PLAYLIST: CONNECT THE MINDS (CTM) QUIZ - PDFs for College, HS, MS, and a try at Elementary

[Ryan Goble]

This post that is a follow up to the larger blog post and article - PLAYLIST: CONNECT THE MINDS (CTM) ACTIVITY + ARTICLE PDF!!!.


l decided to add these CTM Quiz PDFs because people, like Margaret Carhart, have started sending updates on how they used the CTM activity in their classes.  Margaret said that "once [her students] got going, they didn't want to stop--somewhat magical!"

She was even cool enough to post a photo of her class rocking CTM!

CTM taps into the magic of asking students about "what they do know" as opposed to multiple choice tests that often try to find out "what students don't know."

CTM allows students to create new knowledge by connecting ideas in ways they had not previously imagined.  I was excited to hear how much this rocked for Ms. Carhart.  You should visit the original post to see how she remixed CTM for her class study of Ellison's novel The Invisible Man!

I some folks will say, "well CTM is pretty cool, but we need to spend more time on individual assessments" or "we can't always do group assessments."   As the Byrds (and Bible) remind us, "to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose, under Heaven"  

So today I'm going to show you how you can rock some of the CTM magic in an individualized (and highly differentiated) assessment using the CTM Quiz PDFs.

As I've explained before, I have a strong aversion to multiple choice tests because students tend to treat these like an episode of Jeopardy as opposed to a real deal learning experience.  I do, however, strongly believe holding students accountable for reading and learning (duh), I just think this can actually be done in a way that is interesting, challenging and fun.

I was teaching an undergrad "fiction to film" course when I wrote the prototype CTM quizzes for my students.  Those quizzes allowed students to choose any passage/scene or idea that interested them from specific text and films to frame their unique answers.   Questions looked something like this:

There would be six questions on the quiz.  The last two questions were more open ended allowing students to chose their own texts to connect.  

Just this week, I finally sat down and made universal CTM Quiz PDFs similar to the good 'ol DID YOU READ QUIZ?" - CARTOON EDITION

Below you'll find three PDFs attached, one for the high school / college set...

One for the middle school crew...

and a valiant attempt at one for the elementary teacher gang...

I'm a 6-College guy so I would REALLY welcome feedback on ways to improve the elementary document.  I was thinking about adding graphics for the words "read," "hear," "see" and "think" - but it will take me a while to find cool clip art if that is something folks think would help.

NOTES ON THE USE OF CTM QUIZZES

You can use CTM Quizzes any time you want students to make links between multiple texts.  I have a CTM Test (will blog on that science example at a later date) I use for a final assessment.  The CTM Test starts with a big bank of multi-modal texts students can chose from.

The attached PDFs are "universal" in that you or the students can specify texts.  If you're looking to check for understanding of specific texts (debate, film clips, labs, field trips, lectures, books, etc.) you can write key texts on any of the attached PDFs before you Xerox them for students.

OTHER THOUGHTS

• You can use one page or both pages.  Depends on how many questions you want to ask.

• This is a great way to see how students are connecting a core text to labs, problems, other readings, etc.

• This is quiz can be used as pre-writing for essays as it forces students to start gathering evidence from texts.

• Like the "Cartoon Did You Read?" Quiz this is a fun and easy way to grade assessment because there are so many right answers.  

• Remember, in a post-modern world ANYTHING can be considered a text; as Paulo Freire said, “we must read the word and the world.” 

I would love to know what people think about these beta versions of the CTM Quizzes. I'm always looking to improve the Playlist tools! 

Thanks for reading and have a great Friday!

RRG:)

[Jennifer Tucker]

I cannot wait to spring CTM on my kiddies! I am planning to use it as a review with my 9th-grade Honors students after reading selections from The Odyssey and with my 12th-grade Comprehensive students as an introduction to Othello. I have attached my prompts for others to use. (I am also looking for feedback.)

[Jennifer Tucker]

I forgot to add the dash of irony to my previous post. While reading Ryan Gobel's article "Within Technology, Without Technology," I became intrigued by the activity "Connect The Minds." The irony is that I am blessed with an English classroom featuring 32 computers maintained by a crack tech team. I will have to leave my room to find a space where we can move the desks and use paper. My kiddies will think this novel!

[Ryan Goble]

Jennifer, thank you so much for writing and sharing - those PDFs and questions look great - good set 'o questions! Please do write back and let us know how it goes. Photos = crazy bonus points :) lol.

[Kim]

This week, I completed a CTM Reflection for Ryan's class. I like how it challenged me to think outside the box!

While I was working, I started to think about how I could adapt this for my junior high Social Studies students. This is such a great differentiation tool because it provides a flexible structure that taps into Bloom's Taxonomy while giving students choices on how they want to present their knowledge.

The CTM also helps with writing skills in Social Studies (i.e.: citing text, using ideas from text to support your thinking). I look forward to using this in my own classroom.

Ryan, could students use pictures to explain their rationale?

[Ryan Goble]

Kim - OF COURSE!! Glad you enjoyed the tool! Make sure you do a really good job so I can scan it as an example :)