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Written Assignment Unit 7

Department of Education, University of the People

EDUC 5210: Learning Theory

Dr. Sheneka Balogun

May 26, 2022

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Edu 5210 Written Assignment Unit 7

Each year, the young children who join your classrooms are eager for new wisdom and

new experiences (Neuman & Kaefer, 2015). Reading to learn is an essential literacy skill. To

master this skill, students must become proficient at activating prior knowledge, blending it with

new information, and creating new understandings (Strangman et al., 2004). Students who lack

adequate background knowledge or cannot trigger it may struggle to access, participate, and

progress throughout the general curriculum. Prior knowledge is the entirety of a person's

knowledge which includes explicit and tacit knowledge and metacognitive and conceptual

knowledge (Strangman et al., 2004). Background knowledge is the amount of information or

knowledge someone has on a particular topic. Background knowledge is gained by the number

of experiences a person has in life or the amount of knowledge they have possessed from reading

or listening (Hugo, 2019). We've had our share of lively discussions in the area of reading, but

not on this particular topic: background knowledge. The more you know about a topic, the more

effortless it is to read a text, understand it, and retain the data. Earlier studies have shown that

background knowledge plays an immense role in reading comprehension (Hugo, 2019).

K-W-L Charts

K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that enable students to organize data before, during,

and after a unit or a lesson. They can be utilized to engage learners in a new topic, trigger prior

knowledge, share unit objectives, and observe students' learning (Strangman et al., 2004).
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Procedure

Create K-W-L Charts

Pass out the accompanying handout to students. Alternatively, you can spread a blank

sheet of paper and ask students to make their own charts.

Complete Section A

Have learners respond to the first prompt in section A: What do you understand about

this topic? Students can do this either individually or in small groups. Usually, teachers make a

list of all students' responses. One question that often arises for teachers is how to address

misinterpretations students share. Sometimes it is proper to correct false information at this

point. Other times, you might want to leave the incomprehension so that students can correct

them independently as they learn new material (K-W-L charts, 2022).

Complete Section B

Have learners respond to the prompt in section B: What do you want to learn about this

topic? Some learners may not know where to start if they do not have much background

knowledge. Therefore, it can be beneficial to put the six journalism questions on the board as

prompts (Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?). We recommend that students' responses

and questions be used to control the course of study. As learners communicate what they want to

learn, this step allows teachers to present what they hope students will retain in the unit (K-W-L

charts, 2022).

Complete Section C and Review Section A and B

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Students can review their K-W-L charts throughout the unit by adding to column C: What

did you learn? Some teachers have students add to their charts at the end of each class, while

others have students add to their charts at the end of the week. As students document what they

have learned, they can check the questions in section B, checking off any questions they can now

answer. They can also add new questions. Learners should also review Column 1 to determine

any misconceptions they may have held before beginning the unit (K-W-L charts, 2022).

The shortcomings of the KWL strategy are

1. It is challenging for learners with no prior knowledge,

2. It takes time to finish,

3. It is not practical for reading fiction materials,

4. It is not suitable for readers who are not active thinkers (K-W-L charts, 2022).

Interactive Discussion

With the general strategy discussed in the previous session, students, once prompted,

record prior knowledge with little or no discussion or other inspiration from the teacher or peers

(Strangman et al., 2004). Another option is an interactive approach, where learner reflection on

previous knowledge is supplemented with interactive discussion. Students learn through their

participation in acquiring knowledge by collecting information and processing it by solving

problems and articulating what they have learned (Strangman et al., 2004).

Entry/Exit Tickets
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• Entry & Exit tickets are short prompts that supply educators with a quick student

diagnosis. These activities can be collected on 3" x5" cards, small pieces of paper, or

online via a survey or course management system.

• Entry tickets concentrate learner attention on the day's topic or ask learners to recall

background knowledge relevant to the day's lesson: e.g., "Founded on the readings for

class today, what is your understanding of ___________?"

Exit tickets gather feedback on students' understanding at the end of a class and allow the

students to reflect on what they have learned. They can help prompt the student to synthesize and

integrate the information gained during a class period (Harriet, n.d.). For example, a Newtonian

point prompt: "What was the Newtonian point in today's class?" or "Do you still have about

today's lecture?"

Benefits of entrance and exit tickets include the participation of each student, prompt for

students to concentrate on key concepts and theories, a high return of knowledge for the amount

of time invested, and essential feedback for the instructor that can be helpful to guide teaching

decisions (e.g., course pacing, a quick clarification of small misconceptions, identification of

learner interests and questions) (Harriet, n.d.).

Shortcomings of the interactive discussion are:

• The discussion method is not suitable for all the topics.

• Some students may feel shy or hesitant to participate, while others may try to dominate.

• The educator may lose control over the learners, and they might end up quarreling

(Harriet, n.d.).
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References

Harriet, W. (n.d.). Interactive classroom activities. Brown University.

https://www.brown.edu/sheridan/teaching-learning-resources/teaching-

resources/classroom-practices/active-learning/interactive

Hugo, V. (2019, March 1). Building background knowledge. Reading Rockets.

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-background-knowledge

K-W-L charts. (2022). Facing History and Ourselves. https://www.facinghistoryorg/resource-

library/teaching-strategies/k-w-l-charts

Neuman, S. & Kaefer, T. (2015). Learning to Read, Reading to Learn. Nsba.

https://www.nsba.org/-/media/NSBA/File/cpe-learning-to-read-reading-to-learn-white-

paper-2015.pdf?la=en&hash=8E0E470C3E263C66E4491EC035224DC9018C6D5F

Strangman, N., Hall, T., & Meyer, A. (2004). Background knowledge instruction and the

implications for UDL implementation. National Center on Accessing the General

Curriculum.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210224031539/https:/aem.cast.org/about/publications/200

4/ncac-background-knowledge-udl.html