Learning needs to mean something to the students. If they can't relate to the information, they won't care to learn the information. A pretty easy way to help the students put meaning into a topic is using stories. At first, I was a little confused how to incorporate stories into my teaching. Was I going to have my jr. high students sit on the floor while I read them a story book that had a particular topic in the story? That didn't make any sense to me. I was thinking how can I ensure that every student relates the story the way I want them to relate it? The answer is I can't.
Then I was thinking what it meant to relate stories to students. Then it came to me, relate what they are learning to something they see everyday in their lives. They will provide their own stories dealing with the topic to help them understand. I don't have to make sure they have a meaning to it, because they will be able to add meaning that actually means something to them.
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I think this is one reason some kids are struggling in school. They don't have the stories to relate to the things we are teaching them. The prior knowledge is either not there because they are not having the needed experiances or the teachers cannot relate to the students prior knowledge.
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