Glossary of Instructional Strategies

Glossary of Instructional Strategies

PlasmaLink Web Services provides the Glossary of Instructional Strategies as a resource for all educators.

Current number of strategies and methods: 880

Last updated: 12 February, 2004

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10 + 2 (Ten Plus Two): Direct instruction variation where the teacher presents for ten minutes, students share and reflect for two minutes, then the cycle repeats.

1st TRIP (First TRIP): A reading strategy consisting of: Title, Relationships, Intent of questions, Put in perspective.

3-2-1 (Three-Two-One): Writing activity where students write: 3 key terms from what they have just learned, 2 ideas they would like to learn more about, and 1 concept or skill they think they have mastered.

5 + 1 (Five Plus One): Direct instruction variation where the teacher presents for five minutes, students share and reflect for one minute, then the cycle repeats.

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A-B-C Summarize: A form of review in which each student in a class is assigned a different letter of the alphabet and they must select a word starting with that letter that is related to the topic being studied.

Absentee Management: In addition to recording and reporting student absences according to their particular school's rules, teachers can also employ strategies designed to encourage students to attend class regularly. One approach is to call parents during the evening as soon as the student misses a day of school. This call can also be used to allow the teacher to get to know the parents better and to collect information to be used in the preparation of make-up materials for the child.

Abstracting: A thinking skill that involves summarizing and converting real-world events or ideas into models.

Academic Dishonesty Clarification: Any activities through which the teacher explains to the student what constitutes academic dishonesty for a particular class. Clarification is necessary because different forms of collaboration are allowed in different classes and for different activities and different levels of "copying" from sources are allowed in different classes and at different grade levels.

Accelerated Reading

A commercially produced reading program that includes quizzes administered via computer and student selection of books.

Accelerated Reader

Acronym Memory Method

Example: ROY G. BIV = Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

Enhancing School Success with Mnemonic Strategies

Acting Out a Problem

Students can act out mathematical, scientific, or social problems to improve their comprehension.

Kinesthesis in Science: Where Red Rover Meets Quantum Mechanics

Action Projects

A project where ideas learned through research are tested and applied in a real- world situation.

ERIC as a Resource for the Teacher Researcher. ERIC Digest

Action Research - NCREL

Action Research and Standards of Practice for the Teaching Profession: Making Connections - Fran Squire

Action Research in Language Teacher Education - C. Thorne and W. Qiang

Activating Prior Knowledge: Helping learners connect to concepts about to be taught by using activities that relate to or determine the level of their existing knowledge.

Active Learning: Any approach that engages learners by matching instruction to the learner's interests, understanding, and developmental level. Often includes hands-on and authentic activities.

Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM)

Combination of individual and whole class approach which helps to integrate students with special needs into the classroom.

Adaptive Learning (ALEM)

Adaptive Scheduling: No one wants to take a test the morning after prom night or the big football game. When scheduling exams, ask students for suggestions about what would be good days and what days are already full with other activities. Some schools keep three month calendars in the office to let teachers know in advance when "big" activities are coming up and to allow adaptive scheduling of tests and activities.

Admit Slips/Exit Slips

Teacher helps in the synthesis of learning by reading anonymous student writings aloud to begin or end a class.

Admit/Exit Slips

Advance Organizer

David Ausubel's guidelines for an abstract introduction. Designed to activate prior knowledge and help students become more receptive to the learning that is to follow.

David Ausubel: Advance Organizers

Affinity

A brainstorming approach that encourages less verbal members of a group to participate. First, all members of the group write responses to the problem or question on separate cards, then the cards are silently grouped by each member while the others observe. After a discussion, the agreed upon arrangement is recorded as an outline or diagram.

Affinity

Affirmations

Technique for motivating students by helping them believe they can "do things."

Introduction to Affirmations

AGO (Aims, Goals, Objectives)

Edward de Bono's strategy to help students analyze the reasons behind actions.

AGO - behavior analysis form (PDF)

Agree/Disagree Matrix

A formal approach to discussing and researching issues. Students are polled for agreement or disagreement with a statement and their responses as a group are recorded in the matrix. Students research the topic, and again their responses are recorded. Finally, small groups to meet to to discuss the results and changes.

Agree/Disagree Matrix (PDF)

Agreement Circles: Used to explore opinions. As students stand in a circle, facing each other, the teacher makes a statement. Students who agree with the statement step into the circle.

Aims, Goals, Objectives (AGO)

Edward de Bono's strategy to help students analyze the reasons behind actions.

AGO - behavior analysis form (PDF)

Air Drawing: Students draw or motion in the air to demonstrate how they will carry out a procedure before they actually do so. Used in science labs, home economics, and classes where students use tools or musical instruments.

ALEM (Adaptive Learning Environments Model)

Combination of individual and whole class approach which helps to integrate students with special needs into the classroom.

Adaptive Learning (ALEM)

Alphabet Summary: Each student is assigned a different letter of the alphabet and asked to generate a word starting with that letter that is related to the topic being discussed. Students share their terms with the class.

Alphabetic Foods Teams: Brainstorm the names of 26 foods (apple, bread, etc.). A paper is passed within the group and individuals write appropriate names in alphabetical order. Can be adapted to other categories (authors, cities, etc.).

Alternative Assessments

Any of a variety of assessments that allow teachers to evaluate their students' understanding or performance. Examples include: performance assessments, portfolios, journals, and authentic assessments.

Alternative Assessment - NCREL

Alternative to Recitation: Similar to recitation, but the questions are generated by the students. Usually included : preparation (students read and generate questions), review, quiz, and evaluation.

Analogies

A thinking skill demonstrated by a student when he or she can give examples similar to, but not identical to a target example. For example, the Internet is analogous to the post office (because in both, multimedia information is delivered to specific addresses).

Analogy Graphic Organizer

Analyzing Perspectives: A thinking skill that involves considering a problem or topic from various perspectives. Related to "Point of View."

Anchored Instruction

A form of constructivism where learning is tied to the students' real world "anchors" (such as social or work experiences).

Anchored Instruction - John Bransford & the CTGV

Andragogy

Instructional theory by Malcolm S. Knowles dealing with the psychology and special needs of adult learners.

Malcolm Shepherd Knowles, 1913 - 1997

Andragogy (M. Knowles)

Anecdotes: A motivational technique to encourage creativity or empathy students. Anecdotes can be about the teacher's life or excerpted from biographies to help students make real-world connections.

Anticipation Guide

Checklist written by teacher to activate existing knowledge.

