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Using shape coding on the headings of a chart and color coding to distinguish among the different categories. Using visuals to convey the meaning of certain words.

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Students use their bodies to explain a concept or an idea.

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PRE-ALGEBRA For Visual Learners math manipulative demo

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Color Coding: The Differentiation Strategy You Never Knew You Needed

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Does anyone else get overly excited when they get a new set of Mr. Sketch markers? Colorful markers and highlighters help engage students, but there is so much more to it. There are real, tested benefits of color-coding in the classroom.

Think about all the things we associate with certain colors, like green for go or pink for breast cancer awareness. For years, marketing departments have been associating brands with certain colors so that their messages will stick in consumers' minds (e.g., Twitter , McDonald's , Target , ).

In the classroom, when strategically and systematically implemented, color-coding can have the same effect. It may take a bit more planning and preparation, but it's worth it!

In fact, Pruisner (1993) found that when comparing outcomes of black-and-white versus color-cued presentations and assessments, systematic color-coding improved recall and retention. Dzulkifli and Mustafar (2012) also studied whether adding color could improve memory. They concluded that "color has the potential to increase chances of environmental stimuli to be encoded, stored, and retrieved successfully" because it vividly displays relationships between ideas.

The psychology of color is fascinating. Shift eLearning says that "using the right color, and the correct selection and placement can seriously affect feelings, attention, and behavior when learning." Color can help students differentiate, retain, and transfer knowledge and, according to Ozelike (2009) , pay attention to critical information for meaningful learning. It's time that we leveraged that to our advantage. Plus, color just makes everything more exciting and appealing, right? The question is how can we, as teachers, take this and apply it to our instruction? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Distinguishing between new ideas and concepts

Color-coding can assist students in distinguishing between concepts and ideas. Below is an example of how color-coding can be used for main idea and details, but it can also be used for compare and contrast, author's purpose, fact versus opinion, you name it! In this example, main idea is always while key details are . green

Here is another example of using color to distinguish between concepts in math. Color-coding can support mathematical thinking in that it can help students organize their thinking, make their thinking visible to others, and make connections. It can also strengthen visual representation to aid students in internalizing their learning.

2. Selective highlighting

Another color-coding strategy is selective highlighting. This strategy requires explicit teaching, extensive modeling and support, as well as clear student directions. However, when implemented correctly, it can help students organize their learning and deepen their comprehension.

In the example above, the instructions for students were:

3. Color-coded graphic organizers

Ewoldt and Morgan (2017) noted that "color-coding visual organizers provides another layer of support for writing development," and "using color-coding in combination with strategy instruction has the potential to improve overall understanding." Sentence and paragraph frames are great writing supports, but not if students don't know how and when to use them. Color-coding these frames as well as graphic organizers (or having the students do it themselves) is a simple step that can make all the difference.

4. Supporting student discourse

We all know how important it is to get our students talking, and providing a dialogue frame can be a great way to scaffold speaking activities. Color-coding these frames can make them more user-friendly because it makes it easier for students to identify their part(s). Don't forget to have students switch roles at some point so they get to practice all roles!

Warning: Don't overdo it!

Although color-coding can be extremely effective, too much can overcomplicate things. Try to stick to three colors (or fewer) per lesson and keep it consistent! Any color can be used for any topic but, once introduced, the color should remain consistent in order to avoid confusion. For example, i f students used blue when comparing at the beginning of the year, make sure you use that same color for every comparing lesson.

There are a multitude of ways to use color in the classroom. How do you use color-coding as a teaching strategy? Share your ideas in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.
Plus, check out 25 ways to use sticky notes in the classroom.

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Color-Coding: The Differentiation Strategy You Never Knew You Needed

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Does anyone else get overly excited when they get a new set of Mr. Sketch markers? Colorful markers and highlighters help engage students, but there is so much more to it. There are real, tested benefits of color-coding in the classroom.

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9 Reasons to Use Visuals

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Total Physical Response (movement) in AP Human Geography

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy https://t.co/njoAaVdBB9

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy pic.twitter.com/njoAaVdBB9
— Naomi Trivison (@NaomiTrivison) March 30, 2019

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy https://t.co/njoAaVdBB9

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy https://t.co/njoAaVdBB9

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What strategies support learning? Here’s high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy

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"Some of the world’s top mathematicians engage almost entirely with visual mathematics."

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Mathematics educators have long known that engaging students in visual representations of mathematics is extremely helpful for their learning. When youcubed offered " How Close to 100 " as an activity for learning math facts with visual representations, teachers across the world were thrilled and responded with thousands of tweets showing students learning by playing the game.

Research shows the importance of visual thinking for mathematicians.

When researchers have considered the brains of mathematicians, and compared them with similarly high achieving academics who worked in non-mathematical fields, they find something fascinating (Amalric & Dehaene, 2016). We might assume that when people are thinking numerically, they are thinking "with language" and that high-level mathematical reasoning would draw from language processing areas of the brain. What the researchers found was that the brain activity that separated mathematicians from other academics came from visual areas of the brain - and this was true whatever the mathematical content. It was not only subjects like geometry or topology that caused activity in the visual brain areas, but algebra and calculations, with minimal use of any language areas. This led the researchers to offer the possible explanation that the mathematicians' achievement in math came from early childhood experiences with "number and shape."

Visual mathematics is an important part of mathematics for its own sake and new brain research tells us that visual mathematics even helps students learn numerical mathematics.

