Ridgewood Analogies
by Ridgewood, NJ, Public Schools, George Libonate, Jr., Gae Brunner, Deborah Burde, Jean Schoenlank, Marianne Williams, Terri Wiss
Grades 4–8
This series of books, developed by teachers in the Ridgewood, New Jersey, Public Schools, is based on the curriculum they have been using with their elementary and middle-school students for the past 10 years.
Ridgewood students begin in kindergarten to use analogies in language arts, social studies, science, and math as a way of identifying relationships and making connections. Why? Teachers’ experience has been that solving analogies helps students become independent thinkers and problem solvers.
Once students learn how to solve analogies–and to create their own–they can use these abilities in any subject, as ways of learning and remembering information.
For example, when studying verb tenses, they can formulate grammar analogies:
begin : began : : sit : sat.
Students can create social studies analogies when studying American history:
Thomas Jefferson : Declaration of Independence : : James Madison : Constitution;
in math:
subtraction : addition : : division : multiplication,
5 : 10 : : 6 : 12,
and in science:
tadpole : frog : : caterpillar : moth.
Skills Addressed
|
• Categorizing
• Vocabulary across content areas
• Similarities and differences
• Analogies
• Comparison
• Critical thinking
|
|
