Foldables ™ and Reading Comprehension Katherine Rydzy

What is a Foldable™? A Foldable™ is a three dimensional graphic organizer created from paper that assists students while learning. It does not rely on photocopied templates, leaving students to apply their own structure to the organizer. It has been proven to improve students’ attitude and facilitate learning (Casteel and Narkawicz, 2006).

“Through the years there have been certain elements of continuity that never vanish-paper, pencils, scissors, and glue have always been available…” -Dinah Zike

Benefits of Graphic Organizers Helps students see the connections among different items of information (Davis and McPherson, 1989, Fisher, Zike, & Frey, 2007) Consistent with our knowledge of brain-based learning and visual-kinesthetic learning styles (Fisher, Zike, & Frey, 2007) Serve as a note taking aid because they allow students to externally store information (Katayama & Robinson, 2000)

Additional Benefits: (Davis and McPherson, 1989) Create active readers that self-monitor for comprehension Integrate literal and implicit information It has been proven that instruction in GOs improves comprehension, even when GO use has been discontinued

Even More Benefits: (Kirylo, 2000) Connects reading and writing as meaning making activities Learning becomes more meaningful while rote instruction is reduced

Elements of Effective Use Students must be familiar with a variety of GO forms in order to select one that suits their needs in a given situation (Fisher, Zike, & Frey, 2007) Forms should be concise, coherent, and coordinated (Mayer, et. al, 1996) Connect prior knowledge and new knowledge GO use should promote interaction among students (Kirylo & Millet, 2000)

Casteel and Narkawicz Study (2006) Followed the use of Foldables™ in a third grade social studies classroom using a quasi-experimental method Findings: the use of Foldables™ brought about a positive increase in the affective domain for students while maintaining the same level of learning as a traditional approach to instruction.

Anecdotal Notes from the Study: Students began to apply the use of foldables across the curriculum without instruction to do so. Teachers reported fewer discipline problems, higher student engagement, and better student attitudes when working with Foldables™. All comments (from teachers and students) in relation to Foldables™ were positive.

Sample Materials Leftovers MiniBook Layered look book Circle stand Matchbox book

Hamburger Hotdog Mountain Valley Shutter Burrito Taco Types of Folds Hamburger Hotdog Mountain Valley Shutter Burrito Taco

Try it Out! 1 Cut Book Venn Diagram Pyramid

How could you use this in your classroom?

Web Resources www.dinah.com www.dzacademy.com http://foldables.wikispaces.com http://www.catawba.k12.nc.us/C_i_resources/Foldables.htm (examples of student work) http://www.mswinston.com/fold.pdf (PDF of a Foldables™ book

References Casteel, D.B., and Narkawicz, M.G. (2006). Effectiveness of Foldables™ Versus Lecture/Worksheet in Teaching Social Studies in Third Grade Classrooms. Forum on Public Policy. Davis, Z.T., McPherson, M.D. (1989). Story map instruction: A road map for reading comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 43. 232-40. Fisher, D., Zike, D., & Frey, N. (2007). Foldables: Improving Learning with 3-D Interactive Graphic Organizers. NCTE: Classroom Notes Plus. 1-12. Katayama, A. D., & Robinson, D. H. (2000). Getting students “partially” involved in note-taking using graphic organizers. Journal of Experimental Education, 68, 119-133. Kiryo, J.D., Millet, C.P. (2000). Graphic organizers: an integral component to facilitate comprehension during basal reading instruction. Reading Improvement, 37(4). 179-86. Mayer, R. E., Bove, W., Bryman, A., Mars, R., & Tapangco, L. (1996). When less is more: Meaningful learning from visual and verbal summaries of science textbook lessons. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(1), 64-73. Zike, D. (1992). Big Book of Books. San Antonio: Dinah-Might Adventures, LP.