Makes Sense Strategies

Examples of how teachers use SMARTsheet ™

SMARTsheets™ are research based teaching tools based on 3 fundamental principles:

Students learn better when they are actively engaged in processing new information in meaningful ways.

Increasing the learn-ability of information or skills is preferable to dumbing them down.

Students should focus on understanding big ideas rather than memorizing trivia.

Edwin Ellis, Ph.D.

Professor, University of Alabama

Research Affiliate, University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning

President, Makes Sense Strategies, LLC

Edwin S. Ellis has conducted scientific research on strategic instruction for over 30 years and works extensively on putting that research into practice. While his scholarship is well known and studied in the academic community, the practical, user-friendly instructional materials stemming from his research is used extensively in intermediate, middle, and high schools as well as in teacher-preparation programs throughout the US and Canada.

Makes Sense Strategies™ is the culmination of over 15 years of research examining ways to utilize principles of brain-based learning and strategic instruction to make complex information more readily understandable, meaningful, and memorable. AYP test scores in schools implementing MSS attest to the robustness of this work.

What Teachers Say..

"This stuff has totally changed my way of thinking about teaching. We used the Frame for everything -- taking notes when reading, organizing ideas when writing, planning projects, organizing activities, brainstorming ideas -- I mean everything. It's really helped my students learn how to organize their thinking. The Frame is one of the best, most versatile teaching tools I've ever seen. My kids are always focusing on the main ideas and the big picture.

Theresa Farmer, 2001-02 Ala Teacher of the Year Fifth grade teacher Oak Mountain Intermediate School Birmingham, AL

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