Framing Lesson Complete Instructions and Examples

8/9/2019 Framing Lesson Complete Instructions and Examples

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1998 Edwin S. Ellis 1

Framin g Main Id eas and Essential Details to PromoteComprehension

ByEdwin S. Ellis

This article was adap ted from The Fra m ing Rou tin e published by

Masterm ind s, LLC. This book pr ovides a variety of specific instru ctional

strategies for u sing a h ighly versatile graphic organizer called t he Frame.

The book provides a wid e array of ways the Fram e can be used at the

beginning, midd le, and end of instru ction to m ake content-area learning

more m otivating and m eaningful. The book also provid es many sugg estions

for using the Frame to d evelop literacy and thinking skills. The ap pend ix

contains black-line master s of var ious versions of the Frame grap hicorganizer.

For a copy of th is book, contact:

Mastermind s, LLC

P.O. Box 20433

Tuscaloosa, AL 35402-0433

phon e/ fax 205-750-0233

e-mail ad d ress: Mastr mn d [email protected]


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Abstract

This article focuses on th e use of The Fram e grap hic organizer to h elp

stud ents und erstand and main ideas and essential details associated w ith the

general education curriculum. Use of the technique can be a pow erful w ay to

help all students in inclusive settings, and especially those with learning

d isabilities, un derstan d importa nt information. The device is also an

excellent tool for d eveloping read ing, writing, and think ing skills.


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Grap hic organ izers are comm un ication dev ices that can be par ticularly

beneficial to many stu d ents w ith learning d isabilities, as well as most

ind ividu als, because they show th e organ ization or structure of concepts as

w ell as relationships between concepts (see Figure 1). For examp le, the

grap hic organizer dep icted in th e figur e below will help the LD-ON LINE

read er follow th is discussion, and allow the read er to review the essence of

the rationale for using gra ph ic organizers later by just looking back at the

graphic.

Figur e 1

Advantages of GraphicOrganizers

Content easier tounderstand and

learn

Reduced informationprocessing demands

Students becomemore strategiclearners

Information is moreprecise, less fuzzy

Helps students separate

what is important fromnot essential information.

Dont need to process as muchsemantic information to understand

the information.

Easier to understand info if itsstructure is readily apparent

As a result, content can beaddressed at more sophisticated orr

complex levels

Reading and writing skills

Communication skills

Analytical, critical, andcreative thinking skills

One reason w hy grap hic organizers are pow erful teaching tools is

because the devices make it more clear to stu d ents what it is they are expected

to learn. Information d epicted on th e grap hic usually represents essential

know ledge that all stud ents are expected to learn, thu s graph ic organizers

allow stud ents to focus on wh at is imp ortant. Each item on the gr aph ic can

serve as a link to rem embering related information d iscussed in class, but not

noted on the graph ic. Thu s, the information stud ents remember w hen

grap hic organizers are used w hen teaching is often m uch m ore than sum of

the items dep icted on the graph ic.


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Graph ic organizers can be p owerful teaching tools because th ey also

redu ce the cognitive dem and s on the learner. In the absence of visual aids

like graph ic organizers, the learner has to both comp rehend the information

and d etermine how it is organized . By show ing (as opp osed to just telling)

stud ents how the information is structur ed, you can often teach information

at mu ch more sophisticated and comp lex levels than you m ay haveanticipated. Grap hic organizers clearly show how the information is

organized, so the learner d oes not have to p rocess as much semantic data to

un derstand the information.

A third r eason wh y grap hic organizers are par ticularly useful for

stud ents w ith learning d isabilities is because they clearly serve as effective

tools for d eveloping literacy an d thinking skills. For examp le, w hen stud ents

identify m ain ideas and supp orting d etails from text they are r eading and list

them on a graph ic organizer, comp rehension of the w ritten material tend s to

d ram atically increase. Research shows that read ing assignments tha t require

stud ents to complete graphic organizers in lieu of answering trad itional stud ygu ide qu estions can significantly increase reading comp rehen sion as well.

Such assignments increase students awa reness of information structures an d

their semantic cues associated w ith them.

Likewise, when stu d ents use grap hic organizers as Think Sheets for

plan ning their w riting (see Ellis article elsewh ere on LD-ONLINE titled The

PLAN Writing Strategy Think Sheets) , the quality of the stud ents wr iting

tend s to improve n ot only in organization of ideas, but also in fluency and in

other areas su ch as writing mechan ics (pu nctua tion, spelling, cap italization,

etc.). In one stud y, midd le school stud ents w ith LD wrote an average of 97

w ords m ore on their posttest writing samples after they had learned to u sethe Frame graph ic (discussed below) wh en p lanning their writing ( the

control group wrote an averag e of 5 word s less!).

