Showing posts with label Semantic Feature Analysis in Social Studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Semantic Feature Analysis in Social Studies. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Vocab Strategies That Don't Suck



I don’t know about you, but I’m not entirely certain that my hand and my brain are connected. I can totally copy something and not engage my brain at all.

It’s possible that something is wrong with my brain (no comments, y’all!) but it’s also possible that some (many?) kids don’t engage their brains when they copy things either.

Let me tell you the reasons why I STOPPED having kids copy definitions for vocabulary terms.

Seven Reasons to NOT Have Kids Copy Definitions.  (#5 will surprise you!)
  1. It takes forever. Who’s got extra class time to take on that?
  2. The kids don’t always understand the written definition, so they can’t fully “get” the term.
  3. Kids hate to write.  It makes them grumpy, which makes them less receptive to learning.
  4. Kids don’t have to mentally interact with the definitions. So they often don’t.
  5. Copying definitions don’t allow kids to construct their own meanings. And a meaning a kid constructs herself is a meaning that lasts.
  6. Even if a kid memorizes the written definition (and many don’t), they get a 2-dimensional definition, not a dynamic, elastic, adaptable definition that they can use in different situations and contexts.
  7. We live in 2017. We have copy machines (copy limits absolutely acknowledged)! But we can just GIVE the kids the definitions. They don’t NEED to copy them by hand like a European monk before the printing press.

“Okay, okay, Tracy, I get it.”you say to me in my imaginary conversation, “But I don’t know what ELSE to do! Copying vocab helps me get the vocab in the kids’ hands and get around my copy limits and keeps the kids quiet”

True, true, all of it.

But we can do better. Here goes....

Four Strategies for Making Vocabulary “Stick” in the Kids Brains (And Suck Less)


Students should already have journals and the definitions of the vocabulary words should already have been made available to them. This is simply using quick-write entries that incorporate vocabulary words. In most cases only one word would be used for each entry, unless the words are connected in some way. Students simply respond to a question using the vocabulary word. Here is an example:

For the word irritating: "List three things that you consider irritating. Why do these things irritate you?"

This should be done when first giving out vocabulary words. Vocabulary list should be limited to about 5 words or less as students tend to lose interest after that.

First, explain the "formal" definition of a word, then give several examples of the word in context. After that, provide a question (like the questions for the Vocab Quick Writes) and have the students discuss this in class together, using the word in their discussion. Have them share the highlights of their discussion with the class. This strategy might take more time, but the students thoroughly understand the words afterwards. And it takes less time than copying definitions.

It is incredibly simple to use in the classroom but it can have a huge impact on your kids.

Basically this strategy asks students to organize words or phrases into piles that make sense to them. The strategy is useful as both a pre-and-post reading strategy. During pre-reading, kids use their prior knowledge to organize words and establish a purpose for reading. As an after-reading strategy, students reflect on what they read and process the ideas presented in the text.

There are two types of sorts:
  1. Closed word sorts are when the teacher defines the process for  categorizing the words. This requires students to think critically as they look for specific concepts, word structures and definitions. Meaning, the teacher gives the students the categories (examples of categories could include: people, places, things OR 15th, 16th, 17th century OR England, France, Italy)
  2. In an open word sort, students determine for themselves how to categorize the words. Because of this, open sorts can prompt divergent and inductive reasoning. Meaning, they have to come up with their own categories. a)      Select 15-20 words that are important to the understanding of the lesson. At this time, the teacher should determine if it will be an open or closed sort.
Copy words onto index cards or print them on slips of paper. Provide enough words for each group of 3-5 students. Pass out words to groups. Based on if this is a pre-reading strategy or after-reading strategy, the teacher should decide how much support to provide.

If the activity is a closed sort, remind students they will need to use the categories provided to them. If it is an open sort, suggest to students that they categorize the words into groups that make sense to them. Remind them that they will need to be able to explain their rationale for the groups they created.

Give students approximately 10 minutes to create their sorts.

As students read the text or discuss it in more detail, allow them to reclassify their words.

Have students to reflect on their sorts and how it increased their understanding before and/or after the reading of the text. Did they make changes? Why or why not?

4. SEMANTIC FEATURE ANALYSIS http://www.adlit.org/strategies/22731/
With a Semantic Feature Analysis chart or grid, one can examine related concepts but make distinctions between them according to particular criteria across which the concepts can be compared.