Examples of Anticipation Guides

Anticipation Guides

Application Cards: At the end of instruction, students write a real world application for the knowledge on a small card and submit the card to the teacher.

Application Teaching: A constructivist approach centered on activities which involve learning which proceeds from more basic ideas to more complex. The expected products generated by the students are determined by the teacher.

Applied Behavior Analysis

For purpose of modifying student or class behaviors

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied Imagination

Technique to stimulate creativity. Includes the use of questions as prompts to enable people to consider many, apparently unrelated, options.

Question Summary: "Applied Imagination" - Osborn

Apprenticeships

Students work in the workplace under the guidance of mentors or tutors who take responsibility for the professional development of their apprentices.

Youth Apprenticeship

Argument Paper

Type of writing which presents a thesis, then supports that thesis with evidence or proof.

Writing an Argument Paper

Argument Table

A table used to organize logical statements. Used in teaching logic in geometry and in expository writing classes.

Sample Argument Table - Jim Burke

Artifact Strategy

The teacher presents carefully selected objects (artifacts) to the students, poses a problem, and allows students to collect information about the object, then formulate answers to the presented problem.

Artefact Strategy

Assemblies: Meetings of large groups, typically an entire student body, for the purpose of describing future events, sharing values, and recognizing achievement.

Associations: Finding or making association between concepts.

Assumption Smashing

List assumptions, then eliminate one. What might happen? (for example, "All forms of transportation are now free." What is the effect on society?)

Creativity Techniques - Assumption Smashing

Attributes

Listing attributes of concepts.

Creativity Techniques - Attribute Listing

Audio Tapes: Educational audio tapes are most often used in language and music classes, but are also useful in social studies, physical education, and in building vocabulary in many fields.

Audio-visuals: Includes many categories of educational materials including: posters, paintings, slides, videos, films, audio tapes, and videotapes.

Authentic Instruction

Instruction which is meaningful to students. Focuses on higher order thinking, depth of knowledge, real-world applications, and social interactions.

Authentic Learning and Visual Art

Authentic Questions: Questions generated by learners in response to natural curiosity about the content. Questions spontaneously asked by learners without prompting by teachers.

Author's Chair: Students sit in a chair at the front of the class and present their work to the class.

Autobiographies

Students can write their life stories as a writing activity, or explore the lives of prominent people by reading published autobiographies.

Biographies and Autobiographies: Life Models in the Classroom

Awards

Any tangible object given to students to reward positive behavior or achievement. May include certificates, plaques, trophies, or ribbons.

Awards and Certificates

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Bag-It

Game using manipulatives to reinforce mnemonic approach.

Bag It: A rapid-fire game

Baggage Claim

Members in a new group are asked to write five interesting facts about themselves on a note card. For several minutes, people walk around the room, introducing themselves and sharing the facts on their cards. They then exchange cards (baggage) and move on to introduce themselves to others in the group. When time is up, the teacher or moderator collects all the cards and either returns them to their owners, or reads the facts and asks people to identify the owner of the card (baggage).

Baggage Claim - "first day" activity (PDF)

Basadur Simplex

A problem-solving strategy. Steps include: problem finding, fact finding, problem defining, idea finding, evaluating and selecting, action planning, gaining acceptance, taking action.

Mind Tools - Simplex - A Powerful Integrated Problem-Solving Process

Be Here Now

David B. Ellis's method for focusing student attention when it begins to wander from the task at hand.

Be Here Now!

Before, During, and After

A metacognitive approach to reading that guides students to explore text Before reading to activate prior knowledge, monitor comprehension During reading, and summarize the reading After reading.

Before, During, and After - NCREL

Behaviorist Models

Based on the philosophy that learning is a change in behavior. Student behaviors which are rewarded will be repeated. Behaviors which are punished or ignored will decrease. Model stresses the importance of the environment in learning and treats the student's mind as an unknowable "black box."

Behaviorism

Biopoems

Poems written by students about any specific person or object (character in book, living or inanimate objects). To summarize student knowledge of topic.

Biopoem handout (PDF)

Bloom's Taxonomy

An approach to ranking learning by the sophistication or depth of learning required or accomplished.

Activities at Various Cognitive Levels of Learning (LoL)

Bloom's Taxonomy

Applying Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy

Book Box: Boxes of books, kept in the classroom, to be explored by students at their own pace.

Book Club

Groups who meet to discuss books.

Book Clubs - Guides to Get You Started

Book Ends: Pairs of students discuss and make predictions before an activity, then meet after the activity to review and compare reactions.

Book Reports

A factual, written summary of a book.

Writing a Book Report

Writing a Book Report - First Steps

Books on Tape: Audio tapes of books that have been read aloud.

Brain Lateralization

Because different hemispheres of the brain perform different functions, individual's learning styles and preferences are related to the functioning and dominance of the different halves (hemispheres) of their brains. Instruction can be adapted to fit variation in individual's brain preferences.

Right Brain vs. Left Brain

Whole Brain Teaching

Right Brain/Left Brain

Left Brain vs. Right Brain -- Which Side Are You On? (lesson plan)

Brain-based Learning

An instructional model based on the idea that instructional activities are more effective if they occur in an environment compatible with the way the brain is designed to learn.

Brain-based Learning

Brain-Based (Compatible) Learning

Brainstorming

Group process where all ideas are accepted and recorded.

Mind Tools - Brainstorming

Brainstorming

BRAINSTORMING

Brochure: Students research a topic then create a brochure to explain the topic to others.

Buddy Program

Students are typically paired with a slightly older child for most of the year. The buddies meet once every week or two to work together on reading or spelling. The younger children benefit from individualized attention and the older children benefit by being able to act as a role model. Teaching recently learned skills reinforces and strengthens those skills, so the older children in such programs typically show as much improvement as their younger buddies.

Literacy program a boon for budding young readers

Reading Buddies

Buddy System: Pairing students during the first week of class to create pairs who are responsible to help each other get missing assignments due to absence, or watch out for each other during field trips.

Budget Preparation

Students research and prepare budgets to understand costs and values.

PET PROTECTION KIT for GRADES 4-5

Bulletin Boards

Boards or wall space where information or materials can be posted to inform, excite, guide, or motivate students.

Bulletin Board Ideas and Links

Appealing Bulletin Board Ideas for Secondary Students

Business

Teachers and programs can guide students in beginning a small business.

The Pie Shop - How to become an entrepreneur.

