Development of Middle Level Learners

Agenda Physical Development Intellectual Development Emotional Development Social Development Identifying Similarities and Differences Strategies

Young adolescents may… be fiercely independent, yet yearn for meaningful relationships with adults. reveal emotional vulnerability, yet be fiercely self- protective. be capable of complex, analytic thinking, yet be disorganized to the point of forgetfulness. be compassionate and altruistic in the desire to make the world a better place, yet capable of striking out cruelly at an unpopular classmate. be able to understand and accommodate the needs of others, yet display a high level of self-centeredness. San Antonio, 2006

Physical Development Issues #1 Middle level students need information. #2 Physical changes affect behavior. #3 Rapid growth requires increased and balanced nutrition. #4 Young adolescents should not be stereotyped according to physical characteristics. #5 Many girls will experience the first sign of a menstrual period during the school day. #6 Some middle level students feel a compulsion to check themselves out visually on a regular basis. #7 Overactive glands may cause difficulties.

Intellectual Development Issues #1 The attention span of young adolescents may not be as great as it was in late elementary school or will be in high school. #2 Middle level students often have very vivid imaginations which can be linked to concepts as abstract thinking develops. #3 A group of 25 seventh graders may represent a whole spectrum of developmental levels. #4 Physical development and intellectual development happen concurrently. #5 A major shift in the intellectual development of middle level students is their newly acquired ability to think about their own thinking, or to experience metacognition. #6 Middle level students begin to understand what is meaningful and useful, with application to their lives.

Piaget’s Stages of Development Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to age 2) Trial and error, reflexes, Object Permanence Preoperational Stage (Ages 2 to 7) Egocentric, focus on states Concrete Operations ( Ages 7 to 11) Decentered thought Formal Operations (Ages 11 to Adult) Hypothetical situations, reasoning Copyright Allyn & Bacon 1999

Emotional Development Issues #1 Because emotions may occur suddenly and without warning, self-regulation is very difficult. #2 Because of emotional variability, young adolescents may be at high risk of making poor decisions. #3 Some incidences and events trigger emotions to the point of disruption of the learning process.

Social Development Issues #1 Young adolescents have a very strong need to be part of a social group. #2 Some young adolescents are targets. #3 Early adolescence is a prime time for shyness, given the self-consciousness of the age. #4 Teachers’ social backgrounds may be different from their students’.

Four Effective Forms of Using Similarities and Differences Marzano's research indicates there are four processes that identify how items, events, processes, or concepts are similar and different: Comparing Classifying Creating Metaphors Creating Analogies While we can identify many ways we use these—the question becomes how effective are we using them? Are we using them in the manner described? Are we using them frequently? The hardest to incorporate would be creating metaphors and analogies, but these should be the used frequently and across the curriculum.

Identifying Similarities and Differences Comparing- identifying similarities and differences between or among things Classifying- process of grouping based on characteristics Creating metaphors- process of identifying a general pattern in a specific topic and then finding another, seemingly different topic, with the same general pattern Creating analogies- identifying relationships between relationships The following are Marzano’s Four Generalizations about identifying similarities and differences: Direct teacher presentation of s & d enhances students’ understanding of and ability to use knowledge Asking students to independently identify similarities and differences enhances students’ understanding and ability to use knowledge Representing similarities and differences in graphic or symbolic form enhances students’ understandings of and ability to use knowledge Identification of similarities and differences can be accomplished in a variety of ways The identification of S $ D is a highly robust activity

Round Robin Of the four forms of identifying similarities and differences, which have you experienced most effectively as either a teacher or a student? What made it so effective for you? Round Robin: Of the four forms of identifying similarities and differences, which have you experienced most effectively as either a teacher or a student? What made it so effective for you? Marzano’s research tells us that using similarities and differences actively and appropriately increases gain in understanding and use of knowledge. If yes: in what ways If No-why not? What factors kept it from being effective? Guide the discussion towards : analysis By asking the question: Do you believe just copying is identifying similarities and differences?

