Two-Column Notes

Date: 11/9/16

Name: Nick Ruckman

Class/Subject: EDTL 2760

MR Title(s): Preview Assignments

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

Notes (key concepts, direct
quotes, etc.)

Page: 24

Page: 24

Page: 26

Students answer questions

relevant to their life or relate a
personal experience that
foreshadows key themes of the
upcoming lesson.
Students create a product that
has some personal relevance and
is like but smaller or simpler than
the product they will be creating
in an upcoming activity.
Students respond to an image
that will be used later in the
lesson. They might quickly sketch
the image, record impressions of
it, or predict what they believe is
happening.

I Say
My notes, commentary
I believe that this is a great way to get
students more involved with their class. If they
feel personally connected to the lesson, then
they will be more likely to pay attention and
learn better.
This is also good for the same reason the quote
above was. Though this is slightly different
because the students are creating a product
that are relevant to them. This will get students
even more involved because something they
personally created is involved in the lesson.
This is also a great thing for kids because it
provides a fun activity for them to do and
allows them to be able to analyze visuals at a
deeper level. Students will be able to look past
what the picture is and looker for the deeper
meaning behind it.

Page: 25

Have students respond to a

provocative proposition. The
proposition should introduce a key
theme or concept that will be
explored in the upcoming lesson.

Having students respond to provocative

questions is a great way to start debates and
discuss topics deeply. This allows people to
relay their knowledge to one another and get a
better understanding of the topic itself. If
people get personally involved in a debate,
then they will more than likely get more
involved and want to keep learning about the
subject.
Connections to previous MR: This article is very relatable to previous ones. This article talks about what
kids should be doing in the classroom and how they should progress. This relates to the social studies
standards and the article on essential questions in some ways. I say this because the quotes above
state things that students will do and for the students to do this, there must be an essential question
asked for students to be able to discuss or analyze what the subject is asking. Overall, this article was a
great way to show how teachers should go about previewing assignments and how to get students
more involved in the assignments themselves.