strategies list (2)(1)

8/13/2019 Strategies List (2)(1)

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Descriptions of strategies

1-10

1-10 is a strategy used to assess where students are in terms of theirknowledge of a particular concept or skill. Teachers can ask students to givea number that represents what they know or are able to do in a particulararea. For example, a student is asked to write a number from one to ten toreflect their knowledge of events contributing to crisis in the alkans.

30 Second SpeechThe !0-"econd "peech is a strategy to give intentional and extended

#think time$. %t allows students process time so that their thinking is moreorgani&ed and goes deeper than a surface response.

!0-"econd "peech works like this' "tudents have (ust been given newinformation or content )maybe from reading, a video clip, a lecturette, etc.*and you know they need time to make sense of this new content. +ou, as theteacher, pose a uestion to the class and ask them to lan a !0-secondspeech/. "tudents can (ot down thoughts or (ust uietly examine theirthinking. "tudents are then paired-up ) partners2 shoulder buddies2whatever grouping makes sense* and each person gives their !0-secondspeech to their partner.

The opportunity to orally process information and engage in socialinteraction is aligned with brain research that informs us that much learningoccurs during social interaction.

3-2-1 !-3-1 is an exit slip strategy that provides a uick dipstick/ of students$learning. "tudents are instructed to use a piece of paper or index card torecord the following'Three things that are clearer to them regarding the day$s topic or concept2two connections they are making to the new concept and their priorknowledge or experience2 and one uestionpiece that needs furtherclarification. The teacher collects the slips as students leave the room anduses the information to inform the next day$s lesson andor to differentiateinstruction for students.

A-B Each Teach- 4ach Teach is a shared reading strategy for processing information

as participants read. - partners may be designated in any number of ways)example' shoulder partners, stand-up hand-up pair-up, shoe partners, etc.*.The strategy works like this. airs designate one partner as and one as .


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erson reads one section of the text. erson reads another section of thetext. 5hen both are ready, they teach their section to their partner.6ariations of this strategy include' airs conclude by developing a summaryof the text or pairs (oin another pair and develop another summary.

Air Traffic Controller

ir traffic controllers manage the tower at the airport, directing theorder in which planes are to land. %n the same way, teachers or facilitatorscan manage/ their classrooms. This strategy works well when severalindividuals or students want to respond to a particular uestion. ir Traffic7ontrol works like this' efore listening to any responses, the teacherassigns numbers to those with raised hands, and advises students toremember their numbers. The teacher then calls on 81 and he or sheidentifies himherself and gives a response. Then the teacher calls, 839/The person who has been assigned this number identifies him or herself andprovides hisher response, and so on. This strategy works best when thefacilitator does not comment on individual responses. articipants will hear

many responses in a short amount of time, and, since individuals know whenthey will be called, they will be less anxious.

Attention First4ducational researchers report that the average classroom teacher can

lose up to twenty days each year:.(ust getting students$ attention andredirecting their focus as they transition from one activity to the next. Thegood news, however, is that teachers can recapture eighteen of those lostdays through the consistentuse of an attention first signal.

The 7enter generally uses a hand-up/ signal and asks that whenadults or students see the teacher or facilitator$s hand go up that they put

their hand in the air and finish their sentence, and not start a newparagraph. The key to the success of this strategy is the 7;


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separate the generation of ideas from dialogue and discussion.rainstorming protects the principle of one process at a time.The guidelines for brainstorming are uite simple. The teacher or facilitatornames a topic and offers a timeframe. to ? minutes. The teacher then encourages all ideas:everything goes2 there is no right or wrong answers. %t is important for

teachers to remind students of the guidelines:no uestions, no comments,no cross-talk:.(ust ideas= 7heck for understanding of the guidelines andallow about one minute for silent reflection. "tart the timer and use a flipchart )3 recorders speed up the process* and record the ideas.

Circle-Triangle-S!are 7ircle-Triangle-"uare is a strategy to help students focus theirreading2 summari&e important information2 and make sense of informationaltext. %t uses a simple graphic organi&er to foster clearer thinking regardingnew information in any content area.

