What does this mean?

Teaching Beyond the FactsTrying to teach in the 21st century

without conceptual schema for knowledge is like trying to build a

house without a blueprint.

-H. Lynn EricksonConcept-Based Curriculum and Instruction

The Key: Conceptual TeachingWhat is conceptual teaching?

Using schema to organize new knowledge .Developing units around concepts to help students

learn.Relating to and providing for schema based on

students prior knowledge or experiences.Teaching knowledge/skill in context related to

concepts.What it’s not!

WorksheetsDrillMemorization of discrete facts.

A Conceptual ModelPrinciple #1: Engaging prior understandings

Addresses a student’s prior knowledge. It is not a pre-test, but the experiential knowledge of a student.

Principle #2: The essential role of factual knowledge and conceptual frameworks in understandingHeart of conceptual teaching. Factual knowledge is

important, but must be placed in a context if it is to be retained. Memory of factual knowledge in enhanced by conceptual knowledge, and conceptual knowledge is clarified as it is used to help organize the important details.

Principle #3: The importance of self-monitoringSuggests teachers must help and encourage students to

evaluate their learning. Students need to learn how to ask question that enhance their learning and relate it to what they already know.

From How Students Learn: History in the ClassroomNational Research Council

How is conceptual teaching different?

Topic BasedFacts and activities

center around specific topic .

Objectives drive instruction.

Focus learning and thinking about specific facts.

Instructional activities use a variety of discrete skills.

• Standards BasedUse of facts and

activities are focused by enduring understandings.

Essential questions, drawn from enduring understandings, drive instruction.

Facts are learned to understand transferable concepts and ideas.

Instructional activities call on complex performances using a variety of skills.

The Big Idea: Thinking Connecting Themes

The key to SS GPS is the use of generalizations or connecting themes.Generalization connected to students’ interest = Increased

engagement and inquiry. Students are “doing” the subject with guided instruction.H. Lynne Erickson refers to generalizations as Enduring

Understandings.

Students demonstrate understanding of selected themes using knowledge and skills acquired during the school year. Themes are not the end product of a single unit or lesson, but

the product of long term, on-going instruction.

How do we use the GPS to teach conceptually?

Look at standards for common THEMES or CONCEPTS

What do we mean when we say “history repeats itself?”

Think cause and effect relationshipsWhat causes wars? Why do people create

governments? How does location impact a society? What’s important about technological innovations?

Would you rather your students…Be able to list all European explorers and where

they first made contact with the Native AmericansBe able to list all of the changes made in writing

the Constitution

orBe able to discuss the impact movement and

migration have using example from European exploration in the 16th century?

Be able to explain the role of conflict and change throughout history using examples from the Constitutional Convention?

What’s an Enduring Understanding?• Larger concepts or themes focused on principles, or

processes within a domain, rather than discrete facts or skills.Universal and timelessApplies to more than one time or place or culture

• Applicable to new situations within or beyond the content.Basis of conceptual teachingProvide scaffolding Standards provide specificity to concepts

• Example: The student will understand that when there is conflict between or within societies, change is the result.– Connecting Theme: Conflict and Change

Purpose of Enduring UnderstandingsIn order to teach conceptually, you must use

Enduring Understandings because...– Each unit teaches 2-3 concepts at a time– Creates scaffolding to organize facts– Uses broad statements that apply to many situations– Relates facts to what students already know

How do we teach conceptually using Enduring Understandings?– Introduce the Enduring Understandings at the beginning

of the year using real world experiences.– Unit 1 is the key! We’ll go into more depth with this on

Day 4.– EU’s are the vehicle by which we do conceptual

teaching

More Thinking Beyond the FactsThe future belongs to a very different kind of

person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern

recognizers and meaning makers. These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big

picture thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share it greatest joys.

-Dan PinkA Whole New Mind