listening in the language classroom

Listening in the Language Classroom

John Field. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Pp. X + 366.

Reviewed by Zeng Yajun
National Institute of Education, NTU
Singapore

Listening in the language classroom by John Field proposes a principled process-based strategy instruction approach informed by both theory and empirical study for intensive small-scale practice in various aspects of L2 listening pedagogy, an approach that makes his text an indispensible resource book for L2 teachers, listening instructors in particular.
Field begins his five-part text with an introduction which delineates the dual aims of the book: the first is to challenge the orthodox comprehension approach by focusing upon the product of listening, and the second is to provide the reader with a clear understanding of what second language listening entails.
Part I (Background) and Part II (Rethinking the Comprehension Approach) review the background of the orthodox comprehension approach in listening, elaborate on its advantages and disadvantages, and attempt to provide solutions to its failings.
Part III Process (Not Product) and Part IV (A Process View of Listening) present alternatives to current methodology which focus on the process of listening. Here Field argues that a step-by-step building up of the listening processes is crucial for effective listening. As such, a great variety of listening exercises are provided in these parts that might be conducted with learners to help them improve. Furthermore, the author places a firm emphasis on developing learners’ decoding skills on the grounds that efficiency in the fundamental process of matching strings of phonemes to words and phrases allows the listener greater opportunity to focus on wider issues of meaning (p. 140).

Part V, The Challenge of the Real World, is devoted to listening strategies and strategy instruction to help learners with limited linguistic knowledge meet the challenges of real-life listening tasks. Field acknowledges that the boundaries between listening strategies and the normal processes of listening are often blurred. As such, many learners succeed in incorporating them into their listening behavior in the long run, while strategies may start out as short-term expedients (p. 287). He also recognizes that strategies are a necessary part of listening until learners reach a fairly advanced level in second language listening. Therefore, listening teachers are advised to incorporate them into listening classes. While discussing listening strategies in this part, Field additionally puts forward the categories of avoidance, achievement, repair, and pro-active strategies, departing from the usual cognitive, metacognitive and socio-affective trichotomy widely used in the strategies literature.

Part VI, Conclusion, provides the book with an overall finish by bringing together the various themes discussed and summarizing the proposals that have been made in previous chapters.

Written in an engaging and easy-to-read style, the book stands out for the way it critically examines the practices and assumptions associated with the orthodox comprehension approach and for the concrete examples related to the process-based activities it provides that teachers can use in listening classes to enable their learners to become better listeners. In both respects, the book is a valuable addition to both the Cambridge Language Teaching Library series and L2 listening literature as a whole.

The Facilitative Effect of Graphic Organizers in TESL

Martin Guardado

Teaching English as a Second Language

University of British Columbia

Canada

mguardado@interchange.ubc.ca

Abstract: Esta investigación explora las posibilidades de usar los gráficos para facilitar la enseñanza del idioma ingles en diferentes contextos. Luego de analizar los diferentes usos de los organizadores visuales en el contexto amplio de la educación, se procede a tratar como diversos investigadores sugieren que estos se pueden aplicar en el contexto de la enseñanza del Ingles como Segunda lengua o como una lengua adicional. Los resultados de esta investigación no apoyan su beneficio, en el contexto y condiciones descritas, pero invitan a re-evaluar su aplicación en circunstancias diferentes a las planteadas en el estudio. 

Introduction

Is a picture really worth a thousand words? I do not have an answer to that question, but what I can say is that the use of graphics in education has experienced a considerable increase in recent years stemming from a growing awareness of their facilitative effects, which in turn are partly due to the results of research studies that support it. This notion has been largely supported by psychological theories and empirical studies (Schnotz & Kulhavy, 1994; Day & Bellezza, 1983), some of which claim that research findings on graphic organizers “complement the scientific investigation of cognitive processes in text comprehension, which has contributed much to our understanding of human cognition and learning” (Schnotz & Kulhavy, 1994). Although there is considerable evidence that creating graphical representations of texts into visual structures improves the ability of people to understand and to recall information (Day & Bellezza, 1983), this paper deals primarily with understanding texts through graphics and constructing texts from graphics.

