which is actually MORE CHALLENGING WORK! These game attributes, applied to teaching, can have the same motivating and successful effects on learners. What makes computer games so captivating? The successful computer games promote goal orientation, perseverance (even after failure), scaffolding when needed, clear tasks, opportunities to practice, and recognize one’s own incremental goal progress. The best games are broken up into levels.  Reaching the next levels provide opportunities for players to recognize their progress on their way to the final game goal. [image] Achievable Challenge. The most popular computer games provide increasingly challenging levels as players become more and more skillful. As skill improves, the next challenge is at again at an appropriate level of achievable challenge that the player can reach with practice, effort, and perseverance. This game model correlates to using achievable challenge, motivating goals, & feedback about incremental progress in the classroom, with the scaffolding provided for support, as students are motivated to strategically build mastery.Collaboration of Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education     The confidence base is established when students know that they will have access to the tools and support they need to reach the high expectations differentiated for them. These are the classrooms where the bar does not need to be lowered or challenge eliminated in the name of access. Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.[image] Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.    Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education: UbD for Neuro-logical Planning and Instruction    When I recognized the compatibility of the computer game model with the correlations of my area of specialization as a neurologist, and later during my ten years of teaching elementary and middle school, I sought models though which the computer game model could be best applied to curriculum and assessment planning as well as to classroom instruction. I found was the work of Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their Understanding by Design (UbD) and Planning by Design books provides a wealth of information for planning, assessment, and instruction. My references to UbD in this article are to aspects particularly relevant to the computer game model including: a curriculum and assessment model that includes backward planning starting with goals as “big ideas” and “essential questions”, advance planning of formative and summative assessments with ongoing student feedback and teacher feedback, authentic performance tasks as assessments that teach and motivate, and transfer of learning to new domains.  Achievable Challenge and Student Awareness of Incremental Progress: Successful curriculum, assessment, and goal planning are required for the video game model (dopamine-reward system) to work its magic. The UbD model sets up information delivery and output goals that are ideal for the patterning, prediction, and pleasure systems that drive and guide the brain.       Research has given us increasing understanding of what sensory input has the greatest likelihood of passing through the brain’s attention and emotional filters to reach the highest emotional and intellectual control centers in the prefrontal cortex. We know more and more about what it takes to retain that new input, first in working memory then in long-term and extended conceptual memory.       We have the guidance of further research supporting the “packaging” and “output goals” that promote the brain’s most efficient internal drives and organization. The UbD system is ideal for the brain’s structure and function by incorporating core concepts into meaningful and authentic contexts and including opportunities to “play the game while building the skills” as students apply learning throughout the acquisition process.       The likelihood of information being maintained in long-term memory increases when students’ brains are prepared in advance to “catch” the new input. This requires that we confirm that students’ foundational knowledge is accurate and then use strategies to activate the memory circuits of prior knowledge to which new input can physically link to construct working memory. Without this preactivation, there is nothing to which new input can link and new learning, failing to consolidate with an existing circuit, is not retained.      To prepare students for the dopamine-reward system that sustains motivation and memory through incremental goal progress, we need to preassess and correct faulty foundational knowledge, activate prior knowledge, and sustain the incremental progress awareness through ongoing formative assessments and feedback. This involves differentiation and individualization with scaffolding to customize the learning process for students’ levels of achievable challenge. Then, with opportunities to apply and transfer learning through enjoyable and personally relevant activities, students reach that video game model state in which they want to learn what they have to learn.       For the two years, I have had the privilege of collaborating with Jay McTighe. One area of our focus is curriculum planning and instructional strategies that incorporate the computer game model’s dopamine-reward system, fueled by the intrinsic motivation of incremental progress recognition. Our work together has further convinced me that achievable challenges are promoted when student interest is developed and teachers communicate high expectations while insuring that students have the support and scaffolding needed to achieve the challenges.      The component of incremental progress requires clearly structured and motivating goals that are made evident to the students from the beginning. Transparent expectations are also part of UbD planning, as students know the goals and assessments in advance. The recognition of incremental progress is supported by the authentic assessments and frequent feedback about goal progress throughout the unit (instead of their receiving feedback only by summative test scores of rote memory at the end of units). The clarity and student-desirability of unit goals is what the brain needs to best use its pattern-seeking design to construct and expand memory stored in relational networks.       With input now having a “big idea” or “essential question” on which to link, patterning activities can strengthen links and extend relational memory networks. These activities need to continue to appeal to the brain’s prediction, pattern, and pleasure seeking. As in the video game process where players use trial and error, inductive reasoning, instructive feedback from the game, and even read the manual to reach their goals, students will do the same when they value the mental manipulations (such as the authentic performance tasks in UbD) and available resources as tools to reach their desired goals. The same is true with corrective feedback and direct instruction during a unit if students’ brains directly link this input with the goals they seek.       The key is to develop desirable goals, provide individual students the paths to progress that suit their levels of achievable challenge, then to provide them with frequent opportunities to recognize their individual incremental goal progress. These students not only benefit from the intrinsic satisfaction of the dopamine-reward response to their incremental progress (as the video game player does to getting to the next level), but they also change their brains.  [image]      Neuroplasticity is the process through which the brain sustains learning in long-term memory and links related memory circuits together as conceptual knowledge. Each time a memory circuit is activated, electricity that flows through it fuels neuroplastic construction (dendrites, synapses, myelination of axons). This circuit activation is most effective when students are motivated by personally relevant performance tasks and opportunities for authentic transfer activities throughout the learning process.              It has long been the goal of education to provide students with skills and knowledge to serve them beyond the classroom and the habits of mind that sustain lifelong learning. Now this goal is even more critical as much of the information and technology that will be available to today’s students when they graduate is not even here now. Fortunately, we have the correlations from neuroscience and cognitive science to guide us in designing learning experiences to promote the construction of long-term, conceptual memory and the circuits of executive functions that will serve our students beyond graduation.        From clear goals as the “packaging” for successful brain intake, to authentic performance tasks for mental manipulation, and transfer opportunities to apply learning in ways beyond those in which it was acquired and practiced, we have tools to promote learning consistent with the brain’s most powerful neural processing. Despite the unrealistic demands of an over-packed curriculum, the convergence of neuroscience and cognitive science, advances in curriculum planning, assessment quality, and instructional strategies can engage the brain as powerfully as the best video game. We have the tools to plan instruction with the packaging of information input and clarity of goal-directed output that aligns with and IGNITE our students’ brains’ most successful processing now and in the future. Copyright © 2011 by Judy Willis  Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California, attended UCLA School of Medicine, where she remained as a resident and ultimately became chief resident in neurology. She practiced neurology for 15 years, and then received a credential and master's degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has taught in elementary, middle, and graduate schools; and provides professional development presentations and workshops nationally and internationally about learning and the brain. Her website is www.RADTeach.com                       Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience                                  [image]Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.Consider the Best Computer Game Model: In the most compelling computer games, think about what the player gets after working through the challenges of each successive level. When they succeed at mastering the skills of the new level, they don’t get prizes, money, hugs, or teacher approval. They get recognition of their incremental progress by being promoted to the next level of play – which is actually MORE CHALLENGING WORK! These game attributes, applied to teaching, can have the same motivating and successful effects on learners. What makes computer games so captivating? The successful computer games promote goal orientation, perseverance (even after failure), scaffolding when needed, clear tasks, opportunities to practice, and recognize one’s own incremental goal progress. The best games are broken up into levels.  Reaching the next levels provide opportunities for players to recognize their progress on their way to the final game goal. [image] Achievable Challenge. The most popular computer games provide increasingly challenging levels as players become more and more skillful. As skill improves, the next challenge is at again at an appropriate level of achievable challenge that the player can reach with practice, effort, and perseverance. This game model correlates to using achievable challenge, motivating goals, & feedback about incremental progress in the classroom, with the scaffolding provided for support, as students are motivated to strategically build mastery.Collaboration of Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education     The confidence base is established when students know that they will have access to the tools and support they need to reach the high expectations differentiated for them. These are the classrooms where the bar does not need to be lowered or challenge eliminated in the name of access. Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.[image] Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.    Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education: UbD for Neuro-logical Planning and Instruction    When I recognized the compatibility of the computer game model with the correlations of my area of specialization as a neurologist, and later during my ten years of teaching elementary and middle school, I sought models though which the computer game model could be best applied to curriculum and assessment planning as well as to classroom instruction. I found was the work of Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their Understanding by Design (UbD) and Planning by Design books provides a wealth of information for planning, assessment, and instruction. My references to UbD in this article are to aspects particularly relevant to the computer game model including: a curriculum and assessment model that includes backward planning starting with goals as “big ideas” and “essential questions”, advance planning of formative and summative assessments with ongoing student feedback and teacher feedback, authentic performance tasks as assessments that teach and motivate, and transfer of learning to new domains.  Achievable Challenge and Student Awareness of Incremental Progress: Successful curriculum, assessment, and goal planning are required for the video game model (dopamine-reward system) to work its magic. The UbD model sets up information delivery and output goals that are ideal for the patterning, prediction, and pleasure systems that drive and guide the brain.       Research has given us increasing understanding of what sensory input has the greatest likelihood of passing through the brain’s attention and emotional filters to reach the highest emotional and intellectual control centers in the prefrontal cortex. We know more and more about what it takes to retain that new input, first in working memory then in long-term and extended conceptual memory.       We have the guidance of further research supporting the “packaging” and “output goals” that promote the brain’s most efficient internal drives and organization. The UbD system is ideal for the brain’s structure and function by incorporating core concepts into meaningful and authentic contexts and including opportunities to “play the game while building the skills” as students apply learning throughout the acquisition process.       The likelihood of information being maintained in long-term memory increases when students’ brains are prepared in advance to “catch” the new input. This requires that we confirm that students’ foundational knowledge is accurate and then use strategies to activate the memory circuits of prior knowledge to which new input can physically link to construct working memory. Without this preactivation, there is nothing to which new input can link and new learning, failing to consolidate with an existing circuit, is not retained.      To prepare students for the dopamine-reward system that sustains motivation and memory through incremental goal progress, we need to preassess and correct faulty foundational knowledge, activate prior knowledge, and sustain the incremental progress awareness through ongoing formative assessments and feedback. This involves differentiation and individualization with scaffolding to customize the learning process for students’ levels of achievable challenge. Then, with opportunities to apply and transfer learning through enjoyable and personally relevant activities, students reach that video game model state in which they want to learn what they have to learn.       For the two years, I have had the privilege of collaborating with Jay McTighe. One area of our focus is curriculum planning and instructional strategies that incorporate the computer game model’s dopamine-reward system, fueled by the intrinsic motivation of incremental progress recognition. Our work together has further convinced me that achievable challenges are promoted when student interest is developed and teachers communicate high expectations while insuring that students have the support and scaffolding needed to achieve the challenges.      The component of incremental progress requires clearly structured and motivating goals that are made evident to the students from the beginning. Transparent expectations are also part of UbD planning, as students know the goals and assessments in advance. The recognition of incremental progress is supported by the authentic assessments and frequent feedback about goal progress throughout the unit (instead of their receiving feedback only by summative test scores of rote memory at the end of units). The clarity and student-desirability of unit goals is what the brain needs to best use its pattern-seeking design to construct and expand memory stored in relational networks.       With input now having a “big idea” or “essential question” on which to link, patterning activities can strengthen links and extend relational memory networks. These activities need to continue to appeal to the brain’s prediction, pattern, and pleasure seeking. As in the video game process where players use trial and error, inductive reasoning, instructive feedback from the game, and even read the manual to reach their goals, students will do the same when they value the mental manipulations (such as the authentic performance tasks in UbD) and available resources as tools to reach their desired goals. The same is true with corrective feedback and direct instruction during a unit if students’ brains directly link this input with the goals they seek.       The key is to develop desirable goals, provide individual students the paths to progress that suit their levels of achievable challenge, then to provide them with frequent opportunities to recognize their individual incremental goal progress. These students not only benefit from the intrinsic satisfaction of the dopamine-reward response to their incremental progress (as the video game player does to getting to the next level), but they also change their brains.  [image]      Neuroplasticity is the process through which the brain sustains learning in long-term memory and links related memory circuits together as conceptual knowledge. Each time a memory circuit is activated, electricity that flows through it fuels neuroplastic construction (dendrites, synapses, myelination of axons). This circuit activation is most effective when students are motivated by personally relevant performance tasks and opportunities for authentic transfer activities throughout the learning process.              It has long been the goal of education to provide students with skills and knowledge to serve them beyond the classroom and the habits of mind that sustain lifelong learning. Now this goal is even more critical as much of the information and technology that will be available to today’s students when they graduate is not even here now. Fortunately, we have the correlations from neuroscience and cognitive science to guide us in designing learning experiences to promote the construction of long-term, conceptual memory and the circuits of executive functions that will serve our students beyond graduation.        