Strategies

Strategies: Learning strategies help ELs comprehend,integrate, and retain new information. Continuum of Strategies: Moving students to Independence:
 * Mentally active learners are better learners
 * Strategies can be taught
 * Learning strategies transfer to new tasks
 * Discussing and doing make abstract concepts concrete
 * Academic language learning is more effective with learning strategies

**Use variety of strategies: **
 * Mnemonics—using acronyms to memorize terms or concepts, ex: HOMES –each letter stands for one of the Great Lakes


 * “I Wonder”Brainstorming about book, topic, theme
 * should be in the form of questions (who, what, when, what if, why…) or “I wonder if…


 * GIST summarizing strategy—7 minutes:
 * 3 minutes--After reading a passage or section of text, teacher and students underline or pick out 10 words and concepts that are “most important” to understanding text.
 * 1 minute--Write 10 words on the board.
 *  3 minutes--Teacher and students write 1-2 summary statements using as many of the listed words as possible. Could be partner work. Post on board.
 *  2 minutes—Repeat process through subsequent text. When finished, add a topic sentence to precede summary sentences—a summary paragraph!


 * Make a //Word Splash// using the important words in a text:


 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Illustrate //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> new learning on a poster including appropriate captions and details.


 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Graffiti Write represents students’ learning:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Each team has chart paper; each team member has a marker. A topic or question is posed. At the start signal each person writes a personal comment about the topic or question on the chart paper—//at the same time//. 2 minutes.

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Scaffolding Techniques: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use think-alouds –say out loud what you are thinking as you try to use a strategy


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Construct a graphic organizer (T-list, Venn Diagram, etc.) depicting the highlights of a reading selection.


 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use Procedural scaffolding: [[image:scaffold.png width="515" height="120"]]

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Questioning Techniques: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Ask questions that promote critical and strategic thinking-**-**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use a //Thinking Cube// to generate at least 6 higher order thinking questions about text.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Ex: __How__ can you measure matter?


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Use a //Question Cube// as a question starter to stimulate a variety of questions after a passage is read. Roll the cube and one student asks the question—Who, What, When, Where, Why, How--another student answers.


 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">QAR(Question-Answer Relationships)—helps students distinguish between “Right here” (literal) questions, “Author and Me” (inferential), and “On My Own” (from experience) questions and know where to find the answers.


 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">QtA (Questioning the Author)—this technique assists students in developing a deep comprehension of the reading material.