As part of a discussion about instructional strategies using organizing tools on NCIPnet, fourth-grade teacher Audry Ostrowski shared the following ways she uses Inspiration to teach language arts, math, and social studies.
- In the center of an Inspiration "web" Audrey writes the name of a character from a book the students have read. The students then add qualities that describe the character and examples of those qualities.
- To reinforce math skills, Audrey writes a number in the center of a web. Students are then asked to create as many nodes as they can with problems that generate that answer.
- When working on state reports with her class, Audrey writes the name of a state in the center of a web. Students add topics they would like to research. As they learn facts, students cluster this information around the topics. The web is eventually turned into an outline which students use for their reports.
"My fourth graders do enjoy Inspiration. Those who do not feel comfortable with it are allowed a partner. It has worked out well," Audrey said.
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This material was developed by the National Center to Improve Practice (NCIP), located at Education Development Center, Inc. in Newton, Massachusetts. NCIP was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs from October 1, 1992 - September 30, 1998, Grant #H180N20013. Permission is granted to copy and disseminate this information. If you do so, please cite NCIP. Contents do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by NCIP, EDC, or the U.S. Government. This site was last updated in September 1998. |