When stud ents learn to organize information u sing grap hic

organizers, they a re also basic information pr ocessing skills as well as

analytical thinking skills. In shor t, graph ic organ izers can h elp stud ents w ith

LD become strategic learners w hen use of grap hic organizers becomes second

natu re to them. For examp le, to construct graphic organizers, stud ents have

to engage in p owerful information p rocessing and higher order th inking

skills such as using cues to recognize imp ortant information, making

decisions about w hat is imp ortant or essential, consolidating information an didentifying main ideas and sup porting d etails, and making d ecisions about

the best way to stru cture th e information.

After the information h as been effectively organized on grap hics, very

pow erful higher ord er thinking instructional activities can follow.

Organ izing information onto the grap hics allows you to implement a va riety

of robu st activities that otherw ise migh t not be possible. For examp le, w hen


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the inform ation is clearly organized , a wid e array of instru ctional activities

can be employed to extend students understanding of imp ortant concepts.

These include engaging in in-depth discussions, debating the imp ortance of

various p oints, draw ing conclusions, making connections to other ideas,

forming inferences, pr edictions or forecasts, and creating generative

statements.

Grap hic organizers can contribu te to increasing both classroom and

achievement test scores (see Figure 2). Classroom test scores (i.e. weekly tests,

u nit tests) often impr ove for several reasons. First, the grap hics help stu d ents

un derstand and learn the subject. Second , they help stu dents focus their

energies on stu dy ing the essential inform ation. Third, they serve as effective

devices for helping stud ents focus on the relationships betw een main ideas

and details, main ideas and other main ideas, and so forth. Thu s, the focus of

stud y is how it all fits together rather than on just m emorizing isolated,

decontextualized bits of information.

Figur e 2

Ifgraphic Organizersare used effectively....

Thentest scores willgo up

Becausethe content instructionis more effective

Depicting complexconcepts via graphics

Eases information processingdemands

Scaffolding student use ofgraphicsTeacher ->Class->Groups->Individuals

Using graphics to facilitatereading, writing, & thinking skills

Using graphics to promote thinkahead, during, and afterinstruction reflections

Graphics help studentsunderstand and learn thesubject.

Focus students energies onstudying theessentialinformation

Focus on therelationships between mainideas and details, main ideas and othermain ideas, etc.

Focus of study is how it all fits togetherrather than on just memorizing isolated,decontextualized bits of information.

Improved performance onclassroom test scores

Improved performance onbasic skills standardizedtest scores (reading &

writing)

Research shows that increased per forman ce on classroom tests will be

almost imm ediate for many stu dents, wh ereas increased scores on

stand ard ized achievement tests occur mor e grad ua lly as stud ents gain skillsusing graphic organizers strategically.

To summ arize, graph ic organizers like the Frame grap hic are pow erful

tools for facilitating learn ing of content area subjects, and they ar e pow erful

tools for d eveloping literacy and thinkin g skills. These tools should be

viewed as part of an overall package of pedagogical tools and routines that

improve learning and performance.


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THE FRAMING G RAPHIC

A visual d evice called the Frame gr aph ic is an examp le of a grap hic

organizer d esigned to dra matically impr ove the success of stud ents with LDin content-area classes. It is used to p rom ote un d erstand ing (and r ecall) of the

key top ic and its essential features. The grap hic can a lso be used in

conjun ction w ith literacy-developm ent assignments in reading an d w riting.

In content-area classes, Frame graphics are co-constructed by the teacher

and stud ents, who simu ltaneously fill in information on blank copies of the

form. An examp le of a blank Frame gra ph ic is presented in Figur e 3 (below )

and variety of comp leted v ersions are p resented further below.

Figur e 3

BIG IDEA ( What is important to understand about this?)

Essential details

Main idea Main idea Main idea

Essential details Essential details

Key Topicis about...

Sections of a Frame graph ic

A Frame gra ph ic has five major sections. Fou r of the sections pr ovid e

spaces for record ing key information n ecessary for un derstan d ing the

mean ing of the key t opic. The fifth comp onen t is the sm all circles, or bubbles,

that ap pear n ext to many of the boxes on the grap hic. Below, an examp le of

each section of the Framing Graph ic is provided , and the typ e of information


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recorded in each section of the organizer is d efined . These examp les are from

a unit about The Titanic.

Further below, a comp leted Frame graph ic is provid ed show ing how th e

various sections come together to form a w hole.

SECTION 1: The Key Topic is about ...

Figur e 4

Key Topi

is about...Titanic

important lessons that changed society

Key Topic is about...

* Lists the title and provides a briefexplanation or paraphrase of the overalltopic.

* Captures the gist of the whole lesson.

* Easily understood language.