Graphics have been thought to perform effectively across cultures and across the curriculum (Mohan, 1986). One area that has been suggested to benefit considerably from their use is the integration of English as a second language and academic content. This paper reports the results of a mini study conducted in an adult ESL classroom to explore the facilitative effects of graphics in the ESL classroom. For the purposes of this paper, the expressions graphic organizers, key visuals, and graphics are going to be used interchangeably to mean the graphic representation of knowledge (Early & Tang, 1991).

Literature review

According to Tang (1994), the graphic organizer is a “teaching/learning device developed to facilitate student comprehension and organization of content area texts”. The development of graphic organizers or key visuals has been influenced by various theories and schools of thought, including Gestalt psychology, which considers the whole being more than the sum of its components. This definition fits graphic organizers, seeing that a well-thought out visual conveys a message that is broader than merely the sum of its parts, and it can be clearer and more economic than a densely packed original text. Although its origins mostly have to do with facilitating reading, they are now used as valuable instructional tools in different areas.

Graphics and the Knowledge Framework

Mohan (1986) maintains that there are certain knowledge structures that appear over and over in different disciplines. He claims that by making students aware of these patterns, they can identify and comprehend different types of discourse much more easily. Based on that notion, he suggests that graphic organizers have the potential of helping L2 learners in mainstream classes become familiar with those knowledge structures that are common across the curriculum and of assisting them better prepare themselves to effectively meet the challenges faced in academia. Such belief is also supported by Early (1990b) and other scholars. The use of graphics is an integral component of teaching the knowledge structures that make up the Knowledge Framework (Mohan, 1986). Mohan claims that by teaching the formal schemata, that is, the specific, practical structures of description, sequence and choice, and the general, theoretical structures of classification, principles and evaluation, we “equip” students with basic information that they can transfer to all types of expository oral and written discourse. He adds that we also enable students to develop thinking skills and the genre-specific language required for constructing discourse. One might contend that we cannot successfully achieve these objectives if we lack the necessary tools. Mohan affirms that graphic organizers meet the requirements needed in order to achieve those goals.

Based on the work done by Mohan, 1986; Early, 1990b, 1990c; Tang, 1993; Hyerle, 1996; and computer applications like Inspiration software packages and the information contained at www.inspiration.com, it’s easy to see how graphic organizers can be designed to represent all six knowledge structures, as proposed by Mohan. Examples of graphic representation of knowledge structures are: trees and webs are used to represent classification information. Concept mapping and semantic mapping are used for description, classification, and for activating background knowledge and integrating it with new knowledge. Charts and Venn diagrams are useful for representing description and comparison. Cycles and causal chains are often used for cause and effect, especially for principles and sequence. The continuum is used for representing degrees, shades of meaning, and as rating scales in evaluation. The timeline, a type of continuum, is useful for sequence, as in the organizing of a series of events in chronological order. Grids can be used for evaluation and flow charts for choice. This is not an exhaustive list as the sources cited above offer a wider range of possibilities. At least one study (Early & Tang, 1991) has reported that in practice, teachers are usually very creative and develop unique graphic representations. All in all, the studies reviewed for this paper have reported that graphic organizers such as the ones mentioned above have wide-ranging applications in education in general.

One of the applications of graphics is in integrating language and content for ESL students. Cummins (1981) and Collier (1987) found that it takes 5 to 7 years or more for ESL students to attain native-speaker language proficiency in the subject areas. However, in a study conducted by Gunderson (1985), he found that eighty-eight percent of content teachers at the elementary, secondary and adult levels did not modify their instruction for ESL students and did not think it was their job to help them overcome the language barrier. Furthermore, he found that the remaining twelve percent modified instruction in terms of rewording, further explanations, slower speech, simplified grammar, etc. It has been argued that that type of premodified input, although helpful, does not result in a great deal of increased comprehension, in comparison with other options (Pica, Young & Doughty, 1987) such as when the content is repeated and rephrased in interaction and when there are interfactional modifications in the form of comprehension and confirmation checks and clarification requests. Moreover, Gunderson reports that there was no indication that the remaining twelve percent of teachers resorted to any type of visual aids to highlight the structure of texts and to promote content learning. This suggests that those students may find themselves at a great disadvantage and may urgently need to find ways of understanding content in order not to fall 5 to 7 years behind and to be able to move on with the rest of the class. It has been claimed that not providing such students with the means for learning the subject matter content would deprive them of the full benefits of an adequate education (Tang, 1993; Mohan, 1986).