In a ground breaking new study Joonkoo Park & Elizabeth Brannon (2013), found that the most powerful learning occurs when we use different areas of the brain. When students work with symbols, such as numbers, they are using a different area of the brain than when they work with visual and spatial information, such as an array of dots. The researchers found that mathematics learning and performance was optimized when the two areas of the brain were communicating (Park & Brannon, 2013). (for math questions that encourage this use of visual and symbolic representations see our Tasks). Additionally, they found that training students through visual representations improved students' math performance significantly, even on numerical math, and that the visual training helped students more than numerical training.

What is Visual Mathematics?

At youcubed we provide many different mathematics tasks that engage students in visual mathematics. Through decades of work with students, teachers, high-tech companies, politicians and others we have learned that people are excited and inspired when they see mathematics as pictures, not just symbols. For example, consider how you might solve 18 x 5, and ask others how they would solve 18 x 5. Here are some different visual solutions of this problem.

Each of these visuals highlights the mathematics inside the problem and helps students develop understanding of multiplication. Pictures help students see mathematical ideas, which aids understanding. Visual mathematics also facilitates higher-level thinking, enables communication and helps people see the creativity in mathematics.

Mathematics is a subject that allows for precise thinking, but when that precise thinking is combined with creativity, openness, visualization, and flexibility, the mathematics comes alive.

Teachers can create such mathematical excitement in classrooms with any mathematics question by asking students for the different ways they see and can solve the problems and by encouraging discussion of different ways of seeing problems.

For an example of visualizing algebra see here.

When we don't ask students to think visually, we miss an incredible opportunity to increase students' understanding and to enable important brain crossing.

This extract contains excerpts from Jo Boaler's book Mathematical Mindsets, and her new, forthcoming book: Mathematical Diversity.

References:

Amalric, M., & Dehaene, S. (2016). Origins of the brain networks for advanced mathematics in expert mathematicians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(18), 4909-4917

Park, J., & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the approximate number system improves math proficiency. Association for Psychological Science, 1-7.

Mathematics educators have long known that engaging students in visual representations of mathematics is extremely helpful for their learning. When youcubed offered " How Close to 100 " as an activity for learning math facts with visual representations, teachers across the world were thrilled and responded with thousands of tweets showing students learning by playing the game.

Research shows the importance of visual thinking for mathematicians.

When researchers have considered the brains of mathematicians, and compared them with similarly high achieving academics who worked in non-mathematical fields, they find something fascinating (Amalric & Dehaene, 2016). We might assume that when people are thinking numerically, they are thinking "with language" and that high-level mathematical reasoning would draw from language processing areas of the brain. What the researchers found was that the brain activity that separated mathematicians from other academics came from visual areas of the brain - and this was true whatever the mathematical content. It was not only subjects like geometry or topology that caused activity in the visual brain areas, but algebra and calculations, with minimal use of any language areas. This led the researchers to offer the possible explanation that the mathematicians' achievement in math came from early childhood experiences with "number and shape."

Visual mathematics is an important part of mathematics for its own sake and new brain research tells us that visual mathematics even helps students learn numerical mathematics.

In a ground breaking new study Joonkoo Park & Elizabeth Brannon (2013), found that the most powerful learning occurs when we use different areas of the brain. When students work with symbols, such as numbers, they are using a different area of the brain than when they work with visual and spatial information, such as an array of dots. The researchers found that mathematics learning and performance was optimized when the two areas of the brain were communicating (Park & Brannon, 2013). (for math questions that encourage this use of visual and symbolic representations see our Tasks). Additionally, they found that training students through visual representations improved students' math performance significantly, even on numerical math, and that the visual training helped students more than numerical training.

What is Visual Mathematics?

At youcubed we provide many different mathematics tasks that engage students in visual mathematics. Through decades of work with students, teachers, high-tech companies, politicians and others we have learned that people are excited and inspired when they see mathematics as pictures, not just symbols. For example, consider how you might solve 18 x 5, and ask others how they would solve 18 x 5. Here are some different visual solutions of this problem.

Each of these visuals highlights the mathematics inside the problem and helps students develop understanding of multiplication. Pictures help students see mathematical ideas, which aids understanding. Visual mathematics also facilitates higher-level thinking, enables communication and helps people see the creativity in mathematics.

Mathematics is a subject that allows for precise thinking, but when that precise thinking is combined with creativity, openness, visualization, and flexibility, the mathematics comes alive.

Teachers can create such mathematical excitement in classrooms with any mathematics question by asking students for the different ways they see and can solve the problems and by encouraging discussion of different ways of seeing problems.

For an example of visualizing algebra see here.

When we don't ask students to think visually, we miss an incredible opportunity to increase students' understanding and to enable important brain crossing.

This extract contains excerpts from Jo Boaler's book Mathematical Mindsets, and her new, forthcoming book: Mathematical Diversity.

References:

Amalric, M., & Dehaene, S. (2016). Origins of the brain networks for advanced mathematics in expert mathematicians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(18), 4909-4917

Park, J., & Brannon, E. (2013). Training the approximate number system improves math proficiency. Association for Psychological Science, 1-7.

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Visual Math Improves Math Performance - YouCubed

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Mathematics educators have long known that engaging students in visual representations of mathematics is extremely helpful for their learning. When youcubed offered "How Close to 100" as an activity for learning math facts with visual representations, teachers across the world were thrilled and responded with thousands of tweets showing students learning by playing the game.

