4th Grade Frenzy: October 2020
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October 11, 2020

4 Effective Instructional Strategies That You Can Use This Week

Effective instructional strategies withstand the test of time, and even some learned in my college years remain useful. While I can be sure that Dr. Green never imagined how far technology would advance or that students would need to continue learning during a pandemic, her course introduced me to how students experience the world and learn. The best of these strategies involve giving students time to manipulate and process new information.

instructional-strategies

1. Graphic Organizers 

Graphic organizers range from Venn diagrams to timelines and can help students make connections and remember information. I once asked my class to complete a rather simple writing assignment. A student asked, "But where is our organizer?" Even though I didn't provide a writing organizer for this lesson, the students knew that this tool helped them do their best work.


2. Movement

Research shows that kinesthetic activities have many benefits to learning. When it comes to movement activities, we often think about preschool and early elementary-age students. However, movement activities continue to benefit learners at any level. One way to add movement to a lesson is to incorporate an educational brain break during a lesson. For example, in the middle of a geometry lesson, you could play Simon Says Geometry. Students use their hands and arms to show right angles, acute angles, obtuse angles, parallel lines, intersecting lines, points, lines, line segments, and rays. If you try this game with your kiddos, throw in some sillies and enjoy the laughter! 


3. The Anticipatory Set 

An anticipatory set is a set of prompts that get students ready to learn. The goal is to activate prior knowledge, build background, or make connections. An anticipatory set can be set up as a gallery walk, mystery bags, or simply a series of questions. Considered to be time-consuming, their importance is sometimes overlooked. Adding an anticipatory set to one lesson per day or a couple per week to build your library of this effective strategy would prevent overwhelm. 


4. Sorting Activities 


Young children sort physical objects by color, shape, size, etc. School-age students can sort pictures, words, phrases, and sentences into appropriate categories as they process information and build upon prior knowledge.  Sorting activities can be used for individual assignments, partner work, small group activities, or assessments. 



The art of teaching includes the selection of instructional strategies to use in each lesson. Have you incorporated any of these strategies into your lessons recently? 

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October 3, 2020

5 Virtual Field Trips Worth Checking Out

My first virtual field trip with my class was with a geologist at the University of Maine. Virtual field trips were just beginning to emerge, and as part of my district's technology grant, I was lucky enough to be a pioneer on the virtual playground. This early experience took an IT tech to set up the school's best TV in our media room. Even in this low-tech setup, the kids and I were amazed that we could connect and interact live with someone in another part of the country and become "certified" rock hounds. 

virtual-field-trips

With amazing tech advances, standards with greater rigor, and increasing opportunities, finding just the right virtual experiences for students can be overwhelming. Unlike those earlier days when only a few hundred virtual field trips were floating around, now teachers can choose experiences that match standards in any content area. 

If you are looking for virtual field trips or experiences, the sites listed below may be worth a look. To save you time, the links should take you directly to the virtual experience page of each site. As always, preview the tours and webinars to ensure they are appropriate for your students!


1. Yellowstone National Park

Topics include animals, winter adaptations, ecology, geysers, volcanoes, and the night sky to name a few.

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/photosmultimedia/education-videos.htm


2. The National Zoo

Live virtual events are free and require advanced sign-up. Topics include habitats, life cycles, and a zoo walk. 

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/virtual-programs-calendar

Check out the live animal cams! Why is that panda always sleeping and where is the elephant hiding?

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams


3. Ellis Island

This virtual experience is run by Scholastic and is prerecorded. Park rangers explain the history of Ellis Island and take questions from classrooms. The virtual tour may help you meet the immigration standards in your curriculum.

https://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/education/classrooms/virtual-learning.htm


4. Museum of the American Revolution

Allow plenty of time for this one! Rather than simply viewing old stuff, this museum's virtual (and in-person) experience revolves around 4 questions that will encourage you and your students to ponder The American Revolution on a deeper level.

https://museumvirtualtour.org/


5. Access Mars

Don't skip the intro!

https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/


Please note that 4th Grade Frenzy is not affiliated with any websites or companies listed above. They are noted for informational and educational purposes to be used at your discretion. 


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