I used the exact concept cartoon (FACT#9, pg.71) this Wednesday. It was a perfect brain teaser prior to the Easy Cool Ice Box Activity. I didn't say a word as I projected the cartoon on the screen.... just to see natural interest level in a cartoon appearing out of nowhere. Most students locked in and read the whole thing without being asked. Natural curiosity and connecting cartoon reading with leisure time? Anyways, I was impressed with the division of opinions, gave me a good feel for misconceptions and pulse of student thinking. Time was limited, so I didn't have students discuss/defend their opinions... just encouraged them to reflect on their thinking during and after our lab. This was a great springboard activity into the lab (inquiry/which materials best insulate an ice cube from thermal energy). Very HIGH ease of use. I like to draw cartoons..... yet would be interested in checking out the cartoon concepts website for support/ideas.
I thought of you immediately when I saw the cartoons come up in the reading! How perfect for you ��. You must have been very excited to see this in the text.
Can we hire you to draw cartoons for the with grade so we can use this FACT too?
I actually heard a kid say before the lab, "Wish I had my jacket--I could just wrap the ice cube in my coat." Totally made me think of this. I wish we had more time to actually pass this out, have kids write a response, share them, do the lab, revise, etc. Kids (and us) would really see a shift in their thinking!
I think the "fact first questioning" is something that we will need to incorporate into classrooms frequently. The students really struggle getting away from the memorization of facts in order to move onto a deeper understanding of the content. This is a struggle that we have every year and I think the would be a good tool to help the students overcome that that problem.
I did the Chain Note last week with my kids. The question I posed at the top was "What is Energy?" I passed it around while they were working on their energy posters. I modeled it first with the What is Matter? one in the book and they seemed to get the concept for the most part. By the time it got to the end kids though, some kids were just writing things like "Squirrels have energy. Yay." Which I guess is fine if they say what energy and/or explain it. I would like to have had more time to share them back with the kids because I really just kept it and read it myself.
Not related to FACTs but OWP--we 7th grade teachers had the kids do ABCs for energy this week. We gave them a week to do it and I modified for my gifted kids by asking them to write a definition for each word. I told them I really wanted to see them working on it all week and adding words to it here and there. Most of them took it very seriously and I can tell they looked some up online (which they didn't seem to think was OK at first!) and hopefully learned something.
We have used this technique with just words, just pictures, or pictures and diagrams. I never thought about using it at the beginning of a unit. During my observation last week I created a concept map with the students with part of it as a review and a small portion with new material. It was great to hear the students saying they remember reading the half-life graphs in October.
I like the concept cartoon idea but I can only draw stick figures. I guess I could find cartoons and white out the speech bubbles.
I like the idea of doing concept maps before a unit. I think this would work for material that they should have a background
The problem with our curriculum is that most of it they don't have much background. Hopefully that will change in the next 4-5 years.
I am with you on not being able to draw! We can always enlist Tim to help!
I will admit, I am scared of concept mapping. I don't think that way AT ALL, and so I feel like I will have a hard time helping kids with it. I always want to try it, and start drawing a concept map of how I would want it to look, and then get frustrated and give up. I may ask you to look at some of yours to see if it helps me.
I thought about the commit and toss. But I am afraid that they would really try to target me with the toss. However, it is a good way to speak up without speaking up. If I ever have a class that is really timid, that might be the way to go.
I used the exact concept cartoon (FACT#9, pg.71) this Wednesday. It was a perfect brain teaser prior to the Easy Cool Ice Box Activity. I didn't say a word as I projected the cartoon on the screen.... just to see natural interest level in a cartoon appearing out of nowhere. Most students locked in and read the whole thing without being asked. Natural curiosity and connecting cartoon reading with leisure time? Anyways, I was impressed with the division of opinions, gave me a good feel for misconceptions and pulse of student thinking. Time was limited, so I didn't have students discuss/defend their opinions... just encouraged them to reflect on their thinking during and after our lab. This was a great springboard activity into the lab (inquiry/which materials best insulate an ice cube from thermal energy).
ReplyDeleteVery HIGH ease of use. I like to draw cartoons..... yet would be interested in checking out the cartoon concepts website for support/ideas.
I thought of you immediately when I saw the cartoons come up in the reading! How perfect for you ��. You must have been very excited to see this in the text.
DeleteCan we hire you to draw cartoons for the with grade so we can use this FACT too?
I actually heard a kid say before the lab, "Wish I had my jacket--I could just wrap the ice cube in my coat." Totally made me think of this. I wish we had more time to actually pass this out, have kids write a response, share them, do the lab, revise, etc. Kids (and us) would really see a shift in their thinking!
DeleteI think the "fact first questioning" is something that we will need to incorporate into classrooms frequently. The students really struggle getting away from the memorization of facts in order to move onto a deeper understanding of the content. This is a struggle that we have every year and I think the would be a good tool to help the students overcome that that problem.
ReplyDeleteGood point. You give them the fact, and then they explain it. This will be difficult for many kids.
DeleteI did the Chain Note last week with my kids. The question I posed at the top was "What is Energy?" I passed it around while they were working on their energy posters. I modeled it first with the What is Matter? one in the book and they seemed to get the concept for the most part. By the time it got to the end kids though, some kids were just writing things like "Squirrels have energy. Yay." Which I guess is fine if they say what energy and/or explain it. I would like to have had more time to share them back with the kids because I really just kept it and read it myself.
ReplyDeleteNot related to FACTs but OWP--we 7th grade teachers had the kids do ABCs for energy this week. We gave them a week to do it and I modified for my gifted kids by asking them to write a definition for each word. I told them I really wanted to see them working on it all week and adding words to it here and there. Most of them took it very seriously and I can tell they looked some up online (which they didn't seem to think was OK at first!) and hopefully learned something.
How did you not go off on them for putting some crap answer like that?
DeleteConcept card mapping
ReplyDeleteWe have used these technique during our plate tectonics unit as a review.
We have used this technique with just words, just pictures, or pictures and diagrams. I never thought about using it at the beginning of a unit. During my observation last week I created a concept map with the students with part of it as a review and a small portion with new material. It was great to hear the students saying they remember reading the half-life graphs in October.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept cartoon idea but I can only draw stick figures. I guess I could find cartoons and white out the speech bubbles.
I like the idea of doing concept maps before a unit. I think this would work for material that they should have a background
The problem with our curriculum is that most of it they don't have much background. Hopefully that will change in the next 4-5 years.
1 hour
I am with you on not being able to draw! We can always enlist Tim to help!
DeleteI will admit, I am scared of concept mapping. I don't think that way AT ALL, and so I feel like I will have a hard time helping kids with it. I always want to try it, and start drawing a concept map of how I would want it to look, and then get frustrated and give up. I may ask you to look at some of yours to see if it helps me.
I thought about the commit and toss. But I am afraid that they would really try to target me with the toss. However, it is a good way to speak up without speaking up. If I ever have a class that is really timid, that might be the way to go.
ReplyDelete