We have asked you to use a different Thinking Map every week since the beginning of school. Please share one of your examples that you used with your class and comment on how well it was received and if you would change anything if you could.
I used the Tree Map with the 6th grade when we were studying Associative, Commutative and Distributive Properties. It worked great. The students were able to able to see the information, hear it, and write about it. They enjoyed using this thinking map and learned the material.
Used bubble map (2) to describe the achievements 0f D.Morgan& B.Tarleton..then used a double bubble to compare and contrast these two revolutionary opponents..Using both thinking maps proceeded to write informational paragraphs. Students found this method to be informational & very useful when organizing their thoughts.
I used the tree map to classify types of matter. We then used that tree map to identify types of matter and what classification they fall under. I think it helped them to see it in an organized system rather just in linear format.
Well I have used several of the thinking maps so far this year. Some work great for science, and some are difficult to incorporate to topic at the time. The brace map is working well for organizing the parts of the cell in biology and the parts of the atom in Physical Science. I think it will be helpful as a study tool for their next test. Also, I am attempting the bridge map today in Biology in an attempt to get the students to see the relationship between the function of organelles in the cell to a working business or factory of some type. We will see how this turns out.
My only suggestion is that in the future, the pace could have been slowed on the roll out of each map. I found it very difficult to do a new on each week and I feel like it may have somewhat overwhelmed the students. There are still two maps I have yet to incorporate, but it is coming soon I hope.
I have found that using the bubble map as a “related to” organizing tool helps students with understanding different peoples, events and concepts in history. Multi Flow charts that lay out cause and effect is also very useful in the social studies discipline. One last map that I have found helpful in organizing events in the order by which they took place and the information associated with the events, is the flow chart.
As a pre-reading activity for the short story "Rikki-tikki-tavi", students created a bubble map with adjectives that describe snakes. To add a little flare, I added a picture of a snake that they colored. The picture added more discussion and interest in the activity.
I used PowerPoint to develop a vitual tree map to help the students identify how jobs are rated using the Jobs Rated Almanac. It can be viewed on any of my classroom pages at the J. T. Simpson website.
http://jts.pickens.k12.sc.us/
Ckick on faculty pages and select on of my classes.
I am excited about how all of you are using Thinking Maps. It is awesome to see all of the different ways that these have been used. I know this seems like a lot at one time but once they are all in place then you can start going back to them and using the ones that will help you in your strategy part of your lesson. Keep up the great work.
My English II students used the Bubble Map as the brainstorming for an essay they wrote about a family heirloom. Because they already had details about the heirloom on paper, they did not struggle with writer’s block as they normally do when we write (longer pieces in particular).
Wow, Simpson teachers! I'm impressed with the variety of ways you've found to incorporate TM's in your instruction. Stephen, thank you for seeing their application to mathematical concepts! I love your use of the Tree Map! Michael, thank you for taking your students to the next level by having them complete an informational writing assignment using their maps! When they've done the thinking and organizing, the writing process is so much easier! Lauren and Jenna, sound like you're off and running with Thinking Maps in Science! I often see teachers delaying the use of the Brace and Bridge Maps, but you, Jenna, have seen the perfect places to implement them! More comments will be coming soon, and until then, KEEP THINKING!
i just did the circle map review with all of my classes. we used it as a way to review everything we had done on our current subjects: population, immune system, and plants. the map works really well as a pre informational draw (what do you know) and as a very good review summary (what do you know now). you can definatley see a big difference in the terms and knowledge gained between begining and end. it also make s it very easy for me to see the areas that i did not cover as well as i needed to and i can then go back and fil in the holes. it works super well as a way for me to evaluate what knowledge i was able to convey.
I am working on Probability with the 8th graders right now. I let them choose from the Brace, Circle or Bubble Maps as a way to check for understanding. It is easy for me circulate around the room and quickly see if they understood the material based on the quality of their responses. This allows me to meet each student on their level and help clarify questions he/she may have.
Despite spending two weeks on the Civil War my USH students were apprehensive about doing a circle map on Abraham Lincoln..They claimed to need more time in order to research our 16th President...Some of the more intersting information they uncovered were...he was the first to wear a beard..the first to be born outside the original 13 states...the only president to have a PATENT...Did you know he never owned a slave during hie life.. he was never photographed with his wife Mary...in 1863 saw (@ Ford's Theatre) The Marble Heart starring JWB..made Thanksgiving a nationwide celebration each year on the fourth Thursday of November...& the first president to be assassinated..a little knowledge can be dangerous
In Math Tech I we are using circle maps to build resources for all the key attributes of slope and also direct variation. This is extremely important for these concepts because each can be a bit confusing. If a student has an exercise which gives them a problem, they can go back to their circle map and look for explanations or hints that will give them clues toward developing the correct answer. Since all my tests are open book and open notes, the bigger their resource the more they can work out for themselves.
