| Advisor |
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Identifying Functions | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Developing Functions | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
| Guiding Parents | ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Example of Introductory Dialogue - R-5: Traces, Signs and Symbols PDF
This brain tool or knowledge construction function (KCF) enables the learner to infer something from something else that points to it. There are three types of information that point to something else: Traces, symbols and signs. Traces, symbols and signs substitute for that to which they point. The ability to use the three types of substitutes plays a critical role in decoding information and the development of images and ideas in the mind. They are also used to encode and communicate thoughts and feelings. The ability to use traces, symbols and signs is a pre-requisite for developing language, learning how to read, write and do work in math and science, but the need for this KCF is everywhere in evidence. Below are some examples:
This brain tool or knowledge construction function (KCF) enables the learner to infer something from something else that points to it. There are three types of information that point to something else: Traces, symbols and signs. Traces, symbols and signs substitute for that to which they point. The ability to use the three types of substitutes plays a critical role in decoding information and the development of images and ideas in the mind. They are also used to encode and communicate thoughts and feelings. The ability to use traces, symbols and signs is a pre-requisite for developing language, learning how to read, write and do work in math and science, but the need for this KCF is everywhere in evidence. Below are some examples:
- When we see a tire track in the sand we infer that a vehicle drove by. We can say that the tire track is a trace of a vehicle.
- When we listen to a music CD we infer the recording artist. We can say that the CD is a trace of the artist. When we listen to the CD, we say that we are listening to the artist, even though the artist isn't really there.
- When we look at a photograph of a classroom field trip from a long time ago we infer the event of the classroom outing. The photograph is a trace of the fieldtrip and the people who are depicted there. When we look at the photograph, we say we look at the people even though only the image, or trace, of the people is there.
- When we hear the national anthem we infer our nation or country. The national anthem is a symbol of our country.
- When we see the shape of a heart and an arrow in the bark of a tree we infer love. The shapes are a symbol of love.
- When we see a white dove we think of peace. The white dove is a symbol of peace.
- When we see a child crying we infer that the child is distressed or unhappy. The child's crying makes us think of unhappiness and distress. We can say that crying is a sign of distress.
- When leaves tumble off the trees in autumn we infer that fall has begun. We say the tumbling leaves signal the onset of fall.
- When we hear a rumbling stomach we infer someone is hungry. The rumbling stomach is a sign of hunger.
Below is an example of an introductory teacher-student dialogue that reflects the intentionality of the teacher to mediate the development of this KCF. The setting is an elementary school classroom. Use this example for ideas about how you can introduce this function to the students in your classroom. (Note: This introductory dialogue covers just traces and signs).
Level: K-5
teacher: How many of you have walked in the sand along a beach?
students: Several hands go up.
teacher: Who has walked in the snow?
students: Hands go up.
teacher: When you walk in the sand or snow what do you leave behind? What have you noticed?
teacher: Wait for students to reply. Various answers may come up. Guide the students to the following if they do not come up with it by themselves.
students: You leave footprints.
teacher: Yes. If we walk in the sand or the snow we leave behind our footprints. Now if you were walking in the snow and you saw some footprints along the way, what could you know?
student: That someone else was there.
student: Or, depending on the print you saw, it could be an animal.
teacher: Yes, good. You might see different kinds of prints in the snow or the sand. The footprints are clues or signs that someone or something was there. We often call this kind of clue a trace. A trace is a mark left by a person, animal, thing or event. For example, it could be a person's footprint, a bear's footprint or, in the snow, perhaps the marks left by a sled or a pair of skies or, in the sand, the marks left by an inner tube or surfboard. They are all marks or traces.
teacher: Hold up an apple core.
teacher: What comes to mind when you see this?
students: An apple.
teacher: An apple, yes. Why does it make you think of an apple?
students: Because the core is part of an apple.
