Two-Column Notes

Date:
11/7

Name: Rachael Henthorn

Class/Subject: EDTL 2670

MR Title(s): Preview Assignment

MR Source(s): Bower, B., Lobdell, J., and Owens, S. (2010). Preview assignment. Bring
learning alive! Methods to transform middle and high school social studies. Palo Alto, CA:
Teachers Curriculum Institute, pp. 22-26.
Page #

The Text Says

I Say

Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)

My notes, commentary

pg. 22
(1)

Some Preview assignments challenge

students to predict what a lesson will be
about; others draw a parallel between key
social concepts and students lives.

I remember doing these all through out my k-12

education and I loved them. They allowed us to
really connect to the unit we were about to
study to out own lives and gain a lot on interest
in the upcoming unit. My favorite was when we
got to do a group discussion about what we
wrote down.

pg. 32
(2)

Students can respond to prompts that

encourage them to explore a situation in
their lives that is analogous to a
circumstance or event they will be
studying.

I think this is an awesome way to start a unit.

Right at the start the students have to use
HOTS to think of a way to connect this vague
prompt to their own lives or how this unit
connects to current day. Plus if you combine a
group discussion afterwards they will be able to
TPS as well which introduces a ton of new ideas
and promotes group learning. As a plus it is
something quick you can do that wont take up
a huge amount of time.

pg. 26
(5)

Responding to Music: Students record their When I was in my Vietnam war history class last
initial responses to music related to the
year the teacher would play music from the era
activity or lesson.
as everyone was walking in. The music helped
m understand how people really felt about the
Vietnam war in the 1960s and therefore allowed
me to connect words on paper to real people
during that time and make the lesson come
alive to me. Music is a powerful tool that
students can easily connect to and pick up
themes from. Plus from music there can be a
million different interpretations which allows for
some pretty cool group discussions.

Connections to previous MR:

I would say that using these are a really good way to introduce an essential question. You could use the
preview assignment to start the students thinking about the essential question without even asking it.
These two things go hand in hand and I think by using them together or apart you can really enhance
the kind of learning achieved in the classroom.