Digital and Technological Fluency

Communication

Social, Cultural, Global and Environmental Responsibility

Creativity and Innovation

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

Collaboration and Leadership

Lifelong Learning, Personal Management and Well-Being

Learning Outcomes:

•Students will determine the elements of

how a “constructivist classroom” can

engage today’s learners

•Students will decide on the big question

for their independent project and begin

“backwards by design” planning by

creating a project proposal

•Students will define the concept of service

learning and will compare/contrast the

essential ingredients of service learning

Topic #4: I Did it “My Way”: The Constructivist Approach to Learning

Why Constructivism? Why Change?

Key Concepts: Integrated Curriculum, Active & Interactive Curriculum, Constructivism, Traditionalism, Progressivism, Service Learning, Academic VocabularyKey Academic Vocabulary/Instructional Strategies: Concept Formation, Concept Attainment

Concept Attainment &Concept Formation

• Beyond Monet, Chapter 8 and 9

Concept Formation: Similarities and Differences

Concept Attainment: What is a Geodd?

KEY CONCEPT #1:

Academic Vocabulary

• Academic vocabulary is the vocabulary ________________________________________________________________________________________ in schools.

• In identifying academic vocabulary for instruction teachers must remember that not all terms are of equal importance.

– Some terms are critically important. – Some terms are useful but not critical. – Some terms are interesting but not useful.

What is Academic Vocabulary?

• One of the most critical services a teacher can provide, particularly for students who do not come from academically advantaged backgrounds, is systematic instruction in important academic terms (Marzano and Pickering, 2005).

• Remember, the same student placing at the 50th percentile in reading comprehension, with no direct vocabulary instruction, placed at the 83rd percentile when provided specific instruction in academic vocabulary (Stahl and Fairbanks, 1986).

Why Teach Academic Vocabulary?

• Academic vocabulary is the vocabulary critical to understanding the concepts of the content taught in schools.

What is Academic Vocabulary?

KEY CONCEPT #2:

CONSTRUCTIVISM

Constructivists Believe…

• Knowledge is socially constructed

• All knowledge has an experiential base

• “New” knowledge must be linked to “old” knowledge

• People learn in multiple ways

• People organize knowledge hierarchically

• Meaningful learning has felt significance

• Thinking, feeling and acting are connected

Project-based Learning Inquiry Learning

Problem-based Learning Service Learning

Self-directed Learning Differentiated Learning

Passion-based Learning Personalized Learning

Constructivism in Instructional StrategiesWhere do students “construct” their own meanings?

Where do students “direct” their own learning?

Cooperative LearningJigsaw/Community Circle/Task Rotation

Advance OrganizersGraphic OrganizersComplex OrganizersVisual Organizers

Non-linguistic representations Drawing and Artwork/VisualsVisual Representations/Mind MapsMind’s Eye

Summarizing and Note-takingSummarizing and Note-makingPlace Matt, Fish Bone, etc.Window Notes/New American Lecture/Direct Instruction

MARZANO

TATE

BENNETT

Academic GamesMovement/Games/Role Play/DramaActive Participation/Role-playingTeams/Games/Tournaments

Friendly ControversyDebates/Problem Based LearningAcademic ControversyMystery/Inductive Learning/Decision Making

SILVER Similarities/DifferencesSimile/MetaphorsEBS/PMI/Inductive Thinking/ de Bono’s Thinking HatsCompare and Contrast/ Concept Attainment/MetaphorPattern Maker

Constructivism, Active Learning, and Integration:

Is there a connection?

KEY CONCEPT #3:

Active/Interactive Curriculum

What does Active/Interactive Curriculum Look Like?

• simulation games, debates and role playing

• field trips and guest speakers

• project-based learning

• research (internet, surveys, interviews, etc.)

• cooperative learning

• reflective journals, self-evaluations, etc.

• multi-media presentations, fairs, and showcases

• Technology (blogs, social networking, web 2.0 tools, etc.)

KEY CONCEPT #4:

Integrated Curriculum

What does Integration Look Like?

• planning around 4-6 week themes in core subjects (e.g. Mystery Unit)

• various levels and kinds of integration• planning together across subjects

(interdisciplinary team planning), and sometimes across grades

• combines textbook-based learning with resource-based learning (e.g. guest speakers, field trips, internet, etc.)

• centered on current topics of student interest (e.g. Harry Potter, Mission to Mars, The Hobbit, Climate Change, etc.)

