tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52073600781293734632024-03-13T18:45:43.491-07:00A CLOSER LOOK AT CLILMy intention is to share information, opinions and theoretical issues related to the implementation of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Language) programs in elementary school from a constructivist perspective.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-9810429893187923352013-11-11T14:05:00.000-08:002013-11-11T14:43:55.875-08:00Are we setting the stage for CLIL? by Marta Braylan<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">The constructive process of learning requires an active learner with a clear understanding of</span></div>
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the objective and purpose of his or her own actions. This process usually<br />
involves risking responses, making mistakes, reviewing, editing, re-writing, changing and coming to own conclusions among other many things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Are we as<b><span style="color: #666666;"> CLIL teachers</span></b></span><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">setting the stage</span></b> <br />for all of the above to happen?</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">I tried to write my own </span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b>CLIL Teacher's Checklist</b></span></span><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #666666;"><b>-</b></span> Please feel free to collaborate by adding your own thoughts and questions to the list below.</span></div>
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">When we start a new project in primary school: </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: large;">are we</span> <span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large;">setting the climate for wonder</span>? <span style="font-size: large;">Are we helping them link with prior knowledge and experience? Are we making the right connections with L1 curriculum? Are we leaving gaps and unanswered areas of knowledge to provoke curiosity in order to approach learning meaningfully? Are we truly valuing and considering students ideas and opinions without judgments?</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the process of teaching a unit or a lesson in primary school: </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Are we <span style="color: #674ea7;">letting our students experience </span>with their bodies? with music? through hand-on activities? through </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">drama? through the arts? Are we showing them that they are the owners of their learning process? Are they aware that they are the creators of the unique products they make? (stories, poems, </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">dialog,</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> paintings, sculptures, interviews, presentations, posters, objects, decorations, and more.) Are we making exhibits of their individual and group productions to share with families and community?<br /><br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When we give our primary school students a writing assignment</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">:</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Are we <span style="color: #674ea7;">creating the </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #674ea7;">conditions for students to construct spontaneous writing</span>? Have we selected a genre</span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">from L1 curriculum that is appropriate for the student's age? Are we offering writing models for the learners to become familiar with that genre? Are we providing scaffolding to avoid immediate failing? Are we engaging students by motivating them to write about something that is relevant to their lives? Are we teaching them that writing involves re-writing, correcting, editing?<br /><br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When we propose a reading aloud activity to our primary school students: </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Are we <span style="color: #674ea7;">providing enough information </span>so they can predict and contextualize as they read? Are we being patient enough to listen without correcting pronunciation to allow time for self confidence? Are we supporting the activity with visuals, audio files and realia?<br /><br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When we assign a certain production combined with arts, music or game construction to our primary school students: </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Are we asking them to make something <span style="color: #674ea7;">meaningfully connected to the content of study</span>? Is the task appropriate for their age? (not too easy/not too hard) Have we tried to do the task ourselves before, to see what difficulties students may encounter on the way? Have we planned what supplies will be necessary in advance? Are we teaching them that enjoying "hands on" activities such as </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">drawing, decorating, painting in order to show their work is useful and is a way </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">of expressing themselves about the content of study. Are we teaching </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">them to</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">take pride and to feel the satisfaction of real achievement by appreciating their work and the work of others? Are we letting them know that everyone creates his/her production in different ways?<br /><br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">How about the<span style="color: #674ea7;"> thinking skills</span>?:</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Are we offering our students the possibility of classifying, comparing, inferring, coming to conclusions, hypothesizing, making connections, predicting, estimating, summarizing, explaining, labeling, defining, </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">ordering, contrasting, modifying, rewriting, inventing, describing, distinguishing, </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">paraphrasing, changing, designing, supporting, justifying, reorganizing....and the </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">long list continues...<br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">When evaluating our students:</span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> Are we giving priority to the message our students are trying to convey instead of focusing just on the grammar? Are we letting them know that <span style="color: #674ea7;">evaluation is one more step of their learning process</span>? Are we teaching them that </span><span style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">making mistakes is also part of the learning process? Are we allowing them to self correct, and revise errors and mistakes? Are we offering the possibility of re-doing their work and of being re- evaluated?<br /><br />
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<li style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: large; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">PLEASE LEAVE YOUR IDEAS OR COMMENTS TO THE LIST</span></li>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-90859805640479085432013-06-11T13:54:00.000-07:002013-07-01T17:06:35.224-07:00Going back to the text with a purpose in ESL, ELL or EFL learning by Marta Braylan<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuOwG8JrRapNFw8NEtuE_uqigJWm_IWBu02h4kSG5D06Tfkaxp-MIRWs2kqjw-2QYxbzB4XfJnTlvuFmQCIME0E5igwX5FXFNRWPvNZavLVuPAg6F_a3r_7cIoYT6CRIktezOqW8t9gHw/s1600/libro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuOwG8JrRapNFw8NEtuE_uqigJWm_IWBu02h4kSG5D06Tfkaxp-MIRWs2kqjw-2QYxbzB4XfJnTlvuFmQCIME0E5igwX5FXFNRWPvNZavLVuPAg6F_a3r_7cIoYT6CRIktezOqW8t9gHw/s200/libro.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When we work with
authentic texts (literary, expository, academic, and so on...) we tend to place focus mainly on <b>comprehension</b>.
