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Strategies in Action supports your implementation of research-based strategies and exemplary practices. These resources may be used individually, in pairs, with small groups or teams, or even with the whole faculty. This guide provides general ideas and suggestions for using Strategies in
Action books and L EARNING -F OCUSED Direct courses to guide professional learning at your school as well as specific activities and questions for Advance Organizers .
1. Each Strategies in Action book and L EARNING -F OCUSED Direct Strategy Specific course provides: a. An Activating Strategy to help you connect what you are going to learn to your prior knowledge on the strategy or practice b. A preview strategy for understanding the key vocabulary c. A Graphic Organizer for organizing your notes d. A Summarizing Strategy to summarize what you have learned.
Using these research-based learning strategies will strongly support you as you learn the knowledge and skills provided.
2. It is important to quickly put what you learn into practice. As you learn about each strategy or practice, begin planning or revising your lesson plans and apply what you have learned with students.
3. Keep a journal to record new insights and ideas to increase your effectiveness.
4. As you complete this book or course, take the time to develop an action plan to guide your next steps for implementing the strategies or practices.
5. Use the study guide questions and activities provided to self-reflect and/or to guide discussions with a partner or among your team members.
6. Keep a portfolio of student work that illustrates the impact of each strategy or practice on learning. Share these artifacts with team members.
7. Collaborate often with a partner and/or team to plan and implement the strategies and practices you learn.
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Reflect on these questions individually, pair up with a colleague, and/or use your Professional
Learning Community as a forum for discussion and for sharing the strategies and practices you are learning and implementing as a result of your learning.
1. Predict the meaning of the term
“Advance Organizer.”
2. Do an Internet search for
“Advance Organizer” and check your prediction.
3. What do you hope to learn by reading this Strategies in Action book or taking the
L EARNING -F OCUSED Direct course? Write down 2-3 of your learning goals.
1. Complete the “Think About it…” Anticipation Guide to make more predictions about Advance
Organizers.
2. Use the graphic organizer provided in your book or course to organize your notes as you learn about Advance Organizers.
3. How would you explain the purpose of Advance Organizers to a colleague?
4. How will your students benefit from using Advance Organizers?
5. Examine an upcoming lesson. What type of Advance Organizer would be most appropriate for the lesson?
6. Try several of the example Advance Organizers described. How did they work? What adaptations might you make?
7. As you plan your next lessons, think about how you can preview the graphic organizer. What real world content will you use to preview the type of thinking required?
8. While Advance Organizers rank fourth among the top research-based instructional strategies, Student Learning Maps incorporate other top strategies shown on the chart in your book or course as well. What other high impact instructional strategies are incorporated when students use Student Learning Maps?
9. Why are Student Learning Maps a particularly effective type of Advance Organizer?
10. If you have a subscription to LFS EngagED , look at some of the pictures of Student
Learning Maps. Which ones would be most effective with students and why?
11. What is the most important action you will take based on what you have learned in this book or course?
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1. Activating Strategies
2. Accelerating Learning
10. Higher Order Thinking
11. L EARNING -F OCUSED Lessons
3. Advance Organizers
4. Collaborative Pairs
12. Learning Goals and Lesson Essential
Questions
13. Effective Lesson Instruction
5. Differentiated Assignments 14. Previewing Strategies
6. Effective Assignments and Assessments 15. Questioning Strategies
7. Extended Reading Passages and Test
Fluency
8. Formative Assessments, Feedback and
Remediation
9. Graphic Organizers
16. Reading Comprehension Strategies
17. Summarizing Strategies
18. Vocabulary Strategies
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