Just announced from The Institute for Learning Centered Education – a new book by Pat Flynn, Paul Vermette, Mike Smith and Don Mesibov:
CAPTIVATING CLASSES with CONSTRUCTIVISM
This book is for teachers, administrators, staff developers, college students and professors of pre-service students looking for lessons, practical tips and assessment strategies for constructivist classrooms. Veteran teachers share their secrets and years of classroom experience in creating authentic experiences for students.
Includes:
- Constructivist-based lessons in math, science, English and social studies that were taught by Paul Vermette. These are not summaries; these are step-by step narrations of what Paul actually did in the classroom to engage, motivate, assess what they are learning and cause them to increase their learning through reflection.
- Four specific strategies to teach students that which we want each of them to learn. The strategies are carousel, concept mapping, jigsaw, and literature circles. There are 81 pages of examples from kindergarten to 12th grade – in math, science, social studies, and English.
- Seventeen Intentions of an Effective Teacher; these can serve as guidelines for lesson design. (I previously wrote about these 17 Intentions in this blog.)
- Two chapters by outstanding teachers. Beth Konkoski of Virginia has written about the role of the teacher while students are engaged in group activities. Sonia Basko who teaches in Rochester, New York devotes a chapter toward the importance of preparing students for a constructivist classroom. Each of these chapters contains pages of practical suggestions and strategies that can be applied to all classrooms.
- There are chapters on important aspects of assessment that are critical for any classroom, but often not addressed in staff development. And there is a focus on reversing the traditional way of teaching or parenting; instead of explaining and then giving students a chance to apply, the authors suggest that Engagement Must Precede Explanation.
For your copy, send $20 to:
Institute for Learning Centered Education
414 Bagdad Road
Potsdam, New York 13676
For more information, you can visit the website of The Institute for Learning Centered Education.