LC Module: Instructional Stoppers

Instructional Stoppers, such as “Reciprocal Teaching, allows a student to think, summarize, paraphrase, clarify, as well as generate questions and summarize the text.” (Ohio Dept of Ed, 2014). It is well supported by research. Developed by Annemarie Palincsar and Ann Brown in 1984, reciprocal teaching switches the roles of the student and teacher. Students can learn from peers just as well as they can from adults. But the process must be guided and managed to avoid any downsides. It encourages and provokes a deeper understanding and comprehension of the material.” (Jensen, 2011) “The percentile rankings of the experimental students using Reciprocal Teaching jumped 30 points or more.” (Perles, 2012)

Instructional Stoppers promotes summarizing. “Effective summarizing leads to an increase in student learning. Students have to analyze information at a deep level in order to identify key concepts and decide what information to delete, substitute, or keep.” (Anderson & Hidi, 1987 as stated Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, 2005). A good amount of research supports the idea that the ability to summarize increases comprehension, memory (National Reading Panel, 2000 as stated Rice 2004) and has a positive impact on achievement. Summarization training has been shown to increase the recall of major information from reading, studying and lectures.” (King, 1992; Rinehart et al, 1986 as stated Ohio Dept of Ed, 2014).

Instructional stoppers allow students to pause and take time to answer a question individually, and then discuss in groups. “Short, in-class writing exercises increase focus, thinking, depth of knowledge and has shown to increase learning.” (Jensen, 2011).

20 MIN

GC211 – Instructional Stoppers – Classroom Wisdom Tool

GC211-S4 – Classroom Wisdom – Before lecture begins, Alexa or Instructor will direct each student to be assigned or draw a task to perform while listening to the lecture. The tasks are Summarizer, Clarifier, Questioner or Predictor. Then, each task group will be taught how to perform their specific task effectively during instruction. Last, when directed, students will complete their task in a class share.

20 MIN

GC210 – Instructional Stoppers – Topic Stoppers (Journal Entry)

GC210-S1-12 – Topic Stoppers – Instructional stoppers are interventions, during instruction, that consolidate content for the purpose of increasing content retention and long-term retrieval. Alexa or Instructor will guide the students, individually, with a partner, in a small group or as a class, to respond to Instructional Topic Stoppers provided during instructional intervals, held approximately every 15 to 20 minutes, while listening or reading lesson-related instruction. (Up to 12 different Instructional Stoppers are available for Instructor to make a selection.)

10 MIN

GC209 – Instructional Stoppers – Topic Paraphrasing

GC209-S2 – Topic Paraphrasing – Alexa or Instructor will guide the students in posting 3 to 5 topic questions on index cards for response, during instruction. Then, when directed, individually, with a partner or small group, students will be given five minutes to respond to each question, in their own words, on the front of the index card. Next, after instruction and discussion, students will be directed to add additional details, facts and examples on the back of the card. (Students can gain an average of a 35% increase in comprehension using paraphrasing – Schumaker, Denton and Deschler).

10 MIN

GC208 – Instructional Stoppers – What Do You Think You See? (Journal Entry)

GC208-S3 – What Do You Think You See? – Alexa or Instructor will guide the students, individually, with a partner or small group, to answer questions on an image or object presented. Then, students will be directed to develop their own question. Last, students will guess what topic is to be discussed, as result of the image or object being presented, if not previously noted.

Achievement Points - The gears located on each module provide some research specifics why the strategy used in each module raises student achievement. You can click on the gear to read and click on the gear again to eliminate the research box retrieved. For more citation reference information, please refer to the Learning Connect Research Resource Guide in the left hand column of this website.