This is a liitle late, but I used a circle map after the Super Bowl game to teach the elements of theme. It worked! The topic was of high interest and was helpful in presenting the four elements of theme.
This has been a busy week with thinking maps in PRIDE ELA. Eighth grade classes did a bubble map on the holocaust after viewing a power point on the topic. To extend the lesson, I had students take the adjectives and connect them to nouns. Next we took the adjective noun combination and created conceptual sentences related to the Holocaust. Students did very well with this activity. Sixth and seventh grade students wrote composition on the writing process after brainstorming with a circle map and creating a flow map to help them in paragraph structure for the composition. The final products were well-written. Combining the two maps was very helpful. In addition, students have also created double bubble maps. The sixth graders compared and contrasted a trip to the doctor and a trip to the dentist. They had fun with this topic and did a good job on their maps. Today students used data from two charts from the almanac related to the top ten languages in the world and the United Stated to create double bubble maps. Thinking maps work!
Physical Science classes constructed a double bubble map showing the differences in Kinetic and Potential Energy. I think this was a good way to show them that even though both are types of energy, they do have some major differences as well. The students created an individual map for their notebooks and then collaborated on the Promethean Board in a class map on the subject. This allowed those that were struggling to complete the map to have a more extensive map than they might have had previously. I find this particular method works well for the students and on test days, they have the information they can interpret from the map quite easily. I think for the quiz on this particular topic, I will ask them to create another double bubble to make sure they do understand the differences between the two types of Energy.
The 8th grade used Double Bubble Maps to learn about Similar and Congruent Figures. The double bubble did a great job of showing how similar and congruent figures have certain things in common. It also clearly shows the characteristics that only apply to similar and the ones that only apply to congruent figures. The students really enjoyed displaying them on the PRIDE hallway.
The 6th grade students have used the Tree Map to describe Integers. They broke integers down into negative #'s, 0, and positive #'s. They gave examples of each kind of numbers as well as non-examples.
I used the Tree Map with the 6th grade when we were studying Associative, Commutative and Distributive Properties. It worked great. The students were able to able to see the information, hear it, and write about it. They enjoyed using this thinking map and learned the material.
ReplyDeleteUsed bubble map (2) to describe the achievements 0f D.Morgan& B.Tarleton..then used a double bubble to compare and contrast these two revolutionary opponents..Using both thinking maps proceeded to write informational paragraphs. Students found this method to be informational & very useful when organizing their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI used the tree map to classify types of matter. We then used that tree map to identify types of matter and what classification they fall under. I think it helped them to see it in an organized system rather just in linear format.
ReplyDeleteWell I have used several of the thinking maps so far this year. Some work great for science, and some are difficult to incorporate to topic at the time. The brace map is working well for organizing the parts of the cell in biology and the parts of the atom in Physical Science. I think it will be helpful as a study tool for their next test. Also, I am attempting the bridge map today in Biology in an attempt to get the students to see the relationship between the function of organelles in the cell to a working business or factory of some type. We will see how this turns out.
ReplyDeleteMy only suggestion is that in the future, the pace could have been slowed on the roll out of each map. I found it very difficult to do a new on each week and I feel like it may have somewhat overwhelmed the students. There are still two maps I have yet to incorporate, but it is coming soon I hope.
I have found that using the bubble map as a “related to” organizing tool helps students with understanding different peoples, events and concepts in history. Multi Flow charts that lay out cause and effect is also very useful in the social studies discipline. One last map that I have found helpful in organizing events in the order by which they took place and the information associated with the events, is the flow chart.
ReplyDeleteAs a pre-reading activity for the short story "Rikki-tikki-tavi", students created a bubble map with adjectives that describe snakes. To add a little flare, I added a picture of a snake that they colored. The picture added more discussion and interest in the activity.
ReplyDeleteI used PowerPoint to develop a vitual tree map to help the students identify how jobs are rated using the Jobs Rated Almanac. It can be viewed on any of my classroom pages at the J. T. Simpson website.
ReplyDeletehttp://jts.pickens.k12.sc.us/
Ckick on faculty pages and select on of my classes.
I am excited about how all of you are using Thinking Maps. It is awesome to see all of the different ways that these have been used. I know this seems like a lot at one time but once they are all in place then you can start going back to them and using the ones that will help you in your strategy part of your lesson. Keep up the great work.
