Zoom In- Claymation
Little Boy Blue
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn!
Little Boy Blue
The sheep's in the meadow
Little Boy Blue
The cow's in the corn
But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
Little Boy Blue
He's under the haystack fast asleep!
What's the Big Idea?
Modeling is something that I understand. As teachers, we are always told to model for our students. How can we expect them to perform an activity unless we show them how to do it? Students need to see what the finished product is that we expect. They need to see the process that leads to that finished product.
Root-Bernstein and Root Bernstein state, “In almost all cases, the point of a model is to make accessible something that is difficult to experience easily” (229). For my students, learning is something that is difficult to experience easily. I always have to model for them how to learn a concept. It is never easy enough to tell them what to do, I have to show them. I have to show them how to learn a mathematical concept or create a sentence using proper English. My day is filled with modeling. Modeling helps us to gain mastery of concepts (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein, 240).
I also believe that modeling is a great assessment tool. My students can show me their understanding of a concept. Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein agree that “out of modeling come understanding and control” (243). I can ask my students to demonstrate their understanding of a story by creating a diorama of a certain scene or glean their understanding of an animal cell by observing their model. Students enjoy it when their learning is hands-on, so we all win when students are asked to model.
Dimensional thinking is a concept that I have a more difficult time understanding. I will admit that I am not a very good dimensional thinker. I am not able to figure out puzzles like the matchstick puzzles. I think that my way of thinking needs to be more flat and more concrete. If I expect my students to be dimensional thinkers, I need to better develop this skill as well.
Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein point out that “you have to be prepared to think about things differently” (216). Here is where much of my problem lies. I do not know how to prepare myself to think differently. I appreciate change, but I often find myself set when it comes to how I think. I am not much of a rule breaker.
I am expected to teach my students dimensional thinking mostly in the area of mathematics. We scale things up and down as we learn size ratios. Every year, I have to review scaling before I can teach it to my students. However, when it comes to recipes, I can use dimensional thinking without any difficulties. I guess I am more used to cooking in my everyday life and rarely find the opportunity to change the sizes of various objects.
Admittedly, I do still understand modeling more than dimensional thinking. However, I also have a new found deeper understanding of how they work together. I can create models although if I had to make the model bigger or smaller I would possibly run into difficulties. As I work on dimensional thinking with my students I may find more opportunities for them to teach me.
Root-Bernstein and Root Bernstein state, “In almost all cases, the point of a model is to make accessible something that is difficult to experience easily” (229). For my students, learning is something that is difficult to experience easily. I always have to model for them how to learn a concept. It is never easy enough to tell them what to do, I have to show them. I have to show them how to learn a mathematical concept or create a sentence using proper English. My day is filled with modeling. Modeling helps us to gain mastery of concepts (Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein, 240).
I also believe that modeling is a great assessment tool. My students can show me their understanding of a concept. Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein agree that “out of modeling come understanding and control” (243). I can ask my students to demonstrate their understanding of a story by creating a diorama of a certain scene or glean their understanding of an animal cell by observing their model. Students enjoy it when their learning is hands-on, so we all win when students are asked to model.
Dimensional thinking is a concept that I have a more difficult time understanding. I will admit that I am not a very good dimensional thinker. I am not able to figure out puzzles like the matchstick puzzles. I think that my way of thinking needs to be more flat and more concrete. If I expect my students to be dimensional thinkers, I need to better develop this skill as well.
Root-Bernstein and Root-Bernstein point out that “you have to be prepared to think about things differently” (216). Here is where much of my problem lies. I do not know how to prepare myself to think differently. I appreciate change, but I often find myself set when it comes to how I think. I am not much of a rule breaker.
I am expected to teach my students dimensional thinking mostly in the area of mathematics. We scale things up and down as we learn size ratios. Every year, I have to review scaling before I can teach it to my students. However, when it comes to recipes, I can use dimensional thinking without any difficulties. I guess I am more used to cooking in my everyday life and rarely find the opportunity to change the sizes of various objects.
Admittedly, I do still understand modeling more than dimensional thinking. However, I also have a new found deeper understanding of how they work together. I can create models although if I had to make the model bigger or smaller I would possibly run into difficulties. As I work on dimensional thinking with my students I may find more opportunities for them to teach me.
How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count The Ways...
When teaching children about the language and structure of a sentence, it’s important to start with one element of it, such as verbs. In each sentence, the verb changes, thus making the sentence change in time and space. If we look at the sentence as a whole, young students have a hard time making sense of what it really means. But if we, "zoom in and out" of the three sentences, we can see how the verb changes in time and space.
Here are examples of a model that would already be used in my classroom.
The girl is jumping.
The girl will jump.
The girl jumped.
When teaching students about the verb in each sentence, the model begins to change. First we identify the verb-to jump. Then we break each sentence up by identifying the meaning of it. How does the sentence change, as the tense of the verb changes?
The girl is jumping. She is jumping right now.
The girl will jump. She is going to jump in the future, maybe tomorrow.
The girl jumped. She has stopped jumping.
The verb here changes in time and space, from past, present, to future.
To create a physical representation of this, it could be done in a number of ways. First, I would have my students physically model each sentence. First we would talk about what we are going to do (jump), and how that sentence and word relate to what we’re about to do. We would jump to demonstrate the present tense. Then when we were done, we would talk about what we just did, in terms of the verb.
I would give my students a play person (doll, stuffed animal, ect) and they would be required to show them doing an action (jump, run, swim, sing, ect). We would practice showing our "people" doing these different things in the past, present, and future. Students would then draw pictures and write a sentence to show how the verb changes, using a pictorial model.
Another element, especially for older students, would be to have the student create a diorama. Students take their drawings and use clay to interpret them into a 3-D format. The box will be divided into three sections (past, present, future). The students will design their diorama to depict the three different time periods.
Here are examples of a model that would already be used in my classroom.
The girl is jumping.
The girl will jump.
The girl jumped.
When teaching students about the verb in each sentence, the model begins to change. First we identify the verb-to jump. Then we break each sentence up by identifying the meaning of it. How does the sentence change, as the tense of the verb changes?
The girl is jumping. She is jumping right now.
The girl will jump. She is going to jump in the future, maybe tomorrow.
The girl jumped. She has stopped jumping.
The verb here changes in time and space, from past, present, to future.
To create a physical representation of this, it could be done in a number of ways. First, I would have my students physically model each sentence. First we would talk about what we are going to do (jump), and how that sentence and word relate to what we’re about to do. We would jump to demonstrate the present tense. Then when we were done, we would talk about what we just did, in terms of the verb.
I would give my students a play person (doll, stuffed animal, ect) and they would be required to show them doing an action (jump, run, swim, sing, ect). We would practice showing our "people" doing these different things in the past, present, and future. Students would then draw pictures and write a sentence to show how the verb changes, using a pictorial model.
Another element, especially for older students, would be to have the student create a diorama. Students take their drawings and use clay to interpret them into a 3-D format. The box will be divided into three sections (past, present, future). The students will design their diorama to depict the three different time periods.