However, approaching a text with a different purpose other than checking comprehension, can give our students a chance to go back to the text meaningfully. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Metacognition is the action of reflecting on our own learning process. When we are able to explain or show how we learned something, we are witnesses to our own learning
process. There has been a growing recognition that metacognition or self
awareness, including awareness of ourselves as learners, helps us to learn more
effectively (Scottish, 1996)<br />
<br />Gardner said "</span><span style="line-height: 18px;">I use the term metacognition to refer to what a learner knows about </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">how he or she learns a language; and, therefore, view it as a process of relating the </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">language learning to the self".</span><br />
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Once the student becomes familiar with a text she/he can go back to it in order
to reflect about meaning and grammar. This is, also, a way of showing understanding; however, it requires an action from the learner that shows awareness and self reflection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>But how do we go about it?</b></span></span><br />
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Using a <b>known text</b> with different
learning objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><b style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> To locate and identify</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> certain words such as: describing words (adjectives), verbs in
the present/past/future/action verbs and others. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To locate and identify</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> words that refer to a certain
topic of study (personality, wheather, nature, ecology, scientific process,
story organization, the arts, history, etc.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>To correct mistakes </b>related to the meaning and/ or the grammar/spelling</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To identify and make changes</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">: changing the characters, the
setting, the time, the ending, the moral, the conflict. (Making the necessary adjustments
to the new text, such as plurals/singulars, verb tenses, persons, and so on.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To fill out a graphic organizer</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> in order to classify, to understand
a process, to infer, to conclude, to compare, to organize a sequence of events,
etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To make a list of words</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> related to a certain topic of
interest.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>To identify main ideas</b> in paragraphs.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>To understand</b> concepts related to coherence and cohesion.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 115%;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Authentic
texts provide context and meaning to the learning process. As students approach
a text without fear and feel comfortable to "play" with its words and ideas they are learning<br />
that language has a purpose, is real and close to their lives.</span><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-37025346468564933292013-06-03T18:13:00.000-07:002013-07-03T09:20:03.031-07:00Scaffolding by Marta Braylan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><br /><span style="color: purple;">BUILDING SCAFFOLDS</span><br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Vygotsky wrote, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"What the child can do in cooperation today he can do alone tomorrow."(1934).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Scaffolding
is used by teachers to support learners. It refers to a <b>temporary supporting
structure</b> that students learn to use and to rely on, in order to achieve
learning outcomes.</span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><br />
Scaffolding helps students to access previously acquired learning, to analyze
it, to process new information, to create new relational links, and to take
their understanding several steps further.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><br />
</span></u><b><span style="font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";"><span style="color: purple;">Some practical examples of scaffolding strategies:</span></span></b></div>
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<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Brainstorming
a topic </b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Using
graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, tables and charts</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Having
students develop their own definitions of terms</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Providing
reinforcement for attempting to speak, then for a partially right answer and
then for the right answer</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Assessing
obstacles to learning</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Breaking
material into chunks and reframing information</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Using
