T-Charts are a common graphic organizer to assist students in thinking about the differences between two things that are related in some way. At times they are used to show examples and non-examples of one thing. Visually, they typically look like an capital or lowercase t. 

   For students who struggle with language, whether because they are learning English or a student with a disability, T-charts can be enhanced by using pictures in addition to the traditional words. Here is a photo of a student-generated T-chart to show the differences between narrative writing and expository essay writing. Students worked with a partner. Each pair was given a paper with either a word or a picture. Pairs came up and placed the paper in the correct column and justified their decision.


  Research is clear that non-linguistic representations are very powerful. The next time you are using a graphic organizer, whether on chart paper or the computer,  consider adding simple drawings, printed pictures, or photos. 

  

    On a whirlwind tour of classrooms in Smyrna, Delaware this week, I saw a teacher use a simple strategy for engaging students. The teacher had 10  paper lunch bags, one for each small group to share. Inside the bags she had placed 26 cards, each with one letter of the alphabet. The lesson objective was to identify and discuss the impact of the narrative elements in a story. Students were listening to the teacher read, and reading along in their own books. Every so often, the teacher stopped, directed the students to pull a letter out of their “letter bag,” and then make a connection between the letter and a narrative element. For example, one group pulled an “O” and discussed how the setting of the story was “outdoors.” Another group pulled an “E” and wondered what the “exciting” climax would be.

      This is the type of strategy I love for 3 reasons:

1.     Highly engaging – it was multi-modality and had an element of unpredictability that students immediately loved
2.     Highly applicable – the same strategy could be used to encourage connections to any content discussion, as an activator, or even as a summarizing moment, K-12!
3.     Low prep – such a quick thing to put together

  

    Next, I provided them with graphic organizer puzzle pieces. I modeled how one might plan for a cause/effect paper, including key transition words on the bridge shapes. Because we used puzzle pieces, instead of a static piece of paper, students were able to brainstorm first and then move pieces around to cluster their ideas. As a final step, they will put them into a sequence before they write their paper.


    If you would like the graphic organizer puzzle shapes, email me at anne@ideasforeducators.com and I will happily send them to you! 

I love Wikki Stix for encouraging students to develop abstract, symbolic representations of concepts. At a recent workshop with 4th grade math teachers, I asked them to use Wikki Stix to represent the concept of skip counting. Here are a few photos of their products!


This photo shows three students playing double dutch, chanting "2, 4, 6, 8...." in their rhyme as they jump.

Encourage students to make connections between what they are learning in class and the larger world around them. 

Bring in a pile of newspapers or choose some online news sites. Give each student a section of the paper and ask them to find something, anything, in the paper that relates to the concept or vocabulary term you are learning. 

For example, in a middle school math lesson on polygons, students searched the paper for something related to polygons. After a few moments, students shared their findings with the whole class. Examples included: a picture of a cell phone, a basketball court, a corporate logo and a boxed ad. 

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to meet a dynamic co-teaching pair, Nicole Martin and Jenny Tuttle, at Franklin Middle School in Franklin, NH. They had previously attended a workshop I gave in which I shared an idea for using plastic picnic plates with transparency markers. They decided to tweak and twist my idea and came up with Instructional Twister.

As you can see from the photo they took four different colors of plates and laid them out on the floor, Twister style. Using transparency (water-based) markers, they wrote vocabulary from their recycling/ecology unit. The teacher would call out a definition and the student had to find the correct plate to place a hand or foot. If needed, the teacher would provide a hint by sharing the color. 

Jenny and Nicole said their middle school science students loved it! I love it because it is multi-sensory, has a game-like feel for students, and requires very little work on the part of teachers! Thanks for sharing your idea!

Do you have an idea you would be willing to share with teachers around the country? If so, please email me and add a photo if you have one. The more we collaborate, the better our instruction can become!