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

"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.

At first, I wasn't so sure the Frame would work. But once I started using it and seeing how my students reacted to it, it was like a light going off in my head -- everybody's head, really. I started sharing with other teachers on my hall, and now our whole school uses it. The primary school that feeds Oak Mountain Intermediate is into it big time as well -- kindergarten on up. I'm telling you -- its great!"

back to top

"For years I searched for an effective way to teach my students to write. The PLAN Writing Strategy was not only the most effective, it was the most efficient method for teaching writing. Student scores on the Alabama Direct Writing Assessment improved dramatically after learning the PLAN technique."

back to top

"Yes, The Light Is On!!!!!! I recommend the Make Sense Strategies to all educators as a tool to meet the needs of all students. I believe the Make Sense Strategies help to turn the light on and keep it on for students in ways that last a life- time. These strategies assistance in watering-up the curriculum, gives life and nourishment to the educational development of all students. These strategies also help some to experience educational success for the first time because the Light is On."

back to top

"The Makes Sense Instruction was absolutely phenomenal. I have utilized some of these strategies in the past, but am now looking forward to practicing them with increased intensity and depth, with increased elaboration (which I now know why) will lead to more success for my students."

back to top

"The Make Sense Strategies will help me with my job as reading specialist. The strategies are a means to an end, reading comprehension. I loved it!"

back to top

'"Makes Sense Strategies" provides teachers with strategies (tools) to teach those subjects or topics which present a level of difficulty. The students come alive with enthusiasm and want to participate. WOW!, this is definitely a "motivational" tool."

back to top

"Makes Sense Strategies are appropriately named, they truly, "Make Sense". I am excited about the possibilities within my own classroom and school."

back to top

"Well, it is here!!!! A great wake-up call for me after 22 years of teaching Special Education. The Make Sense Strategies is a refreshing tool and concept to get old information to students in a new way. After years of teaching the same subjects year after year, any teacher will need a new way to present materials to their students. One of the strategies, the Graphic Organizer (Frame) is the most useful tool for my students in writing the summary of an article from the newspaper, taking notes and writing the main idea from the materials they have studied. This strategy did not work or was received immediately, but took a little time. This tool is excellent for teaching in the classroom as well as tutoring your children at home."

back to top

"I am excited to be able to give other teachers usable tools for their classroom that will empower students to learn more effectively and efficiently."

back to top

"I'm a special education teacher who works with a sixth grade middle school team of teachers in a total inclusion situation. WeÕve used the Frame graphic organizer extensively, especially as a tool for facilitating note taking and writing. We were amazed at how well it helped our students. One child with mental retardation was able to write an entire page about his favorite teacher when before about all he could do was string a couple of sentences together -- at best.

We keep copies of the Frame in a box, and students just go up and get one anytime they want. They used to ask permission if they could use one, but now they just go get one anytime. It's become kind of automatic for them -- especially when they are doing group work or cooperative learning activities."

back to top

"During the study, we were using a reversal design. That's where you use the Framing Routine one week, collect data to see how well it works, and then you don't use it the next week, and you collect data to see what happens to students' learning when you do use it. It's like on and off, on and off again. We loved it during the weeks where we used it. The teachers loved using it and so did the students. We hated the off weeks when we couldn't use it. We wanted so badly to use it during those "off" weeks."

back to top

"I took a copy of the Frame down to a local printer and had several poster-sized versions made up and then laminated them. We use the laminated posters for group work. Students note their ideas using water-based markers. To re-use the posters, we just wipe them off with a damp paper towel. The Frames are a great way to structure and focus student's responses during group activities."

back to top

"Frame helps my students to see connections in their learning and they seem to retain more subject content. The Framing Routine organizes ideas and concepts so that the teacher and the student understands the lesson in a more in-depth manner. Using the Frames has opened the door of opportunity for all students to comprehend what they are learning; It's not just the trivial facts when using frame, but the big ideas presented that allows the diverse classroom of today to interpret the lessons.

Students love to keep frames in their notebooks as a study guide and reference. It's easy and fun."

back to top

"The Framing Routine" strengthens my planning and my teaching. It allows me to concentrate on big ideas without getting lost in trivial details. It focuses the student on the main idea providing a solid foundation for reading, writing, discussion, and studying. Framing gives students just enough structure in the thought process to allow them the freedom to become truly creative thinkers.

The Framing technique helps student interns tremendously with the planning process because it concentrates their thinking on the most important aspects of lessons. It helps keep them focused during the instructional process as well. "

back to top

"I've used the Framing Routine with several different ability levels in 4th grade. The students love it because throughout brainstorming and discussion, all of their science content material ends up very organized and much easier for them to understand. My class has also used the Framing Routine to complete summaries and character analysis from basal reading stories The organization of the Framing Routine has really improved my students reading comprehension."

back to top

"The Framing Routine (whole to part organizer) is the most fundamental graphic organizer I share with teachers and graduate students. The structure of the graphic prompts teachers and students to organize their thinking about any content area topic in terms of main ideas and critical details, the most common text structure students encounter in secondary content area classes. As teachers mediate student use of the whole to part organizer (or framing routine) they, in effect, become "cognitive coaches" teaching students how to independently organize factual information during reading, lecture/discussions, or before writing. In my experience, the Framing Routine provides students and teachers one of most practical, powerful, and flexible instructional routines available.

The Framing Routine book provides an extraordinarily readable invitation to a teaching technique that has the potential to make a big difference in what students learn from classroom presentations of curricular content. The book begins by succinctly explaining why visual presentations of information (graphic organizers) are such powerful mediators of students' learning. Thus, after reading the introductory portions of the book, a teacher is motivated to use graphic organizers, because he or she has such a clear mental model of how they help people organize and learning information. But the real genius of this book is that Dr. Ellis provides such clear information about how to use the framing routine and how to modify it according to the particular needs of group of students or the constraints of a particular lesson. The book is loaded with examples from multiple content areas from both elementary and secondary levels, making it easy for a teacher to match his or her lesson goals with one of the variations of the framing routine."

back to top

"This book has been of inestimable help to the pre-service teachers with whom I work. My undergraduate students have moved from total ignorance of graphic organizers to confident users and creators of them. My students used graphics with first graders as well as with sixth graders. I am completely convinced of the utility of this book to teachers, no matter what content or grade level is taught. "

back to top

Hearsay . . .

Passed along by Vanessa Norwood . . ." A 7th Grade English Teacher at Jackson Middle School says that the Make Sense Stategies are a big help in the prep and teaching of the writing process for the enhancement of the students writing skills for the Writing Assessment."

Passed along by Velma Rowden . . . "The lead Math Teacher at Clarke County High School said she felt the Graphic Organizers are great. She made copies immediately after viewing the Make Sense Strategies Video and CD. She began to brainstorm on how this tool could enhance her approach and presentation to her students. Furthermore, how to help her students learn more and make math clearer to all of her students from the lowest to the highest performer."

back to top