7ircle-Triangle-"uare works like this' 4ach student is given a sheet ofpaper )or a sample can be drawn on a board and students recreate it fortheir own use* with a "uare and the statement' What Squares with mythinking? %n other words, what part of the reading matches my ownthoughts, knowledge, beliefs, or emotions9 "tudents use the space next tothe suare or within the suare to record their thinking. The second shapeon the paper is a triangle with the following uestion next to it' What threepoints (things) do I want to remember about this text? "tudents thensummari&e their reading and record three things they wish to remember in ornext to the triangle. The third shape on the paper is a circle. The uestionconnected to the circle is, What questions are still circling around in my head

about what I read? "tudents then focus on what uestions they have aboutthe concept or information presented in the text. ;nce completed, thegraphic organi&ers can be used in con(unction with round robin or othercooperative learning strategies to engage students in conversation to debrieftext.

Teachers may want to add color to the shapes to increase studentretention of information. 6isual-"patial learners respond well to graphicorgani&ers such as this one to help them summari&e and make sense of text."tudents with a strong need to interact will respond positively to anopportunity to share what they have written on their suares, triangles, andcircles, while bodily-kinesethic learners will appreciate movement added to

sharing their responds to the uestions. @ovement can be included instrategies such as "tand-up, Aand-up, and air-up.

Corners7orners is a 7lassbuilder strategy according to Bagan, and

classbuilders are a way to get the entire group to stand, move around, andengage with others throughout the room. The 7enter often uses 7orners asan opener/ or at the beginning of a session. 7orners involve posting


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different words, pictures, uotes, or statements, etc. on large pieces of paperaround the room. 4ach individual is then asked to choose one that appealsto them and one about which they wish to have a conversation. Forexample, a teacher might post statements about different aspects of acountry )such as economic system, government, physical features, andcultural traditions* and ask participants to choose one and write down on a

piece of paper along with why they wish to discuss it. Then students go totheir/ corner and discuss the topic with their classmates who chose thesame corner./

7orners is a good way to get students or adults up and moving aroundthe classroom as they engage in standing conversations around a chosentopic. %t can be used to begin a topic or unit or as a review at the end of alesson. Teachers sometimes use corners as sentence starters and promptsto prime the pump/ for students$ writing.

Dots in "!adrantsCot in Duadrant is a strategy for assessing the knowledge of a group.

%t works like this, when participants or students enter a room or at the end ofa lesson, they are each given a dot of the same color and asked to place it inthe appropriate uadrant. poster or piece of paper containing fouruadrants is placed on the wall. The four uadrants are labeled'


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and communication skills.

Fish Bone &raphic 'elational (rgani)erHraphic organi&ers are visual frames used to represent and organi&e

learning information. They are especially helpful to visual-spatial learners.

Ieasons to use graphic organi&ers are numerous' foster higher-levelthinking, aid in comprehension and memory, align with brain research, andrespond to intelligences other than verballinguistic. Ielational ;rgani&ers,such as the Fish one assist learners with the relationship between parts orparts and the whole. The Fish one focuses on cause and effect.@ortgage 7o. ankrupt 7ollapse of Aousing @arket

7urrent Iecession

@ismanagement "lowdown

at corporate level of auto industry

Fish Bo*lFish bowl is a modeling strategy that allows students or participants to

observe a process or a dialogue among their peers. %t is generally done toallow participants to observe communication skills in action.

Fish bowl works like this' a group of individuals )usually G-? people*are seated in a circle to engage in dialogue or a protocol. articipantssurround the seated models and observe the process. The debrief of the fishbowl is a critical part of the strategy with participants asked to noticeconsider what they are noticing about the content and depth of the dialogue

Foc!sed 'eadFocused read is a reading strategy to help guide students as they read

informational text. ;ften times students struggle with what it is they need topay attention to when reading new material and Focused Readprovidesthem with a lens for reading. %t works like this' "tudents are assigned apiece of text )story, chapter, and article* and instructed to make tracks intheir reading. For example, the teacher may ask students to, lace anexclamation point +,after anything that is new learning for them, and a

uestion mark +.after anything that is pu&&ling to them and a check mark+/ after anything that makes sense to them in the reading./

This process helps students remain focused while they are readinginformational text and it also allows the teacher to ask students to share withone another )stand-uphand-uppair-up or shoulder partner* to deepen theirunderstanding of what they have read.

Folded al!e ine


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Folded 6alue ine is a strategy to help students take a stand on anissue. %t is a great instructional strategy to add physical movement in yourclassroom. This strategy also gives students a chance to practice listeningand speaking skills and to think of rationale to support theirstatementstance on an issue.

