The use of advance organizers has been heavily documented as an effective tool for student achievement for both general and special education classrooms. The use of these advance organizers provides a framework for students about the impending lesson, activating prior knowledge and structuring new knowledge (Pitler & Stone, 2012). Effective deployment of advance organizers includes a focus on essential information in order to avoid confusion and the pairing of the correct format of an advance organizer for the nature of the lesson. This includes the use of expository, narrative, and/or graphic organizers in addition to the use of skimming (Pitler & Stone, 2012).
Using Figure 4.6 (Reflecting on Current Practice: Advance Organizers) to assess my current performance, I represent a wide range of ability levels in different areas of using advance organizers. For instance, I do help students develop an understanding of how their prior knowledge and background connects with new lesson. When teaching mythology in a Targeted English class, I opened the lesson with the use of Greek mythology in advertisements and media. Students identified various symbols and attempted to determine their connection to mythology. This activated their prior knowledge and connected it to what they were about to learn, while demonstrating the potential relevance of the impending lesson. I feel that this is also focused on what was important, because the mythology unit’s focus was how mythology continues to be used in our modern world rather than simply an overview of the history and stories. And it was aligned with the learning objectives for the lesson and unit because it focused on how myths are used today. In the final assessment, students were asked to analyze comics with mythological references and explain the connection. However, when evaluating whether or not I use a variety of advance organizers, I feel that I could improve upon this area. I do not always employ the different formats of organizers: expository, narrative, skimming, and graphic. In particular, I have not used skimming very often, particularly because the students I am teaching often have reading goals and I am focused on different areas of reading. However, I feel that this is mistake given the powerful nature of skimming and its impact on student learning and understanding. It is a critical skill that enables students to preview important information (Pitler & Stone, 2012). In addition, it will serve them well as a skill to take to college if they wish to pursue higher education. Therefore, I would like to work on incorporating skimming into my lessons at a more regular interval in order to improve my use of advance organizers.
Pitler, H. & Stone, B. (2012). A handbook for classroom instruction that works (2nd ed.). Denver, CO: Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning.
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