Challenging and Rebuilding Mental Models - Conceptual Models

My students study the road while traveling to the YMCA for swimming lessons. 

Why?

Because they have studied the route, back in the classroom, on Google Earth and are working on their mental map models!

Sometimes we have to break something in order to fix it. When someone visits a doctor for a nose injury, there is a good possibility that their nose will need to be broken again as part of the treatment.

As teachers, we must often go through the process of breaking through the misconceptions and incorrect models that our students have built, in their minds, around an academic concept. These are called mental models. And, we all have them!

What I'm calling a mental model is the representation, or picture, seen, and sometimes "felt," in the mind, when thinking abstractly. For example, the picture you see in your mind when you think about a year divided into months. Is it a line? A circle? A calendar? 

Mental models begin to develop early on in our lives and we test and correct them from then on. By the time my students get to my room, they have all kinds of models that they are using. Many are correct, but some are flawed and can cause problems when learning new concepts. 

Shari's Nerd Corner:

You might be surprised to know that everyone has a slightly different model. What I perceive may not be what you do.

I asked a friend what her model looks like (Yes, I’m nerdy like that!). It took her a minute to understand what I meant but when I asked her to show me where we are right now, (April), she looked down at the place she would put April and pointed at the space in front of her. She described a linear representation that looked like a timeline that repeated every year. When her eyes focused on the space in front of her, I knew she was experiencing what I do. The model is more than a picture. It's an invisible object that she can move and refer to in her mind. 

I suppose my tendency to drift into my Intra-personal Intelligence (Gardner) makes me more aware of these models floating around in my head, but I can't help but notice them! I've been surprised that most people I have asked about their model of a calendar year have taken the time to look and describe it to me. 

The model of a year that I see in my mind looks something like a Ferris Wheel that I travel around during the year. I move counter-clockwise around the wheel as the year goes by. Winter is at the top and summer is at the bottom but don’t ask me for details because the actual visual is a little vague. 

When I mentioned this idea to my sisters last month, one described my model in nearly every detail, which really surprised me, and the other described a timeline model with months in a row. My son describes his as a pie chart. 

What DOES your model look like?

Resources for Project: Uncle Reuben

Project: Uncle Reuben begins in two weeks! I'll be posting resources as I find them on this post.
Uncle Reuben was born in 1903 and traveled the U.S. from 1925-1935. At some point I will move this information to its own page but for now, I will add to it from here.

Music for Reading Fluency Practice:

• This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
•  How about the Charleston (they could learn the dance, too)
• California, Here I Come (written in 1921)
• Happy Days are Here Again
• The Entertainer (ragtime)

Manufacturing Memory - American Popular Music in the 1930's

I now have The Uncle Reuben Project on it's own blog site.
Click here to look - http://unclereubenproject.blogspot.com/ 

Pondering and Inquiring

The easiest way to get young students used to asking their own inquiry questions is to practice two types of statements. 

1. I noticed...
2. I wonder...

I use these strategies often to help develop the art of questioning to further learning. Bringing in realia, for students to see and feel, makes this process even easier. The statements generated by students push learning further for everyone and can be used during the rest of a unit to tie everything together.

I use inquiry with realia, interesting pictures, reading passages, and informational text.

Below is an article I wrote after visiting Adena's 1st grade classroom. She kept her students wondering, noticing, and learning throughout her unit on pumpkins!

Pondering Pumpkins

It’s a Tuesday afternoon in October and 17 first graders sit on the carpet listening to Mrs. Connelly read from a book called, A Day at the Pumpkin Patch, by Megan Faulkner. Next to her rocking chair is a chart stand with a large piece of paper on it. The paper is covered with sticky notes arranged in groups. Two pumpkins sit on a table; a large one with a stem and a smaller one that is too small for a carved face. She pauses in her reading to refer to a sticky note. “I think this page might have answered one of the questions we had about our class pumpkins last week,” she says.  Then she reads from one of the notes, “I wonder why one is bigger than the other one?” Several hands pop up as a little girl infers that their smaller pumpkin is a “pie” pumpkin. Other students nod, and then, Mrs. Connelly reads on. She stops several more times to think aloud or ask questions. One little girl asks if they can make a pie with their little pumpkin. A boy raises his hand and announces that he wants to plant the seeds and grow more pumpkins in his backyard. A girl volunteers that the word “related” must mean that gourds are kind of like pumpkins.

This isn’t the first day this class has been wondering about pumpkins. Last week, when the two pumpkins arrived in the classroom, the questions and “I wonder” statements flew about the room. Each question was carefully recorded on sticky notes and the class sorted them into groups of questions that might belong together.  They had been reviewing their chart a few minutes before beginning the book so their thinking was current and their minds were looking for answers. As they started the book, Mrs. Connelly had reminded them that they were continuing their research and that is their attitude as they delved into the topic.

 

After finishing the book, the students return to their desks amid conversations with each other about pumpkins at their house or a trip they have taken to a pumpkin patch. They pull out and open their pumpkin journals, which are decorated with colorful pictures of first grade pumpkins. On the inside of each one is bright orange paper on which to write their wonderings and learning. Today, they are beginning their sentences with, “I learned…”

I spend some time visiting with some students about pumpkins as they share with me what they have learned. As I leave the room, I take with me some words I don’t usually hear in a first grade room. Slimy seeds inside the ribbed fruit, tendrils curling around vines, peduncles on top of pumpkins…

The Importance of Knowing Your Plants

Journey spotted this trouble making plant last summer in Missouri. I snapped the shot in hopes that it will prevent my 2nd graders from making the same mistake my former students did a few years ago...

