What It's All About
Educators are often faced with the challenge of teaching students to read. It begins with the recognition of letter sounds and putting them together within words and sentences. Yet, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Arguably far more important is a child's ability to comprehend what he or she reads. That is the true essence of reading, yet it remains difficult for a great number of children. There are many students who learn to call words or sound them out based on the letters and letter patterns within them, but they have no idea what the words actually mean when strung together to tell a story or explain something. According to the Texas Education Agency (2002), "research has established that readers' existing knowledge is critical in determining their ability to comprehend what they read" (p. 8). Educators frequently model and emphasize the comprehension strategies, such as visualizing, making connections, and inferring. However, students with limited life experiences will struggle with employing these strategies. This is due to the fact that they lack the schema, or background knowledge, necessary to do so. For instance, a child reading a book about a trip to the zoo will likely have a difficult time visualizing the events described in the text if he or she has never actually visited a zoo before.
A person’s background knowledge comes from his or her experiences with the world. It has to be fully activated in order for readers to understand texts. The Texas Education Agency (2002) states that: “Schema theory is one of the most important contributions made by cognitive scientists to the understanding of how comprehension works” (p. 8). This theory supports the idea that as individuals learn about the world and have various experiences within it, they “develop a large network of knowledge, or schemas, with each schema connected to many others” (Texas Education Agency, 2002, p.8). As a person grows and acquires new information through reading and experiences, these schemas also grow. Sadly, there are millions of children who know very little about the world. This is often correlated with their socioeconomic status. Many families do not have the time or means to provide meaningful experiences for their children. So, the immense challenge for educators is trying to figure out how they can get students to learn about the world, while also providing them with valuable experiences, in order to build their schemas and help them to ultimately comprehend. The answer to this challenge comes in the form of a learning application called: Growing Dendrites.
Growing Dendrites functions as a large, interactive, and mobile, multimedia library. For students, it is a place where they can explore the world in a way that is both engaging and responsive. Parents and teachers find it to be an invaluable resource in helping their children to better understand the world around them while also improving their comprehension skills at the same time. The application contains many Lexile-leveled reading passages that convey information about a wide variety of topics, but it also has instructional videos, photograph slideshows, simulations, hands-on activities, ideas for extension lessons, printables, and recommendations for additional resources related to the content.
Students can log into the app using their own unique usernames and passwords. On their first visit, they are prompted to select an avatar for themselves. This immediately piques interest, and the avatars become a major motivating factor for students, encouraging them to continually log onto the application to further their learning and understanding. As students answer comprehension questions, spend quality time on the app, and participate in activities, they accumulate points. These points eventually result in special rewards, such as students being able to choose a new outfit for their avatars to getting to build their avatars a home to getting to use their avatars to participate in exciting games.
After students have taken a comprehension quiz on the app, they receive immediate feedback. They see their scores as well as any questions they got incorrect. For the answers they got wrong, students are shown where they could have found the needed information in the accompanying passage. Parents and teachers can monitor the progress made by the students. They are able to see the scores that students receive on comprehension quizzes, along with how much time they have actively spent on the application. Students can also share their work from many of the interactive activities with their parents and teachers. Their teachers have the special ability to send comments, letting students know what they did well and what they might still need to work on. Additionally, teachers can customize assessments and many of the interactive activities. For instance, the comprehension quizzes are automatically programmed to have ten multiple-choice questions related to the texts, but teachers can input open-ended response or true/false questions if they so choose.
The Growing Dendrites application is divided into two main sections, which users can decide between immediately after logging in. One of the sections is called: Concept Maps. When users click into this section, they can choose between five interactive graphic organizers. They can select from two different Venn diagrams, build a brainstorming web, create a KWL chart, or design their own bulletin board in free form. With the bulletin board option, students have the ability to add photos, links, videos, and text in order to share and organize their thoughts. These can be used for students to track their learning and thinking over the course of a particular unit of study, but there are limitless possibilities for how educators could incorporate them into instruction. Teachers can also have the students share their finished concept maps with them, which serves as an excellent form of both formative and summative assessment. There is even potential for collaboration. Students can work together to build their concept maps, with each member sharing and contributing thoughtful ideas.
The other section of the application is known as: The Knowledge Gallery. This is where users can find a wealth of information in a variety of forms. When a user clicks to enter The Knowledge Gallery, his or her avatar appears and walks through the doors of the factory. This avatar then enters an elevator. Inside the elevator there are many buttons to choose from. Each button leads to a different floor of the factory and to a different topic. This ranges from outer space to government to the states of matter and beyond. The topics are directly aligned to the Common Core Standards for kindergarten to grade five. Once users have selected their topic, the elevator doors open onto a floor that is themed to match. For instance, the weather floor looks like a meteorologist’s studio. There are five Lexile-leveled reading passages that provide an overview of the topic, but users can then click around the rooms to find links that will take them to additional pages. For instance, on the weather floor of the gallery, the students can click on the poster of a cloud and be taken to a new page with leveled, informational passages about the different cloud types and how they form. They can also find a photo slideshow with actual real-life cloud images, a video showing cloud formation with an explanation of water vapor, an interactive activity in which they must identify different clouds while taking on the role of a meteorologist, and a printable bookmark that has the different cloud types, descriptions of them, and accompanying pictures. Depending on the concept, students can sometimes experience virtual field trips to landmarks and locations around the world.
Teachers and parents may not have the time or money to take their students and children on field trips or vacations to help give them a better sense of what the world is all about and to build their background knowledge, but the Growing Dendrites application is the next best thing. Its reading passages and multimedia delivery of information related to important curriculum content is second to none. Students will be engaged, as their needs and interests are at the heart of how this application was developed. On-screen images are bright, colorful, and animated, allowing students to feel as though they are in a Willy Wonka wonderland of learning. An additional advantage is that the app is mobile. Students can be learning from their desks in the classroom, or from the backseat of their parents’ cars, or from the sidelines of the field while waiting for football practice to begin. As they say: “There is no time like the present.” Go out and start growing new dendrites right now!
