“No two children are alike. An enriched
environment for one is not necessarily
enriched for another.”
Marian Diamond
Kelly Madigan, Jennifer Cantin,
Cristin Jamieson, Carlo Celebre,
Dan Berthiaume, Sue Korosec
*We needed to engage our students
*We needed to know how they like to learn
and where their strengths were (Learning
Styles Inventory)
*To increase their awareness of their
Catholic Faith
*To bridge the gap between elementary
and high school
Kinesthetic Learners:
(Demonstrate it)
Visual Learners:
(Write it)
Auditory Learners:
(Say it)
•Doing, hands-on
approach
•Physical involvement in
learning
•Short blocks of time
•Frequent breaks when
learning
•Experimental learning
•Taking notes and
making lists
•Seeing a demonstration
•Using charts, maps,
timelines, flashcards,
graphic organizers
•Colour coding learning
•They like to study in a
quiet place
•Participates in class
discussions and debates
•Read text out loud
•They like to share ideas
orally
•Use storytelling to
demonstrate a point
•Like speeches and
presentations
*We decided on the expectation that we
wanted to meet (making Parables relevant)
*As a group we sat down and brainstormed
possible activities
*Developed a choice board based on the three
Learning Styles
*We worked towards having more consistency
between elementary and high school in the
areas of evaluation and approach
•A copy of the Parable with image
•Choice Board
•Reflection Questions
•Rubric
Choice Board
Re-tell the story of The
Lost Son from the point of
view of the older brother.
Show how he felt about
the welcome that their
father gave to his younger
brother.
Write a modern story
about a son or daughter
who upsets or disappoints
their parents. Explain
what they do and how the
parents behave towards
them.
Create a poster using
pictures and words to
show what Christians
believe about forgiveness,
after reading the parable
of The Lost Son.
Create a comic strip
that summarizes the
parable The Lost Son.
Use the computer to
create your comic
strip.
Use the computer to
create your poster.
Create a Modern Day
Develop a News Article
retelling of the parable based on The Lost Son,
using
including the five W’s
Pictures/Collage/Slide.
and H.
As human beings we can
find it very hard to forgive
people who have wronged
us. Give some examples of
times when you have
found it difficult to
forgive. Look for situations
in the news where the
people involved might
need to forgive others.
Retell the story in the
form of an interview.
Include at least 10
questions with the
answers.
Create a script based
on The Lost Son.
Remember to include
all of the characters.
Be prepared to act it
out!
* High student engagement
* Enjoyed choice board
* Able to take the choice and make modifications based on
their ideas and interests
* Gained a deeper understanding of parables
* Rich dialogue amongst the students in small and large group
* The message carried over into other subjects and
conversations
* Use of technology
* Introduce students to a “new” approach to learning (D.I.)
* We found reflection questions very valuable to determine if
the students understood the main idea
* The reflection questions allowed students to put their
understanding into their own words and make a personal
connect to the main message of the parable
* Technological glitches
* Difficult to book computer labs
* Geographical location for Internet, not all students were able
to work from home
* Reflection questions needed further clarification and
explanation
* Too many choices
* Some students unaware of their Learning Styles had a hard
time picking one of the activities from the Choice Board
* Some students were unfamiliar with D.I. process
* Because there is no choice to do reflection questions, some
answers were minimal
*Create a “hook” to engage students
*To incorporate “Choice Boards” into other
subject areas
*To provide students with more choice during
evaluations
*Get to know your students better by opening up
the dialogue