Transcript Brain Research - Illinois Education Association | IEANEA

Better Teaching With
The Brain In Mind
I promise every day your child
will learn something. Some
days they bring it home in
their hands. Some days they
bring it home in their heads.
Some days they bring it home
in their hearts.
Valerie Weeks
Sarah Madson Ms.ed. Early Childhood Teacher School District U-46
Structure
of the Brain
Frontal Lobes:
Located just behind the forehead, the
frontal lobes of the brain deal with
planning and thinking. They control
rationality, higher-order thinking,
problem-solving, and regulating the
emotional system. Personality is also
controlled by the frontal lobes. Full
operation of the emotional system is
not complete until adolescence.
Brainstem
Thalamus
Vital body functions such as
heartbeat, respiration, body
temperature, and digestion
are monitored and
controlled by the brain
stem.
The thalamus monitors the
information coming in from
the outside.
Structure of the Brain
continued
Hippocampus
Hypothalamus
Monitors internal systems to
maintain the normal state of
the body. (homeostasis)
Amygdala
Controls emotions, especially
fear.
Consolidates learning and
converts information from
the working memory to
long term storage. Essential
for creating meaning. Plays
an important role in the
recall of facts, objects, and
places.
Structure of the Brain
continued
Cerebrum
Cerebellum
The largest area of the brain,
80% of the brain’s weight.
Consists of two hemispheres.
It is connected by a thick cable
of nerve fibers called the
corpus callosum. Thinking,
memory, speech, and muscle
movement are controlled by
the cerebrum.
Deeply folded and highly
organized structure that
contains more neurons than
the rest of the brain put
together. This area
coordinates movement to
perform fine and gross motor
tasks.
Structure of the Brain
continued
Brain Elasticity
Imagine a bowl of jello. How easy is it to poke a fork in the
jello? It is with this ease that children form neurological
pathways during the early childhood years. Millions upon
millions of pathways are formed as a child gains new skills and
information.
Apoptosis
Between the years of 3 and 12, the brain naturally begins to
eliminate neurons that are not being strengthened. This process is
called apoptosis. As my Grandma would say, “Use it or lose it!”
Myelinization
Now, imagine a piece of clay. Creating neurological pathways
is much harder as the brain Myelinizes, or hardens. As a child
approaches puberty, it become more difficult to form new
pathways.
Windows of Opportunity
True or false
If a child does not receive visual stimulation by the age of two, the child
will never be able to see.
TRUE
Pediatric researchers have identified some learning periods as critical
such as vision and language. Even with a perfect brain, the absence of
visual stimulation will lead to blindness and if a child does not hear
language by the age of 12, they will likely never speak.
The movie NELL, starring Jodie Foster is an example of language being
withheld during the critical language window of opportunity.
True or false
Emotional control is just as easy to learn in the teenage years as it is in the
preschool years.
TRUE
The window of opportunity for emotional control opens from just after birth
to about age 2 1/2. While children older than this can learn some emotional
control, it is much more difficult than if they had learned it before age 3.
True or False
A child can learn over 2,000 words between the ages of 3 and 5.
TRUE
3 to 5 year olds can easily learn up to 10 new words a day in a language
rich environment. Researchers estimate that children in professional
families hear 11 million words a year, in working class families children
hear 6 million words a year, and in families receiving public assistance
children hear 3 million words a year.
Reading just 20 minutes a night to a young child can make the difference
between being ready for learning or being at-risk for academic failure.
True or false
Early Childhood is the perfect time for a child to learn a second language.
TRUE
The window for acquiring spoken language opens soon after birth and slowly
closes between 10 to 12 years of age. Not only is this the reason younger
children learn a second language much faster than their parents, it is also the
reason that children who learn a second language before puberty do not have an
accent in either their native language or their acquired language.
True or false
The windows of opportunity for learning close before a child enters junior high.
TRUE
While learning can take place throughout a person’s entire lifetime, optimal
learning periods for language, motor, logic, and emotional control close around
ten years of age. As a child approaches puberty, neurological connections in
the brain either solidify or are pruned away. (Apoptosis)
Humor
• Laughing provides more oxygen to the body, causes an
endorphin surge, and decreases stress and blood
pressure.
• Laughing also gets attention, creates a positive climate,
increases retention and recall, and improves everyone’s
mental health.
• While humor is a powerful tool, sarcasm is not. Be
careful to avoid relying on sarcasm as a humorous tool.
Ten Classroom Brain Strategies
Wait Time
A period of silence following a question.