Start Your Own Business

Buzz Sessions: Small, informal group discussions.

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C-4 Yourself

Collaborative project strategy with four components: challenge, choice, collaboration, and creation.

TRANSFORMING GRAND CONVERSATIONS INTO GRAND CREATIONS (C-4 Yourself lesson plan)

C-SOOPS: Acronym is useful to help students remember which aspects of their writing they should check when editing. C-SOOPS stands for: Capitalization, Sentence structure, Organization, Overall format, Punctuation

CAF (Consider All Factors)

Edward de Bono's guided approach to decision-making that encourages individuals or groups to increase the number of factors or variables they consider before making a decision.

Consider All Factors - decision-making form (PDF)

CAI (Computer-Assisted Instruction)

Students learn at own pace with interactive computer programs.

Computer-Assisted Instruction

Calculator: For use in computation, or for demonstrating skill with the calculator.

Capitalization/Organization/Punctuation/Spelling (COPS): Acronym is useful to help students remember which aspects of their writing they should check when editing.

Capsule Vocabulary

A teaching strategy to explore a few vocabulary words related to a specific topic.

Capsule Vocabulary

Career Exploration

Activities, guides, and counseling to assist students make decisions about choosing their future professions, and how to get jobs in their chosen fields.

The Online Job Search...

Carolina Teams Improvement: Scoring method where students receive bonus points for exceeding their individual target and team bonus points if their team's combined score exceeded their team's target.

Carousel: Collaborative problem-solving using teams of three students.

Carousel Brainstorming

Subtopics or questions about a topic are posted throughout the room. Student groups brainstorm as they visit each of the subtopics.

Carousel Brainstorming

CAROUSEL BRAINSTORMING

Cartoons

Reading or creating cartoons.

Editorial Cartoons in the Classroom

Cartooning and Creativity

Cascade: Cooperative analysis of short, but critical, passages of text or graphics.

Case Studies

Case studies are real life problems that have arisen in the workplace that students must solve. Can also be used to explore interpersonal relationships.

Case Studies Method: Not Just for Business Schools Anymore

Case Method/Studies

Categorization: Thinking skill that allows students to sort objects or concepts into categories according to a variety of criteria.

Cause and Effect

A pattern showing the relationship between two actions or occurrences.

Teaching Cause and Effect

Cause-and-Effect Writing Challenges Students

Celebrations

Classroom and school-based celebrations provide an opportunity to teach students more about their own cultures and that of their classmates.

Multicultural Calendar 2003

Chant

Rhythmic text, repeated orally by individuals or a group to improve recall.

Songs for Teaching - Cheers, Chants, Raps, and Poetry

Character Analysis

Character analysis in education has two meanings. The most commonly used is to describe activities designed to help students understand characters in their fictional reading. The second meaning is analysis of the student's own character with regard to ethics and values.

Character Analysis: The Search for Self

Character Education

Activities designed to develop character, compassion, ethics, and responsibility in youth.

Character Education

The Character Education Partnership (CEP)

Character Education - Free Resources

Characterization

In critical thinking, characterization a form of analysis of critical features of an object or concept. In writing, characterization is the creation of believable fictional characters.

Characterization Unit

Cheat Notes: Summarization technique. Students prepare a single note card of information they believe will be on test. Students are allowed to bring these notes to test. As students gain confidence, withdraw use of cards during test.

Checklist

Checklists can be used to satisfy many objectives. They are useful as a memory tool or in encouraging creativity. They can also be used directly as assessments, or as a review tool in preparing for assessments.

Checklists - A Creativity Technique

Self-Assessment with Essay Question/Assignment (PDF)

Student Writing Checklist (elementary, printable)

Choice Theory

Glasser's updated Control Theory.

Choice Theory - AKA Control Theory

Choral Response: In response to a cue, all students in the group respond verbally at the same time. The response can be either to answer a question, or to repeat something the teacher has said. Often used in learning languages and in repeating of computational facts.

Chronological Sequencing: An instructional approach in which objectives are presented to learners in chronological order. Compare to: General-to-Specific, Known-to-Unknown, Part-to-Part-to-Part, Part-to-Whole, Part-to-Whole-to Part, Spiral, Step-by-Step, Topical, Unknown-to-Known, Whole-to-Part

Chunking

A memorization technique.

Five Simple Techniques to Improve Your Memory

Chunking

A writing technique.

Chunking Example

CIRC (Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition)

A cooperative approach to reading in which students work in pairs for practice and to prepare for assessments. Teacher-administered assessments are not taken until the student's teammates decide they are ready for the assessment.

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) - Reading

Circles of Knowledge

Graphic organizer that prompts students to write: 3 Facts I Know, 3 Questions I Want Answered, and Answers to My Questions.

Student Activity Sheet: Circles of Knowledge

Circles of Learning: Cooperative learning method devised by Roger and David Johnson which combines whole class learning plus heterogeneous small groups. An extension of Johnson and Johnson's "Learning Together." Comprises eighteen steps designed to guide teachers through the team building and managing process.

Clapping: Can be used as a signal BY the teacher or as a response FROM student to signal attention.

Clarifying Table

Graphic organizer to help students connect the current concept to related concepts or examples.

The Clarifying Table (completed)

Clarifying Table (blank)

Class Meetings

When students are allowed to contribute to the operation of the classroom through class meetings, they have the opportunity to learn responsibility and decision-making skills.

Class Meetings

Class Publication

Students collaborate to create a written work to be published. Formats might include: magazine, newspaper, brochure, map, newsletter, or yearbook.

Creating Class Publications

Classification

When objects or concepts are classified, they are grouped with other, similar things, and the group is given a label. As a thinking skill, classification requires the application of knowledge. When students invent their own classifications, they practice discovery and invention along with being able to apply prior knowledge about the objects or concepts being classified.

Animal Classification Lesson Plan

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES -Grade 6 - Classification

Module 2. Classifying

Principles for Learning Concept Classification

Clean Up Song

To signal to students that it is time to begin cleaning up for the day, start a song for them to listen to while they clean up.

Clean Up Song

Closure

Any activities which help students summarize key points learned and how the new knowledge relates to the objectives to be learned.

Anticipatory Set and Closure

Typical Teaching Outline

Cloze Procedure

An activity created by the teacher to give students practice with language usage. The teacher selects a passage of text, marks out some of the words, then rewrites the text with blank lines where the marked out words were. The result is a "fill in the blank" that should be enjoyable for the student while at the same time giving the teacher information about the student's language skills.

