Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

All of these are used to activate students’ prior knowledge in a subject, which can aid them by

providing a mindset for any given subject.

Alan RaskKLPM

Spring 2011

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Cues or Questions: activate students’ prior knowledge giving hints or questioning the students’ current knowledge. Example: Watching a movie in a biology classroom preceded by a

hint that the video will be about cell structure, and that some of the information will be on a test.

A simple guide to questioning and cuing: Focus on the important, not on the unusual Higher level questions help students achieve a deeper knowledge

base than lower level questions Appropriate wait time allows students to formulate deeper

responses Questions asked before a lesson are used to provide a mindset

Alan RaskKLPM

Spring 2011

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Advance Organizers: given before learning that are of a higher level of knowledge than the information in a lesson. Like cues and questions, they create a scaffolding for more detailed knowledge that follows.

Successful advance organizers:Focus on the important, rather than the unusual.Higher level advance organizers produce deeper

learning than lower level advance organizers.Organize previously unorganized information.Differ in type depending on the strategy employed.

Alan RaskKLPM

Spring 2011

Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers

Types of advance organizers and their uses:Expository – describe new content that students are

to be exposed for relevant mindset in advance.Narrative – present information in story format for an

easier way to chunk information in the mind.Skimming information – skimming before reading to

pick up some main ideas or terms. Graphic – nonlinguistic representations of

information to create a visual image of how the information flows.Example: concept map that shows an ecosystem’s

hierarchy or the stages of digestion.Alan Rask

KLPMSpring 2011