About Learning is excited to introduce 4MAT 4 Algebra, a revolutionary new approach to teaching Algebra I.

When the authors began reconstructing Algebra to make it more meaningful for students they were struck by the high level of content similarity among all major Algebra texts, and the total lack of agreement or guidelines for teachers regarding the overarching ideas that comprise Algebra I instruction. So, this Algebra course helps answer two key questions …

What are some of the most significant ideas taught in Algebra?

How can these concepts tie together the extensive content taught in an Algebra I course?

To answer these questions, the authors had to re-organize instruction to make it more engaging for students. They considered the essence of what they were teaching, they met with their peers about how to make Algebra Instruction more meaningful and they spent considerable time refining and honing their ideas.

The outcome…

an elegant and practical way of organizing Algebra instruction so that all students will find it more engaging, more meaningful and more memorable.

INTRODUCING 4MAT 4 ALGEBRA I

4MAT 4 Algebra is founded on 10 over-arching ideas that establish the conceptual glue for the teaching of Algebra I. These concepts pull together a host of disparate facts into a cohesive whole. They help students see the forest from the trees.

Each unit plan is taught over a 2-3 week timeframe. Each unit connects to the real lives, interests and experiences of students. And each unit also provides actionable ways for students to make learning their own through individual applications and extensions of knowledge Students learn best when they explore the significance of key ideas and integrate learning in their own unique ways and this course is organized around these key principles. Students will never feel they are learning “because it’s on the test.” Every concept begins with student’s own experiences and ends in adaptation of learning.

The student materials that accompany this course are designed to give students hands on practice in creating their own projects to help demonstrate their own knowledge and expertise. To take new knowledge into the world.

NOTE: These materials are not intended to replace a textbook, as the practice exercises and worksheets included in Algebra I texts are critical to support student mastery.

After a winter and spring with our heads buried in development, 4mation 2007 is now available. The motto for the software is “taking instruction from good to great” and this was the guiding principle of the design. With this tool, teachers and instructional designers can start with what they now, then extend their instruction into the deeper of realms of curriculum (concepts, essential questions and outcomes) and instruction (connecting, extending learning to life, creative manifestations of material learned). We are very excited about the possibilities it offers for creating great instruction.

Some features we added for this release:

• Popin strategies aligned to each intstructional step
• Popin visual tools
• A worksheet that transforms and anlyzes existing instruction for balance

The Student Learning Preferences Survey is one of the most widely used learning styles assessment tools for students in grades 5-8. It is now available in a Spanish language version, including the assessment, learning styles descriptions and suggested strategies for each of the four major learning styles.

Title: Tropical Rain Forest

Grade: Primary

Author: Jenny Pfau

Subject: Science

Date:

Overview: Objective: This unit will give the students a brief overview of the composition and diversity of the tropical rain forest. About the Author: Jenny Pfau is emplyed by Indianapolis Public Schools in the Exchange/Intensive Teacher Project. She has eight years teaching experience including work in regular and gifted education. She is a participant in the Indianapolis 4MAT Implementation Project led by Phyllis Coe. Required Resources: Tropical rain forest sounds on cassette; rain forest-type plants and creatures (if available); appropriate films, videos, or slides; foods for “rain forest meal.” Bibliography: “Rain Forests of the World”. PBP Zoo Activity Guide; Fishel, David. The Indianapolis News, 1989. “Rain Forests: Tropical Treasures.” Ranger Rick’s Nature Scope. National Wildlife Federation, 1400 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036-2266. Video: “Rain Forest Rap.” World Wildlife Fund, 1250 24th St. NW, Washington, DC 20037

Procedure:

Homework:

About the Author:

Keywords: Animals, Plants, Rain Forest, Environmental Science, Conservation of Natural Resources

Concept: Environments

Bridge: Habitat

Essential Question: Why is it important for the world to understand the need to conserve the resources of the tropical rain forests?

Differentiated Instruction Strategy – Readiness and Style:

Differentiated Instruction Strategy – Content:

Differentiated Instruction Strategy – Process:

Differentiated Instruction Strategy – Product:

CONNECT (Quadrant One, Right Mode)Create a tropical rain forest environment.

Objective: To create an experience which will connect students to the environment found in a tropical rain forest. Activity: The teacher will create a tropical rain forest environment in the classroom by: 1. Turning up the temperature in the classroom to a level which one would find in a tropical rain forest.  2. Playing a cassette on which sounds typical to a tropical rain forest have been recorded. 3. Bringing in green plants to hang or place around the room. 4. Visit the local pet shop or zoo and inquire about the possibility of them loaning to you animals common to a tropical rain forest. Assessment: Enjoyment and reaction of the students.

ATTEND (Quadrant One, Left Mode)Discuss and analyze the environmental experience.

Objective: To analyze what the students observed, felt and learned about plants and animals which are common to a tropical rain forest. Activity: Using the overhead projector, discuss and analyze student observations. Assessment: Students’ contribution to the group discussion and analysis of the experience.

