Here are some popular resources that you can use to get ideas for sparking student curiosity.

• Wonderopolis is a highly recognized and awarded inquiry learning site that is “a place where natural curiosity and imagination lead to exploration and discovery in learners of all ages.”

  • Explore the World of Wonders to see “wonders of the day” and search wonders by subject.

  • Share the Wonder Jar with your families to spark curiosity and discussions at home.

• Smithsonian Learning Lab is a collection of millions of digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences.

• The mission of TED-Ed is “to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world.” You can search their collection of videos and lessons by subject.

• Phenomena for Next Generation Science Standards is a collection of intriguing short videos and pictures related to core science.

• Library of Congress: Digital Collections includes photos, audio recordings, print, music, and videos that can be filtered by subject and format.

• The U.S. National Archives provides a collection of government records, which include excellent resources for teaching students how to view and analyze primary sources.

• PhET offers simulations that can be used by students to experiment and test out their ideas virtually.

For more ideas, leverage your professional learning network (PLN). Reach out to your colleagues in your district and on social media platforms like Twitter. What ideas do they have for sparking student curiosity for the standards that you are teaching?

• Specific

  • Is it clear and focused? Is it not too broad or too narrow in scope and complexity?

  • Is it not easily answered or solved with a simple Google search?

• Manageable

  • Is it something that you can answer or solve?

  • Is it possible to answer or solve within the time frame and with the resources available?

• Appropriate

  • Does it relate to the learning objectives?

  • Does it spark interest for you and your audience?

• Researchable

  • Are there enough materials and resources available to answer or solve it?

• Thought-Provoking

  • Does it require deep exploration and critical thinking to answer or solve?

Using the Pomodoro method, you break your work time into 10-15-minute focus periods followed by five-minute breaks. Each of these focus periods plus a break period is called a Pomodoro—after the tomato-shaped timer first used to test the method.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management system that encourages students to work with the time they have—rather than against it. The basic steps are:

1. Choose a single task to focus on.

2. Set a timer for 10-15 minutes and work only on the selected task.

3. After 10-15 minutes, take a five-minute break.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 four times.

5. Take a longer break of about 15 to 30 minutes.

Speculation-Prediction Writing

Speculation-prediction writing allows students to interact with a text, document, visual, internet site, etc. Students consider the events and material and predict the possible effects. This strategy helps to develop students’ understanding of the complexity of cause-and-effect relationships as well as to recognize recurring themes over time. 

Have students divide their paper in half. On the left side, they will record “What Happened”; on the right, they will record “What Might/Should Happen as a Result.” Students should be encouraged to think about the “what ifs” and speculate about the consequences.

from Cult of Pedagogy

One example is not enough to help people learn about a thing (like an idea or a process). People need to compare multiple, contrasting examples. Across disciplines, teachers use multiple contrasting examples to help students develop mental models of processes and concepts. 

• Social studies teachers provide examples of different types of governments

• English teachers provide examples of different literary interpretations

• Science teachers give examples to illustrate different types of energy 

Students can sequence, rank, or categorize these examples in ways that help them understand underlying concepts. 

Here are steps to a general  approach we have been using to prompt the bot: 

1. Establish criteria: Think about the elements that define a strong example of the thing you want kids to learn about (You can draw from your rubrics or final assignments to do this).

2. Prompt: Prompt ChatGPT to create an example of whatever concept, process, or phenomena you are trying to teach.

3. Review and adapt: Review the bot’s output and adapt it as you see fit.

4. Prompt for contrasting cases: Prompt it to create several non-examples, incorrect examples, or ambiguous examples. These are your contrasting cases.

5. Review and adapt: Review the outputs again and adapt them as you see fit.

from Cult of Pedagogy

“How might someone get this question wrong?” When we have students anticipate the most predictable mistakes that might be made on a task, we’re moving well beyond that lower level of test-taking skills and instead, getting students to think like test-makers, coming up with viable (but incorrect) options on a multiple-choice test.

Suppose your students struggle to identify the main idea of a passage. Instead of asking students to define the main idea of this post, for example, what if we asked them to create three wrong but “good” incorrect responses to what the main idea is? 