Folded 6alue ine works like this' The teacher poses a statement, such

as, ;ur government should support genetic engineering research./ 4achstudent is asked to (ot down on a pieces of paper a number from 1 J 10indicating their opinion on this issue:from a 1/ meaning they areabsolutely opposed to government funding of this research2 to a 10/indicating that they fully support this research funding. "tudents are nextasked to write down a couple of reasons for the number they have written ontheir paper.

"tudents now stand on an imaginary line )side by side* from 1 J 10.4ach end )person who is a 10/ or a 1/* now goes to stand in front a studentwho is approximately a >/:.in other words the two ends of the single linefold into the center to form two lines.

Teacher then labels one line / and the other /. First the /partners have !0 seconds to share their opinion on the issue while their /partner listens.


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&i4e (ne5 &et (neHive ;ne, Het ;ne is a strategy for mixing a group, creating

connections among participants and exchanging information. %n theclassroom or at a meeting, it also provides participants with a structured

opportunity to move around the room:get on their feet and get the bloodflowing to their brains=

4ach participant is generally given a !x> card and asked to respond inwriting to a prompt. For example, participants might be asked think aboutschool improvement goal that they feel is important and to write it on thecard. "tudents might be asked to recall one of the laws of physics or to listone of the core democratic values and give an example of it.


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moving around the room and interacting with one another. ecauseparticipants are standing and moving it helps gets the blood flowing to theirbrains and breaks the #sitting at their desks$ routine. %t also allows studentsto interact with several other students in an organi&ed, productive manner.

%nside;utside 7ircle works like this' one-half of the participants standand form a circle facing (9T. The other half of the participants forms a

circle around )outside* of the first group, the o!tside circle participants faceinside sothat each participant is facing a person from the #other$ circle.


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expert groups, students read the material and have dialogue about itsmeaning2 >. 4xpert group members determine what ideas should be sharedwith their base groups2 O. "tudents return to their base groups and sharewhat they have learned in their expert groups. "tudents and teachers alikewill agree this is an efficient way to learn, with accountability as well assupport in place in the classroom.

:!st i%e ;e7lassbuilders are critical at the start of the year. 7lassbuilders help

build community, help students to get to know one another, help getstudents$ voices in the room, and get them up and moving around. ;negreat 7lassbuilder is called, Nust ike @e/ and it goes like this' The teachermakes statements such as, % went to the beach this past summer/2 % havean older sibling/2 % will be playing a sport this year/, or % am good at math/etc. 4ach time a statement is made, students who identify with thestatement, stand and say Nust ike @e/. This helps students to identify with

the whole class and make connections with other students. Aigh "choolteachers might want to ask about current events and stances on issues, orpopular movies or music. 5hile 4lementary teachers might want to usestatements such as @y first name begins with the letter N/ or % have a pet/.@iddle "chool students desperately want to fit in/ so it is important to makepositive statements and add enough variety to ensure that everyone standson several of the choices.

The final touch to Nust ike @e is to ask students think about whatthey are noticing/ and what are they learning about their classmates.

adderThe adder is a graphic organi&er to help students seuence steps orprocesses. The teacher provides students with a paper containing a graphicof a ladder with boxes for rungs that allow students to fill in each step of aprocess. For example, students might list the order of operations in analgebra class2 or the steps in a laboratory procedure.

earned Affirmed Challenged

earned, ffirmed, 7hallenged )7* is a strategy for engaging indebriefing andor reflecting on written content. 7 is helpful in nudgingstudents to identify new learning from what they have read, viewed, orheard. %t also guides students to acknowledge what they already knew andhad affirmed )confirmed* and this builds student efficacy. Finally studentsare asked to identify uestions that remain for them andor how the newlearning may be challenging their thinking:perhaps their misconceptions.

The three uestions for 7 can be posted on the board, or printed ona handout. ;nce students complete the reflection individually, they may beasked to share with a partner or with a group of four students. Finally thewhole class may debrief what was learned, affirmed, or challenged.