From clear goals as the “packaging” for successful brain intake, to authentic performance tasks for mental manipulation, and transfer opportunities to apply learning in ways beyond those in which it was acquired and practiced, we have tools to promote learning consistent with the brain’s most powerful neural processing. Despite the unrealistic demands of an over-packed curriculum, the convergence of neuroscience and cognitive science, advances in curriculum planning, assessment quality, and instructional strategies can engage the brain as powerfully as the best video game. We have the tools to plan instruction with the packaging of information input and clarity of goal-directed output that aligns with and IGNITE our students’ brains’ most successful processing now and in the future. Copyright © 2011 by Judy Willis  Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California, attended UCLA School of Medicine, where she remained as a resident and ultimately became chief resident in neurology. She practiced neurology for 15 years, and then received a credential and master's degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has taught in elementary, middle, and graduate schools; and provides professional development presentations and workshops nationally and internationally about learning and the brain. Her website is www.RADTeach.com    Sun, 26 Jun 2011 01:56:02 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Understanding-by-Design-Meets-Neuroscience-Judy-Willis-MD-MEd/blog/4460028/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-06-26T01:56:02Z Blogs ASCD EDge                    Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience                                  [image]Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.Consider the Best Computer Game Model: In the most compelling computer games, think about what the player gets after working through the challenges of each successive level. When they succeed at mastering the skills of the new level, they don’t get prizes, money, hugs, or teacher approval. They get recognition of their incremental progress by being promoted to the next level of play – which is actually MORE CHALLENGING WORK! These game attributes, applied to teaching, can have the same motivating and successful effects on learners. What makes computer games so captivating? The successful computer games promote goal orientation, perseverance (even after failure), scaffolding when needed, clear tasks, opportunities to practice, and recognize one’s own incremental goal progress. The best games are broken up into levels.  Reaching the next levels provide opportunities for players to recognize their progress on their way to the final game goal. [image] Achievable Challenge. The most popular computer games provide increasingly challenging levels as players become more and more skillful. As skill improves, the next challenge is at again at an appropriate level of achievable challenge that the player can reach with practice, effort, and perseverance. This game model correlates to using achievable challenge, motivating goals, & feedback about incremental progress in the classroom, with the scaffolding provided for support, as students are motivated to strategically build mastery.Collaboration of Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education     The confidence base is established when students know that they will have access to the tools and support they need to reach the high expectations differentiated for them. These are the classrooms where the bar does not need to be lowered or challenge eliminated in the name of access. Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.[image] Achievable challenge set students on appropriately challenging paths increases maximum brain engagement. The extra planning time is rewarded by increased student engagement such that less time needed for behavior management and students have increased motivation to participate in class and on homework. The additional brain-memory bonus, as I’ve written about previously, is the dopamine-reward cycle activation where students’ pleasure-reward response responds to more frequent opportunities to recognize their own incremental goal progress. In addition of this perseverance promoting effect of dopamine released by intrinsic motivation, students develop the concept that effort does bring goal progress, and regardless of past experiences, they can succeed with effort and opportunities to get the support and tools they need to promote their success.    Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, and Education: UbD for Neuro-logical Planning and Instruction    When I recognized the compatibility of the computer game model with the correlations of my area of specialization as a neurologist, and later during my ten years of teaching elementary and middle school, I sought models though which the computer game model could be best applied to curriculum and assessment planning as well as to classroom instruction. I found was the work of Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins in their Understanding by Design (UbD) and Planning by Design books provides a wealth of information for planning, assessment, and instruction. My references to UbD in this article are to aspects particularly relevant to the computer game model including: a curriculum and assessment model that includes backward planning starting with goals as “big ideas” and “essential questions”, advance planning of formative and summative assessments with ongoing student feedback and teacher feedback, authentic performance tasks as assessments that teach and motivate, and transfer of learning to new domains.  Achievable Challenge and Student Awareness of Incremental Progress: Successful curriculum, assessment, and goal planning are required for the video game model (dopamine-reward system) to work its magic. The UbD model sets up information delivery and output goals that are ideal for the patterning, prediction, and pleasure systems that drive and guide the brain.       Research has given us increasing understanding of what sensory input has the greatest likelihood of passing through the brain’s attention and emotional filters to reach the highest emotional and intellectual control centers in the prefrontal cortex. We know more and more about what it takes to retain that new input, first in working memory then in long-term and extended conceptual memory.       We have the guidance of further research supporting the “packaging” and “output goals” that promote the brain’s most efficient internal drives and organization. The UbD system is ideal for the brain’s structure and function by incorporating core concepts into meaningful and authentic contexts and including opportunities to “play the game while building the skills” as students apply learning throughout the acquisition process.       The likelihood of information being maintained in long-term memory increases when students’ brains are prepared in advance to “catch” the new input. This requires that we confirm that students’ foundational knowledge is accurate and then use strategies to activate the memory circuits of prior knowledge to which new input can physically link to construct working memory. Without this preactivation, there is nothing to which new input can link and new learning, failing to consolidate with an existing circuit, is not retained.      To prepare students for the dopamine-reward system that sustains motivation and memory through incremental goal progress, we need to preassess and correct faulty foundational knowledge, activate prior knowledge, and sustain the incremental progress awareness through ongoing formative assessments and feedback. This involves differentiation and individualization with scaffolding to customize the learning process for students’ levels of achievable challenge. Then, with opportunities to apply and transfer learning through enjoyable and personally relevant activities, students reach that video game model state in which they want to learn what they have to learn.       For the two years, I have had the privilege of collaborating with Jay McTighe. One area of our focus is curriculum planning and instructional strategies that incorporate the computer game model’s dopamine-reward system, fueled by the intrinsic motivation of incremental progress recognition. Our work together has further convinced me that achievable challenges are promoted when student interest is developed and teachers communicate high expectations while insuring that students have the support and scaffolding needed to achieve the challenges.      The component of incremental progress requires clearly structured and motivating goals that are made evident to the students from the beginning. Transparent expectations are also part of UbD planning, as students know the goals and assessments in advance. The recognition of incremental progress is supported by the authentic assessments and frequent feedback about goal progress throughout the unit (instead of their receiving feedback only by summative test scores of rote memory at the end of units). The clarity and student-desirability of unit goals is what the brain needs to best use its pattern-seeking design to construct and expand memory stored in relational networks.       With input now having a “big idea” or “essential question” on which to link, patterning activities can strengthen links and extend relational memory networks. These activities need to continue to appeal to the brain’s prediction, pattern, and pleasure seeking. As in the video game process where players use trial and error, inductive reasoning, instructive feedback from the game, and even read the manual to reach their goals, students will do the same when they value the mental manipulations (such as the authentic performance tasks in UbD) and available resources as tools to reach their desired goals. The same is true with corrective feedback and direct instruction during a unit if students’ brains directly link this input with the goals they seek.       The key is to develop desirable goals, provide individual students the paths to progress that suit their levels of achievable challenge, then to provide them with frequent opportunities to recognize their individual incremental goal progress. These students not only benefit from the intrinsic satisfaction of the dopamine-reward response to their incremental progress (as the video game player does to getting to the next level), but they also change their brains.  [image]      Neuroplasticity is the process through which the brain sustains learning in long-term memory and links related memory circuits together as conceptual knowledge. Each time a memory circuit is activated, electricity that flows through it fuels neuroplastic construction (dendrites, synapses, myelination of axons). This circuit activation is most effective when students are motivated by personally relevant performance tasks and opportunities for authentic transfer activities throughout the learning process.              It has long been the goal of education to provide students with skills and knowledge to serve them beyond the classroom and the habits of mind that sustain lifelong learning. Now this goal is even more critical as much of the information and technology that will be available to today’s students when they graduate is not even here now. Fortunately, we have the correlations from neuroscience and cognitive science to guide us in designing learning experiences to promote the construction of long-term, conceptual memory and the circuits of executive functions that will serve our students beyond graduation.        From clear goals as the “packaging” for successful brain intake, to authentic performance tasks for mental manipulation, and transfer opportunities to apply learning in ways beyond those in which it was acquired and practiced, we have tools to promote learning consistent with the brain’s most powerful neural processing. Despite the unrealistic demands of an over-packed curriculum, the convergence of neuroscience and cognitive science, advances in curriculum planning, assessment quality, and instructional strategies can engage the brain as powerfully as the best video game. We have the tools to plan instruction with the packaging of information input and clarity of goal-directed output that aligns with and IGNITE our students’ brains’ most successful processing now and in the future. Copyright © 2011 by Judy Willis  Dr. Judy Willis, a board-certified neurologist and middle school teacher in Santa Barbara, California, attended UCLA School of Medicine, where she remained as a resident and ultimately became chief resident in neurology. She practiced neurology for 15 years, and then received a credential and master's degree in education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has taught in elementary, middle, and graduate schools; and provides professional development presentations and workshops nationally and internationally about learning and the brain. Her website is www.RADTeach.com    blogs, brains, igniting, neuro-logical, strategies, with nonadult false Understanding by Design Meets Neuroscience Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed. text blog blogs,brains,igniting,neuro-logical,strategies,with 2130 12 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Blogs 4 4460028 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Its-About-Me-Not-Just-Someone-Elses-Science-and-Math/blog/4276886/127586.html This is Part II of a series of blog posts I'll be posting on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. Part I was posted last week, Why Writing is Crucial to STEM.   Writing can reduce the neural processing blockades that result from the stress of boredom -- the most frequent reason high school dropouts give for leaving school. Specifically, they report that what they learn is not interesting or personally relevant. We know that there is increased information flow through the attention and emotional filters to the higher processing prefrontal cortex when learning incorporates personal interest and connects learning to real world issues and problems relevant to students. Writing can increase both personal relevance and confidence. Personal relevance comes from the nature of writing that provides opportunities for creativity and personal expression. Even when the facts of the math or science are not debatable, individual responses to the information are appropriate writing topics. When writing is incorporated in learning and assessment, there is increased opportunity to produce the ideal situation for active, attentive learning with collaboration, revision, and metacognition through personalization, and creativity.   Regarding confidence, reminding students of previous successes promotes confidence as does providing them the opportunity to recognize progress over time. Written work – that includes assessments of science or math facts, procedures, theories, and projects, but also includes students’ written responses to both the learning itself and to their progress gives students more ways to recognize their progress then do files of test grades. These can be maintained in computer files or portfolios and reviewed as evidence of successful, incremental progress with student opportunities for metacognition about strategies used for success.   Neurological Nourishment: The Write Stuff for Math, Science, and Brains The construction of conceptual memory networks builds the most valuable neural architecture a brain owner can have. These networks serve as “nets” to catch and hold new input with similar patterns, and “work” when activated for creative transfer – use of the information learned in one context for application in a new context. (See -- you can’t make corny word puns as easily with the spoken word.) Concept networks are the valuable tools the brain uses in the highest orders of thinking. When the brain seeks to predict the best response, answer, solution to a problem or make a choice, the executive function control networks in the prefrontal cortex send out messages to the memory association areas, such as the hippocampus and memory storing cortex in each hemisphere, to activate stored prior knowledge memories that relate to the new situation. The more extensive the brain’s collection of memory networks, the more successful it will be in activating the best prior knowledge to predict the best responses, answers, choices and in using their cumulative background knowledge to respond to the new problem or opportunity.   Planning of instruction in math and science that includes writing can be part of neuro-logical unit construction that ideally is part of a spiraled curriculum that extends throughout the school years. As in the Wiggins and McTighe backward planning described in their Understanding by Design books, goals considered from the outset can be planned into the unit. Writing provides a powerful venue to promote the development of concept networks when students have opportunities to recognize recurring patterns and activate prior knowledge related to a new topic. Units can be designed with authentic performance tasks and assessments that are personally engaging and call upon the brain’s processing through executive functions. Writing increases brain engagement throughout this process when it is planned to give students opportunities to respond personally to learning and to reflect, review, and revise.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. This is Part II of a series of blog posts I'll be posting on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. Part I was posted last week, Why Writing is Crucial to STEM.   Writing can reduce the neural processing blockades that result from the stress of boredom -- the most frequent reason high school dropouts give for leaving school. Specifically, they report that what they learn is not interesting or personally relevant. We know that there is increased information flow through the attention and emotional filters to the higher processing prefrontal cortex when learning incorporates personal interest and connects learning to real world issues and problems relevant to students. Writing can increase both personal relevance and confidence. Personal relevance comes from the nature of writing that provides opportunities for creativity and personal expression. Even when the facts of the math or science are not debatable, individual responses to the information are appropriate writing topics. When writing is incorporated in learning and assessment, there is increased opportunity to produce the ideal situation for active, attentive learning with collaboration, revision, and metacognition through personalization, and creativity.   Regarding confidence, reminding students of previous successes promotes confidence as does providing them the opportunity to recognize progress over time. Written work – that includes assessments of science or math facts, procedures, theories, and projects, but also includes students’ written responses to both the learning itself and to their progress gives students more ways to recognize their progress then do files of test grades. These can be maintained in computer files or portfolios and reviewed as evidence of successful, incremental progress with student opportunities for metacognition about strategies used for success.   