Learning Context Is an Area

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Blog Learning context is an area which must be addressed if meaningful learning

is to take place. All learning must be placed in the learners context if
About Me it is to have meaning.
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There is actually no such thing as "new" knowledge. In order to acquire LET THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
Aesthetics new information, the brain must place it in the context of something that is
Overview
already known. You can't learn what you don't already know.

Dance This was a difficult concept for me to grasp at first, but once I began to
understand it, it made all the difference in the quality of the learning
Drama experienced by the children in my classroom. One way to think of it is that Today's Children
Art
the brain has to be able to "hook" new information onto something it and Television
already knows in order for the learning to "stay put."
Music
According to A. C. Nielsen Co., the
Environment average American watches more
Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
than 4 hours of television each
Overview
day. By the time a person is 65
In order to "teach to the life of the child" as suggested by neuro cognitive
Cooperative Learning years old, he will have spent 9
scientist Dr. Fritz Mengert, you have to know about the life they are living.
years watching TV!!!
Creative Grouping One of the reasons children have trouble with comprehension is that
passages are often completely out of their context. If that doesn't scare you, these
Motivation
facts probably will:
In order to experience the context of my eighth grade students, I made it a
Time Management
point to listen to the music they liked and watch the television shows they Number of minutes per week
Lowering Stress
enjoyed watching. Now, I have to tell you that after 20 years of doing this, that parents spend in
I developed a rather skewed sense of humor, but I understood what they meaningful conversation with
Classroom Management were thinking (even when it scared me a little!) and was able to refer to their children: 3.5
that culture to go about placing the learning in their context.
Reading
Number of minutes per week
Coordination It is easy to discover what interests younger children because they are so that the average child watches
eager to share everything with great enthusiasm. So I listened! That's how television: 1680
Vocabulary
I knew that they would immediately be drawn into word wall games if I
Dolch Sight Words used a Star Wars light saber as a pointer. To say that television is a part of
our children's context is an
Reading Fluency It seems like such a small thing, but using a gadget or toy with which they understatement.
Comprehension
can identify really helps place activities - in this case, those with word walls
- in their context.
Diagnosis Compiled by TV-Free America
Children of all ages are attracted to the popular game "Angry Birds" so I
Testing Vocabulary found a way to use it to teach one of the properties of math. Angry Birds
Writing Distributive Property is so popular that my kids actually beg to do it! We
also use an Angry Birds ball to play an Angry Birds Focus Game which they
Stories
love.
Sentence Structure
WORD PROBLEMS IN MATH
Poetry
Kids are not going to do well with word problems in math that have
Celebrations
nothing to do with them and the life that they are living!
Math
Textbook companies do not know my children. Their representatives do not
Math Word Walls
drive through our community. So the word problems in the textbooks are
Math Centers often so far out of my children's learning context that they don't even
register.
Math and Art
So I make up problems myself, using their names, which they love. I also
Engaging the Senses
let them make up their own problems. And guess what -- the problems
Math Gold they make up have meaning to them because they are in their context!!

Decimal Operations STORIES FOR READING

Integer Rules
A friend of mine who grew up in New York City told me that he was
Geometry
expected to learn to read from Dick and Jane books. The stories were so far
out of the learning context of an inner city boy that they had no meaning
Coordinate System for him at all. He and his classmates could not relate to Dick and Jane OR
Puff!!
Games and
Strategies In order for children to learn to love reading and to comprehend
Word Walls what they read, the stories must be in their context!
Focus Games Having children write their own stories is a great way to place reading into
the context of their lives. Younger students can dictate their stories for you
ADHD at School
to write down, and group stories are fun to write, too, because everyone
Buddy Bucks contributes.

Context Older students love to write their own stories, especially when they can also
illustrate them which is a great way to integrate art which is essential
Memory Activities
especially for right brained children.
Gadgets and Toys
 Apps for Kids Blank books can be ordered from Bare Books at a reasonable price to give
children the opportunity to write their very own hard-backed books. Kids
The Early Years love them, and the stories are smack in the middle of their learning
Parents context!!
Baby Brain Development

Early Childhood

Focus Problems Go to Comprehension from Learning Context

Teacher Talk
Descriptive Language

Emotion
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Ada Nonyelum Jideama

please discuss more on same learning vs different learning contexts
Like Reply Jan 11, 2016 7:52pm

Ravigirl Pascal Dar es salaam at Student

Nice ideas but its not enough
Like Reply Dec 21, 2016 3:37am

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2011 by Teacher Support Force: Teaching Children Reading and Math