TESLA and High Yield Strategies

1. TESLAandHigh Yield Strategies Leslie Brodie, NBCT, M.Ed. Science Specialist Institute for Math and Science Education University of Arkansas-Fort Smith

3. Identifying Similarities and Differences • Guide students in identifying similarities and differences. • Allow students to identify similarities and differences independently. • Represent similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic forms. • Vary identification of similarities and differences. • Comparing • Classifying • Creating metaphors • Creating analogies

4. Summarizing and Note Taking • Teach students the “rules” of summarizing: • Delete material that is not necessary for understanding. • Delete material that is redundant. • Substitute more general terms for lists (for example: substitute flowers for daisies, tulips and roses). • Select a topic sentence or invent one if it is missing. • Provide students will summary frames (narrative, topic-restriction-illustration, definition, argumentation, problem/solution, conversation). • Utilize reciprocal teaching with students. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbnwBVrJVdY • Prepare notes for students (informal outline, webbing, or combination note-taking).

5. Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition • Help students realize the importance of believing in effort. • Help students learn to change their beliefs to an emphasis on effort. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27D4k3dCXPg

6. Homework and Practice • Establish and communicate a homework policy. • Design homework assignments that clearly articulate the purpose and outcome. • Vary the approaches to providing feedback. • Design practice assignments that focus on specific elements of a complex skill or process. • Plan time for students to increase their conceptual understanding of skills or processes. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fTZcHACrqQ&feature=related

7. Nonlinguistic Representations • Provide a variety of activities that produce nonlinguistic representations: • Create graphic representations • Make physical models • Generate mental pictures • Draw pictures and pictographs • Engage in kinesthetic activity

8. Cooperative Learning • Use a variety of criteria for grouping students. • Manage group size • Combine cooperative learning with other classroom structures.

9. Setting Objectives and Providing Feedback • Narrow the focus of instructional goals. • Generalize instructional goals rather than focus on specific behavioral objectives. • Encourage students to personalize the learning goals. • Provide feedback that is “corrective” in nature and specific to a criterion. • Provide feedback in a timely manner. • Involve students in providing feedback. • Incorporate rubrics when providing feedback.

10. Generating and Testing Hypotheses • Ask students to clearly explain their hypothesis and conclusions. • Provide students with templates for reporting their work. • Provide sentence stems for students to help them articulate their explanations. • Provide or develop with students rubrics so that they know what the evaluation criteria are. • Use a variety of structured tasks to guide students through generating and testing hypotheses. • System analysis • Problem solving • Historical investigation • Invention • Experimental inquiry • Decision making

11. Cues, Questions and Advanced Organizers • Focus cues and questions on what is important instead of on what is unusual. • Develop higher level questions to promote deeper learning. • http://cooperativelearning.nuvvo.com/lesson/9592-seinfeld-teaches-history • Practice appropriate wait time. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmQzVQza9Ak • Use questioning at the beginning of the lesson to elicit student understanding and establish a mental set for the learning experience.

12. Marzano on Instructional strategies • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5XlkyPf950