A set of concepts is listed down the left side (or across the top; it doesn't much matter which) and criteria or features are listed across the top (or down the side). If the concept is associated with the feature or characteristic, the student records a Y or a + (plus-sign) in the grid where that column and row intersect; if the feature is not associated with the concept, an N or - (minus-sign) is placed in the corresponding square on the grid. For instance, consider types of government: democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, and republic. What might be the characteristics of governments that might be associated with various types?

Which of these strategies do you already use? Which ones could you try this week? Can you give up the precious silence of copying vocab for engaged chatter? What if it helps them learn the terms better? As always, I love to hear from you! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org
-Tracy
FDR
JFK
Nixon
Reagan
Clinton
Democrat
+
+
-
-
+
War Time President
+
-
+
-
-
Congress of Same Party
-/+
+
-
-/+
-/+
Re-Elected
+
-
+
+
+
Served in Congress
-
+
+
-
-
Won Majority of Popular Vote
+
-
-/+
+
-

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

People I Do NOT Want On My Jury


I mentioned recently that I had jury duty this month. While I was not chosen, I did spend 8 hours in jury selection for a murder trial.

While I was there, I had a conversation with one of the sixty others in my jury pool that blew me away.

I didn’t learn her name. She was an older woman with an indeterminate accent. She was tiny, with  child-sized legs and feet but with the mouth of Estelle Getty from Golden Girls. She was furious that she had to show up that day. She didn’t drive and complained loudly about her need for a ride that was waiting outside. She made a fuss about the possibliity of being chosen for the jury and needing a ride for multiple days.

Outside the courtroom, in one of the sleek, marbled halls, she grumbled during a break. “I don’t know why we need to be here anyway. I know the law says “trial by jury” and all but really, they should just throw the guy (the defendant) in jail and be done with it.

My jaw dropped a little and I struggled to balance my “social studies teacher” side with my “this is an adult and I am not necessarily here to teach her” side. I looked at her and said “It IS a pain, but I hope that if I am ever accused of a crime, that the judge and lawyers will be careful choosing MY jury some day.”

Um. Wrong thing to say, I guess?

The woman got a little agitated and said “Of course he did it! Why else would he be here? Everybody knows he did it. Just throw him in jail and let us all go home!”

The social studies teacher inside me had a heart attack.

The polite person inside me tried one more time. “People are wrongly accused of crimes all the time. I hope this guy (the defendant) gets a fair trial like everybody else”.

It was hopeless. She came back with “I don’t care. I’m sure that guy did it. Just look at him! This is BS. You only get a fair trial if you didn’t do it. We should all go home.”

Oh. My God.

I do NOT want that woman on MY jury.

I think I just heard the best argument in a while to explain why our kids need to learn SKILLS as well as CONTENT.

That woman knew her content. She knew that we, as citizens, are guaranteed a trial by jury. But she didn’t have the historical or civic skills to USE or APPLY that info to real situations.

And I freaked out, relating this to the Civics EOC. Linda often says “every kid’s vote will count the same”. I think that we have to raise that to a new level. My new real-world pressure is that “every kid could potentially be on my jury.”

Yes, even THAT kid might be on a jury. Could be MY jury some day.

And I want him or her to have the skills necessary to give me a fair trial.

One of the MAIN arguments behind the Civics (and HS US History) EOC exam(s) is that our kids need to be informed and skilled in using civic and historical information to make choices.

The reasons those tests are so tough is because they are of higher complexity. They ask kids to analyze, apply, and use those historical, geographical, civic, and economic skills. The tests don’t just ask for recall. One of our colleagues once told me “I don’t mind an EOC if they would just TELL me what set of trivia they’re testing.”

But those tests aren’t trivia tests. They aren’t solely fact-based. They’re based on skills.

What kinds of skills? Reading skills, writing skills, and historical thinking skills.

“Be more specific, Trace” I hear you saying.

Ok. Take a look at your course benchmarks in two places -- yes, even elective courses!

Here’s how.
  1. Click “Course Descriptions” along the top
  2. Click “Grades PreK-12 Education Courses”
  3. Click your level (grades 6-8 or grades 9-12)
  4. Click “Social Studies”
  5. Click the subcategory and find your course under that.
  6. Click the blue box with a number and the words “Course Standards”
  7. Now, look at the LAFS (LAFS = “Language Arts Florida Standards”, the Standards Formerly Known as the Common Core). Those will tell you the reading and writing standards assessed. Those are a big part of the EOCs, the district-developed EOCs, and the FSA (the test replacing the FCAT)
  8. Now, scroll through your standards until you come to the ones that start with an SS (Social Studies).
    1. The coding should say SS and then your grade level (like SS.6 for 6th grade or SS.912 for grades 9-12).
    2. After your grade level should be a letter. A=American History, E=Economics, C=Civics and Government, W=World History, G=Geography, and P=Psychology.
    3. So once you have the “SS”, the grade, the topic, the next number should be a “1”. That number one corresponds to SKILLS standards. Economic thinking, historical thinking, geographic thinking, historical thinking, civic thinking. For example:
SS.6.W.1.1 or SS.912.E.1.10
  1. Take a close look at those skill benchmarks. Here are a couple of examples:
    1. SS.912.A.1.2Utilize a variety of primary and secondary sources to identify author, historical significance, audience, and authenticity to understand a historical period.
    2. SS.6.W.1.5Describe the roles of historians and recognize varying historical interpretations (historiography).