• High school teachers average a wait time of just one second
following a question, Elementary teachers average three
seconds.
• One to three seconds is not enough time for slow retrievers to
locate the answer in their short and long term memories.
• As soon as the answer is given, those learners will stop the
retrieval process and lose the opportunity to relearn
information.
Wait Time continued
When wait time is increased by at least five seconds or more:
1.
2.
3.
4.
The length and quality of student responses increases.
There is greater participation by all learners.
Students used more evidence to support inferences.
There were more higher-order responses.
One method for increasing wait time is to use think-pairshare. The teacher asks a question, gives adequate wait
time, and then has the students form pairs to share their
thinking.
Rehearsal
Rehearsal strategies can be as easy as simple repetition
and cumulative repetition.
Simple repetition
good for remembering short items such as telephone
numbers and dates and involves repeating aloud over
and over again.
Cumulative repetition
can be used to learn poems or lists by rehearsing the
first few items and then slowly adding.
Short Lesson Times
The primacy-recency effect describes the fact that people tend to
remember best what comes first and the next what comes last. What
happens during the middle of a lesson is what is remembered least.
20 minute lessons have 18 minutes of prime time and 2 minutes of
down time versus an 80 minute lesson that has 50 minutes of prime
time and 30 minutes of down time.
That’s 10% of down time in a 20 minute lesson instead of 38% of
downtime in an 80 minute continuous lesson.
Simply breaking an 80 minute block of time into three different
segments significantly increases the prime time learning.
Synergy
Synergy is the action of two people working together to increase
effectiveness. This strategy gets students moving and talking
while learning.
When using synergy, remember the following guidelines:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
provide adequate time for reflection
model the activity
get students to stand, move and deliver
keep in motion
ensure accountability
clarify misunderstandings
use variety for pairings
Chunking
Chunking occurs when the brain sees several pieces of
information as a single item.
Words are common examples of chunks.
Remembering a telephone number can be easier if the
numbers are chunked into larger items, such as (630)
(555) (1974). In this way, 10 digits actually become
three chunks.
Chunking continued
Categorical chunking is when learners establish
categories to help classify information.
Types of categorical chunking are:
•
•
•
•
•
Advantages and Disadvantages (pros and cons)
Similarities and Differences (using attributes)
Structure and Function (ex. parts of a cell)
Taxonomies (hierarchies)
Arrays (sorting)
Music
Music affects the brain through intellectual and emotional
stimulation.
Music can influence:
•
heart rate
•
breathing
•
blood pressure
•
muscle movements
Choose music that plays about 60 beats per minute, which is
similar to a human heartbeat. Fewer beats per minute can
calm a classroom while more beats per minute can
encourage activity.
Try to avoid using music during direct instruction because it
can be a distraction.
Music continued
• Be aware of lyrics. Students working on a learning task can be
distracted by lyrics.
• Familiar music can cause a distraction when the students attend
more to the music than the task.
• Choosing unfamiliar music can provide a stimulating
background without causing too much distraction.
• Allowing students to contribute music can be powerful as well,
as long as it meets the purpose of the lesson and classroom
culture.
Bridging
Bridging occurs when teachers create transfer to help students
see the connection between from what the learner knows to
other new learning.
Brainstorming:
Engage students in brainstorming to see ways that
new learning can be applied in other situations.
Analogies:
Analogies can be used to examine the similarities and
differences between one system and another.
Metacognition:
When solving problems ask students to investigate ways of
approaching the solution and discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of each.
Meaning
When new learning can be connected to past experience, brain
scans have shown substantially more brain activity than simply
learning the material on its own.
Making the content relevant to the student’s life helps them to
recall the information at a later time.
Creating meaning can be accomplished by:
• modeling
• using examples from student’s experiences
• creating artificial meaning
(Mnemonic devices are an example of
artificial meaning.)
Motivation
Extrinsic motivation comes in the form of rewards and
punishments. This motivation comes from wanting to attain
something concrete or to please someone else.
Motivation that comes from within a person is intrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation is related to a person’s needs, values, interests
and attitudes.
Learning occurs best when the motivation is intrinsic.
Did You know?
• The most complex structure of the human body weighs about 3 pounds.
YES! It is your brain.
• The brain can send signals to thousands of other cells as fast as 200 miles
per hour.
• In the past ten years, scientists have learned more about the brain than what
they have in the previous century.