CLOZE Procedure -- Example (Step 1)

Clubs

4-H, Chess, Science, etc.

National 4-H Headquarters

Official Web Site of Girl Scouts of the USA (Official Web Site of Girl Scouts of the USA)

Boy Scouts of America (BSA) National Council - Official Site

After-School Science Clubs

Exeter Chess Club Coaching Page

Clue

Group problem-solving with each team member given a different clue.

Animal Clue Game

Clustering

Graphic way of organizing concepts proposed during brainstorming. Similar to concept-mapping.

Clustering (graphic organizer)

Co-op Co-op

Cooperative learning method where teams work to prepare and present a topic to the whole class. Emphasis is on student selection (of topics, partners, division of labor, methods of presentation, etc.).

An Introduction to Collaborative Learning (ten steps of Co-op Co-op in the middle of the article)

Coaching Model

A model of instruction where the teacher is a guide and collaborator in the student's learning, not the sole director.

Cognitive Coaching

Modeling / Coaching / Scaffolding

Cognitive Apprenticeship

Cognitive apprenticeships take many forms, but the two key components are social interactions to allow students to work on problems that may be too difficult for them to handle individually, and a focus on real world problems using real-world tools.

Cognitive Apprenticeship

A Cognitive Apprenticeship Approach to Literacy (PDF)

Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger proposed this model to explain why people change their beliefs when two or more of their beliefs are in conflict with each other.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Cognitive Learning Models: Based on the philosophy that learning occurs when there are changes in mental structure. Learning occurs as the result of interactions between the learner and the environment.

Cognitive Map

The psychological definition of a cognitive map is the framework in the human mind through which we interpret objects, events, and concepts. The phrase "cognitive mapping" has also been used to describe concept maps.

COGNITIVE MAPPING

Collaborative Learning

Any kind of work that involves two or more students.

Differences Between Collaborative and Cooperative Learning

Collages

Students gather images (clippings from magazines, photographs, or their own drawings) and organize them to illustrate a concept or point of view.

Collages

Collections: Could be after class student project or could be classification of classroom collection (books or plants, for example).

Color Coding: Labeling learning materials or concepts with color tags to assist identifying objects or ideas that belong together.

Comic Books

Useful for engaging visual learners and encouraging a wide variety of students to become involved in discussions of literature and the wide range of social, scientific, and historical topics covered in comic books.

How Comic Books Can Change the Way Our Students See Literature: One Teacher's Perspective (PDF)

Committees: Volunteering to work on a student committee can teach students about values, decision making, interpersonal skills, and help them make important connections to the community at large.

Community Work

Student as volunteer. Students gain self-esteem and valuable experience through volunteer work.

Service Learning

Comparing

To observe or consider the characteristics of objects or concepts, looking for both similarities and differences.

Comparing and Contrasting (PDF)

Module 1. Comparing

Comparison Matrix

A graphic organizer that can assist students in gathering information and comparing objects or concepts.

Comparison Matrix

Competitions

Competitions can be useful in motivating some student to learn. Team competitions especially effective in the classroom if they are tied to a collaborative practice or review activity before the competition.

Organizing Quiz Team Competitions

Completed Work Chart: Make and publicly post a chart that lists all assignments along the top and students' names vertically along the left.. When a student finishes an assignment, the teacher marks out the box for that assignment on the chart so students can quickly see if they are missing any work. In this approach, grades are never publicly posted, and if work is so late it will no longer be accepted, the box is also marked out. The chart is used only as a reporting mechanism to let students know about work they need to do that will still be accepted for credit.

Component Display Theory

David Merrill's highly structured approach to designing instruction.

Component Display Theory

Compositions

A written work by a student to demonstrate some literary or linguistic knowledge. Also, any type of music written by a student.

Teaching Composition: A Position Statement

Teaching Composition

Examples of Student Compositions and Online Mentoring Discussions (Music)

Computer Games

Educational computer games can be purchased for students to use to review or explore concepts. Student can also design and create educational computer games to share with fellow students.

Constructivism at Work through Play (Kids Designing Computer Games)

Computer Simulations

Simulating events or situations on a computer enables students to experiment with concepts or materials quickly and safely.

The use of computer simulations in General Chemistry

Computer Software Design

Students design and create computer programs to learn more about writing, syntax, logic, design, and technology.

RoboLab (Learn Programming Through the Use of Robotics)

Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI)

Students learn at own pace with interactive computer programs.

Computer-Assisted Instruction

Computing

Finding solutions to problems involving numbers by carrying out the indicated operations.

Computation and Picture Books

Concentration: Pairs of cards are created (name of concept on one, description on other for instance). Students take turns. On each turn student chooses 2 cards from face- down arrangement. Students keep pairs which they correctly identify as matching.

Concept Attainment Model

Inductive model of instruction where student are presented with examples and non-examples of a concept. Students generate hypotheses and attempt to describe (and sometimes name) the concept.

Concept Attainment

Concept Cards

Cards created by students that link terms to the use of that term in context.

Instructional Reading Strategy: Concept Cards

Concept Circles

Challenge students to either name the concept or complete the missing section(s) of the circle. Concept = colors

CONCEPT CIRCLES

Concept Development Model: Inductive teaching model. Concepts are taught using the sequence: list items, group items, label, regroup, synthesize, and evaluate (can students generate and group on their own?)

Concept Folders: Key concepts for course are each assigned a folder. Examples or illustrations of the concepts are kept in the folder for students to explore.

Concept Formation

The process by which we learn to identify concepts and which instances are examples of that concept.

Concept Formation

Concept Map

Any of several forms of graphical organizers which allows learners to perceive relationships between concepts through diagramming keywords representing those concepts. Originally developed by Joseph Novak in the 1960's.

Concept Mapping as a Mindtool for Critical Thinking (PDF)

The Projectile Launch Project - Concept Maps Assignment

An Introduction to Concept Mapping for Planning and Evaluation

Concept Matrix

A two-dimensional approach to organizing information to solve problems or make connections between concepts.

The Concept Matrix

Concept of Definition

Students construct organizing maps to explore meanings or definitions of words.

Concept of Definition Map

Conceptual Change Model: Constructivist approach which involves identifying and clarifying student misconceptions, then using an activity to challenge these misconceptions.

Conclusions: A logical process in which students analyze facts and generate new facts based on what is known. For example: It is a dry, sunny day. The neighbors are watering their yard using a sprinkler. Our dog is leaving wet footprints on the porch. Conclusion, our dog has been in our neighbor's yard, running through the sprinkler.