• Connected to learning outcomes from various subjects within chosen grade level

• Examples of Integration (e.g. Camp Skagway, Titanic Tournament, Heroes & Villains of Russia)

Benefits of Curriculum IntegrationBenefits to Kids

• increases relevance

• comprehensive & consistent

• holds the kids interest

• choices increase motivation

• gets kids out into the community

• relevant and meaningful

• concentrated time for in-depth examinations

• supports how the brain learns best with “novel” experiences

Benefits to Teachers:

• easier subject transitions

• teachers can share new ideas

• support is available from other teachers, staff, adults

• teachers can learn new things

• positive experiences from students is very rewarding

• more fun

• get to work with new people

Issues surrounding Integration

• time to co-plan• team leadership for planning• time to cover the curriculum• timing for closure across subjects• teacher effort and commitment to the

process• making the connections between subjects• integrating the complementary areas (e.g.

options)• topics can be teacher driven• new teachers preparation for integration• integration across grades• kids don’t always see the big picture• finding the money for field trips, fairs, games,

and guest speakers

Integrated Unit Plan

The Entry Event:How will you “hook & hold” the students?

Culminating Projects

21st CenturyCompetencies

How will you assess the curricular learning outcomes and the cross-curricular competencies?

Culminating Activities

Titanic TournamentSurvival Kits

Brazilian Carnival

Examples of Integration*• Parallel Disciplines Design

When the curriculum is designed in parallel fashion, teachers sequence their lessons to correspond to lessons in the same area in other disciplines. For example, if the social studies teacher teaches a World War II unit in the beginning of the spring semester, then the English teacher will reschedule her autumn book, Summer of My German Soldier, to coincide with the social studies unit. The content itself does not change, only the order in which it appears. The goal is a simultaneous effect as students relate the studies in one subject with the others. Teachers working in a parallel fashion are not deliberately connecting curriculum across fields of knowledge; they are simply re-sequencing their existing curriculum in the hopes that students will find the implicit linkages.

*Source: Jacobs H. H., ed. (1989). Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation (pp. 14-18). Alexandria, VA:

ASCD

Examples of Integration• Interdisciplinary Design

In this design, periodic units or courses of study deliberately bring together the full range of disciplines in the school’s curriculum: language arts, math, social studies, and science, and the arts, music, and physical education. The main point is that designers attempt to use a full array of discipline-based perspectives. The units are of specific duration: a few days, a few weeks, or a semester. This option does not purport to replace the discipline-field approach; rather, they are mutually supportive.

Examples of Integration• Multidisciplinary Design

The multidisciplinary option suggests that certain related disciplines be brought together in a formal unit or course to investigate a theme or issue. It is different from parallel teaching, where the focus stays on the prescribed scope and sequence of each discipline. A good analogy is a colour wheel and the notion of complimentary colours. Just as groups of colours compliment one another, certain disciplines are directly related to one another, such as the humanities. Of course, it is possible to design a course that brings together two disciplines of seemingly different characters – as long as the questions shed light on and compliment one another (as in a course on “Ethics in Science”).

Examples of Integration• Integrated-Day Design (Single Grade, Whole School)

This mode is based primarily on themes and problems emerging from the child’s world. The emphasis is on an organic approach to classroom life that focuses the curriculum on the child’s questions and interests rather that on content determined by a school or state syllabus. The approach originated in the British Infant School movement in the ‘60s and is most commonly seen in the United States in preschools and kindergarten programs.

Examples of Integration• Field-Based Program

This approach is the most extreme form of interdisciplinary work. Students live in the school environment and create the curriculum out of their day-to-day lives. Perhaps A.S. Neil’s Summerhill is the most widely know example of such an approach. Students who are interested in the buildings on campus might study architecture. If there were a conflict between students concerning ways to behave in the school, they could study rules of government. This is a totally integrated program because the student’s life is synonymous with school.

Planning to Integrate

Science 7: Interactions and Ecosytems

Social 7: Toward Confederation

Math 7: Statistics and Probability – Data Analysis

Language Arts 7: Students will listen, speak, read, write, view and represent to manage ideas and information

Shifting “Curricular” Paradigms

Traditionalism Progressivism

1. Where do you put “constructivism” and “behaviorism”?2. Where would you put “junior high philosophy” and “middle school

philosophy?3. Where would you put “teacher directed curriculum” and “student

directed curriculum”?4. What have been the patterns in Canada’s history?5. Where are we in Alberta? The rest of the World? Where are “YOU”?6. Thinking Differently for the Future: Sir Ken Robinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U