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How to Use TPR in the Classroom

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How to Use Total Physical Response (TPR) in the Classroom - TeachHUB

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As an educator, how do you teach vocabulary and language? Do some students struggle? Learn more about how to use Total Physical Response in the classroom.

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Introduction to TPR

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TPR ESL – TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE EXAMPLES

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Using the Target Language & Providing Comprehensible Input - Classroom Vignette (TELL Project)

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Thinking Routines for Images, Art, and Objects

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Welcome to Project Zero's Thinking Routines Toolbox. This toolbox highlights Thinking Routines developed across a number of research projects at PZ. A vast array of PZ's work has explored the development of thinking, the concept of thinking dispositions, and the many ways routines can be used to support student learning and thinking across age groups, disciplines, ideals, competencies, and populations. Thinking Routines originated in PZ's Visible Thinking research initiative. Over the years, researchers enhanced and expanded upon the original routines, and new projects developed new routines. Some of the larger PZ research projects focused on enhancing thinking include Artful Thinking, Cultures of Thinking, Agency by Design, PZ Connect, and Interdisciplinary & Global Studies. To learn more about PZ Thinking Routines and their background, watch this video introduction and read more about PZ's initial Visible Thinking research.

The Toolbox organizes the Thinking Routines into categories that describe the types of thinking the routines help to facilitate. Some routines appear in more than one category, and some routines have different versions that offer modifications for specific age groups or more specific conceptual challenges. When clicking on a routine in the Toolbox, a separate page opens with links to the downloadable PDF of the routine. All routines use a common PZ template describing the purpose of the routine, offering potential applications for the routine, and often providing suggestions for its use and tips for getting started. The PZ research project responsible for developing the routine is noted at the bottom of each page along with the copyright and licensing information and guidance about how to reference the routine. We invite and encourage educators to share their experiences using the routines! Each routine has a #hashtag listed just above the reference information. Jump in and get started!

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PZ's Thinking Routines Toolbox | Project Zero

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Welcome to Project Zero's Thinking Routines Toolbox. This toolbox highlights Thinking Routines developed across a number of research projects at PZ. A vast array of PZ's work has explored the development of thinking, the concept of thinking dispositions, and the many ways routines can be used to support student learning and thinking across age groups, disciplines, ideals, competencies, and populations.

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Entering a text by creating a tableau (and many other means of connecting arts and literacy)

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The ArtsLiteracy Project - The Handbook - Entering text

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Publications* The Handbook* News And Events* Professional Development

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See-Think-Wonder about an Image

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The ArtsLiteracy Project - The Handbook - Comprehending text

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Publications* The Handbook* News And Events* Professional Development

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Using S.I.G.H.T. to closely read an image.

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- Distribute an image to your students, or project it onto a screen, and ask them to do the following (individually or in small groups) using the

- students should discuss their findings among themselves and then report back to the whole class. The teacher should facilitate this discussion, compiling ideas on a board, while gradually leading the students to the answers. The teacher might do this by gradually providing key details of the image like the date, title, and caption.

- When first presenting an image to your students, it is best (in most cases) to remove any key information such as a title, caption, date, and name of the creator. Doing so encourages your students to focus on the image and its details to discover its meaning and significance. After the students have had sufficient time to discuss their interpretations of the image, provide them with the withheld information. You might consider doing this in stages, beginning with the date. Ask your students how the new information changes their conclusions about the image.

Today's students are visual learners. Effectively used, images can become foundational tools for the teaching of history. Images, after all, are primary sources. They can bring to life a historical topic's essential content and draw out the critical questions, concepts, and ideas of a given historical era. Students who develop enhanced visual literacy skills come to see that properly analyzed, a picture is worth far more than the proverbial "thousand words."

But how do we translate this concept of visual learning into a concrete pedagogical strategy in the classroom? Fortunately, there are many techniques for effectively using images to teach history.

The S.I.G.H.T™ Method of Visual Analysis - Using Images to Teach History

- using the information about the image you have provided (the date of the image, the name of the person who created it, etc) your students can conduct further research into its origins and historical significance. For example, after studying a few of Dorothea Lange's photographs of Japanese internment camps during World War II, students conducting additional research would discover that her opposition to the internment program shaped her choice o f subjects and symbols in her photographs. This follow-up research has the additional benefit of showing your students how to find and use other visual primary sources on their own. Research

- ask your students to respond in writing to a historic image. Such an assignment might be as small as asking students to write a caption for an image, or it could require more detailed and extensive analysis.

- ask your students to create an image essay on a given topic such as slavery or immigration. Require them to find a set number of images to explore the key dimensions of a historical issue. Teachers can determine the appropriate amount of writing to accompany this assignment which could range from providing basic captions to an overview essay and extended captions. Note: it is essential that students distinguish between images that are primary sources - that is, images produced in the period being studied - and images that represent imagined recreations of historical events. The latter are not necessarily illegitimate, but they should be used with care.Type your paragraph here.

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Teacher Professional Development - SIGHT

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Distribute an image to your students, or project it onto a screen, and ask them to do the following (individually or in small groups) using the - students should discuss their findings among themselves and then report back to the whole class.

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A few examples of how to use highlighter tape that can be applied to any grade level in any content area.

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All Grades and Subjects - Concept Mapping

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All Grades and Subjects - Concept Mapping

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Concept mapping is a great way to build upon previous knowledge by connecting new information back to it. This post explores the uses of concept mapping and provides tools for creating concept maps on the computer.

