Love it - great idea. Am going to try it asap! Sally
On 2/19/12 4:29 PM, "donn...@optonline.net" <donn...@optonline.net> wrote: > > I'd like to share a strategy that has worked well for me in the past, > especially with nonfiction. Has anybody ever heard of an Information > Walk? In a nut shell what you do is chunk the text you are working with > into sections or by subtitles, and assign groups of 2-4 students to be > responsible for each passage. The students collaborate in creating a > poster with the information required by the teacher. Fpr example the > class I work in we recently did this with main idea. We had students > make a 4 square on their posters and one square was labeled Main Idea, > Supporting Details, Important vocabulary, and Visualization. > However, the fun starts when you hang them around your classroom or an > empty hallway. Each student is given 3-4 post it notes and a set of 4-5 > stickers or stars. As they roam around and learn from each other they > have to leave post it note comments, and stickers next to new and > interesting information that they acquired from one another. It really > fosters student to student learning, and they are so excited to get > their poster back to see what the others wrote. > > I have done this same activity for Determining Importance. Instead of 4 > squares a I have them make 2 columns one titled Important Information > and the other Interesting. You can adapt this to almost anything, and > even use this to activate schema for prior knowledge or as a post > reading activity. > And of course the big question should always be " Why is this > important?" ....thank you Renee for that! > > Earlier todayI tried to send my pics with this email but it bounced > back to me. If anybody would like to see a photo of the finished product > just email me personally and I will send it to you. > This activity has been very successful, and as you well know the > enthusiasm when you hand students post it notes and stickers is > overwhelming. Also, I love setting it up outside of the classroom....for > some reason the different environment adds to the excitement when > students go on their Information Walk! > > Donna > Intervention Gr3/4 > > > > On Sun, Feb 19, 2012 at 7:07 PM, Renee wrote: > >> I would say that determining importance is important in getting to the >> main idea, and establishing the main idea is helpful in determining >> importance. Big help, huh? >> >> Kids need to know both. Determining importance helps them remember and >> retell stories. But knowing the main idea is useful in recommending >> books to other people; it reduces things down to one or two sentences. >> >> Renee >> >> On Feb 19, 2012, at 12:03 PM, evelia cadet wrote: >> >>> Are determining importance and finding the author's main idea the >>> same thing? If they are not, are they related? How? HELP! >>> >>> Evelia >>> >>> Sent from my Windows Phone >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Palmer, Jennifer >>> Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 9:23 AM >>> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group >>> Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Determining Importance >>> >>> It's the testing culture Renee. We test low level and that drives >>> instruction. Think about main idea ... And it's relationship to what >>> we are talking about. Determining importance becomes a game to guess >>> what test authors feel is important... >>> >>> Sent from my iPhone >>> >>> On Feb 19, 2012, at 12:01 PM, "Renee" <phoenix...@sbcglobal.net> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> I wonder what would happen if we just asked a student, "Why is this >>>> important?" I'm thinking in a context, for example, of my own >>>> lesson, when the student asked how Washington's face got on Mount >>>> Rushmore. These were third graders. I can easily imagine a student >>>> ansswering, "it isn't" and I could also easily imagine a student >>>> giving a reason, maybe something like, "well, because he was so >>>> important that they put him on a mountain so how did that happen?" >>>> >>>> I think it's a good question: Why is this important? It has that >>>> lovely open-endedness that helps us learn what's going on the mind >>>> of a student. >>>> >>>> And by the way.... in my substituting travels to various >>>> classrooms, I am finding every year that it's harder and harder to >>>> get kids to answer open-ended questions with any kind of >>>> confidence. That frightens me. >>>> >>>> Renee >>>> >>>> On Feb 18, 2012, at 1:49 PM, Palmer, Jennifer wrote: >>>> >>>>> I agree Renee. What I often do is spend a little time talking >>>>> about our purpose for reading first and letting that guide the >>>>> discussion ... I think it was Kylie Beers that uses the example of >>>>> a text that is a description of a beautiful home. An interior >>>>> decorator, a real estate agent and a thief, all would find >>>>> different things in the text to be important because their >>>>> purposes for reading would be quite different. >>>> >>>> It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be >>>> entirely uneducated. >>>> ~ Alec Bourne >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Mosaic mailing list >>>> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >>>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >>>> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org >>>> >>>> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Mosaic mailing list >>> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >>> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org >>> >>> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Mosaic mailing list >>> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >>> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org >>> >>> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive >>> >> >> Public Education: >> It's a right, not a race. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
