New American Lecture

Description

New American Lecture is an iteration of the classic style of verbally delivering information. The strategy is enhanced by incorporating key elements into the process that honor brain science and improve retention.

Why it works

New American Lectures include the following elements

• Connection - The teacher creates a sensory activity that hooks students and then connects the hook to the material to be covered.
• Organization - The structure of the lecture is presented within a visual organizer, allowing students to see the relationship between all parts of the content presented.
• Dual Coding - Multiple forms of interaction between the learners and the content are present in a New American Lecture. (ex. Visuals, Defining terms in your own words, Demonstrations, Exploring feelings associated with the content)
• Exercise and Elaboration - Students are provided with opportunities to interact with the content, including checks for understanding, and demonstrating their learning.

How to plan it...

1. Identify your topic
   1. What does the learning goal call for? What are you planning to cover?
2. Design the visual organizer
   1. Create a visual of all of the content and how it fits together. Thinking maps are a great resource for this.
3. Develop review questions
   1. You need to design review questions that hit on four different categories
      1. Mastery questions require recalling information
      2. Understanding questions require evidence and analysis.
      3. Interpersonal questions give students the opportunity to relate the content to their own lives.
      4. Self-Expressive questions require creativity.
4. Design the hook (and bridge)
   1. Create an experience for students that grabs their interest toward the content and provide a transition (bridge) for that attention to the material to be taught.
5. Develop a synthesis task
   1. Give students an opportunity to use what they’ve just learned.

Tech Integration

Nearpod is a fantastic vehicle to drive New American Lectures. It provides a medium for each of the essential elements of the strategy. Combine Nearpod with a visual organizer created in Google Drawings and you should have everything you need to create a New American Lecture.