Graphic organizers seem to help provide such means, since ESL students particularly benefit from their use in understanding content that is beyond their current language proficiency level (Early, 1990a, Early 1990b; Tang, 1993). It seems that through key visuals, they are able to see the whole picture of a text at once. It is like giving them an x-ray photograph showing the underlying structure of the text and the relationship among its components. In this way, students do not need to understand all the words in a text or be familiar with all the rhetorical devices used to construct the discourse (ref ) in order to assimilate its content schemata. XXX argues that since many graphic organizers use short words or phrases, they are ideal for LEP learners. They do not have to struggle with complex sentences and dense texts. Familiarity with the way texts are constructed across the curriculum greatly enhances their ability to learn content (Mohan, 1986; Early, 1990a; Early & Tang, 1991, Mohan & Van Naerssen, 1997).

Visuals appear to be useful in the ESL classroom for teaching a wide array of topics aimed at providing opportunities for language development. One important use is in multilevel classes, where advanced students are able to understand topics and texts easily, but lower level students need a way of making communication simpler and clearer. Graphic organizers lower the language barrier for these students both in terms of understanding the topic and in completing tasks. A study conducted by Carrell (1985) found evidence that the explicit teaching of text structures has a positive effect on reading comprehension for ESL learners. Our literature review reveals that teaching text structures or genres is usually accompanied by the use of graphic organizers in order to represent the big picture of a text (Mohan, 1986; Early, 1990a; Early, 1990b; Early, 1990c; Early, 1990d; Early & Tang, 1991, Mohan & Van Naerssen, 1997; Tang, 1993; Tang, 1994).

More recently, other researchers have also obtained positive results when studying reading comprehension and the use of metaphors for representing story details and other types of texts (Tang 1994; Early, 1991)). According to Tang (1994), graphics facilitate listening and reading comprehension. She explains that in both reading and listening, graphic organizers can be used as pre/post activities. Graphics also help students activate the background knowledge or schemata they posses in their native language and to link it to new information in English, resulting in enhanced reading and listening comprehension (Tang, 1993).

When completing reading comprehension tasks, students can be provided with a chart to fill out with details from the text. According to Mohan (1986), it is much easier for learners to fill in a chart than it is to answer written questions. Although until recently there used to be more research on the use of graphics to improve reading (Carrell, 1985, 1988, Tang, 1993), research results indicate (Mohan, 1989; Early, 1990b; Early, 1990c) that the use of graphics dramatically improves the writing process of LEP students. They are able to construct clearer, more coherent, logical and highly well organized texts when the task information is presented in graphical form. Completed charts, for example, are very useful for organizing and writing paragraphs or reports. A classification tree can help LEP writers produce a very clear text of classification (Early, 1990b)

But not only teachers can take advantage of the many possibilities of graphic organizers by implementing them in their teaching. Some researchers believe (Early, 1990c; Mohan & Van Naerssen, 1997; Early & Tang, 1991) teachers should also show students how to generate graphics themselves. By developing their own graphics, students have a powerful tool at their disposal for analyzing texts containing different knowledge structures and for summarizing and synthesizing information. Researchers also claim that teachers can teach knowledge structures explicitly to students and incorporate the use of a variety of graphic organizers to represent them (Tang, 1993; Early, 1990c; Mohan & Van Naerssen, 1997; Early & Tang, 1991). When students are familiar with the concepts and the visuals, they can experiment generating their own, as well as constructing oral and written discourse from graphics made by the teacher, peers, or ready-made graphics from other sources.

