Using Mental Models To Enhance Student Writing Diane Fanning

Theory “When writers read, they evaluate all the time.” They search the “print for ideas for their own writing.” “By consciously evaluating what they read, the young writers and readers [become] increasingly aware of what all writers and readers [can] do.” Jane Hansen When Writers Read “Maps are frames of reference. In them, a student must find a way to relate new information to other information.” Renate Nummela Caine and Geoffrey Caine Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain

Theory cont. Individuals have the tendency to combine learning processes into logical learning systems. The systems consist of patterns, schemes, that allow the learner to connect new learning to known systems. Piaget Mental models help the mind to hold abstract information. They “collapse the amount of time it takes to teach something.” Ruby K. Payne Understanding Learning

My Personal Philosophy Teaching and Learning are about relationships. I spend a portion of every day building relationships with my students so that they will choose to take the risks that are required to learn. In turn I have to help them to develop a relationship with the material that is to be learned. To enhance the bond I use mental models (images, stories, or analogies) as instruments to remind the students of the pattern, structure, or purpose of the learning. These mental models give students a way to sort their thoughts on the subject about which they are writing.

My Personal Philosophy cont. The model also helps the students to slow down and control their impulses to simply finish. It gives them something to connect with; a connection that should help the students move through the writing or reading that is expected. In addition to mental models, I use reading to extend the writing of my students. By reading what others have written—professionally published work as well as the work of their peers and their teachers—students recognize possibilities for their own writing. Writing, then, enhances their skills as readers.

Focus: To give students the ability to write well independently. Objective: To help student writers answer the questions that a reader might have through the use of mental models for self-evaluation.

Outline of the Lesson Read something and have the students identify the senses that have been addressed by the author. Introduce Sensory Guy and discuss his use in reading. Practice using Sensory Guy while reading a piece of literature chosen by the student. Discuss the author’s techniques. Show a picture and list, using Sensory Guy, how one’s senses might be affected. Writing prompt: Describe the best day you have ever had. Introduce the hand as a self-monitoring tool.

Modifications For GT: Discuss more than the senses with the text. For Learning Challenged: Use simple texts. Do more guided practice. Look for one sense at a time using text where the effects are directly stated. For ESL: Include more discussion. Begin with simplistic text, and look at one sense at a time.

Think Sensory Guy Hear See Smell Taste Say Feel Touch

A Handful Of Answers