The Strategy Toolbox

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The Strategy Toolbox

• By Velda Schneider

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Multiple Strategies

• Research-Based New Strategies
• Best Practices
• Original Strategies

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Research-Based New Strategies

• Concept Poster Chat
• Semantic Webbing/Mapping
• Jigsaw Summary
• Character Report Card
• Cause and Effect Timeline
• Thieves
• Think-Pair-Share.
• Matrices
• Frayer Model

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Concept/Poster Chat(Stone, 1983)

• What is it? A teacher presentation using a large
  poster to explain concepts being learned from the
  text.
• Why use it? Its a powerful way to build
  background knowledge and vocabulary.
• How does it work? Decide the key concepts in a
  lesson and draw those key concepts onto posters.
  (Examples timelines, diagrams, cause and effect
  charts, maps and scenes.)
• back

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Semantic Webbing/Mapping

• What is it? It is an organizer that has a key
  concept or central/main idea with other
  supporting ideas/concepts linked or drawn off of
  it.
• Why use it? To help students organize information
  in a hierarchy format.
• How does it work? Start with a main concept such
  as Grammar, and form concepts off of that
  adjectives, nouns, pronouns and off of pronouns
  demonstrative pronouns, relative pronouns, etc.
• back

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Jigsaw Summary(Aronson, 1978)

• What is it? Students in one group become experts
  on the text that they are studying and the
  experts then teach that text to a different
  group.
• Why use it? Jigsaw groups help students find ways
  to build summarizing habits while teaching them
  to communicate meaningful messages to other
  students.
• How does it work? The text gets divided up into
  three to five sections. The students are given a
  study guide that they must use to summarize their
  portion of the text. Each student has a number or
  letter assigned and those experts must share
  with other groups and then report back to each
  other to piece together all that they have
  learned.
• back

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Character Report Card

• What is it? This is an activity in which the
  students get to grade the characters in a book or
  chapter on certain traits or qualities.
• Why use it? It develops a good evaluation of
  thinking skills and helps them find evidence for
  their choices.
• How does it work? Choose a story and decide which
  characters to evaluate. Brainstorm a list of
  traits. Write down the characters and the lists.
  Generate a grading system and have students grade
  each character based on the traits and how they
  feel about that character. Students can
  agree/disagree in pairs or groups as they come to
  a consensus on each character.
• back

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Cause and Effect Timeline

• What is it? It is a graphic organizer timeline
  that asks students to not only determine the
  sequence of events in a story or historical
  account but also to establish or infer the causes
  of those events.
• Why use it? This helps students to organize
  information and infer and predict why it happened
  during a certain time period and what made it
  happen.
• How does it work? Make one long timeline and on
  divide the area in half and put What happened? or
  events on top and why or causes on the bottom of
  the organizer. Each cause needs to be supported
  with evidence.
• back

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Thieves(Manz, 2002)

• What is it? Its an acronym that helps students
  go through all the necessary prereading steps
  before beginning a textbook chapter. They first
  look at titles, headings, introductions, etc.
• Why use it? It helps students understand
  difficult texts better and its a way to get
  students to build extensive knowledge of the
  text even before they read the first words of a
  chapter.
• How does it work? Tell the students about
  Thieves and how we want to steal as much
  information as possible before reading a chapter.
  Model how to go through each of the prereading
  strategies, have the students try it with a
  partner and then go through the chapter as a
  group.
• back

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Think-Pair-Share

• What is it? It is a quick verbal interaction
  between two to three students that allows them to
  quickly process the academic language and content
  being learned.
• Why use it? TPS can be a background knowledge
  activity, it also can be effective as a break
  during teacher lectures to help push students to
  organize thoughts well enough to communicate
  them.
• How does it work? Create a question or prompt
  that will get students to use their background
  knowledge and experience to answer it. Students
  need to think in silence and write thoughts down
  and then students need to work in pairs staying
  on topic and discussing it. Then students need to
  share with the class what their partner said.
• back

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Matrices(adaptation of semantic feature analysis
by Johnson Pearson, 1984)

• What is it? It is a chart that lets students
  organize various categories of information
  according to different variables that are placed
  in columns and rows.
• Why use it? Its an effective way to get students
  to analyze ideas, reduce information to the
  minimum, and then rebuild it in their own words.
• How does it work? Exam text and decide on
  categories in the left-hand column and
  variables/adjectives across the top row. Model
  some examples that could be filled in the chart.
  Find evidence to support it. Have students finish
  up the matrix on their own or with a partner.
  Share all ideas and an overall conclusion at the
  end of class.
• back

