NEWSDAY IN EDUCATION / MIDDLE COUNTRY TEACHER CENTER

Lesson #4

In-service Course

Ben Amato | Newfield HIgh School Within every lesson we present to our classes, there is always ONE MAIN IDEA that we want our students to grasp. I call this THE MAIN THING, or TMT for short. This week's lesson concerns itself with TMT and how this can have an explosive effect on your teaching style. We all learn best in a different way. Some of us favor visualization. Others must hear it to understand. Many need the words in print, while others must write notes or key words to fully grasp meaning. But underneath all forms of learning styles lies a central concept, one governing set of facts that encapsulates a story or topic. This is THE MAIN THING, TMT. The real goal of teaching should be to provide students with the skills they need to become independent learners. To get the main idea of a story or event, certain important words or concepts are needed. A simple vocabulary activity can be used to help students get their hands on TMT. A typical Multimedia lesson contains the video component and the newspaper article. Take a look at the Multimedia lesson on the Ronald Reagan film that was pressured off of national television. The address is:
http://www.newsday.com/about/custom/nie/ny-lesson_110503.story. Now prior to playing the video section of the lesson, place these words on a piece of paper in a random order.

Dumped
Fiction
Pressure
Boycott
Respect

Intimidation
Verify
Balanced
Portrayal
Reagan

Now "pair up" the words according to the following criteria;

Words that are similar

Words that relate to each other according to topic

Then ask yourself this a simple question, WHAT DO YOU THINK THE STORY IS ABOUT? (What is the TMT) Now play the video clip and do the multiple-choice questions. Here are the TMT words from the newspaper article. Try pairing them up. Then read the article. You will be amazed at how this activity can enhance your understanding of the article and the issues involved.

CRITIC
CONSERVATIVE
SHOWTIME
FICTION
OWNERSHIP
HUMANE
FOUR

TALK
TOUCH
AIDS
BOYCOTT
MAJOR
SCRIPT
APPALLING

Move on to the WEEK #4 ASSIGNMENT page and practice creating TMT lessons on your own.