When we dig into our “skills” standards, we can get a better idea of how to teach those skills in our social studies courses. Those skills are not one-time lessons but they are topics and abilities students should tackle throughout the year.

I want skilled citizens on my jury, not just citizens with a bunch of Google-able facts. And I definitely DON’T want that woman on my jury. I might be in big trouble if she is.

Your students need skills in addition to content. Check out the ones related to your course and tell me -- which ones do you already focus on? Which ones are “duh” skills? Which ones are you less comfortable teaching? Which ones do you need help with? As always, I love to hear your thoughts! Email me at newmantr@pcsb.org

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Federalism Part 1: That’s a lot of F-words!

So I had jury duty yesterday. I don't know if you've ever made it past the first level in jury selection, but I totally felt like I was on a reality show. Or a weird video game where most people's goal is to NOT move up to the next level.

My whole courtroom experience really made me think of federalism. Courts, of course, come in what sound like logical levels -- county courts, circuit courts, district courts, state Supreme Court... it sounds like Federalism at it’s easiest.


But if federalism were that simple, we wouldn’t all be so confused, right?

So, today is about federalism. And Federal. And Fed(s). And Federalists.  

That’s a lot of F-words!   

Federalism affects us in two ways. First, because of federalism, as a teaching concept. Second because of federalism, as a factor in our jobs. Today, we’re going to talk about the first part. If I can get my thoughts together coherently, we’ll talk about Federalism as a job factor next week. Maybe...

So, you know federalism as a teaching concept. It's something Civics and Government teachers teach explicitly and US History teachers teach implicitly.  And Econ teachers teach it both ways.

Most seventh graders really did poorly on the Progress Monitoring questions about that concept last year. And no wonder! We often talk about federalism in it’s classic, yummy metaphors -- as if it were a layer cake (the national government is "over" the state governments) but also as a marble cake, where both the state and local governments are combined in a lot of different ways.

And then, we smush all our cake all over the table, just to be weird. And confusing. And to add in the other F-words.


Federalism is an f-word for a reason. It’s super-confusing.
Some possible meanings of the words Federal and Fed
  • The confusing relationship between the state and national governments (federal system)
  • Just the national level of government (the federal level)
  • Union Soldiers in the civil War (the Federals)
  • The FBI (Movies often refer  to "the Feds" for the FBI)
  • The Fed is a nickname of the Federal Reserve
  • Street slang calls local police “Feds”
  • Don’t even add in the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists and their accompanying “Papers”.

And we teach kids to figure out words based on root words and word families! But the F-words don’t follow those rules. And they’re pretty big, important concepts in our various courses.

No wonder kids (and adults) get confused! Federalism is complicated.

Help your kids out when you are teaching topics with numerous vocabulary terms and a high probability of confusion. Check out a Semantic Feature Analysis.

A Semantic Feature Analysis is a simple chart. Vocabulary terms are listed vertically and features of those terms are listed horizontally. Students can then make distinctions between the concepts according to particular features or criteria.

All students need to do (if you are preparing the terms and features for them) is put an x or a check in the box when a feature applies to a term.

Bingo. Instant distinctions.



Try this strategy the next time you have words that are confusing. I used to use it for the many different terms for Colonist and British sides in the American Revolution (Tories, Whigs, patriot, loyalist, redcoats, etc.).

After your students become more comfortable with a Semantic Feature Analysis, up their game. In the basic idea that scaffolding is a crutch that is later taken away when kids don’t need it any more, try to decrease your scaffolding by having the kids add the vocab terms or the features/criteria later in the year.

So I sat in a county courtroom with a circuit court judge to talk about whether someone broke a state law -- and honored the 6th Amendment to the national US Constitution of an impartial jury.

Federalism is complicated. But the F-words don’t have to be.

Will you try this out with some confusing terms or concepts? Let me know how it goes! I always want to hear about it! newmantr@pcsb.org