Neurological Nourishment: The Write Stuff for Math, Science, and Brains The construction of conceptual memory networks builds the most valuable neural architecture a brain owner can have. These networks serve as “nets” to catch and hold new input with similar patterns, and “work” when activated for creative transfer – use of the information learned in one context for application in a new context. (See -- you can’t make corny word puns as easily with the spoken word.) Concept networks are the valuable tools the brain uses in the highest orders of thinking. When the brain seeks to predict the best response, answer, solution to a problem or make a choice, the executive function control networks in the prefrontal cortex send out messages to the memory association areas, such as the hippocampus and memory storing cortex in each hemisphere, to activate stored prior knowledge memories that relate to the new situation. The more extensive the brain’s collection of memory networks, the more successful it will be in activating the best prior knowledge to predict the best responses, answers, choices and in using their cumulative background knowledge to respond to the new problem or opportunity.   Planning of instruction in math and science that includes writing can be part of neuro-logical unit construction that ideally is part of a spiraled curriculum that extends throughout the school years. As in the Wiggins and McTighe backward planning described in their Understanding by Design books, goals considered from the outset can be planned into the unit. Writing provides a powerful venue to promote the development of concept networks when students have opportunities to recognize recurring patterns and activate prior knowledge related to a new topic. Units can be designed with authentic performance tasks and assessments that are personally engaging and call upon the brain’s processing through executive functions. Writing increases brain engagement throughout this process when it is planned to give students opportunities to respond personally to learning and to reflect, review, and revise.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. Tue, 21 Jun 2011 01:38:33 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Its-About-Me-Not-Just-Someone-Elses-Science-and-Math/blog/4276886/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-06-21T01:38:33Z ASCD EDge This is Part II of a series of blog posts I'll be posting on the importance of writing in STEM subjects. Part I was posted last week, Why Writing is Crucial to STEM.   Writing can reduce the neural processing blockades that result from the stress of boredom -- the most frequent reason high school dropouts give for leaving school. Specifically, they report that what they learn is not interesting or personally relevant. We know that there is increased information flow through the attention and emotional filters to the higher processing prefrontal cortex when learning incorporates personal interest and connects learning to real world issues and problems relevant to students. Writing can increase both personal relevance and confidence. Personal relevance comes from the nature of writing that provides opportunities for creativity and personal expression. Even when the facts of the math or science are not debatable, individual responses to the information are appropriate writing topics. When writing is incorporated in learning and assessment, there is increased opportunity to produce the ideal situation for active, attentive learning with collaboration, revision, and metacognition through personalization, and creativity.   Regarding confidence, reminding students of previous successes promotes confidence as does providing them the opportunity to recognize progress over time. Written work – that includes assessments of science or math facts, procedures, theories, and projects, but also includes students’ written responses to both the learning itself and to their progress gives students more ways to recognize their progress then do files of test grades. These can be maintained in computer files or portfolios and reviewed as evidence of successful, incremental progress with student opportunities for metacognition about strategies used for success.   Neurological Nourishment: The Write Stuff for Math, Science, and Brains The construction of conceptual memory networks builds the most valuable neural architecture a brain owner can have. These networks serve as “nets” to catch and hold new input with similar patterns, and “work” when activated for creative transfer – use of the information learned in one context for application in a new context. (See -- you can’t make corny word puns as easily with the spoken word.) Concept networks are the valuable tools the brain uses in the highest orders of thinking. When the brain seeks to predict the best response, answer, solution to a problem or make a choice, the executive function control networks in the prefrontal cortex send out messages to the memory association areas, such as the hippocampus and memory storing cortex in each hemisphere, to activate stored prior knowledge memories that relate to the new situation. The more extensive the brain’s collection of memory networks, the more successful it will be in activating the best prior knowledge to predict the best responses, answers, choices and in using their cumulative background knowledge to respond to the new problem or opportunity.   Planning of instruction in math and science that includes writing can be part of neuro-logical unit construction that ideally is part of a spiraled curriculum that extends throughout the school years. As in the Wiggins and McTighe backward planning described in their Understanding by Design books, goals considered from the outset can be planned into the unit. Writing provides a powerful venue to promote the development of concept networks when students have opportunities to recognize recurring patterns and activate prior knowledge related to a new topic. Units can be designed with authentic performance tasks and assessments that are personally engaging and call upon the brain’s processing through executive functions. Writing increases brain engagement throughout this process when it is planned to give students opportunities to respond personally to learning and to reflect, review, and revise.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. brain, brain owner, brain-based, judy willis, learning, math, rad, science, writing nonadult false It’s About Me! Not Just Someone Else’s Science and Math text blog brain,brain owner,brain-based,judy willis,learning,math,rad,science,writing 1137 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false Santa Barbara 0 0 4276886 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-Writing-Is-Crucial-to-STEM/blog/4000687/127586.html Science and math are vital to our progress, yet our test scores on the international scales are not keeping pace globally. The US Department of Labor has projected that by 2014 there will be more than two million job openings in science, technology, and engineering, but according to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) international test score report, the US is lagging behind countries like Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland in STEM subjects. H.G. Wells cautioned, "Civilization is a race between disaster and education." and it seems the government is heeding that advice with initiatives in motion to increase emphasis on these subjects.   As STEM subjects get more emphasis, writing and the arts cannot become victims of that emphasis. It is also important not to narrow the focus to the rote memory test and to recognize the interdependence of science and math on a fully rounded curriculum. As we strive for students to develop creativity as innovators in STEM and all fields, it behooves us to consider the value of writing and the arts toward the achievement of these goals.   In the past two decades, neuroscience and cognitive science research have provided increasing evidence correlating creativity with academic, social, and emotional intelligence. We also know more about the neural processing of the brain’s highest executive functions that direct judgment, critical analysis, emotional control, creative problem solving, highest cognition, and other skillsets, which are becoming increasingly valuable for all students, and essential for those who enter the STEM fields in 21st century.   Writing for the Math and Science Literacy As I’ve previously written about the value of embedding the arts throughout the curriculum (http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/blog/art-for-joyful-learning/ ) the focus of this article is to describe how writing can enhance the brain’s intake, processing, retaining, and retrieving of information in science and math.   Writing brings more that literacy and communication advantages to STEM studies, and all academic pursuits. Through writing, students can increase their comfort with and success in understanding complex material, especially when the subject has unfamiliar concepts and subject specific vocabulary. Writing throughout the curriculum also increases the power of a literate nation to “read, compute, investigate, and innovate” and to participate more successfully in our democracy.   Writing: Just What the Doctor Orders for the Brain’s Successful Information ProcessingIn terms of writing and the brain, there are multiple reasons for embedding writing throughout STEM courses. Writing promotes the brain’s attentive focus to class work and homework, promotes long-term memory, illuminates patterns (possibly even “aha” moment insight!), includes all students as participants, gives the brain time for reflection, and when well-guided, is a source of conceptual development and stimulus of the brain’s highest cognition.   There is an involuntary information intake filter that determines what sensory input is accepted into the brain. Input must also pass through an emotional filter, the amygdala, where the destination of that information. When stress is high, the intake filter favors information selectively admits information related to perceived threat, virtually ignoring other sensory input. The high stress state also directs the amygdala switching station to conduct information to the lower, reactive brain, where long-term retrievable memories cannot be formed. In addition, the behavioral outputs of the lower brain are limited to fight (act out), flight (self-entertainment sometimes interpreted as ADHD), or freeze (zone out).   Fear of making mistakes in front of classmates is one of the greatest sources of anxiety for students. Writing is an opportunity to lower threat and to reduce the stress that blocks passage through the amygdala to the reflective prefrontal cortex. Descriptive written responses to math or science questions and written predictions, hypotheses, and questions provides all students with the opportunity to actively participate in learning, receive timely feedback, reflect, revise, and risk making mistakes as they build confidence, reveal gaps in foundational knowledge, share creative insights, and build their capacities to communicate of their ideas and defend their opinions.   Writing can include individual journaling, formal research-style formatted reports of student experimentation and data analysis, newspaper editorials about the evidence for environmental problems and a plan for intervention. Writing can be shared with varying degrees of scaffolding for students who need to build confidence, such as class blogs or WIKIs with code names known only by the teacher. Writing done at home, without time constraint and with access to the Internet and other resources, can lower the barriers, but not the bar. Students can then participate more confidently in class starting with reading their written responses, perhaps after the confidence-building of first sharing them with a partner.   Written peer feedback on class WIKIs or blogs offers the opportunity to reflect on the day’s learning, ask questions, or demonstrate accountability for the night’s homework to increase whole class level of preparation for the next day’s instruction. Through these shared written responses about content and concept students have opportunities to express creative hypotheses, alternative perspectives, and concerns about their understanding, with the low-risk option of peer anonymity. There is accountability and peer interaction, without the concern about mistakes that is so paralyzing to many students during class time, and as students consider and define in writing their opinions, conclusions, and predictions, their brains construct concept networks.   When learning is examined through shared writing, students are exposed to multiple approaches to solving problems (so important in building the flexibility and open-minded approach to other cultures as the science, math, and technology world is indeed global) and have the chance to communicate using their own words. They build communication skills they will surely use in their collaborations now and in the future science and math communities they will enter.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. Science and math are vital to our progress, yet our test scores on the international scales are not keeping pace globally. The US Department of Labor has projected that by 2014 there will be more than two million job openings in science, technology, and engineering, but according to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) international test score report, the US is lagging behind countries like Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland in STEM subjects. H.G. Wells cautioned, "Civilization is a race between disaster and education." and it seems the government is heeding that advice with initiatives in motion to increase emphasis on these subjects.   As STEM subjects get more emphasis, writing and the arts cannot become victims of that emphasis. It is also important not to narrow the focus to the rote memory test and to recognize the interdependence of science and math on a fully rounded curriculum. As we strive for students to develop creativity as innovators in STEM and all fields, it behooves us to consider the value of writing and the arts toward the achievement of these goals.   In the past two decades, neuroscience and cognitive science research have provided increasing evidence correlating creativity with academic, social, and emotional intelligence. We also know more about the neural processing of the brain’s highest executive functions that direct judgment, critical analysis, emotional control, creative problem solving, highest cognition, and other skillsets, which are becoming increasingly valuable for all students, and essential for those who enter the STEM fields in 21st century.   Writing for the Math and Science Literacy As I’ve previously written about the value of embedding the arts throughout the curriculum (http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/blog/art-for-joyful-learning/ ) the focus of this article is to describe how writing can enhance the brain’s intake, processing, retaining, and retrieving of information in science and math.   Writing brings more that literacy and communication advantages to STEM studies, and all academic pursuits. Through writing, students can increase their comfort with and success in understanding complex material, especially when the subject has unfamiliar concepts and subject specific vocabulary. Writing throughout the curriculum also increases the power of a literate nation to “read, compute, investigate, and innovate” and to participate more successfully in our democracy.   Writing: Just What the Doctor Orders for the Brain’s Successful Information ProcessingIn terms of writing and the brain, there are multiple reasons for embedding writing throughout STEM courses. Writing promotes the brain’s attentive focus to class work and homework, promotes long-term memory, illuminates patterns (possibly even “aha” moment insight!), includes all students as participants, gives the brain time for reflection, and when well-guided, is a source of conceptual development and stimulus of the brain’s highest cognition.   There is an involuntary information intake filter that determines what sensory input is accepted into the brain. Input must also pass through an emotional filter, the amygdala, where the destination of that information. When stress is high, the intake filter favors information selectively admits information related to perceived threat, virtually ignoring other sensory input. The high stress state also directs the amygdala switching station to conduct information to the lower, reactive brain, where long-term retrievable memories cannot be formed. In addition, the behavioral outputs of the lower brain are limited to fight (act out), flight (self-entertainment sometimes interpreted as ADHD), or freeze (zone out).   Fear of making mistakes in front of classmates is one of the greatest sources of anxiety for students. Writing is an opportunity to lower threat and to reduce the stress that blocks passage through the amygdala to the reflective prefrontal cortex. Descriptive written responses to math or science questions and written predictions, hypotheses, and questions provides all students with the opportunity to actively participate in learning, receive timely feedback, reflect, revise, and risk making mistakes as they build confidence, reveal gaps in foundational knowledge, share creative insights, and build their capacities to communicate of their ideas and defend their opinions.   Writing can include individual journaling, formal research-style formatted reports of student experimentation and data analysis, newspaper editorials about the evidence for environmental problems and a plan for intervention. Writing can be shared with varying degrees of scaffolding for students who need to build confidence, such as class blogs or WIKIs with code names known only by the teacher. Writing done at home, without time constraint and with access to the Internet and other resources, can lower the barriers, but not the bar. Students can then participate more confidently in class starting with reading their written responses, perhaps after the confidence-building of first sharing them with a partner.   Written peer feedback on class WIKIs or blogs offers the opportunity to reflect on the day’s learning, ask questions, or demonstrate accountability for the night’s homework to increase whole class level of preparation for the next day’s instruction. Through these shared written responses about content and concept students have opportunities to express creative hypotheses, alternative perspectives, and concerns about their understanding, with the low-risk option of peer anonymity. There is accountability and peer interaction, without the concern about mistakes that is so paralyzing to many students during class time, and as students consider and define in writing their opinions, conclusions, and predictions, their brains construct concept networks.   