The first comp onen t of the Frame grap hic consists of two overlapp ing boxes

at th e top of the form (Figu re 4) . The title of the key topic is noted in the

smaller box. A brief explanation of w hat th e topic is about is noted in the long

horizontal box.


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SECTION 2:Main Idea boxes

Figur e 5

a n dea a n dea a n dea

Key Topi

is about...

Class system(classes to stay separated)

Competition(profit at all costs)

Unsinkable(over-reliance on technology)

Titanicimportant lessons that changed society

Main Ideas

* Lists the main ideas related to the topic

* Not always three main ideas

Most informa tion can be organized into a hierarchical format. For exam ple, a

key top ic is often comp osed of a series of smaller, pa rallel comp onents called

ma in ideas (Figure 5). Each main id ea, in tu rn, can be fur ther an alyzed an d

broken d own into essential details. Hyp othetically, each detail could be

further analyzed and subd ivided again into even m ore discrete pieces ofinformation. This organ izational p attern is hierarchic because the

information can be orga nized in to a hierarchy of levels (key top ic, main ideas,

essential details).

The second comp onent of the Frame grap hic provides spaces for noting

various m ain ideas about the overarching key topic. The Frame gr aph ic

d epicted in Figure 1 provides spaces for three ma in ideas. However, there are

not alw ays three. Sometimes, a key topic may only have two significant main

ideas, whereas at other times, there may be four or m ore (in cases wh ere there

are more than three main ideas, you may w ant to combine two Frame

grap hics so that all of the m ain ideas can be d epicted). Most key topics,how ever, usu ally have only three major main ideas that are really important.


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SECTION 3:Essential Details boxes

Figur e 6

ssent a deta s


ssent a deta s ssent a deta s

Key Topi

is about...



Largest & fastest everbuilt

Dont need many lifeboats because shipwont sink


1 steel hull --too thin &brittle

Didnt heed ice warningsbecause didnt need toworry about it

Rich upper class- upper deck(luxury)

Middle class- middle decks

Lower class- lowest part of ship(steerage)- not valued

Rich - highly valued, thusmore saved

More luxury =less safety

Fastest speed to breakrecord crossing time =unable to turn in time

Largest ship = moremoney made

Broadest deck space(thus more attractive)=less life boats


Essential Details

* Lists essential details about amain idea.

* Helps students focus on what is

important to remember.* May include cultural expectedtrivia.

* Does NOT include clarifyingdetails or esoteric trivia.

Once the main ideas h ave been identified, essential details about each

main id ea are noted un der each m ain idea (Figure 6). Information about only

one d etail is noted in each space. Noting only essential details is very

importan t because it helps stud ents focus on wh at is importan t to remember.This does not mean, how ever, that d ur ing your d iscussion, you shou ld not

includ e add itional information abou t each main idea, as it is the p eripheral

information that often makes the lesson interesting to stud ents.

Impor tant to note is that there are spa ces for record ing only four

essential details for each main id ea. There m ay be times wh en you believe

there are mor e than four d etails for a specific main id ea you are ad d ressing,

and you can always ad apt the Frame graph ic to accomm odate more d etails.

H owever, it is often bett er to lim it t he breadth of wh at you are teaching (i.e.,

teach fewer specific details), and focus more on facilitatin g dept h of

understanding. The result w ill be that stud ents un derstand the content betterand remem ber more of it. Thus, it is often imp ortant to resist the temp tation

to add more than four essential details per main idea.


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SECTION 4: The BIG IDEA (W hats impo rtant t o understa nd about t his?)

Figur e 7

BIG IDEA (What is important to understand about this?

ssent a deta s



Key Topi

is about...

















A great disaster can cause society to examine its values and practices soimprovements can be made

The BIG IDEA (Whats important to understand about this?)

May be...* An overall summary of the topic.

* Information connecting topic to a real-world context or problem tto be understood or solved.

* A metaphor or simile related to topic

* A statement identifying applications or implications of the topic.

* A generative idea or basic truth.

The fourth componen t of the Fram e graph ic is the large horizontal box at thebottom of the form (Figu re 7). This space is reserved for recording

information d esigned to extend stud ents un derstand ing of the topic.

Information recording in th is space can take m any forms, includ ing:

* An overall su mm ary of the grap hic.

* Information connecting the key top ic to a real-world context or

problem to be und erstood or solved.

* A metap hor or sim ile related to th e key top ic.

* In for ma tion con n ect in g th e k ey top ic t o ot her key top ics in th e

uni t .

* A statem ent which iden tifies ap plications or imp lications of

the top ic.

* A gener ative idea , or a basic life tru th.


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SECTION 5: bubbles connected t o idea boxes

Figur e 8

BIG IDEA (What is important to understand about this?)

ssent a deta s



Key Topi

is about...













