The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching. Robert J. Marzano

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Figure 3.18: Template for a page entry in an academic notebook.

      Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.

       Dramatic Enactments

      For this strategy, students role-play characters or act out scenes, processes, or events. They can also use their bodies to create symbols for concepts such as radius, diameter, and circumference. While dramatic enactments can be highly engaging for students, they can be superficial if handled incorrectly. For example, if students are simply given roles with lines to read from a script, no deeper understanding of the content is taking place. Teachers must budget time in class for students to explain the explicit connections between their enactments and the content they represent. Consider the following tips for effective dramatic enactments.

      • Students must have a strong understanding of the content before performing a dramatic enactment. While students can engage in research and more extensive investigation of a topic before performing a dramatic enactment, if this is a new strategy in the classroom, it may be beneficial to directly teach key information. Creating dramatic enactments can also help clarify and distinguish content for students, but only if they have the requisite background knowledge.

      • Dramatic enactments should engage students’ creativity and critical thinking skills. Dramatic enactments often ask students to reimagine content as something else or create a metaphor between content and movement. This concept might be challenging for students at first, so provide several examples for students to watch or help them map out a plan for their enactment before practicing it. If possible, save recordings of previous years’ enactments or find a similar activity online that students can reference while working on their project.

      • Students should be able to describe the choices they made in their dramatic enactments. Teachers can ask students to write a short summary of why they chose to structure their enactment the way they did or have students explain their reasoning verbally for the class.

      • Dramatic enactments should encourage students to explore different perspectives, cultures, time periods, and characters. Dramatic enactments can be particularly useful to help students put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Teachers can have students create short dramatic enactments that explore unique perspectives and then ask students how the dramatic enactment helped them better understand that perspective.

      • Dramatic enactments should not focus on students’ acting or performance abilities. Not all students will feel comfortable with the idea of performing in front of their peers. Teachers should encourage students to present clearly and confidently but remind them that the enactment is primarily about engaging with the content and learning from their own as well as their classmates’ performances.

       Mnemonic Devices

      A teacher can use mnemonic devices to help students remember, record, and represent critical content. Mnemonic devices often link content to symbols, imagery, or patterns of sound to strengthen the memory of the user. A teacher can lead students in the use of mnemonic devices to encourage their continued engagement with content. Following are examples of mnemonic devices.

      • Acronym mnemonics: Probably the most common acronym mnemonic is ROY G BIV, which represents the spectrum of colors found in the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Students can create their own acronym mnemonic by using the first letters from a series of words to create a new word. Acronym mnemonics can be helpful when trying to remember items that belong to a category or steps in a process or procedure.