When learning is examined through shared writing, students are exposed to multiple approaches to solving problems (so important in building the flexibility and open-minded approach to other cultures as the science, math, and technology world is indeed global) and have the chance to communicate using their own words. They build communication skills they will surely use in their collaborations now and in the future science and math communities they will enter.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:24:53 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Why-Writing-Is-Crucial-to-STEM/blog/4000687/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-06-11T22:24:53Z ASCD EDge Science and math are vital to our progress, yet our test scores on the international scales are not keeping pace globally. The US Department of Labor has projected that by 2014 there will be more than two million job openings in science, technology, and engineering, but according to the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) international test score report, the US is lagging behind countries like Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Finland in STEM subjects. H.G. Wells cautioned, "Civilization is a race between disaster and education." and it seems the government is heeding that advice with initiatives in motion to increase emphasis on these subjects.   As STEM subjects get more emphasis, writing and the arts cannot become victims of that emphasis. It is also important not to narrow the focus to the rote memory test and to recognize the interdependence of science and math on a fully rounded curriculum. As we strive for students to develop creativity as innovators in STEM and all fields, it behooves us to consider the value of writing and the arts toward the achievement of these goals.   In the past two decades, neuroscience and cognitive science research have provided increasing evidence correlating creativity with academic, social, and emotional intelligence. We also know more about the neural processing of the brain’s highest executive functions that direct judgment, critical analysis, emotional control, creative problem solving, highest cognition, and other skillsets, which are becoming increasingly valuable for all students, and essential for those who enter the STEM fields in 21st century.   Writing for the Math and Science Literacy As I’ve previously written about the value of embedding the arts throughout the curriculum (http://whatworks.wholechildeducation.org/blog/art-for-joyful-learning/ ) the focus of this article is to describe how writing can enhance the brain’s intake, processing, retaining, and retrieving of information in science and math.   Writing brings more that literacy and communication advantages to STEM studies, and all academic pursuits. Through writing, students can increase their comfort with and success in understanding complex material, especially when the subject has unfamiliar concepts and subject specific vocabulary. Writing throughout the curriculum also increases the power of a literate nation to “read, compute, investigate, and innovate” and to participate more successfully in our democracy.   Writing: Just What the Doctor Orders for the Brain’s Successful Information ProcessingIn terms of writing and the brain, there are multiple reasons for embedding writing throughout STEM courses. Writing promotes the brain’s attentive focus to class work and homework, promotes long-term memory, illuminates patterns (possibly even “aha” moment insight!), includes all students as participants, gives the brain time for reflection, and when well-guided, is a source of conceptual development and stimulus of the brain’s highest cognition.   There is an involuntary information intake filter that determines what sensory input is accepted into the brain. Input must also pass through an emotional filter, the amygdala, where the destination of that information. When stress is high, the intake filter favors information selectively admits information related to perceived threat, virtually ignoring other sensory input. The high stress state also directs the amygdala switching station to conduct information to the lower, reactive brain, where long-term retrievable memories cannot be formed. In addition, the behavioral outputs of the lower brain are limited to fight (act out), flight (self-entertainment sometimes interpreted as ADHD), or freeze (zone out).   Fear of making mistakes in front of classmates is one of the greatest sources of anxiety for students. Writing is an opportunity to lower threat and to reduce the stress that blocks passage through the amygdala to the reflective prefrontal cortex. Descriptive written responses to math or science questions and written predictions, hypotheses, and questions provides all students with the opportunity to actively participate in learning, receive timely feedback, reflect, revise, and risk making mistakes as they build confidence, reveal gaps in foundational knowledge, share creative insights, and build their capacities to communicate of their ideas and defend their opinions.   Writing can include individual journaling, formal research-style formatted reports of student experimentation and data analysis, newspaper editorials about the evidence for environmental problems and a plan for intervention. Writing can be shared with varying degrees of scaffolding for students who need to build confidence, such as class blogs or WIKIs with code names known only by the teacher. Writing done at home, without time constraint and with access to the Internet and other resources, can lower the barriers, but not the bar. Students can then participate more confidently in class starting with reading their written responses, perhaps after the confidence-building of first sharing them with a partner.   Written peer feedback on class WIKIs or blogs offers the opportunity to reflect on the day’s learning, ask questions, or demonstrate accountability for the night’s homework to increase whole class level of preparation for the next day’s instruction. Through these shared written responses about content and concept students have opportunities to express creative hypotheses, alternative perspectives, and concerns about their understanding, with the low-risk option of peer anonymity. There is accountability and peer interaction, without the concern about mistakes that is so paralyzing to many students during class time, and as students consider and define in writing their opinions, conclusions, and predictions, their brains construct concept networks.   When learning is examined through shared writing, students are exposed to multiple approaches to solving problems (so important in building the flexibility and open-minded approach to other cultures as the science, math, and technology world is indeed global) and have the chance to communicate using their own words. They build communication skills they will surely use in their collaborations now and in the future science and math communities they will enter.   I will be posting more in the coming weeks about the importance of writing in STEM subjects. You can also pick up a copy of my recent book, Learning to Love Math: Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results in the ASCD Store. nonadult false Why Writing Is Crucial to STEM text blog 4387 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 3 4000687 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Math-fractions-from-concrete-to-abstract/blog/3369241/127586.html Math: Moving from concrete-connect-abstract. Discovery through construction without the confusion of terminology. “Terminology is a killer and will be in rote nowhere-land if it is introduced before students know what the terminology is about.” Lesson Plan by Rita Smilkstein has been added to the Building Math Positivity discussion on Edutopia:  Just want to add to Judy Willis' excellent blog. The one most effective method for engaging, motivating, and helping students be successful learners is to ask them, "See if you can figure this out." This is what the brain is born to do: to figure things out.  What students are asked to figure out needs to be close to what they already know, what is already in their brains. Then they can use what they know to figure it out. If students don't have prior foundational, prerequisite knowledge or skill, then the first task for a new topic must be a no-fail task that every student can figure out to make that essential connection and start growing the neural network for the new knowledge and skill.  For example, to introduce fractions to math novices, give students two pieces of paper and ask them to tear one of them in two equal pieces, lay them on the other piece of paper and ask the students to figure out how they would tell someone else what one of the pieces is. They should do this individually, then share with a few others. Then the teacher can ask them what they all came up with, what they all figured out.  They will be talking about fractions. After repeating this with other sheets of paper to be torn into four equal pieces and, after that, into six equal pieces, each time individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. After the students have become comfortable describing fractions, without knowing that this is what they are called, the teacher can say, "These pieces are called 'fractions,' which means 'parts of the whole' and can show them how to write fractions. Math: Moving from concrete-connect-abstract. Discovery through construction without the confusion of terminology. “Terminology is a killer and will be in rote nowhere-land if it is introduced before students know what the terminology is about.” Lesson Plan by Rita Smilkstein has been added to the Building Math Positivity discussion on Edutopia:  Just want to add to Judy Willis' excellent blog. The one most effective method for engaging, motivating, and helping students be successful learners is to ask them, "See if you can figure this out." This is what the brain is born to do: to figure things out.  What students are asked to figure out needs to be close to what they already know, what is already in their brains. Then they can use what they know to figure it out. If students don't have prior foundational, prerequisite knowledge or skill, then the first task for a new topic must be a no-fail task that every student can figure out to make that essential connection and start growing the neural network for the new knowledge and skill.  For example, to introduce fractions to math novices, give students two pieces of paper and ask them to tear one of them in two equal pieces, lay them on the other piece of paper and ask the students to figure out how they would tell someone else what one of the pieces is. They should do this individually, then share with a few others. Then the teacher can ask them what they all came up with, what they all figured out.  They will be talking about fractions. After repeating this with other sheets of paper to be torn into four equal pieces and, after that, into six equal pieces, each time individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. After the students have become comfortable describing fractions, without knowing that this is what they are called, the teacher can say, "These pieces are called 'fractions,' which means 'parts of the whole' and can show them how to write fractions. Sat, 05 Mar 2011 05:47:10 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Math-fractions-from-concrete-to-abstract/blog/3369241/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-03-05T05:47:10Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Math: Moving from concrete-connect-abstract. Discovery through construction without the confusion of terminology. “Terminology is a killer and will be in rote nowhere-land if it is introduced before students know what the terminology is about.” Lesson Plan by Rita Smilkstein has been added to the Building Math Positivity discussion on Edutopia:  Just want to add to Judy Willis' excellent blog. The one most effective method for engaging, motivating, and helping students be successful learners is to ask them, "See if you can figure this out." This is what the brain is born to do: to figure things out.  What students are asked to figure out needs to be close to what they already know, what is already in their brains. Then they can use what they know to figure it out. If students don't have prior foundational, prerequisite knowledge or skill, then the first task for a new topic must be a no-fail task that every student can figure out to make that essential connection and start growing the neural network for the new knowledge and skill.  For example, to introduce fractions to math novices, give students two pieces of paper and ask them to tear one of them in two equal pieces, lay them on the other piece of paper and ask the students to figure out how they would tell someone else what one of the pieces is. They should do this individually, then share with a few others. Then the teacher can ask them what they all came up with, what they all figured out.  They will be talking about fractions. After repeating this with other sheets of paper to be torn into four equal pieces and, after that, into six equal pieces, each time individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. After the students have become comfortable describing fractions, without knowing that this is what they are called, the teacher can say, "These pieces are called 'fractions,' which means 'parts of the whole' and can show them how to write fractions. lesson plan nonadult false Math fractions from concrete to abstract text blog lesson plan 756 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 3369241 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_History-Lesson-making-predictions/blog/3202645/127586.html Teaching and Learning Lesson Plan from NY Times January 4, 2011, 3:35 pm The Future Is Now: Analyzing and Making Predictions      http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/the-future-is-now-analyzing-and-making-predictions/ Teaching and Learning Lesson Plan from NY Times January 4, 2011, 3:35 pm The Future Is Now: Analyzing and Making Predictions      http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/the-future-is-now-analyzing-and-making-predictions/ Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:31:25 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_History-Lesson-making-predictions/blog/3202645/127586.html Judith_Willis 2011-01-05T09:31:25Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Teaching and Learning Lesson Plan from NY Times January 4, 2011, 3:35 pm The Future Is Now: Analyzing and Making Predictions      http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/04/the-future-is-now-analyzing-and-making-predictions/ lesson plan nonadult false History Lesson: making predictions text blog lesson plan 531 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 1 Lesson Plan 0 3202645 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_judy-Willis-and-Goldie-Hawn-Article-link/blog/2569855/127586.html from Dr. Judy Willis nice article about my work with the Hawn Foundation to help children Build Better, Happier Brains http://bit.ly/dkV9XY "Actress and local neurologist collaborate on innovative project for children"[image] from Dr. Judy Willis nice article about my work with the Hawn Foundation to help children Build Better, Happier Brains http://bit.ly/dkV9XY "Actress and local neurologist collaborate on innovative project for children"[image] Sat, 21 Aug 2010 01:00:54 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_judy-Willis-and-Goldie-Hawn-Article-link/blog/2569855/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-21T01:00:54Z ASCD EDge from Dr. Judy Willis nice article about my work with the Hawn Foundation to help children Build Better, Happier Brains http://bit.ly/dkV9XY "Actress and local neurologist collaborate on innovative project for children"[image] nonadult false judy Willis and Goldie Hawn Article link text blog 487 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 0 2569855 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_We-are-sparks-to-light-their-fire/blog/2562168/127586.html He smiles with not only his face, but with his entire being, and hugs me with the might of each of his eleven years, multiplied by the factor of love. Like reflecting mirrors, each sincere compliment I give him about his fifth grade classwork and homework bounces back as more love for me – more love for himself.            Today, I called him over for a mini-conference. He had long since lost the fear that weighted him down when he started fifth grade – that when a teacher beckons, it is to chastise. I congratulate Cody on his detailed social studies notes, creative cover for our class Ethical Dilemma Essay Book, and his accurate and legible math homework. I tell him I’ll be sending a note about these successes to his parents.            Cody’s smile grows impossibly brighter as his sense of scholarly success grows. Another hug, and he bounds out the door for recess-finally believing he is a worthy student. Keep Igniting the Fires as We Begin a New Year! He smiles with not only his face, but with his entire being, and hugs me with the might of each of his eleven years, multiplied by the factor of love. Like reflecting mirrors, each sincere compliment I give him about his fifth grade classwork and homework bounces back as more love for me – more love for himself.            Today, I called him over for a mini-conference. He had long since lost the fear that weighted him down when he started fifth grade – that when a teacher beckons, it is to chastise. I congratulate Cody on his detailed social studies notes, creative cover for our class Ethical Dilemma Essay Book, and his accurate and legible math homework. I tell him I’ll be sending a note about these successes to his parents.            Cody’s smile grows impossibly brighter as his sense of scholarly success grows. Another hug, and he bounds out the door for recess-finally believing he is a worthy student. Keep Igniting the Fires as We Begin a New Year! Wed, 18 Aug 2010 15:43:55 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_We-are-sparks-to-light-their-fire/blog/2562168/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-18T15:43:55Z Blogs ASCD EDge He smiles with not only his face, but with his entire being, and hugs me with the might of each of his eleven years, multiplied by the factor of love. Like reflecting mirrors, each sincere compliment I give him about his fifth grade classwork and homework bounces back as more love for me – more love for himself.            Today, I called him over for a mini-conference. He had long since lost the fear that weighted him down when he started fifth grade – that when a teacher beckons, it is to chastise. I congratulate Cody on his detailed social studies notes, creative cover for our class Ethical Dilemma Essay Book, and his accurate and legible math homework. I tell him I’ll be sending a note about these successes to his parents.            