Fastest speed to breakrecord crossing time =

unable to turn in time



Titanic



1

2

3

4 Priority -share think-back activity

Students analyze main ideas (or essentialdetails) and rank order in terms of...

* most to least important.-or-

* most-to-least controversial.-or-

* greatest-to-least impact on our lives today.-or-

* etc.

The last comp onent of the Fram e grap hic is the set of bubbles attached to each

of the Main Idea boxes and Essential Detail boxes (Figu re 8). A different kind

of information is record ed in these bubb les. These bubbles are used in

conjun ction w ith a variety of activities designed to pr omote stud ents

reflection abou t the content b eing explored. For example, stud ents can

consider the various m ain ideas presented and then ind icate in the bubbles a

ranking th at they feel show s the relative imp ortant of each m ain idea.

Similar reflective ran kings can be p erformed on each set of essential details.

Figu re 9 shows a com pleted version of a Frame for a lesson about the Titanic.


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Figur e 9


ssent a deta s



Key Topics a ou ...







Didnt heed ice warningsbecause didnt need to

worry about it



Lower class- lowest part of ship

(steerage)- not valued






Titanic




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Variations on th e Frame

The one-main idea option

The Fram e can be ad apted so that it depicts only one main id ea. One-

main idea Frames are advantageou s when w orking with youn ger or less

developm entally sophisticated childr en, or with man y stud ents with learningd isabilities when Frames are first being intr odu ced . Later, as stud ents become

familiar with th e basic hierarchic structur e, you can begin u sing Two-main

idea Frames (see further below), and eventually to the trad itional three-main

idea Frame dep icted th rou ghou t this article. Figu res 10-12 show several

examples of how the One-main idea Frame can be used.

Figur e 10 Examp le of 1-main id ea fram e

BIG IDEA (What is important to understand about this

ey op

is about...

Essential Detail

Henry Ford

Recognized that cars were not just for transportation -- also sports & leisure

anted a car tough enough for daily use on ordinary roads

Wanted price cheap enough so ordinary people could afford to buy one (sell mothat way, make more money)

Wanted a simple design so it could be easily built & fixed with standard sizedspare parts

Invented assembly line for mass- production

Didn't invent the automobile -- did invent a good way to make them

Model "T"Model "A"

most famous -- many still running today

...how one man had a huge Impact on automobile industry


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Figu re 11: Adap tation of 1-main idea frame for use to an alyze char acters from

literature...


Key Topic

is about...

Essential Detail

1997 Edwin S. Elli

Looked like

Acted like

Relationshipsto others

Importanceto Story

Prim and proper Hair in tight bunFancy clothes Very tall & thinAlways frowning Long straight nose

Holier than thouStuck-upSuperior to everyone

Earthquake causes mass destruction, many injuries.Mrs. Whitlaw rolls up hersleevesand tries to help.

Turns her beautiful home into a hospital.

Whitlaw character used to show differences in classes/societat turn of century.

You dont get respect by demanding it -- you get it by earning it.

Sometimes what you see on the outside of the person is not at all like who theyreally are on the inside.

Mrs. Whitlaw (Dragon Wings)

How

changed

...a women in the story who everybody hates and then loves

Nobody liked her, no friends Most were afraid of herVery bossy

StingySuperior intelligence


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Figu re 12 Ad apt ation of 1-main idea fram e for story gramm ar ana lysis


ey op c

is about...

Essential Detail

1997 Edwin S. Elli

Setting

Characters

StorySet-up

Resolution

Ancient City of Pompeii (Greece)near volcano, on seaside,A.D. 19 August, 24 (about 2,000 years ago)

Tito (boy)Bimbo (his dog)

Volcano erupted and earthquakes began -- everyontrying to save themselves -- Tito can't see, doesn'tknow where to go, gets knocked out

Bimbo bits Tito to wake him up -- by pulling on his clothes,leads Tito out of city to waiting rescue ships on the shore.Bimbo dies looking for food for Tito

You always have loyalty in a true friendship.

Self-sacrifice to help others in times of great need -- a truefriend will give up something important in order to help.

The Dog of Pompeii"by Louis Untermyer

Problem

...how a dog saves the live of a Greek boy

Tito doesnt have many friends to play with- gets Bimbo and theybecome close friends who do everything together.


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The tw o-main idea option

As stud ents become familiar w ith hierarchic structures of information, you

can expand use of the Frames from one- to two-main ideas. An examp le of a

comp leted tw o-main idea Frame is provided in Figure 13 below.

Figure 13

Essential Details

Main idea


Essential Details

Main idea

Key Topis a ou ...

wn . s

rcu ts

...whether electricity can pass through a gate to continue to flow

on uctors nsu ators

Called a Closed circuit but pathway isOPEN for current to flow!