 

THE STUDY

Purpose of the study

The goal of this study was to obtain information about the usefulness of using graphics in facilitating student writing in an adult ESL classroom. In order to accomplish that goal, the following research question was formulated: “What is the effect of using a graphic organizer as an aid for writing a summary in an advanced adult ESL classroom?”

 

Method

Participants

This study was conducted in an advanced class at Vancouver Community College. The class was composed of 19 students, 14 of which were present the day of the study. There were 2 male students and 12 females in the group. The ethnic composition of the group was: one from Mexico, one from Peru, one from Yugoslavia,  participants were from mainland China; 3 from Taiwan; and 1 each from Kosovo, Czechoslovakia, and the Philippines. Most were recent immigrants to Canada who had studied English for many years in their countries. Most were also university educated in various fields such as engineering,

At the time of the study, they had been attending that class Monday to Thursday, from 9:15 to 12:00 for about 10 weeks. As their final exam was approaching, the focus of the class had been on practicing their writing skills, especially description, narration, and cause and effect. Additionally, they had been explicitly taught the general structure of a paragraph, like topic sentences, concluding sentences, supporting details and special features of paragraphs. According to their instructor, they had had extensive practice in those areas.

 

Materials

Comparison group:

• Handout containing a paragraph about the causes of obesity (See Appendix A)
• Handout containing instructions for the writing activity (See Appendix B)

Experimental group:

• Handout containing a paragraph about the causes of obesity
• Handout containing instructions for the writing activity (See Appendix C)
• Graphic representation of the cause and effect cycle of the paragraph (See Appendix D)

Procedures

The participants were randomly assigned to a treatment and a control group in the same room. The participants in each group then formed two pairs and a group of three. The pairs and triad in the control group received two handouts containing the paragraph and the instructions. They were told to read the paragraph and to make an outline and that the paragraph would be collected after five minutes. The pairs and triad in the treatment group received three handouts. They were told to read the paragraph for five minutes and then to return it to me. However, they were told to keep the graphic and to use it as an aid when writing their summary. Next, the participants were given 15 minutes to write their summaries, after which time, both the treatment group and the control group had completed their task.

 

Data tabulation and analysis

Once the data were gathered, they were marked and tabulated (see Appendix E). The criteria and marks out of 25 were the following: topic sentence: 2; concluding sentence: 2; supporting details: 4; unity: 2; coherence: 1; grammar: 10; cause/effect language: 4. The criteria reflect a strong emphasis on language because the objective was not to study the integration of language and content, but rather, to explore writing in a general English as a Second Language class.

 

Results

Two of the pairs in the treatment group scored considerably higher than those in the comparison group. However, one of the pairs in the treatment group scored well below everyone else in both groups. Their paragraph contained incoherent information relating to obesity and dieting, but not necessarily focusing on what the task required. In general, no major differences were found in terms of composition quality between the two groups. To further substantiate the findings, a chi-square test was performed on the distribution of the marks, which failed to indicate a statistically significant relationship between the use of graphics and the quality of the student writing as marked (chi-square=5.12, well below the needed 12.59, p<.05)

Discussion

Because of the nature of the results, I cannot state for certain that the differences in the comparison group and the treatment group are due to the use of graphics or to chance factors. However, upon reflection on the study, I came up with some possible intervening variables that may have affected the results:

1. the comparison group had sufficient time to memorize, take notes and understand the information.
2. the graphic did not adequately represent the text structure to be helpful to the experimental group
3. the text was too easy for the graphic to make a difference
4. the instructions provided to the experimental group were not clear enough for them to take advantage of the graphic (e.g. they did not know what to do with the graphic)
5. by chance, the more capable students ended up in the comparison group
6. the participants should have worked individually and not in pairs/groups of three

Of those possible explanations, I am very inclined to attribute the results to a combination of # 1, 2, and 3. I feel that although the graphic may represent the cause-effect relationship well, it was too simplistic to be of any use to the students. Second, as the instructions were given when they had already received the materials, I felt that I did not have their full attention when I explained what to do. After spending an hour interacting with them and answering questions after the task I realized that the paragraph was probably below their level in relationship to the task they were required to perform. Those interacting variables likely had a strong influence on the results.