Cody’s smile grows impossibly brighter as his sense of scholarly success grows. Another hug, and he bounds out the door for recess-finally believing he is a worthy student. Keep Igniting the Fires as We Begin a New Year! blogs nonadult false We are sparks to light their fire text blog blogs 423 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Blogs 0 2562168 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Comparing-Fractions-A-RAD-Lesson-for-Second-Grade-Math-By-Malana-Willis/blog/2554993/127586.html Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade MathBy Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)*Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.   Step of Lesson Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box. How that step is RAD neuro-logical: This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.   Step of Lesson: Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.)Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)Step of Lesson    Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.) How that step is RAD neuro-logical This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)Step of Lesson   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ? and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ? is greater than 1/8.   How that step is RAD neuro-logical  This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.Step of Lesson   Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ? is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.Step of Lesson   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.How that step is RAD neuro-logical This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.Step of Lesson   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.Step of Lesson   Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to:* How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them. How that step is RAD neuro-logicalBy working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.Step of Lesson    Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson):* Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8”* Errorless Math: ? ____1/5  * answer: ? is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy)* Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory. Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade MathBy Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)*Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.   Step of Lesson Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box. How that step is RAD neuro-logical: This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.   Step of Lesson: Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.)Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)Step of Lesson    Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.) How that step is RAD neuro-logical This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)Step of Lesson   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ? and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ? is greater than 1/8.   How that step is RAD neuro-logical  This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.Step of Lesson   Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ? is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.Step of Lesson   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.How that step is RAD neuro-logical This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.Step of Lesson   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.Step of Lesson   Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to:* How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them. How that step is RAD neuro-logicalBy working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.Step of Lesson    Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson):* Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8”* Errorless Math: ? ____1/5  * answer: ? is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy)* Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory. Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:15:44 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Comparing-Fractions-A-RAD-Lesson-for-Second-Grade-Math-By-Malana-Willis/blog/2554993/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-15T21:15:44Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade MathBy Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)*Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.   Step of Lesson Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box. How that step is RAD neuro-logical: This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.   Step of Lesson: Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.)Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)Step of Lesson    Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.) How that step is RAD neuro-logical This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)Step of Lesson   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.How that step is RAD neuro-logical Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.Step of Lesson    Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ? and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ? is greater than 1/8.   How that step is RAD neuro-logical  This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.Step of Lesson   Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ? is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.Step of Lesson   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.How that step is RAD neuro-logical This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.Step of Lesson   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.How that step is RAD neuro-logical   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.Step of Lesson   Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to:* How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.How that step is RAD neuro-logical  The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them. How that step is RAD neuro-logicalBy working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.Step of Lesson    Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson):* Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8”* Errorless Math: ? ____1/5  * answer: ? is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy)* Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.  How that step is RAD neuro-logical  These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory. from, institute, judy, lesson plan, participants, projects, rad, summer, willis' nonadult false Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade Math By Malana Willis text blog from,institute,judy,lesson plan,participants,projects,rad,summer,willis' 1513 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 1 2554993 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_RAD-Lesson-plan-from-Judy/blog/2554972/127586.html Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland     [image]   [image]   [image]     Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland     [image]   [image]   [image]     Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:53:06 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_RAD-Lesson-plan-from-Judy/blog/2554972/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-15T20:53:06Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland     [image]   [image]   [image]     from, institute, judy, lesson plan, participants, projects, rad, summer, willis nonadult false RAD Lesson plan from Judy text blog from,institute,judy,lesson plan,participants,projects,rad,summer,willis 866 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 2554972 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_RAD-Lesson-plan-from-Judy/blog/2554965/127586.html Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International School Eichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland [image]   [image]   [image] Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International School Eichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland [image]   [image]   [image] Sun, 15 Aug 2010 20:37:53 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_RAD-Lesson-plan-from-Judy/blog/2554965/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-15T20:37:53Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge Summer Learning & BrainUCSB Institute Aug 2010By Judy Willis, M.D., M.EdParticipant Final AssignmentDesign a R.A.D. Lesson for students or facultyTeaching RAD to our ZIS Friends and Faculty R: Reach your audience by activating the RASA: Attitude that aims information to the amygdalaD: Development of memory and motivation with dopamineBy Andreas and MarieAndreas Meitanis, Social Science Teacher, Zurich International SchoolEichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 SwitzerlandMarie Perri, Science Teacher, Zurich International School Eichenweg 2, Adliswil, CH 8134 Switzerland [image]   [image]   [image] from, institute, judy, lesson plan, participants, projects, rad, summer, willis nonadult false RAD Lesson plan from Judy video blog from,institute,judy,lesson plan,participants,projects,rad,summer,willis 778 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 0 2554965 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Comparing-Fractions-A-RAD-Lesson-for-Second-Grade-Math-By-Malana-Willis/blog/2546235/127586.html  Last week I led a 3 day workshop arranged by Learning and the Brain at Univ of Cal, Santa Barbara. I taught about RAD strategies for neuro-LOGICAL teaching strategies. On the last morning the group presented their RAD lesson plans. They were so great I'll post some here. The first is by my daughter, Malana Willis, who was my great conference aide.     Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade Math By Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)   *Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.    Step of Lesson (teacher or student activity)       How that step is neuro-logical   Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box.   This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.     Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.   Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.) Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)     Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.)   This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.   Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.   The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.   The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.   The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)   Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.       Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ¼ and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ¼ is greater than 1/8.     This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.       Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ½ is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.    Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.   This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.   Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)     Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.     Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to: How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.     Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.   The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them.     By working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.   Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson): Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8” Errorless Math: ½ ____1/5  * answer: ½ is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy) Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.    These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory.    Last week I led a 3 day workshop arranged by Learning and the Brain at Univ of Cal, Santa Barbara. I taught about RAD strategies for neuro-LOGICAL teaching strategies. On the last morning the group presented their RAD lesson plans. They were so great I'll post some here. The first is by my daughter, Malana Willis, who was my great conference aide.     Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade Math By Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)   *Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.    Step of Lesson (teacher or student activity)       How that step is neuro-logical   Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box.   This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.     Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.   Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.) Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)     Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.)   This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.   Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.   The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.   The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.   The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)   Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.       Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ¼ and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ¼ is greater than 1/8.     This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.       Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ½ is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.    Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.   This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.   Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)     Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.     Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to: How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.     Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.   The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them.     By working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.   Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson): Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8” Errorless Math: ½ ____1/5  * answer: ½ is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy) Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.    These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory.   Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:44:28 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Comparing-Fractions-A-RAD-Lesson-for-Second-Grade-Math-By-Malana-Willis/blog/2546235/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-08-11T20:44:28Z Lesson Plan ASCD EDge  Last week I led a 3 day workshop arranged by Learning and the Brain at Univ of Cal, Santa Barbara. I taught about RAD strategies for neuro-LOGICAL teaching strategies. On the last morning the group presented their RAD lesson plans. They were so great I'll post some here. The first is by my daughter, Malana Willis, who was my great conference aide.     Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade Math By Malana Willis Lesson topic:  Comparing fractions – When comparing fractions, if the numerators are 1, the fraction with the smaller denominator has the greater value.  For example, 1/2 is greater than 1/8. (Second grade standard in California)   *Note:  This is typically very confusing for second graders, as they want to say that 1/8 is greater than 1/2 because the number 8 is greater than 2.    Step of Lesson (teacher or student activity)       How that step is neuro-logical   Intro: Teacher enters the room carrying a Happy Birthday balloon and a pizza box.   This is a novel event and therefore will peak the students’ attention because the brain’s Reticular Activating System (R.A.S.) responds to novel stimuli.     Teacher asks students what they think the lesson is going to be about.  They will write a one word answer on their individual whiteboards and hold it up for the teacher to see.  The teacher acknowledges the answers and explains that they will find out soon what the lesson will be about.   Now the students know that the pizza box and balloon are advertising a lesson, which further peaks their attention.  The opportunity to make a prediction, and then see if the prediction is correct gives them further “buy-in”.  (R.A.S.) Further, using the individual whiteboards reduces stress because the student doesn’t have to worry about saying the “wrong” answer aloud in front of his/her peers. (amygdala)     Challenge question: The teacher will then pose the following challenge question:  Usually people want to have a lot of something that they like.  When is it better to only have a little bit of something that you like? You can have students do a think-pair-share with their neighbor at this time.  Explain that by the end of the lesson, we will discuss the answer to the question.  (Answer – even though you like your friends, its better to have less friends at your party if you want a bigger slice of pizza you share! *Students understand that this is meant to be a funny way to help them remember how to compare fractions, not a value judgment on the comparative value of friends versus pizza.)   This question creates some cognitive dissonance, which is another strategy for gaining attention. (R.A.S.)   A think-pair-share is social and involves some movement and interaction, which are both dopamine boosters.   Activating Prior Knowledge: Now the teacher explains that she will tell the class what the lesson is going to be about.  Initially she explains that the lesson is about sharing.  The teacher asks the class to think about a time when somebody shared something with them.  A few students can share their answers aloud, and another think-pair share can be introduced if there is a lot of excitement around this topic.   The lesson is now personalized because the student is able to connect with a positive memory of a time when someone shared with him/her.  This reduces stress and adds pleasure with support supports the passage of new information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.   The teacher then explains that in math, fractions are used to describe sharing.  The teacher can draw some fractions on the board and then ask students to think-pair-share about what they remember about fractions.  Ask some students to tell the class what they remember about fractions, and record their contributions on the board.   The teacher is activating prior knowledge around what the students already know about fractions.  This is essential for a variety of reasons.  First, the amygdala responds to the positive feelings students experience when they know that they already have some understanding of a topic.  Further, without activating the prior knowledge, the brain will be much less efficient in consolidating the new information into long term memory. (hippocampus)   Further, instead of just asking the class what they know about fractions, the teacher draws some fractions on the board.  This adds visual sensory input which supports students who are strong visual learners and/or ELL’s who might not initially remember what the word “fraction” means, even though they do have knowledge of the concept.  