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Plasmalink - Glossary of Instructional Strategies Category: Management > Instructional Strategies Date & country: 14/10/2008, USA Words: 676

Clapping
Can be used as a signal BY the teacher or as a response FROM student to signal attention.

Clarifying
Formal and informal techniques used by a teacher to identify and eliminate confusion about ideas or assignments.

Clarifying Table
Graphic organizer to help students connect the current concept to related concepts or examples.

Class Meetings
When students are allowed to contribute to the operation of the classroom through class meetings, they have the opportunity to learn responsibility and decision-making skills.

Class Publication
Students collaborate to create a written work to be published. Formats might include: magazine, newspaper, brochure, map, newsletter, or yearbook.

Classification
When objects or concepts are classified, they are grouped with other, similar things, and the group is given a label. As a thinking skill, classification requires the application of knowledge. When students invent their own classifications, they practice discovery and invention along with being able to apply prior knowledge about the objects or con...

Clean Up Song
To signal to students that it is time to begin cleaning up for the day, start a song for them to listen to while they clean up.

Closure
Any activities which help students summarize key points learned and how the new knowledge relates to the objectives to be learned.

Cloze Procedure
An activity created by the teacher to give students practice with language usage. The teacher selects a passage of text, marks out some of the words, then rewrites the text with blank lines where the marked out words were. The result is a 'fill in the blank' that should be enjoyable for the student while at the same time giving the teacher informat...

Clubs
4-H, Chess, Science, etc.

Clue
Group problem-solving with each team member given a different clue.

Clustering
Graphic way of organizing concepts proposed during brainstorming. Similar to concept-mapping.

Co-op Co-op
Cooperative learning method where teams work to prepare and present a topic to the whole class. Emphasis is on student selection (of topics, partners, division of labor, methods of presentation, etc.).

Coaching Model
A model of instruction where the teacher is a guide and collaborator in the student's learning, not the sole director.

Cognitive Apprenticeship
Cognitive apprenticeships take many forms, but the two key components are social interactions to allow students to work on problems that may be too difficult for them to handle individually, and a focus on real world problems using real-world tools.

Cognitive Dissonance
Leon Festinger proposed this model to explain why people change their beliefs when two or more of their beliefs are in conflict with each other.

Cognitive Learning Models
Based on the philosophy that learning occurs when there are changes in mental structure. Learning occurs as the result of interactions between the learner and the environment.

Cognitive Map
The psychological definition of a cognitive map is the framework in the human mind through which we interpret objects, events, and concepts. The phrase 'cognitive mapping' has also been used to describe concept maps.

Collaborative Learning
Any kind of work that involves two or more students.

Collages
Students gather images (clippings from magazines, photographs, or their own drawings) and organize them to illustrate a concept or point of view.

Collections
Could be after class student project or could be classification of classroom collection (books or plants, for example).

Collective Notebook
A notebook maintained by a group in which each member of the group is expected to add an idea or observation during a specified time period (typically each day or each week). The contents of the notebook are regularly shared or published and discussed.

Color Coding
Labeling learning materials or concepts with color tags to assist identifying objects or ideas that belong together.

Colored Paper Grouping
A method for randomly assigning students to groups in which pieces of colored paper are passed out to students, then students with papers of the same color get toether.

Comic Books
Useful for engaging visual learners and encouraging a wide variety of students to become involved in discussions of literature and the wide range of social, scientific, and historical topics covered in comic books.

Committees
Volunteering to work on a student committee can teach students about values, decision making, interpersonal skills, and help them make important connections to the community at large.

Community Work
Student as volunteer. Students gain self-esteem and valuable experience through volunteer work.

Comparing
To observe or consider the characteristics of objects or concepts, looking for both similarities and differences.

Comparison Matrix
A graphic organizer that can assist students in gathering information and comparing objects or concepts.

Comparison Table
A decision-making tool enabling a structured comparison between choices.

Competitions
Competitions can be useful in motivating some student to learn. Team competitions especially effective in the classroom if they are tied to a collaborative practice or review activity before the competition.

Completed Work Chart
Make and publicly post a chart that lists all assignments along the top and students' names vertically along the left.. When a student finishes an assignment, the teacher marks out the box for that assignment on the chart so students can quickly see if they are missing any work. In this approach, grades are never publicly posted, and if work is so ...

Component Display Theory
David Merrill's highly structured approach to designing instruction.

Computer Games
Educational computer games can be purchased for students to use to review or explore concepts. Student can also design and create educational computer games to share with fellow students.

Computer Simulations
Simulating events or situations on a computer enables students to experiment with concepts or materials quickly and safely.