 

CONCLUSION

This paper has presented the case for using graphic organizers not only to help students develop thinking skills and to help them identify, learn and use the specific language required to talk about and write different types of expository texts, but also to assist them in the development and acquisition of their general language skills. Thus, the benefits are three-fold for ESL students: they develop their language, improve their thinking skills, and prepare for academic writing.

The findings of this study are not striking in terms of differences between both groups. The answer to the research question: what is the effect of using a graphic organizer as an aid for writing a summary in an advanced adult ESL classroom? is no effect in this context and under these conditions. Therefore, based on these results, it can be argued that in that context and under those conditions, graphic organizers are not effective tools for helping students in writing. Additionally, more research in different contexts and using different types of graphics is needed to further explore ways in which the use of graphics can provide a teaching paradigm in ESL writing.

References

• Carrell, Patricia. L. 1985. Facilitating ESL Reading by Teaching Text Structure. TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 19, 727-752.
• Collier, V. P. (1987). Age and Rate of Acquisition of Second Language for Academic Purposes. TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 21, 617-641.
• Cummins, Jim. (1981a). Age on Arrival and Immigrant Second Language
• Day, J. C., & Bellezza, F.S. 1983. The Relation Between Visual Imagery
• Early, Margaret. 1990a.
• Early, Margaret. 1990b. Enabling First and Second Language Learners in the Classroom. Language Arts. Vol. 67, 567-575.
• Early, Margaret. 1990c. From Task to Text: A Case Study of ESL Students’ Development of Expository Discourse. TESL TALK 20.1.
• Early, Margaret. 1990d. Introducing Young ESL Children to Knowledge Structures and Their Realization in Graphic and Expository Discourse Forms. Reflections on Canadian Literacy, Vol. 8-2 & 3.
• Early, Margaret & Tang, Gloria, 1991. Helping ESL Students Cope With Content-Based Texts. TESL Canada. Vol. 8, 2.
• Gunderson, Lee. 1985. A Survey of L2 Reading Instruction in British Columbia. The Canadian Modern Language Review. Vol. 42-1, 44-55.
• Hyerle, David. 1996. Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Learning in Canada: A Reassessment. Applied Linguistics, Vol. 2, 132-149.

• Mohan A. Bernard. 1990. LEP Students and the Integration of Language and Content: Knowledge Structures and Tasks. U.S. Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs. 113-133.
• Mohan, Bernard. 1986. Language & Content Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. 
• Pica, T., Young, R., & Doughty, C. (1987). The Impact of Interaction on Comprehension.
• Sampson, Brenda. 1998. Integrating Language and Content Using the Knowledge Framework. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of British Columbia
• Schnotz, Wolfgang, Kulhavy, Raymond. 1994. Comprehension of Graphics. North Holland.

Second Language Acquisition? TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 20-2.

• Tang, Gloria M. 1992-1993. Teaching Content Knowledge and ESOL in Multicultural Classrooms. TESOL Journal. Vol. 2-2, 8-12.
• Tang, Gloria M. 1994. Graphic Organizer. In Purves, C., Jordan, S., Papa, L. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts. National Council of Teachers of English. 542-544
• Tang, Gloria M. 1994. Teacher Collaboration in Integrating Language and Content. TESL Canada Journal. Vol. 11-2, 101-116.

·          

·        

·        

Buku

http://books.google.co.id/books?id=RsS0QyouqhQC&pg=PA30&lpg=PA30&dq=purpose+of+graphic+organizers+in+listening+comprehension&source=bl&ots=6P5HbSTBPp&sig=bo38Bu-SHYMArSSI-fOeQ4rYprM&hl=id&sa=X&ei=vm2vU9XXFoSWuATQwILADg&ved=0CCUQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q=purpose%20of%20graphic%20organizers%20in%20listening%20comprehension&f=true

Organic Strategies for Test Prep: Listening Comprehension

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Marisa Kaplan in Learning Strategies with 3 Comments

Preface: This post belongs to a series of posts that discuss organic strategies for test preparation. State testing is always a sticky issue and I want to steer clear of the “stickiness.” This series of posts does not aim to discuss the controversial nature of teaching to the test, but rather aims to inform both families and teachers of options for more organic ways to approach test-prep in the classroom and/or at home by finding ways to integrate testing strategies into strong teaching.

