Download Chunking and Chewing

Chunking and Chewing
Sarah Marie Catalana and Aubra Shepard
Adaptations:
Thiscreativestrategyisbasedontheconceptofcognitiveload,which
• Whilethisstrategycanhelpyoungstudentsunderstandbasic
CreativeStrategy:
isatenantofInformationProcessingTheory.Students“chunk”
informationtogetherbymakingasmanyconnectionsbetween
differentconceptsaspossible.Connectionsaredeepenedthrough
multiple,creative“chewing”strategies,suchasvisualizationand
metaphors.Makingconnectionsenhanceslearningandfreesspacein
theworkingmemoryformorelearningtooccur.
patternsandcategories,itcanalsobeusedasacriticalthinking
challengeforolderstudents.Englishstudentscan
writenamesofcharactersoneachcupandstackthemaccording
tosimilarcharactertraits,orcommoninternalstruggles.History
studentscanwritenamesofinfluentialindividualsandstackthem
togethertounderstandhowinterpersonalrelationshipsimpacted
importanthistoricaldecisions.
•
Youngchildrencandrawpicturesonthecups,insteadofwriting
words.
•
Challengethestudentstoidentifyunifyingthemesthatother
groupsusedtostackrelatedconcepts.
Ifyoudon’thaveenoughcups,studentscanwriteconceptsonslipsof
paper,andsortthemintocupsforeachunifyingtheme
Context:
Thisactivitycanbeadaptedtoallcontentareasandgradelevels.
Dependingontheageofthestudents,connectionswillbemoreor
lesssophisticatedandthoughtprovoking.
Activity:
Theactivitycanbecompletedinsmallgroups,orasawholeclass.It
ishelpfultodemonstratetheactivityinalargegroupsetting,and
thenhavestudentssplitintosmallgroupsandworkindependently.
1. First,introducethetopic.Thisactivityisagreatwayto
reviewalargequantityofmaterial.Forexample,thetopic
couldbebroad,suchas“Whyareplantsessentialtoour
lives?”ormorespecific,suchas“Whatwerethekeyfactors
leadingtotheIndustrialRevolution?”
2. Eachgroupshouldhavealargestackofcupsandamarker
(dryerasemarkersworkwellonSolocups,andthewriting
canbeerasedsothecupscanbereused).Besuretohave
twocolorsofcups.
3. Asagroup,brainstormasmanyconceptsrelatedtothe
topicaspossible,andwriteeachconceptonacup.For
example,ifthetopicis“Whyareplantsessentialtoour
lives?”,studentscouldwriteideassuchasoxygen,food,
energy,constructionmaterials,beauty,scents,homesfor
animals,clothingetc.
4. Spreadallofthecupsonthetableandchallengethe
studentstoidentifyunitingthemesandstacktogether
relatedconcepts.Studentswillwrite“unifyingthemes”on
thedifferentcoloredcups,andstacktherelatedcups
together.Forexample,constructionmaterialsandhomesfor
animalscouldbestackedintotheunitingthemeof
structuralcomponents.
5. Encouragestudentsto“chew”thechunkedinformationby
usingcreativestrategiessuchasmetaphorsand
visualization.Whatimagecouldrepresentaparticular
chunkofinformation?Whatmetaphorcouldunitethe
ideas?
6. Studentsshouldstackthecupsasmanytimesaspossible.
Afteridentifyinginitialunifyingthemes,challengestudents
tounstackthecupsandrepeattheprocess.
Materials:
Plasticcups(preferablytwocolors)
Dry-EraseMarkers
Resources:
Howtochunk:
http://theelearningcoach.com/elearning_design/chunking-information/
http://thepeakperformancecenter.com/educationallearning/thinking/chunking/chunking-as-a-learning-strategy/
Howtochew:
Visualizationstrategies
http://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/emotionalhealth/visualization-techniques
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educationalleadership/oct09/vol67/num02/Helping-Students-Process-Information.aspx
http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2011/08/list-of-some-of-best-cartoonmaking.html
Techniquesandexamples
https://www.pinterest.com/smekens/visualization/
Graphicorganizers
https://mcdn1.teacherspayteachers.com/thumbitem/Visualizing-GraphicOrganizer-1100435/original-1100435-1.jpg
https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/93/f2/0593f25c93109afc4adb19a094b9406e.jpg
MindMaps
https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/26769
http://lateralaction.com/articles/mind-maps/
Metaphors
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-metaphor-examplesdefinition-types.html
https://www.teachervision.com/reading-and-language-arts/skillbuilder/48893.html
Evaluation:
1