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Anchor Charts for all Grades and Subjects

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Anchor Charts for all Grades and Subjects

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Elementary, Middle, Secondary Students benefit from Anchor Charts on Classroom Walls

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One of the best, most effective tools for the classroom is anchor charts, although you won't find Anchor Charts 101 on most teacher training programs' syllabi. If you're new to teaching, you may have lots of questions about what anchor charts are, what purpose they serve, how to get started, and when to use them. So we've created this primer to help you out! Also included is a huge list of anchor chart roundups to use as a resource. Once you get started, we're pretty sure anchor charts are going to be one of your favorite go-to strategies.

What is an anchor chart?

An anchor chart is a tool used to support instruction (i.e., "anchor" the learning for students). As you teach a lesson, you create a chart, together with your students, that captures the most important content and relevant strategies. Anchor charts build a culture of literacy in the classroom by making thinking-both the teacher's and students'-visible.

How do I create anchor charts?

You really don't need any special materials or artistic skills-just chart paper and a colorful assortment of markers.

It's easy to incorporate anchor charts into your lesson plans. All it takes is a clear purpose and some pre-planning.

Typically, you will prepare the framework of your chart ahead of time, giving it a title, including the learning objective, and creating headers for the main points or strategies you want to highlight. It's very important not to create the entire poster ahead of time. They are best used as an interactive tool with students.

As you model a lesson or learning strategy and interact with your students through discussion, you fill in the blank spaces of the anchor chart. For an awesome tutorial, check out this blog and template from third grade teacher Michael Friermood.

After your chart is created, it can be displayed as needed-for a short unit, as a one-time reference tool, as something you continue to add to, or as something that stays up all year-like your classroom procedures or behavior expectations.

Posting the charts keeps relevant and current learning accessible to students, reminds them of prior learning, and enables them to make connections as new learning happens. Students can refer to them and use them as they think about the topic, question ideas, expand ideas, and/or contribute to discussions in class.

A few helpful tips:

Make them colorful and print-rich.

Use different colors and bullet points to help students discriminate between strategies and quickly access information.

Keep them simple and neat.

Use easy-to-read graphics and clear organization. Don't allow distracting, irrelevant details or stray marks, such as arrows or overemphatic use of underlining.

Draw simple pictures to complement the words.

The more ways students can access information about a subject, the better.

Don't overuse them.

While anchor charts are a super-useful tool, don't feel as if you need to create one for every single lesson. Choose carefully so the ones you create have the greatest impact.

Don't be afraid to borrow from others.

Teachers always get their best ideas from other teachers. If your teammate has already tackled a topic, use the same format. Just make sure you create your own version from scratch so your students experience the learning as you go. You'll find tons of examples at the links included below.

How do I use anchor charts in my classroom?

Now that you know the how, you may be wondering about the when and why. Here are a few ways to get the most bang for your buck.

Reach maximum engagement.

When students are involved in the process of creating learning tools, they are more likely to comprehend more deeply and remember more of what they learn. Anchor charts trigger connections with the initial lesson.

Bring lessons to life.

If you are studying a topic that lends itself particularly well to a visual aid, create an anchor chart! If you are studying plants, draw a giant flower and label all of the parts of it while you teach about it.

Support independent work.

Anchor charts provide students with a source to reference when working on their own. They support students and also save teachers from having to spend classroom time going over concepts multiple times.

Create a library of reference materials.

To help students keep information straight, you could create charts for each topic. For example, if you're teaching math concepts, you could create a chart for geometric shapes, the difference between perimeter and area, and how to multiply and divide fractions.

Reinforce classroom procedures.

Provide students with a visual to remind them of routines that make your classroom run smoothly. Some examples: how to use centers, how to line up, how to check books out of your classroom library.

Try them in shared writing.

Model how to write an introduction, the parts of a letter, and the proper use of grammar such as quotation marks, commas, etc.

Use them as a companion to read-alouds.

Create an anchor chart as you stop to make observations, ask questions, take note of story elements, or make predictions.

How can I use anchor charts to introduce new skills?

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All posts by Elizabeth Mulvahill, B.A. Liberal Arts, Certified Teacher

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Anchor Charts 101: Why and How To Use Them

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Teachers are incorporating anchor charts into their teaching in all subject areas. But what exactly are they and what are they good for?

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Anchor Charts for Secondary Social Studies 

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Anchor Charts for Secondary Social Studies 

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With Examples - They're not an Elementary Thing!

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Anchor Charts in Secondary Social Studies | Social Studies Success

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As a secondary Social Studies teacher, the thought of anchor charts intimidated me - isn't that an elementary thing? How would I use them in my class? Would they even work with teenagers? What would they say? Then I saw some amazing anchor charts in classrooms and the light came on!

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An article from NCSS with a bunch of examples,

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Images as Primary Source Documents for Social Studies 

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Images as Primary Source Documents for Social Studies 

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Many wonderful curators of documents can be found online.  Here's one winner.

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Access thousands of primary sources - letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos, and other document types - spanning the course of American history. We're always adding more!

Borrow from an ever-expanding collection of document-based activities created by the National Archives, and teachers around the world. Copy and modify activities for your students.

Create your own activities using the online tools. It's as simple as: (1) selecting a tool, (2) choosing your primary sources, and (3) customizing instructions. Learn more >

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Access thousands of primary sources - letters, photographs, speeches, posters, maps, videos, and other document types - spanning the course of American history. We're always adding more! Borrow from an ever-expanding collection of document-based activities created by the National Archives, and teachers around the world. Copy and modify activities for your students.