pictures and realia</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Having
students sum up text by writing headlines for each paragraph</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Having
students transform text into pictures or graphics</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Giving
clues and asking follow up questions</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Modeling
and offering samples of similar assignments</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">Providing
authentic context to language and activities</span></b><br /><br /><br /><b>Why is Scaffolding so important for CLIL teachers?</b></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">CLIL teachers need to build: </span></div>
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<ol><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">
<li>on what the students <span style="color: lime;"><b>already know or hypothesize about a topic</b> <b>or subject</b></span><span style="color: white;">subject</span></li>
<li>from the<span style="color: lime;"><b> language the students already may know</b></span></li>
<li>on<b> </b><span style="color: lime; font-weight: bold;">the thinking skills </span>they already use in L1 </li>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Please leave your comment/opinion!!!</span><br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-77199131315345615792013-06-03T16:44:00.002-07:002013-07-03T09:17:58.978-07:00Would CLIL fit into a constructivist perspective? The importance of good questions. By Marta Braylan <div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKWeTKJf2lp4dV_SGuyDZCE9Yld0N4SCF01Y3E-T8TfL8WN61i3_UHxdXu4x9qIWDzEQ1cQt_0CMfMzhVFr6mNlRVRIIp1wFquEDYmLT67cOFZ9WFnF0HXJNVsHjvq9erq7WkQ2YUplMU/s242/questions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcKWeTKJf2lp4dV_SGuyDZCE9Yld0N4SCF01Y3E-T8TfL8WN61i3_UHxdXu4x9qIWDzEQ1cQt_0CMfMzhVFr6mNlRVRIIp1wFquEDYmLT67cOFZ9WFnF0HXJNVsHjvq9erq7WkQ2YUplMU/s242/questions.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many CLIL projects or units would fit into a constructivist
perspective if they were seriously "meaning oriented". One of the
most common errors of some publications that present themselves under the
"CLIL" umbrella is they they don't offer real problems or questions
to be solved by the students. In those cases, information is just correlated
around a certain "topic".<br />
<br />
Arriving to integration through a good leading question would be one important
step to make.<br />
Jerome Bruner said: "The art of asking provoking questions is at least as
important as that of providing clear answers [...], and the art of setting
those questions to good use and keeping <br />
them alive is as important as the first two."<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTKlQaxh2ygfjuFyWq5xBgmqx5zu_geNJqkvwwvYmQn-9ZlDaBTUo4MvvAKaxuA3LrFGuEO0iuEAfEGDyl_JfRAmB20E2dhNvWIyIbKnCuR9vxZLDdi-k9sCMgCgc4Tkef4RrwORDujW8/s848/questions3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTKlQaxh2ygfjuFyWq5xBgmqx5zu_geNJqkvwwvYmQn-9ZlDaBTUo4MvvAKaxuA3LrFGuEO0iuEAfEGDyl_JfRAmB20E2dhNvWIyIbKnCuR9vxZLDdi-k9sCMgCgc4Tkef4RrwORDujW8/s200/questions3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><br /></b></span></span><b style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></b><br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here are some </b><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red;">tips</span></b><b style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </b><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">to come up with a good question:</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><br /><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>The question will need reasoning and some research to be answered</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>It will relate to curricular guidelines and to students´ lives</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>It will motivate students to read, write, think and speak</b></span></li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><b>Some examples: </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZSGoYVCxVwqvPo_PdnKQs_m-ldnJQlbqkSjMxCWaeWmn4EWKo8QuctHYDtgBf7lNxy2dd5L4wX5F20skG6Zi5CiBOgyNWs9CJt-8M6MzotXFT38U7clFXpUT7awq_nn-Z5IR8TZbO8UX/s236/questions2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZZSGoYVCxVwqvPo_PdnKQs_m-ldnJQlbqkSjMxCWaeWmn4EWKo8QuctHYDtgBf7lNxy2dd5L4wX5F20skG6Zi5CiBOgyNWs9CJt-8M6MzotXFT38U7clFXpUT7awq_nn-Z5IR8TZbO8UX/s236/questions2.jpg" /></a></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<br /><span style="color: #274e13;"><b>-Can the world feed 10 billion people?<br />-Do revolutions always work?<br />-Do all animals have hearts?<br />-Why did humans lose their fur?</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">I believe Constructivism provides a strong rationale for content-based
curricula such as CLIL, since it is holistically oriented and meaning seeking
based. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Please, leave your comments/opinions!!!! </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-8450418691647805122013-06-01T12:01:00.002-07:002013-06-11T14:33:15.269-07:00"Meaning Matters" by Marta Braylan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4hODodrqLkbGkRMP82XCAYd_DRPpbHv0mPWfMA17wKruIXbqATe3spBRZ8f3IqaINynour8HRD9-Kbfygq1uMLAB-VCK4t1DEgFhEyNVH2HcyqL-wyihBR9JnkFuzUgBCkbYH8X3ngWC/s1600/meaning+matters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4hODodrqLkbGkRMP82XCAYd_DRPpbHv0mPWfMA17wKruIXbqATe3spBRZ8f3IqaINynour8HRD9-Kbfygq1uMLAB-VCK4t1DEgFhEyNVH2HcyqL-wyihBR9JnkFuzUgBCkbYH8X3ngWC/s400/meaning+matters.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">CLIL</span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">Arriving to a <b>"meaning matters"</b> frame of mind <span style="font-size: x-small;">by Marta Braylan</span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When we say <span style="color: orange;"><b>"meaning matters"</b></span> we mean that we
must really give priority to the <b>message
</b>a person is trying to convey. It makes a big difference when we first offer
genuine feedback on our student's productions before observing grammatical
mistakes. Focusing on form first may present the serious risk of losing
the intrinsic motivational desire to communicate that most human beings have.
When <b><span style="color: orange;">we value ideas</span></b>, we pave the way
for the students to correct their errors meaningfully because they really want
to get their message through.<br />
Examples:</span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
a student has written a text and we understand what he or she means (even
though the student has made many mistakes) then we can say:</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">"Your text is
fine, I understand your point and agree or disagree with you. I would also add
so and so........and finally I will say it needs some editing that will include
some grammar corrections and organization to make it more understandable and
clear to the readers"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
a student has written a text that is hard to understand we can say: "I
don't really understand what you mean, could you clarify this or that? What is
the problem you are presenting? Did you mean so and so? We are giving the student the chance to first discuss what he or she
intends to communicate.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">If
a young student is having difficulty writing a text, we must offer
possibilities, without suggesting the idea. It must be "their idea". Scaffolding
tools can be used to help them convey </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">their message. For example: suggest them to make a <b><span style="color: orange;">drawing or a cartoon</span></b> with their
idea, then label with own words and finally write the text.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Also, you may give a starting clue or a specific
structure to help them come up with an idea.</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: orange;">Meaning
matters</span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: orange;"> </span>to all of us, think about it and give our students a
chance to express their ideas !!!!!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Please leave your comment/opinion!!!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-29130895239093806842013-05-31T17:08:00.000-07:002013-06-28T21:13:06.798-07:00Learning and the Emotional BRAIN by Marta Braylan<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 21px;">
<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Learning and The Emotional Brain<br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi430kwQzBWHs44YvaRdZn1FryuKlMiP5POlJwGe6NBW9oSCAFC8L9nFH3L35ioCHyvpF7tXznV4s2rc4gKh_lwuBu1x3lPeLv7BeyHoLzltH8mJ18YjfYz_qC5-zQpRZ6Sxs2GF5LwssDi/s216/emotional+brain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi430kwQzBWHs44YvaRdZn1FryuKlMiP5POlJwGe6NBW9oSCAFC8L9nFH3L35ioCHyvpF7tXznV4s2rc4gKh_lwuBu1x3lPeLv7BeyHoLzltH8mJ18YjfYz_qC5-zQpRZ6Sxs2GF5LwssDi/s216/emotional+brain.jpg" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we read about the emotional brain, there are certain phrases we need to pay close attention to:</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">dopamine and serotonin are associated with </span><span style="color: magenta; font-size: medium;">positive emotions</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">behavioral</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">interventions</span></span><span style="color: #073763;"> can produce more brain changes than any medicine and</span><br /><span style="color: #073763;">can affect specific brain circuits</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #a64d79; font-size: medium;">social and emotional learning</span><span style="color: #073763;"> can change brain function and structure</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">students need to have the goal to </span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: medium;">achieve a positive outcome</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">when anxiety is reduced</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="color: blue;">cognition</span> </span><span style="color: #073763;">improves</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">real</span><span style="color: #990000;"> </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #990000;">thinking</span> </span><span style="color: #073763;">is never divorced from </span><span style="color: #990000; font-size: medium;">emotion</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">let your students</span> <span style="background-color: white; color: orange; font-size: medium;">discover</span><span style="color: #073763;"> for themselves</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">have faith in yourself and </span><span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: medium;">faith</span><span style="color: #073763;"> in your students</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #073763;">in a culture where emotions get somehow a low status, our goal is to</span><br /><span style="color: #073763;">get our students to be more </span><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-size: medium;">personally connected</span>.