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Using IdeaChain Outside the Lesson
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Using IdeaChain Outside the Lesson
Lesson 1
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Daily Communication
When your student is getting frustrated
trying to tell you something that you don't understand:
Tell him or her,
"Let's try to do this another way. Stop for a minute
and make a picture of what you're trying to tell me. And then describe
the picture to me just like we do in our lesson."
You may need to coach the student through the process. "Picture
what things would look like when…(whatever) happens." Give
the student a minute to do this. "OK, now describe the picture
to me."
Bringing In Other Family Members Or Friends
Describe secret objects:
1. Have the new person describe an object in the room, without naming
it. The description continues until the student (in partnership with
the instructor, if necessary) can guess what the object is. In many
instances the student will recognize that he or she has better strategies
for describing things than the new person.
2. Turn the game around and have the student describe an object in
the room, without naming it, until the other person can guess what
it is. The other player may need to leave the room to allow the student
to take a long look at the object before beginning. It may also be
necessary for the new person to close his eyes while the student takes
intermediate looks at the object being described.
When driving:
1. As you are approaching a billboard, say, "Take a good look
at that billboard." After you have passed it, describe the picture.
The student can do this alone or every person in the car can contribute.
It is fun to check your description the next time you pass the same
billboard.
It is also fun for the student to be able to request the same from
you - that you describe a billboard that you are passing.
2. As you approach a person or thing, say, "See that (whatever
it is.) Take a good look." After you have passed, describe the
person or thing.
As before, also play the game with the student allowed to make
this request of you.
3. Recall pictures you described during the lesson. See how much the
student, or both of you, can remember.
4. If you have used mental pictures to study school material, recall
those pictures. (See Studying With Imaging)
'Blind' exercise:
One person pretends to be blind and closes his eyes or is blindfolded.
This person stands at the entrance to a room. The other person directs
the 'blind' person through the room with words only. The 'blind' person
does exactly what they are told to do. This exercise conveys the idea
that the words a person uses are important to getting a message across
to someone else.
Have the student entertain a young, 3 to
5 year old, sibling:
Have the student describe pictures in a magazine or book to the younger
child. The student looks at the picture while describing. For example,
the student would say, "See the boy with his dog. The boy is
about my size and he has brown hair. He's wearing blue jeans and a
red shirt …."
Writing
An idea to help jump-start a writing assignment
Tell the student to pretend that she is building a picture in the
teacher's mind. Combine this with the next idea.
When a student has a writing assignment
that is stumping him or her:
- Have the student build a mental picture. Use the key questions
(and hand signs) to get some detail. This is not your lesson so
don't make it too long. Use the hand signs that will give you
the needed amount of detail.
- Use a tape recorder to record the student describing his or
her mental picture to you. Ask questions about what you can't
'see'. Again, don't make this too long, just what you need.
- Transcribe the description from the tape recorder. The transcription
doesn't have to be exact, just what the student needs.
- Edit the transcription. Let the student know that since we
frequently speak a little differently than we write editing is
a must.
This separates the four parts of the task: creating the idea (building
the mental picture), verbalizing the idea, writing down the words,
and editing. It is particularly difficult for many students to organize
thoughts as they write. Many times a student can handle each part
of the task, but is overwhelmed by having to do them all at once.
Keep this process, creating image-recording description-transcribing-editing,
as simple as possible. Then the student gets the idea that this is
no big deal, and gradually he or she can handle the steps independently.
For high school or college students or adults
with long writing assignments or reports:
- Think through the key points using mental pictures to the best
of the person's current ability. In the early stages of learning
how to build mental images, an individual may need a good bit
of help.
- Tape record the key ideas. This can become an outline for the
paper or report.
- Transcribe the key ideas. Check the order and see if adjustments
need to be made.
- Start with the first key idea. Build a mental picture (with
help if necessary.)
- Record the description of the picture just as in your lessons,
using key questions for support.
- Transcribe the description. Each key idea may be worked out,
described on tape, and transcribed; or all the ideas may be imaged
and described before transcribing.
If resources permit, have someone else do the transcribing.
