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Lesson: Generating Core/Supporting Concepts (Teacher Lesson)

Description: Many times teachers take students through a textbook, chapter by chapter with the result being that neither they, nor the students are aware of the core concepts or big ideas. Knowing core concepts is at the heart of what you teach. This allows you to determine what standards you address and what learning activities you will provide to help students understand the core/supporting concepts. It also provides an organizational framework for students as they gather information.

Grade Level: For teachers

Time Allotment: 30 minutes

Learning Outcomes: · Teachers will be able to generate core and supporting concepts for an area of study.

Materials:

• Strips of paper for each question (around 10 per teacher)
• Black marker for every participant
• At least two red markers for every group

Set up:

• Have participants in cooperative groups by unit of study
• It is important that participants are very familiar with the unit of study and have taught it before. This is essential to prove the case for the importance of background knowledge.

Suggested Procedure

• Have participants in each group collaboratively generate questions they would want students to ask or questions students might ask about the unit of study. They should generate as many questions as they can. Some may want to take the role of teacher, while some assume the role of student.
• As you brainstorm questions, say them out loud so that everyone in your group hears them. Write each question on a strip of paper with a black marker. NOTE: each group should generate about 30 questions.
• Now have participants categorize questions. Once they have categorized questions, they are to label each category on a separate strip with a red marker.
• The labels for the categories become the supporting concepts for the unit of study. Compare these supporting concepts to state frameworks and standards. Are there any supporting concepts that these documents address that you should consider adding to your supporting concepts? If so, do that now.

Final Discussion:

For those teachers who are unfamiliar with the core/supporting concepts for the unit of study, it provides them with an easy process for determining them. It also provides them with a tool to construct their own meaning about the unit of study. Once they have generated questions and categorized and labeled the categories, they can check against state frameworks to see where there are deficits and where students have added something that the state had not included but was of interest to them.

When students engage in this process while generating and categorizing their research questions, it provides them with that organizational framework in their head for which they can attach the information they gather. It is important to remember that teachers should generate questions along with their students. It is important for students to see that teachers have their own questions. It is also a good way for the teacher to add those questions he/she feels needs to be answered.

This page was last updated March 5, 2002 This teacher lesson was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiative for 21st Century Literacies. Generating Core/Supporting Concepts was created by Sharon Sutton Links for this page are maintained by Mary Schrader Lasica, AT&T.