Chapter 4 – cues, questions and advance

1. Chapter 4: Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works By: Sarah Martindale, Meagon Morris, Steven Allen and Larry Walker, Jr.

2. Setting the stage for Learning Teachers set the stage for learning by finding out what students already know, then connect new ideas to students' existing knowledge base. Using a variety of instructional strategies, teachers guide students from the known to the unknown, from familiar territory to new concepts. Cues, questions, and advance organizers are among the tools and strategies that teachers use to set the stage for learning.

3. Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers The instructional strategy cues, questions, and advance organizers focuses on enhancing students’ ability to retrieve, use, and organize information about a topic. Research has shown that cuing and questioning strategies account for 80% of all teacher-to-student interactions (Fillippone, 1998).

4. Cues Cues are explicit reminders or “hints” about what students are about to experience; providing information on what the students already know as well as some new information on the particular topic. Use Explicit Cues: Preview of what students are about to learn Activates prior knowledge Should be straightforward Teacher can elicit from students what they already know about a topic

5. Questions Questions perform the same function as cues by triggering students’ memories and helping them to access prior knowledge and also allow teachers to assess what the students do not already know. Questioning Strategy: Cues and questions should focus on what is important Use Bloom’s Taxonomy: “Higher level” questions produce deeper learning Increasing wait time increases depth of answers from students Questions are an effective tool even before a learning experience

6. Advance Organizers Advance organizers, including graphic organizers, are structured that teachers provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of the content they’ll encounter, particularly new content that is not well organized in its original format. In essence, advance organizers take the surprise out of what is to come, help students retrieve what they already know about the topic and help students focus their learning on new information; example: KWL Chart (known information, wanted information, learned information)

7. Expository Advance Organizers An expository advance organizer may simply provide students with the meaning and purpose of what is to follow. On the other hand an expository organizer may present students with more detailed information of what they will be learning especially the information that may be difficult to understand.

8. Narrative Advance Organizers A narrative advance organizer takes the form of a story. Here the teacher provides the essential ideas of a lesson or unit she plans to teach by telling a story that incorporates the ideas. Stories can make something distant or unfamiliar seem personal and familiar. Stories can stimulate students’ thinking and help them make personal connections to new information. Before beginning a unit about the experience of immigrant groups who moved to the United States, the teacher tells a story of his/her ancestors who immigrated from a different country.

9. Graphic Advance Organizers Graphic organizers also provide students with guidance on what the important information is in a lesson or unit. They visually represent information students are about to learn. They give students direction and also provide a visual representing of the important information. It is easy to see what is important and the relationships between the ideas and patterns in the information where they exist.

10. Skimming as a Graphic Organizer When a teacher asks students to skim learning materials, he/she provides them with the opportunity to preview the important information that will encounter later by focusing on and noting what stands out in headings, subheadings, and highlighted information. When beginning a new lesson, give students 60 seconds to skim an article (word problem) paying close attention to headings, subheadings, and the first sentence of each paragraph. This will help students become aware of what information they will be learning when they read the article more carefully.

11. Recommendations for Classroom P ractice Related to STEM, technology’s potential applications are readily evident in these strategies, as teachers and students can use a variety of technology tools to create well-organized, visually appealing organizers. Teachers can use a number of traditional tools (such as word processing and spreadsheet software) along with an array of online and multimedia resources to make effective use of cues, questions, and advance organizers. These technologies also assist teachers in quickly capturing student responses and organizing the responses into useful information.

12. Technologies of Practice Word Processing Applications - extremely versatile and well suited as tools to create advance organizers, whether expository, narrative, graphic or skimming (picture walk) organizers. Data Collection/Analysis Tools – spreadsheet software to create advanced organizers (tables, charts and graphs); function as a rubric. Organizing and Brainstorming Software – from explicit cuing, students can start to gather thoughts and use medium tools for placement.

13. Conclusion Before learning new information, teachers should help students retrieve what they already know about a topic or “activate prior knowledge” that can be connected to the content. Cues, questions, and advance organizers are three common ways that a classroom teacher helps students use what they already know about a topic to learn new information. Cues give hints of what is to be learned. Analytical and inferential questions asked of students before learning help fill-in the gaps and provide a focus for learning. Narrative advance organizers, expository advance organizers, skimming, and graphic organizers help students focus on important information by providing a mental set.