1. Non-linguistic Representation
Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement
Compiled from:
Classroom Instruction That Works!
By: Robert J. Marzano, Debra J. Pickering & Jane E. Pollock
Curriculum & Staff Development Center
Welcome participants
Introduce self to group

2. Training Outcomes
Explain the outcomes for the training using the graphic.
DEFINITION: Learn the definition of the term “nonlinguistic representation”
EXAMPLES: Gain knowledge and experience with the strategy through examples in various content areas
APPLICATIONS: Learn how to apply this strategy in the classroom

3. Participant K-W-L What do I already Know about
Non-Linguistic Representation?
What I Want to Know?
What I Learned.
Take a moment for participants to fill out the first two columns of the KWL.

4. Categories of Instructional Strategies That Affect Student Achievement
Category
Ave. Effect Size (ES)
Percentile Gain
No. of ESs
Identifying Similarities and Differences
1.61 45 31
Summarizing & Note Taking
1.0 34
179
Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition
.80 29 21
Homework & Practice
.77 28
134
Nonlinguistic representations
.75 27
246
Cooperative Learning
.73
122
Setting Objectives & Providing Feedback
.61 23
408
Generating & Testing Hypotheses 63
Questions, Cues, and Advance Organizers
.59 22
1,251
Meta-Analysis of the research on instruction identified nine categories of instructional strategies that have a high probability of enhancing student achievement. This chart illustrates the average effect size and percentile gains realized from the use of these strategies in the classroom.
Note the row for nonlinguistic representation. Effect size is the unit of measurement that researchers use to report study results. A simple way to understand effect size is to translate into percentile gains, which is done with a mathematical formula. What this chart tells us is that on average, the use of this strategy produced a percentile gain of 27 points.
Keep in mind…….
Even though the research has taught us a great deal….. There are still some things we don’t yet know, such as…
Are some instructional strategies more effective:
~ in certain subject areas?
~ at certain grade levels?
~ with students from different backgrounds?
~ with students of different aptitude?
No strategy works will in ALL situations
AND
the effectiveness of any strategy depends on the thoughtfulness and skill the teacher brings in using the strategy

5. What do we know about how knowledge is stored?
Dual Coding Theory
(Paivio, 1969, 1971, 1990)
Linguistic (language form)
Non-linguistic (imagery form)
talk to students about new content
have them read about new content
students left on their own to generate mental imagery of new content
enhances students’ ability to represent and elaborate on knowledge using mental pictures or physical sensations (i.e., smell, taste, touch, movement, or sound).
Research has shown the knowledge is stored in two forms: linguistic or language and non-linguistic (imagery form)
Teachers usually present new knowledge in linguistic form either by talking to students or by having students read new content. Research has also shown that when teachers help students use imagery, the effects on achievement are strong. The purpose for using this strategy is to enhance students’ ability to use mental images to represent and elaborate on knowledge.
Trainer may elect to flip back to slide 4 for review of percentile gain with this strategy.
Set the stage for learning about this strategy by trying to form a mental image of moving water.
Imagine you are sitting at the beach. The sun is bright, the temperature is hot and not a cloud in the sky. As you sit in your beach chair facing the surf, you hear the rhythm of the surf as the water hits the sand. You can hear bits of conversation as beach combers walk by and stop to pick up shells. Sweat starts to break out on your face. You reach for your hat and a cold drink from your cooler and take that first sip. As you sit and watch the birds, the fish jump and the occasional dolphin jump, you feel your toes start getting wet. Three minutes later your feet are getting wet and your chair in sinking deeper in the sand. Your cooler starts to move with the water. You decide it’s time to move but your chair is now stuck firmly in the wet sand. You have to set your things further up the beach and go back to pull the chair out of the quicksand. You tug and tug and finally… it pops free. Move the chair and now you sit back and down and doze off in the warm sun. Suddenly your toes are getting wet again.
Pose the question to the group….
In what ways might the mental image you created help you understand tides.

6. What is Non-Linguistic Representation?
~ Generating mental pictures or physical models of information and creating graphic representations for the information.
So that we now experienced creating a mental picture… we can now have a definition for the term.

