Content Enhancements
Advance Organizers: These materials are designed for pre-instruction. They can enhance the link of new material learned with prior knowledge that has been stored in long term memory. Advance organizers may be verbal or written, and they may be presented in question format. Some examples include: questions presented prior to a discussion or reading assignment, vocabulary words presented on the board or a handout, or verbal statements presented by the teacher and designed to activate prior knowledge prior to instruction.
Visual Displays: These materials are intended to help with the organization of information in long-term memory and during instruction to activate prior knowledge. They work as accommodations in that they scaffold the creation of networks of information in the learner’s long-term memory. Some examples include: diagrams, concrete models, videos, digital material designed to portray the relationships among various pieces of information in a lesson, graphic organizers, concept maps, and video segments intended to anchor or situate the student’s learning in a meaningful context.
Study Guides: The materials are provided to students prior to a reading or study assignment. They have questions or statements that focus the student’s attention and thinking on the key information to be learned. Some examples include: completed or partially completed outlines, questions focusing on the textual, literal, and inferential aspects of a study assignment, or other tasks designed to prompt active processing the material to be studied.
Mnemonic Devices: These are techniques used to assist the storage and recall of declarative knowledge associated with content domains. They can be verbal or pictorial and they may be provided by the teacher or developed by the teacher and student collaboratively. Some examples include: key words, pictures, symbols, ROY G BIV, and Every Good Boy Does Fine (musical scale).
Peer-Mediated Instruction: This technique used peers as instruction agents within the classroom. The purpose is to increase the number of opportunities for distributed practice with feedback. The teacher usually designs and mediates these interactions to make sure the material is being well presented. Peer-mediated instruction can take the form of peer and cross-age tutoring, class-wide tutoring, or cooperative learning.