teacher: Yes, sometimes a trace is part of something that has been left behind. If you saw this apple core sitting on the kitchen counter, what would you think?
students: That someone ate an apple and left the core behind.
teacher: Yes, the core is a trace of an apple, and the bite marks a trace of the person who ate it. Traces are clues that are left behind. What if you went into a room and found cat hairs all over the sofa. What would you think?
students: That a cat was in the room or lived there or something.
teacher: Yes, you would know a cat was there. The cat hairs are traces that point to a cat. What if I walked into the kitchen and smelled cinnamon? What might I guess?
student: It might be an apple pie baking.
students: It might be cinnamon cookies.
students: It might be a candle.
teacher: Yes, it could be any one of those things. The smell of cinnamon points to something that is cinnamon. The smell is a trace. So traces can be more than marks. They can be smells or even sounds, like a siren might point to a fire truck.
teacher: Now what do all these things have in common? The footprints, the apple core, the cat hairs, the cinnamon smell?
students: They are all clues.
teacher: Yes, they are all clues. We call these clues traces. Traces point to something else. That is, a sound, smell, taste, or imprint of an object serves as a link to something that itself may not be present or visible. Like the footprint points to a person. Traces enable you to think about something they point to. Traces enable us to infer. When we infer we use one piece of information to reach another. For example, we see smoke in the woods and infer that something is burning.
teacher: What did we infer from the cat hairs on the sofa?
students: A cat!
teacher: What can we infer from a chicken egg?
students: A chicken!
teacher: What can we infer from a shadow on the ground?
students: The sun is shining on something!
Note: For very young children, sensory clues precede more advanced symbolic representations. So it is good to have the children identify objects by their clues. This gives them experience in relating a part to a whole and enables them to construct a picture in their minds, i.e. a mental representation, of the whole. These traces and signs are actually reduced cues that bring to mind the whole object.
Level: K-5
teacher: How many of you have walked in the sand along a beach?
students: Several hands go up.
teacher: Who has walked in the snow?
students: Hands go up.
teacher: When you walk in the sand or snow what do you leave behind? What have you noticed?
teacher: Wait for students to reply. Various answers may come up. Guide the students to the following if they do not come up with it by themselves.
students: You leave footprints.
teacher: Yes. If we walk in the sand or the snow we leave behind our footprints. Now if you were walking in the snow and you saw some footprints along the way, what could you know?
student: That someone else was there.
student: Or, depending on the print you saw, it could be an animal.
teacher: Yes, good. You might see different kinds of prints in the snow or the sand. The footprints are clues or signs that someone or something was there. We often call this kind of clue a trace. A trace is a mark left by a person, animal, thing or event. For example, it could be a person's footprint, a bear's footprint or, in the snow, perhaps the marks left by a sled or a pair of skies or, in the sand, the marks left by an inner tube or surfboard. They are all marks or traces.
teacher: Hold up an apple core.
teacher: What comes to mind when you see this?
students: An apple.
teacher: An apple, yes. Why does it make you think of an apple?
students: Because the core is part of an apple.
teacher: Yes, sometimes a trace is part of something that has been left behind. If you saw this apple core sitting on the kitchen counter, what would you think?
students: That someone ate an apple and left the core behind.
teacher: Yes, the core is a trace of an apple, and the bite marks a trace of the person who ate it. Traces are clues that are left behind. What if you went into a room and found cat hairs all over the sofa. What would you think?
students: That a cat was in the room or lived there or something.
teacher: Yes, you would know a cat was there. The cat hairs are traces that point to a cat. What if I walked into the kitchen and smelled cinnamon? What might I guess?
student: It might be an apple pie baking.
students: It might be cinnamon cookies.
students: It might be a candle.
teacher: Yes, it could be any one of those things. The smell of cinnamon points to something that is cinnamon. The smell is a trace. So traces can be more than marks. They can be smells or even sounds, like a siren might point to a fire truck.