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While it's no question the snowy days of winter take a toll on our energy levels, research points to the hazardous effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Some businesses are even moving toward standing and treadmill desks! Luckily, as art teachers, we are able to keep moving throughout the day. Between loading the kiln, prepping materials, and making our rounds with students, it's rare to find an art teacher sitting at a desk. But, can the same be said for our students?

Here are 5 ways to get your students moving.

1. Make Movement Part of a Lesson

Creating an art activity to encourage movement is a simple way to start. Begin with the concept you are teaching. For instance, when teaching elementary art, my kindergarten and 1st graders participated in what I called "Line-aerobics." During this activity, we discussed line as an element of art. Students were asked to make different lines (zigzag, curvy, straight, squiggle, etc) using their bodies. It became so engaging the kids often forgot they were learning!

Something more appropriate at the secondary level is teaching color through movement. My favorite way of doing this uses the colors of clothing students are wearing. For example, when discussing value, students can line up from lightest to darkest value according to shirt color. If you want to throw in an obstacle, challenge them to do it without talking! This activity requires problem-solving and teamwork, as students won't always agree. I always end the activity by snapping a black and white photo to demonstrate their success.

2. Use Brain Breaks

Those of you at the elementary level know cold winter days mean more indoor recess time. With all the extra built up energy, it can be challenging for students to focus and work. GoNoodle is full of both fun and educational videos to encourage movement and give students the little brain break they need. Better yet, it's free to use! Videos vary in length allowing enough time to get in all your art making.

3. Have Your Students Stand

Inviting students to stand is a way to get students on their feet and to regain their attention. During an artist presentation or while viewing artwork, I sometimes ask everyone to push in their chairs and stand. As a result, they usually re-engage.

How often do you, as a practicing artist, like to stand as you create your work? I'm definitely a stander, and some students would rather stand and work as well. It is not always practical to have easels readily available. Instead, consider talking to your band or music teachers - they might have a few old music stands you could use.

4. Think About the Placement of Materials

How do you handle the retrieval of materials in your classroom? Are you putting in all the extra work to distribute artwork and materials? A simple way to get your students moving is to strategically place materials around the room so they have to get up. Save yourself a little energy and teach students responsibility by having them pass out and manage the supplies they need.

5. Try "Move It"

Sometimes we need reminders. " Move It " is a Google Chrome extension that reminds you to get up and move. It acts as a timer that goes off on your computer. You can set the time intervals to your choosing and an activity will be suggested. I often incorporate my own art-related activity like "take a full lap around the room to check out classmates' work." This allows for movement and a chance to inspire new ideas.

The next time your students are looking a little lethargic or need to burn off some energy, try one of the ideas above. You'll help your students regain focus and be able to settle back into their work.
Do you consciously make an effort to get your students moving more? What methods have you used to encourage student movement?

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5 Ways to Incorporate Movement in the Art Room - The Art of Education University

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While it's no question the snowy days of winter take a toll on our energy levels, research points to the hazardous effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Some businesses are even moving toward standing and treadmill desks! Luckily, as art teachers, we are able to keep moving throughout the day.

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Virtual Classroom

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Color coding is the process of differentiating similar or distinct items of information through color. Examples of color coding include the red non-working days on the calendar, the recycling bins for different types of waste, and the files in an office that are organized by color.
Why color code?

In the traditional classroom color coding has proven itself as one of the teacher's greatest tools. We all use color coding to:

write in several colors

give assignments to match color and form

textbook organization

Integrating color coding into the learning process has many benefits, such as:

It stimulates the learners' visual memory

It draws attention to the lesson's subject

It creates a feeling of comfort

It helps differentiate logical parts of the material

In addition to using several colors during the lesson, you can also advise your students to color code their notes or to glue small pieces of paper in different shades around their house to help themselves remember things (for example blue paper = verbs, pink = nouns, and green = adverbs).

Different colors help our brains think and perceive information better. Multiple shades tell our mind that something interesting, out of the ordinary, and worth remembering is happening. This, of course, means that the chaotic and meaningless use of too many colors can ruin this positive effect.

Over time, pathways that make connections between elements that were color coded are created in our brains.

How to use color coding in the classroom

The classroom provides a lot of great opportunities for teachers to get creative. Color coding might be one of the most fun, as well as one of the most meaningful, additions to the learning process.

1. Colors DO have meaning
Chaotic use of color is of no use at all. If you want to implement color coding in your classroom in a meaningful way, you need to apply it with intention and purpose. For example, if you are teaching a foreign language and today's topic is a new pattern, you could write the constant base in the usual color that you use in class (blue, black) and the changes for each modification in another one (green). It is important to note that the second one should be common to the changes throughout all of the examples.

2. DO NOT use all at the same time
Not all colors are appropriate for every case. Some good advice is to avoid red as much as you can as it is related to causing stress and, instead, alternate it with green, which is calming.
It is a bad idea is to combine colors that do not match or that create dissonance because an unpleasant combination leads to a negative reaction in our brains.

3. DO involve your students
Give your students some information on the fact that you are using color coding and why. Also, tell them what each color means and do not be afraid to receive feedback from them - not everything that looks good to us affects others in the same way. Encourage them to color code their notes or to create their own method at home.Boosting a student's creativity often yields great results when it comes to their level of interest in a certain subject. Making one's notes beautiful, or putting multicolor markers or even glitter on them, is not a waste of time. This is a form of stimulation that "tells" our brain that time spent learning give us pleasure.