No break in current flow

Copper, aluminum, paper clip

Electricity flows through copper wires.

Called a Open circuit but pathway isCLOSED, so current cannot flow!

Break in current flow

Masking tape, rubber, plastic

Electricity cannot flow from the copperire to your hand because of the plasticovering (insulator) between them.

The flow of energy can be controlled by conductors and insulators.


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The m ultiple-main ideas option

The multiple-main ideas Frame is best u sed w hen there are nu merous

categories of dat a to be record ed. For examp le, this Frame might be u sed w hen

noting several different categories of featur es concerning a character from

literature or it might be u sed w hen m aking observations about a var iety ofd ifferent categories of d ata w hen observing a n experimen t or d escribing an

object. An examp le of this type of app lication is provid ed in Figure 14 below.

Figure 14


Key Topic

is about...

1997 Edwin S. Ellis

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Scrooge

describing how Scrooge in A Christmas Carol looked and acted

Eyes Nose Ears Body

Clothes Attitudeabout selfAttitude

about othersLifestyle

brown - dark

small, beady

wrinkles

small glasses

long

pointed & crooked

wart on end

hairs on wart

mostly hidden by hair

long, narrow

thick sideburns

tall & skinny

lanky

stooped shoulders

long dark coat

pointed shoes

top hat

gold watch

no friends

bossy

miserly

hyper-punctual

watch out for #1

superior to everyone

invincible

selfish

inferior

there to serve

didnt really careget what you canfrom them

Scrooge was a very selfish person who looked at lot like he acted -- unfriendly& uptight

The example d epicted in Figur e 15 below is from a fifth grad e social stud ies

lesson. Here, the teacher and the class view ed a video about u sing m aps. As

the video p roceeded, the teacher and students co-constructed notes using the

Frame. When the video p rovided essential information that shou ld berecorded on the Frame, the teacher paused th e video to record th e

information on the Frame as it was displayed on an overhead tran sparency.


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Figure 15


Key Topic

is about...Map Skills

Different clues a map provides

Directions

Compass Rose

Marked with

N,S,E & W

DistanceScale - measuredin miles or

kilometers

Represented bya bar

Lines running

PlottedLatitude

PlottedLongitude

north & south ofequator

Located on the

side of some maps

Lines runningeast & west ofPrime Meridian

Degrees located atthe top & bottom ofsome maps

PhysicalMap

Map Map

mountains

islands

rivers/lakes

major bodies of water

MapColors

Political maps -show boundaries

Elevation maps

Vegetation maps

Climate maps

Population maps, etc.

Highway mapsRoad &

Names of cities

Major & toll roads

Rivers & Lakes

State attractions

MapSymbols

Title

Legend or key

Grid systemDirectionSymbols

Color

lesson by Theresa Farmer

Reading a map is like reading a whole book at once

Adap ting Frames to d epict other in formation structures

The inform ation stru cture d epicted by the basic Fram e grap hic is hierarchical.

That is, a m ajor concept is subd ivided into comp onents (main ideas) and each

component is furth er subd ivided into sub-comp onents (details), and so forth.

The Frame gr aph ic can be readily adap ted to d epict the hierarchic stru cture of

other information formats. Im portan t t o rem ember is th at before int roducing

to st udents t he variations in t he Frame graphic, students should be familiar

and relat iv ely com petent using t he basic hierarchic Frame graphic..

When y ou first intr od uce variations of the Fram e grap hic, it is usu ally best to

provide stud ents with grap hics wh ere the main ideas have already been listed

by you . Essential details for each of the main ideas can be co-constructed w ithstud ents as you explore the relations between th e ideas. Later, after studen ts

have become familiar with th e new format, both main-ideas and essential

d etails can be co-constru cted. The following illustra tes how the basic

hierarchic Fram e grap hic can be ad ap ted to reflect other informat ion

structures:


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Adap ting the Frame graphic to dep ict Linear Sequ ence Relationsh ips

The Fram e grap hic can be read ily ad apted to reflect a linear sequence

information stru cture. The linear sequ ence structu re is basically a series of

sequentially occurring id eas. For examp le, linear sequ ence can be u sed to

depict per iods of h istory (stages of Mexican history) or steps of a process (i.e.,

how a bill becomes a law ).

Since linear sequ ence is the simp lest adap tation, it is generally the best

adap tation to initially introd uce to stud ents. You w ill find that m ost students

almost imm ediately understand the new structure and how th e Frame

grap hic is used to dep ict it. The adap tation is depicted by simp ly noting arrows

between th e main id ea boxes show ing the sequence of events. The samp le

grap hic depicted in Figure 16 illustrates how the Frame grap hic was ada pted

to d epict a linear-sequen ce relationship .

Figure 16: Frame depicting Linear-sequence


Essential details

Main idea

Key Topic

is about...