IMAGE (Quadrant Two, Right Mode)Discuss and analyze the environmental experience.

Objective: To deepen students’ understandings of plants and animals common to a tropical rain forest and then allow them to illustrate these understandings, creating a mural. Activity: Read to the students a book you have chosen which gives additional information on this topic (you may choose to substitute a video). Have students work in groups creating a mural which illustrates the composition and diversity of a tropical rain forest. Assessment: Attentiveness to the book, participation in and contribution to the mural.

INFORM (Quadrant Two, Left Mode)Instruction via lecture, discussion, films, guest speakers and use of textset.

Objective: Continued study of the composition of the rain forest. Activity: Teacher presents information using lecture, discussion, videos, texts and guest speakers [especially if you have access to experts from a Botanical Garden, or a local person whose has traveled in a rain forest area]. Assessment: Level of student interest and the quality of questions and comments.

PRACTICE (Quadrant Three, Left Mode)Personal inquiry time. View: “Rain Forest Rap” video.ers and use of textset.

Objective: Review concepts learned thus far about rain forest composition. Allow the students time to investigate a topic of their own choosing related to the tropical rain forest. Activity: Students share insights learned thus far about rain forest composition. Brainstorm with the class questions they might have on this topic which have not been answered and allow time for personal inquiry. The students will then view a short rain forest video, “Rain Forest Rap.” Assessment: Participation/contribution to class discussion, attentiveness to the video, on-task behavior during the independent investigation time.

EXTEND (Quadrant Three, Right Mode)Students create their own rain forest rap.

Objective: Students will create their own rain forest rap. Activity: The teacher will share with the students a short rap she/he has created to serve as an example. Students will then apply information they have learned about rain forests to create their own rain forest rap. Assessment: On-task behavior of students.

REFINE (Quadrant Four, Left Mode)Share rain forest rap with the class.

Objective: To share projects. To celebrate each other’s work. Activity: Students will perform their raps for the class. Assessment: Quality of student raps..

PERFORM (Quadrant Four, Right Mode)Class extension rain forest foods.

Objective: To extend what has been learned. To make applications of content learned to present day life. Activity: Review the different plants and animals found in the rain forest. Discuss the variety of food products found in the rain forest. Have the children work in groups to plan a menu for one day’s meals using as many tropical forest foods as possible. For example, breakfast might consist of toast sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, a grapefruit half, and a cup of hot chocolate. In this example the sugar, cinnamon, grapefruit, and cocoa originated in tropical forests. Assessment: Enjoyment and participation in the experience.

Standards Alignments:

This is an amazing web site that catalogues every form of visualization, organized by: data, information, concept, strategy, metaphor, compound, process, structure, overview, divergent, convergent. This is a must view for anyone who teaches anything.

Periodic Table of Visualizations

Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March Website Goes Live

On March 7, 1965, five hundred marchers proceeded through the streets
of Selma, Alabama, and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they
were met by scores of Alabama state troopers and local deputies. The
troopers and deputies attacked the marchers and left many nonviolent
protesters severely injured. This date will forever be remembered as
“Bloody Sunday.” The 54-mile march to Montgomery that followed two
weeks later led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

To recognize these historic events, the National Park Service recently
opened the Lowndes County Interpretive Center in White Hall, Alabama,
on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. Said a spokesman
for the National Park Service at the opening, “This center is the
first of three proposed centers that will provide information to the
public about the march and the struggle of African Americans to secure
the right to vote. The $10 million structure was made possible through
the collaboration of the National Park Service, the Federal Highway
Administration, and the Alabama Department of Transportation.”

In addition, the Alabama Center for Law & Civic Education worked with
the National Park Service to create an interactive website structured
around a flash® presentation in remembrance of Bloody Sunday and the
1965 voting rights march. The website includes a video overview, an
Education Resource Kit including 4MAT-designed lesson plans, an
interactive timeline of related events, and National Park Service
videos of speeches and interviews with those present at the event.

Martha Bouyer, L. Wade Black, and Bonnie M. Fountain created the
website consisting of seven lesson plans for K-12 teachers and
students of the struggle for voting rights in Alabama. Included on the
site are more than eight hundred pages of primary documents,
photographs, audio clips, worksheets, bibliographies, and other
resources for teachers. The lesson plans are based on the 4MAT Method
of Instruction developed by Dr. Bernice McCarthy of About Learning,
Inc., and include units on Change, Civil Disobedience, Courage,
Perseverance, Nonviolence, Marching for Freedom, and Justice. These
lesson plans can be accessed and printed through the National Park
Service website at www.nps.gov/archive/semo/freedom

Of all the important and fascinating things about the brain, memory
seems to be at the top of the list. People always seem to think of
memory when they talk about learning or “being smart.”

