12 Principles of Brain-based Learning
Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain (1991, 1994)
by Renate Nummela Caine & Geoffrey Caine, 88-95
Principle 1
The brain is a parallel processor.
Principle 2
Learning engages the entire physiology.
Principle 3
The search for meaning is innate.
Principle 4
The search for meaning occurs through patterning.
Principle 5
Emotions are critical to patterning.
Principle 6
The brain processes parts and wholes simultaneously.
Principle 7
Learning involves both focused attention and peripheral perception.
Principle 8
Learning always involves conscious and unconscious processes.
Principle 9
We have at least two different types of memory: A spatial memory system and a set of systems
for rote learning.
Principle 10
We understand and remember best when facts and skills are embedded in natural, spatial
memory.
Principle 11
Learning is enhanced by challenge and inhibited by threat.
Principle 12
Each brain is unique.
Mary Andis
HANDOUT
Engaging the Writing Brain (Demonstration Lesson on June 9, 2011)
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Storyline
In 1927, Don Lockwood and Lina Lamont are a famous on-screen romantic pair. Lina, however, mistakes the onscreen romance for real love. Don has worked hard to get where he is today, with his former partner Cosmo. When
Don and Lina's latest film is transformed into a musical, Don has the perfect voice for the songs. But Lina - well, even
with the best efforts of a diction coach, they still decide to dub over her voice. Kathy Selden is brought in, an aspiring
actress, and while she is working on the movie, Don falls in love with her. Will Kathy continue to "aspire", or will she
get the break she deserves? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
Target Brainstorming
(1) Focus on what can do best
(2) Use what is at hand or familiar
(3) Stick to the central theme
Activity
In threes, select an item from the Table of Contents and do some brainstorming trying to incorporate
some of the targeted brainstorming points listed above.
______________________________________________________________
Moonstruck (1987)
Storyline
Loretta Castorini, a Brooklyn bookkeeper in her late 30s whose husband died several years earlier in a bus accident,
decides it's time to get married again. So she accepts the proposal of a nice, middle-aged fellow named Johnny
Cammareri. Loretta is convinced her first marriage was cursed because she and her husband had gotten married at
City Hall; this time, she's determined to do things right, even as she admits to her mother, Rose, that she's not really
in love with Johnny. (To which Rose replies: "Good. When you love them, they drive you crazy, 'cause they know
they can." Rose speaks from rueful experience; she suspects, with good reason, that her husband, Cosmo, is
cheating on her.) Loretta is convinced that marrying Johnny is the safe and sure thing to do - until she meets his
estranged younger brother Ronny, who tends the ovens in a neighborhood bakery. Loretta discovers that in startling
contrast to the pleasant... Written by Eugene Kim <genekim@concentric.net>
Think about: (1) Opening hook, (2) Cultural truth, & (3) Title
Mary Andis