Computer Software Design
Students design and create computer programs to learn more about writing, syntax, logic, design, and technology.

Computing
Finding solutions to problems involving numbers by carrying out the indicated operations.

Concentration
Pairs of cards are created (name of concept on one, description on other for instance). Students take turns. On each turn student chooses 2 cards from face- down arrangement. Students keep pairs which they correctly identify as matching.

Concept Attainment Model
Inductive model of instruction where student are presented with examples and non-examples of a concept. Students generate hypotheses and attempt to describe (and sometimes name) the concept.

Concept Cards
Cards created by students that link terms to the use of that term in context.

Concept Circles
Challenge students to either name the concept or complete the missing section(s) of the circle. Concept = colors

Concept Development Model
Inductive teaching model. Concepts are taught using the sequence: list items, group items, label, regroup, synthesize, and evaluate (can students generate and group on their own?)

Concept Fan
A problem-solving technique which encourages people to examine and solve causes of problems.

Concept Folders
Key concepts for course are each assigned a folder. Examples or illustrations of the concepts are kept in the folder for students to explore.

Concept Formation
The process by which we learn to identify concepts and which instances are examples of that concept.

Concept Map
Any of several forms of graphical organizers which allows learners to perceive relationships between concepts through diagramming keywords representing those concepts. Originally developed by Joseph Novak in the 1960's.

Concept Matrix
A two-dimensional approach to organizing information to solve problems or make connections between concepts.

Concept of Definition
Students construct organizing maps to explore meanings or definitions of words.

Conceptual Change Model
Constructivist approach which involves identifying and clarifying student misconceptions, then using an activity to challenge these misconceptions.

Conclusions
A logical process in which students analyze facts and generate new facts based on what is known. For example: It is a dry, sunny day. The neighbors are watering their yard using a sprinkler. Our dog is leaving wet footprints on the porch. Conclusion, our dog has been in our neighbor's yard, running through the sprinkler.

Conditions of Learning
Robert Gagne's theory explaining the different types of learning and proposing that they require different types of teaching.

Conferences
Conferences are face-to-face discussions. Conferences may occur between teachers and students to enable teachers to give individual guidance, or they may be meetings between parents, teachers, and (sometimes) the student for the purpose of discussing the student's progress and issues relating to how to improve the educational experience for the stu...

Conflict Chart
Conflict charts are used in three areas of education. Most commonly, they are used as a graphical tool to help students understand the motivation of real people or fictional characters, but they are also used as a tool to insure that students are scheduled for exactly one class per period with no 'conflicts,' and finally, they are used as a social ...

Conflict Mediation
Mediation involves discussions in the presence of a mediator who is trained to help individuals find solutions to their differences.

Connectionism
Edward L. Thorndike's behavioral theory that learning occurs as the result of connections made in the mind between stimuli and responses.

Consequence and Sequel
Edward de Bono's guided approach that allows groups to explore both short term and long term effects of actions.

Construction Spiral
A three-step process: individuals record their own thoughts, then small groups share ideas, finally, the whole group's ideas are written on the board. Corrections during the recording should be by the group and with no judgments by the teacher. If refinement of understanding is needed, a new question is posed.

Constructions
Geometric constructions involve the copying or manipulation of geometric shapes using only a straightedge and a compass.

Constructivist Models
Based on the philosophy that knowledge cannot be transferred from the teacher to the student but must be constructed by each individual. Connections must be made between the student's existing conceptual network and the new material to be learned.

Context Clues
When students encounter unfamiliar words, those words usually exist in an environment that includes many clues to word meanings. Meaning can be deduced or guessed by analyzing the context (the environment around the word).

Contextual Model
Based on philosophy that culture and other environmental contexts must also be considered in teaching child.

Continuum
Students take keywords and arrange them to form a continuum based on a variety of criteria. For example, 'beaver, rattlesnake, deer, plankton' would be arranged as 'rattlesnake, deer, beaver, plankton' if asked to arrange according to their preference for water, and 'plankton, rattlesnake, beaver, deer' if asked to arrange according to size.

Contracts
Contracts are formal agreements between individuals or entities. For a contract to be effective or valid, usually some action is performed by one party of the contract and in exchange the party performing the action gets something of value in return. In a school setting, the student typically performs the 'service' of behaving in a desirable way, a...

Contrasting
Exploring or describing differences between objects or concepts.

Control Theory
Glasser's theory explaining that, in an attempt to satisfy basic needs for survival, belonging, power, freedom, and fun, people will act to control their behavior to satisfy those needs. Control theory is related to Choice Theory.

