Big Picture

• Induces students to classification of data and processing of information

• Utilizes fundamental higher – order thinking skills

• Teaches how to think (a learning strategy)

• Promotes deeper understanding and greater retention of knowledge and concepts

• Increases achievement; raises intellectual capacity

Strategies Utilized

• Versatile (learner ability, ages, disciplines)

• Easy to adjust level of difficulty (reading load, conceptual load)

• Builds knowledge base, vocabulary

• Foster inquiry

• Teaches a method of approaching/processing new information

• Promotes active engagement, collaborative work, negotiating knowledge, learning how others think

• Provides opportunities for multiple reads; literacy rich • Many entry points to pique interest • Many ways to be successful

• Teaches/causes practice in all levels of thinking (i.e., knowledge, comprehension, compare/contrast, analysis, synthesis, application, evaluation)

• Provides enjoyable and interesting information

Phase 1 – Examining the Data Set

Becoming comfortable with the information drives this phase. Students can “enter” and “re-enter” the set in many ways.

Process
- Read data set
- Share out, discuss data

Teaching Tips:
- Enter with sense of play and exploration
- Create multiple reading opportunities
- Create opportunities to talk/share/list/examine/debate items
- Take time with the set; don’t hurry this phase
- Vary ways and manner of reading (incremental/whole, individual/pairs/class)

Phase 2 – Concept Formation

Grouping is the heart of this phase. Encourage students to think attributes, what causes these items to be a group.

Process
- Group or classify
- Label (if desired) and categorize

Teaching Tips:
- Know your categories
- Have varied types of sets
- Generally 22-30 items
- Introduce set in different ways
- Use set at different times in a body of study (intro, during, post)

Phase 3 – Interpretation of Data

Interpreting, inferring, and generalizing is the heart of this phase. Students build and test hypotheses about relationships and explore these to build generalizations.

Process
- Identify and explore critical relationships
- Make inferences

Teaching Tips:
- Know your focus/direction, yet permit creative drift
- Value engagement and thinking, not quick correctness
- The attributes of categories are key
- Let students learn/value how other students process information
- Share out category by name, exemplar, numbers, best exemplar, list attributes/descriptors of categories

Phase 4 – Application and Extension

Searching for more examples, driving to deeper understandings, teaching out to other data outside the original set is the basis of this phase.

Process
- Build and test hypotheses
- Search for other data to expand the set/study
- Apply classification to extended learning

Teaching Tips:
- Find more exemplars for categories
- Imitate exemplars from categories
- Alter exemplars to fit other categories
- Demonstrate the knowledge or skill - Inquire further