References:
Texas Educational Agency. (2002). Comprehension Instruction. Retrieved from file:///Users/sandranewell/Downloads/redbk2.pdf
A person’s background knowledge comes from his or her experiences with the world. It has to be fully activated in order for readers to understand texts. The Texas Education Agency (2002) states that: “Schema theory is one of the most important contributions made by cognitive scientists to the understanding of how comprehension works” (p. 8). This theory supports the idea that as individuals learn about the world and have various experiences within it, they “develop a large network of knowledge, or schemas, with each schema connected to many others” (Texas Education Agency, 2002, p.8). As a person grows and acquires new information through reading and experiences, these schemas also grow. Sadly, there are millions of children who know very little about the world. This is often correlated with their socioeconomic status. Many families do not have the time or means to provide meaningful experiences for their children. So, the immense challenge for educators is trying to figure out how they can get students to learn about the world, while also providing them with valuable experiences, in order to build their schemas and help them to ultimately comprehend. The answer to this challenge comes in the form of a learning application called: Growing Dendrites.
Growing Dendrites functions as a large, interactive, and mobile, multimedia library. For students, it is a place where they can explore the world in a way that is both engaging and responsive. Parents and teachers find it to be an invaluable resource in helping their children to better understand the world around them while also improving their comprehension skills at the same time. The application contains many Lexile-leveled reading passages that convey information about a wide variety of topics, but it also has instructional videos, photograph slideshows, simulations, hands-on activities, ideas for extension lessons, printables, and recommendations for additional resources related to the content.
Students can log into the app using their own unique usernames and passwords. On their first visit, they are prompted to select an avatar for themselves. This immediately piques interest, and the avatars become a major motivating factor for students, encouraging them to continually log onto the application to further their learning and understanding. As students answer comprehension questions, spend quality time on the app, and participate in activities, they accumulate points. These points eventually result in special rewards, such as students being able to choose a new outfit for their avatars to getting to build their avatars a home to getting to use their avatars to participate in exciting games.
After students have taken a comprehension quiz on the app, they receive immediate feedback. They see their scores as well as any questions they got incorrect. For the answers they got wrong, students are shown where they could have found the needed information in the accompanying passage. Parents and teachers can monitor the progress made by the students. They are able to see the scores that students receive on comprehension quizzes, along with how much time they have actively spent on the application. Students can also share their work from many of the interactive activities with their parents and teachers. Their teachers have the special ability to send comments, letting students know what they did well and what they might still need to work on. Additionally, teachers can customize assessments and many of the interactive activities. For instance, the comprehension quizzes are automatically programmed to have ten multiple-choice questions related to the texts, but teachers can input open-ended response or true/false questions if they so choose.
The Growing Dendrites application is divided into two main sections, which users can decide between immediately after logging in. One of the sections is called: Concept Maps. When users click into this section, they can choose between five interactive graphic organizers. They can select from two different Venn diagrams, build a brainstorming web, create a KWL chart, or design their own bulletin board in free form. With the bulletin board option, students have the ability to add photos, links, videos, and text in order to share and organize their thoughts. These can be used for students to track their learning and thinking over the course of a particular unit of study, but there are limitless possibilities for how educators could incorporate them into instruction. Teachers can also have the students share their finished concept maps with them, which serves as an excellent form of both formative and summative assessment. There is even potential for collaboration. Students can work together to build their concept maps, with each member sharing and contributing thoughtful ideas.
The other section of the application is known as: The Knowledge Gallery. This is where users can find a wealth of information in a variety of forms. When a user clicks to enter The Knowledge Gallery, his or her avatar appears and walks through the doors of the factory. This avatar then enters an elevator. Inside the elevator there are many buttons to choose from. Each button leads to a different floor of the factory and to a different topic. This ranges from outer space to government to the states of matter and beyond. The topics are directly aligned to the Common Core Standards for kindergarten to grade five. Once users have selected their topic, the elevator doors open onto a floor that is themed to match. For instance, the weather floor looks like a meteorologist’s studio. There are five Lexile-leveled reading passages that provide an overview of the topic, but users can then click around the rooms to find links that will take them to additional pages. For instance, on the weather floor of the gallery, the students can click on the poster of a cloud and be taken to a new page with leveled, informational passages about the different cloud types and how they form. They can also find a photo slideshow with actual real-life cloud images, a video showing cloud formation with an explanation of water vapor, an interactive activity in which they must identify different clouds while taking on the role of a meteorologist, and a printable bookmark that has the different cloud types, descriptions of them, and accompanying pictures. Depending on the concept, students can sometimes experience virtual field trips to landmarks and locations around the world.
Teachers and parents may not have the time or money to take their students and children on field trips or vacations to help give them a better sense of what the world is all about and to build their background knowledge, but the Growing Dendrites application is the next best thing. Its reading passages and multimedia delivery of information related to important curriculum content is second to none. Students will be engaged, as their needs and interests are at the heart of how this application was developed. On-screen images are bright, colorful, and animated, allowing students to feel as though they are in a Willy Wonka wonderland of learning. An additional advantage is that the app is mobile. Students can be learning from their desks in the classroom, or from the backseat of their parents’ cars, or from the sidelines of the field while waiting for football practice to begin. As they say: “There is no time like the present.” Go out and start growing new dendrites right now!
References:
Texas Educational Agency. (2002). Comprehension Instruction. Retrieved from file:///Users/sandranewell/Downloads/redbk2.pdf
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