One of the qualities that a good teacher should possess is to help and ensure that our students develop skills that will last a lifetime.
One way we can do this is to help students develop good organization and note taking skills. Using graphic organizers is an easy and effective way to deliver information and demonstrate new techniques to students. Graphic organizers are also great tools that help students focus on what they are learning and also aid in learning the information. Because there are so many different types of organizers and a variety of uses for them, the way each are introduced is crucial.The proper introduction will ensure that the students will be able to identify, organize, and integrate key concepts from the information.
To focus on comparing and contrasting I will develop a lesson using Venn diagrams. Venn diagrams are an example of a graphic organizer and Venn diagrams are great tools for comparing and contrasting because they provide a quick way to see the similarities and differences of the topics. A learning objective for second grade students is to compare and contrast works by different authors in the same genre or regarding the same thing.(Perma-Bound) One way I can introduce the Venn diagram to my students is by drawing a large diagram on the board in the front of the class for all students to see, and have a mini lesson on how to use the Venn diagram before using it to compare book characters. My instructions to the students would be something along the lines of: Alright everyone, I want you to come to the front of the class and take a seat on the ground where you can see the whiteboard. We are going to learn about the circles that I have drawn on the board.
These are not just circles; they make up a graphic organizer called a Venn diagram. A Venn diagram is used to compare and contrast things. Let’s start by comparing a candy bar and a granola bar, and I will write your responses in the diagram so you can see how to use it. We will start by labeling each part of the diagram; above circle one we will write candy bar, above circle two we will write granola bar, and the middle part is labeled alike. Also, when using a Venn diagram, we don’t have to use complete sentences because there is not alot of room, so we will just write a word or two.
What can we say about the candy bar? (Student responses are written on one side of the diagram) Alright, good. Now what can we say about the granola bar? (Student responses are written on the other side of the diagram) Good job everyone! So what do these two things have in common? This is what we will be writing in the middle part of the Venn diagram. (Students discuss similarities, and I write their responses in the middle of the diagram.) Awesome work everyone! I think you guys are getting the hang of it. Ok class, now we are going to be comparing the main characters from two different books. I am going to read you a story and I want you to listen to the story because we will be discussing it afterwards.
(I read the story aloud. ) Alright, so tell me some things about the main character, and I will write them in the diagram. (Students give me multiple different facts about the character) Great job everyone! Now I have a small challenge for you.I have printed out a Venn diagram for all of you to fill out using the information we gathered from the first story, and also from a second book that I will read aloud, but this time you will be working in small cooperative groups to finish filling out the Venn diagram. After I am done reading the second story to you, you will go back into your assigned groups and write facts about the main character, and then find what the characters from each story have in common.
Remember, you write how they are alike in the middle section of the diagram.Then in a while we will discuss what everyone came up with as a class, and fill out my diagram on the board. While the students are working in their groups, I will wander around the class and help any groups that need it, or if a lot of students are having problems I will have everyone come back up to sit on the floor and we will discuss it together. I would arrange the lesson as above because I want to make sure they have a good idea how to use the graphic organizer in a simple way before sending them off to use it compare the two books and their characters on their own.I think that by having the students work together in cooperative groups, it will be somewhat of a continuation of my lesson, and they will be able to work together to figure out how to fill in the diagram and also they will be able to work together to figure out what to write. Working in cooperative learning groups will act as a reinforcement of the class discussion and lesson earlier in the day.
If the students do well and I feel that they have grasped the concept of the Venn diagram then I will incorporate more diagrams into other lessons where the students will complete their own.
