The Literacy Project- Curriculum/Activity Description

Organization and Learning Strategies (applies to daily living, math, writing, and science)

 

Level: ASE

Assessment/Evaluation:

  • Have learners make a list of all memorization strategies they used.  Combine all lists.  Have learners prioritize these strategies with regard to writing, organization, math, their lives, etc.
  • Track the extent to which learners generate individualized goals and objectives that incorporate concepts of "Order and Organization" or some of the strategies generated.

 

Massachusetts ABE Curriculum Frameworks

        Curriculum Framework(s): Science

 

Strands and Standards addressed:

     Strand: Order and Organization

 

Learning Standard: how creating and using order and organization tools help solve life problems

Duration:

Approximately 30 to 45 minutes  (you can vary the pace depending on time and the quality of the discussions and also extend this activity with open or directed writing assignments.)

Brief Description (for website index):

Strategies for Order and Organization; Memorization Strategies; A prompt for thinking about order and organization in writing, learning, and daily living.

Lesson Objective(s):

  • To generate and analyze learning styles and strategies.
  • To orient students to a learning environment
  • To develop vocabulary related to learning and memorizing strategies (i.e. pattern, symmetry, arrangement, proximity, categories, alignment, sequence, etc.

Ø     Learners will generate a list of organizing and memory strategies and identify which of those they are most comfortable with and which require the most effort and practice.

Ø      Learners will identify those qualities related to "Order and Organization" that best facilitate memorization and discussion.

 

Lesson Procedure:

  • Show a design of randomly placed shapes to learners.  Give them about 2 minutes to "memorize" the placement of the shapes.  Remove the design from their sight, and give them 2 to 5 minutes to "copy" the design from memory.
  • Allow a brief amount of time for learners to share their representations.
  • Show them the original design and allow a brief amount of time for learners to evaluate their success.
  • Show a design of symmetrically placed shapes to learners. Give them about 2 minutes to "memorize" the placement of the shapes.  Remove the design from their sight, and give them 2 to 5 minutes to "copy" the design from memory.
  • Allow a brief amount of time for learners to share their representations
  • Show them the original design and allow a brief amount of time for learners to evaluate their success.
  • Guided Discussion: Try to spend at least 15 minutes comparing the two activities.  Push them to identify and articulate the strategies they used and the conditions underlying their use of these strategies.
  • On an index card have each learner write their name and 3 strategies that are most accessible to them along with at least one strategy that will take a lot of time and effort before they are able to apply it to their school work or life.
  • Optionally Extend with Writing Activities 

 

Materials Needed:

2 poster size pieces of cardboard or construction paper (etc)

8 colored squares, 8 colored triangles, 8 colored rectangles,  8 colored circles (at least 4 different shapes; it's probably best that there is one separate color for each shape category)

On each "poster" background, affix 4 of each shape.  One "poster" should have the colored shapes regularly and symmetrically organized.  The other should have the shapes placed randomly.

Learners should have writing materials to "copy" the designs.

Index cards for "Assessment"

 

Special Comments:

This lesson could be used as part of an orientation for a new group.  It could also be used to help a group think more clearly about a project they are working on.  The original intention in "Decisional Training" is to help people generate individualized goals and objectives.

Other Related Links and Resources (including citations for original sources):

This is an activity I first saw as part of "Decisional Training" a program in the Hampshire and Franklin County Houses of Correction where volunteers worked with inmates in structured group and individual counseling sessions.

Decisions Inc., PO Box 3652, New Haven, CT 06525