Whole Brain Teaching: Oral Writing FREEBIE

     This summer I have been re-watching the classroom management videos that are available on Whole Brain Teaching.  If you have never heard of WBT, you have got to try Chris Biffle's methods!  Everything whole brain teaching is totally revolutionary and free!  He started out with great classroom managment tools.  Recently he has added more academic content.  I want to start some of his methods on day one. 
     One of my favorites is Oral Writing.  Chris maintains that students cannot improve in writing without first having good oral communication.  This is especially important for English Language Learners, students of poverty, and students with poor receptive and expressive language skills.  I assessed my class on the skill of oral writing on Step-Up Day when students had to use 7-Up sentences (sentences with a minimum of 7 words) to describe themselves and their hobbies (see my blogpost).  I found that many students had difficulties doing this.
     When I reviewed the video on Oral Writing, I noticed how Chris taught specific "adders" to help students extend their sentence length and improve their critical thinking.  I felt that I wanted to post these "adders" at the beginning of the year, so I made these adder strips.

          Each adder has a picture and a gesture.  That way, if a child gets stuck, their peers can non-verbally suggest an adder by doing its gesture.
In the spirit of Chris Biffle, this is a FREEBIE.  Just click the picture to get your own adders!

Notice and Note

     Jenn Jones over at Hello Literacy recently wrote about a new book Notice and Note:  Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you add it to your professional reading.  It gives a very clear picture of what close reading of fiction texts should look like in an intermediate/middle/high school setting.  I found ideas that I can implement in my classroom immediately. 
     The book explains six "signposts".  These are common literary devices that authors use to get the reader to stop and think.  When students see one of these devices, it is time to take notice and jot a few notes.  I knew this is just what my struggling readers need.  They know how to use reading strategies.  They can predict and infer when I ask but, left on their own, they don't use these strategies because they don't know when and where to use these them.
     I love the idea of signposts.  Poor readers often speed through texts, never slowing down and savoring the moment.  They are "plot junkies"- always rushing through text to find out what happens next.  By showing them where authors have intentionally put  stop signs, yield signs, and Rest Areas, I hope I can improve their overall comprehension.
     And so on to today's freebie!  I have made graphics of the six signposts to use in my classroom and I want you to have them, too!  They are medium size (2-4 per page) for use on anchor charts or with teaching small groups of students.  Enjoy!

Visual Literacy

The Role of the Internet in Visual Literacy

The Visual Teaching Alliance states:

• Approximately 65 percent of the population are visual learners.
• 90 percent of information that comes to the brain is visual.
• 40 percent of all nerve fibers connected to the brain are linked to the retina. 
• Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400 percent.

    Timothy Gangwer, author of Visual Impact, Visual Teaching believes our students today are becoming increasingly more visual. According to Gangwer, students today read far less than any previous generation and watch far more.  When visuals are added to good teaching it will help students process information and aid retention.  The teacher who masters the art of using visuals will, in essence, be "speaking the language" of their students.  
     Visuals, however, can be interpreted in many different ways.   Students need strategies for interpreting images.  A good teacher combines critical thinking and visual literacy. Some basic questions teachers should ask when showing an image are:

Who created this image?

What was their purpose for creating this image?

What emotions do you feel when you look at this image?  Why? 

It can also be helpful for the teacher to show multiple images for the same event. In preparing a recent Social Studies lesson on the Trail of Tears, I came across two very different images:

   In the first image, the Natives look strong and powerful.  They have lots of horses, large wagons full of material goods, and a large community.  The weather looks fine.  The second image was very different:

 The weather is harsher and the people look destitute and alone.  Which one accurately represents the Trail of Tears?  They both do, depending your background and the qualities about the Trail of Tears you want to emphasize.
     The internet increases exponentially the amount of static and moving images teachers can present to students.  Students can find images to represent concepts they are learning.  Videos can take students to places and times they will not be able to see. It can open up a wider, global perspective.    

References

http://www.visualteachingalliance.com/

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/teachersatwork/visual-impact-visual-teaching/