4. DO apply a "hidden" color code
Color code parts of the material for your lesson without revealing your idea at first. Create a matching game in which the pieces that are supposed to be paired are written in the same color or on the same shades of paper. Then, when students "reveal" your coding scheme, new memory paths will be created in their minds.

Ideas for color coding in the virtual classroom

The virtual classroom offers additional opportunities and ideas that can be applied to your teaching to make it even more colorful and engaging.

Look for visual harmony: Match the text color with that from a picture or a page that you are displaying at the same moment by using the Eyedropper Tool in the virtual classroom.

Work with moving parts: Differentiate the color-coded parts by separating them into their own text fields. This way you can move them around the online whiteboard and mix and match.

Use uncommon colors for uncommon purposes: Virtual classroom software includes a feature that lets you choose from a large range of colors, many more than you would have in any traditional classroom. You can use this amazing feature to add another layer to your coding - regularly use the more common shades for simple things like writing and filling, but use more extravagant tones when you are initiating a game, for example. Over time, positive emotions stimulating anticipation will be created among your students.

Use all available features: Unlike the traditional classroom, the virtual one offers a substantial variety of writing options: bold, italic, different fonts and styles, etc. When combined with color coding, they can create yet another layer of meaning by only using the word's shape and form.

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Benefits of Color Coding in the Virtual Classroom | VEDAMO

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Color coding is the process of differentiating similar or distinct items of information through color. Examples of color coding include the red non-working days on the calendar, the recycling bins for different types of waste, and the files in an office that are organized by color.

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Entering a Text or Topic with Art and Everyday Objects

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Entering a Text or Topic with Art and Everyday Objects

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Using paintings and other artworks in lessons can help teachers meet content-area standards connected to promoting student inquiry.

Christian Reister (ImageBROKER/Alamy) / kyoshino (iStock)

In No More Telling as Teaching, Cris Tovani and Elizabeth Birr Moje suggest that students often expect teachers to do most of the thinking for them in class. A comfort level exists for both parties when a single narrative removes the messiness of understanding topics beyond the surface level. Yet new content-area standards, such as those informed by the College, Career, and Civic Life Framework, require that students be the ones asking questions, grappling with texts, and drawing their own conclusions about course concepts.

Repurposing instruction to elicit or incorporate students' ideas can seem daunting, especially when teachers must address specific content in their courses. Inquiry and structure do not need to be mutually exclusive, though. In my classes, I frequently ask students to examine common sources using a specific lesson progression, with the understanding that no two individuals will emerge with the same conclusions from that work.

Using Art to Foster Critical Thinking

To that end, I sometimes use works of art as launching points for my lessons. Viewing art can be powerful because each piece reflects the artist's interpretation of his or her world. Likewise, students' interpretations of the art will vary depending on their prior knowledge, observational skills, and interests.

Museum educators use three guiding questions from Visual Thinking Strategies to elicit discussions, and they can help students focus when they view an artwork in the classroom for the first time as well:

1. What's going on in this picture?

2. What do you see that makes you say that?

3. What more can you find?

When I design a lesson around an art piece, I don't simply jump into a discussion using these questions, though-I ask students to spend the first several minutes of the class observing the image independently and writing down their reflections to answer the questions. I write out my reflections with them every time, too, even though I'm familiar with the image, to model that my understanding evolves over time.

In their book , Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle share that such extended periods of freewriting help students generate new ideas and communicate first-draft thinking. To further that kind of thinking, I later ask students to revisit and confirm or revise their responses as they encounter additional texts that, in some way, connect to the initial image.

For example, I focus a ninth-grade Modern World History lesson related to the French Wars of Religion around a painting of the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by François Dubois. So much is happening in the painting, and students almost always ask questions about why people are being thrown from windows, who the different groups represent, and what caused the conflict in the first place. Students write down their initial thoughts using the freewriting technique described above, and volunteers then share their comments through whole-class discussion.

The "investigation" part of the lesson comes when I ask students to work in pairs to read a short textbook segment related to the subject of the painting. I typically use an interactive reading guide inspired by Doug Buehl's Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning that prompts students to read chunks of text, summarize the main ideas, and make connections to their written responses to the painting. Students first discuss this content with their partners and later have the opportunity to share any new insights with other classmates before moving to the next short segment. With this approach, students are not reading the textbook simply to learn content-they're reading to construct meaning around the questions that they found important as they initially attempted to understand the painting.

In another lesson from the same unit, I use a variety of sources in addition to the textbook to help students draw conclusions about the reign of Elizabeth I of England. The lesson is framed around her Armada Portrait, which generates many interesting questions from students: Why are there two different views out the windows? Why is her hand on the globe? Does the crown that's set on the table in the background symbolize anything?

For this lesson, students travel around the classroom to three centers, each of which includes a source that provides some context for the painting: a brief biography of Elizabeth I, the text of her speech to her troops concerning the Spanish Armada, and a short video that highlights her accomplishments as queen. Students discuss each source in small groups and then individually write out short reflections that help them process ideas related to their earlier questions.

At the conclusion of both of these lessons, I ask students to revise their freewrites with specific evidence from their learning. Ideally, they'll be able to answer their initial questions, support their inferences, and fill in any knowledge gaps that they identified at the beginning of class. Posing new questions is fine, too, since the inquiry process is cyclical.

The artist Frida Kahlo once said, "I paint flowers so they will not die." Building on that idea, art allows students to visually access historical content that might otherwise seem foreign or irrelevant. Think about one of your upcoming lessons and how a work of art might serve as an entry point. You will be amazed by the questions your students develop and the deep learning that happens as a result.