</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I guess the emotional brain provides many of the answers to explain why a </span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;"><b>high challenge and high support classroom</b></span></span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> leads to important achievement and motivation. <br /><br />These mentioned concepts underlay a range of principles that seem to be fundamental for meaningful learning such as the importance of:</span></div>
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<ul style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;">
<li><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">non threatening-non violent classroom atmosphere</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">appropriate teacher interventions (both in the social and the learning domains)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">highly motivational didactic units or projects that consider group and individual achievement</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">highly involved teachers that believe their students have the potential to learn and that help stimulate confidence, involvement and curiosity</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">t</span><span style="background-color: #fff2cc; color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">eachers that value each student by considering every opinion, by listening closely, and by showing they care.</span></li>
</ul>
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<div>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Find more information on how the brain works and students responses at this wonderful article by neurologist and teacher Judy Willis:</span><a href="http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-the-brain-works-and-how-students-can-respond/">http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-the-brain-works-and-how-students-can-respond/</a></div>
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please, leave your comment/opinion!!!!</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-78974606524701693432013-05-31T16:48:00.001-07:002013-06-11T14:33:55.861-07:00On Paying Attention in the classroom by Marta Braylan<h2 style="background-color: #fff9ee; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; position: relative;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">ON "PAYING ATTENTION" </span></h2>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtttwmvHsbdYyugpWD97mK4a-LV4pHSZ_8tIH9iKE5-ya1sFYQXMTn3hHQ-a2Z70VAFjAP_FdDnrgmdkhhbJo84RHpi-4nzE9MPQ-7nq188A7Ht1FRBwrjOPo5IvlV3_xZbb891VNS5w/s1600/attention.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff9ee; clear: left; color: #888888; float: left; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtttwmvHsbdYyugpWD97mK4a-LV4pHSZ_8tIH9iKE5-ya1sFYQXMTn3hHQ-a2Z70VAFjAP_FdDnrgmdkhhbJo84RHpi-4nzE9MPQ-7nq188A7Ht1FRBwrjOPo5IvlV3_xZbb891VNS5w/s640/attention.jpg" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="640" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtttwmvHsbdYyugpWD97mK4a-LV4pHSZ_8tIH9iKE5-ya1sFYQXMTn3hHQ-a2Z70VAFjAP_FdDnrgmdkhhbJo84RHpi-4nzE9MPQ-7nq188A7Ht1FRBwrjOPo5IvlV3_xZbb891VNS5w/s1600/attention.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: #fff9ee; clear: left; color: #888888; float: left; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-decoration: none;"><br /></a><br />
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<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As language teachers our daily challenge is to get to a point where students (in my case elementary school students) become <b>intrinsically motivated to pay attention</b>. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Most students get motivated to learn about authentic content when they need the language/grammar to express themselves, to convince others, to publish their work, to post their work in cyberspace and more.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">When working with CLIL projects, I am sometimes astonished to see how many students ask for the language they need (really paying attention) in order to express themselves. I believe this happens </span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">because <b>"they really need to solve a problem or answer a challenging question".</b>Perhaps they need to write a note giving an opinion on something they care about" or "they want to test a previous idea" or "they want to be part of something with their classmates" or "they expect certain serious feedback on their work" and so forth.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"></span><span style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This, of course requires us to</span></span><br />