• Although there have been huge advances in brain research, the leading
cause of disabilities is brain and central nervous system disorders. Brain
disorders cause more hospitalizations and prolonged health care than almost
all the other diseases combined.
• One in 5 people will develop some type of brain disorder.
• Ninety percent of children's brain development occurs by the
age of five.
• Studies show that high-quality early childhood programs are
the BEST way to support improved academic outcomes in the
preK– 12 system. Children who participate in early childhood
education programs are far more likely to enter kindergarten
ready to learn, read at grade level by third grade, and graduate
from high school or even college.
• The Perry Preschool Study has tracked their program for 40
years. In 2005, they reported that for every dollar invested in
early childhood education, there is a return of $16.14 in savings
to state and federal schools and agencies.
Early Childhood Links
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL)
The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) is
focused on promoting the social emotional development and school readiness of young
children birth to age 5. CSEFEL is a national resource center funded by the Office of
Head Start and Child Care Bureau for disseminating research and evidence-based
practices to early childhood programs across the country.
Web site address: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/
Circle of Inclusion
Web site address: http://circleofinclusion.org
The Circle of Inclusion web site is for early childhood service providers and families of
young children. This web site offers demonstrations of and information about the
effective practices of inclusive educational programs for children from birth through age
eight.
Illinois Early Learning Web
Web site address: www.illinoisearlylearning.org
The Illinois Early Learning Web site provides evidence-based, reliable information for
parents, caregivers, and teachers of young children in the State of Illinois.
Illinois Resource Center
Web site address: www.thecenterweb.org
Lists of recommended children's books for birth to five and Early Childhood Block
Grant professional development opportunities are available on the Early Childhood
portion of the Illinois Resource Center's web site.
More Early Childhood Links
Illinois Resource Center
Web site address: www.thecenterweb.org
Lists of recommended children's books for birth to five and Early Childhood Block Grant
professional development opportunities are available on the Early Childhood portion of the
Illinois Resource Center's web site.
National Association for the Education of Young Children
Web site address: www.naeyc.org
The National Association for the Education of Young Children has for its purpose, “leading
and consolidating the efforts of individuals and groups working to achieve healthy
development and constructive education for all young children.”
National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center
Web site address: www.nectac.org
The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center supports the implementation of the
early childhood provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Their
mission is to strengthen service systems to ensure that children with disabilities (birth through
five) and their families receive and benefit from high quality, culturally appropriate, and
family-centered supports and services.
Ounce of Prevention
Web site address: www.ounceofprevention.org
The Ounce of Prevention was established to promote the well-being of children and
adolescents by working with families, communities, and policy-makers.
More Early Childhood Links
Project Approach
Web site address: www.projectapproach.org
The purpose of project approach.org is to provide readers with resources to enable them
to carry out projects wherever they may work with children.
North American Reggio Emilia Alliance
http://www.reggioalliance.org/
The North American Reggio Emilia Alliance offers some background information to
support your interest in the well-being of children and the philosophies and experiences
of the birth-six education project of Reggio Emilia, Italy, recognized throughout the
world as a living system of the highest quality.
Voices4kids.org
ERIC database
Early Childhood Literature
Educating Young Children by Mary Hohmann, David Weikart, Ann Epstein
Creative Curriculum for Preschool by Diane Trister Dodge, Laura Colker, Cate Heroman
Building Structures with Young Children by Ingrid Chalufour, Karen Worth
Designs for Living and Learning by Deb Curtis, Margie Carter
Discovering Nature with Young Children by Ingrid Chalufour, Karen Worth
The Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom by Patti Gould, Joyce Sullivan
Literacy: The Creative Curriculum® Approach by Cate Heroman, Candy Jones
Young Investigators by Judy Harris Helm, Lillian G. Katz
The First Three Years & Beyond by Edward F. Zigler, Matia Finn-Stevenson, Nancy W. Hall
Eager to Learn Educating Our Preschoolers by The National Research Council
Starting Out Right “A Guide to Promoting Children’s Reading Success by The National
Research Council
The Out of Sync Child by Carol Stock Kranowitz and Lucy Jane Miller
The Out-of-Sync Child Has Fun, Revised Edition: Activities for Kids with Sensory
Processing Disorder by Carol Stock Kranowitz
Bridging: Assessment for Teaching and Learning in Early Childhood Classrooms, PreK-3 by
Jie-Qi Chen and Gillian Dowley McNamee
Building Support for Your School: How to Use Children's Work to Show Learning by Judy
Harris Helm and Amanda Helm