Learning Contracts
A learning contract
is a written agreement between a teacher and a student in which the
student agrees to accomplish certain assignments in a way that matches student readiness
with the skills and content being taught. The contract helps the student set daily and
weekly work goals and develops management skills. It also helps the teacher to keep track of each student’s
progress. Resources used, steps toward
completion, and evaluation criteria should be included in the contract.
http://wblrd.sk.ca/~bestpractice/contract/index.html
(great information on how to create learning contracts, with some examples)
This is an important way to allow students to work with the same concepts and essential ideas but at different levels of complexity, abstractness, and open-endedness. By developing activities along a continuum of complexity or abstractness you are allowing students to work on similar concepts but in such a way as to be accessible to low performing students and more challenging for high ability students. By beginning where they are, students will work at a level that builds on their prior knowledge but still provides for individual growth.
http://ideanet.doe.state.in.us/exceptional/gt/tiered_curriculum/welcome.html (a great site with examples of tiered lessons in math, science, and language arts for readiness, interest, or learning styles for each grade level!)
http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/specconn/main.php?cat=instruction§ion=main&subsection=udl/tiered (how to tier assignments)
http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/SharynWest2112003323 (an example of an 8th grade tiered assignment)
http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/instruct/gifted_serv/disecond.pdf (examples of tiered assignments)
An anchoring activity is exactly what it sounds like – a meaningful activity tied to the curriculum that is meant to be done by students independently at any time, such as when they have completed present assignments, at the beginning of each class as students organize themselves and prepare for work, or in order to allow the teacher to work with individual students or small groups of students. In other words, students are anchored to an activity. Students must be well versed in the ground rules of working independently. The teacher must make adequate preparations so that students are quite clear about the task, and the instructions for completing the task, and have a plan for monitoring and managing the activity. These activities must be worthy of a student’s time and appropriate to their learning needs.
Examples of anchoring activities may include the following:
· Reading
· Journal Writing
· Keeping a Process Log
· Working on a Portfolio
· Working on a Learning Packet or Task Card
· Working at a Learning or Interest Center
· Practicing skills related to content that students learned in their small group lessons
· Working on an Extension Menu or Cubing activity, or Task Cards
http://wblrd.sk.ca/~bestpractice/anchor/index.html (how to create anchor activities)
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/schools/hooverms/technology/anchor.htm (examples of activities)
Webquests provide an authentic,
technology-rich environment for problem solving, information processing, and
collaboration. This inquiry-based approach to learning involves students in a
wide range of activities that make good use of Internet-based resources.
http://bestwebquests.com/what_webquests_are.asp (what is a true webquest?)
http://webquest.org/ (Select “Find Webquest” on the side of the page and use the drop-down menu to select the subject area and grade)
http://www.eduscapes.com/sessions/travel/mhswebquests.htm (webquests for middle and high school by content)
http://www.bestwebquests.com/ (some of the better webquests by grade level and content level)
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/projects/gradelevel/gradelevel.html (webquests arranged by grade level)
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/using_quest.htm
(everything you want to know about webquests, includes several sites to find
webquests)
Think-Tac-Toe activities provide students with choices on how to demonstrate information learned. The teacher creates a variety of ways for students to show learning, with each way meeting the objectives of the lesson. Students choose activities that they are interested in and that they can do well. Think-Tac-Toe boards take extra preparation time by the teacher, but the benefits to students are great. Students feel ownership when they have choices.
http://www.forpd.ucf.edu/content/lesson13/lesson13topic5.htm (scroll down to the secondary example)
http://www.monroe.k12.fl.us/ls/Newsletters/2003-2004/Jan2004.htm (scroll down to the second box)
There is a difference between learning centers and learning stations. Centers are areas in the classroom where students further develop a skill or concept. Stations are different places in the classroom where students work simultaneously on tasks or activities that are connected.
http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/enriched/giftedprograms/mathstations.shtm
A Literature Circle is a student centered reading activity
for a small group of students. Each member of the circle is assigned a role
which helps guide a group discussion of the book they are all reading.
Literature Circles provide an opportunity for students to control their own
learning; to share thoughts, concerns and their understanding of the events of
the novel.
http://home.att.net/%7Eteaching/litcircles.htm
http://www.literaturecircles.com/
http://www.cdli.ca/CITE/lang_lit_circles.htm
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr259.shtml
Independent Study
Independent Study is a process through which the student and teacher identify problems or topics of interest to the student. Both student and teacher plan a method of investigating the problem or topic and identifying the type of product the student will develop.
Curriculum Compaction
Curriculum compaction is the process of identifying learning objectives, pretesting students for prior mastery of these objectives, and eliminating needless teaching or practice if mastery can be documented.
http://www.austega.com/gifted/provisions/curcompact.htm