"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites is a professional learning guide written by Marcia L. Tate, Ed. D., and former Director of Professional Development for the DeKalb County School System in Decatur, Georgia. Tate has a 30 years of experience as a teacher, reading specialist, language arts coordinator, and staff development executive director[1]. "Sit and Get" details 20 different strategies teachers can use to help retention of information in a teaching session.
In an attempt to access many levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, this brainstorming and discussion strategy gives students the opportunity to master incredible amounts of content. Examples of this strategy in use might include:
Allow students to circle the room and discuss items
Have students offer input to a topic (students must have prior knowledge of topic)
Offer an opened-ended question with multiple answers
Use the DOVE[2] Guidelines (Defer judgment when others are responding, One idea at a time, Variety of ideas, and Energy from everyone for the task
Start with major concepts you want the students to know
Formulate questions to encourage participation
Have speakers sit in inner circle, note takers sit in outer circle
Start the discussion with a "core" question about the topic
After a designated amount of time, have students offer summary statements
Debrief and reflect on how to improve discussion time[3]
Students form groups based on a similar interest, research, and discuss their interests
Pick a seasonal partner with which to have a conversation with only during specific times of the year
Give students a limited time to brainstorm as many possibilities as they can (eg. 2 minutes)
To recall information, have groups discuss as many points as possible that were presented from a previous lesson in a short amount of time
Create a "parking lot" for post-it notes- students take the notes, write a discussion question, then park them in the lot. The teacher selects a note to discuss.
Brainstorming and discussions are relatively simple ways to engage the learner's brain.
Field trips actually refers to three different types:
Taking the class somewhere
Taking the class on a virtual field trip from the comfort of the classroom
Allowing guests to come to the classroom
Experiencing information allows students to apply theory and knowledge to specific situations. Here are some helpful ways to incorporate a field trip into the classroom:
Contact local agencies who can accommodate your class
Giving a humorous story or anecdote can help secure the attention of a listener, and lock the story into long term memory. Humor also "enlivens participants, reduces tension, and increases productivity and creativity [6]. Some humorous activities may include:
Teach concepts with riddles or limericks
Design original cartoons or funny stories
Show appreciation in odd ways
Give high-fives
Snap fingers
Give a "thumbs up"
Share a joke
Post funny sayings or quotes
Celebrate achievements or successes with notes, awards, or other special recognition
Allowing hands on experiences gives information a chance to lock into long-term memory, especially in technology. Here are some ways to use manipulatives and models:
Have students construct a model representing the content
Students place objects in categories
Create "lab" situations where students manipulate variables and uncover outcomes
Have students demonstrate understanding using hand signals
Thumbs up/ down
Five fingers/ two fingers
Pat/ Scratch head
Use high-fives, handshakes, and positive touches in explaining content
Give students an opportunity to handle objects used in lesson
Students can create a yes/no or agree/ disagree note card to show during instruction
When teaching, use comparisons and word pictures to aid in instruction. Grasping new and complex subjects is easier for students if they can tie it to a metaphor, simile, or analogy. Some strategies for using these word pictures include:
Relate a new concept to a concept that the students already grasp
e.g. Parts of Speech are like a recipe
Compare pieces of information that are related to parts of the body
Show how two things are related, and make it similar to two other related things
e.g. Hand is to the arm as the foot is to the leg
Have students write how two objects are similar
Have students write how two objects are different
Make a word picture that describes a new concept
Use if/ then/ because statements to relate new information
e.g. If people were animals, then teachers would be owls because they are wise.
Getting students out of there seats and moving can aid in retaining information and new concepts. Adding movement to a lesson provides extra sensory input for the brain, which more than likely facilitates learning[7]. Movement strategies may include:
When students want to answer "yes," they stand; "no," they sit
Give some students vocabulary words and the remaining students definitions. Allow students to circulate until all vocabulary words are matched with their definition
Place posters around the room with content ideas written on them. Have students rotate to the different posters and add information learned about that poster's idea
Create a continuum line and have students align themselves along the continuum based on their understanding or levels or trust, etc.
Students move to designated areas of the room that correspond with their own viewpoints
Design lessons that incorporate both the left and right hand at the same time
Have students give as much information from the lesson as they can to a partner while standing on one foot. When the foot drops, the partner picks up their foot and continues
"Twenty years of research have shown that movement puts learners, whether kindergarteners or college students, in an appropriate state for learning[8]."
