Assignment+2

__Chap. 2 - Sensemaking models:__ Sometimes the idea of using graphic organizers just come naturally to students. I'm working with a team of 7th graders on their energy project. They are ready to culminate their research and present. They are working in groups of 3 and will be creating a PP presentation to argue their particular energy resource in front of the Crossgates Mall board to persuade Crossgates that their resource is the most cost efficient and best for the environment. One of the students thought of the pie chart as the best way to show how much coal is being used today in the USA and asked how to do this. We used excel to create this visual and after she saw how it looked got very excited as to how much more effective this would look in her presentation! I realized I need to do a mini-lesson this week on various means of graphically presenting their data. The "bird book" reading came at an appropriate time! SDM

All 8th graders at the middle school are involved in year-long science projects. They come up with their own scientific hypothesis and experiment to prove it. We have worked with them on their research, but I wonder how much they have been guided in using all forms of graphic organizers to present their data? Reading this chapter has prompted me to have that conversation with teachers involved. SDM

How much do our teachers do to teach our students to use digital and paper graphic organizers? Special education teachers use graphic organizers all the time. Skill with graphic organizers comes up continuously during the NYS ELA and Math tests.

Practice idea --- leave copies of blank graphic organizers out displayed for teachers to take if they would like-- use of portable display units (affordable from Staples).

Guilderland E Schools --- extensive use of Timeliner -- great for understanding time

Recently, our third grade classes used Timeliner from Tom Snyder Productions ([|Timeliner 5.0 Product Info]) to organize information on a person's life. They used this visual to organize their information and then used it as a bridge between reading/researching biographies and writing their own piece. There is also a 5 minute video overview on this website. I was able to save 2 timelines as .jpg files. The Vertical format also has the capability to export it as an HTML file (I haven't tried that, yet.) I had to re-size the Horizontal picture file, so that it would appear on this page. I can email copies to anyone that wants to see to whole image more clearly. KEH

Possible use of Wiki's -- each student showing their progress regarding their research -- links to articles