Conditions of Learning

Robert Gagne's theory explaining the different types of learning and proposing that they require different types of teaching.

Conditions of Learning

Conferences

Conferences are face-to-face discussions. Conferences may occur between teachers and students to enable teachers to give individual guidance, or they may be meetings between parents, teachers, and (sometimes) the student for the purpose of discussing the student's progress and issues relating to how to improve the educational experience for the student.

Student-Led Conferences: A Growing Trend

Portfolio Practice (student-teacher conferences)

Parent-Teacher Conferences: Five Important Questions

Conflict Chart

Conflict charts are used in three areas of education. Most commonly, they are used as a graphical tool to help students understand the motivation of real people or fictional characters, but they are also used as a tool to insure that students are scheduled for exactly one class per period with no "conflicts," and finally, they are used as a social and behavior management tool to analyze interpersonal conflicts.

CONFLICT CHART - WAY TO UNDERSTANDING THEME

SHORT STORIES : THE PUZZLE PIECES OF LIFE - Appendix B

Conflict Mediation

Mediation involves discussions in the presence of a mediator who is trained to help individuals find solutions to their differences.

Conflict Mediation

Connectionism

Edward L. Thorndike's behavioral theory that learning occurs as the result of connections made in the mind between stimuli and responses.

Edward L. Thorndike

Connectionism

Consequence and Sequel

Edward de Bono's guided approach that allows groups to explore both short term and long term effects of actions.

Consequence and Sequel - analysis form (PDF)

Consider All Factors (CAF)

Edward de Bono's guided approach to decision-making that encourages individuals or groups to increase the number of factors or variables they consider before making a decision.

Consider All Factors - decision-making form (PDF)

Construction Spiral: A three-step process: individuals record their own thoughts, then small groups share ideas, finally, the whole group's ideas are written on the board. Corrections during the recording should be by the group and with no judgments by the teacher. If refinement of understanding is needed, a new question is posed.

Constructions

Geometric constructions involve the copying or manipulation of geometric shapes using only a straightedge and a compass.

Constructions

Defining Terms - Geometry

Constructivist Models

Based on the philosophy that knowledge cannot be transferred from the teacher to the student but must be constructed by each individual. Connections must be made between the student's existing conceptual network and the new material to be learned.

Characteristics of Constructivist Learning & Teaching - Elizabeth Murphy

Constructivist Learning Model - Yager

Constructivism

Context Clues

When students encounter unfamiliar words, those words usually exist in an environment that includes many clues to word meanings. Meaning can be deduced or guessed by analyzing the context (the environment around the word).

Context Clues

Chapter 3: Guessing Word Meaning by Using Context Clues

Contextual Model: Based on philosophy that culture and other environmental contexts must also be considered in teaching child.

Continuum

Students take keywords and arrange them to form a continuum based on a variety of criteria. For example, "beaver, rattlesnake, deer, plankton" would be arranged as "rattlesnake, deer, beaver, plankton" if asked to arrange according to their preference for water, and "plankton, rattlesnake, beaver, deer" if asked to arrange according to size.

Continuum (graphic organizer)

Contracts

Contracts are formal agreements between individuals or entities. For a contract to be effective or valid, usually some action is performed by one party of the contract and in exchange the party performing the action gets something of value in return. In a school setting, the student typically performs the "service" of behaving in a desirable way, and if successful, the student is rewarded.

Contracts

Contrasting

Exploring or describing differences between objects or concepts.

Comparing and Contrasting (PDF)

Control Theory

Glasser's theory explaining that, in an attempt to satisfy basic needs for survival, belonging, power, freedom, and fun, people will act to control their behavior to satisfy those needs. Control theory is related to Choice Theory.

Control Theory

Control Theory; A New Explanation of How We Control Our Lives

Cooking

Hands-on activity that helps students make connections between the math, reading, and science they do in the classroom and a real-world application that most people do daily.

Cooking in the Classroom (PDF)

Cooperative Conflict Resolution

Cooperative approach to learning about how to prepare arguments and discuss arguments.

Cooperative Conflict Resolution

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC)

Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) - Reading

Cooperative Learning Model

In this approach, students share knowledge with other students through a variety of structures. Cooperative Learning, as a phrase, originated in the 1960's with the work of David and Roger Johnson. True cooperative learning includes five essential elements: positive interdependence, face-to-face interactions, individual accountability, some structured activity, and team-building (group processing) skills. Similar to the "Social Learning Model."

What Is the Collaborative Classroom?

Cooperative Learning - Huitt

Cooperative Learning Strategies and Children. ERIC Digest.

Cooperative Learning - Houghton Mifflin

What is collaborative learning?

Cooperative Review

Groups take turns asking other groups questions. Often conducted as a game where points are awarded.

Some Examples of Methods for Cooperative Learning in the Classroom

COPS (Capitalization/Organization/Punctuation/Spelling): Acronym is useful to help students remember which aspects of their writing they should check when editing.

Copying: Reproducing drawings, text, motions, etc. Used to encourage students to look more carefully at something.

Corners: Students are asked to select (by standing next to their choice)from four options which are posted in the corners of the room. Students then defend choices and listen to others' choices.

Creative Thinking Reading: Teams of students work together to solve assigned problems using text provided by the teacher.

Criterion-referenced Assessment

Performance is compared to a set standard or objective. It is possible for all students to earn the highest possible grade if all meet the established criteria for that grade. (compare to Norm- referenced assessment)

Criterion-Referenced

Critical Instances

Critical thinking is a process whereby the learner considers a variety of possibilities, then chooses from those possibilities using unbiased, rational thinking.

Resources for Teaching Critical Thinking

Strategies for Teaching Critical Thinking. ERIC/AE Digest.

What is Critical Thinking?

Criticizing

A thinking skill involving judging or analyzing.

Critical Thinking - Section 3 - Criticizing an Argument

Cross-Age Tutoring

Older students act as tutors to younger students. Often carried out in the form of a "buddy" program where all the fourth graders in a school may have a first grade "reading buddy" with whom they work.

The Literacy Club: A Cross-age Tutoring/Paired Reading Project

Cross-Checking: Using multiple sources of information.

Cross-Pollination: Have students share ideas during investigation of problems.

CROWN: A closure technique that encourages students to reflect on the completed lesson. CROWN = Communicate what you learned. Reaction. Offer one sentence that sums up what the whole lesson was about. Where are some different places you could use this? Note how well we did today.