Cooking
Hands-on activity that helps students make connections between the math, reading, and science they do in the classroom and a real-world application that most people do daily.

Cooperative Conflict Resolution
Cooperative approach to learning about how to prepare arguments and discuss arguments.

Cooperative Learning Model
In this approach, students share knowledge with other students through a variety of structures. Cooperative Learning, as a phrase, originated in the 1960's with the work of David and Roger Johnson. True cooperative learning includes five essential elements: positive interdependence, face-to-face interactions, individual accountability, some structu...

Cooperative Review
Groups take turns asking other groups questions. Often conducted as a game where points are awarded.

Copying
Reproducing drawings, text, motions, etc. Used to encourage students to look more carefully at something.

Corners
Students are asked to select (by standing next to their choice)from four options which are posted in the corners of the room. Students then defend choices and listen to others' choices.

Crawford Slip Writing
Students are provided with a pad of papers with text and graphical prompts to which they should respond as quickly as possible. Can be used with older students to generate ideas, or with younger students as a form of ungraded assessment.

Creative Thinking Reading
Teams of students work together to solve assigned problems using text provided by the teacher.

Criterion-referenced Assessment
Performance is compared to a set standard or objective. It is possible for all students to earn the highest possible grade if all meet the established criteria for that grade. (compare to Norm- referenced assessment)

Critical Instances
Critical thinking is a process whereby the learner considers a variety of possibilities, then chooses from those possibilities using unbiased, rational thinking.

Criticizing
A thinking skill involving judging or analyzing.

Critique
Critiques can take several different forms. In writing, students read and react to a single written work by summarizing information and evaluating the source's correctness, relevance, or viewpoint. In the arts, works of art are critiqued either in writing or through a discussion, to help students develop analytical and interpretive skills.

Cross-Age Tutoring
Older students act as tutors to younger students. Often carried out in the form of a 'buddy' program where all the fourth graders in a school may have a first grade 'reading buddy' with whom they work.

Cross-Checking
Using multiple sources of information.

Cross-Pollination
Have students share ideas during investigation of problems.

CROWN
A closure technique that encourages students to reflect on the completed lesson. CROWN = Communicate what you learned. Reaction. Offer one sentence that sums up what the whole lesson was about. Where are some different places you could use this? Note how well we did today.

Cubing
A six-part technique to explore different aspects of a topic. The six parts include: describing, comparing, associating, analyzing, applying, arguing.

Cueing
Various means used by the teacher to let students know that particular material is important.

Cumulative Cases
A structured preschool program based on a series of thematic units

Cumulative Final
A cumulative final exam is an assessment for which the students are expected to know all concepts taught during the course. Some instructors have a policy of passing any student who can pass a cumulative final exam. The advantage to this approach is that students have a chance to pass up until the very end of the course. The disadvantage to this is...

Current Events
Discussion or student work centered on events in recent news.

Daily Message
Early in the day, the Principal or Vice Principal start the day by addressing students. These short speeches are typically on such themes as 'respect,' handling peer pressure,' or 'being kind to others.'

Daily Outline
By posting a written overview of what will be done during the day, students can be prepared in advance. These overviews typically include a list of any work that should be done by the beginning of class, a list of work that will be done during the day, a list of work to be done as homework, and a brief description of the concepts to be covered and ...

Dance
Dance can be used to teach coordination and discipline. Dancing in groups encourages students to become more observant and strengthens social bonds. Memorization of lengthy dance routines and the music associated with them stimulates parts of the brain involved with creativity.

Data Analysis
Having students gather and analyze data can connect them to real-world problems and also improve their critical thinking skills.

Data Gathering
Students collect information in an organized way for use in statistical analysis, scientific research, or as support for arguments in social studies or other fields.

Days
Special days during the school year when all activities center around a theme.

Debates
Debates are arguments carried out according to agreed upon rules and used in the classroom to engage students and help them make connections to the curriculum.

Debriefing
A form of reflection immediately following an activity.

Decision Making
Helping students learn to make better decisions improves their problem-solving skills and helps students be more effective in confronting choices outside the classroom.

Decision-Making Matrix
Method for assigning numerical values to criteria, and the extent to which alternatives satisfy criteria.

Decision-Making Tasks
A Meaningful Use Task where students identify criteria and alternatives then reevaluate the alternatives to make a decision.

Deduction
Starting with general ideas and moving to more specific ideas within a topic. (compare to induction)

Deductive Inquiry
A form of inquiry with four basic components: presentation of a generalization, discussion of core elements of the generalization, student exploration of the elements, student generation of relevant examples of the generalized concept.

DEFENDS
A writing strategy by Edwin S. Ellis.