Special Note: While reading, please keep in mind that my teaching has been done in New York City so my background knowledge lies mostly with NYS tests. While some of the specifics may differ from your state, I believe that the strategies and ideas will be applicable regardless of location.

Listening Comprehension can be assessed in a variety of ways. This post will discuss ways to prepare students for listening comprehension assessments that are composed of fill-ins, short responses and multiple choice questions. A large focus will be on how strong note-taking skills play a large role in the success of students on listening comprehension assessments. I will have a future post on writing in response to literature/extended response.

What is Listening Comprehension? Listening comprehension is the ability to understand words that are spoken aloud. I love teaching listening comprehension because it gives those students who struggle with decoding a chance to comprehend texts on a much higher level. Listening comprehension is what “saves” some students in terms of reading confidence. For example, I worked with a sixth grader who demonstrated the ability to read independently at a second grade level due to difficulty with decoding and fluency. This student, however also demonstrated the ability to comprehend texts at grade level when they were read aloud. For this student, we made sure to balance listening comprehension and reading comprehension during instruction to make sure that we encouraged him as a reader and boosted skills in both areas. Listening comprehension is a very important skill for many students and as always, it must be explicitly taught, practiced and reinforced!

How is Listening Comprehension Assessed? As always, there are formal and informal ways to assess. Many of the informal classroom assessments involve the teacher reading a text aloud and asking students to “retell” the text and answer comprehension questions. In an ideal classroom setting, a teacher sits with each student individually to listen to their oral retell of a text. Often times, we must rely on a student’s written abilities when we assess listening comprehension. For most formal assessments such as standardized tests, listening comprehension is often assessed by having students listen to a text read aloud, and then using their written skills to communicate their understanding. One problem with this method of assessment, is that students who struggle with writing, often come across as though they are unable to comprehend a text. In actuality, if they had been given the opportunity to demonstrate their comprehension using their oral skills, they might have scored much higher. That being said, we must still give students the skills they need to experience success with listening comprehension through boosting their writing skills.

Why Are Listening Comprehension Assessments So Challenging For Students? In my experience, the key reason that listening comprehension assessments are so challenging for students is that most readers rely on the fact that they can go back into a text to look for information. On a listening comprehension assessments, the student usually hears a story one or two times, and must rely on memory or note-taking skills. The student may not go back into the text. The key here is teaching students how to take notes effectively, which is a challenging skill to teach. Too often, we assume that note-taking is obvious and does not need to be explicitly taught. That is incorrect. Students need to see note-taking modeled and even receive feedback on their own note-taking skills in order to become a stronger note-taker.

How Can We Help? We can do a lot to help! Most students don’t take notes naturally during a listening comprehension assessment (unless they have been taught to do so). That means, most students do nothing to ensure that they will remember information at a later time. If we can teach them how to take some format of notes, even if it isn’t perfect, we are helping them a great deal! I suggest doing this in the classroom on a daily or at least weekly basis. Students should not practice taking notes specifically for a test, this skill should be integrated into all aspects of their learning. If we explicitly model note-taking for our students, and hold them accountable for taking notes regularly for class assignments, we are indeed preparing them for the test. Here are 4 things you can do in your classroom to engage students in organic test prep for listening comprehension.

