Classroom Strategies that Work . . . Non-linguistic Representations

We teach right? When we teach, we usually talk to the students about the content or perhaps have them read about the content. We depend on the students to create their own mental imagery. We focus on the linguistic. What about those students that don't know how to create their own mental images or those students that rely on images to truly understand content. Research indicates that knowledge is stored in two forms: linguistic (associated with words) and nonlinguistic (mental images or physical sensations like smell, touch, sound, or movement). The more we use nonlinguistic representations, the better we are at recalling our knowledge.

What are some ways to create nonlinguistic representations.

• Graphic Organizers or other graphics
• Physical models
• Pictures and Pictographs
• Engaging in movement activities

Simple application of using technology with nonlinguistic representations would be to include clip art and photos to handouts, word walls, and vocabulary sheets. Use video clips and slideshows while presenting the content. 

To really increase learning, involve students in the creation of the nonliguistic representations.Which brings me to the technology to use.

Animoto provides educators a free Animoto Plus account for classroom use. I honestly love Animoto and its ease of use to create beautiful, Hollywood quality, "movies" that incorporate images, video clips, music, and text. Think Hollywood book or movie trailer. It is so easy to use that it frees you up to think about the content. You can share your creation via email, an embed code, uploading to YouTube, or downloading to add to a presentation. Sign up for your free educator account and try it out. I think you will love it too.

Google Lit Trips (and Google Earth of course) According to Google Lit Trip's website, GLT "are free files that mark the journeys of characters from famous literature on the surface of Google Earth." It utilizes Google Earth's ability to add placemarks with popup windows to contain relevant resources such as images, video clips, or links for that part of the story. The is another love of mine especially creating such trips using images from Discovery Education.

If you have an iPad, then you have to know about Puppet Pals or Sock Puppets. Both allow you to create your own shows with animation and audio. Choose your actors and tap to record. Your movements are recorded as well. I highly recommend both!