Ways to help students think about new knowledge Cues Questions Advance Organizers

Purpose of Cues and Questions Focus on what is important. Propose higher level questions. Serve as pre, during and post-learning aids.

Cues and Questions Direct method of activating prior knowledge. For example, before beginning a lesson on color symbolism in The Great Gatsby, a teacher might ask the class: What ideas do we associate with the color green? To what emotions are these ideas attached? To a person with a dream, what might the color green represent? What feelings do you associate with the color grey? Today we are going to look at the use of color in The Great Gatsby. We will look for his use of these and other colors to evoke imagery within the story.

Cues and Questions Cues and questions help students focus their learning and develop their higher order thinking skills.

Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers From Classroom Instruction that Works By Robert Marzano With ideasffrom the Northeast Texas Network Consortium

Six easy ways to integrate cues, questioning and graphic organizers when scaffolding knowledge.

Describe the goal of the lesson. Step 1 Describe the goal of the lesson.

Present students with the advance organizer Handout Chart Diagram Oral presentation (questioning, organized lecture) Concept map

Note: Advance Organizers One of the most successful advance organizers for new, complex material is the expository organizer. Do NOT keep students in the dark about what they will be learning. Tell them . Break it down into simple steps. The first step could be a description or overview of what they will be learning. (Great for global learners and very helpful to linear learners.) Simply describe the new content to which the students will be exposed. Can include new vocabulary and important historical, scientific, cultural and mathematical information that will help introduce students to the new material.

Have your students do the Googling. An internet scavenger hunt is an excellent way to create anticipation and familiarity with a topic. For instance, if you are beginning a unit on The Great Gatsby, create a list of terms for the students to research before the next class like Jazz Age, Lost Generation, American Dream, 1919 World Series, Prohibition. Go over their definitions and ask for their inferences about the time period.

Advance Organizers Chart Oral Presentation Concept Map Diagram This helps put the new knowledge into context while helping the students relate the new material to previous knowledge. Advance Organizers Chart Oral Presentation Concept Map Diagram

Step 2 Present the material.

Maintain attention by presenting the material in a well-organized fashion. Make the order of learning the material explicit. Present general ideas first, followed by a gradual increase in detail and specifics.

Use Integrative Reconciliation Step 3 Use Integrative Reconciliation

Integrative Reconciliation Previously learned content To Relate new ideas

Integrative reconciliation Help students understand how the new information fits in the big picture. Help fit new info into big picture under

Promote Active Reception Learning Step 4 Promote Active Reception Learning

To prior knowledge To relate new material Ask students

Elicit a critical approach to subject matter. Step 5 Elicit a critical approach to subject matter.

Ask them To read between the lines and look for new assumptions based on the new material you have given them.

Ask them to Verbalize or Write about what they have learned

Step 6 Clarify.

Rephrase previous information as you add new information to clarify the concepts

Ask students to use the new information by applying it to new problems or examples. Identify a problem and ask for a reason why it may occur (before teaching the reason). For example, you might discuss the origins of a war before describing its major battles.

Think When creating lesson plans, what cues will you give students to direct them to the important elements of the lesson? What graphic organizers will help them assimilate new material with prior learning?

Think What higher level questions will you ask students before, during and after your lesson?