1997 Edwin S. Ellis

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

Essential details

Main idea

The MiddleAges

Life was either very bador very good becausethere were only twoclasses

The common personwas uneducated, and

never traveled farfrom home

Art focused on religionand used often verydull colors

Feudalism was themain form ofgovernment

TheRenaissance

A new middle classemerged because of anincrease in trade

Led to an increase ineducation and the arts

Art centered aroundhumans and was veryrealistic

Italy was governed bycity-states whichallowed Renaissance tostart there

TheReformation

Increase in educationlet more people read

the Bible themselves

Merchant class allowedpeople to specialize intrades creating leisuretime

Artists used woodcuts(drawings) to spreadProtestant ideas

The weakening powerof the Pope ended theHoly Roman Empire

The Age ofDiscovery

Leisure time allowedmore time forexploration

Education lead to newtechnology in map-

making& navigating skills

Maps became morereal and lessfantasy

Monarchs wereable to supportexplorers

From the 400s to the 1600s Europe went through many stages -- each affected by each other and everymovement prepared for the next one.Big idea -- stages in history never just occur for no reason -- key things happen that causes big changes in society

how European civilization evolved through stages

Evolution of Europe


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Adap ting th e Frame graph ic to dep ict Cause/Effect Relationship s

The Cause/ Effect information structure can be illustrated on th e Frame

graph ic by mod ifying the main id ea boxes. One w ay to d epict a cause/ effect

relationship is to label the m ain idea boxes to dep ict a When.. .Then.. .

Because... relationship. Consider th e example in Figu re 17 below.

Figure 17


Essential details


Essential details Essential details

Key Topic

is about...

When... Then... Because...

Using peaceful resistance to change unfair laws

social disobedience

Large numbers of publicpeaceful protesters

Civil Rights Movements -1960's

public speeches, protestmarches

going limp when arrested

sit-ins sing-ins

Social policies/laws morelikely to change

voting rightsensure voting registration &

opportunity

housing rightslaws prohibiting sales based onrace

equal opportunity - jobsprohibiting job discrimination."affirmative action"

integration of schools(no more "separate but equal"policies)

Media builds publicawareness & support

media wants "exciting"video -- focuses on violentreactions of anti-protestors (policebeatings, water cannon, etc.)

public revulsion to violence...builds sympathy for

victims & concern

public wants to know why itshappening -- media reports

pressure on politicians tochange unfair laws

Sometimes it is necessary to break a law in order to draw attention to how unfairother laws are and get then changed

A variation of the W hen...Then...Because... format isIf...Then...Because...

Informal observations suggest the W hen /T hen/Because format is easier for

stud ents to un derstand , thu s it should be introduced pr ior to using the

I f /Then/Because variation.

Anoth er way to ad apt the Frame graph ic to dep ict a cause/ effect relationship

is to use it to d epict an ar ithm etic format (Figu re 18). H ere, the first m ain

ideas box is used to dep ict the first stage of situation (St art with...). Thesecond main id ea box is used to dep ict a set of circum stances that is ad ded to

the existing situation (Add t his...), and the third m ain idea box is used to

dep ict how the original situation changed, or the results of the add itions

d epicted in the second m ain idea box (Results...).


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Figure 18


ssent a deta s



Key Topics a ou ...

Start with... Add this... Results+ =

How beach development is endangering sea turtles

Turtles bury eggs in thesand

Sea Turtles crawl ontobeach and bury eggs

Attracted to movement &glimmer of light on water

Sun incubates eggs; babyturtles dig out of sand

Beach development &tourists

Houses & Hotels line thewater front for thousandsof miles

Baby turtles die

Babies get lost, disoriente

Crawl toward brightlights, away from sea

Eaten by predators &Dehydrated

IF we don't turn-off our lights at nightTHEN the Loggerhead may become extinct

Crawl toward light to getto the sea & swim away

Baby turtles attracted tobright lights

Street lights, Car lights,flashing signs, carnivals

Endangered Loggerheads

Tourists using thebeaches

Beach buggies


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Using the Frame G raph ic in conjun ction with otherlearning strategies.

Using the Frame graphic in conjun ction w ith th e PLAN w riting strategy.

PLAN* is a basic writing strategy designed to facilitate well organ ized p rose

(Figure 19) . The strategy is most ap pr opriate for stud ents w ith poorlydeveloped comp osition skills, or those stud ents w ho seem to h ave d ifficulty

thinking w hat to say and how to say it wh en writing. It is also particularly

useful for those stud ents w ith p oor idea-organizational skills. Thus, many

stud ents w ith learning d isabilities benefit from instru ction in the PLAN

writing strategy.

Figure 19

The PLAN writing strategy

Preview Preview top ic.Decide on your top ic; gatherinformation or ideas about it;Dont worry about organizing it yet.

