DoES ANYONE HAVE IDEAS ON HOW TO USE THE GENIUS LADDER WHHEN YOU ARE IN A MATH CLASS, OR A SCIENCE CLASS?CAN ANYONE HHELP ME THINK OF ANY "BLAH" SENTENCES IN MATH THAT WOULD LEAD TO GOOD SENTENCE /PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT USING THE GENIUS LADDER?

I TEACH IN A K THROUGH 6 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.

ssana...Math and science are areas that definitely need to have some writing in them, but we just all forget that piece sometimes. So let's give it a try!

Math:
Blah: The problem works.
Spicy: The addition problem works.
Complexor/Extender: The tricky addition problem works well with small numbers.
Genius: The tricky addition problem works well with small numbers. The small numbers help me keep track of what I am doing. When I do this problem, I like being able to get the right answer.

Science:
Blah: A volcano erupts.
Spicy: A cone volcano erupts.
Complexor/extender: A cone volcano erupts when ....
Genius: A cone volcano erupts when.........

Now ssan, I am using an updated Genius ladder that was just tweeked at the Phoenix conference, late last month. It is all explained in the new WBT Model Classroom 2.0 download on our website.

Try these out, because others will want to do it also...I know I'm going to do some writing in both of these subjects also this year.

Great Question!

Chris

Thanks Chris. Students are required to explain their answers and how they solved them on math assessments. Practicing with the genius ladder should help them with this!

Rebecca

A more natural WBT writing technique for math might be the Oral Writing pattern. Every question must be answered with a complete sentence. Then, add an Adder or two and finish with a Concluder. As students become more proficient, they can use because Adders, for example adders, also adders. So, the question might be, "What is the answer to question 4?" Answer: "The answer to question 4 is 19." Because Adder: "The answer is 19 because ... ' For example Adder "For example ... " Also adder, "Also ... " Concluder, "To sum up, ...."

I use the oral language pattern to help my students explain what they are doing and why. For example when solving 1 step algebra problems I ask, "Tell me about this problem." Student says, "I'm trying to isolate the variable." Another student, "So I need to do the inverse operation which is.....
This continues until the problem is solved.
It works pretty well with my 8th graders. Boy is it hard for them to talk about math, but they are doing better and gaining confidence everyday.
Oh Yeah
algebrateach