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Picturing Practice Examples

1. Read Aloud Vivid Description

Public domain from Library of Congress

The teacher reads a description and asks the students to turn on their Mind's Eye, picturing the details and filling in the missing elements with their own imaginations.

Pick a section from Coal Creek Rebellion that has strong description (http://fno.org/coalcreek/coalcreek.html)

The teacher stops from time to time and asks students to supply details not mentioned by the writer.

  • What colors do you see?
  • How tall are the trees?
  • What kinds of trees are there?
  • What kind of clothing do you notice?
  • Is anyone wearing a hat?

2. Map Out a Search

Ask students to create a map showing the steps they took to explore a question or an issue.

How did you get there?

What questions did you ask?

Where did you look?

When did you encounter dead ends and blind alleys?

3. Convert Articles into Maps

Provide a list of articles on a topic that matches the curriculum and ask students to pick one, then map the key points, main ideas and major sections.

Here's one on acid rain at http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/what/index.html

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