Preview au dience & goals. Think about w ho

the audience will be and w hat you hope w ill happen

when they read your writing.

Lis t main ideas and details List the title, what it w ill be about, ma in ideas,on a Think Sheet and essential details, and th e ending big idea.

Assign nu mbers to indicate Decide w hich main idea to w rite about first,best order of ideas second, third, ect. Foreach main idea, decide the

order for presenting d etails. Make sure the ord er

makes sense. Note order in bubbles on the Think Sheet.

Note ideas in comp lete Begin with a sentence or two th at activates thesentences readers background knowledge about your

subject and then introd uce the topic of your

essay and w hat it will be about. Follow your

planned order for writing about each new m ain

idea and its supp orting details in a n ew paragraph.

Tell yourself positive statements a bout you r w riting,and tell yourself to write more.

* The PLAN w riting strategy w as adap ted from th e TOWER Theme Writing strategy (in press)

designed by Jean Schu maker. For information abou t teaching theme w riting strategies, contact

Jean at th e Cen ter for Research on Learning (785) 864-4780.

The examp le in Figure 20 illustrates h ow a m ultiple-main id eas Frame

that w as used in a fifth grade class to plan wh en writing a biograph y.


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Figure 20


Key Topic

is about...George Washington Carver

Birth

Missouri, 1864Slave

Kidnapped as an infant

left Carvers at age 12

Went to different

Simpson College 1890Oct. 1896 went to

Helped students &

Childhood

Sickly-worked inside


Worked many jobs

1896 - agriculturalChanged farming

...an African American inventor

Youth Career

Susan Carver taught

Wanted more

Witnessed violence

Early adulthood

1st Af.Am to get a

Worldfamous

1 34

2

5

6

Never knew his parents

Raised as a Carver

schools degree

degree in agriculture

Tuskegee- no money

poor farmers

Experimented withways to use peanuts

house

him to read

Interested in plants

education

Scientist/Researcher

Invented over 600uses of peanutsNever hated whites forunfair treatmentNot allowed to speakwhen received award.

George Washingon Carver was an African American inventor who helpedpeanut framers because he discovered so many uses for the product.

FRAMED ReadingThe Fram e grap hic can be an excellent device for pr omot ing read ing

compr ehension, and there are a v ariety of ways it can be u sed. Specific

examples are noted below:

Class-wid e Med iated Reading

Many content-area teachers either read a short passage from th e text to

stud ents (or call on individual stud ents to read short p assages out loud ) and

then ask qu estions to pr omote d iscussion or u nd erstanding of the text. An

alternative class-wide read ing activity is to pr ovide stu den ts with blank copies

of the Frame organizer, and then, as specific passages are read by the teacheror individu al students, promote a discussion regard ing w hat ideas, if any,

presented in th e passage should be n oted on th e Frame organizer. Here, the

teachers role is to co-constru ct the grap hic with stu den ts as the p assages are

being read an d d iscussed.


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In the examp le depicted in Figure 21, the one-main idea Frame w as used to

record essential information d uring a chara cter analysis as a story w as read in

a fifth grad e class.

Figure 21


ey opicis about...

Essential Detail

Byron

a cha racter in th e book, The Watsons go to Birmingham

He picks on kids m ost of th e time.

He cou ld be nice an d s how h is feelings.

He was dis liked becaus e he was a bu lly and mean .

Dad dy Cool.

He feared h is mom . Disobedient

Sometimes it takes awhile to ma ke friends if you are n ew

esson y eresa arm

Team-topic reading

Team-topic reading is another w ay to prom ote reading comprehension.

Here, the class is divided into group s of about four stud ents each. Each grou pis then assigned one of the main idea topics that app ear on a Frame

organizer. Since you w ill likely have m ore group s than main ideas, different

group s may be assigned the same main idea. Each group then read s a passage

from text wh ile searching for essential informa tion or d etails related on ly to

the main idea th ey were assigned.

One ap pr oach is to assign each grou p th e same read ing passage, but also

assign each group a d ifferent m ain idea from the same p assage for w hich th ey

search for essential details. Thus, the w hole class is engaged in r eading the

same p assage, but gr oup s within th e class are searching for different types of

information (naturally, the text passage should contain information abou t allof the ma in ideas in th ese situations).

After the teams have read the passage and listed w hat they believed to

be the essential information related to the main id ea they were assigned , each

team th en rep orts to the class w hat th ey found . The role of the teacher is to

facilitate this rep orting, clarify informa tion and ensu re that it is accurate as

needed , and ad d an y essential information about the m ain idea that the group


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may have over-looked. As each gr oup reports their find ings, the teacher also

mod els note taking on th e Frame organ izer using an overhead pr ojector, and

the rest of the class takes notes abou t the ma in idea the grou p is discussing.