7. What does research tell us about non-linguistic representations?
Explicitly engaging students in the creation of nonlinguistic representations stimulates and increases activity in the brain. (Gerlic & Jausovec, 1999)
We’ve already discussed how we as teachers present new knowledge to students in linguistic methods by either talking to students are having them read new information. When we do that, we leave students on their own to generate nonlinguistic representations. But when teachers help students in this work, the effects on achievement are strong.

8. Four Planning Questions for Instruction
What knowledge will students learn?
Which strategies will provide evidence that students have learned that knowledge?
Which strategies will help students practice, review, and apply that knowledge?
Which strategies will help students acquire and integrate that knowledge?
When planning, teachers can use four questions to help understand the interaction between promoting student learning and the nine categories of effective instructional strategies. If you have been to other Marzano trainings, these four questions may look familiar to you. To review:
Question # 1 Having the objective stated in clear and specific terms. When teachers tell students, what they are going to learn, it provides a “hook” for student to place their thinking, and helps them to focus their learning goals.
State the learning objective in clear and specific terms.
Question # 2 Asks how the teacher will know whether a student has learned the knowledge that was presented. Formative and summative
Clearly identify the expected level of performance for the knowledge that students are supposed to learn
Provide multiple opportunities for students to engage in activities that allow them to demonstrate what they are learning.
Collect additional evidence as necessary (end of unit tests, observations, self assessment.)
Use the evidence to determine the level of proficiency students are attaining
Question # 3 Asks the teachers to think about what he or she will do to teach the objective.
Help students access prior knowledge
Help students make connections between their prior knowledge and the new knowledge
Help students organize info and see patterns
Provide students with the steps and/or component parts if they are learning a skill or process
Model the steps and/or how to engage in the component parts if they are learning a skill or process
Question # 4 This final question asks teachers to think about what they will do to provide opportunities for student practice, review and application of that knowledge.
Help students clear up confusions and misconceptions they might have about information
Help students correct errors they are making as they perform a skill or process
Engage students in projects (e.g., performance tasks) that ask them to apply what they have learned in meaningful contexts.

9. Four Planning Questions for Instruction
What knowledge will students learn?
Which strategies will provide evidence that students have learned that knowledge?
Non-Linguistic Representations
Non-Linguistic Representations help students think about their learning and recall what they are learning.
This strategy fits best with the third and fourth planning questions.
Which strategies will help students practice, review, and apply that knowledge?
Which strategies will help students acquire and integrate that knowledge?

10. Two Generalizations from the Research on Non-Linguistic Representation
A variety of activities produce nonlinguistic representations.
Nonlinguistic representations should elaborate on knowledge.
First generalization tells us that a variety of activities produce nonlinguistic representations, such as:
Creating graphic representations
Making physical models
Generating mental models
Drawing pictures and pictographs
Engaging in kinesthetic activities
The second generalization is that non-linguistic representations should elaborate or “add on” knowledge.

11. “Elaborate On”
Simply means “add to” knowledge.
Results in students not only understanding the knowledge in greater depth, but students also recalling it more easily.
Asking students to explain and justify their elaborations enhances learning.
When students generate a non-linguist representation - they are elaborate on knowledge, resulting in a deeper understanding of the knowledge and the ability to recall it more easily. Asking them to explain and justify their elaborations enhances their learning.

12. Recommendations for Classroom Practice: Nonlinguistic Representations
Use graphic organizers to represent knowledge.
Have students generate physical models of the knowledge.
Have students generate mental pictures of the knowledge they are learning.
Use pictures or pictographs to represent knowledge.
Have students engage in kinesthetic activities representing the knowledge.
There are five recommendations for classroom practice centering on a variety of forms of nonlinguistic representation. We explore each these recommendations in more detail.

13. What does this strategy look like in the classroom?
Recommendation # 1:
Use graphic organizers to represent knowledge.
The Six Types
Purpose
1. Descriptive
Vocabulary terms or facts.
2. Time Sequence
Organize events in chronological order.
3. Process/cause-effect
Organize information into a casual network leading to specific outcome or into a sequence of steps leading to a specific product.
The first recommendation is to use graphic organizers to represent knowledge. Graphic organizers are one of the most common ways to help generate nonlinguistic representations.
There are six common patterns used to organize information. Let’s take a look at the six types and the purpose of each.
Descriptive Patterns can be used for vocabulary terms or facts. Let’s break this down further.
DESCRIPTIVE PATTERNS: represent information that has been organized around vocabulary terms.
This type pattern also represents facts that have been organized to describe characteristics about specific persons, places, things and events.
The information collected does not have to be in any particular order. It is a way to capture information centered around a specific topic.
TIME SEQUENCE PATTERNS:
Organize events in a specific chronological order. Events of the Shuttle space program or the Civil War.
PROCESS/CAUSE-EFFECT PATTERNS:
Organize info into a casual network leading to a specific outcome or into a sequence of steps leading to a specific product. For example, information that led up to the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster, or information about the factors that typically lead to the development of a healthy body could be organized as a process/cause-effect pattern.