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Be careful to consider all the opinions (in different formats, not only orally but also by inviting them to write, to make mind maps, to draw, to write and illustrate cartoons, to finish incomplete ideas.......and more). </span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Be patient and listen, try to refrain from correcting before is time to do so.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Be aware and remember that teachers opinions and reactions are fundamental to keep the right learning atmosphere and students' valued attention.</span></li>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Please, leave your comment/opinion!!!!</span></span></div>
<br style="background-color: #fff9ee; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5207360078129373463.post-77689296713012882992013-05-31T16:25:00.001-07:002013-06-11T14:34:45.181-07:00ON PRIOR KNOWLEDGE by Marta Braylan<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczdJ8VV3zOuA3wk5vJXgwmDmH9bvKoNPMVPDxe0HorekJYkRNYqOuX1gXg0QXxogw6k-3Q480TmB3EOtE45PpyAzxvbjW8rxGb0oTtySK2BhJmI79LmTo0ws2JrnFKHGymxP95JwFyR4/s1600/images+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhczdJ8VV3zOuA3wk5vJXgwmDmH9bvKoNPMVPDxe0HorekJYkRNYqOuX1gXg0QXxogw6k-3Q480TmB3EOtE45PpyAzxvbjW8rxGb0oTtySK2BhJmI79LmTo0ws2JrnFKHGymxP95JwFyR4/s320/images+1.jpg" width="195" /></a><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">James Zull says that "<i>Helping students find connections with their past beliefs and experiences is vital </i></span><i><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for learning. Knowledge grows as our neurons make new connections, and as they increase or decrease the strength of existing neuronal networks in the brain. Information enters the brain through existing networks of neurons. These existing networks -</span><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>prior knowledge </b></span></i><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>-are the substrate for constructing new understanding.</i>"<br /> </span><br />
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />It often occurs that we get confused with the concept of prior knowledge and its relationship to construction of new learning. It would only seem logical to always find out what the students know before delivering a class or a course of any discipline. However, the difference resides in what information we would be looking for and the purpose of retrieving that data. When we work with projects it is necessary to spend enough time in the process of exploring previous knowledge through different tools. The links that students can make to their personal experience and lives, the hypotheses and ideas they may have incidentally acquired about a certain topic will all contribute to set their always curious minds to work.<br />Lev Vygotsky said " Learning always proceeds from the known to the new. Good teaching will recognize and build on this connection."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some tips to explore prior knowledge:</span></span><br />
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tnCdloL1WFCpS5ScfAOUzQyuOwsW63nXI5S6X5g-I96ONMScJIWRXVP0EIJHf7TApzW4CWgqARdX8vl6S4A7Ioz9yzbjiu-LErKpXrPPpd2uMpJ3NvxkeqYeigydXNE0R6Jwm31fJAE/s1600/images+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4tnCdloL1WFCpS5ScfAOUzQyuOwsW63nXI5S6X5g-I96ONMScJIWRXVP0EIJHf7TApzW4CWgqARdX8vl6S4A7Ioz9yzbjiu-LErKpXrPPpd2uMpJ3NvxkeqYeigydXNE0R6Jwm31fJAE/s200/images+2.jpg" width="163" /></a>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Use various tools individually or in groups such as: incomplete phrases or sentences, brainstorming, short multiple choice questionnaires, graphic organizers, cartoons, short videos, pictures, parts of stories and others.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Accept all the opinions without judging or correcting, stating that you are in an exploratory stage and that all ideas will be welcomed.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Keep a record of students' ideas and inferences to use at a later stage. Refrain from correcting or indicating the right response.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Use </span><span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">your observations and collected information to decide on the project's future path. </span></li>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good lessons should initiate by favoring <b>risk taking</b> to express ideas through drawings, writings and brainstorming allowing for different views and tolerating wrong or hilarious answers avoiding any judgment. It will be throughout the process of experiencing the unit/project that the students together with appropriate teacher's interventions and class discussions will be able to reflect on their own ideas. Teacher's tolerance, observation and confidence in students' possibilities are of crucial importance at this stage to set the atmosphere for motivation, enjoyment and achievement.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Find more information on how memory works for learning in relation to prior knowledge on an article by neurologist and teacher Judy Willis:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-the-memory-works-in-learning/">http://www.teachthought.com/learning/how-the-memory-works-in-learning/</a><br />
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Please, leave your comment/opinion!!!!!</span>
<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0