Once the first main id ea has been thoroughly d iscussed, the group s wh o

searched for essential information about each of the subsequent main id eas

reports their findings, and the teacher facilitates in like manner.

Reading the n ews

A n um ber of adu lt new s magaz ines pu blish childr ens versions (i.e.,

Spor ts Illustra ted For Kids, Time for Kid s). To help stu den ts learn to ident ify

ma in ideas and essential informat ion, the mu ltiple-main id eas version of

Frame can be used. As ind ividu al stud ents read each article, they record

interesting facts they learned or imp ortant information. The examp le

d epicted in Figure 22 illustra tes a fifth g rad e stud ents respon ses to Time For

Kids pu blished d uring the w eek of Septem ber 19, 1997.

Figure 22

( a s mpor an o un ers an a ou s

Key Topi

is about...Time for Kids

The Death of aPrinces

Princes of Wale

From England

El Aziza, Libya

Death Valley, Calf

over crowd of kids Alpha - leader

author writing about

Spotlight

Cynthia Cooper


Tirat Tsvi, Israel

there wasnt enoughroom

wolves are coming

...whats in the news this week (September 19, 199

5 highesttemperatures

WelcomeBack, Pack

Houston Comets

#14

Concurry, Australia

The GreatClassroom Crunch

Party On,Darth

1 34

2

5

6

Peoples Princess

She helped a lot of

you can barely walk inthe halls

WMBA

Jake LloydPlays Darth Vader in first3 movies

In theaters in 1999

8 years old

charitiesSeville, Spain

back

wolves

A Farewell

Mother Teresashe helped the pooof the poorest

Frail health

won Nobel Peace Prize

Pigs Invade theArcade

Stanley Curtisanimal scientist

Hamlet & Omelet (pigs)

learn how to play

reward - M&Ms

video games

Individual-topic reading

This activity is very similar to Team-topic readin g. Here, th e teacher

first provides stud ents with a copy of the Frame graphic with the m ain ideas

already noted on them . Next, the class is divided into group s. The nu mber of

students in each group should m atch the nu mber of main ideas on the Frame


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grap hic. Next, each stud ent in th e group selects of the main id ea topics. Each

mem ber of the group then read s the same p assage searching for essential

information about th eir main idea topic.

Next, all studen ts from all group s w ho w ere searching for information

about th e first main id ea then convene to share their find ings, those thatadd ressed th e second main idea convene, and so forth. This allows studen ts

to discuss amon g themselves w hat they learned abou t the main idea they

were assigned and fill in any gap s they personally may hav e missed.

The stud ents then return to their original teams and share with their

team th e essential information about th e main idea th ey were exploring.

Individu al team m embers then copy onto their own Frames the essential

information about each of the main id eas.

Homework reading

In lieu of the trad ition hom ework assignmen ts where stud ents areexpected to form written responses to stud y guid e questions, specific reading

passage can be assigned, and stud ents are asked to comp lete a Frame

organ izer about th e main id eas of the p assage. For novice readers, the teacher

can list for stud ents the m ain ideas in the p assage, so that th ey are only

searching for essential d etails related to each. More sop histicated readers,

how ever, can be expected to identify for them selves the ma in ideas as well as

essential details for each w hen read ing the p assage. Thu s, the home w ork

assignment w ould be to read a particular passage, and then to d evelop a

Frame graphic that depicts what th e passage was about.

The Paraph rasing Reading Strategy and Frame organizersFor stud ents wh o are just beginning to develop reading

comprehension skills or for those who stru ggle in this area, use of the

Parap hrasing Strategy (Schum aker, Denton , & Deshler, 1984* )) can be

combined w ith use of the Fram e organizer. Steps to the Parap hrasing Strategy

are:

Read a paragraph.Ask yourself what w as the main idea and tw o important d etails?Put the main idea and details into your own word s.

As studen ts are reading and parap hrasing each para graph , they can also take

notes show ing main ideas and d etails on the Frame organizer. The mu ltiple-

main ideas Frame organizer may be the m ost app ropriate for use in this

context.

* Schu ma ker, J.B., Denton, P., & Desh ler, D.D. (1984). The Par aph rasing Strategy . Lawr ence, KS: The Univer sity

of Kansas Center for Research on Learning.


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In sum, the Frame Think Sheet can be used to help stu den ts develop in

dep th u nd erstanding of main ideas and essential details of the curr iculum .

The graph ic organizer is part icularly versatile because it can be u sed both to

organ ize imp ortan t to-be-learned information as w ell as a tool for facilitating

use of reading comp rehension strat egies and use of effective writing an dthinking strategies.

Documents

Framing Lesson Complete Instructions and Examples