Interdiscipinary Curriculum Interdisciplinary Teaching Traditional elementary and secondary classrooms divide instruction into categories (disciplines) such as "reading," "math," and "social studies." Interdisciplinary teaching involves any effort on the part of an instructor to design learning activities with products and activities to related to more than one discipline. Interest Talk Interpolation of Data Given a set of data, students are asked to calculate an expected value that occurs between two given data points. Interviews Interviews may be by the student or may be a form of assessment of the student. Intra-Act Students' valuing of reading is expressed by students responses to opinion questions and their predictions of classmates' opinions on a "game sheet." Invented Spelling Invented spelling is a natural product that occurs as children begin learning to write. Children attempt to use the sounds of the letters they know to write words whose spelling they do not know. How the teacher responds to the invented spelling differs in different types of classrooms. In more holistic approaches to literacy, students are encouraged to experiment and the invented spelling may or not be corrected depending on the purpose of the writing. During the first few years of school, children gradually replace their invented spellings with those acquired through formal instruction. Invention An open-ended problem-solving task. Is the process of creating something to fill a need. Invention Teaching A constructivist approach. Students begin learning with an activity (as in Discovery Teaching), but students may generate many possible solutions. Students acquire basic and advanced knowledge in random order. Inventory Questioning Inventory questions are designed to collect information about students' interests, to activate prior knowledge, or to help students become aware of their existing beliefs and background. Often used when dealing with controversial issues, or in the form of a "personal inventory" to explore emotional problems or limitations.
Cooperative learning approach, as outlined by David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson. Unlike other cooperative learning strategies which tend to be periodic activities, "Learning Together and Alone" provides guidelines for the creation of a generalized cooperative classroom. Lecture A direct instructional method. The teacher talks with the purpose of transmitting information. Lectures may, but often don't, include visual aids or notes to accompany the talking. Left and Right Creativity (LARC) Use drawing to stimulate right brain, then harness to left brain to creatively solve problems. Less is More Letter Activities Activities designed to help young children make connections between the appearance of letters and their sounds. Usually includes a tactile or kinesthetic component (making a snake out of clay and forming it into the letter "S" for example). Letter and Sound Relationships Letter activities that concentrate on pairing letters and letter combinations that result in the same sound. Letter Games Letter activities to which an element of competition or fun has been added. Letter Writing A writing activity that encourages students to think about a specific audience. Letters From Last Year's Class At the end of the school year, have students write letters for your future students. These letters can include tips, activities to look forward to, or a description of some of the new concepts they can look forward to learning in the coming year. At the beginning of the next school year, put these letters on the desks of your new students. Leveled Books Sets of books of varying difficulty. Typically students will be matched with books in the set based on each student's ongoing assessments and previous achievements with other books that are "leveled." Library Assistant Acting as an assistant in the library not only provides students with an opportunity for Service Learning, but also teaches academic skills related to
Literature Circles Literature Search As a part of inquiry or research, students often need to search existing literature to find what is currently known about a topic. Libraries have specialized search tools students can use for a variety of topics. Internet searches typically use a combination of keyword searches on the Internet along with following a trail of references from known articles to find related work by known authors. Live Plants and Animals Providing live plants and animals in the classroom gives students the opportunity to learn respect for living things. Caring for living things enables students to learn responsibility. Careful observation and handling of living things in the classroom enhances the learning of many concepts. Living Art Locating Locating is to show or find the position of something. Students can find the location of places on a map, or demonstrate the location of a concept relative to other concepts in a hierarchy. Long-term Projects These projects are usually centered either on a theme, or to research and propose answers to open-ended questions. Longitudinal Study Looping Looping describes an approach to writing and also describes the practice having a teacher teach the same class for more than one year. As an approach to writing looping encourages writers to write quickly (stream of consciousness), followed by reviewing what has been written and selecting key points from the writing to serve as the basis for another round of quick, but more focused writing. The student continues looping until the product of the writing meets the original specifications. Lotus Blossom Technique From central idea, propose eight new ideas. For each of eight ideas, propose and evaluate necessary details to implement ideas. Luck of the Draw All student's names are put into a container. At the end of class, a student's name is drawn at random from the container. At the beginning of the next class the student whose name was drawn is required to present a 3-5 minute review of the previous day's lesson. Lunch with the Teacher A good way for the teacher to get to know each student in a casual environment. Individual students or pairs of students eat lunch and socialize
Mix/Freeze/Group In this activity, the teacher poses questions to which the answer is a whole number and the students (as a group) answer the question by moving through the classroom to form groups of that size. For example, if the question were, "How much is 24 divided by 8?" the students would cluster to form groups of 3. Mix, Match, Freeze Mnemonics Any of several techniques or devices used to help remember or memorize names or concepts. Mobile Learning (M-Learning) Mock Trials Students learn about the legal system by assuming the roles of lawyers, witnesses, and judges to act out hypothetical legal cases. Modeling Teachers model behaviors or skills. Models Many forms of models are used in the classroom. In the concrete sense, teachers can provide three-dimensional objects (such as globes or models of molecules) for students to explore. Models can also be conceptual. The idea that the Earth revolves around the sun is part of a model of the the structure of the solar system. Modifying Useful in the classroom as a scaffolding tool. Provide students with models or information that are nearly correct or complete and allow students to modify the model or information to make it more complete. Module Monitor Student monitors as a mechanism to teach responsibility. Morning Message Morphological Analysis Analysis of the meaning of words based on their sub-parts (morphemes). Most Important Word A during reading strategy in which the teacher reminds the students to think about the "most important words" for a particular reading assignment. The teacher gives some examples of some important words, then students work in groups to identify others. Move-Freeze-Pair Muddiest Point
level.. Compare to: Chronological, General-to-Specific, Known-to-Unknown, Part-to-Part-to-Part, Part-to-Whole, Part-to-Whole-to Part, Spiral, Step-by-Step, Topical, Unknown-to-Known, Whole-to-Part Spirit Week Spongy Vocabulary Review Sports Participation in, or analysis of sporting events. Spotlight On Similar to "Student of the Week." The work and background of a single student is showcased to the class. Spreadsheet SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) An approach to studying and reading to improve comprehension and retention. STAD (Student Teams-Achievement Divisions) Highly structured cooperative learning method following a "Teach, Team study, Test, Team recognition" strategy. Stance Questions Interacting with reading by taking different perspectives. Standardized Tests STaR (Story Telling and Retelling) Teachers read stories to students then students retell the story by acting it out, answering questions, or writing about the story. Starbursting Similar to the Lotus Blossom Technique, but after identify topic, ask what questions can be created. Stations Step-by-Step Sequencing An instructional approach in which objectives are presented to learners as a series of steps. Often used to teach procedures. Compare to: Chronological, General-to-Specific, Known-to-Unknown, Part-to-Part-to-Part, Part-to-Whole, Part-to-Whole-to Part, Spiral, Topical, Unknown-to-Known, Whole-to-Part Sticker Partners Sticking Dots A method that allows individuals or groups to vote for their favorites from a list by sticking colored dots next to their choices. Sticky Reading Stir the Teams