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Tips for Teachers - Recall versus Recognition

RECALL is more difficult than RECOGNITION. Use this concept when asking questions of kids. Instead of saying, “You’re wrong,” reframe it.

RECALL is more difficult than RECOGNITION. That is, you may be unable to RECALL Spiro Agne”s face … but if I showed you photos of five men - one of which was Agnew - you could probably RECOGNIZE him.

Use this concept when asking questions of kids. If a child is unable to answer a RECALL question, don’t say “You’re wrong!” and ask the question of another child. Rather, reframe your question by changing it to a RECOGNITION question.

For example:

“Taylor, can you tell me the capital of California?”
“No, I don’t know it.”
“Well, is it Boston, Sacramento, or Spokane?”
“Oh yeah. That’s right … it’s Sacramento.”
“Way to go, Taylor. Nice job!”

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