I teach my students about plants by using wild ones that we find on the playground. Some people may call them weeds but they are readily available, free, have the same parts as any other plant, and are more interesting than you would ever believe!

That highly engaged class, nearly 20 years ago, was just learning to identify the plants on our school grounds. We were out on the playground doing a little exploring and picking out the plants we remembered when Jason came running up to me. Before I realized what was happening, he had shoved a large, bushy plant into my hand, saying, "Teacher! What is this?" I looked down out at a plant I was certain hadn't been on the playground. Within a couple of sinking seconds I had noticed the shapes and numbers of the leaves and realized what I was holding. "Jason, this is poison ivy. Where did you find it?" Jason pointed to a chain-link fence on the perimeter of the grounds. He had somehow pulled it out of a neighboring yard and through the fence!

After disposing of the plant over a wood fence into an empty lot, we all headed into the school. Not knowing who else had come in contact with it, we all washed our hands and arms with cold water and detergent and I hoped that Jason and I had been the only ones with direct contact.

We were all very lucky that spring; all but poor Jason. He was out with a severe case of poison ivy for two weeks. I had checked the school grounds over very well but had missed what was growing in the neighbor's yard.

Now, the first lesson of my plant unit is about the dangers they may encounter as we explore the grounds. We look at pictures and sketch the leaves of poisonous plants. It's actually a very intriguing way to start a unit and they all learn what they should do if they find themselves in Jason's shoes.

I also remind them not to put plants in their mouths. We never know whether or not the plants have been sprayed with herbicide or other dangerous chemicals. Allergies can also be a concern in some cases.

Using Popular Music to Improve Reading Fluency

I traveled to New York City a few months ago and was given a
children’s book by Billy Joel called, “New York State of Mind.” Yes,
it’s the lyrics to his famous song, illustrated with city scenes and two
cute dogs that meet in New York. I didn’t think much about it at the
time but when I got to my classroom, I decided to put the CD in and show
it to my students. They immediately fell in love with the song! Day
after day they would beg for that book.
I gave them their own copy of the lyrics, from the internet, and then
began looking for other music that might engage their minds and hearts
like that song had. Friends helped me come up with lists of songs with
the same rich sound and interesting lyrics. Before long my students each
had a 3-ring notebook filled with song lyrics; not just children’s
songs, but real songs with rich music, challenging words, and content
they could sink their teeth into!
For more on this strategy and a list of songs to start with, visit me at Top Teaching on Scholastic.com by clicking on this link! Using Music to Improve Reading Fluency

More ideas on using music can be found on my newest Scholastic post at Using Music to Improve Reading: Close Up and Fluent!  Visit me there!

The Candy Campaign - Election Explorations!

We have been conducting a campaign in my classroom this month. Not as "presidential" as the one going on in the real world, but in many ways, just as "real world" as that one is. My second graders are in the process of electing a class candy and the excitement and passion for the two "candydates" is easy to see!

The Big Presentation to Guest Educators

Simulations are so powerful in teaching concepts! When I happen upon one that truly works, I have a hard time resisting the urge to jump in with both feet. Usually, I give in and just jump because the benefits are wonderful!

I realized what I had during a class discussion just before our primary election.

Some students in the Chocolate Kingdom crowd were excited about their possible candydate and quickly gaining support of other members because of their enthusiasm. The problem was that their candydate was a chocolate bunny. They finally realized that although the chocolate bunny was their very favorite, it would be impossible for me to find chocolate bunnies for them in October if it won the general election. I was proud of them when they pulled the name from the primary election on their own.

Some students were concerned about the possibility that someone might cheat and the wrong candydate would be chosen for their candy crowd (political party) during the primary election or during the general election. That led to a discussion of voter fraud in real elections, new regulations and rules, and a promise from me that fraud would be punishable by a trip to the office. It also led to some student generated regulations such as: Names will be checked off of a list when someone voted and people supporting each candydate will be present during the counting of the votes. Wow! Real world? I think so!

Issues that have risen from this activity:

• viability of a candidate (above)
• a list of voter requirements - 7 or older and on the class list
• choosing the best candidate 
• voter fraud (above)
• differing opinions among friends
• outspoken vs. quiet voters (who are happy for secret ballots)
• absentee votes and advanced votes - from a student with an appointment on "election day"
• behaviors that attract and repel undecided voters

It has been so neat to watch the activity mirror real life and the engagement that comes from that type of experience. The Chocolate Kingdom crowd has chosen Kit Kat as their candydate and the Gummies crowd are fully behind Skittles as their candydate. Only time will tell... Election results will be announced November 1st!

The basic plan and lots more pictures are in my latest post at Scholastic.com. (click on the following link). The Candy Campaign

Any thoughts?

My Scholastic Address

I have been blogging on Scholastic.com for the last few weeks. Catch up by clicking on this link!

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/teaching-ideas/shari-edwards