Thinking Foundation - Research - Case Studies - Mt. Airy

Overview
Topics to be discussed:

linking reading text structure research to cognitive patters
results from first graders' fluency with Thinking Maps^®
multiple Thinking Maps^® applied to phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension

While I am reading, my mind adds Thinking Maps all by itself, and suddenly I know more than I knew!
(student in Cristina Smith's first-grade class, Mr. Airy School, Maryland

At Mt. Airy Elementary School, in a classroom of first-grade studetnts, on a morning in mid-May, we watched as a third-year teacher read the guiding question for the day: "how will you organize your thinking about this book?" While this may seem to be an unfocused question, the teacher knew the students could meaningfully respond. The book, How Leo Learned to Be King, rested on the chalkboard tray with its colorful picture of a crowned lion on the cover, set there after it had been read aloud the day before. This is an inclusive classroom of students in a modest suburban neighborhood school, a school that had experienced a 15% decline in writing scores over the previous two years and mediocre reading scores as the population swelled beyond the original building and into portables.

The Road to Reading Comprehension - an Interview with Principal Thomasina DePinto Piercy, Ph.D. - Mt. Airy Elementary
An interview by David Hyerle, Ed.D. with the principal of Mt. Airy Elementary School Thomasina DePinto Piercy, Ph.D. The interview includes sections on: Using Thinking Maps; Thinking Maps with Leadership; Making Connections with Thinking Maps; Growth with Students; and Comprehension. More information about Mt. Airy Elementary School is part of the book Student Successes With Thinking Maps.

view the video

This year student performance changed significantly upward and was reflected on state tests as scores generally fell across Maryland. Mt. Airy Elementary School has risen to the highest performing school in our county since providing reading and writing instruction with Thinking Maps. Our data supports the observations we see in classrooms: ThinkingMaps significantly impact instruction and improve student performance.

While this is important news, a closer look shows that students have changed how they are understanding texts: They are surfacing dynamic patterns of content from the linear landscape, the wall of text. The range of structures bound within line-by-line text becomes unveiled in the form of mental maps as shown in Figure 6.1a-g. They are changing the form, transforming text. Step into a classroom and observe a teacher and you will see how this works.




		Research - Case Studies Mt. Airy Elementary School: Case Study Overview Mt. Airy, Maryland Overview Topics to be discussed: linking reading text structure research to cognitive patters results from first graders' fluency with Thinking Maps^® multiple Thinking Maps^® applied to phonics, vocabulary and reading comprehension While I am reading, my mind adds Thinking Maps all by itself, and suddenly I know more than I knew! (student in Cristina Smith's first-grade class, Mr. Airy School, Maryland At Mt. Airy Elementary School, in a classroom of first-grade studetnts, on a morning in mid-May, we watched as a third-year teacher read the guiding question for the day: "how will you organize your thinking about this book?" While this may seem to be an unfocused question, the teacher knew the students could meaningfully respond. The book, How Leo Learned to Be King, rested on the chalkboard tray with its colorful picture of a crowned lion on the cover, set there after it had been read aloud the day before. This is an inclusive classroom of students in a modest suburban neighborhood school, a school that had experienced a 15% decline in writing scores over the previous two years and mediocre reading scores as the population swelled beyond the original building and into portables. The Road to Reading Comprehension - an Interview with Principal Thomasina DePinto Piercy, Ph.D. - Mt. Airy Elementary An interview by David Hyerle, Ed.D. with the principal of Mt. Airy Elementary School Thomasina DePinto Piercy, Ph.D. The interview includes sections on: Using Thinking Maps; Thinking Maps with Leadership; Making Connections with Thinking Maps; Growth with Students; and Comprehension. More information about Mt. Airy Elementary School is part of the book Student Successes With Thinking Maps. view the video This year student performance changed significantly upward and was reflected on state tests as scores generally fell across Maryland. Mt. Airy Elementary School has risen to the highest performing school in our county since providing reading and writing instruction with Thinking Maps. Our data supports the observations we see in classrooms: ThinkingMaps significantly impact instruction and improve student performance. While this is important news, a closer look shows that students have changed how they are understanding texts: They are surfacing dynamic patterns of content from the linear landscape, the wall of text. The range of structures bound within line-by-line text becomes unveiled in the form of mental maps as shown in Figure 6.1a-g. They are changing the form, transforming text. Step into a classroom and observe a teacher and you will see how this works.