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ine 9pine Ep is a Bagan 7ooperative earning strategy to help students

understand ordering, take a stand on an issue, or find a random group orpartner. %t is a great instructional strategy to add physical movement in your

classroom. This strategy also gives students a chance express themselves ina tangible, visualkinesthetic manner.

ine Ep works like this' The teacher asks students to line up in any numberof ways, such as' order of height, birthdays, alphabetical order, and numberof blocks from school, characteristics, estimates, values or other assigneditems. For example, if students are lining up according to their birthdays,they would stand on an imaginary line )side by side* with Nanuary birthdaysat one end and Cecember at the opposite. 4ach student then finds theirplace in the line.

The teacher may wish to put parameters on the activity, such as no

talking, or trying to finish as uickly as possible. ine up can be used in avariety of ways to promote communication and to develop certain conceptsas movement is incorporated into the day.

;atch ;ine@atch @ine is a 7ooperative earning strategy in which students work

in pairs to communicate to one another without the use of visuals. %t is agreat strategy to increase accuracy of verbal communication. %t alsosharpens students$ ability to follow verbal directions. @atch @ine works likethis' 4ach student has an identical set of figures )tanagrams, ego pieces, orgraph paper, for example*. visual barrier is set up between the students)such as a folder*. The sender/ sets hisher figures in a pattern. Aeshethen describes the pattern as clearly as possible, and the receiver attemptsto match the pattern described to them by the sender/. The barrier is thenremoved and pairs check to see if they are a match/. Thisstrategy is often used with tanagrams or coordinates on an P and + axis andresembles the popular game of attleship. "ets of egos can also be used tocreate matching configurations. %t is important for students to be instructedto use correct terminology, for example' parallelogram, euilateral triangle,etc. to practice using the terms or identifying locations on an axis.

For elementarystudents, teachers might have them use different shapes and colors."tudents could also draw a snowman, for instance, the then describe itaccurately to their partner so heshe can replicate on their own paper.

Simile Spea%ing"imile "peaking is a thinking strategy used to engage participants in

analy&ing information and making new connections. This strategy stretchesthe brain and fosters deeper and more divergent thinking. ;ften "imile


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"peaking is used with adults and students as an QopenerQ to beginparticipants in thinking about a particular concept. This is how the strategy works' articipants are given photospicturesof four different ob(ects. For example a group may see a flashlight, a book, apair of glasses, and an electrical plug on the screen. Hroups of four to six arethen asked to come to consensus choosing one of the ob(ects.


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&ero minutes2 % see two minutes2 % see one minutes, etc. "o, we are going totake 1 minute 1> seconds more to complete your work. %t is important to callout the minute fingers/ because it allows everyone in the room to gage howevery group may be at a different place in the work. The strategy also allowsteachersfacilitators to honor the need for more time to complete ualitywork.

;i cards and shared at table groups. This allows the facilitator or


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teacher to dip-stick/ and check for content or concepts that have stuck/with students.

(rchestra;rchestra is a strategy for processing information that allows students

to organi&e their thinking. %t is particularly good for the kinesthetic learningas it integrates body movements with learning. Teams or groups decide ona sound and motion to represent understanding of the concept. Theorchestra conductor )teacher* allows teams to warm-up/ and then conductsa short musical piece allowing each group to express their learning through asound and motion.

#!mbered >eadsThis Bagan 7ooperative earning strategy includes the four principles

of cooperative learning' ositive %nterdependence2 %ndividual ccountability2

4ual articipation2 and simultaneously %nteraction.


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strategy called Duick 5rite/ is used with the intention of opening upthinking and allowing participants to go deep/ with their thoughts. %tencourages freedom/ in writing and promotes focus. %t also gives studentstime to collect their ideas before verbali&ing them to others. Duick 5riteworks like this' %ndividuals are given a uestion, topic, or writing stem fromwhich to work. %ndividuals are provided a set amount of time for responding

)usually between one and ten minutes*, and the room is completely silent forthat amount of time. "tudents are asked to simply write whatever comesinto their heads. The Duick 5rite strategy can be used to introduce topicsand have students focus on what they already know or what uestions theyhave. %t can also be used at the end of a lesson to promote synthesis andreflection. The Duick 5rite strategy is often followed by some sharing of theinformation students have been writing.

"!i)-"!i)-TradeDui&-Dui&-Trade is also a Bagan 7ooperative earning strategy that

gets students up, moving around the room, and interacting with otherstudents. This strategy is most often used as a review strategy and helpsstudents clarify their understanding of the content without the overly-usedworksheet approach.