teacher: Now what do all these things have in common? The footprints, the apple core, the cat hairs, the cinnamon smell?
students: They are all clues.
teacher: Yes, they are all clues. We call these clues traces. Traces point to something else. That is, a sound, smell, taste, or imprint of an object serves as a link to something that itself may not be present or visible. Like the footprint points to a person. Traces enable you to think about something they point to. Traces enable us to infer. When we infer we use one piece of information to reach another. For example, we see smoke in the woods and infer that something is burning.
teacher: What did we infer from the cat hairs on the sofa?
students: A cat!
teacher: What can we infer from a chicken egg?
students: A chicken!
teacher: What can we infer from a shadow on the ground?
students: The sun is shining on something!
Note: For very young children, sensory clues precede more advanced symbolic representations. So it is good to have the children identify objects by their clues. This gives them experience in relating a part to a whole and enables them to construct a picture in their minds, i.e. a mental representation, of the whole. These traces and signs are actually reduced cues that bring to mind the whole object.
Activity for younger children: (K-3)
Have students get in groups and have them:
Pick a book you would like for your students to read. For example:
teacher: Today we are going to read a book about a little boy who lives with his family in Alaska. In the book are many pictures. See if you can discover some traces in the pictures. When you find one, write it down and write a sentence about what you can infer from it. Write down also the page number so we can get back to all the traces and discuss them together as a group. - Think about this brain tool and how, when you choose to use it, it enables you to discover information from traces.
You can add a discussion about signs.
teacher: We call some marks signs rather than traces. Signs are marks that have a specific meaning people have agreed upon. For example:
teacher: Make a '=' sign on the board
teacher: Ok
teacher: Point to '='
teacher: What does this mean to you?
student: It stands for equal. Like 2 plus 2 is equal to 4.
teacher: Yes. It's a sign that stands for something. This one stands for being equal to. What about this mark?
teacher: Write '?' on the board.
teacher: What does '?' mean?
student: It stands for a question.
teacher: Yes. What about this?
teacher: Write the letter c on the board).
student: It's a c, a letter of the alphabet.
teacher: Yes, it is a letter of the alphabet. All letters are signs that work in ways people have agreed upon. They represent sounds. And combinations of sounds point to objects or events. They stand for or represent these objects or events. So the letters a, c, and t when put together like this.
teacher: Write CAT on the board.
teacher: mean what?
students: Cat!
teacher: Yes. When we see the word cat we actually get a picture in our minds of an animal with whiskers even though the letters c, a, t themselves look nothing like a cat. What are some other kinds of signs that you can think of?
student: How about a stop sign?
teacher: A stop sign is a good example. People in our country have agreed that this shape ...
teacher: Draw a stop sign on the board.
teacher: ... stands for STOP. You must come to a full stop before you proceed. The meaning of signs can change because signs get their meaning from people who agree what they should mean. So if the people with authority to decide such things want to use a different shape for a stop sign, it could be changed. Of course, it might not be a good idea to change such an important sign. It could be confusing and even dangerous for many people.
teacher: What about these signs in written English:.,
teacher: Write a period and a comma on the board
student: One of them is a comma!
teacher: You are right. This one here is a comma.
teacher: Points to the comma.
teacher: What is the comma a sign of?
student: A pause. You stop reading, wait a little and then start again.
teacher: Yes, that is true. Does anyone know what this signs is called?
teacher: Point to the period.
student: It is a little dot - it's a period.
teacher: Yes, you a right, it is a little dot, it's a period. At the end of a sentence, a little dot is called a period. And just like a comma, it is a sign that the reader should make a pause. What is the difference between a period and a comma? Both of them indicate that the reader should make a pause. So in some way they are the same. But how are they different?
student: One pause is longer than the other.
teacher: You are right. Which one is the longer pause? Do you know?
student: The comma means a short pause and the period means a longer pause.
teacher: That is correct. The difference between the comma and the period is that the comma is a sign that a short pause is needed and the period is a sign that a longer pause is needed. Great! Let's look in our book and read aloud using the information that we see about the two signs, the comma and the period, that we have discussed.