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Frayer Model(Frayer, Frederick, Klausmeier,
1969)

• What is it? It is a word category activity that
  shows relationships between words to help
  students understand words.
• Why use it? Students will learn how to analyze a
  words essential and nonessential attributes and
  help them refine their understanding by choosing
  examples and non-examples of the word or concept.
  (Its like 4 square)
• How does it work? Teacher will assign a concept
  or word being studied. Explain the Frayer Model.
  Use a word/concept and have students work in
  pairs completing the model and share them with
  the class.
• Back
  Next to Best Practices

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Best Practices

• Quickwrites
• KWL
• Story Map
• Venn Diagram
• Graphic Organizers
• SQ3R
• Think-Alouds
• Pairs Read
• Sensory Imagery
• Structured Note-Taking

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Quickwrites

• What is it? Its a style of writing that requires
  students to reach inside his/her mind and pull
  out something related to a prompt in order to put
  it on paperl. They are informal styles of
  writing.
• Why use it? This is a quick way to jump-start
  students into brainstorming ideas when they might
  not want to share with everyone else.
• How does it work? Give students a quick
  prompt/question. Have students write down what
  comes to mind. They need to recall prior
  knowledge to start forming ideas. Might have to
  modify prompts to get all students involved. They
  could be a journal entry.
• back

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KWL(Ogle, 1986)

• What is it? It is a three column organizer that
  we can write down information on what we KNOW,
  WANT to know, and what we have LEARNED from text.
• Why use it? To teaches students to connect
  background knowledge, and helps develop habits of
  summarizing, questioning, predicting, inferring,
  and figuring out word meanings.
• How does it work? Create 3 columns on the board
  or a worksheet. Ask students What they know,
  and have them fill in the first column. Next ask
  them what they want to know and have them fill
  this in the 2nd column and then have students
  read the text. Lastly, have students write what
  they learned in the final column.
• back

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Story Map(Buehl, 2001 Johns Berglund, 2001)

• What is it? It is a story map that shows the
  important elements of a narrative text.
• Why use it? It helps students organize
  information into an outline of important events,
  with supporting events leading up to the climax.
• How does it work? Model how to fill in a story
  map. Next fill in the characters names, and put
  the key word elements around this. Then the
  setting, conflicts, important/sequenced events,
  climax and resolution. Next discuss ending
  events, changes, and the message or lesson and
  then students can do this with additional texts
  on their own or in groups.
• back

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Venn Diagram

• What is it? It is a diagram that requires the
  learner to compare and contrast two items being
  studied.
• Why use it? It is used to teach students how to
  compare and contrast brainstorming ideas to write
  compare/contrast papers and to understand
  differences and similarities in topics that they
  might be studying or writing about.
• How does it work? Draw 2 interconnecting circles.
  Above each circle right the topic. Explain the
  compare and contrast and now have students read
  the story. Fill in the diagram and discuss it.
• back

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Graphic Organizers

• What is it? A graphic organizer is a visual
  representation of facts and concepts and the
  relationships that link them together.
• Why use it? They help students to represent
  abstract ideas in more concrete forms, show
  relationships between among facts and concepts,
  organize ideas, and store and recall information.
  
• How does it work? Explain the graphic organizer
  and introduce a specific one. Explain and model
  an organizer and then let students organize
  familiar material in the organizer.
• back

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SQ3R(Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and
Review-Robinson, 1961)

• What is it? It is a study strategy because it
  engages students during each phase of the reading
  process.
• Why use it? This helps students generate
  questions, while reading which helps them to
  remember text so that they can share information
  and review what they read.
• How does it work? Students preview material and
  survey what they are reading, generate questions,
  read actively, recite answers and what they have
  learned and review their information.
• back

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Think-alouds(Davey, 1983)

• What is it? The teacher models her thinking
  process by verbalizing her thoughts as she reads,
  processes information, or performs certain tasks
  while reading text and trying to understand it.
• Why use it? It helps students understand the kind
  of thinking that needs to be done for a specific
  task.
• How does it work? Teacher explains that reading
  is a complex process. Selects a passage and reads
  aloud explaining things and words. Develops
  questions along the way.
• back

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Pairs Read

• What is it? A strategy that requires
  collaborative learning as students read and
  digest text.
• Why use it? This helps students increase their
  knowledge and understanding of the text by
  reading the text aloud to each other.
• How does it work? Select a passage for the
  students to read. Pair up students. Students read
  aloud to one another. The listener is the coach
  and summarizes what they hear. Then the roles are
  reversed and this is done through the entire
  passage.
• back