This reduces stress, which promotes the passage of information through the amygdala to the prefrontal cortex.       Direct Instruction/Problem Solving: The teacher explains that she is going to show the class how fractions can help her figure out how to share pizza at her birthday party.  The teacher gives the following example, and displays a poster with a drawing of the information:  “I am having a birthday party, and I need to figure out how many people to invite.  I love having lots of friends over, but I also really love pizza and I know I will be really hungry at my birthday party.  I’m trying to decide if I should invite 8 people to my party or 4 people to my party.”  The poster will show two pizzas:  The first divided into 4 parts and the second divided into 8 parts.  The teacher will show the students how to compare the size of the slices and decide that if the teacher is really hungry, she should only invite 4 people to her party.  The teacher will then show the class that based on what they have already learned about fractions, they can label a slice of the first pizza as ¼ and the second as 1/8.  The teacher guides the class in concluding that ¼ is greater than 1/8.     This concrete example connects to something that many children can relate to (a birthday party with pizza) and is a little bit funny, because they are imagining their teacher having a birthday party.  Humor promotes dopamine release which supports memory.       Team task:  Each group of students will get two circles, with dotted lines dividing the circles into wedges.  The students will be asked to cut a wedge from each “pizza”, compare which is bigger, name and then compare the fractions.  They will need to make a small poster showing their results.  The teacher does one example first, and then the students will work together.  After all teams are done, they will present their findings to the class.   The teacher will record findings on a sheet that the class can refer to later.  For example, the teacher can say “OK, team 1 found out that ½ is greater than 1/3” and record the information on the chart.    Group work is social which is amygdala positive and promotes dopamine release that in turn supports memory.  However, if the group’s interactions are unpleasant or stressful for any number of reasons (i.e. students arguing, not sharing materials, not knowing what their role is, feeling too confused etc.) the amygdala sends information to the lower brain where the output is limited to flight, fight, or freeze and the benefits of group work will be undone.  Therefore it is essential that significant time and practice be spent on how to work as a cooperative group at the beginning of the school year with corrective feedback and debriefing throughout the year.   Class number line: Half of the students will be given cards that have both the picture and numerical form of the fractions 1/1 through 1/12.  They will get in order from least to greatest.  The other students will then check to see if they are in the correct order, and comment on what they notice.  At this point if a student hasn’t noticed the rule (that while the fractions go from least to greatest, the number in the denominator goes from greatest to least) the teacher can scaffold students to making this observations.  From this observation, students can be further supported recognizing that when comparing fractions in which the numerator is 1, the larger denominator corresponds to the smaller fraction.   This group activity is helpful in several ways.  A number line can be thought of as a type of graphic organizer, in which the numbers are visually organized in meaningful way.  Graphic organizers support the development of relational memories in hippocampus.   Also, the scaffolding that they teacher is providing allows students to experience this activity as an achievable challenge.   Formative Assessment:  Students have their individual whiteboards.  The teacher writes two fractions on the board (including the corresponding pictures) and asks students to write which fraction is greater.  After several, the teacher can ask which fraction is less, and also take out the scaffold of the pictures.  After each question, the teacher notices which students are struggling, and also providing and explaining the correct answer.  It can be helpful to refer back to the party example (if four friends each share the pizza each slice is bigger than if six friends share the pizza) and also to the number line (which should now be posted in a visible location)     Making predictions (writing what they think the correct answer is) and then finding out if they are correct or incorrect, ultimately promotes the release of dopamine from the nucleus accumbens.  This dopamine strengthens the neural network connected to the information.   Being “assessed” in this way, in which students are provided with immediate corrective feedback, lowers stress and is amygdale positive.     Differentiation: At this point the teacher will have an idea of which students understand the new content.  The students that understand should proceed to a challenge activity.  Following is an example of a dend-write they could respond to: How many people would you want to come to your own pizza birthday party? Draw a picture of how you would divide the food.     Students who are struggling should remain with the teacher for further practice and review.  With this smaller group, it will be easier to determine at which stage of the questions are they getting stuck.   The students who understand the new topic, if required to keep reviewing with the group, may become bored and therefore stressed.  There amygdala may respond to this stress by directing information to the lower brain where the output is limited to fight, flight, or freeze.  This may result in the acting out or tuning out.  By providing an activity within their range of achievable challenge, the will re-engage at a level that is engaging for them.     By working more closely with the students who continue to struggle with the topic will lower their stress and allow their amygdala to pass on their new learning to their prefrontal cortex.  You will also be providing them with the chance to practice the correct procedure with you to strengthen their new learning.   Review activities (these would be done in the days following the lesson): Go fish: “I need a fraction that is greater than 1/8” Errorless Math: ½ ____1/5  * answer: ½ is greater than 1/5 (See “Learning to Love Math” for details on this strategy) Walk and waddle:  each student has a fraction card.  They walk around the room until they come to another person.  They figure out together which fraction is less.  The person with the lesser fraction squats down and waddles to another partner, while the person with the greater fraction walks.    These games, especially “walk and waddle” provide humor, positive peer interaction, movement and choice, all of which support the release of dopamine, and therefore the construction of memory.   lesson, lesson plan, math, plan, rad nonadult false Comparing Fractions: A R.A.D. Lesson for Second Grade Math By Malana Willis text blog lesson,lesson plan,math,plan,rad 4267 0 0.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 0 Lesson Plan 1 2546235 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Ask-Dr-Judy-Top-10-Necessities-for-Educational-Reform/blog/2426414/127586.html For the first time since the institution of public education in the U.S., students currently in high school are less likely to graduate than their parents. We are the only industrialized country where that is true. Here are my recommendations to change the appalling dropout rate and prepare students for the 21st century.1.    Collaborate: Students in the U.S. need new skills for the coming century, not to be superior to students worldwide, but to be ready to collaborate with others on a global level to find creative solutions to problems now and in the future.2.    Evaluate Information Accuracy: The current curriculum focus on memorizing isolated facts to pass standardized tests is inadequate preparation for now or the future. New information is being discovered and disseminated at a logarithmic rate and the facts as students learn them today may not be fully accurate or complete in the near future. Students need to know how to find accurate information and use critical analysis to assess the veracity/bias and current/potential uses of new information. These are the executive functions students need to develop and practice in school today, or they will be unprepared to find, analyze, and use the information of tomorrow.[image] 3. Teach Tolerance: In a global world of collaboration communication and tolerance (openness) to unfamiliar cultures and ideas will be the educational currency for the jobs and problems of the future. School needs to provide opportunities for experiences and discussions to help students learn about and feel comfortable communicating with people with other cultural norms and practices.4.    Assessing Student Knowledge: Standardized tests for federal NCLB funds test rote memory of isolated facts. Assessments need to include ways for different types of learners to demonstrate their knowledge. Once teachers do not have to teach-to-the-tests of rote memory, classrooms can become places of inquiry, student-centered discussions, and active, engaging learning.5.    Beyond Differentiation to Individualization. Children are born with brains that want to learn and with different strengths and intelligences that can best empower their success. Students grow best through their strengths. Discovering their strengths and engaging in learning through interests stimulates the strongest neural circuits so the brain is preset for engagement and knowledge building. One size does not fit all in assessment and instruction. The current testing system and the curriculum that it has spawned is unidirectional and leaves behind the majority of students who do not do their best with the linear, sequential instruction. With greater differentiation of instruction we can lower the barriers, not the bar as all children learn to their full potentials.6.    Inspiration and engagement open the brain's information filters (reticular activating system and amygdala) to accept sensory input. In the absence of these qualities at the beginning of a unit of instruction the brain, at an unconscious level, does not admit the input that is not determined valuable to survival or pleasure. To gain admission through these unconscious brain filters lessons need to be personally relevant, low in stress, and incorporate enjoyable modes of information presentation.7.    Lower Stress. React or Reflect? The amygdala is an emotion evaluating structure through which all sensory input must pass. The state of stress or well-being determines if the input is directed to the reflective, higher cognitive "conscious" decision-making brain, or to the reactive brain where the only "choices" at this unconscious level are fight, flight, or freeze. These are often misinterpreted by teachers as ADHD, acting-out, or signs of low intelligence. The students are not consciously misbehaving. Their brains are simply in the reactive state in which they have no conscious control.8.    Using Learning Beyond the Classroom. New "learning" does not become permanent memory unless there is repeated stimulation of the new memory neural pathways. This is the "practice makes permanent" aspect of neuroplasticity where neural networks most stimulated develop more dendrites, synapses, and thicker myelin for more efficient information transmission. These stronger networks are less susceptible to pruning and become long-term memory holders. Students need to use what they learn repeatedly and in different, personally meaningful ways for short-term memory to become permanent knowledge that can be retrieved and used in the future.9.    Teach students (and educators) the Brain Owner's Manual. The most important manual students and educators can read is the owner's manual to their own brain. When we understand how our brains take in and store information, we hold the keys to operating our brains most successfully. Understanding that they can change their own brains and intelligence (neuroplasticity) builds students' resilience and willingness to persevere through challenge. See Education Leadership's publication of "What you should know about your brain"10.    Teaching is not brain surgery. It's Harder. When teachers receive the recognition, status, and more of the autonomy I receive as a neurologist, we will attract the best and brightest to teaching and keep professional educators longer than the current five year average. For the first time since the institution of public education in the U.S., students currently in high school are less likely to graduate than their parents. We are the only industrialized country where that is true. Here are my recommendations to change the appalling dropout rate and prepare students for the 21st century.1.    Collaborate: Students in the U.S. need new skills for the coming century, not to be superior to students worldwide, but to be ready to collaborate with others on a global level to find creative solutions to problems now and in the future.2.    Evaluate Information Accuracy: The current curriculum focus on memorizing isolated facts to pass standardized tests is inadequate preparation for now or the future. New information is being discovered and disseminated at a logarithmic rate and the facts as students learn them today may not be fully accurate or complete in the near future. Students need to know how to find accurate information and use critical analysis to assess the veracity/bias and current/potential uses of new information. These are the executive functions students need to develop and practice in school today, or they will be unprepared to find, analyze, and use the information of tomorrow.[image] 3. Teach Tolerance: In a global world of collaboration communication and tolerance (openness) to unfamiliar cultures and ideas will be the educational currency for the jobs and problems of the future. School needs to provide opportunities for experiences and discussions to help students learn about and feel comfortable communicating with people with other cultural norms and practices.4.    Assessing Student Knowledge: Standardized tests for federal NCLB funds test rote memory of isolated facts. Assessments need to include ways for different types of learners to demonstrate their knowledge. Once teachers do not have to teach-to-the-tests of rote memory, classrooms can become places of inquiry, student-centered discussions, and active, engaging learning.5.    Beyond Differentiation to Individualization. Children are born with brains that want to learn and with different strengths and intelligences that can best empower their success. Students grow best through their strengths. Discovering their strengths and engaging in learning through interests stimulates the strongest neural circuits so the brain is preset for engagement and knowledge building. One size does not fit all in assessment and instruction. The current testing system and the curriculum that it has spawned is unidirectional and leaves behind the majority of students who do not do their best with the linear, sequential instruction. With greater differentiation of instruction we can lower the barriers, not the bar as all children learn to their full potentials.6.    Inspiration and engagement open the brain's information filters (reticular activating system and amygdala) to accept sensory input. In the absence of these qualities at the beginning of a unit of instruction the brain, at an unconscious level, does not admit the input that is not determined valuable to survival or pleasure. To gain admission through these unconscious brain filters lessons need to be personally relevant, low in stress, and incorporate enjoyable modes of information presentation.7.    Lower Stress. React or Reflect? The amygdala is an emotion evaluating structure through which all sensory input must pass. The state of stress or well-being determines if the input is directed to the reflective, higher cognitive "conscious" decision-making brain, or to the reactive brain where the only "choices" at this unconscious level are fight, flight, or freeze. These are often misinterpreted by teachers as ADHD, acting-out, or signs of low intelligence. The students are not consciously misbehaving. Their brains are simply in the reactive state in which they have no conscious control.8.    Using Learning Beyond the Classroom. New "learning" does not become permanent memory unless there is repeated stimulation of the new memory neural pathways. This is the "practice makes permanent" aspect of neuroplasticity where neural networks most stimulated develop more dendrites, synapses, and thicker myelin for more efficient information transmission. These stronger networks are less susceptible to pruning and become long-term memory holders. Students need to use what they learn repeatedly and in different, personally meaningful ways for short-term memory to become permanent knowledge that can be retrieved and used in the future.9.    Teach students (and educators) the Brain Owner's Manual. The most important manual students and educators can read is the owner's manual to their own brain. When we understand how our brains take in and store information, we hold the keys to operating our brains most successfully. Understanding that they can change their own brains and intelligence (neuroplasticity) builds students' resilience and willingness to persevere through challenge. See Education Leadership's publication of "What you should know about your brain"10.    Teaching is not brain surgery. It's Harder. When teachers receive the recognition, status, and more of the autonomy I receive as a neurologist, we will attract the best and brightest to teaching and keep professional educators longer than the current five year average. Sat, 03 Jul 2010 16:33:24 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Ask-Dr-Judy-Top-10-Necessities-for-Educational-Reform/blog/2426414/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-07-03T16:33:24Z Blogs ASCD EDge For the first time since the institution of public education in the U.S., students currently in high school are less likely to graduate than their parents. We are the only industrialized country where that is true. Here are my recommendations to change the appalling dropout rate and prepare students for the 21st century.1.    Collaborate: Students in the U.S. need new skills for the coming century, not to be superior to students worldwide, but to be ready to collaborate with others on a global level to find creative solutions to problems now and in the future.2.    Evaluate Information Accuracy: The current curriculum focus on memorizing isolated facts to pass standardized tests is inadequate preparation for now or the future. New information is being discovered and disseminated at a logarithmic rate and the facts as students learn them today may not be fully accurate or complete in the near future. Students need to know how to find accurate information and use critical analysis to assess the veracity/bias and current/potential uses of new information. These are the executive functions students need to develop and practice in school today, or they will be unprepared to find, analyze, and use the information of tomorrow.