This certainly applies to college students. In fact, I fear that many
of them rely almost totally on memorization in preparing for exams.
For example, they write chemical reactions on different colored cards
because they can remember the color easily. Then, for the test, they
remember that this reaction is a green one, and that reaction is a red
one, when the color of the card really has nothing to do with
chemistry. It is just a trick.

But I don’t want to downplay the importance of memory. Certainly,
memory is an essential tool for learning. And, as we learn to our
sorrow when Alzheimer’s disease strikes, memory also lies at the heart
of our identity and our ability to function at an even minimal level.
Any “smart” action or thought also has memories embedded and
supporting it!

So how does it work? What is memory? Where is memory? How long does
it last? How can I keep my memory?

Let’s begin with the where question, as brain surgeons and scientists
did nearly a century ago. Then, and for a long time to follow, it
seemed that memory must be located in a specific part of the brain.
Probably it was just like language, with its well known Wernike’s and
Broca’s areas. But as the search continued, it became a little bit
desperate. No one could find that “memory center.” Memory was nowhere
and everywhere, it seemed.

Now this conclusion seems to make sense. Memories are networks of
neurons that trigger firing in each other. When one neuron fires,
others also fire because they are part of the network. And even if
some neurons don’t fire immediately, they and their more distant
associated partner networks may fire later, if the stimulus is
repeated. Thus, we recall parts of things immediately, but assemble
the larger memory bit by bit.

The thing that makes the memory so elusive is that the neurons of the
various parts of the network may be found anywhere in the brain. If
the memory is something we saw, the networks will contain neurons in
the visual cortex. If it is of a person talking to us face to face,
the network will include neurons in both the visual and the auditory
cortex. If the memory is of a beautiful person holding our hand, the
neurons of the network will include the visual cortex, the
somatosensory cortex, and the emotion centers of the brain; perhaps
the nucleus accumbens which is rich in dopamine receptors!

Memories are spread out. Maybe we shouldn’t even think of finding
them!

If the where question is a dead-end, maybe we can pin down memory in a
different way. We often hear that there are different kinds of memory.
For example, how about “semantic” memory (language labels for objects,
actions, etc), episodic memory (experiences and the time sequence of
events,) and procedural memory (remembering how to do things.) Or,
maybe there are different lengths. What about short term and long
term memory. Or, to add to the confusion, what about the kind of
memory used to solve problems, “working memory”?

At first, these labels seem to make sense. Almost every book on memory
uses them. But we have to admit that they can generate a lot of
confusion too. I have trouble with this all the time. My students may
be puzzled and claim “episodic memories are full of declarative
memories,” or “declarative memory has no meaning unless we know the
episodic memory that goes with it!” They also immediately notice that
the labels “short term” and “long term” imply that there is nothing in
between. And they don’t believe it. Some things we remember for
seconds, others for minutes, hours, days…… So, how long is long? How
short is short?

Inquiring students want to know! “How short is short, Dr. Zull?”

The answer may sound quite familiar by now. Just as there seem to be
memories at all possible locations in the brain, there also seem to be
memories of all lengths. Short term and long term may be useful when
used in a technical way by cognitive scientists, but don’t take them
too literally.

So we may not have traveled as far as we think in cognitive
neuroscience. It is still easy to forget the distributed nature of
memory; memory as a continuum of time, location, and type. A three
dimensional ghost! And the only thing that rescues us is our notion of
the integrated brain. Many parts of the brain are connected with each
other and influence each other. And the dynamic process of synapse
gain and loss means that networks may function for different lengths
of time.

We must acknowledge this distributed and dynamic way of thinking when
we speak of memory.

We must remember the integrated brain!

So in the end, what might all this mean for educators? How can we
apply it to help our students learn? Here are some key things to
remember.

Memory is personal
Memory can hide understanding
Memory is a tool
Use complex vs focused events to improve recall

“Learning is about biology.” James Zull’s first sentence sums up his thesis in The Art of Changing the Brain. Dr. Zull proposes that recent and continuing advances in neuroscience should inform the practice of teaching. After all, learning is an activity of the brain, so shouldn’t we be teaching with an underlying understanding of how the brain works? Writing for educators at all levels, Zull lays out a simple but convincing relationship between Kolb’s learning cycle and the anatomy of the human cerebral cortex. Understanding how information flows into and between various parts of the brain helps us to understand how to structure our courses to improve student learning. The practical suggestions and stories from his Zull’s own classroom experiences make this book useful, and his engaging and humorous writing style make it a pleasure to read. As I progressed through the book, I kept finding biological reasons why certain things that I do in my classroom work well, and why, regardless of my effort, other things don’t work as well as I had hoped.

(More…)

4MAT is a natural framework for cohesively employing differentiated instruction strategies. View this 30 second Flash movie to see the overlay of 4MAT and Differentiated Instruction.

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This mp3 audio file features Bernice McCarthy, the creator of 4MAT.

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