A Sketchy Lesson: Teaching Middle School Literacy Using Sketchnotes

Outline

Activator: Quick draw (5 min)
-Participants will be given time limits to draw different ideas, concrete and abstract, using only the five basic elements of drawing. They will have the option to do drawings using sketchnote apps or using paper and pencil.
Text Analysis (20 min)
-Participants will be given a complex digital text, and will use three different sketchnote strategies to annotate and analyze the text. The text will be digital, and we will highlight using digital annotation tools to create sketchnotes. Paper copies of the text will be available to accommodate different learning styles. We will show how you can use both sketches as well as curation of online images to synthesize the key ideas from the text.
Stop, Jot, Sketch, and Share (15 min)
-Participants will use sketchnotes to outline their thinking in response to discussion prompts, then share with partners and whole group about the text. Participants will be able to share their images with a partner close to them, then we will engage the class in a whole group discussion, using discussion protocols that we establish for the activity. Participants will also be able to share their sketches from their thinking on a shared collaborative resource board, so that participants who may not want to speak can still have their ideas seen and acknowledged.
Exit Ticket (10 min)
-Participants will use digital sketchnotes to sketch the four sketchnote lesson plan ideas, and share one idea for how they can use sketchnotes in their upcoming lessons. These ideas will be shared on the collaborative resource board so that participants can gain ideas from other participants.
Closing Share (10 min)
-Participants can ask questions and share learning from their participation in the literacy lesson. Presenters will share the Sketchnote in the Classroom lesson plan resources for participants to take back to their classrooms.

Supporting research

https://nschwartz.yourweb.csuchico.edu/Clark%20&%20Paivio.pdf

Dual Coding theory, James M.Clark and Allan Paivio, describes the way that our brain processes information through both visual images and words, and how combining the two processes increases student understanding and comprehension. Sketchnotes in the classroom draws largely on the research of Allan Paivio and Dual Coding theory.

https://dept.math.lsa.umich.edu/~krasny/math156_crlt.pdf

Research on Student Notetaking: Implications for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors
Deborah DeZure, Matthew Kaplan, Martha A. Deerman, describes the importance of not only note taking, but reflection on notetaking. Sketchnotes provides the reflection on note taking by giving students the chance to process the information through words and then again through texts. We will be teaching using this strategy during our text annotation portion of the lesson.