Cubing

A six-part technique to explore different aspects of a topic. The six parts include: describing, comparing, associating, analyzing, applying, arguing.

Cubing

WRITING APPROACHES OR STRATEGIES - Cubing

Cueing: Various means used by the teacher to let students know that particular material is important.

Cumulative Cases

A structured preschool program based on a series of thematic units

Curiosity Corner

Cumulative Final: A cumulative final exam is an assessment for which the students are expected to know all concepts taught during the course. Some instructors have a policy of passing any student who can pass a cumulative final exam. The advantage to this approach is that students have a chance to pass up until the very end of the course. The disadvantage to this is some students will not do classwork because they can survive the course by taking a single test.

Current Events

Discussion or student work centered on events in recent news.

Why Teach Current Events?

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Daily Message

Early in the day, the Principal or Vice Principal start the day by addressing students. These short speeches are typically on such themes as "respect," handling peer pressure," or "being kind to others."

GHS Students Get a Daily Message via Project Wisdom

Daily Outline: By posting a written overview of what will be done during the day, students can be prepared in advance. These overviews typically include a list of any work that should be done by the beginning of class, a list of work that will be done during the day, a list of work to be done as homework, and a brief description of the concepts to be covered and the resources needed (books, handouts, tools, and so on).

Dance

Dance can be used to teach coordination and discipline. Dancing in groups encourages students to become more observant and strengthens social bonds. Memorization of lengthy dance routines and the music associated with them stimulates parts of the brain involved with creativity.

When is the right time to enroll your child in (dance) class?

Data Analysis

Having students gather and analyze data can connect them to real-world problems and also improve their critical thinking skills.

Collecting and Analyzing Data - The Soda Survey

Data Gathering

Students collect information in an organized way for use in statistical analysis, scientific research, or as support for arguments in social studies or other fields.

How to Collect Data

Student Generated Data

Days

Special days during the school year when all activities center around a theme.

Pi Day

LOWER SCHOOL GRANDPARENTS' DAY

Ten Great Activities for Grandparents Day

Debates

Debates are arguments carried out according to agreed upon rules and used in the classroom to engage students and help them make connections to the curriculum.

Rules of Engagement for Classroom Debates (PDF)

Great Debates (PDF)

Debriefing

A form of reflection immediately following an activity.

DEBRIEFING SIMULATIONS ...a generic guide to uncovering the dynamics of a system.

Decision Making

Helping students learn to make better decisions improves their problem-solving skills and helps students be more effective in confronting choices outside the classroom.

Decision Theory and Decision Trees

Improving Students' Decision Making Skills

Decision-Making Matrix: Method for assigning numerical values to criteria, and the extent to which alternatives satisfy criteria.

Decision-Making Tasks: A Meaningful Use Task where students identify criteria and alternatives then reevaluate the alternatives to make a decision.

Deduction

Starting with general ideas and moving to more specific ideas within a topic. (compare to induction)

Deductive and Inductive Thinking

Deductive Inquiry

A form of inquiry with four basic components: presentation of a generalization, discussion of core elements of the generalization, student exploration of the elements, student generation of relevant examples of the generalized concept.

Deductive Inquiry

DEFENDS

A writing strategy by Edwin S. Ellis.

DEFENDS: A Writing Strategy

Defining

Any activity that requires students or teachers to state the meaning of a word or phrase.

Making Definitions in the Classroom

Deliberations

Ask students to support one point of view on topic, then take and support opposing point of view. Then write position paper.

Deliberations - An Academic Challenge Teaching Strategy

Demonstrations

An activity to show students how things work or how they happen. Demonstrations are often used in science classes.

Chemical Demonstrations in the Classroom

Descriptions

Telling about something. When done by teachers, descriptions are usually used to introduce new information. When done by students, descriptions are used to demonstrate knowledge of a concept.

Descriptive Techniques for Writing

Design Contests

In addition to design contests within the classroom, many corporations sponsor design contests to encourage creativity and innovation at many levels of education.

Student Contests and Competitions

Designing

A form of planning.

Classroom Compass - Design in the Classroom

Devil's Advocate: To initiate or stimulate a discussion or debate, the teacher proposes or defends an extreme or unpopular viewpoint. For example, in a class on environmental issues the teacher might suggest that the nearby wetlands be drained because of the many mosquitos that breed there.

Dialectical Journal

A two column note-taking or journal method that features quotes or ideas from the text in one column, and ideas from the reader in the other column.

Dialectical Journal

Dialectical Journals

Didactic Instruction: Teacher-centered instruction in which the teacher tells the student what to think about a topic. Used for the delivery of factual (not debated) information.

Didactic Questions: Questions which tend to have a single answer and allow students to demonstrate lower order thinking like recall.

Dioramas: A three-dimensional scene, usually created by the students, and acting as a miniature model.

Direct Instruction

Teacher-centered instruction which includes lecture, presentation, and recitation.

Summary of Principles of Direct Instruction - Huitt

Direct-Interactive Teaching Model

A direct teaching approach that typically follows a cycle that includes: checking previous work, presenting new material, student practice with new material, feedback from the teacher, independent practice, regular reviews.

7.3 Direct-Interactive Teaching Model

Directed Paraphrasing: Students are asked to summarize or explain a concept or theory to a specific (imaginary) audience. For example, a medical student might be asked to explain what neurotransmitters are, and phrase the explanation so it would make sense to a hospitalized patient.

Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA): Throughout reading, questions are used to activate students' existing knowledge. Students are encouraged to make predictions.

Directions

Instructions given by the teacher to the students describing what the students should be doing.

On Giving Good Directions

Directive Model: A teacher centered model that focuses on student activities being guided by teacher directions and direct transmission of information.

Discovery Teaching: A constructivist approach. Students begin learning with an activity designed to lead them to particular concepts or conclusions. Students acquire basic and advanced knowledge in random order.

Discussion

Classroom discussions typically begin with the teacher describing the goal or purpose of the discussion. Sometimes discussions may be initiated by the posing of an open-ended question. Teachers can employ a number of techniques to encourage students to participate in discussions, including calling on specific people, or assigning students to be an "expert" or leader for various parts of the discussion. Many cooperative activities include a "small group" discussion as teams work together.

Class Discussions - NCREL

Discussion Groups: In the classroom, a discussion group is formed when a discussion is carried out by only a part of the class. Outside the classroom, discussion groups are composed of individuals with similar interests. These groups meet regularly to discuss a variety of literary or social issues.