Playing music or incorporating rhythm into a lesson can stimulate moods and increase understanding. Some ways to include music, rhythm, rhyme, or rap into a lesson include:
Play appropriate music as students enter/ leave a room
Play music during times when students are in transition
Be specific and use contemporary music to augment lessons
Presenting real-world problems and project based learning allows the brain to function in a way that is closest to its evolved purpose[9]. Furthermore, problem based learning enables participants to link past knowledge with new knowledge. Problem based learning strategies may include:
Have students implement and plan a project based on content learned
Present real-life problems that can be solved with new instruction
Have students organize into groups and give individual members specific tasks, and the group a problem that can only be attempted by all members of the group
Video tape students doing a presentation, have them analyze and reflect on their presentation
Students create portfolios demonstrating knowledge they have acquired during instruction
Strategy 13: Reciprocal Teaching, Cooperative Learning, and Peer Coaching[1]
Reciprocal teaching and cooperative learning enables each member of a group to be individually accountable for a task, but also concerned about the success of all group members. In order for this strategy to be effective, ongoing support from the group needs to happen for the assimilation of new knowledge. Ways to use reciprocal teaching, cooperative learning, and peer coaching may include:
Students turn to each other and talk about information presented from a lesson
In a group of 7, have each member responsible for a chapter, and teaching that chapter to other members of the group
Assign roles to members to help facilitate learning:
Presenter: Presents findings to the class
Recorder: Writes down answers or ideas
Timekeeper: Informs group when time is half over or when only a minute remains
Encourager: Helps and encourages members of the group
Observer: Informs participants how well they are using group social skills
Have students work in pairs or small groups to compare answers
Students can review vocabulary in pairs with flashcards
After completing an activity, one member visits other groups and report information back to their group
One person in the group is the expert to guise the other group members in a task
Have students "shadow" another student or offer a chance for a student to be a "peer mentor"
Strategy 14: Role-plays, Drama, Pantomimes, and Charades[1]
Role plays and dramas give students an opportunity to learn in a simulated reality. "Role plays increase the opportunities for understanding and retaining information because key concepts are put in the context of the learning situation[10]." Ways to use role play include:
Different students can represent different parts of a whole, and act those parts in conjunction with the others
Participants take on the personality of a person or animal studied
Establish a peer court to demonstrate the legal system
Students act out scenes from books or movies
Students pantomime concepts previously taught as review
Students write and perform a TV news program to teach content
Before written word, stories were told to convey information and values. Today, stories come in the shape of books, fables, myths, art, and even movies or music. Telling stories can be a powerful and effective way to present information. Storytelling strategies include:
Open a lesson with a short, humorous story
Associate a story with each new concept taught
Create a story that helps explain a multi-step process
Have students retell stories that are pertinent to instruction
Students can invent stories to help retain information
Act and tell a story to teach about values
Give personal testimonies
Tell a history of a school, student, or teacher
Write a movie or song that conveys a story about content
Technology brings a wealth of information and activities directly to a classroom. Computers also enable a student to be engaged in material and teaches skills for a technological world[11]. Ways to incorporate technology include:
Visualization allows the brain to process information prior to it happening in reality. Visualization is a powerful tool for reorganizing known information and locking it into long-term memory. Visualization techniques include:
Have students imagine what kinds of grades they desire or what kind of people they want to become
Talk about what an ideal classroom would look like with students
Create images for vocabulary words
Students tell visual stories to explain concepts or detail processes
During a lesson, ask students to envision the circumstances of the content
Visuals break up the monotony of a lecture, and give another point of reference for the learner. Visuals can also add importance and emphasis to content. Visuals in a lesson include:
Powerpoints[4]- a few is good, too many is actually bad for learning
Work study gives students an opportunity to take what they have learned and apply it in a continual process. This strategy deals more with the follow-up to information, rather than the presentation of information. Action research and work study applications may include:
Pair students to mentor each other over the course of a month
Following a lesson, give time for students to group and discuss the implications of the lesson
Teachers use research to uncover why students are not understanding a concept, and how to teach the concept for understanding
Allow students to "shadow" other students when implementing content or ideas
Students often need time to reflect and write about new concepts in order to retain the information. Guided opportunities to reflect and journal actually help the learner[12]. Writing and reflection activities may include:
Students write words or phrases related to the topic
Students rewrite as much information from presentation as possible in short intervals
Students design a web article or newspaper editorial from content
Give students a personal journal to add thoughts to
Allow students to write with a purpose, like persuade or explain
Give students to write and respond to situations presented
Have students write a "headline" to summarize information
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvTate, M. (2004)"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN 0-7619-3153-8 Cite error: The named reference "tate" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^Tanner, M.L.,& Cassados, L. (1998). Writing to learn. In J. Irwin & M. Doyle (Eds.), Reading/writing connections: Learning from research (p.145-159). Newark, DE: International Reading Association
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^Westwater, A., & Wolfe, P. (2000). The Brain Compatible Curriculum. Educational Leadership, 58(3), 49-52.
^Gregory, G. & Chapman, C. (2002). Differentiated instruction strategies: One size doesn't fit all. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
^Glatthorn, A. & Jailall, J. (2000). Curriculum for the new millenium. In R.S. Brandt (Ed.), Education in a new era. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
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