HOTSpot - Chris - Layered Learning High Level Questioning and Making Metaphors

Using metaphors and analogies is a standard practice in science class when describing many of the abstract concepts that kids have a hard time understanding. Often times it is the teacher giving the kids the metaphor or analogy for them to memorize which is helpful but doesn’t really help students “own” the connection being made. Starting this lesson with a video representing the non biology related part of the metaphor and asking students guiding questions got my students in the right frame of mind of the connection I wanted them to make. Using EDpuzzle is perfect for this because it pauses the video a key points to ask these questions. I found that adding the questions as comments instead of free response allowed me to choose how I wanted to collect their answers. Using the question feature on Google Classroom worked perfectly for this because I could control if I wanted to keep students’ responses private or them to see each others responses to promote discussion. Following the video, my students then got to show their creative sides by explaining the metaphor and representing it both visually and verbally using Google Slides. Not only could they collaborate in groups on one slide deck, it was easily turned in through Google Classroom. I was able to put all of the students work into a shared class folder for everyone to see and use as a study aide for the assessment. Layering all these simple technologies together really helped turn a “sit and get” lesson into a lesson involving creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. For more layered learning ideas, check out David Freeburg’s website. He is a Google Certified Educator and Director of of Technology and Digital Curriculum in Minnesota.