Discussion Web

A form of discussion that starts out with individual students formulating a response, then each student pairs with one other, then the pairs pair to form groups of four. Finally, when the groups have refined their answers, they share their thoughts with the whole class.

Webs (The Discussion Kind!) in the Classroom

Dissections

To cut apart and analyze an animal. plant, device, or idea.

Make a Frog Sandwich - Bowersox

DO IT

Define problem, Open self to new ideas, Identify best solution, Transform idea to action.

DO IT - Olson

Double Cell Diagram

A form of graphic organizer linking two items.

Double Cell Diagram

Drafts

Students complete writing or creative work in stages to facilitate progress from capturing ideas quickly to the use of more detailed revision and editing skills. (See Quintilion Progression)

Writing Drafts

Reviewing a Draft

Dramatizing

Students act out roles from stories or historical events.

Can we act it out?

Drawing: Students can illustrate text they have read, draw diagrams of problems they have heard, or simply draw to stimulate creativity.

Drill

Practice by repetition. Often used to reinforce grammar and basic math skills.

Online drill in math, language, social studies, and chemistry

Driting

Drawing and writing.

About "Driting"

Drive Reduction

A theory of learning developed by Clark Hull which describes the drives (needs) individuals have and that learning occurs because individuals strive to reduce their drives (satisfy their needs).

Drive Reduction Theory

DRTA (Directed Reading Thinking Activity): Throughout reading, questions are used to activate students' existing knowledge. Students are encouraged to make predictions.

Dyads

A group consisting of two students.

COOPERATIVE METHODS: PEER LEARNING AND TEACHING

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

E-mail

A technique to connect students to people around the world to collaborate on projects or distance learning. E-mail can also be used to provide a direct communication link between the teacher and the students' parents.

What is an e-mail project?

Elaboration

A thinking skill that involves adding to, improving, or completing an idea or process.

Elaboration

ELVES: Technique to increase creativity: be at Ease, make Lists, Vary the lists, Eureka, Select.

Empiricism

John Locke's philosophical assertion that all knowledge is based on experience.

John Locke

Envelope, Please

An activating strategy used prior to beginning a new topic.

Envelope, Please

Error Analysis: Error analysis takes two basic forms in the classroom. In the most common form, teachers analyze the errors students make (in mathematical computation, grammar, language, literature interpretation, and so on) and use that analysis to guide further instruction. In science classroom, some teachers teach students to analyze experimental errors to improve critical thinking skills.

Essays: A short, written work, centered on a single subject.

Estimating

Proposing an approximate answer to a problem or question.

1989 NCTM Standards: Grades K-4 Standard 5: Estimation

Estimation Lineup: An activity designed to activate students' prior knowledge before new material is presented.

Evaluating: A critical thinking skill involving judging to place a value on ideas or work.

Exaggeration: Used to help identify key attributes when employed by the teacher in a discussion. Can also be used in writing or drawing projects to produce unique and memorable projects.

Examples

Ideas or objects drawn from a group of ideas or objects to represent core features of the group from which they are drawn.

Exemplification and the Example

Expectation Outline

A pre-reading activity in which students skim the assigned reading, then write down some questions they expect to be able to answer, or key concepts they expect to learn about, as the result of completing the reading.

Expectation Outline (online example)

Experiential Learning

Carl Roger's theory that there are two types of learning: cognitive (memorizing or studying simply because work is assigned) and experiential (learning to satisfy the needs and wants of the learner). Studying a book with commonly used phrases in Norwegian is experiential if you are planning a trip to Norway, but the same activity is cognitive if you are taking a language class and the teacher assigns reading from the book.

Carl Rogers

Experiential Learning

Experimental Inquiry

As a Meaningful Use Task it includes observation, analysis, prediction, testing, and re-evaluation. As a variation of inquiry, experimental inquiry involves generating and testing hypotheses to explain phenomena.

EXPERIMENTAL INQUIRY

Experiments

Tests to demonstrate or discover something.

Experiments

Skill Handbook : Practicing Scientific Processes

Explanation

An explanation answers a question. Good explanations take into account the prior knowledge of the questioner and the "intent" of the question. Explanations are given by both teachers and students in the classroom. Students are often asked to explain a concepts as part of assessing their knowledge. Teachers are asked for explanations during all phases of instruction.

Explanation

Extended STaR

Expanded version of Story Telling and Retelling - A Success For All approach.

EXTENDED STaR: Kitaq Goes Ice Fishing - by Margaret Nicolai (example of approach)

Extension Teaching

Extension teaching takes two forms. The most common form is outreach programs where educators travel to the student's location to provide instruction on topics of professional or personal interest. Agricultural extension experts who travel from their home college to provide onsite support to farmers are the classic example of this approach. Another form is a constructivist method related to application teaching. It is centered on activities which proceed from more basic ideas to more complex. The expected products generated by the students are more variable than in application teaching.

Ten Guiding Values of Extension Education

Welcome to the Journal of Extension

Extrapolation of Data: Given a set of data, students are asked to predict what would occur outside the range of that data.

# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Facilitative Questioning

To "facilitate" means to help another person accomplish something. Facilitative questioning is an approach whereby a teacher or counselor poses open-ended questions to the student to allow them to explore ideas that may be complex or emotionally difficult. In writing classes, the purpose of facilitative questions is to allow the teacher to give assistance to the students without actually contributing new ideas to the work being written. In counseling, the purpose of facilitative questions is to allow the student to generate their own solutions to problems or tasks without being unduly influenced by the counselor's ideas. Facilitative questioning is used most often in situations where there is no right answer but the solution is dependent on what is best for the individual.

Facilitative Language (to guide student writers)

Adult Bullying: Examples of useful facilitative questions

Fairs

A theme-based event that includes exhibitions of products or skills, along with some "fun" aspects. The tone can range from purely academic (as is typical of science fairs) to carnival-like (as is typical of culture fairs). Fairs provide an opportunity for students to perform and to learn about long-range planning of events, in addition to the underlying subject content that forms the theme of the fair.

Science Fairs homepage

Science Fair Central from Discovery.com

Culture Fair Multimedia Project

ScienzFair (TM) Project Ideas

Feedback: Any means by which a teacher informs a student about the quality or correctness of the student's products or actions. Different forms of feedback include formal assessments (Example: a written grade on a student project), oral and written guidance (Example: "Good, but needs more work on the Conclusion"), and casual comments or nonverbal signals (Example: a nod indicating correctness or agreement).