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Sensory Imagery

• What is it? Comprehension, recall, and retention
  can be enhanced through sensory imaging while
  reading.
• Why use it? Creating sensory imaging skills can
  help stimulate interest in reading and learning
  for students.
• How does it work? A text passage is selected that
  contains sensory details. Students need to
  imagine the scene and keep prompting students
  with images as a teacher reads aloud to them. Ask
  questions about images. Ask students what they
  have discovered by using their imagination while
  reading.
• back

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Structured-Note Taking(Smith Tompkins, 1988)

• What is it? Its a method that helps students
  take notes more effectively.
• Why use it? This is suppose to help assist
  students in better recall and retention of
  information.
• How does it work? Show students different
  organizational patterns that authors will use.
  Understanding patterns will help provide a
  structure in note-taking. Assign a passage.
  Provide each student with a graphic organizer.
  They can share their work with a partner.
• Back Next to
  Original Strategies

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Original Strategies(Self-created by Velda
Schneider)

• Toss-the-Ball
• Marker Share
• Inspiration Concept Maps
• Sticky Notes/Story Elements
• Back in Time-Play Writing/Reading
• Acting Out/Groups Share

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Toss-the-Ball

• What is it? It is a game of tossing a ball from
  one student to the next as they share key
  elements of short stories or other reading
  elements.
• Why use it? It gets students actively engaged and
  opens them up to guessing and not being afraid to
  guess and participate.
• How does it work? The teacher throws a ball to a
  student and the student shares something or an
  element about a story and then tosses it to
  another student. There is no right or wrong
  answer, everyone just needs to participate. It is
  a great ice-breaker and fun interactive activity.
  Students really enjoy it.
• back

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Marker Share

• What is it? It is a game where students gently
  toss a marker and share ideas about a story and
  right them on the board.
• Why use it? Its a creative way for students to
  pass a marker and share their thoughts on the
  board. It gets students to participate and they
  are very engaged.
• How does it work? The instructor writes some
  notes or points about a story and passes the
  marker to a student and they share a point either
  verbally or up at the board.
• back

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Inspiration Concept Maps

• What is it? It is a map that students create in
  Inspiration starting with a key concept/idea and
  branching out from that.
• Why use it? This helps students organize
  ideas/concepts and map out or categorize other
  information to fit under the first idea and they
  keep building on the original idea. It helps
  clarify and evaluate information.
• How does it work? Students will use Inspiration
  or Kidspiration and create concept maps/graphic
  organizers based on one main concept/idea and
  this keeps building as other areas are mapped off
  of the original idea/concept.
• back

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Sticky Notes/Story Elements

• What is it? Students will use sticky notes to
  write down new vocabulary/elements/questions that
  they might have in their text as they read the
  story.
• Why use it? It helps students understand context
  clues, text passages, and the stories that they
  are reading. It actively engages students.
• How does it work? Students can write down
  anything that they have a question on in their
  text and put it on that page in their book. Then
  as a class we take a story one page at a time and
  go through the sticky notes and write things up
  on the board to clarify what the students did or
  did not know.
• back

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Back in Time-Play Writing/Reading

• What is it? My students take a historical event
  in a story and go back in time and change its
  outcome and then rewrite the story or play.
• Why use it? Students get to make up their own
  creative endings and write stories which gives
  them ownership into their creativity.
• How does it work? As a class we will read a story
  or play with a true historical event in it and we
  will rewrite the historical event (example the
  assassination of Abraham Lincoln) and try to stop
  it and change it and then write how history would
  be changed because of the incident not happening
  or because it was changed. (If doing a play, my
  students will rewrite the event and changes after
  the event and then act it out up on stage and I
  will record it and students can edit the videos.
• back

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Acting Out-Group Share

• What is it? Students will read a story aloud and
  act out parts or scenes.
• Why use it? It helps students identify with the
  characters and understand how the characters in
  the story think and feel about their role in the
  story.
• How does it work? Students will read a story
  aloud in front of class and act out some of the
  scenes or situations. This can be done in small
  groups to make students feel more comfortable.
• Back Next to final slide

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Summary of Strategies

• I will be able to use and explain all of these
  different strategies to my students as the year
  goes along by sharing these slides and hyperlinks
  with them. Some strategies are research-based,
  some I have tried before and are among my
  favorites, and some are my own creations or
  modified creations. I look forward to sharing the
  different strategies that I have learned with my
  students in the upcoming school year.