Activity+Four

Objective: Participants will learn to use differentiated instructional strategies to engage students at different levels, interests, learning styles and with different activities.

Well-designed projects encourage active inquiry and higher-order thinking (Thomas, 1998), and address curriculum standards through relevant tasks that ensure that students understand the essential concepts. Brain research underscores the value of these learning activities. Students’ abilities to acquire new understanding are enhanced when they are “connected to meaningful problem-solving activities, and when students are helped to understand why, when, and how those facts and skills are relevant” (Bransford, Brown, & Conking, 2000, p. 23). The same can be said of well designed interactive whiteboard lessons. When we design whiteboard lessons that have meaning and revelance and encourage the use of higher-order thinking students understand the essential concepts and are actively engaged in learning.

 ﻿ The Five E's Learning Cycle

What is the Five E's learning cycle? The 5Es represent five stages of a sequence for teaching and learning: **Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend** (or **Elaborate**), and **Evaluate.**
 * ENGAGE: The purpose for the ENGAGE stage is to peak student interest and get them personally involved in the lesson, while pre-assessing prior understanding.
 * EXPLORE: The purpose for the EXPLORE stage is to get students involved in the topic; providing them with a chance to build their own understanding.
 * EXPLAIN: The purpose for the EXPLAIN stage is to provide students with an opportunity to communicate what they have learned so far and figure out what it means.
 * EXTEND: The purpose for the EXTEND stage is to allow students to use their new knowledge and continue to explore its implications.
 * EVALUATE: The purpose for the EVALUATION stage is for both students and teachers to determine how much learning and understanding has taken place. //[|NASA]//
 * [[image:seasons_spring_flowers.gif width="227" height="88" caption="Activity One" link="Activity One"]] || [[image:seasons_spring_flowers.gif width="193" height="82" caption="Activity Two" link="Activity Two"]] || [[image:seasons_spring_flowers.gif width="215" height="82" caption="Activity Three" link="Activity Three"]] || [[image:seasons_spring_flowers.gif width="215" height="82" align="center" caption="Activity Four" link="Activity Four"]] ||