Evolutionary Medicine

Strategies

The strategies were selected for this unit with connections and reflection time for students in mind. During this unit it will be imperative for students to make connections between content, keeping in mind that the subject matter is not taught in isolation. Additionally students will be asked to create and reflect on concepts throughout each strategy used within the activities. Furthermore, the strategies will give students an opportunity to embrace a multitude of learning styles (tactile, visual, kinesthetic and auditory). Lastly, students will be given choices for how they may want to complete an activity. Giving students an option allows them control and ownership over their assignments.

Daybook

Ralph Fletcher states a daybook is your personal space to write badly ²³. My students use daybooks as their safe space to record thoughts, feelings, highlights, low lights, newly learned concepts, notes from the board, formulation of plans for potential writing pieces, handouts from class etc. The National Writing Project also uses the daybook in an effort to help student validate their thoughts. So when a student wants me to see or respond to something in the daybook I respond on a post-it note or the student makes a draft of the piece for me to see so that their daybook is still in their safe space.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are used for students to organize new information. They can use graphic organizers to help understand material presented. They can be used in all phases of learning from brainstorming ideas to ordering new findings. This strategy is known to help the brain recall information better when personal creativity is involved. KWL, Storyboard, and a Venn Diagram are examples of graphic organizers used during this unit. However in the class writing area there are other examples of graphic organizers the children may use if they decided during other activities throughout the unit.

Foldable

My students enjoy using foldables because it gives them an opportunity to cut, fold, staple and create a colorful place to store newly learned information. Dinah Zike published books explaining and describing foldables. I reference examples from her Big Book of Science although they can be used in any content area. ²⁴There are several different kinds of foldables in this unit we will be using the Layered look book, Four-door book, Vocabulary book, are examples of the foldables we will be using for this unit. However in the class writing area there are other examples of foldables the children may use if they decided during other activities throughout the unit.

Literature Circle

Picture books use illustrations, graphics and or photographs in addition to text making them necessary and helpful to reinforce concepts in science and social studies. ²⁵ My students perform academically on different grade level so I need to have a variety of books for students to read in order to accommodate their reading and interest level. During literature circles students will be broken into groups by ability level. Throughout the different groups I will share and introduce books on their level that they may be interested in. Doing this will peak their interest to read the book independently and desire to share the book with the group.

Dialectic Journal

Using two pages side by side in the student's daybook, the student will fold two pages to the center so one has four columns to write in horizontally. In the first column the student will take notes on the taught concept. In the second column the student will write questions, comments or reactions to the notes they took in the first column. Then in the third column the student will pass their daybook to a buddy who will respond to information in the second column after reading it. Finally the peer will pass the daybook back to the original owner who will then respond to what the peer wrote. This strategy will give students an opportunity to sort through their ideas prior to asking the teacher questions. It will also give the student an opportunity to figure out answers to their questions or make connections to what the peer said and their questions may be answered or it may be an opportunity for further research.

Higher Order Thinking Skills Questions

Knowing, organizing, applying, analyzing, generating, integrating and evaluating are the levels of questions stems I will teach my students how to use. We will discuss the difference and definitions between the levels of questions. Knowing questions teach students how to define and recall information. Applying questions teach students how to demonstrate prior knowledge within new situations. Analyzing questions teach students how to examine parts and relationships. Generating questions teach students how to produce new information, meaning, or ideas. Integrating questions teach students how to make connections and combine information. Evaluating questions teach students how to assess quality and reasonableness. It will be important for the students to be able to differentiate between the levels to encourage them to use their higher order thinking skills when learning and reviewing new information. Doing this will give students a chance to integrate new information being learned with prior knowledge in order to create and answer questions. The questions will motivate students to learn, highlight lesson content, integrate lesson content with what they have already studied, structure a high level of understanding, and promote incorporation of students' knowledge, values, and cultural background with learning objectives. Additionally, they must develop their abilities to question in order to become successful problem-solvers, critical thinkers, and decision makers. ²⁶

Exit Ticket

Prior to exiting the classroom a student will have to respond to an exit ticket. The question on the exit ticket will pertain to the content taught or reviewed that day. Getting students to respond using a ticket provides a different form of evaluation. The exit ticket will not always be a question the students may be asked to draw a picture and label the parts of a cell. Or they may be asked to write a poem about a bacteria. It is just used as a different way to get the students to think about the knowledge they learned while checking for understanding.