Mind+Maps

Mind Maps is an idea that my mentor passed onto me from a graduate class that she was taking. The students will need colored pencils, crayons or markers, a blank sheet of paper, and a list of vocabulary. The student begins with a main topic, such as "Diversiones Culturales," in the center of the page and circles it, boxes it in, etc. Then the students draw sub-topics from the main concept, each in a different color. For instance, one could be "en el cine" in red and another could be "en el teatro" in green. From each of those sub-topics, the student draws branches for the vocabulary terms associated with the sub-topic. For instance, "en el cine" includes "el boleto." In red (the same color as the sub-topic), the student writes "el boleto" extending from "en el cine" and draws a picture of "el boleto" to remind him/her of the vocabulary word. The students also continue this trend for "en el teatro" with all of the related vocabulary terms in green. Not only are the sub-topics color-coded, but the student also has a visual representation of the vocabulary word. My mentor said that she tried this vocabulary organizing technique in one class last year and didn't do it in another, and the quiz/test scores of the class who participated were significantly higher!! user:blitzsar