The cognitive learning theory, according to Dr. Michael Orey in this week’s learning resources, involves the brain taking in information or stimuli, and putting that information into short term memory. If the knowledge of that information is deepened through instructional strategies, the information is then stored in long term memory and is able to be recalled easily (Laureate Education Inc., 2010). In reading about summarizing and note taking and cues, questions and advance organizers, I can see how the cognitive learning theory is relevant to these two strategies.
Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
The authors of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works discuss advance organizers in detail. They believe that an advance organizer must be well organized and visually appealing. It should also focus on the information that is important as opposed to information that is extra and not relevant to the understanding of the concept presented. One strategy that was presented was having students create a brochure before taking part in a field trip. Students would research the topic of the field trip and lay out the information in an organized yet appealing way. The students would then be able to share brochures and revisit their own creation before leaving for the field trip, thus reinforcing the knowledge they have already researched and put into print (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007).
While I love the idea of researching and creating, I found the idea of graphic organizers and brainstorming software to be more relevant to the functioning level of my students. Dr. Orey discusses the duel coding hypothesis which deducts that learners remember images better than information received in an auditory manner (Laureate Education Inc., 2010). With the use of a graphic organizer that includes visuals, a student will be able to make connections much better than listening to information without visuals. In my classroom I have used brainstorming software such as Kidspiration, and my students absolutely love it. We brainstorm as a class and I create a visual representation of that conversation as we go. Students get excited to see their ideas go up on the computer, and with the addition of clipart they see it as a fun project. I can then print out the concept map, and each student gets a copy of something they were a part of creating.
Summarizing and Note Taking
Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, state that one of the most important parts of summarizing and note taking is the ability to separate important information from details that do not support the main idea. A strategy that could be adapted for younger students as well as older students is the idea of rule based summarizing. Rule based summarizing gives the students four rules for extracting and restating important information from text or a discussion (pg.121). I appreciate that the authors made these rules age appropriate because summarizing is a skill that should be taught at a young age, yet it is a tough concept for my first graders to understand.
In my classroom, for the past couple months, we have been working on defining the important information in a story. Many times, when asked to summarize, my students retell the whole story leaving out no detail. It has been a difficult task to teach students to understand that some of the information is just for fun and not necessarily important to the outcome of the plot. The more we practice this skill, however, the better my students process important information and extra information. As my students are able to summarize the plot of a story, they seem to remember the plot that much better. In picking out the important pieces of the story, my students are able to break the information into manageable pieces and therefore have a better chance of storing the information in long term memory.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Program five. Cognitive learning theory [Webcast]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Denver, CO: McREL
Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI agree that summarizing is an extremely difficult concept for first graders to grasp. And as a result I too appreciate the effort the authors put forth to develop rules that even are young learners can understand. Making a chart of rules for children to refer to in addition to frequent practice will eventually lead to learners who fully understand how to summarize. I think our dedication to teaching this skill will better prepare students for the upper grades.
I also think that Note taking is an important skill that we should teach our young learners. According to Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski (2007) note taking is one of the most valuable study skills students can master. We both have used programs like Kidspiration for the brainstorming process. And recently, I used Webspiration to guide a small group of students in the note taking process. Although I used it to go back and revisit a lesson I felt was lacking visual support for my learners. I could see how printing the document and teaching students to use it as a studying tool would be extremely beneficial. Pitler et al. suggest that in order to maximize this skill an educator should teach students how to take notes using an assortment of formats. They suggest using multimedia such as PowerPoint, Wikis and Inspiration/Kidspiration. While wikis and PowerPoint may have to come later on in the year for our young learners I believe students will eventually be able to use these tools to support their learning. What are your thoughts on first graders learning how to take notes?
~Carissa
Resources
Pitler, H., Hubbel, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Denver, CO: McREL
I love that you mentioned Powerpoint. It's a hard thing to present to first graders at the beginning of the year, but later on I beleive it is an extremely beneficial tool! My mom is a school librarian and she executes a Powerpoint project with her primary students, that I think I will take some pointers from. Each child selects an animal and with the help of the teacher and library staff find out good places to get two or three interesting facts. They write those facts down and then begin a Powerpoint. They are taught to type in their facts, and find clipart to go with them. Though they only create one or two slides, it's a good introduction to Powerpoint and fact finding that I think I am going to try to implement by the end of the year.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is in kindergarten and the technology teacher has them use the slideshow feature of KidPix. They create a slide for each letter of the alphabet. They practice typing that letter on the page and then look through the stamp collection to find something that begins with that letter. Then they decorate the page with the stamp or stamps and spell the name of one of the animals or objects they stamped on the page. It is amazing what young children can do with technology.
ReplyDeleteAs for summarizing, I was intrigued by the AutoSummarize feature in Word. I actually was very skeptical of its validity and so I tested it out on a few of my previous application submissions and was impressed. In the process, I discovered a great lesson for my students. It will be a great discussion for them to debate whether or not the AutoSummarize feature truly identifies the main idea of a paragraph from our textbook or a paragraph they write themselves.
Do you think you could implement this somehow in first grade, perhaps with an expository paragraph about an invention or animal?
your strategies to creating long-term memories are very strong. I really enjoy how you asked your students to create a brochure of the trip before they take the trip. This would get the kids thinking about what they already know about the area in which they will be traveling. They will have some misconceptions about the topic which they will hopefully find out about and be able to correct them. They will also find many new items that they may not have known about. I think that the options are endless for this activity.
ReplyDeleteMatthew,
ReplyDeleteI had a difficult time find the autosummarize feature on Microsoft Word. Is this only in Word 2010? I have noticed that the majority of my high school students really struggle with the concept of taking meaningful notes and summarizing. Furthermore, I agree with you that summarizing and note-taking should be taught at an early age, but I do feel as students get older students should be exposed to different formats for note-taking.