Learning Through Concepts
Students enrolled in the GATE program at Eastern Elementary will work through conceptually designed unit plans. Traditional lessons/units have a 2-dimensional approach to learning in which skills and facts are emphasized. Conceptual Design adds a third dimension in which generalizations and concepts are applied throughout all of the lessons.
Prior to a new learning experience students will be pre-assessed so that they may begin their educational journey at the appropriate place. Students will use a variety of thinking strategies including inductive thinking in which they will create and test their own generalizations about a concept through a variety of disciplines. Daily lessons will have essential questions that will guide student thinking and will be followed up with both formative and summative assessment as the students progress through the Unit. There are many benefits to conceptual design including the following:
Benefits:
Please find your child's grade level in the drop down tab to learn more about the concept that s/he will be studying this year.
Please bookmark this page as I will post frequently to give you a glimpse into the GATE classroom! You may contact me via email at [email protected]
Prior to a new learning experience students will be pre-assessed so that they may begin their educational journey at the appropriate place. Students will use a variety of thinking strategies including inductive thinking in which they will create and test their own generalizations about a concept through a variety of disciplines. Daily lessons will have essential questions that will guide student thinking and will be followed up with both formative and summative assessment as the students progress through the Unit. There are many benefits to conceptual design including the following:
Benefits:
- Students must use critical, creative, reflective, and conceptual thinking abilities.
- It fosters "synergistic thinking" of the ability to go between factual and conceptual levels of thinking.
- As students relate facts to concepts their thinking becomes deeper.
- It develops new pathways in the brain in which students relate different knowledge
- It allows students to make personal meaning through their own thinking, creating and reflecting.
- It facilitates the transfer of learning across different context and encourages inquiry.
- It recognizes intellectual as well as emotional engagement for increased motivation to learn.
- It allows the learning to be authentic to the individual student as the students create and draw their own understandings rather than being told what to understand.
- It allows learning to be relevant and important to the learner.
- It values collaboration, discussions, debate and problem solving.
- It builds disciplinary fluency as students turn their factual knowledge into conceptual understandings.
- Concept Based Teaching and Learning by H. Lynn Erickson
Please find your child's grade level in the drop down tab to learn more about the concept that s/he will be studying this year.
Please bookmark this page as I will post frequently to give you a glimpse into the GATE classroom! You may contact me via email at [email protected]