Materials to Print
Need to Know Activities Guide
Session 05
For every activity, the focus of discussions should be on how students will apply that information or those skills to their experience in college.
Note to facilitators: In each session, the timing of the activities is less than the 2 ½ hours of the session. This allows for time for transitions between activities, a short break, and time to just talk to students about your experiences, along with their questions and expectations. You may find that some activities take more or less time depending on the group, so be aware of timing and make adjustments as needed. Early sessions have more activities. If you don’t think you will have enough time, use discretion and choose the ones that best meet the needs of your group. Make sure to read over ALL session guides before starting the workshop to get an overview and to plan for the best approach. Then re-read each session guide before you meet with students. Make sure to have needed materials. You might be able to carry some activities over to later sessions if you run out of time.
01. What’s Your Attention Span?
Timing: 20 minutes
Description: Students often read academic materials without processing the information or attending to what they are reading. That means that much of the time they spend “studying” is wasted. Students need to learn to stop when their minds wander. They can also train themselves to expand their attention spans with awareness and work. This exercise is designed to help them do so. Set a time on the clock for students to start reading. They should just read the passage as they normally would. Have them write down the time when they notice their attention wandering. Wait until all students have stopped reading and then discuss how long it took and what the differences among students were. Usually it takes between 3 and 5 minutes. If there is a student who is an outlier and takes much more time, you might have to stop. Ask the student to consider if this really represents attention span or if he or she didn’t notice when no longer paying attention to the reading.
For the second round, do the same thing, but have students take notes while reading. They can start again from the beginning or they can start reading and taking notes where they left off in the first round. In this case, it is likely that attention spans are much longer, and it might be necessary to call time and discuss why taking notes makes such a difference. You might have a discussion about ways students can increase attention span by exercising it, just like lifting weights increases muscle strength.
Objectives:
· To help students measure attention span during reading
· To highlight the role of taking notes in processing information and attention span
· To discuss ways to increase attention span
Materials: note paper and writing utensils
Notes: The text provided is the type of primary source students might have to read in a college course. You can substitute other readings if you find texts that are better suited to your students. The text should be a little boring, so students can clearly see when they lose interest.
02. Engaged Reading
Timing: 30 minutes
Description: Put students into groups of 3-5 members. They can read individually and then discuss the answers in their groups or they can read aloud in their groups and then discuss the answers. The second set of questions work well for whole group discussion led by the facilitator.
Objectives:
· To have students consider their own approach to reading
· To demonstrate the effectiveness of having a purpose (answering questions) in increasing processing of information while reading
· To help students develop an approach to reading that will serve them in college
Materials: writing utensils
Notes: Putting students into groups encourages them to articulate their thoughts on the reading. Students will have different levels of metacognitive awareness. The exercise is designed to focus less on content and more on process. Ideally, this will lead them to consider HOW they approached reading and answering the questions, giving insight into how having a goal for reading increases their involvement with the text.
03. Visualizing While You Read
Timing: 15 minutes
Description: Students can work individually to create their two drawings—one based on cultural assumptions about what Frankenstein’s monster looks like and one based on the actual description. Discussions of the differences—where they came from, why they are so pervasive, and what can be learned from them—will set students up for critical thinking. Discussions of HOW students approached reading when they needed the information to complete a task can lead to specific reading strategies that will help students learn better.
Objectives:
· To help students understand the importance of focusing on new information without the filter of assumptions and biases
· To reinforce the importance of careful reading
· To show students how to use visualization to help learn better
Materials: colored pencils or crayons, writing utensils
Notes: Students often gloss over information they think they know or filter new materials through perceptions they develop from other cultural sources. Creating an awareness of this, and asking them to focus on the text, helps them learn more effectively.
04. Curiosity Rules
Timing: 10 minutes
Description: You can divide students into groups and have the groups read a section of the book and develop questions together or you can have students work individually. Students can choose their own sections, or you can assign each group or individual different sections and then have students compile their lists of questions for a study guide.
Objectives:
· To have students experience the value of approaching texts with an open mind
· To give students practice in formulating questions
· To demonstrate the value of curiosity and asking questions for improving learning
Materials: writing utensils, sections of manual
Notes: Discuss the student questions and how some types of questions might better facilitate learning.
05. Reading Notebooks
Timing: 20 minutes
Description: This is an opportunity to reinforce materials from this chapter and to give students practice with note taking. Students should work individually. They can choose the section they take notes on or you can assign sections so that each student takes a different section and you can compile the notes to outline the whole chapter. Sections should be at least 3 pages long. If possible, save time for discussion of how helpful note taking was.
Objectives:
· To have students practice note taking skills
· To demonstrate the value of note taking in learning
Materials: writing utensils
Notes: Students can find an example of the outline form in the book, or you can briefly demonstrate it on the board.
06. Reading a Syllabus
Timing: 10 minutes
Description: Many professors treat the syllabus as an informal contract with the students. Some colleges use templates to ensure that syllabi from every class contain vital information in the same form and order. Becoming familiar with the syllabus and how it works in the classroom can save students a lot of trouble. Have them cull the sample syllabus for answers to the questions. Discuss their answers and use it as an opportunity to explain how college classrooms work.
Objectives:
· To help students understand how a syllabus is used in a college class
· To encourage students to familiarize themselves with common policies and formats
Materials: writing utensils
Notes: Reading a syllabus is boring and many students skip over important information that affects their grades and experience in the classroom. Us this as an opportunity to discuss typical policies and classroom practice.
07. Perceptions
Timing: 20 minutes
Description: Students should work in groups of 3-5 members. You can have them select their quote or assign quotes to groups. You can also use other quotes if they are appropriate to students in your workshop. Have students work together to complete the three parts of the activity. Then as a whole group, discuss the questions under “Reflect.”
Objectives:
· To help students understand how readers can interpret material differently
· To show students how they must work to make sense of written texts
· To provide steps for facilitating understanding: sum it up, put it in your own words, find examples, evaluate if true or not
Materials: writing utensils
Notes: Students are often unaware that texts can be interpreted in multiple ways by different readers, depending on their perspectives and experiences. Working with others will help make this concrete. They can also gain some awareness of working in groups and negotiating meaning with others.
08. Wrap Up: Gist and List
Timing: 5 minutes
Description: Students should be able to summarize what they learned in the session under the “Gist” column. Then they can pick out specific points that are important and list them under the “List” column.
Objectives:
· To help students digest and think about material
· To serve as a memory aid
Materials: writing utensils
Notes: This is an opportunity for students to process the information they learned and put it in their own words. This will facilitate learning and let students control their use of information. If you run out of time, this can be assigned as homework—it should only take a few minutes and will serve as a reminder for students of what they learned before moving to the next session.