Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?

Have you ever told a student something and gotten a blank stare, then told them the same thing in a different way and watched it “click”? Sometimes, students need to learn the same thing in a few ways. Learning from different representations of content also helps novice learners move new learning from short- to long-term memory, as learning new things in different ways often activates different parts of the brain. When the brain engages with the same content in a variety of ways, the content is more likely to stick. This is the basic tenet behind the concept of “four ways to do/say/ tell the same thing.” It also supports Universal Design for Learning.  

Take a SIP of this: four ways to do/say/tell the same thing 

The SIP Squad has written before about Universal Design for Learning. You can see some of the prior SIPs below in the “Still thirsty?” section.  

One aspect of UDL is the idea of multiple means of representation, offering information in more than one format (CAST Representation). 

Think about how many ways in your content area you can offer information and concepts, such as readings, videos, learning from others, manipulatives and labs. There are so many ways for students to read, write, speak, listen and manipulate things in the name of learning.  

For one new lesson plan, challenge yourself to ask, “Can I share four representations of X concept in class or in the next module?” Then, list as many ways as you can think of to represent the concept. Choose four.

Here are a few examples: 

If you teach Chemistry, you can: 1. provide drawings; 2. explain aloud; 3. find an image online; and/or 4. create a model of certain types of bonds to share with students. 

If you teach Hospitality, you can 1. share different tourism brochures; 2. invite a travel agent to speak; 3. share a nonfiction account of a tourist’s experiences; and/or 4. provide an up-to-date article to support the topic of travel and tourism. 

If you teach Math, you can 1. teach the process of Japanese Lesson Study; 2. demonstrate three strategies to solve the same problem; 3. share a TikTok video of someone doing linear algebra; and/or 4. share a nonexample and see if students can see where someone made a misstep (like in the video “My favorite no”).  

In each example, students have four ways to access the information and concepts, four more chances for everything to “stick.” 

And as always, asking students to find four representations or to develop four representations of a concept is also a great aspect of UDL, Action and Expression. The great thing about asking students is that you can ask to collect their examples and add their examples to future courses as well.  

The best part is that four is not a magic number. Students learn better when the information reaches different parts of their brains. So try two, three or four ways to teach the same thing and see what happens. 

Still thirsty? Take another SIP of four ways to do/say/tell the same thing