14. Graphic Organizers, cont.
The Six Types
Purpose
4. Episode
Organize a large quantity of information about specific events.
5. Generalization/Principle
Organize information into general statements with supporting examples.
6. Concept
Organize information about a work or phrase that represents entire classes or categories.
EPISODE PATTERNS:
Used to organize a large quantity of info about specific events, including (1) setting, (2) specific people, (3) a specific duration, (4) specific sequence of events and (5) a particular cause and effect. For example, information about the French Revolution might be organized into an episode

15. Descriptive Patterns Organizer
Sample:
Fact
Fact
TOPIC
Fact
Fact
Descriptive patterns can be used for vocabulary terms or for facts.
Vocabulary Terms: can be used to represent info organized around vocabulary terms, no specific order, serves to capture and organize facts about a topic.
Facts: can be used to represent facts that have been organized to describe characteristics about specific persons, places, things, and events;
Fact
Fact

16. Example of Descriptor Patterns Organizer Hurricanes
Categorized by
wind speed
Eyewall
Spin
counterclockwise
In Northern
Hemisphere
Hurricanes
Spin
clockwise
In Southern
Hemisphere
This example illustrates the use of Descriptor Patterns Organizer using facts associated with the vocabulary term hurricane.
Seasonal
Move heat
from equatorial region
to higher latitudes

17. Time Sequence Pattern Organizer Example
Sample:
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
EVENT
Time Sequence patterns organize events in a specific chronological order.

18. NASA’s Space Shuttle Official name - Space Transportation System (STS)
Space Shuttle Program
NASA returned to flight on July 26, 2005 with successful launch and re-entry of Discovery. Shuttle Discovery was also the first orbiter to fly after the Challenger accident.
1960’s vision of a reusable space craft to service
International Space Station
January 2, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon announced NASA would proceed with development of reusable low cost space shuttle system.
First fully functional orbiter, Columbia launched on April 12, 1981.
Challenger was lost during launch on Jan. 28, The Shuttle program was grounded until.
Columbia was lost during re-entry, Feb. 1, 2003 once again grounding the shuttle program
This example outlines the sequence of events of NASA’s Shuttle Program

19. Process/Cause-Effect Patterns Example
Sample:
EFFECT
Process /cause-effect patterns organize information into a casual network leading to a specific outcome or into a sequence of steps leading to a specific outcome.

20. Process/Cause-Effect Example World Events Leading to the Vietnam War
Vietnam split into North (Communist) and South (Non-Communist)
US Troops moved into fight Vietnam Conflict
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Civil War in Vietnam
Example of Process/Cause-Effect organizer using World Events Leading to the Vietnam War.
U.S Support of
South Vietnam
U.S. Destroyer Maddox
attacked in Gulf of Tonkin

21. Episode Pattern Organizer Example
Sample:
Duration
Place
Time
Effect
Cause
EPISODE
Episode patterns organize a large quantity of information about specific events, including:
Setting (Time and Place)
Specific people
Specific duration
Specific sequence of events
Particular Cause and effect
Person
Person
Person

22. Example using Discovery of New World
Maria
Santa
Discovery of New World
Pinta
Atlantic Ocean
Nina
Aug. 3, 1492 – Oct. 12, 1492
Aug. 1492
Colonization of the New World
Seek a shorter, Western Route to India
Discovery of New World
Example of Episode Patterns using the Discovery of the New World.
Christopher Columbus
Queen Isabella
Of Spain
King Ferdinand of Spain

23. Generalization/Principle Patterns Example
Sample:
Generalization/Principle
Example
This pattern type is used to organize info into general statements with supporting examples.
Example
Example

