Byrdseed

The first grammar lesson in our reading program is titled “types of sentences.” Since nothing excites gifted 11 year olds less than the difference between interrogative and declarative sentences, I knew I needed to spice up grammar. Rather use direct instruction, I used another model of instruction: concept attainment.

Concept Attainment

A concept attainment lesson utilizes inductive thinking and encourages students to construct their own understanding. Used  strategically, concept attainment causes student engagement to skyrocket.

STEPS

Begin with a chart: two columns and then a single cell at the bottom. Label the two columns: “examples” and “non-examples.”

Explain that you are thinking of a concept and the students’ job is to determine what this concept was.

Give Examples & Non-Examples

Under “examples” I put three sentences that exemplified my concept “imperative sentences.” I then wrote three declarative sentences under “non-examples.” During this time, students were copying my notes down and silently determining patterns, rules, and parallels.

No Blurting!

Naturally, some students understood (or thought they understood) the concept already. I warned them to remain silent. No blurting allowed yet.

Uncategorized Sentences

On post-it notes, I then wrote three more sentences on post-it notes, but did not place any in the columns yet. Some of these sentences were examples and some were non-examples. Students determined which column each post-it belonged to by writing in their own copy of the chart. I walked around to check my classes’ understanding.

I then called on students to help me place the post-its in the right categories. At this point, I put the post-its in the correct categories – hopefully confirming students’ predictions. There’s usually a chorus of “yessss!” from students.

Determine Rules

Next, students determines the rules that the examples shared. I allowed them to collaborate. After calling on students, we wrote their rules under the respective columns.

At this point, students attempted to create their own “example” sentence. I walked around and got an idea of their understanding.

Name The Concept

I then asked if anyone knew the name of the concept that the examples represented.

Once the class named it, I wrote the concept in the cell at the bottom.

Students then practiced using the concept in an authentic situation.

Further Reading

I certainly did not invent this model, so I wanted to pass along some other resources to get a more formal description of the process:

• An explanation of the steps of the model of instruction
• Another explanation.
• A sample concept attainment lesson for a French class
• An excerpt from Teaching On Target, a book about models of instruction.

Have any experience with this model of instruction? Share your thoughts in the comments!