[image] 3. Teach Tolerance: In a global world of collaboration communication and tolerance (openness) to unfamiliar cultures and ideas will be the educational currency for the jobs and problems of the future. School needs to provide opportunities for experiences and discussions to help students learn about and feel comfortable communicating with people with other cultural norms and practices.4.    Assessing Student Knowledge: Standardized tests for federal NCLB funds test rote memory of isolated facts. Assessments need to include ways for different types of learners to demonstrate their knowledge. Once teachers do not have to teach-to-the-tests of rote memory, classrooms can become places of inquiry, student-centered discussions, and active, engaging learning.5.    Beyond Differentiation to Individualization. Children are born with brains that want to learn and with different strengths and intelligences that can best empower their success. Students grow best through their strengths. Discovering their strengths and engaging in learning through interests stimulates the strongest neural circuits so the brain is preset for engagement and knowledge building. One size does not fit all in assessment and instruction. The current testing system and the curriculum that it has spawned is unidirectional and leaves behind the majority of students who do not do their best with the linear, sequential instruction. With greater differentiation of instruction we can lower the barriers, not the bar as all children learn to their full potentials.6.    Inspiration and engagement open the brain's information filters (reticular activating system and amygdala) to accept sensory input. In the absence of these qualities at the beginning of a unit of instruction the brain, at an unconscious level, does not admit the input that is not determined valuable to survival or pleasure. To gain admission through these unconscious brain filters lessons need to be personally relevant, low in stress, and incorporate enjoyable modes of information presentation.7.    Lower Stress. React or Reflect? The amygdala is an emotion evaluating structure through which all sensory input must pass. The state of stress or well-being determines if the input is directed to the reflective, higher cognitive "conscious" decision-making brain, or to the reactive brain where the only "choices" at this unconscious level are fight, flight, or freeze. These are often misinterpreted by teachers as ADHD, acting-out, or signs of low intelligence. The students are not consciously misbehaving. Their brains are simply in the reactive state in which they have no conscious control.8.    Using Learning Beyond the Classroom. New "learning" does not become permanent memory unless there is repeated stimulation of the new memory neural pathways. This is the "practice makes permanent" aspect of neuroplasticity where neural networks most stimulated develop more dendrites, synapses, and thicker myelin for more efficient information transmission. These stronger networks are less susceptible to pruning and become long-term memory holders. Students need to use what they learn repeatedly and in different, personally meaningful ways for short-term memory to become permanent knowledge that can be retrieved and used in the future.9.    Teach students (and educators) the Brain Owner's Manual. The most important manual students and educators can read is the owner's manual to their own brain. When we understand how our brains take in and store information, we hold the keys to operating our brains most successfully. Understanding that they can change their own brains and intelligence (neuroplasticity) builds students' resilience and willingness to persevere through challenge. See Education Leadership's publication of "What you should know about your brain"10.    Teaching is not brain surgery. It's Harder. When teachers receive the recognition, status, and more of the autonomy I receive as a neurologist, we will attract the best and brightest to teaching and keep professional educators longer than the current five year average. blogs, bored, students nonadult false Ask Dr Judy: Top 10 Necessities for Educational Reform text blog blogs,bored,students 1602 10 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 1 Blogs 1 2426414 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000 http://edge.ascd.org/_Want-Children-to-Pay-Attention-Make-Their-Brains-Curious-By-Judy-Willis-MD-MEd/blog/2422969/127586.html [image] Want Children to “Pay Attention”? Make Their Brains Curious! http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201005/want-children-pay-attention-make-their-brains-curious By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.From Psychology Today OnlineCuriouser and CuriouserPlato Under a Brain Scanner     A few thousand years ago, in 360 B.C., Plato advised against force-feeding of facts to students. "Elements of instruction...should be presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion of forcing education. A freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of knowledge of any kind. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."We now have neuroscience of learning research to support these recommendations to avoid forced instruction and provide children with the best environment and experiences for joyful learning. We have come to literally see how stress and curiosity edits which sensory information is given entry to our neural networks and where the input ends up.Social, emotional, hormonal, and nutritional influences are overtaking the attribution of intelligence to primarily genetic factors. Microbiology research reveals that emotions and experiences turn on or off portions of genes that determine how that gene will be expressed. Neuroplasticity research reveals that intelligence can be changed and guides us to educational and parenting strategies are neuro-logical to promote positive changes. Those are topics that will be in future posts here and are addressed in articles on my website www.RADTeach.com .In this post, combining my background as a neurologist and classroom teacher, I'll share my strategies to help parents and teachers get information "admitted" through brain's attention system.Children Are Paying Attention, Just Not to the Boring Things in ClassGetting into the brain is like getting into an exclusive nightclub where only the glamorous few are selected. Once inside, another gatekeeper, stress, determines what makes the cut to enter the upper VIP lounge in the prefrontal cortex - that valuable 13% of cerebral architecture where our highest cognition and emotional reflection takes place. (That will be the next post.)The brain evolved to promote the survival of the animal and the species. That means giving priority to potential threat. Every second, of the millions of bits of sensory information from the eyes, ears, internal organs, skin, muscles, taste and smell receptors that are at the entry gate, only a few thousand make the cut. The system that determines what gets in - what the brain attends to is the Reticular Activating System or RAS. This primitive network of cells in the lower brainstem, through which all sensory input must pass to reach any higher regions of the brain, is essentially the same in your dog, cat, child, and you.The RAS favors intake of sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that are most critical to survival of the animal and species. Priority goes to CHANGES in an animal or human's environment with priority to change appraised as threatening. When threat is perceived, the RAS automatically selects related sensory input and directs it to the lower brain where the involuntary response is not to think, but to react - fight, flight, or freeze.Force Feeding Won't Work Even on a Hungry BrainThe RAS is a virtual editor that grants attention and admission to a small fraction of all the available sights, sounds, and tactile sensations available at any moment. This survival-directed filter is critical for animals in the wild, but as it has not changed significantly as man evolved, and the implications for the classroom or with children in the home are significant. When children's brains perceive threat (punishment or embarrassment in front of classmates for not doing homework, fear that they will be picked last for a kickball game, or anxiety that they will make an obvious error because they are not fluent in English) the RAS lets in only what is perceived as relevant to the threat. Unless the perception of threat is reduced, the brain persists in doing its primary job - protecting the human or animal from harm. The neural activity on scans during fear, sadness, anger or other stressful emotions is evident in the lower brain. In this stressed state "attention" is not under our control and the brain activity on scans drops way down in the prefrontal cortex. That higher, reflective, cognitive region of the brain does not receive the sensory input, determined irrelevant to survival. The day's lesson does fall on deaf ears.When students criticized for not paying attention to the lesson it doesn't mean they are inattentive. Their RAS is paying attention to (letting in) sensory input, just not the sensory input their teachers think in important.Now What?One of the great gifts of neuroimaging research is information about which sensory input gets through the RAS when threat is not perceived. When not under high stress alert, the RAS is particularly receptive to novelty and change that arouse curiosity. That is the key to the gate - the brain seeks input about the new, the unexpected, the colorful, musical, moving, aromatic sensations that are available when perceived or imagined threat is not blocking the way. When students are curious about something, they seek an explanation. This motivates them to persevere in seeking the information they now WANT to learn, what they need to be taught.Knowing about the RAS means we can promote classroom communities where students feel safe, where they can count of the adults in charge to enforce the rules that protect their bodies, property, and feelings from classmates who they perceive as threats to these things. Our increasing knowledge of what gains access through the RAS, once threat is reduced, offers clues to strategies that promote attentive focus to lessons in school and at home.Curiouser and CuriouserYou can build novelty into teaching new information. Changes in voice, appearance, marking key points in color, variation in font size, hats, movement, lessons outdoors, music, curious photos, unexpected objects (a radish on each desk when students enter the classroom) get the RAS attentive to admit the accompanying sensory input of lessons that relates to the curious sensory input!Advertising a coming unit with curiosity provoking posters or adding clues or puzzle pieces each day invests curiosity as children predict what lesson might be coming and the RAS is primed to "select" the sensory input of that lesson when it is revealed. Playing a song when students enter the room can also promote curiosity; hence focus, if they know that there will be a link between some words in the song and something in the lesson. If a teacher, or parent helping with homework, walks backwards before a lesson about negative numbers, the RAS is primed by curiosity to follow along when a number line is unrolled on the floor start learning about negative numbers. Even a suspenseful pause in your speech before saying something particularly important builds anticipation as the students wonder what you will say or do next.To further alert the RAS, increase curiosity, and the subsequent memory of the information (learning) that explains the curious phenomenon, have children make PREDICTIONS. The predictions can be written down, shared with a partner, or held up on individual white boards at any point during a lesson. Don't break the participation or curiosity with a "yes" or "no", but maintain the interest by responding with a nod of acknowledgment or a "thanks you" so the other students will continue to predict. The brain actually learns based on a system of predictions and feedback as neuroplasticity strengthens neural networks used to make correct predictions and corrects memory networks used to make incorrect predictions. (This is why feedback is important so those faulty circuits can be replaced with accurate information.)Children Who Actually Get Excited When Asked, "What did you do in school today?"Recall how, as a child, you felt about radishes as garnish on your plate. Now, imagine walking into your childhood classroom and finding a radishs on all the desks. Students' RAS will be curious about this mundane object because it on THEIR desk in a classroom, and not on a dinner plate. Now their attention is alerted to the novelty and curiosity so the RAS admits sensory input "clues" to the puzzle of the novel object on their desks. They are engaged and motivated to discover the reason the radishes are there. Now they are attentive and their brains are engaged.Younger students learning the names and characteristics of shapes might have the opportunity to develop a concept of roundness and evaluate what qualities make some radishes have greater "roundness" than others. The lesson for older students might address as analysis of similarities and differences. The RAS will respond to the color, novelty, peer interaction of evaluating these objects that are usually disdained when found in their salads as they develop their skill of observation, comparison, contrast, and even prediction as to why the radishes that seemed so similar at first, become unique as they become detectives using magnifying glasses. Students' stress levels remain low as they use their individual learning strengths to sketch, describe, or take notes about what the radishes in their group have in common and how the differ.As the survival tool, the RAS alerts to curiosity and remembers the resolution of the brain's prediction, as animals need to learn and repeat behaviors that are satisfying and fulfill survival needs, such as eating tasty food or following the scent of a potential mate. Engaged and focused brains are alert to sensory input that accompanies the pleasurable sensations. In animals these associations will make them more likely to find the source of pleasure in the future. As students enjoy the investigation with the radishes, the required lesson content can follow the open gateway to reach the higher, cognitive brain.The novel experience of a simple radish, when used to promote curiosity and prediction, is likely to do more than carry the learning experiences into long-term memory. When children are asked that evening, "What did you learn in school today?" they are likely to further strengthen the memory as they describe both the radish AND the lesson as grateful parents give the positive feedback of attentive listening. "Ask Dr. Judy" Free Webinar Series:Topic: Why Don't My Students Pay Attention? Wednesday, May 5, 2010 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDTTo preregisterhttps://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/42444Links:?[1] http://www.RADTeach.com?[2] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u302/What has changed_ Can it hurt me?.jpg?[3] https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049?[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/05/curiouser-and-curioser.jpg [image] Want Children to “Pay Attention”? Make Their Brains Curious! http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201005/want-children-pay-attention-make-their-brains-curious By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.From Psychology Today OnlineCuriouser and CuriouserPlato Under a Brain Scanner     A few thousand years ago, in 360 B.C., Plato advised against force-feeding of facts to students. "Elements of instruction...should be presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion of forcing education. A freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of knowledge of any kind. