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Targeting an Age Group



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Sun Dec 15, 2013 6:59 pm
ShadowKnight155 says...



I'm just starting some personal research on this, but what are some tips on targeting writing for an age group?

Recently I had to do an assignment at my school where some fellow students and I had to teach first graders. In preparing for the assignment, we really didn't know enough to properly gauge where to target our presentation.

So, now I am looking into creating some content for an undecided grade level (math related). The content will be both written and in video format, but I am unsure as to what vocabulary to use (in sentences and descriptions, not math related vocab), how verbose I should be in my instructions, and how fast I should talk/move.

Since I don't yet have a target grade level, (probably 4th grade?) I can't really create any half decent content, but I am looking for some general info and tips on targeting.
By nature, all language is flawed.

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Sun Dec 15, 2013 10:35 pm
Rosendorn says...



Research other materials that target that age group.

This includes lesson plans, work books, fiction, and any videos. Notice what they use consistently, the sentence styles, ect.

As a general rule for any sort of instructions you're giving, especially to under high school: Do not be verbose at all. Strip what you want to say down to the simplest terms/concepts possible and break it down into something you can summarize in a paragraph.

This is incredibly difficult to do and will require you to know the material inside and out.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  





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Mon Dec 16, 2013 1:50 am
Tenyo says...



I read books on child psychology when I first started teaching, so I knew all the ins and outs of how the brain develops and at what age and what different age groups know.

I also read books on normal psychology which covered things like special needs, and books about behaviour. I read a lot of books. One of the most fascinating things to me when I was growing up was... well... growing up.

How it happens, what it's like for others, what does growing up look like to grown ups?

I knew everything there was to know, so I was well prepared when I had to stand in front of a classroom (as a helper) and organise some activities.

I was prepared for that pen that fell on the floor, and how kindly I would pick it up and remind the child to say thankyou and then I would say you're welcome.

I wasn't prepared for the bugger on the underside of the table I put my hand on. Or how badly designed my trousers were for scrambling around after kids. Or how that really smart kid who stared at me like what I was saying was the most interesting thing in the world, was actually finding my necklace the most interesting thing in the world.

What grown ups perceive children to be and what children actually are, are two very, very different things.

The best advice is to talk to them. Play with them. Pick them up and rattle them about a bit.

If you tell a seven year old that X could mean any number and that three times X is six, they're going to listen eagerly to your slow and in depth explanation for as long as it takes for their friend to tie your shoelaces together.

If you put two sweets in an X shaped box and then rattle it and say 'if I had three of these boxes I'd have six sweets,' they'll figure it out rather quickly.

But you'll never know until you talk to them in the same way you need to talk to someone from another culture to understand what makes you different, and where to meet in the middle.
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Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:29 pm
ShadowKnight155 says...



Thank you, very useful advice!

Rosey, that makes a lot of sense. But, can you clarify: Do not be verbose at all. I think it may have been my own ignorance, as I intended verbose to mean very clear (overly clear, probably), rather than wordy. Do you mean, instead of saying 10 different ways of doing something, pick the clearest and simplest direction? (that may sound obvious, but I see a lot of my HS math teachers doing this; probably prompted by the idea of different learning styles...)

And Tenyo, that's a good reminder of how different an elementary classroom is from the high school one. I'm hoping to get observation in, unlike in our last assignment. Yet, I was very surprised how mature and intelligent the first graders were. They were eager, interested, and respectful.

So what I'm seeing is that visuals are a lot more important than the lecture that I'm now so used to. I remember in fifth grade always doing lots of homework on the board, but I don't really remember how his presentations went.
By nature, all language is flawed.

"Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding," - Albert Einstein
  





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Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:40 am
Rosendorn says...



Verbose means to be wordy (actual definition according to Google: using or expressed in more words than are needed) so when I say not to be verbose I mean to be as clear and simple as possible.

Also, do not necessarily pick one definition. People do have a lot of learning styles, and accommodating them is fairly important. Some people will be far more visually oriented, some will be auditory (lecture) oriented, and some will be kinaesthetic ("must do it") oriented.

Therefore, have a bunch of ways to explain something but make sure they are all very simple. Use metaphors and explain how to break things down. Have them read something, hear something, and do something. Have them explain their steps so people know what they did, but only do that after they've all got something down.

Engage them. People learn more when they're interested in what's going on. Have them ask questions. Ask them questions and have them answer. Illustrate concepts. Provide worksheets and tip sheets.

Be entertaining. Hide problems in silly stories, but don't make them super intimidating word problems. Move around the room, be animated. This works quite well in all grades.

Show passion. Love the material and show how awesome it is. Give practical application for it. If you're doing percentages, for example, explain how useful they are if you're at the mall and only have $20 to spend. If you know percentages, you'll know exactly how much tax you'll have to pay on what you buy. Then, they'll never worry about coming up short if they shop for themselves. Like Ten said, two candies in three boxes, and how many you have.

Figure out what makes them bored. Kids have some very clear tells for when they're interested and when they aren't. Learn those tells and adjust your explanation style until you see them interested again. You might need twenty ways of explaining something, until you find the one that works for that group.

Have thirty ways of explaining a concept. Come up with every single example you could possibly think of and keep trying concepts on the kids until one sticks.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo

Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
  








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