The Cone of Learning

"Dad, how do I make your Italian dressing again?" These are famous words I always ask my dad when we visit him. He always tells me and then does it for me. Ultimately, I end up forgetting because we only remember 50% of what we hear and see. Our students are victim of this same thing if we never allow them to explain things to us and provide them with hands on experiences. A famous quote by Confucius, "I see and I forget. I hear and I remember. I do and I understand," is essential for teachers to remember when designing their lessons and activities.

Keeping that in mind, in a lesson about Native American's, I would have the lesson objective be to design and build a replica California Native American (Ohlone) Tule House. I would provide the students with pool noodles, tape, ribbon (to use a ties), and paper that looks like wood. To embed the vocabulary into the unit, the students will refer to the part as its real name. For example, if they are connecting the tule with ribbon, they will call it willow branches instead of ribbon. I will have each part labeled, so the students know. Below is an example of what it would look like once built.

As the student design and build the Tule House, they will be collaborating ideas about best methods for constructing it. They will need to defend their ideas for why they think it will be the best way to build the structure. They will need to work together with their teammates and agree upon how to build it. They will come across obstacles, and will need to figure out as a team how to move forward with the goal of building the Native American home. They will experience what the Ohlone people went through when developing their villages. 

They will be presenting their Tule House to the other 4th grade classrooms where they will share their experiences from building. They will talk about what materials they used, how they constructed it, the obstacles they encountered, and reflect on their favorite parts of the activity. They will then display the house in the library for students to use a quiet reading space. 

It is clear that this lesson includes hands on activities in which the students are the ones doing and talking. If we want student's to remember lessons, we need to make them student centered where they are actively taking the role of talking and doing. They become the teachers. Otherwise, if teachers are the only ones doing the talking and students are only listening, they will quickly forget everything that was taught.  Looking back, if I really want to remember how to make my dad's famous Italian dressing, I need to be the one to make the dressing while he assists by answering any questions I have. I should also be telling him about each step so that I am both doing and saying because according to Edgar Dale, "We tend to remember 90% of what we SAY and DO!" Clearly, watching my dad isn't helping me learn and my students won't learn by just watching me. I'll end with, the person that is doing the talking is the one doing the learning.