1. Balance Reading Comprehension with Listening Comprehension: Make sure that your activities are varied. If students are asked to read independently on Monday, make sure they get to listen and respond on Tuesday, etc. Students need practice in both areas.
2. Model Note-Taking for Students: Whether you have a Smart Board, a white board, a chalk board or chart paper, be sure to model note-taking for your students. DO NOT expect that if you say “okay class, now take notes” that they know what to do. Model how to prioritize information by thinking aloud. For example, you might say “Hmm, I am going to skip over that piece of information and write this one instead because it is more important.” Then discuss why it is an important piece of information. Eventually, you can and should be teaching short hand note-taking to improve efficiency.
3. Collect and Offer Feedback on Student’s Notes: Offer feedback to students regularly, just as you would on their writing assignments. Students need to know when they are on or off track. Some examples of feedback:
• Great short-hand. Next time really think about which details are most important.
• Excellent job prioritizing information. Next time, try using your own words.
• I love your information, let’s work on organizing your thought by using this simple chart!
4. Teach Students How to Create Their Own Simple Graphic Organizer: Offer students a simple graphic organizer that they can create before listening to any text that is read aloud. It should be simple enough that a student can remember it and be able to independently recreate it on a blank page in under 1 minute. That way on the day of the test, they can get their page setup and be ready to take notes by the time the text is read aloud. I suggets including the following words somewhere in your organizer: Where? When? Who (characters)? Problem? Solution? and I often have a section that says “extras”.

Here are some ideas and strategies to improve Listening comprehension. Explicitly teach these strategies and demand that students use them on all classwork and homework to get extensive practice before the big day!

• Read aloud a story and have students create a graphic organizer to take notes on the main idea, character, problem and solution.
• Read aloud a non-fiction text and have students take notes on a graphic organizer to practice fact-collecting.
• Read aloud a non-fiction text and teach students how to take bulleted notes without a graphic organizer for efficient fact collecting.
• Doing a science experiment? Read aloud the procedure and have students take notes in sequential order.
• Practice re-phrasing ideas through group discussions to support students with their note-taking.
• A great teacher I knew taught students how to take “caveman notes,” which is in essence short-hand. He taught them that even though cavemen did not speak in full sentences, the main idea was always there. I thought it was brilliant!

Listening Selection, Grade 5, 2010

Questions, Grade 5, 2010 (Some questions are multiple choice, some short response)

Families and Teachers: You should know that there are a ton of resources out there to help you prepare for different kinds of tests. I must say from experience that many of these resources are bland and are not highly engaging for students. I recommend looking at prior tests to familiarize yourself with the material, and then using more exciting resources to tailor your practice. I usually take a text that I would like my students to read anyway (ie: news article or story) and read the text aloud the first time before giving it to them to read on their own. That way they can practice taking notes, but they can also refer back to the text for more details. Here are a few resources that I use:

EdInformatics (A website where you can find prior NYS tests in all areas and use them for practice)

NYSED APDA (A website where you can find prior NYS tests in all areas and use them for practice)

Scholastic Printables (Reading Comprehension passages)

Use the News (A previous article from EdGeeks about how to use non-fiction publications such as newspapers and magazines to increase engagement in reading.)

Do you have other resources or strategies that you use to practice listening comprehension? Share them here by leaving a comment!

Do you have further questions? Submit your question by leaving a comment and I will get back to you with a prompt response!