24. Generalization/Principle Patterns Mammals
Characteristics of Mammals
Have hair
Review slide- example using “Mammals”
Warm-Blooded
Nourish young with milk

25. Concept Patterns Example
Characteristic
Concept
Characteristic
The most general of all pattern types, concept patterns organize info around a word or phrase that represents entire classes or categories of persons, places, things, and events. Characteristics and attributes of the concept, along with examples of each, should be included in this pattern.
Example
Characteristic
Example
Example
Example
Example
Example

26. Concept Patterns Example Using Hurricanes
Wind Speed Classification
June 1 – Nov. 30
Seasonal
Category One –
Winds mph
Hurricanes
Category Two –
Winds mph
Category Three–
Winds mph
Example of Concept Patterns, using “Hurricanes”
Category Four–
Winds mph
Weather Terms
Category Five –
greater than 155 Winds mph
Hurricane Watch
Hurricane Force Winds
expected within 36 hours
Hurricane Warning
Hurricane Force Winds
expected within 24 hours

27. Make Physical models to represent knowledge
Recommendation # 2:
Make Physical models to represent knowledge
~ Concrete representations of the knowledge learned
~ Think “Manipulatives”
~ Be sure the activity will extend students’ understanding of the knowledge
Review slide

28. Example of Physical Model
To extend student learning of the concepts of proportion and the relationships between two- and three-dimensional shapes, a teacher asked the students to build a three-dimensional model to scale. The assignment:
Students were to choose any common object, identify a scale to use, draw a two-dimensional sketch, build the model and write two paragraphs explaining the proportional model and the process used.
A student chose to build a model of her cylindrical lip balm container and chose a scale of 4:1 for the model to the original. Some steps were easier than others in the process, but figuring out the circumference of the cylinder was a little harder. Working with construction paper, she was able to make the connection between the length of the rectangle she was rolling to create a cylinder and the circumference of the cylinder. This concrete representation solidified the connection between two-dimensional and three-dimensional objects.
Review example of a Physical Model

29. Mental Pictures
Recommendation # 3:
Have students generate mental pictures to represent knowledge they are learning.
~ Help students to create mental pictures by facilitating their thinking about the sounds, smells, tastes, and visual details associated with the knowledge.
~ The most direct way to generate nonlinguistic representations.
Review slide

30. Example of Mental Pictures
Help students create mental pictures by focusing them on the sounds, smells, tastes, and visual details associated with knowledge.
If you are teaching a unit on tides, have them “feel” the breeze on the beach, feel the sand in their toes, the sun on their faces, smell the water and the seashells, hear the birds and the waves hitting the shore.
Review example of Mental Pictures

31. Pictures or Pictographs
Recommendation # 4:
Draw pictures or pictographs to represent knowledge.
~ Pictograph is a drawing that uses symbols or symbolic pictures to represent information.
Review slide

32. Pictographs Example What is your favorite cookie?
Chocolate Chip
Gingerbread Cookies
Sugar Cookies
Review example

33. Engage in Kinesthetic Activities
Recommendation # 5:
Engage in kinesthetic activities that represent knowledge.
~ Physical movement activities that represent knowledge
~ how an electric circuit works, the way the planets move around the sun, the exchange of the oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body, adding and subtracting
Review slide

34. Kinesthetic activities
Modeling /Group activity:
Example of kinesthetic activities….
Stand up and imagine that you are 4th graders studying geometry topics.
Use your arms to demonstrate the following:
Radius of a circle
Diameter of a circle
Circumference of a circle
Acute angle
Obtuse angle
Right angle
Review Example

35. Three Key Points
We store what we know in a language form (linguistic) and an imagery form (nonlinguistic). The imagery mode is expressed as mental pictures or physical sensations.
Review of Key Point # 1

36. Key Points, cont.
2. Teachers can take a variety of approaches to help students generate nonlinguistic representations of knowledge. These approaches have a strong positive effect on student achievement.
Review of Key Point # 2

37. Key Points, cont.
3. Constructing nonlinguistic representations of knowledge helps students elaborate on their knowledge.
Review of Key Point # 3

38. Reflection on Learning
What have you learned about nonlinguistic representation?
What questions do you have about nonlinguistic representations?
What changes might you make in your practice related to nonlinguistic representation?
What support might you need to make these changes?
Leave you with four reflection questions for your learning today.