I enjoyed Sinatra’s article and I thought it had
some interesting ideas. I liked that Sinatra outlined how a teacher can provide
scaffolding through modeling and teach students how to use map plans (Sinatra,
pg 273) which can improve their thought processes from their readings. Concept
mapping is a very important instructional strategy used in teaching as it
“allows thinkers, readers, and writers to translate ideas and concepts into a
visual, graphic display that they can use for reading or writing assignments
(Sinatra, 2000, pg 266.)” Concept maps are very important in science as many of
the key ideas or concepts are abstract or are way too large for students to
observe in their everyday lives. I liked how Sinatra’s article included various
graphic organizers for concept mapping. I also liked how Sinatra emphasized the
use of modeling. Modeling is extremely important in science as concepts can be
abstract and modeling will help students understand and learn the material. The
rest of the method outlined by Sinatra is aligned more with the “I do, we do,
you do” lesson plan that has been shown to us before. I am not looking down on
the “I do, we do, you do” lesson. Rather it is the opposite; I enjoy and often
implement that lesson guide in my class. However, Sinatra’s instructional
strategy did not prove enlightening although it did provide me with a few new
ideas on how I can increase student comprehension through reading activities.
Sinatra, R. C. (2000).
Teaching learners to think, read, and write more effectively in content subjects. Clearing House, 73(5),
266-273.
Believe me, I understand the idea that an article might be trying to sell me on something with which I'm already familiar. I have the same reaction when I read professional articles about Latin prose composition. Sometimes, though, I feel like students aren't quite sure why we teach things a certain way, and so I'm glad to have articles like this that I can paraphrase to my students the next time they ask why they have to draw a picture of how verb forms fit together.
ReplyDeleteMathematics is very similar. Math is trying to get students to understand abstract ideas that are sometimes difficult to visualize. Students need to be able to see the big picture and know how to approach future math problems. "I do, we do, you do" strategies are very helpful in math guided notes. I use this strategy everyday.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we "I do, we do, you do" is effective in science classrooms, especially combined with modelling.
ReplyDeleteI think what I noticed about the article the most is the structured nature of the concept maps and that is somewhat different than some of the models of concept mapping, which are much more open-ended. It seems as if there are two purposes for concept maps - 1) concept maps are used as an instructional tool to focus students to specific details in a content area and 2) concept maps are used in a much more open ended fashion to teach students about how they think and how they learn.
I think it is very important to make a distinction when teaching about whether the tool being modeled will help the student learn across disciplines or will it only teach about the content topic. Hopefully a combination of content and learning skills are encouraged.