Teaching and Learning with Graphic Organizers

Overview

Graphic Organizers

Concept Mapping

Mind Mapping

Webbing

Outlining

Plots & Graphs

	Introduction to Graphic Organizers Graphic organizers guide learners’ thinking as they fill in and build upon a visual map or diagram. Graphic organizers are some of the most effective visual learning strategies for students and are applied across the curriculum to enhance learning and understanding of subject matter content. In a variety of formats dependent upon the task, graphic organizers facilitate students’ learning by helping them identify areas of focus within a broad topic, such as a novel or article. Because they help the learner make connections and structure thinking, students often turn to graphic organizers for writing projects. In addition to helping students organize their thinking and writing process, graphic organizers can act as instructional tools. Teachers can use graphic organizers to illustrate a student’s knowledge about a topic or section of text showing areas for improvement. For more graphic organizer examples including, webs, concept maps and mind maps click here                  Graphic Organizer Example   Definition of a Graphic Organizer A graphic organizer is a visual display that demonstrates relationships between facts, concepts or ideas. A graphic organizer guides the learner’s thinking as they fill in and build upon a visual map or diagram. They are also informally used as a term to describe all visual learning strategies such as concept mapping, webbing, mind mapping, and more.   Types of Graphic Organizers Webs, concept maps, mind maps and plots such as stack plots and Venn diagrams are some of the types of graphic organizers used in visual learning to enhance thinking skills and improve academic performance on written papers, tests and homework assignments. Concept Maps Concept maps graphically illustrate relationships between two or more concepts and are linked by words that describe their relationship.              Concept Map Example Webs Brainstorming webs show how different categories of information relate to one another.                                Web Example Mind Maps Mind Maps are visual representations of hierarchical information that include a central idea or image surrounded by connected branches of associated topics or ideas.                           Mind Map Example For more graphic organizer examples including webs, concept maps and mind maps click here   How to use graphic organizers Graphic organizers are tools that can be used to visualize and organize information. Because graphic organizers are often used as prompts for students to fill in the blanks, graphic organizers provide many benefits to students who use them including: Helping students structure writing project Encouraging students to make decisions Making it easy for students to classify ideas and communicate Allowing students to examine relationships Guiding students in demonstrating their thinking process Helping students increase reading comprehension Making it easy to brainstorm Encouraging students to organize essential concepts and ideas Making it clear how to break apart a story into the main elements (intro, rising action, climax, etc.)            Example of a Graphic Organizer for a Science Experiment Teaching with Graphic Organizers Used across the curriculum, teachers use graphic organizers to teach many things, including but not limited to: Cause and effect Note taking Comparing and contrasting concepts Organizing problems and solutions Relating information to main themes and ideas Organizational skills Vocabulary knowledge Sequencing Using Inspiration Software’s visual thinking and learning products Inspiration®, Kidspiraton® and Webspiration Classroom™, students and teachers create graphic organizers as they brainstorm ideas, organize information, gather research, make visual associations and identify connections. For more graphic organizer examples including webs, concept maps and mind maps click here.

 

The Leader in Visual Thinking and Learning

ABOUT US | Contact Us | Privacy | Terms of Use | Site Map | Login

Copyright ©2014 Inspiration Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

	Beach Ball
	KWL Chart

What is a graphic organizer?

A graphic organizer is a visual representation or frame used to organize information. The purpose of a graphic organizer is to help students by simplifying information and by stimulating thinking skills.

When might a graphic organizer be used? 

Graphic organizers are generally used during the Guided Reading Block as a Pre-reading/Post Reading activity. In Guided Reading, graphic organizers establish prior knowledge, activate schema, help students in making predictions, and assess students' comprehension. Graphic organizers provide a visual connection with the text and explicit guidance in note-taking and classifying information for recall. For this reason, graphic organizers are particularly effective with content area or expository text. 

Also used in the Writing Block, graphic organizers help students plan for writing. Graphic organizers provide a visual framework for details, comparisons, sequences, and interactions.

What skills are applied when using graphic organizers?

l        ORGANIZATION- Students are able to organize their own thoughts about a story, which leads to better discussion.

l        ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND REVIEWING FACTS - Students will be able to think about concepts before and after reading, making connections to the text.

l        COMPARING/CONTRASTING - Students are able to compare and contrast settings, plot, character's actions and traits, problems, morals, etc.

l        PATTERNING - Students are able to recognize patterns within stories such as repetition of plot or settings.

l        RECOGNITION OF STRUCTURE - Students are able to recognize the structure of a story such as in a circular story.

l        REREADING FOR DETAIL - Students are able to reread for details more efficiently if they have a task to do and a chart or frame on which to put it.

l        MAKING PREDICTIONS - Students are able to better predict the story's structure once they have had practice recognizing story structures.

l        PLANNING - Students are able to plan their own pieces of writing better if they become aware of structures.

Concept Web

REVISING AND CONFERENCING - Students are more focused when they revise or conference because they know what portions of the story grammar are missing.