Element 8: Previewing New Content

Previewing is an activity the helps students connect their prior knowledge to the new content being presented. Students who do not have prior knowledge of the topic will be able to activate related knowledge. Previewing allows student to make crucial links between new and old information. (Magana & Marzano, 2014)

Elements of Previewing

• Preview questions
• Skimming
• K-W-L charts
• Advance organizers
• Anticipation guides
• Word splash activity

Preview Questions
allow the teacher to highlight critical information that will be taught. Preview questions also highlight what the student should listen for and activates background knowledge. To implement technology into preview questions teachers can use online surveys. Teachers can also use students own devices to collect answers to the preview questions and display the answers for students to discuss. Digital photographs and videos are another way that technology can be incorporated in preview questions. Preview questions are often included in text books as well as reading books. Those questions would be a good starting point for making your own. I have included pictures in these slide that are all related to products we get from plants; HaikuDeck would be a good presentation tool for preview question with thought provoking photographs in the back.

Skimming
is when a teacher walks the students through the text they will be learning; highlighting headings, subheadings, and images. This allows students to make inferences about the text before reading. Skimming a text could easily be introduced using Prezi. With the ability to import the text and then change colors and size to highlight the important pieces teaching students how to skim would be interactive and engaging. I especially like using Prezi because of the way it expands the information as you present it. Many texts are available online through YouTube and TeacherTube allowing teachers to present using the smart board or other similar device.

K-W-L Charts
give the students an opportunity to share what they already know about the new lesson, and what they want to learn. Later students can add what they have learned to the list. K-W-L charts give students a chance to brainstorm and share with their peers. Using a smart board or other similar device students can fill in a class K-W-L chart or they could work on individual computers to complete their own chart. Individual charts could also be used as student data tracking records.

Advance Organizers
are graphic organizers that are given to students before teaching begins. Students complete the organizers during the lesson introduction. This makes the information easier to digest and connect to previous knowledge. To incorporate technology teachers can use software programs with graphic organizer structure such as Prezi or Google Drive. The use of online software allows the teacher to display and manipulate the introduction with audio, visual, and textual information related to the new lesson. This is especially useful for teachers with smart boards or other similar devices in their classrooms. Students can interact with the organizers and assist their peers as the introduction progresses.

Anticipation Guides
can include statements for students to respond to or questions for students to answer. Open ended questions that spark classroom discussion are also another option. After students have had time with the new information the teacher leads the class in a discussion. I think that this would be a great time to use student devices in the classroom or laptops. Each student could respond using downloaded software and the teacher could then display the results for further discussion and synthesis of the information. With younger students I would like to use clickers as a means to answer questions that were not open ended. Clickers allow the teacher to view results quickly and begin a discussion based on the results.

Word Splash Activity
This activity has the teacher highlight vocabulary that will be prevalent in the lesson and should be understood before getting started. Word splash also allows students to sort, organize, and relate the new words to prior knowledge. For technology usage the teacher can use Wordle or another word cloud software program to make a picture of the words in a selected text. The more often a word is used the more it appears in the created cloud providing students with a visual of important words. I used Wordle many times when I was a librarian to highlight new books and it always grabbed the students attention. Often a short expert of the book is available online and can be copied and pasted into Wordle making word clouds fast and easy to produce.

Resources

• Magana, S., & Marzano, R. (2014). Enhancing the art & science of teaching with technology. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
• Gauthier, L. R. (1990). Word Splash. Reading Teacher, 44(2), 184.