Again if resources permit, get a dictating (transcribing) machine
with a foot pedal to free up hands from all the starting and stopping
of the tape. The dictating machine is a $150-$200 investment, but
well worth it if an individual has much writing to do. [If you are
not familiar with dictating (transcribing) machines, they are full
function tape recorders with a foot attachment for starting, stopping
and backing up the tape.]
- Edit the assignment.
The student has a written assignment already
started, but you recognize that the writing is too bland, nondescript,
repetitive (the "And then … And then … And then …format):
- (If not already written, use whatever strategy works to get
the first draft written down.) Write with plenty of space between
the lines. For example, if using ruled notebook paper, write on
every second or third line. If typing, type with double or triple
space.
- Use the key questions to fill in details: sizes, shapes, colors,
sounds, actions, background, time, mood, and point of view. Pencil
in these descriptions right at the point where they will be inserted.
For example, a sentence may read: And then the horses ran up the
hill. Expand this to: And then the two black horses ran up the
grassy hill.
- The 'time' key question can provide important transitional
phrases to add variety to the writing. For example, instead of
'and then' use 'when they got back …in the morning …as
soon as they were finished …or whatever makes sense' to improve
sentence construction. Again, pencil in the addition exactly where
it will be inserted.
From the example above, that sentence can be further expanded
to: Early in the morning the two black horses ran up the grassy
hill.
- Discuss with the student how the added words, descriptors, bring
more life to the written assignment.
Do a reasonable number of additions at a time while the student is
getting the hang of the process. Gradually, add more as the student
begins to understand how the filling out process works. Keep in mind
that little changes over time make a big difference.
Studying With Images
Social studies, health, or other subjects
that use textbook pictures to expand understanding:
Have the student describe the picture to you or you describe the picture
to the student. Talk about elements of the picture and how they back
up the ideas being taught. Describing the pictures can add a little
drama and emotion to the lesson.
Science diagrams and pictures:
As you read this application, keep in mind that there is a huge range
from simple to very complex diagrams. Read the suggestion for the
process and adjust with the level of help your student needs. Some
diagrams and pictures the student can easily describe to you, others
you will need to work through together.
Using the science book, have the student describe the diagram or picture
to you. Encourage much gesturing and painting parts of the picture
in the air with the hands. This adds another, kinesthetic link for
enhancing memory. It also provides a way to help the student describe
strange shapes and parts. You may also need to help the student with
associations to remember the names of various parts that need to be
labeled.
For example, if the student has to memorize the parts of a plant cell:
 (The
example demonstrates a process; it is not meant to be a scientific
explanation of a plant cell.)
The plant cell is shaped like a big rectangle. In fact, it looks like
two rectangles, one inside the other. This could be like a fence around
a pasture. Two fences one inside the other. So there's a big rectangular
pasture with two fences around it. The space between the two fences
is the cell wall.
Then there's a big white space in the middle that looks like this
(draw in the air with hands.) It's sort of a rectangle that's punched
in on one side at the bottom. It looks like a big lake in the middle.
This area is called the vacuole. Let's pretend that we vacuumed out
the space in the middle. That's why it's empty. Then we'll remember
the vacuumed space is the vacuole.
Next to the punched in part at the bottom of the vacuole is a big
circle that looks like a basketball. The basketball is the nucleus.
The vacuole and the nucleus are sitting in some dotted stuff that's
inside the fence. And there are some black and white spotted things
in the dotted stuff. The black and white things look like milk cows
inside the fence. And I can think of the spotted stuff as the mud
they're walking in. The black and white things are cytoplasts and
the mud is the cytoplasm. There are cytoplastic cows walking around
in cytoplasm mud.
A lot more could be done to associate the names of the cell parts.
Depending of the student's level of ability, you may need to help
with the picture description. Have the student practice by describing
his mental picture to you. Don't follow in the book and see if you
get a complete picture. You may also ask the student to draw the picture
as he says it out loud.
You will need time to help your student develop mental pictures from
diagrams and textbook pictures. It is almost impossible to do this
the night before a test.
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