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."We now have neuroscience of learning research to support these recommendations to avoid forced instruction and provide children with the best environment and experiences for joyful learning. We have come to literally see how stress and curiosity edits which sensory information is given entry to our neural networks and where the input ends up.Social, emotional, hormonal, and nutritional influences are overtaking the attribution of intelligence to primarily genetic factors. Microbiology research reveals that emotions and experiences turn on or off portions of genes that determine how that gene will be expressed. Neuroplasticity research reveals that intelligence can be changed and guides us to educational and parenting strategies are neuro-logical to promote positive changes. Those are topics that will be in future posts here and are addressed in articles on my website www.RADTeach.com .In this post, combining my background as a neurologist and classroom teacher, I'll share my strategies to help parents and teachers get information "admitted" through brain's attention system.Children Are Paying Attention, Just Not to the Boring Things in ClassGetting into the brain is like getting into an exclusive nightclub where only the glamorous few are selected. Once inside, another gatekeeper, stress, determines what makes the cut to enter the upper VIP lounge in the prefrontal cortex - that valuable 13% of cerebral architecture where our highest cognition and emotional reflection takes place. (That will be the next post.)The brain evolved to promote the survival of the animal and the species. That means giving priority to potential threat. Every second, of the millions of bits of sensory information from the eyes, ears, internal organs, skin, muscles, taste and smell receptors that are at the entry gate, only a few thousand make the cut. The system that determines what gets in - what the brain attends to is the Reticular Activating System or RAS. This primitive network of cells in the lower brainstem, through which all sensory input must pass to reach any higher regions of the brain, is essentially the same in your dog, cat, child, and you.The RAS favors intake of sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that are most critical to survival of the animal and species. Priority goes to CHANGES in an animal or human's environment with priority to change appraised as threatening. When threat is perceived, the RAS automatically selects related sensory input and directs it to the lower brain where the involuntary response is not to think, but to react - fight, flight, or freeze.Force Feeding Won't Work Even on a Hungry BrainThe RAS is a virtual editor that grants attention and admission to a small fraction of all the available sights, sounds, and tactile sensations available at any moment. This survival-directed filter is critical for animals in the wild, but as it has not changed significantly as man evolved, and the implications for the classroom or with children in the home are significant. When children's brains perceive threat (punishment or embarrassment in front of classmates for not doing homework, fear that they will be picked last for a kickball game, or anxiety that they will make an obvious error because they are not fluent in English) the RAS lets in only what is perceived as relevant to the threat. Unless the perception of threat is reduced, the brain persists in doing its primary job - protecting the human or animal from harm. The neural activity on scans during fear, sadness, anger or other stressful emotions is evident in the lower brain. In this stressed state "attention" is not under our control and the brain activity on scans drops way down in the prefrontal cortex. That higher, reflective, cognitive region of the brain does not receive the sensory input, determined irrelevant to survival. The day's lesson does fall on deaf ears.When students criticized for not paying attention to the lesson it doesn't mean they are inattentive. Their RAS is paying attention to (letting in) sensory input, just not the sensory input their teachers think in important.Now What?One of the great gifts of neuroimaging research is information about which sensory input gets through the RAS when threat is not perceived. When not under high stress alert, the RAS is particularly receptive to novelty and change that arouse curiosity. That is the key to the gate - the brain seeks input about the new, the unexpected, the colorful, musical, moving, aromatic sensations that are available when perceived or imagined threat is not blocking the way. When students are curious about something, they seek an explanation. This motivates them to persevere in seeking the information they now WANT to learn, what they need to be taught.Knowing about the RAS means we can promote classroom communities where students feel safe, where they can count of the adults in charge to enforce the rules that protect their bodies, property, and feelings from classmates who they perceive as threats to these things. Our increasing knowledge of what gains access through the RAS, once threat is reduced, offers clues to strategies that promote attentive focus to lessons in school and at home.Curiouser and CuriouserYou can build novelty into teaching new information. Changes in voice, appearance, marking key points in color, variation in font size, hats, movement, lessons outdoors, music, curious photos, unexpected objects (a radish on each desk when students enter the classroom) get the RAS attentive to admit the accompanying sensory input of lessons that relates to the curious sensory input!Advertising a coming unit with curiosity provoking posters or adding clues or puzzle pieces each day invests curiosity as children predict what lesson might be coming and the RAS is primed to "select" the sensory input of that lesson when it is revealed. Playing a song when students enter the room can also promote curiosity; hence focus, if they know that there will be a link between some words in the song and something in the lesson. If a teacher, or parent helping with homework, walks backwards before a lesson about negative numbers, the RAS is primed by curiosity to follow along when a number line is unrolled on the floor start learning about negative numbers. Even a suspenseful pause in your speech before saying something particularly important builds anticipation as the students wonder what you will say or do next.To further alert the RAS, increase curiosity, and the subsequent memory of the information (learning) that explains the curious phenomenon, have children make PREDICTIONS. The predictions can be written down, shared with a partner, or held up on individual white boards at any point during a lesson. Don't break the participation or curiosity with a "yes" or "no", but maintain the interest by responding with a nod of acknowledgment or a "thanks you" so the other students will continue to predict. The brain actually learns based on a system of predictions and feedback as neuroplasticity strengthens neural networks used to make correct predictions and corrects memory networks used to make incorrect predictions. (This is why feedback is important so those faulty circuits can be replaced with accurate information.)Children Who Actually Get Excited When Asked, "What did you do in school today?"Recall how, as a child, you felt about radishes as garnish on your plate. Now, imagine walking into your childhood classroom and finding a radishs on all the desks. Students' RAS will be curious about this mundane object because it on THEIR desk in a classroom, and not on a dinner plate. Now their attention is alerted to the novelty and curiosity so the RAS admits sensory input "clues" to the puzzle of the novel object on their desks. They are engaged and motivated to discover the reason the radishes are there. Now they are attentive and their brains are engaged.Younger students learning the names and characteristics of shapes might have the opportunity to develop a concept of roundness and evaluate what qualities make some radishes have greater "roundness" than others. The lesson for older students might address as analysis of similarities and differences. The RAS will respond to the color, novelty, peer interaction of evaluating these objects that are usually disdained when found in their salads as they develop their skill of observation, comparison, contrast, and even prediction as to why the radishes that seemed so similar at first, become unique as they become detectives using magnifying glasses. Students' stress levels remain low as they use their individual learning strengths to sketch, describe, or take notes about what the radishes in their group have in common and how the differ.As the survival tool, the RAS alerts to curiosity and remembers the resolution of the brain's prediction, as animals need to learn and repeat behaviors that are satisfying and fulfill survival needs, such as eating tasty food or following the scent of a potential mate. Engaged and focused brains are alert to sensory input that accompanies the pleasurable sensations. In animals these associations will make them more likely to find the source of pleasure in the future. As students enjoy the investigation with the radishes, the required lesson content can follow the open gateway to reach the higher, cognitive brain.The novel experience of a simple radish, when used to promote curiosity and prediction, is likely to do more than carry the learning experiences into long-term memory. When children are asked that evening, "What did you learn in school today?" they are likely to further strengthen the memory as they describe both the radish AND the lesson as grateful parents give the positive feedback of attentive listening. "Ask Dr. Judy" Free Webinar Series:Topic: Why Don't My Students Pay Attention? Wednesday, May 5, 2010 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDTTo preregisterhttps://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/42444Links:?[1] http://www.RADTeach.com?[2] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u302/What has changed_ Can it hurt me?.jpg?[3] https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049?[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/05/curiouser-and-curioser.jpg Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:10:41 GMT http://edge.ascd.org/_Want-Children-to-Pay-Attention-Make-Their-Brains-Curious-By-Judy-Willis-MD-MEd/blog/2422969/127586.html Judith_Willis 2010-07-01T21:10:41Z Blogs ASCD EDge [image] Want Children to “Pay Attention”? Make Their Brains Curious! http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201005/want-children-pay-attention-make-their-brains-curious By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed.From Psychology Today OnlineCuriouser and CuriouserPlato Under a Brain Scanner     A few thousand years ago, in 360 B.C., Plato advised against force-feeding of facts to students. "Elements of instruction...should be presented to the mind in childhood; not, however, under any notion of forcing education. A freeman ought not to be a slave in the acquisition of knowledge of any kind. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind."We now have neuroscience of learning research to support these recommendations to avoid forced instruction and provide children with the best environment and experiences for joyful learning. We have come to literally see how stress and curiosity edits which sensory information is given entry to our neural networks and where the input ends up.Social, emotional, hormonal, and nutritional influences are overtaking the attribution of intelligence to primarily genetic factors. Microbiology research reveals that emotions and experiences turn on or off portions of genes that determine how that gene will be expressed. Neuroplasticity research reveals that intelligence can be changed and guides us to educational and parenting strategies are neuro-logical to promote positive changes. Those are topics that will be in future posts here and are addressed in articles on my website www.RADTeach.com .In this post, combining my background as a neurologist and classroom teacher, I'll share my strategies to help parents and teachers get information "admitted" through brain's attention system.Children Are Paying Attention, Just Not to the Boring Things in ClassGetting into the brain is like getting into an exclusive nightclub where only the glamorous few are selected. Once inside, another gatekeeper, stress, determines what makes the cut to enter the upper VIP lounge in the prefrontal cortex - that valuable 13% of cerebral architecture where our highest cognition and emotional reflection takes place. (That will be the next post.)The brain evolved to promote the survival of the animal and the species. That means giving priority to potential threat. Every second, of the millions of bits of sensory information from the eyes, ears, internal organs, skin, muscles, taste and smell receptors that are at the entry gate, only a few thousand make the cut. The system that determines what gets in - what the brain attends to is the Reticular Activating System or RAS. This primitive network of cells in the lower brainstem, through which all sensory input must pass to reach any higher regions of the brain, is essentially the same in your dog, cat, child, and you.The RAS favors intake of sights, sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that are most critical to survival of the animal and species. Priority goes to CHANGES in an animal or human's environment with priority to change appraised as threatening. When threat is perceived, the RAS automatically selects related sensory input and directs it to the lower brain where the involuntary response is not to think, but to react - fight, flight, or freeze.Force Feeding Won't Work Even on a Hungry BrainThe RAS is a virtual editor that grants attention and admission to a small fraction of all the available sights, sounds, and tactile sensations available at any moment. This survival-directed filter is critical for animals in the wild, but as it has not changed significantly as man evolved, and the implications for the classroom or with children in the home are significant. When children's brains perceive threat (punishment or embarrassment in front of classmates for not doing homework, fear that they will be picked last for a kickball game, or anxiety that they will make an obvious error because they are not fluent in English) the RAS lets in only what is perceived as relevant to the threat. Unless the perception of threat is reduced, the brain persists in doing its primary job - protecting the human or animal from harm. The neural activity on scans during fear, sadness, anger or other stressful emotions is evident in the lower brain. In this stressed state "attention" is not under our control and the brain activity on scans drops way down in the prefrontal cortex. That higher, reflective, cognitive region of the brain does not receive the sensory input, determined irrelevant to survival. The day's lesson does fall on deaf ears.When students criticized for not paying attention to the lesson it doesn't mean they are inattentive. Their RAS is paying attention to (letting in) sensory input, just not the sensory input their teachers think in important.Now What?One of the great gifts of neuroimaging research is information about which sensory input gets through the RAS when threat is not perceived. When not under high stress alert, the RAS is particularly receptive to novelty and change that arouse curiosity. That is the key to the gate - the brain seeks input about the new, the unexpected, the colorful, musical, moving, aromatic sensations that are available when perceived or imagined threat is not blocking the way. When students are curious about something, they seek an explanation. This motivates them to persevere in seeking the information they now WANT to learn, what they need to be taught.Knowing about the RAS means we can promote classroom communities where students feel safe, where they can count of the adults in charge to enforce the rules that protect their bodies, property, and feelings from classmates who they perceive as threats to these things. Our increasing knowledge of what gains access through the RAS, once threat is reduced, offers clues to strategies that promote attentive focus to lessons in school and at home.Curiouser and CuriouserYou can build novelty into teaching new information. Changes in voice, appearance, marking key points in color, variation in font size, hats, movement, lessons outdoors, music, curious photos, unexpected objects (a radish on each desk when students enter the classroom) get the RAS attentive to admit the accompanying sensory input of lessons that relates to the curious sensory input!Advertising a coming unit with curiosity provoking posters or adding clues or puzzle pieces each day invests curiosity as children predict what lesson might be coming and the RAS is primed to "select" the sensory input of that lesson when it is revealed. Playing a song when students enter the room can also promote curiosity; hence focus, if they know that there will be a link between some words in the song and something in the lesson. If a teacher, or parent helping with homework, walks backwards before a lesson about negative numbers, the RAS is primed by curiosity to follow along when a number line is unrolled on the floor start learning about negative numbers. Even a suspenseful pause in your speech before saying something particularly important builds anticipation as the students wonder what you will say or do next.To further alert the RAS, increase curiosity, and the subsequent memory of the information (learning) that explains the curious phenomenon, have children make PREDICTIONS. The predictions can be written down, shared with a partner, or held up on individual white boards at any point during a lesson. Don't break the participation or curiosity with a "yes" or "no", but maintain the interest by responding with a nod of acknowledgment or a "thanks you" so the other students will continue to predict. The brain actually learns based on a system of predictions and feedback as neuroplasticity strengthens neural networks used to make correct predictions and corrects memory networks used to make incorrect predictions. (This is why feedback is important so those faulty circuits can be replaced with accurate information.)Children Who Actually Get Excited When Asked, "What did you do in school today?"Recall how, as a child, you felt about radishes as garnish on your plate. Now, imagine walking into your childhood classroom and finding a radishs on all the desks. Students' RAS will be curious about this mundane object because it on THEIR desk in a classroom, and not on a dinner plate. Now their attention is alerted to the novelty and curiosity so the RAS admits sensory input "clues" to the puzzle of the novel object on their desks. They are engaged and motivated to discover the reason the radishes are there. Now they are attentive and their brains are engaged.Younger students learning the names and characteristics of shapes might have the opportunity to develop a concept of roundness and evaluate what qualities make some radishes have greater "roundness" than others. The lesson for older students might address as analysis of similarities and differences. The RAS will respond to the color, novelty, peer interaction of evaluating these objects that are usually disdained when found in their salads as they develop their skill of observation, comparison, contrast, and even prediction as to why the radishes that seemed so similar at first, become unique as they become detectives using magnifying glasses. Students' stress levels remain low as they use their individual learning strengths to sketch, describe, or take notes about what the radishes in their group have in common and how the differ.As the survival tool, the RAS alerts to curiosity and remembers the resolution of the brain's prediction, as animals need to learn and repeat behaviors that are satisfying and fulfill survival needs, such as eating tasty food or following the scent of a potential mate. Engaged and focused brains are alert to sensory input that accompanies the pleasurable sensations. In animals these associations will make them more likely to find the source of pleasure in the future. As students enjoy the investigation with the radishes, the required lesson content can follow the open gateway to reach the higher, cognitive brain.The novel experience of a simple radish, when used to promote curiosity and prediction, is likely to do more than carry the learning experiences into long-term memory. When children are asked that evening, "What did you learn in school today?" they are likely to further strengthen the memory as they describe both the radish AND the lesson as grateful parents give the positive feedback of attentive listening. "Ask Dr. Judy" Free Webinar Series:Topic: Why Don't My Students Pay Attention? Wednesday, May 5, 2010 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDTTo preregisterhttps://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049Source URL: http://www.psychologytoday.com/node/42444Links:?[1] http://www.RADTeach.com?[2] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/u302/What has changed_ Can it hurt me?.jpg?[3] https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/251272049?[4] http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/teaser/2010/05/curiouser-and-curioser.jpg blogs, force-fed, learning, limits, of, the nonadult false Want Children to “Pay Attention”? Make Their Brains Curious! By Judy Willis, M.D., M.Ed. text blog blogs,force-fed,learning,limits,of,the 10173 21 5.0 http://edge.ascd.org/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=19069219&as=127586 http://media.kickstatic.com/kickapps/images/127586/photos/PHOTO_8341734_127586_19069219_ap_160X120.jpg false United States CA Santa Barbara 1 Blogs 24 2422969 19069219 ASCD EDge Member 2000