Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Chris's Demo
Thanks Chris for a great job! I really liked the card element. I liked the idea of the informal writing in an alternative genre of greeting cards. I loved that during the discussion people talked about using manipulatives with high school students is desirable. I know that my students enjoy these practices, and I know that by using manipulatives and creativity that students are actually more likely to retain and own the knowledge that I intend to teach. And yet I often skip right into the lesson because "I don't have time." I need to rephrase this thought into, "I don't have a choice; I must if I want retention and not just covereage. So thanks for an easy, quick manipulative that I can apply to my classroom.
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I concur.
ReplyDeleteI agree--retention is so essential! We must strive for deep and wide (I love that song) instead of just skimming the surface. Good reminder, Kelly, thanks!
ReplyDeleteI think Chris A's demonstration was absolutely superb. She "hooked" the attention of the students right away with the promise of story time. Everyone loves a good story, no matter the age. I liked the use of the projector and making the story "big" - easy for little eyes to see and little ears to hear. Everyone in class was hooked with the lead, and the great storyteller that she is, she reeled us right into the world of Charles Dickens. I especially loved the fact that she recognized we "second graders" were big kids, but that later on, when we were even more grown up, we would learn more stories by this great writer. She set the stage for the desire for students to want to reach to that higher level.
ReplyDeleteThe card activity was just downright fun, and the exercise allowed the students the opportunity to share not just resources, but ideas. Ideas to complete the assignment.
Even better: her activity extended to higher level thinking along the taxonomy of learning: compare/contrast. "How was Scrooge before? How was he after [the visits of the ghosts]? What would his grumpy Christmas card be like? His "change of heart" Christmas card?"
I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation and activity, and I am sure that I can modify this for use in my own classroom, even if it's a classroom full of cynical seniors.
Job well done!