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Framing Social Studies Lessons Around Works of Art

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Using paintings and other artworks in lessons can help teachers meet content-area standards connected to promoting student inquiry. Christian Reister (ImageBROKER/Alamy) / kyoshino (iStock) In No More Telling as Teaching , Cris Tovani and Elizabeth Birr Moje suggest that students often expect teachers to do most of the thinking for them in class.

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I feel that the math tiles would be very helpful for students who confuse how to multiple negatives, a positive and a negative, etc. 

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I feel that the math tiles would be very helpful for students who confuse how to multiple negatives, a positive and a negative, etc. 

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I feel that movement provides a cue for students who may lose their focus or attentiveness to the instruction.

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I feel that movement provides a cue for students who may lose their focus or attentiveness to the instruction.

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Color coding helps the student stay organized and provides a direction on where to retrieve information.

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Color coding helps the student stay organized and provides a direction on where to retrieve information.

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Keeping world languages in the language only reinforces the language itself and it demands the attention of the student.

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Keeping world languages in the language only reinforces the language itself and it demands the attention of the student.

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Posters placed around the room illustrating students performing classroom related tasks. The teacher can point to these when appropriate.

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Doing hands on demonstrations is very helpful for visual learning when teaching art. It is much more effective than just explaining how to do something. Making videos to upload to google classroom is helpful because it gives those students the ability to watch it as many times as they need.

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Doing hands on demonstrations is very helpful for visual learning when teaching art. It is much more effective than just explaining how to do something. Making videos to upload to google classroom is helpful because it gives those students the ability to watch it as many times as they need.

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Students demonstrate classroom related tasks to one another by physical demonstration.

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Tools and supplies are grouped together and labeled by shape and color in accordance with the task they perform.

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Projecting the steps to using the program and the tools on the big screen while students follow along on their own screens allows them to see and locate the same tools.

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Although on a smaller movement scale, students practice learning how to move the mouse so that the tool they're using draws on the screen exactly the way they want it to. This becomes memorized so that they can better use the tool.

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The programs have both names for the tools, icons for them, and keyboard short cuts which all work as visuals to successfully work with in the program.

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Blog on Movement form The Cult of Pedagogy    K-12

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Blog on Movement form The Cult of Pedagogy    K-12

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Sponsored by Pear Deck and NewseumED

This page contains Amazon Affiliate and Bookshop.org links. When you make a purchase through these links, Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. What's the difference between Amazon and Bookshop.org?

If you were to start singing "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" right now, I bet you'd have a hard time keeping your hands still. That's because most of us who know the song learned it with gestures, and things we learn with physical movement tend to stick.

We can apply that same principle to classroom learning, using movement to enhance learning from preschool all the way through college. Let's take a look at what the research says about movement-based learning, then explore six different ways you can add more movement to your instruction.

The Research on Movement

The concept of "learning styles" has overwhelmingly been labeled a myth by researchers, so attempting to determine which of your students are kinesthetic learners will not be a good use of your time. What is worth your time is using movement when working with all learners, because plenty of research backs that up.

In general, people learn better when information is presented in more than one way (Sankey, Birch, & Gardiner, 2010). In other words, if we take in information through more than one sense, we're more likely to encode it in long-term memory. This would include visual, verbal, and kinesthetic modes of learning.

Specifically, the use of gestures results in more enduring learning than learning without gestures (Cook, Yip, & Goldin-Meadow, S, 2010). So even the addition of a few small hand gestures can have an impact on how well students remember material.

Study after study shows that physical activity activates the brain, improves cognitive function, and is correlated with improved academic performance (Donnelly & Lambourne, 2011). This means any kind of physical activity, not just movement associated with the material we're learning, can benefit students academically.

Six Ways to Add Movement to Instruction

1. Total Physical Response

Developed for use with second-language learners in the 1960's ( Asher, 1966), Total Physical Response simply has students act out physical gestures to represent vocabulary words. Shown to be highly effective with both children (Singh, 2011) and adults ( Carruthers, 2010), TPR can also be used to help learners remember new vocabulary terms in their native language. In other words, it can be used in any content area, with any student.

This video from the Teacher Toolkit shows Texas teacher Michael Rowland using TPR with his third grade students, who are English learners.

And here is Craig Gaslow, another Texas teacher who teaches AP Human Geography, demonstrating how he uses TPR to teach three different models of diffusion:

https://youtu.be/9HtrVh2Dzzs

Finally, here are Scott Causer's high school students demonstrating a few earth science processes using TPR:

What strategies support learning? Here's high school science using TPR to recall processes in Earth Science -thanks Mr. Causer and team for modeling! @ESMSchoolDist @cultofpedagogy pic.twitter.com/njoAaVdBB9
- Naomi Trivison (@NaomiTrivison) March 30, 2019

2. Tableau/Snapshot

In this strategy, students create a physical "snapshot" with their bodies, a still picture that represents an idea.

This example, demonstrated by 4th grade teacher Stefannie Cundiff, comes from Teacher Toolkit:

Another example is explained in this Slides presentation by Tyler Jacobs, an Idaho-based high school ELA and social studies teacher. Click the image below to view the slideshow in a new window:

3. Simulations

In these, students demonstrate a concept with some kind of motion or interactivity. They could represent non-human components, like in the examples below, or they might actually take on the role of humans in a re-enactment of an event.

