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Sydney W, Sabrina M, Tamia W, Alexandria M

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Sydney W, Sabrina M, Tamia W, Alexandria M

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My group discussed how we thought this strategy was very interesting and many of us realized that we had actually used this while teaching without even realizing it. We discussed how we could use this strategy in primary grades. We talked about how we could use this while teaching health and teaching about the different food groups. For example, we could be looking at fruits and have them as the Yes category and have other foods that are not fruits as the No category. We would hope that the students would start to see the pattern and be able to determine what food group we are learning about.

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yes divorced singer Hello female British

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yes divorced singer Hello female British

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We can implement this strategy in a Language class for grade 1's and 2's. We can make a list of "YES" sentences that have their capitals or punctuations in the right spot, however the "NO" sentences, have their capitals and punctuations in the wrong spots. Then, students can proceed to figure out the differences between the 2 groups of sentences.

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A subject we look at is Math. In a pattern lesson we will begin by showing the students yes examples of a growing pattern without telling them it is a growing pattern and then show them "no" examples of patterns like a shrinking pattern or AB colour pattern (again without naming them). We would then provide them with unfinished patterns to allow students to continue adding to the pattern. We would then provide some more yes and no examples of growing patterns in order to help the student define growing patterns.

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Julia A, Nadeka P, Brandon A, Susanna Lee

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Julia A, Nadeka P, Brandon A, Susanna Lee

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A subject we thought to incorporate this strategy into is the sciences. In particular, when students are learning concepts regarding the food chain, terms such as "herbivores" might be introduced. In this case, animals within and out of that term can be shown to then introduce the word "herbivore".

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Sarah Chiarenza, Alessandra Umbello, Naomi Angert and Angie Lau 

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Sarah Chiarenza, Alessandra Umbello, Naomi Angert and Angie Lau 

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We discussed how we can use Concept Attainment when teaching students the monthly virtues. In teaching the students about compassion, we can pose 'kind' and 'mean' sentences in relations to 'yes' and 'no'. We would ask the students to make a comparison between the 'yes' and see if they can find a connection. We would brainstorm ideas with the students and then provide the students with a definition suitable for their age group. Furthermore, we can connect a book that talks about kindness and compassion into our lesson. To complete the lesson, we can provide the students with an activity which they can share a time when they were compassionate.

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Give me 5 minutes and you'll have a new teaching strategy under your belt.
Suppose you're an art teacher. This week, you want to introduce your students to Impressionism, the style of painting used by artists like Monet and Renoir. Now, you could just give them the name of the style and a definition, then show some examples.

OR!!!

Using a strategy called Concept Attainment, you could reverse that order. Instead of providing any terminology or any kind of definition, you could simply tell students that you're going to study a new style. To learn the style, you'll show them paintings that use that style, and paintings that don't - Yes and No examples. Their job will be to come up with a list of characteristics that they think define the style.

You begin with this first Yes example:

Then a No example:

Followed by this one, another Yes example:

Then another No:

As they study the examples, students work to develop a definition, or a list of characteristics common to all the Yes examples. Once they've done this, you give them more Yes examples to test and refine their list. Ultimately, students arrive at a thoughtfully crafted definition of Impressionism - one that will stick with them much longer than if you'd just given it to them to begin with.

For a more thorough example of how Concept Attainment works, I offer you this video demonstration:

The Research Behind the Strategy

I first learned this strategy in Silver, Strong, and Perini's 2007 book, The Strategic Teacher: Selecting the Right Research-Based Strategy for Every Lesson ( Amazon | Bookshop.org). In their chapter on Concept Attainment, the authors explain that the reason this strategy results in deep understanding is because it works with the way human beings instinctively learn. As we experience the world, we naturally organize things into categories based on common attributes. Concept Attainment is structured in the same way.

In their 2001 book, Classroom Instruction That Works , Marzano, Pickering and Pollock identified nine classroom practices that produced the most significant gains in student learning. This strategy uses two from that list: identifying similarities and differences (which was at the top of the list), and generating and testing hypotheses. (See the 2022 edition of the book on Amazon or Bookshop.org)

I like this strategy because it really involves students in their own learning. Instead of just delivering the information to them, you're helping them discover it on their own. Also, it's captivating - a mystery to solve! - which is far more likely to engage students than straightforward delivery of information. Finally, it's a pretty easy switch to make from what you're already doing: definition-then-examples becomes examples-then-definition, then maybe a little lecture just to tighten things up.

Share Your Experience

Concept Attainment could be used in just about any subject area and at any grade level. I could see it in corporate training, in coaching, even when teaching a preschooler how to wash his hands ( "We're going to come up with some rules for hand washing. Watch these five kids wash their hands. These three are doing it correctly, these two are not. What do you think the rules are?")

If you have used the strategy and have more information, variations, tips on doing it well, or even a correction to how I'm presenting it here, please tell us about it in the comments section below.

Hope this adds something new and different to your repertoire! ♦

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How to Use the Concept Attainment Strategy

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Instead of just delivering information to students, this fun approach helps them discover it on their own.

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How to Teach a Concept Attainment Lesson