The author: Gwen Berry is a doctoral fellow and staff member of the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. This article originally appeared in the February 1999 issue of Strategram, a newsletter for SIM teachers.
The 1996-1997 school year will forever be etched in my memory as "Our Three-Strategy School Year."
It began in the summer of 1996 when Jim Knight, research associate at the Center for Research on Learning, approached me about working with his three oldest sons on a regular basis to learn a series of learning strategies. Jim proposed that we begin the school year by learning the Assignment Completion Strategy and then move on to the Sentence Writing and Paragraph Writing Strategies. After discussing schedules and logistics, we decided I would meet with Geoffrey (grade 10), Cameron (grade 9), and David (grade 7) three times a week after school for an hour and a half. Although we were flexible on how we used our time together, the typical routine was to spend the first 10 minutes reviewing Quality Quest Planners, the next 45-50 minutes learning specific strategies, and the last 30 minutes completing homework assignments. Some days, we focused only on homework, especially if there were pressing exams or papers due or if I thought I needed clarification or suggestions on how to teach a specific portion of one of the strategies. I am very pleased to report that all of us, Geoff, Cam, Dave, and Gwen, mastered three learning strategies in one school year and learned many important lessons along the way. The culmination of this successful venture was a presentation at the 1997 National SIM Trainers' Conference where the four of us shared what we had learned as well as what we liked and didn't like about each strategy. Preparing for and presenting at this conference was a wonderful experience for all of us. As I watched the boys take ownership for what they had learned and take pride in preparing their presentation, I realized they were forever changed by this experience. I can also attest to the fact that the "Knight Boys" were requested to make appearances at future SIM conferences! In the sections below, we summarize our important learnings using the same format used for the conference presentation. Specifically, for each of the three strategies we learned, I will provide teaching and training tips, and David, Geoffrey, and Cameron will tell you what we liked and didn't like about the Assignment Completion, Sentence Writing, and Paragraph Writing Strategies.
We were able to learn the Assignment Completion Strategy in approximately one month's time. Each of the boys reacted a bit differently to using the Quality Quest Planner, with Dave, the seventh-grader, using it most consistently and without prompting. Although Dave is conscientious by nature, the four of us concluded that there is great benefit in learning this system early in one's school career. Dave was very open to learning this organizational system because he realized that the transition from elementary to junior high school meant greater responsibility. He took pride in recording, completing, and numbering his assignments and came to rely on the planner as an important organizational tool.
Because organization was an important issue for all three of the boys, I looked for every opportunity to reinforce this skill. One activity that worked well was to assign the boys organizational tasks throughout the Advanced Practice Stage of this strategy. In this stage, I would give the boys an assignment (just as a teacher would) and they would be responsible for recording the assignment in their planners, completing the task independently, and turning in their products on the requested due date. Below are two of the assignments the boys completed while mastering the Advanced Practice Stage of this strategy.
Assignment G4 (the "G" was for Gwen)
Organize your current folders and books by doing the following:
Assignment G5
Another activity I used while teaching this strategy was to play "Jeopardy" during the Verbal Rehearsal Stage. We played "Jeopardy" using a simple board I had constructed using tagboard and colored construction paper for pockets. Jeopardy questions were written on the back of 3-by-5-inch notecards and inserted into the construction paper pockets. The front of the notecard contained the point value of the question (100, 200, etc.). I have found this simple board to be an invaluable teaching tool and have adapted it throughout the years for various activities (vocabulary review, spelling bees, review before exams, to name a few). The boys loved this activity and it was a great tool for practicing the strategy mnemonic as well as checking comprehension. One additional tip regarding the Jeopardy board is to include a category titled "Potpourri" where fun facts and questions related to student interests can be incorporated. I included hockey facts and other interesting trivia in this column, and it served as a wonderful way to get to know each other better.
A third teaching suggestion regarding this strategy (and any strategy!) is to invest the necessary time to make the examples relevant for the students. All of the strategy manuals recommend this, and I can attest to the fact that the time invested in finding appropriate examples is a worthwhile and meaningful activity. For example, during the Describe Stage of this strategy, it is recommended that a discussion take place regarding "quality goals" using pictures that represent different levels of quality (for example, cars, trucks, or mountain bikes). Since Cam is extremely interested in computers, I used pictures of computers, which made the discussion especially lively and relevant.
A final training tip regarding this strategy is to construct a three-ring binder system before beginning to teach the strategy and to use this binder throughout training to collect examples.
The most important teaching tip I could offer regarding this strategy is to consider co-teaching it or to regularly consult someone who has taught the strategy before. Even though I had heard many testimonials as to the power of this strategy, the size of the manual always intimidated me. Jim Knight encouraged me to "jump in" and offered support as I taught it for the first time (meeting at a local bagel shop helped, too). Especially helpful to me were Jim's scoring suggestions and analogies. Thanks to this support, we were able to master simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences by early December.
A second teaching tip I can recommend is to encourage students to incorporate graphics when constructing cue cards. Initially, I copied the cue cards from the back of the appendices and did not require the boys to make their own cue cards since I thought it would save time. This was a mistake. When the boys were responsible for designing their own cue cards, they were much more invested in the process of learning. I was very impressed with their examples and graphics, which served to aid the memory process.
A third and final training tip is to consider making a "Sentence Writing Packet" that contains the most frequently used information. I designed packets for each of the boys and included the following information: Helping Verbs (Cue Card #5), Coordinating Conjunctions (Cue Card #9), Subordinating Conjunctions (Cue Card #12), and Sentence Formulas (page 173). We referred to these packets often.
We did not begin learning the Paragraph Writing Strategy until mid-February, and we completed Lessons 1 through 4 (Topic, Detail, Clincher Sentences, and Whole Paragraphs) by mid-April. The one area that I felt needed strengthening after teaching this strategy was how to prepare the boys for the transition to theme and essay writing. For example, it was clear to me that they had mastered writing complete paragraphs; however, they still struggled with how to link a series of paragraphs together when writing a book report, essay, or short paper, and they needed access to this information immediately.
Rather than using the Jeopardy game for the Verbal Rehearsal Stage of this strategy, I constructed notecards with questions on the front and answers on the back. During Verbal Rehearsal, we divided the notecards into three piles and the boys took turns self-quizzing as well as quizzing in pairs. The notecards were easy to construct and could be used again in future Verbal Rehearsal practice sessions. Another interesting variation of this activity I plan to use next time I teach the Verbal Rehearsal Stage of a strategy is to see what questions students will generate themselves as they create these study cards.
A second worthwhile activity I asked the boys to engage in was to draw an organizer that graphically depicted how topic, detail, and clincher sentences were related to one another as well as the specific details that make each type of sentence unique. We did this activity after completing the Describe Stage of clincher sentences.
A third teaching tip is to construct a laminated notecard that includes the Transition Chart (Cue Card #30). This chart could then be inserted into a school notebook for quick and easy use. This chart was extremely helpful for the boys, and they referred to it frequently.
In preparation for this article, I was asked to reflect on why I undertook this project. Although there were multiple reasons for saying "yes," some reasons were more important than others. For example, one of the reasons I agreed to this task was the opportunity to earn some extra money--an important consideration for any graduate student. A second reason I agreed to this task was the opportunity to learn three very important strategies--an important consideration for any SIM Trainer. The third reason I agreed to a three-strategy school year was the opportunity to work with students--an important consideration for any teacher. I am proud to call myself all of these things, a KU-CRL graduate student, a SIM Trainer, and, most importantly, a teacher. It was truly a successful "Three-Strategy School Year."
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