Transcript Learning strategies in all subjects

LEARNING STRATEGIES IN
ALL SUBJECTS
December 13, 2012
Our Day
At some point and in some way, we hope to:
 Engage in a simulation
 Reflect on Learning Strategies and their impact on
achievement
 Reflect on our own understanding
 Apply our learning in a meaningful and practical
way
Simulation, Discussion and Strategy Sort
Simulation (Let’s Play!!)
Group yourselves according to
your letter.
Groups A and C join Reanne
and B and D join Katie. Receive
instructions.
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How do I improve learning for students
through the use of learning strategies?
Discussion
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Which strategies did you observe the “Monster
Builders” using?
Which strategies did they not use as much? Why?
How did strategy choice impact the results?
“Monster Builders” – What would you have liked to
have done differently? What strategy would have
led to this result?
How do we know this needs attention?
RAD
 AFL
 Less than stellar products
 Learning challenges
 Renewed curricula – attention to
reflection
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How do we build strategies
students are missing AND
honour the strategies they
ALREADY HAVE?
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Discussion
Are there strategies that we
use more often? Less often?
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Before, During and After
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Cut the strategies into strips and
sort into whether they happen
BEFORE, DURING or AFTER the
experience.
Discussion
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How do we decide whether a strategy is Before, During
or After?
Why does it matter?
Where did we spend most of our time when trying to
be successful?
Were there strategies we didn’t apply that we could
have, to experience greater success?
Why are strategies so important?
Why do we miss some strategies that could lead to
greater success?
Active Engagement in Acquired Learning
Think-Pair-Share
What is a learning strategy?
What is its relationship to an
instructional strategy?
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What is a learning strategy?
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Learning strategies are the thoughts and actions we
engage in, consciously or not, to learn new information.
The goal of explicitly teaching learning strategies is to
help students consciously and metacognitively focus on
how they learn so they apply strategies before,
during, and after engaging with texts across all subject
areas. Students, over time, will develop skill in using
multiple strategies which they can then independently
apply to new and different situations.
Airplane analogy
“Make sure you make your connecting flights,” is like telling
someone about the outcome without equipping them with
strategies on how to do so.
So how is a learning strategy different
from an instructional strategy?
Learning strategy
Instructional strategy
Activating prior knowledge
K-W-L
Anticipating author’s message
Think-pair-share
Pausing, thinking and making notes
T-chart
Consider illustrations
Picture walk
Tracking graphic
How do learning strategies
apply to every subject?
Watch the video clip and
track the strategies you see.
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So why does this matter for everyone?
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Every single thing students do in every single class is
part of communication.
When students read a science textbook, they are
reading to understand. When they create a poster in
health, they are composing a representation. When
they give an oral presentation, they are speaking.
If you have ever wondered why students submit a less
than quality product in any subject, it is because they
did not use learning strategies effectively before,
during and after their learning experiences.
What we want to know…
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Are they engrossed in the text?
Are they asking questions?
Are they recording connections?
Are they noting significant or key ideas from quotations,
illustrations, or a speech?
Can they summarize what they’ve read or heard?
Can they make inferences?
Can they have deep conversations about what they are
reading or viewing or hearing?
Are they open to other viewpoints?
Do they reread or revisit portions of the text?
Middle and secondary
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Reading at the secondary school level is more demanding,
in part because the texts are longer and more complex, in
part because the expectations for prior knowledge are so
high, and in part because the concepts become more
abstract and complex.
Reading in the domains is reading to learn, but it
nevertheless requires that young people also learn to read
these specialized texts. Subject matter teachers are the
best people to teach youth how to make sense of the texts
of those domains.
Comprehension Across the Curriculum: Perspectives and Practices K-12, Ganske and Fisher, 2010
Multiple subject areas
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A significant difference between expert and novice
mathematicians and between high and low
performing students is in their use of metacognitive
skills during problem solving. Whereas novices tend
to read the problem and then use trial-and-error
methods to solve it, experts devote considerable time
to analyzing the problem, planning, and verifying the
results of their chosen strategy.
Schoenfeld,
1987
Observation, discussion and brainstorm
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Watch the video and think about the
following questions:
How do we teach learning
strategies?
What is the process?
Brain research
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Research shows that students can only make sense
of texts, either through composition or
comprehension, by attaching new information and
ideas onto old schema.
Students do not often come equipped to do this on
their own. Engaging in a learning event or linking
one learning event to the next is not easy and must
be taught explicitly.
Important distinction…
Teaching learning strategies must be explicit
and…
if we don’t go to the next step to discuss how
using the strategy helps us understand text
more deeply, then we are teaching a strategy
for the sake of teaching a strategy.
All too often we are giving young people
cut flowers
When we should be teaching them to
plant their own gardens...
Continuum of learning
I do, you watch
 I do, you help
 You do, I help
 You do, I watch

