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Lesson #2 or Why I Love the Frayer Model

 


The Frayer Model is as tried and true as a graphic organizer gets. The Frayer Model is easy to use, its versatile, it can do vocab, it can do content, it can do it all really. That's why I love it so much. The Frayer Model is one of the most used practices in my classroom and in lesson 2 of the year I introduce it to my students.

In lesson 2 students get 2 reps using the Frayer Model. In the first rep, we Frayer a Friend, which is straight from the EduProtocols. A nice breakdown of the practice is found here. I  adjusted this model to highlight some of our class norms and terms as well. My version can be seen below:


Glows in our classroom are things that we are doing really well either individually or as a class. For example, a class glow would be getting a 95% on a Round 2 of Fast and Curious. On the other hand a groan is something that is not going well in the classroom. For example, if we did not get get above a 85% on our Round 2 of Fast and Curious. Further, we can grow to move that groan to a glow!

To Frayer our Friend, students could pick their partner with a twist. All of our desks are numbered, so if your seat had an even number you could not partner with another even number (visa versa for odd numbers). As I let students pick their seats for this day, students did not get to work with the person they chose to sit next to that day. Overall, this part went really well as students go to connect to students they might not otherwise work with. I think next year I may try to add a connection box to this activity that allows students to connect on glows and groans with others throughout the room.

Next, I had students Frayer Any "Thing." Here I gave students free reign to frayer pretty much any "thing" they wanted. It was my hope that their choice would help cut through any issues of how to do the frayer because of their in depth knowledge of their "thing," 


This model is a basic set-up we use for any vocabulary frayers. The State [define] box is a typical area for the definition of the topic, the Exemplify space provides students with the opportunity to provide 3 or more examples, the Elaborate space asks students to write a sentence using the vocab term (in 7 or more words), and the Illustrate space allows students to draw the word. By allowing students to choose their "thing" I was hoping to lessen the cognitive load to complete these tasks because they should be very knowledgeable of their subject. 

Overall, students did a great job with both frayers. I look forward to reading about some of the students' "things" in their frayers. I noticed a lot of sports, but also musicians, bands, shows and games too. To me, the best part of this assignment is that it allows students to learn a process of the classroom in an accessible way that also allows the teacher to get to know their students. 

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