A Learners’ View (ALV) Is Of Choices On The Shortest And Fastest Path To Learning, The Oxygen Of Social Life.
20 second lessons are to learning as a measure is to a musical score. (ALV T-Shirt Wisdom)
Main Page: Section Two: Using a Learners’ View (ALV)
Theme: Learners will likely make fewer trial-and-errors to learn shorter clock-time lessons.
THIS SAMPLE STRING of 20 second lesson modules illustrates how to link lessons as you greet, start and warm up a class for prompt, efficient learning. Each lesson has its own beginning, middle, and ending with a measurable objective consistent with a learners’ view (ALV) of what people do to learn.
A String of 20 Second Lesson Modules
These modules feature learners hearing and doing what they heard they should do. Alternative instruction would be to hand each learner a sheet of paper at the door with instructions written on it, instructions written on the board, on an overhead projector screen, or a permutation of these that includes use of your Tablet PC screen projected onto learners’ screens or onto a white board.
Begin promptly at the time the class is scheduled to start whether all students are ready or not. You choose what prompt means to you on any given day, but note in each start time, so you can reduce the lost time as learners to begin writing. This proces emphasizes that the clock drives the lessons, and learners must push to keep up.
(Generic) Lesson Module (LM) #1 of each (grades 1 – 12) class begins with you (the teacher) standing at the classroom door saying aloud as students walk through the entrance: “The first lesson for today has started. You have 20 seconds to be seated, turn on your Tablet PC (or to the last page in your notebook, take out a sheet of paper, etc.), and prepare to write exactly what I say for you to write. … You have 15 seconds. … 10 seconds. …5 seconds.” Close the classroom door. That ends module #1.
(Generic) 20 Second Lesson Module (LM) #2 begins promptly as teacher walks through the classroom: “Now, write what I say only on the top line. I will say when to write on the second line, so write small. We will do this again tomorrow and each day afterwards as a warm-up for what comes next in class.” That ends module #2.
(Generic) 20 Second Lesson Module (LM) #3: “Write these numerals (answer no questions; wait for no one; recite numerals at an even cadence of 1 second intervals in sets with increasing numbers of numerals starting with easy familiar numerals and then mixing up easy with harder sets, for example: 1 (say “space”), 1, 2 “space”, 1, 2, 3 “space,” 3, 2, 1 “space,” 1, 3, 2 “space,” 5, 9, 4, 3 “space,” 0 (“zero”), 9, 1, 1, 7 “period.” That’s the end of module #3. This exercise acknowledges that each lesson consists first of vocabulary, second of relationships among vocabulary.
Alternative Content for LM3
Substitute spelling or vocabulary words, chemistry symbols, a poem, song, or choral responses relevant to the content of upcoming modules in this class period.
Assessment
Review and leave a mark on their page to indicate you saw it when you collect the notebooks for grading, etc.
Generalization
Give no explanations. The repeated use over several weeks of these modules will provide a basis for learners to generalize to its use as warm-up / practice for writing faster and more accurately what you tell them to write in their notebooks during class.
Discussion
These samples are generic 20 second, 20 second, and 28 second lesson modules. If you doubt it, count the number of words you said and numerals you dictated on 1 second intervals!
Each module addresses learners’ primary generic question: What do I have to do? That’s stage one of A Learners’ View (ALV) of learning.
Each module follows three principles of learning described by results of experimental behavioral and social scientists. Learners proceed from:
Known to unknown. (They know – are familiar with, have done – to come into the room, sit down take out paper and something to write with, and to write numerals, letters, etc. They will be less familiar with writing faster and on someone elses’s timing and pattern with only the choice of writing it or not writing it.)
Easy to hard. (It’s easy to enter the room, etc. It’s harder to write what they are less familiar with.)
Simple to complex. (Writing one numeral is more simple than writing a set of seven numerals in the same amount of time.)
Preparation Time
Writing descriptions of these three 20 second lesson modules took about 45 minutes. Use of the ALV 20 second lesson module formats still under development will reduce this time for beginning instructors to several minutes for each lesson.
References
- A Learners’ View (ALV) of Learning
- Generic Questions of Learners
- Principles of Learning
- See and Hear ALV (a Learners’ View) in a Lesson
- Simplify, the Extrapolate
Related Resources
Last Edited: May 21, 2015