Unlock with PatreonThe Problem with CI
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
Cloze Technique
Share:
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn
Ben Slavic
Get The Latest Updates
Subscribe to Our Mailing List
No spam, notifications only about new products, updates.
Related Posts
CI and the Research (cont.)
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
Research Question
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
We Have the Research
To view this content, you must be a member of Ben’s Patreon at $10 or more Unlock with PatreonAlready a qualifying Patreon member? Refresh to
5 thoughts on “Cloze Technique”
Nice technique! I will try it. I’ve done retells where I ask students to talk with a partner and help each other remember the story, and then asked for volunteers to retell to the class after that partner practice. But few can/will do such a challenging, public retell. What you describe would be a lighter way to “quiz” the whole class’ comprehension level without pulling out a real, paper quiz.
And then as they walk out of the classroom tell them that everybody gets a 10 or whatever (perfect quz grade) because they are so smart. Builds class unity. Brings in slower students. Builds morale. Tells them that you like them. Nothing motivates like success!*
[credit: Susan Gross]
Even better. They’ll love that.
I have done exercises that are similar, but have run into problems. This is great if you get the big choral response. But I find that I just get 3-4 kids shouting the right answer. If I demand a choral response, the others might eventually parrot the 3-4 but it obviously doesn’t show that they know it. Do you just go back and circle that information again?
I find that my students get more lost on the details of the story than the key structures. If we say that in the 3 different locations, the girl loves a fish in one, a bear in the other, and a boy from the class in the 3rd, my kids forget which the girl loved in the 1st location, even though most of them get that she loved something. I suppose that is why the details should be memorable. But obviously I am doing something wrong.
For my poorly behaving class I did a written version of this, with a word bank and all, and they struggled mightily to fill it in. I suppose that is just confirmation that they aren’t really paying attention (like I didn’t already know!)
The other way I liked to do this was to tell the stories with wrong details filled in and have them correct me.
I call it the “forgetful teacher” exercise. I start the retell and pause, as if I can’t remember what happened next. If I don’t immediately get a response, I ask, “Did he go to Chicago or to New York?” I ham it up, scratching my head, etc. And the kids fill in the right answer and feel very superior. As you say, it’s a good way to see how much they have acquired, but it’s also a good way to get in more reps.