The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

Teaching with the Brain in Mind: What Hula Hoops and Venn Diagrams have in common

September 09, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

Today’s TWTBIM strategy comes with a literacy twist! Read the following scenario and think about whether you have ever shared this befuddlement:

I love teaching with the brain in mind, and presenting information in a way for multiple learning styles, but I also love incorporating literacy into my instruction, and I’m not sure how they dovetail.

After all, reading and writing is a pretty solitary endeavor; doesn’t it just involve sitting still and, well…reading and writing? Don’t I have to choose between teaching for TWLIMing (teaching with literacy in mind) and TWTBIMing?

If you have ever felt this way, you’re not alone, and you’re no longer stuck choosing between TWLIMing and TWTBIMing. Here’s just one example of how to push both!

You just assigned two chapters of the textbook on WWII and the Cold War, and you need students to compare the events. Because you’re a hotshot teacher, you know that one TWTBIM strategy is to provide graphic organizers to help students sort their thoughts, so you do, but you think, well, I see a bunch of students hunched over a book reading silently, and writing (literacy), but I’m also seeing that some students are still not getting it, and this lack of movement is not working for my kinesthetic learners. So you decide to kick it up a notch by using props!

Instead of just drawing a Venn Diagram on the board and writing it in the similarities and differences, you grab two hula-hoops and put in props to represent the differences and similarities of the two events. In this instance, this might look like using the different flags of the countries as props, and placing them where appropriate in the hoops. This way, students have a tool to process the text (graphic org), and a prop to help them conceptualize new terms (countries, in this case). Kick it up another notch by having students decide what the props should be (thus, they would have to process the text with a concrete goal in mind).

This is a good processing activity for breaking down a tough text and pushing HOTS in a brain-friendly manner, and a great way to work in some oral language practice and hands-on learning.

Stay tuned for more TWTBIM strategies with a literacy twist!

--
0 Comments
Be the first to leave a comment