Monday, February 13, 2006
Weaving -- Processing Information
I will use the pages I created when I took notes from my sources. I used four pieces of paper, each with a Guiding Question at the top. I added information as I found it to the appropriate page. Weaving together this information pertaining to my guiding questions (primarily the first three) will help me answer my Essential Question:
How did the era and time influence Parvana in The Breadwinner?
My fourth Guiding Question is an opinion question, to be answered as I reflect on the factual information that answers my first three Guiding Questions. This synthesis of information for a Language Arts inquiry is explained by Stripling and Hughes-Hassell on page 28: “While inquiry might inform and provide background to students’ interpretations, the focus of thinking and the collection of evidence always have to originate and end in the narrative text itself.” I think this is very true for my Inquiry project; the information I have found regarding the time and place of the book’s setting will assist me in studying Parvana’s thoughts and actions to see if they influenced her character in any way.
As I begin to weave things together, I anticipate that I will make some selections of things more useful, perhaps, for another guiding question. I may also find some facts that don’t really work for any of the questions. Recursively, this is wiggling a little more…I think that this “fine-tuning” of information should continue to happen through the Weaving process. I do see the advantages of a Graphic Organizer or concept chart to help students hone in on concepts and not sentences. This definitely will help avoid the major problem of plagiarism and help them see the big picture of their project. In keeping with the idea of remembering different learning styles, however, I know that I am not a visual learner. Lists have always been my best friend. I work much better from lists such as these I have used to accumulate my information. I cross out information after integrating it, I sometimes draw arrows to where something better fits, and I number items to help me sequence the best order for pieces of information. It helps me to see it all out on paper as I begin to weave it into a final form. This preferred form of learning for me can be seen in the example of receiving directions to go somewhere: I would much prefer directions written out for me to follow then to read from a map.
How did the era and time influence Parvana in The Breadwinner?
My fourth Guiding Question is an opinion question, to be answered as I reflect on the factual information that answers my first three Guiding Questions. This synthesis of information for a Language Arts inquiry is explained by Stripling and Hughes-Hassell on page 28: “While inquiry might inform and provide background to students’ interpretations, the focus of thinking and the collection of evidence always have to originate and end in the narrative text itself.” I think this is very true for my Inquiry project; the information I have found regarding the time and place of the book’s setting will assist me in studying Parvana’s thoughts and actions to see if they influenced her character in any way.
As I begin to weave things together, I anticipate that I will make some selections of things more useful, perhaps, for another guiding question. I may also find some facts that don’t really work for any of the questions. Recursively, this is wiggling a little more…I think that this “fine-tuning” of information should continue to happen through the Weaving process. I do see the advantages of a Graphic Organizer or concept chart to help students hone in on concepts and not sentences. This definitely will help avoid the major problem of plagiarism and help them see the big picture of their project. In keeping with the idea of remembering different learning styles, however, I know that I am not a visual learner. Lists have always been my best friend. I work much better from lists such as these I have used to accumulate my information. I cross out information after integrating it, I sometimes draw arrows to where something better fits, and I number items to help me sequence the best order for pieces of information. It helps me to see it all out on paper as I begin to weave it into a final form. This preferred form of learning for me can be seen in the example of receiving directions to go somewhere: I would much prefer directions written out for me to follow then to read from a map.
# posted by Carrie @ 5:45 PM 
