Strategies

Anecdotal Records - Anecdotal records are a form of ongoing assessment of observations of student(s) in the classroom. These jot-notes provide the teacher with information as to how the student is processing information, collaborating with students as well as general observations on learning styles, attitudes and behaviour. These records are a valuable form on ongoing assessment - Anecdotal Record Form.

Analogies - Students compare a topic or unit of study to an inanimate object such as comparing something known to the unknown or some inanimate object to the topic.

Blogs - Blogs, short for weblogs, are online journals or diaries that have become popular since the mid 1990's. Bloggers post personal opinions, random thoughts, connections and real life stories in order to interact with others via the Web! Weblinks and photos can also be added to the blog. A learner may choose to have their own blog to record their learning on a specific topic. A group of learners could choose to share a blog and read, write, challenge, debate, validate and build shared knowledge as a group. Check out Blogger.com to set up your own personal or professional blog - develop your digital voice and model for your students.

Boxing - On a large piece of paper, students draw a box in the centre and a smaller box inside the first box. In the outside box, answer 'what do I know?', in the inside box, answer 'what do I want to learn?'. Now in the outside box, write 'what else do I know?' and 'how does it fit?' In the inside box, draw a visual representation to explain the topic. Finally, in the middle of the box, look at all the information and summarize 'what does that say?'

Celebration of Learning - A demonstration where students have the opportunity to share their expertise in several subject areas with other students, teachers and parents. See Best Practice Celebration of Learning to learn more and how to use this approach as student-led conferences.

Graffiti Wall - with colourful markers and large poster paper, have all students creatively design a Graffiti Wall of things they know about a specific topic of study. Students are then encouraged to add to the wall throughout the unit as they gain new knowledge. A colourful way to display what they know and what they have learned.

Graphic Organizers - Graphic organizers, also known as mind maps, are instructional tools used to illustrate prior knowledge. Student sample page. See Best Practice Graphic Organizers

Jigsaw - is a cooperative learning strategy where each student is responsible for learning one piece of the content and sharing in peer groups. See Best Practice Jigsaw.

Journals - Journals can be used to assess for process of learning and student growth. They can be open-ended or the teacher can provide guiding, reflective questions for the students to respond to. These often provide insight on how the students are synthesizing their learning.

KWL Charts - K-what do the students already know? W-what do the students need and want to know? L-what did the students learn? An effective pre-assessment tool but also an effective tool to evaluate the level of understanding. Many teachers use the L part as an open-ended question on an exam allowing the students to share the depth of knowledge that was gained in the unit of study.

Learning Logs - Short, ungraded and unedited, reflective writing in learning logs is a venue to promote genuine consideration of learning activities.

Literature Circles - Literature circles are small, temporary discussion groups who have chosen to read the same story, poem, article or book. See Best Practice Literature Circles

Peer Assessment - Assessment in which one learner, groups of learners or the whole class gives written or verbal feedback to another learner. Peers can use checklists, rubrics or give a written response to peer work.

Portfolios - A portfolio is a representative collection of an individual student's work. A student portfolio is generally composed of best work to date and a few "works in progress" that demonstrate the process. Students show their knowledge, skills and abilities in a variety of different ways that are not dependent upon traditional media such as exams and essays. See Best Practice Portfolios. Multiple Intelligence Portfolios are an effective way for students to understand not how smart they are but how they are smart.

Project-Based Learning - instructional strategy that challenges students to discover answers to their questions through real-world investigation. These are in-depth learning opportunities that motivate students and integrate many curriculum objectives. See Best Practice Project-Based Learning.

Questioning- Questions are a key element in each of the building blocks of constructivism. Categories of questions are guiding, anticipated, clarifying and integrating.

Reflective Journals - Journals can be used to allow students to reflect on their own learning. They can be open-ended or the teacher can provide guiding, reflective questions for the students to respond to. These provide insight on how the students are synthesizing their learning but it also helps the students to make connections and better understand how they learn.

Rubrics - A rubric is "a road map, telling students and teachers where to begin, where they're going, and how to get there." Dr. Kay Burke.
Rubrics are scoring guides or sets of expectations used to assess student level of understanding and allow students to know the expectations and what they need to do in order to be learning at a higher level.
Examples: Graphic Organizer, Canada Collage, Reflection, Student Generated Evaluation Rubric. For more info, see Best Practice Rubrics.

SA/A/D/SD
Students formulate their own views and opinions along a continuum rather than dialectically. Given an issue students are asked to consider the topic and determine whether they strongly agree (SA), agree (A), disagree (d), or strongly disagree (SD) with the statement. They are then asked to move to the appropriate station in the classroom identified with one of the options. A class discussion follows as students are given the opportunity to outline and defend their positions, refute the arguments of others as well as re-evaluate their own ideas. Romeo & Juliet example

Self-assessment - Assessment in which a learner reflects on their own learning and evaluates specific criteria in order to assess their learning. Teachers may provide checklists, rubrics or provide open-ended questions to guide the student in their self-assessment.

Simulations - The use of role playing by the actors during the operation of a comparatively complex symbolic model of an actual of hypothetical social process; usually includes gaming and may be all-man, man-computer, or all-computer operations.

Squaring Off - Place a card in each corner of the room with the following phrases: Dirt Road, Paved Road, Highway and Yellow Brick Road. Instruct the students to go to the corner of the room that matches where they are in the new unit of study. Students go to the corner of the room and as a group, discuss what they know about the topic.

Synectics - Using metaphors and analogy to increase the understandings of students about a particular topic or issue. They develop student's ability to think creatively because it can deliberately forces strange things together to form uncommon connections. See Best Practice Synectics

T-charts - A simple t is drawn and students jot down information relating to a topic in two different columns .

Think-Pair-Share - Think-pair-share allows students to share and reflect on their ideas or answers with a partner before sharing with the large group. A question is posed and the students are give a few minutes to think independently about their responses. Students then partner with a peer and discuss responses or ideas to the question or problem posed.

Turn & Talk- During a lesson, there may be opportunities to have the students do a turn & talk activity for a few minutes. This allows students to talk about the information presented or shared and to clarify thoughts or questions. This is an effective alternate strategy to asking questions to the whole group and having the same students responding. All students have a chance to talk in a non-threatening situation for a short period of time.

Venn Diagrams - Graphic organizer that is made with 2 intersecting circles and is used to compare and contrast. Using this tool, students identify what is different about 2 topics and identify the overlap between the two topics in the shared shared area.

Yes/No Cards - Students make a card with Yes (or Got It) on one side, No (No clue) on the opposite side. Teachers ask an introductory or review question. Students who know the answer hold up the Yes card, if they don't know the answer they hold the No card. This is very effective to use when introducing vocabulary words that students need as a knowledge base for a specific unit of study.