Have students get in groups and have them:
- Infer by smell: Block the visual sense with a blindfold. Have student infer what something is by its smell, for example, perfume, onion, peach, apple, banana, and rose.
- Infer by taste: Infer what something is by its taste, for example, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and lemon.
- Infer by sound: Infer what something is by sound. Have the students identify familiar sounds they hear during the day. For example, the school bell points to the beginning and end of classes, a cat's meow points to a cat; a dog's bark to a dog, the cry of an infant to a baby, the roar of jet engines overhead to a plane flying, a traffic horn to a vehicle like a car or truck, the sound of splashing to rain, the creaking of bending branches to the wind, sirens to emergency vehicles, etc.
- Infer by visual cues: Provide small sand trays with small objects such as toy cars, trucks, blocks, cups and have students make imprints of these in the sand. They can also use their hands or fingers. One student can make an imprint and the other can try to infer what it stands for. Have fun with all these activities.
Pick a book you would like for your students to read. For example:
teacher: Today we are going to read a book about a little boy who lives with his family in Alaska. In the book are many pictures. See if you can discover some traces in the pictures. When you find one, write it down and write a sentence about what you can infer from it. Write down also the page number so we can get back to all the traces and discuss them together as a group. - Think about this brain tool and how, when you choose to use it, it enables you to discover information from traces.
You can add a discussion about signs.
teacher: We call some marks signs rather than traces. Signs are marks that have a specific meaning people have agreed upon. For example:
teacher: Make a '=' sign on the board
teacher: Ok
teacher: Point to '='
teacher: What does this mean to you?
student: It stands for equal. Like 2 plus 2 is equal to 4.
teacher: Yes. It's a sign that stands for something. This one stands for being equal to. What about this mark?
teacher: Write '?' on the board.
teacher: What does '?' mean?
student: It stands for a question.
teacher: Yes. What about this?
teacher: Write the letter c on the board).
student: It's a c, a letter of the alphabet.
teacher: Yes, it is a letter of the alphabet. All letters are signs that work in ways people have agreed upon. They represent sounds. And combinations of sounds point to objects or events. They stand for or represent these objects or events. So the letters a, c, and t when put together like this.
teacher: Write CAT on the board.
teacher: mean what?
students: Cat!
teacher: Yes. When we see the word cat we actually get a picture in our minds of an animal with whiskers even though the letters c, a, t themselves look nothing like a cat. What are some other kinds of signs that you can think of?
student: How about a stop sign?
teacher: A stop sign is a good example. People in our country have agreed that this shape ...
teacher: Draw a stop sign on the board.
teacher: ... stands for STOP. You must come to a full stop before you proceed. The meaning of signs can change because signs get their meaning from people who agree what they should mean. So if the people with authority to decide such things want to use a different shape for a stop sign, it could be changed. Of course, it might not be a good idea to change such an important sign. It could be confusing and even dangerous for many people.
teacher: What about these signs in written English:.,
teacher: Write a period and a comma on the board
student: One of them is a comma!
teacher: You are right. This one here is a comma.
teacher: Points to the comma.
teacher: What is the comma a sign of?
student: A pause. You stop reading, wait a little and then start again.
teacher: Yes, that is true. Does anyone know what this signs is called?
teacher: Point to the period.
student: It is a little dot - it's a period.
teacher: Yes, you a right, it is a little dot, it's a period. At the end of a sentence, a little dot is called a period. And just like a comma, it is a sign that the reader should make a pause. What is the difference between a period and a comma? Both of them indicate that the reader should make a pause. So in some way they are the same. But how are they different?
student: One pause is longer than the other.
teacher: You are right. Which one is the longer pause? Do you know?
student: The comma means a short pause and the period means a longer pause.
teacher: That is correct. The difference between the comma and the period is that the comma is a sign that a short pause is needed and the period is a sign that a longer pause is needed. Great! Let's look in our book and read aloud using the information that we see about the two signs, the comma and the period, that we have discussed.
