Cues+Questions+and+Advance+Organizers

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__Strategy:__
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 * __Cues, Questions & Advanced Organizers__
 * The technique of using cues, questions and advanced organizers is essential in helping students retrieve their prior knowledge about a topic in order to clarify misunderstandings, add to their understanding of the subject matter, and create connections between learned material. Cues involve teachers giving hints about what the students are about to experience by stating the connections to prior material, questions involve asking students about what they know about a given topic directly to elicit connections, and advanced organizers provide students with a way to organize information.
 * There are multiple formats of advanced organizers including expository, narrative, and skimming which teachers can use with their students, however the most widely used is the graphic organizer. Expository organizers describe the new information with which students are going to be learning, narrative organizers present information in the format of a story, and skimming information before reading can also be seen as an advanced organizer because it allows students to become familiar with the basic topics to be covered.
 * __ Software: Inspiration Software __
 * ** Classroom Implementation: **  Before requiring students to write a biography essay the teacher will need to create a graphic organizer web to explain the information to include. The teacher will use clip art, arrows, and text to guide the students in the web to answer questions about their person and create their three paragraph essay. The paragraphs will be broken down into three sections and under them the questions with which each paragraph should answer will be included. This idea was taken from a graphic organizer web found at http://www.inspiration.com/themes/inspiration/example.php?np=1&nid=551 While they are working on researching for their essay the students will be able to use the same software to mimic the example given by the teacher but instead of having the questions they will include the answers to them. When they are finished researching and have completed their own graphic organizer they will print a copy of it and use it to guide them in writing their essay.
 * ** Rationale: ** By providing students with a visual representation of the expectations for an assignment they will be able to better go through the steps required of them. The idea of asking questions within the directions for each specific paragraph will allow them to become more engaged with the subject matter and gives them a way to organize their research methods. The students will also be more readily able to understand the assignment because it is broken down into smaller pieces which will draw on their past writing experiences of a three paragraph essay. By having students mimic the teacher's use of the software they will begin to gain a better understanding of it and hopefully be able to use it to create their own unique organizers for the next assignment.
 * ** Resources: ** The school will need to purchase a license for the Inspiration software for their teachers and students to use. They will also need to have computers with Internet and color printer access available.
 * **Cost:** In order to use the software on a permanent basis the school will need to purchase a software license for Inspiration at a cost of $310 for a 5 computer license, $550 for a 10 computer license, and $895 for a 20 computer license. If students are unable to complete all of their work at school they can work from home by downloading a trial version of the software that is good for 30 days at  http://www.inspiration.com/Freetrial.
 * __ Software: Microsoft Word __
 * ** Classroom Implementation: ** Before beginning a new unit the teacher would have students format a Microsoft Word document to have three columns and use this to create a KWL chart. The first column would be for Know, the second for Want to Know and the third for Learned. The students would then think about what they already know or think they know about the topic and fill it in under the Know column. After filling out as many things as they can think of for that column they would move on to Want to Know and write down any questions they have about the topic or any things related to the topic that they would like to know more about. As they progress through the unit they would then be required to fill in the Learned column in regard to the questions they had posed in their Want to Know column. They would also be responsible for correcting any items in the Know column that they found out to be false while going through the unit. Before beginning the unit the students would share what they want to know about the topic and at the end they would share what they had learned. Their individual KWL charts could be combined into one chart and displayed on an interactive whiteboard for students to add the information that answers the questions they posed as they are encountered. It would be up to the teacher to decide if it would be an individual or class project.
 * ** Rationale: **  Having students use a technology with which they are familiar for a different purpose than typing a paper or project will hep them to begin to realize that there are multiple ways to use the technology to benefit their learning experience. Microsoft Word is a good choice for this type of chart because it is easily formatted to 3 columns and many of the students would have the software available on their home computers if they would wish to add to their charts at home while completing homework assignments.
 * ** Resources: ** In order to complete this activity the school will need to have access to a class set of computers that include Microsoft Office and possibly to an interactive whiteboard, depending on the teacher's choice of implementation.
 * **Cost:** School computers normally have the Microsoft Office Suite installed on them. However, if it would need to be purchased the cost was not readily available for a multiple license copy. It could be assumed that it would be less than the Office Home and Student version at $149.95 for one computer. If an Activboard was not available and needed to be purchased it would cost approximately $3,000 for the board, projector and computer software according to Dawn Carlin, a teacher at Avon Lake City Schools. The exact cost was unable to be obtained without contacting a company representative directly.
 * __Web Environments: Wiki Page__
 * ** Classroom Implementation: **  The use of a wikispace could help teachers with using the strategy of cues, questions and advanced organizers by providing them with a space that students are familiar and comfortable with communicating through. The teacher could create pages for each topic that is discussed and post questions for the students to answer as homework before the class begins learning about the subject matter. The teacher would then assign students to log into the wiki and post their answers to the questions using a different color background to distinguish who has written what.
 * ** Rationale: **   By using the wiki to communicate information the teacher may be able to increase student involvement, especially with students who are shy and not willing to contribute to a normal classroom discussion. The wiki is a good way of addressing this strategy because it allows for the entire class to work together to compile their prior knowledge and also will lend itself as a medium for further discussion and interaction with the material once the unit has begun.
 * ** Resources: **  In order to use a wiki the school will need to have computers with Internet access available to the students. The technology department will also have to unblock the specific wiki page that the class is using in order for them to be able to access it.
 * ** Cost:  **   The school should already have a computer lab set up for the student population to use, so there would be no additional cost for computer access. The wiki page the class would be using could be obtained free of charge from     http://www.wikispaces.com    and upgraded to not include advertisements free of charge because it would be used in the K-12 school environment for educational purposes.

=__Education Challenge:__= = = =  = =  =
 * __Differentiated Instruction__
 * Utilizing Inspiration software to express directions for an assignment and give students an opportunity to have a visual overview of the expectations addresses this challenge. It is difficult to meet the multiple learning styles that are present in the classroom, but by providing an assignment that allows students to use a visual based software program with text incorporated will appeal to multiple learning types. By having the students then use the same software to mimic the teacher produced organizer they will be able to incorporate their choice of graphics to represent the information and also include text to answer the questions posed. This software also helps to reinforce the skill of research strategies, as the graphic organizer is able to guide students in the process through a series of questions.