FFOE

A creativity technique using the acronym FFOE: Fluency (many ideas), Flexibility (variety of ideas), Originality (unique ideas), and Elaboration (fully developed ideas).

Brainstorming Strategies

Field Guides

A useful student project is to guide students in the creation of a field guide. Field guides typically provide information that would be needed outside the classroom in the study of such diverse fields as plants, animals, architecture, cultures, or business practices. Normal components of a field guide include: common names, formal names, definitions, graphic illustrations, explanations of the range (where you expect to find things), relevant dates, key facts, warnings, and "interesting notes."

Create a Field Guide of Local Plants

A Field Guide to Common Texas Insects

Field Observations

Students leave the classroom to observe events, organisms, and objects in their natural surroundings. Field observation usually includes the collection and recording of data in a field journal.

Using A Field Journal

Field Trips

A field trips is any activity that occurs outside the classroom for the purpose of providing hands-on experience with objects or people that only occur in certain places. Target locations for field trips can include museums, zoos, places of business, farms, nearby colleges, theaters, historical monuments or buildings, forests, wetlands, nature parks, or the grounds of the school itself.

Field Trip to School

Going To A Museum? A Teacher's Guide.

Field Trips

Films

Motion pictures can be used to enhance learning of literature, language, or historical events.

Film in the Classroom

Filmstrips: A form of presentation, in which a series of still images are projected onto a screen. To accompany the images, usually an audio tape is played that includes cues to advance the film to synchronize the image and audio portions. This format is still used in a few places, but has largely been superseded by videotapes and interactive web pages.

Find Someone Who

A variation of the Human Scavenger Hunt. Usually this activity is used to encourage students to seek out the students in class whop know the answers to specific content questions. This works most effectively if each student is an "expert" on a different topic or sub-topic than the others in the class.

FIND SOMEONE WHO

Find Someone Who...

Warm-Up: "Find Someone Who"

Find the Fib

Team activity where groups of students write two true statements and one false statement, then challenge other teams (or the teacher) to "Find the Fib."

Find the Fib - team activity

Find the Rule: Students are given sets of examples that demonstrate a single rule (like "i before e except after c.") and are asked to find and state the rule.

Finding and Investigating Problems: One key element of scientific research is finding and investigating problems. Exposing children to real life data and asking them to "create" problems from this data can result in more meaningful problem-solving and a deeper understanding of "what science is."

Finding Clues in a Picture

An activity where the teacher guides students to find clues about reading by asking a series of leading questions.

Finding Clues in a Picture - How to

FIP (First Important Priorities)

Edward de Bono's process for listing, then prioritizing options. Useful in decision-making and in strengthening critical thinking skills.

FIP - activity sheet (PDF)

First Important Priorities (FIP)

Edward de Bono's process for listing, then prioritizing options. Useful in decision-making and in strengthening critical thinking skills.

FIP - activity sheet (PDF)

First TRIP (1st TRIP): A reading strategy consisting of: Title, Relationships, Intent of questions, Put in perspective.

Fishbone

An organizing tool to help students visualize how many events can be tied to or contribute to a result.

Fishbone Mapping

Fishbowl: Discussion format where students are selected from the class. They sit in front of the class as a panel to discuss topic while class observes. Then discussion is opened to whole class.

Five Plus One (5 + 1): Direct instruction variation where the teacher presents for five minutes, students share and reflect for one minute, then the cycle repeats.

Five Whys?

Asking a chain of "why questions," with each question deeper into the root cause of a problem.

Five Whys? problem-solving sheet (PDF)

Five Words - Three Words

Students list five topic-related words independently. Students are grouped and share words. Groups pick best three words and explain to class.

Five Words - Three Words (PDF)

Flash Cards

Traditional flash cards are note cards with a question, problem, or fact on one side, and the answer or a related fact on the other side. Flash cards can be used by individual students for independent practice, or can be used by pairs of students to practice as a team. More recently, online flash cards have appeared on the Internet. Online flash cards take many forms, but typically include either a box where you can type in your answer, or have sets of answers to choose from.

Flashcards for Kids

Quiz Hub

Printable Sign Language Flash Cards

Flashcard Exchange

Flow Charts

Flow charts are graphical depictions of processes or relationships. Typically flow charts include icons showing particular processes or steps, and arrows indicating paths.

Flow Charts

DEVELOPING FLOW CHARTS TO DIAGRAM THE THINKING PROCESS

Flowers: A vase with fresh flowers on the teacher's desk or near a window can positively alter the mood of many students. They can also be used as "spur of the moment" manipulatives for many activities. Flowers can be dissected in a science class, used as models in a drawing class, or used as a writing prompt for a writing activity.

Focused Imagining: A form of guided imagery where students are led to form mental images under the guidance of the teacher. Can be done either through written directions or step-by-step oral directions from the teacher.

Force Field Analysis

A decision-making tool in which all forces for and against a plan are considered and evaluated.

Force Field Analysis

Force Field Analysis - problem-solving form (PDF)

Forced Analogy

Make analogies by comparing problem term to a randomly selected term (for example, compare algebra to a cracker). Then use the new combinations to solve a problem or create something.

Forced Analogy

Forced Choice

A classroom activity in which a small number of choices are placed around the classroom and students are asked to examine all the choices, then stand next to their choice. Students selecting the same choice then discuss reasons or advantages and disadvantages of their choice.

Forced Choice

Forced Relationships

A variant of the Forced Analogy approach to generating possible solutions to problems. In Forced Relationships, objects are paired to a seemingly unrelated task and students are forced to use the unrelated objects to accomplish the task. For example, the students might be told they need to water the flowers in the windowsill box using the water from the sink across the room, and their only tools are a flashlight and a piece of paper. Possible solutions would be to take apart the flashlight (placing the parts on the paper) then use the handle as a cup to carry water, or the paper could be folded into a temporary cup then discarded after the watering was done.

Forced Relationships

Forecasting

Forecasting is a kind of extrapolation in which current trends (in weather, or in the economy) are analyzed and predictions are made about future events based on those trends.

Forecasting

Weather Forecasting

Formations

Certain types of information can be illustrated by having groups of students stand in certain positions to make shapes representing answers. If the answer is a "2," for example, students can form the number two by where they stand in the room. In Formations, the teacher asks a series of questions, all of which have "formable" answers, then the students create the answers by their movements.

Formations - team activity

Formulas: Formulas