"tudents are each given an index card or a small slip of paper andinstructed to write a uestion on the front of the card. The uestions may beabout a specific chapter of the book, a portion of a story or book, a concept,vocabulary words: whatever it is you want students to learn. note ofcaution, teachers may need to guide students to ask good uestions:uestions that prompt higher-level thinking and are not truefalse or yesnouestions.

;nce students have their uestions written on cards, they areinstructed to turn the card or paper over and write the answer to theiruestion on the back of the card. The teacher plays music and the studentswalk around the room greeting each other and swapping cards until themusic stops. "tudents then form pairs and ask one another their uestion. %fa student is stuck, hisher partner can use tip, tip, tell/ to help their partner.airs then trade cards, the music starts again and the process is repeatedseveral times.

'all Table

Ially Table is a cooperative learning strategy that has students workingin pairs to engage in processing new content or to practice a new skill.

Ially Table works like this' 4ach pair of students has one piece ofpaper, one worksheet, one map or whatever the lesson reuires, and twopencils. "tudents take turns writing, drawing, working steps of problems,etc. and then passing the paper to their partner who continues the next partof the assignment.

Ially Table works well in solving math problems2 working one step at a


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time2 constructing a paragraph or piece of writing2 in science for identifyingsteps in a process. "ometimes teachers have each student use a differentcolored penpencil to complete the work so that individually accountability isincreased.

'o!nd 'obinIound Iobin is a strategy developed by Bagan 7ooperative earningwhich encourages social interaction and verbal processing of information. %tmight be that students respond to a uestion, offer an idea, or complete astem offered by the teacher. Iound Iobin works like this' "tudents areplaced in groups of four, and the teacher offers a uestion or a sentencestem. The teacher then identifies which student will start the process, suchas student / or the student with the brightest colored shirt. "tudents thenrespond to the uestion in a clockwise manner. Iound Iobin allows a largepercentage of students to process information at once and is aligned withbrain research that informs educators that much learning occurs during

social interaction.

Sa4e the ast ord +first t!rn last t!rn"ave The ast 5ord is a strategy used to debrief an article, chapter of

a book, or other written material. %t provides a structure for deep dialogueand provides everyone with an opportunity to be part of the conversation. %talso gives readers a focusing strategy for their independent reading. "aveThe ast 5ord also euali&es air time for all participants and eliminates ping-pong conversations."ave The ast 5ord, sometimes called First Turn, ast Turn, and works like

this'articipants are placed in groups )G-O usually works best* and each personreads the article or other material individually. articipants are each asked tohighlight two or three sentences or phrases that seem important to themwhile they are reading.

5hen everyone has completed their reading and highlighted theirsentences, one person shares ;


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Sa Something"ay "omething is a shared reading strategy used to chunk/ up the

text and provide an opportunity for students to chew/ on the content inpieces. %t helps students verbali&e their thoughts and thus focus on thecontent.

"ay "omething works like this' "tudents are placed in pairs )"tudent and "tudent * and then the class decides together on dividing the readingmaterial into to chunks/: usually no more than a few paragraphs in achunk/. "tudents then read the first portion of the text independently andsilently and then "tudent "ays "omething/. This student can do one ofthe following'

@ake a personal connection to the reading ose a uestion about what has been read @ake a summary comment about the reading

erson then has the opportunity to do the same. The next chunk/ is

then read silently and independently and the say something/ processcontinues until the complete text has been read and discussed in pairs.For early elementary students the teacher may read aloud each part of

the textstory and then have pairs add a comment before continuing thestory. 4lementary students are often asked to make a prediction about thenext part of the story during their say something time.

Shoe $artner"hoe artners is a strategy to pair up students or participants in a

random manner. "hoe artners is a fun, interactive strategy that is non-threatening and engaging for all students. %t works like this' 4ach individualis asked to look around the room and find an individual who is wearing shoessimilar to their own. For example, participants may match by color, style,boots, heels, flats, etc. ;nce participants find their shoe partners they thenshare or exchange information around a particular concept or uestion. Thisstrategy provides opportunity for physical movement and standingconversations.

Sho*5 Don?t Sa"how, Con$t "ay is a focusing strategy that causes students to use a

new modality:.to go from auditory learning to visual learning. %t is effective

in refocusing students so that they look up to see the hand signal from theteachers.