Activity for older students: Grades 4-6.
Have students complete the following task in pairs. Once they complete the task, have them share their answers and comments with the whole class.
teacher: Which objects do the following traces or signs point to or bring to mind? Match the trace or sign on the left with its correct object on the right. Be sure you can explain why they match. Also, think about which ones are traces and which ones are signs - and explain why you think so.
After the activity:
Pick a book you would like for your students to read. Connect the book with an activity you and your students can do. For example:
teacher: Now we are going to be reading a book about a mystery. One of the characters in the story is a detective. In reading this book, see if you can find the traces that enable the detective to solve the mystery. How important is it for us to look for meaning from traces and signs? Tomorrow, we are all going to be another kind of detective, an archeologist, to see if we can use clues, or, in other words, traces and signs, to discover how an ancient people lived.
The following day the teacher could have a sandbox area filled with pieces of artifacts that the students will have to discover. Students proceed carefully, assemble the artifacts and use them to infer how the people lived. This activity, and this KCF, can be connected to the science, history or geography curriculum. For example, in a science class students may use this KCF to infer properties of animals from traces that are left behind, such as the skeletons of dinosaurs. A history lesson may focus on the traces left by the remnants of the lodgings of early settlers and how we can study them to learn much about the settlers, who they were and how they lived. A geography class may orient students to look for signs of climate change. Give students plenty of opportunities to detect meaning from traces and signs.
Note: In this introductory dialogue we have not covered symbols. Think about how you might introduce symbols and help your students learn to infer from this third type of substitute. Keep in mind that symbols themselves participate in what they stand for. Symbols arise within a cultural context. This is what enables symbols such as flags and anthems to arouse strong emotions in people.
Have students complete the following task in pairs. Once they complete the task, have them share their answers and comments with the whole class.
| Traces and Signs | Objects |
| Branch | Dinosaur |
| Smoke | Dollar |
| Footprint | Bees |
| Pacifer | Ambulance |
| Skeleton | Spring |
| Buds on trees | And |
| Snow | Subtract |
| Siren | Cat |
| $ | Birds |
| % | Winter |
| & | Tree |
| + | Shoe |
| - | Fire |
| x | Percent |
| Honeycomb | Baby |
| Nest | Add |
| Kittens | Multiply |
After the activity:
Pick a book you would like for your students to read. Connect the book with an activity you and your students can do. For example:
teacher: Now we are going to be reading a book about a mystery. One of the characters in the story is a detective. In reading this book, see if you can find the traces that enable the detective to solve the mystery. How important is it for us to look for meaning from traces and signs? Tomorrow, we are all going to be another kind of detective, an archeologist, to see if we can use clues, or, in other words, traces and signs, to discover how an ancient people lived.
The following day the teacher could have a sandbox area filled with pieces of artifacts that the students will have to discover. Students proceed carefully, assemble the artifacts and use them to infer how the people lived. This activity, and this KCF, can be connected to the science, history or geography curriculum. For example, in a science class students may use this KCF to infer properties of animals from traces that are left behind, such as the skeletons of dinosaurs. A history lesson may focus on the traces left by the remnants of the lodgings of early settlers and how we can study them to learn much about the settlers, who they were and how they lived. A geography class may orient students to look for signs of climate change. Give students plenty of opportunities to detect meaning from traces and signs.
Note: In this introductory dialogue we have not covered symbols. Think about how you might introduce symbols and help your students learn to infer from this third type of substitute. Keep in mind that symbols themselves participate in what they stand for. Symbols arise within a cultural context. This is what enables symbols such as flags and anthems to arouse strong emotions in people.