ReplyDeleteMy English II students used the Bubble Map as the brainstorming for an essay they wrote about a family heirloom. Because they already had details about the heirloom on paper, they did not struggle with writer’s block as they normally do when we write (longer pieces in particular).
ReplyDeleteMy students especially enjoyed doing the bridge map. We had studied analogies before, but the map made the concept clearer to them.
ReplyDeleteWow, Simpson teachers! I'm impressed with the variety of ways you've found to incorporate TM's in your instruction. Stephen, thank you for seeing their application to mathematical concepts! I love your use of the Tree Map! Michael, thank you for taking your students to the next level by having them complete an informational writing assignment using their maps! When they've done the thinking and organizing, the writing process is so much easier! Lauren and Jenna, sound like you're off and running with Thinking Maps in Science! I often see teachers delaying the use of the Brace and Bridge Maps, but you, Jenna, have seen the perfect places to implement them! More comments will be coming soon, and until then, KEEP THINKING!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletei just did the circle map review with all of my classes. we used it as a way to review everything we had done on our current subjects: population, immune system, and plants. the map works really well as a pre informational draw (what do you know) and as a very good review summary (what do you know now). you can definatley see a big difference in the terms and knowledge gained between begining and end. it also make s it very easy for me to see the areas that i did not cover as well as i needed to and i can then go back and fil in the holes. it works super well as a way for me to evaluate what knowledge i was able to convey.
ReplyDeleteI am working on Probability with the 8th graders right now. I let them choose from the Brace, Circle or Bubble Maps as a way to check for understanding. It is easy for me circulate around the room and quickly see if they understood the material based on the quality of their responses. This allows me to meet each student on their level and help clarify questions he/she may have.
ReplyDeleteDespite spending two weeks on the Civil War my USH students were apprehensive about doing a circle map on Abraham Lincoln..They claimed to need more time in order to research our 16th President...Some of the more intersting information they uncovered were...he was the first to wear a beard..the first to be born outside the original 13 states...the only president to have a PATENT...Did you know he never owned a slave during hie life.. he was never photographed with his wife Mary...in 1863 saw (@ Ford's Theatre) The Marble Heart starring JWB..made Thanksgiving a nationwide celebration each year on the fourth Thursday of November...& the first president to be assassinated..a little knowledge can be dangerous
ReplyDeleteIn Math Tech I we are using circle maps to build resources for all the key attributes of slope and also direct variation. This is extremely important for these concepts because each can be a bit confusing. If a student has an exercise which gives them a problem, they can go back to their circle map and look for explanations or hints that will give them clues toward developing the correct answer. Since all my tests are open book and open notes, the bigger their resource the more they can work out for themselves.
ReplyDeleteThis is a liitle late, but I used a circle map after the Super Bowl game to teach the elements of theme. It worked! The topic was of high interest and was helpful in presenting the four elements of theme.
ReplyDeleteThis has been a busy week with thinking maps in PRIDE ELA. Eighth grade classes did a bubble map on the holocaust after viewing a power point on the topic. To extend the lesson, I had students take the adjectives and connect them to nouns. Next we took the adjective noun combination and created conceptual sentences related to the Holocaust. Students did very well with this activity. Sixth and seventh grade students wrote composition on the writing process after brainstorming with a circle map and creating a flow map to help them in paragraph structure for the composition. The final products were well-written. Combining the two maps was very helpful. In addition, students have also created double bubble maps. The sixth graders compared and contrasted a trip to the doctor and a trip to the dentist. They had fun with this topic and did a good job on their maps. Today students used data from two charts from the almanac related to the top ten languages in the world and the United Stated to create double bubble maps. Thinking maps work!
ReplyDeletePhysical Science classes constructed a double bubble map showing the differences in Kinetic and Potential Energy. I think this was a good way to show them that even though both are types of energy, they do have some major differences as well. The students created an individual map for their notebooks and then collaborated on the Promethean Board in a class map on the subject. This allowed those that were struggling to complete the map to have a more extensive map than they might have had previously. I find this particular method works well for the students and on test days, they have the information they can interpret from the map quite easily. I think for the quiz on this particular topic, I will ask them to create another double bubble to make sure they do understand the differences between the two types of Energy.
ReplyDeleteThe 8th grade used Double Bubble Maps to learn about Similar and Congruent Figures. The double bubble did a great job of showing how similar and congruent figures have certain things in common. It also clearly shows the characteristics that only apply to similar and the ones that only apply to congruent figures. The students really enjoyed displaying them on the PRIDE hallway.
ReplyDeleteThe 6th grade students have used the Tree Map to describe Integers. They broke integers down into negative #'s, 0, and positive #'s. They gave examples of each kind of numbers as well as non-examples.
ReplyDelete