"how, Con$t "ay works like this' 5hen wanting to let students knowhow much time they have for a task, the teacher raises hisher hand with anumber of fingers extended indicating the number of minutes left. Teacherthen says to the class, +ou have this many minutes left to complete yourwork./ "tudents must look up to see how much time is left.


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Sim!ltaneo!s 'o!ndtable"imultaneous Ioundtable is a Bagan 7ooperative earning "trategy

that students en(oy because they are working in groups )usually G persons toa team* and have structured interaction. This strategy is important becauseit helps students express their learning on paper as they write and then read

what their peers have written."imultaneous Ioundtable work like this' "tudents are given somethingto write about )a story starter for creative writing2 a description of a processor insect in science2 a mult-step problem in math2 an issue in social studies*.4ach member of the team begins a two-minute write. Time is called andstudents pass their unfinished work on to the student on their right."tudents are given 1 minute to review the work given to them and anothertwo minutes to add to their peer$s work. This process continues until allstudents on the team have added to each other$s work. apers are thenread aloud by the team and shared with the whole class.

"imultaneous Ioundtable provides students with chance to learn from

other students while building on another$s thinking. "tudents love this and-!p5 $air !p This is a grouping strategy identified by Bagan in their 7ooperativeearning work. The advantage of this particular grouping strategy is that theteacher can easily and uickly identify if every student has a partner.


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The teacher asks students to "tand-up and put their Aand-up whiletraveling around the room )can be done to music* and when the teacher callsstop/ students are to find a partner near by them and put their hands down."tudents with their hands in the air, still need to find a partner.

"tand-up, Aand-up, air-up provides students with a way to processinformation and share it with another student.

Stir-the-Class"tudents stand in groups of four. ;ne person is 1, another 3, etc. The

groups stand in a circle around the classroom. The teacher asks a uestionor presents a problem. "tudents in each group turn to face each other andput hands on each other$s shoulders, like a football huddle, and discuss theproblem or uestion. 5hen everyone has something to share, studentsunhuddle and form a line so the teacher knows they are ready. 5hen thegroups all unhuddle, the teacher call a number and ask the students withthat number to take a step forward. Those students then rotate to a new

group. Aave students huddle again with their new group and share theirideas. Iepeat with new groups and a new uestion or problem.

Tea $art or ;eet = &reet1. "tudents or articipants use an index cards to record a significant excerpt

from the text.3. "tudentsarticipants then move around the room )can be done with

music* to meet and greet and exchange excerpts/ by reading aloud their excerpt and explaining why it was important to them.!. +ou may debrief this activity by inviting the whole group )class* to

share some of their significant noticings from the reading.Te


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of a chapter, or a story to read individually. 4ach student is instructed tohighlight or underline the following three things' one sentence that, forthem, summari&es the text2 one phrase that speaks to them2 and one wordthat seems the most reflective of the total message of the text.

articipants are then given three strips of chart paper )one long2 onemedium strip2 and one shorter strip*. "tudents use markers to write their

sentences on long strips2 their phrases on medium strips2 and the shorteststrip to write their word.


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Three BalloonsThis is an information processing strategy. Three balloons helps

students and participants organi&e and integrate information. Three balloons

works like this. 4ach member is asked to imagine that they have threeballoons on which they have space to write a word or phrase capturing animportant idea from the day$s work. @embers then record their ideas andthen report to the group.

Tic-Tac-Toe SentencesTic-Tac-Toe "entences is a summari&ing strategy to help students synthesi&einformation obtained during a lesson or unit. %t can also be used after aparticular piece of reading or discussion. Tic-Tac-Toe "entences is a powerfulstrategy for determining knowledge and skills acuired before the formalassessment. %t works like this'

1. "tudents are placed in groups )groups of ! work best*. 3. 4achgroup is given a set of U blank index cards. !. 4ach group member is thenassigned an appropriate role, such as facilitator, recorder, spokesperson, etc.G. "tudents are provided with )or determine on their own* the nine mostimportant terms andor concepts from the unit, lesson, or reading and askedto write one term on each of the index cards. >. "tudents mix up the indexcards. O. Hroups place cards face up into a !x! pattern that resembles a tictac toe board. ?. "tudents are now challenged to make true sentencesusing three concepts across, down or diagonally to synthesi&e the conceptsinto complete thoughts. K. 4ach group$s spokesperson shares their bestsentence with the entire class.