The first example comes from the University of British Columbia, where electrical engineering professor Matthew Yedlin has students simulate the difference between linear growth and exponential growth:

The second example, a simulation of the circulatory system, comes from Michelle Cliche, who teaches grades 4 and 5 in London, Ontario, Canada.

Ss learned about the complexity of the circulatory system by acting out delivery of blood through red & blue bean bags. S in middle is ❤️ directing blood flow to different organs. Later, we did this on playground climbers because heart has to pump 'up'. pic.twitter.com/dhzTqRTEOp
- Michelle Cliche (@Clicheteach) March 29, 2019

Finally, here's a different kind of simulation demonstrated by Amy Tepperman, where participants show fractions by placing different body parts on the floor, Twister-style:

An important note about simulations: If you are doing simulations about historical periods or events, proceed with caution. Many, many teachers have ended up traumatizing students with these types of simulations. This article from Learning for Justice explores the topic in depth.

4. Songs with Movement

Songs are another powerful way to teach concepts to students, and if the songs also incorporate movement, even better.

Dan Adler, a 6th grade science teacher in Lawrence, MA, regularly uses songs with physical movements to help his students remember challenging concepts. In this video, students demonstrate "Bodak Particles," a song about phase change sung to an instrumental version of Cardi B's song "Bodak Yellow." (Get a copy of the lyrics here.)

Check out our science scholars rapping about phase changes! pic.twitter.com/uO3sJQubgw
- UP Academy Leonard (@up_leonard) November 8, 2018

5. Virtual and Augmented Reality

The experiences offered by virtual and augmented reality allow students to move around in and interact with virtual objects and spaces in ways that would be difficult if not impossible to pull off in the real world.

Augmented Reality layers digital enhancements on top of objects in the real, physical world. Using a device, like a smartphone, loaded with AR software, users point it at a picture or physical object, and the software brings up some kind of digital element like a 3D animation, text, or a video. ( Pokémon Go is an example of an AR game.)

One set of AR tools that have tremendous learning potential comes from a company called Merge. Their Merge Cube is a handheld cube that can "become" a variety of objects when paired with the Merge Goggles, as shown below:

Virtual Reality immerses the user in a 360-degree environment, a computer-generated simulation, viewable through a VR headset, and allows them to move through and interact with that environment.

One outstanding source for VR experiences is Google Expeditions, which offers tours to over 500 different locations: historical landmarks, national and state parks, underwater sites, and up-close studies of scientific phenomena.

And if you don't find the exact tour you want, you and your students can even create your own expeditions with Google Tour Creator.

6. Brain Breaks

I left this one for the end because it's the easiest to implement. This brain breaks guide from the University of Texas summarizes the research on the connection between movement and academic achievement and offers dozens of ideas for brain breaks that can be put into action immediately.

Brain break videos are super easy to find on YouTube, especially for younger kids. My daughter came home from first grade years ago excited to demonstrate this one for me:

But what about older kids? High school math teacher David Sladkey has written a a book, Energizing Brain Breaks ( Amazon | Bookshop.org), that has ideas for all ages, even middle and high school kids who may not be as comfortable with the Tooty Ta. in this video, students demonstrate a simple toe-tapping brain break:

Tips for Getting Started

Don't overdo it. Attempting to add a movement component to every concept students learn would not only be too time-consuming, it could also get old, shifting from a fun novelty to something that causes students to slump over in their seats and say, Not THAT again!!

Get input from students. When coming up with gestures or movements, you don't have to rely solely on your own brain. Ask students to help you come up with ideas. Involving students in the process will help them remember concepts better and will increase the likelihood that you'll end up with really effective movements.

Know what works for your students. Some of your students may not be comfortable with or physically able to do certain movements, so keep that in mind and make modifications based on ability and need.

Use movement for retrieval practice. Rather than using movement in a single lesson, apply the principles of retrieval practice by repeating the movements in short practice sessions, spacing them out over time, and interleaving concepts with one another.

For younger students, meaningful gestures matter more. While adults learn from both iconic gestures (those that have some meaning in relation to the concept they are connected to) and beat gestures (those that have no inherent meaning but are just tied to particular "beats" in a sentence or phrase), younger children learned more from iconic gestures (So, Sim Chen-Hui, & Low Wei-Shan, 2012). So when working with younger students, try to make the gestures match the concepts in some way.

References

Asher, J. J. (1969). The total physical response approach to second language learning. The modern language journal, 53(1), 3-17.

Carruthers, S. W. (2010). The total physical response method and its compatibility to adult ESL-learners. Retrieved from http://tesolteachers.net/t.pdf

Cook, S. W., Yip, T. K., & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Gesturing makes memories that last. Journal of memory and language, 63(4), 465-475.

Donnelly, J. E., & Lambourne, K. (2011). Classroom-based physical activity, cognition, and academic achievement. Preventive medicine, 52, S36-S42.

Sankey, M., Birch, D., & Gardiner, M. (2010). Engaging students through multimodal learning environments: The journey continues. In Proceedings ASCILITE 2010: 27th annual conference of the Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education: Curriculum, technology and transformation for an unknown future (pp. 852-863). University of Queensland.

Singh, J. P. (2011). Effectiveness of total physical response. Academic Voices: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1, 20-22.

So, W. C., Sim Chen-Hui, C., & Low Wei-Shan, J. (2012). Mnemonic effect of iconic gesture and beat gesture in adults and children: Is meaning in gesture important for memory recall?. Language and Cognitive Processes, 27(5), 665-681.

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Physical movement makes learning stick better, and today we're exploring six ways you can add more movement to your classroom.