Rationale
I have noticed in my classroom some students believe that it is my job to teach them. While this is true on some level, I hope to lead them to the understanding that learning is personal and they have the ability—and the responsibility—to take charge. Too often the assumed role is for the teacher to be the leader, responsible for imparting all of her knowledge onto her students. Lessons are developed that begin where the teacher's understanding is and where the curriculum standards say to end. As teachers, we need to remember that our prior knowledge is much more extensive than our students'. We need to remember to begin where they are in order to make the information accessible to them. We need to create an excitement and a reason for learning. We need to provide choices that encourage all students to engage. This approach will assist us in developing a connection to the topic and then a connection to the students' learning. Once the scope of the existing knowledge has been uncovered, a starting point emerges, and then the lessons may begin.
Students know they can learn by looking at or by "seeing" things; how does this work? Visual Literacy can be defined as the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations. If you can read a map, draw a diagram, or interpret a symbol then you are visually literate. How do we process these visual images and turn them into understanding? Learning about the occipital lobes and how they take in the images and make meaning out of them will help bridge the conceptual information into more concrete information.
Students know they can learn by hearing things; how does this work? Auditory discrimination targets environmental sounds, phonemic awareness, and phonological awareness. These lay the foundation for phonics and spelling skills. Listening comprehension targets following directions and increasing depth of understanding. These lay the foundations for critical thinking skills.Auditory memory targets sequencing and working with cumulative forms. These lay the foundations for study skills and expository writing. Communication skills focus on conversation skills, grammar and syntax. These lay the foundation for social development, oral and written expression. 5 We will be investigating the parietal lobes and the part they play in auditory learning.
Students know they can learn by doing, touching, and moving; how does this work?
Tactile learners are active and learn by imitation and practice. By manipulating their environment and using their sense of touch, students can act out or remember information. Role playing, hands-on activities, and physical movement are strategies the tactile learner uses to input information. Discovering the motor strip in the frontal lobe and the somatosensory strip in the parietal lobe will help students better understand the area in the brain that processes information about what specific parts of their bodies are doing or feeling.
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