Tic-Tac-Toe "entences has multiple variations' "tudents can bechallenged to be as creative as possible, use the words in a specific order, orcome up with more words to make a GxG or >x> grid. "tudents can also do italone or with partners.

is!al paragraphThis strategy is a great one2 especially for bodily kinesthetic and

visualspatial learners. %t provides space/ or containers for participants tostore and access information. %t makes directions and steps in processes

much easier to understand and remember.6isual aragraphing works like this' The teacher stands in one spot

and gives the first step in the process or first message. For example' Theteacher says, "tudents please take out your (ournals from yesterday./ Thenthe teacher pauses and moves )without speaking* one step to the students$or audience$s right and then gives the second step in the directions. Forexample' "tudents, the second thing you will be doing is to exchange(ournals with you$re partners./ Then the teacher pauses2 and silently


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moves one step further to the participants$ right and proceeds to give thenext step in the process or directions. For example' the last step is that youwill read your partner$s entry and write a summary paragraph beneath theirentry./%t is important to move from the students$ left to right and not to speak inbetween the steps in the process. This is absolutely magic in helping

students focus on content and directions=

agon heelThe 5agon 5heel is strategy to debrief text as a group. %t works like

this' 4ach student or participant individually reads an article, chapter, orbook and makes tracks in their reading. %t is important for participants tohighlight key concepts or ideas. %t may also be helpful to provide individualswith graphic organi&ers to help them pull specific content from the reading. people are matched up and asked to traveltogether around the room, stopping at each posted concept or idea. s theystop, they are invited to engage in dialogue about the relationship of thatparticular concept to their work. Teams are given a graphic organi&er andasked to identify a recorder and a facilitator for the group. 5alk boutfosters standing dialogue to engage in deep thinking around schoolimprovement or other concepts.

hat !estions do o! ha4e.This is a simple and powerful strategy to open thinking and invite inuiry in

the classroom. %nstead of the usual' Co you have any uestions9/5hat Duestions Co +ou Aave9/ resupposes that students will haveuestions. Duestions mean students are thinking. Duestions are good2 theyprovide clarity and allow deeper thought and dialogue.

"ometimes when we ask students, Co you have any uestions9/ %tsounds to them like' Co you have any uestions, Cummy9/ sking, 5hatDuestions Co +ou Aave9/ invites inuiry.

Hive this simple rephrasing a try and see if your students inuire more=


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hip Aro!ndThe 5hip round strategy is one used when the goal is to hear from

many voices in the class without taking more time than the group hasavailable. 5hip round is generally used after groups or individuals have

been working independently on the same topic, and it works like this' Thefacilitator asks a uestion that should have a short answer, and starts at oneend of the room calling on individuals for a response. ll individuals mayrespond, or one representative may speak on behalf of the group. There isno cross-talk, no uestions, and no comments from others2 only responsesgiven from participants as the facilitator calls on them. 5hip round cangenerally be completed in less than five minutes and gets many voices in theroom.

indo* ClosingThis is a time management strategy that provides a visual to let

participants know how much time will be used for a particular activity or setof responses. The strategy works like this' 5hen eliciting responses fromthe group, the facilitator or teacher holds her hands straight out in front ofher. "he gestures by moving her hands closer or farther apart, representingthe amount of SspaceS available for responses. s less time is available, thefacilitator moves his or her hand closer together, announcing, SThe window isclosing.S ;ften this strategy will Sbring out late shoppersS2 in other words, asparticipants know the time available for responses is limited, it encouragesthem to share their response.

indshield5indshield is a strategy for assessing each student$s understanding ofa particular concept. 4ach student is asked to respond to the uestion, %sRRRRRRRRRRR )concept* clear, cloudy, or mud-covered9/ "tudents raise theirhands to indicate how well they comprehend a concept and use the analogya car windshield.

or%ing Agreements8earning Agreements5orking agreements, sometimes referred to as Hroup greements,


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agreements. +ou might ask them to think of a great learning environment ora favorite class from the past year and to think about what made that great.Aave students go inside their heads/ and think about possible norms oragreements that would make the classroom both productive and en(oyable.

strategies list (2)(1)

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