Give students a model for the process Give students graphic organizers Marzano’s Recommendations for Classroom Practice How do you get it done? Give students a model for the process Give students graphic organizers Guide students as needed

How To…Compare The Venn Diagram-A fantastic tool for comparing using similarities and differences… Learning Experience: Citrus Divide the ALT into small groups of 3-5: 1. Give all groups a piece of chart paper One group is given a lemon and an orange 2. One group is given a picture of a lemon and an orange. One group is given a picture of a lemon and an orange. One group is given the words: lemon and orange 3. Give the groups 5 minutes to create similarities and differences Venn diagram Debrief the Venn Diagrams. Focus on the following discussion questions: -Was there a difference in depth between the three groups? -How would you need to differentiate for ELL learners? (Answers may include use of a word bank, sentence frames, pictures, real items or realia) - For Advanced learners? (Answers may include more complex and abstract observations, more circles.) -How would you adjust for your grade levels? (writers/non-writers) With primary students identifying similarities should come first. Once they have mastered comparing, identifying differences can be introduced. For students who have developed skills to do both, differentiation which increases depth and complexity can be introduced.

A Great Web Site http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008/1simdiff.htm This site gives examples of different programs and websites that provides samples of graphic organizers for identifying similarities and differences. It shows how graphic organizers look in different programs and how to download options for classroom use. You might want to explore this site to see different representations of using graphic organizers to show similarities and differences during the ALT work time today.

The websites listed below all give examples of using the Frayer Model for comparing The Frayer Model is another example of a graphic organizer used for word analysis and vocabulary building. The four square model prompts students to think about and describe the meaning of a word or concept by: Defining the term Describing its essential characteristics Providing examples of the idea (similarities with other things) Offering non-examples of the idea (differences with other things) http://www.tantasqua.org/superintendent/Profdevelop ment/etfrayermodel.html

Classifying: Semantic Feature Analysis Sample: Bonds Issued by corporations Fixed Interest Rate U.S. Treasury Local Taxing Authority More likely to default Equal to a number of shares of stock Bearer Bond X Convertible Bond Corporate Bond Government Bond Junk Bond Zero Coupon Bond Helps students discern characteristics of a concept by comparing its features to those of other concepts that fall into the same category Steps: Create a matrix along the left side, list key terms/concepts/places/people/events/etc, Across the top of the matirx, write features that these concepts might share Ask students to use an x to indicate if the feature applies to the word Students explain the rationale behind their choices Gives students the ability to cluster words and needs to be used with large/macro concepts with many categories

Creating Metaphors and Analogies Metaphors and Analogies are complicated due to the “relationships between relationships.” having students identify these relationships is the focus of instruction Creating metaphors is the process of identifying a general or basic pattern in a specific topic and then finding another topic that appears to be quite different but that has the same general pattern Creating analogies is the process of identifying relationships between pairs of concepts - in other words, identifying relationships between relationships. Frequent use of metaphors and analogies is challenging. Some content subjects fit more easily into this strategy. ELL students struggle with verbalizing these abstract strategies. However, support tools like cloze analogies can move students toward this thinking. Differentiation for learners is in the level of complexity and sophistication.

Analogy Graphic Organizer is to Relationship: Example: Forced analogy Give each group two words and have them identify a relationship between the two terms and come up with the second pair of terms which contains the same relationship. Terms: Ice cream is to birthday… Overtime period is to Stars Hockey… Square is to quadrilateral… Give each team 2 minutes to complete this analogy and debrief by taking responses from each group. Round Robin: What is the key to building skills in analogy? How might you support special ed students? is to as

Remember this… If the purpose is to master facts: Format follows teacher directed activity If the purpose is to develop divergent thinking Format follows student directed activity Identifying similarities and differences should promote ACTIVE thinking by the students Just copying the similarities and differences in a graphic organizer like a Venn diagram is NOT active nor does it have a correlation to understanding and ability to use knowledge