Wilhelm, Baker & Dube Hackett, 2001
Introducing a new strategy
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Name the strategy to be learned.
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State the purpose of the strategy
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Explain when to use the strategy
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Link prior knowledge to the new strategy
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Demonstrate the use of the strategy
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Talk about errors to avoid when using the strategy
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Check the use of the strategy
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Adapted from Differentiated Professional Development by Linda Bowgren and Kathryn Sever, 2010.
Concept mapping
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Think about a specific learning
experience you would have in any of
your classes. Using your concept map,
consider:
How do I recognize learning strategies
when I see them in this situation? What
would I see and hear?
Cinderella has my
friend “Ella’s” name
in it.
I wonder what happened
to the mice?
C..a...r..r..i..a..g..e
looks like the word
marriage.
I think the step sisters are
going to be mad at
Cinderella.
Content
Understanding what I am reading.
Strategies
Understanding how I understand
what I am reading.
Strategy proficiency
People who are “good” at comprehension and creation:
 Consider the text
 Question the author (or director or actor or…) and the
information
 Solve problems while engaging in the text
 Enjoy humour
 Savour interesting language (visual, written, spoken)
 Marvel over fascinating facts
 Wonder what may happen next
Strategy challenges
The elements learners bring to a text are:
 Word recognition knowledge
 Vocabulary knowledge
 Background knowledge
 Linguistic and textual knowledge
 Ability to infer meanings
 Ability to use strategies when comprehension or
composition is challenged
 Motivation and interest in engaging in text
This makes the teaching of learning strategies so
important!!
Emphasis
In the C and C goal area, the greatest
emphasis rests on the work students do
before producing a product (70%)
 In C and R, this emphasis shifts to the work
students do during their interaction with
texts (80%)
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Analysis and Application
Pairings for card sorts –
Find your partner by matching images
Filter: Comfort
Sort your strategy cards according to the following
question and record your responses in the chart
columns:
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Which strategies are you VERY COMFORTABLE
teaching, SOMEWHAT COMFORTABLE
teaching, and UNCOMFORTABLE teaching?
Discussion
Are there any strategies
we need to clarify in
terms of meaning and
intent?
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Filter: Frequency
Sort your strategy cards according to the following
question and record your responses in the chart
columns:
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Which strategies do you ask students to currently
use OFTEN, SOMETIMES and RARELY in your subject
areas?
Discussion
Why do you ask students to use
some strategies rarely?
What purpose does each
strategy hold in your subject
area? (Really discuss this as a
pair)
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Student samples
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With your partner, look at the student
examples you brought and consider:
How did the students do?
What areas were a concern? (refer to
rubrics if needed)
Which strategies could have led to a
better result?
Mini-lesson design
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Choose two strategies you would like to teach in the
context of any subject area you teach. Consider the
areas where students are struggling (student
samples).
Design mini-lessons in which you will explicitly teach
the strategies.
Remember the continuum and remember to explain
why and how the strategy will be helpful.
Continuum of learning
I do, you watch
 I do, you help
 You do, I help
 You do, I watch

Wilhelm, Baker & Dube Hackett, 2001
Introducing a new strategy
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Name the strategy to be learned.
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State the purpose of the strategy
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Explain when to use the strategy
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Link prior knowledge to the new strategy
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Demonstrate the use of the strategy
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Talk about errors to avoid when using the strategy
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Check the use of the strategy
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Adapted from Differentiated Professional Development by Linda Bowgren and Kathryn Sever, 2010.
Curriculum Corner
So where can I find
additional supports?
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Have we got good news for
you!
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Feedback tool
Involving students in metacognition
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Feedback tools can make the language of
strategies common.
They can help students to ensure they are using all
the strategies available to them.
They allow for goal setting, redemonstrations that
show real improvement and increased learning.
The clarify the path to success.
They can be used in the context of rubrics.
USC 8.4
Demonstrate
understanding of
the impact of
violence
Exceeding expectations
Meeting expectations
independently
You show an insightful
understanding of the impact
of violence, including the
contributing factors, the
impact on the whole person,
the supports available, and
the kinds of violence we may
face. You can analyze the
reasons why people may stay
in violent situations and
show an understanding of
the complexity of this topic.
You can show an
understanding of the
impact of violence,
including the
contributing factors,
the impact on the
whole person, the
supports available,
and the kinds of
violence we may face.
Mostly meeting
expectations with
assistance
With help, you can mostly
show an understanding of
some of the impacts of
violence, including the
contributing factors, the
impact on the whole
person, the supports
available, and the kinds of
violence we may face.
Continue to explore this
topic more deeply. Look
beyond the basic
information. How can you
get inside this topic?
Not yet meeting
expectations, even with
assistance
You are having trouble
showing an
understanding of the
impact of violence. What
are the ways violence can
occur? Who does it
happen to? How can
people get support? Why
do some people choose
not to get support? Go
back to your resources
and learn some more.
Feedback tool
Create a strategy
feedback tool for one of
your learning
experiences.
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Parking Lot
Reflection
Today was like a walk in the park
because...
 Today was like a trip to the zoo
because...
 Today was like space travel because...
 Today was like building a house
because...
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