• “Students get upset when they get an answer wrong” works well because we know how tempting it is to just read the opening of a piece and guess a main idea from that.

• “Mistakes can be magical” would be an answer a student might pick who only read the title.

• “Educators should anticipate likely mistakes in advance” is the first practical recommendation, so a student might mistakenly choose this response as the main idea. 

It’s important that when students do this, they come up with logical possibilities. I have my students follow what I call the “Joe Schmo” rule: What kind of answer would trip up Joe Schmo, the average person who always falls for the trick answer? Instead of letting students come up with crazy, nonsensical options, this rule keeps the exercise at a challenging metacognitive level.

from Cult of Pedagogy

Mistake analysis can also be an opportunity to introduce conflict, drama, and meaningful opportunities to write and debate across content areas. As an attorney representing clients in business disputes, I rarely had a case where one side was pristine and the other was pure evil. They were usually both wrong, to some extent. But the core question was, which one is more “right”? 

Bring this framework into your classroom by analyzing two equations that are both done incorrectly, but one has a computational error and the other has a conceptual answer. Two paragraphs or essays where one has structural errors and the other is riddled with spelling and grammatical mistakes. Two science experiments with flawed procedures because one has problems with omitted variable bias and the other struggles with selection bias. Asking which wrong is more “right” helps learners shift from asking “what” and “how to” to asking “why” and “what if” – a necessary shift for giving students the tools to not just analyze the world as it is, but imagine it as it ought to be.

Introduced as a whole-class activity, this instructional strategy can be implemented using the following steps:

Preparation:

• Choose a concept with well-defined attributes.

• Prepare “yes” and “no” examples. Some of the yes examples should have a high attribute value (meaning it should be a clear representative of the concept)

In the classroom:

• Introduce and explain the strategy.

• Draw two columns on the board and title them as “Yes” and “No.”

• Present each example and write them in the appropriate column. Start with three examples in each column.

• Instruct students to analyze and compare the examples, within the group (find similar attributes in the “yes” group) and between the groups (find how “yes” and “no” examples differ from each other). Write the attributes listed by the students on the other side of the board.

• Add three more examples to each column. Instruct students to refine the attribute list by analyzing the additional examples.

• Ask students if they are able to identify the concept, but not to say it out aloud. Students who have identified the concept can be encouraged to add more “yes” examples to the column. Encourage other students to examine the student-generated examples to identify the concept.

• Teachers can assist by modeling the thought process to help other students identify the concept. Once identified, help students define it using the list of identified attributes.

• To test for understanding, have students suggest more “yes” and “no” examples of the concept with explanations. Or, teachers can present students with examples and instruct them to categorize them as “yes” or “no”.

More info can be found on the Professional Learning Board website.

This activity offers an informal writing opportunity for students to identify, question, and complicate ideas they do and do not understand about the content of the course. 

1. At the beginning of class, provide students with a bright-colored sheet of paper. 

2. Direct every student to write a note to another student in the class asking about some aspect of the course content about which they are unclear. 

3. Have students pass their notes to someone sitting near them so that each student has one note that is not their own.

4. Run class as normal but allow students to continue passing these notes back and forth to each other as class continues. 

5. Explain that the notes will be collected at the end, so they must be on topic. 

6. Near the end of the period, ask students what issues came up as they were writing and if anyone was able to respond to their questions satisfactorily. 

7. As a group, you may be able to resolve some of their concerns. 

8. Alternatively, read over the notes later during your prep time so that you can integrate their concerns into later course content.

Circle Connections

Use this circle template to get students making connections! The only rule is there are no repeats! 

Possible ideas:

• Each student completes a page of circles as a “get to know you” activity where each circle represents an aspect or characteristic of that student

• Each circle could represent a different concept or topic they are learning about

• Each idea within one circle has to connect somehow to the one on either side (or for an additional challenge, to any circles “touching” it)

C-SPAN Bellringers

This website is designed to enhance social studies curriculums by providing teachers with brief video clips of C-SPAN programming. You will find the clips separated into categories commonly studied in social studies curriculums. Each clip contains a brief summary, key vocabulary terms, and related discussion questions.

These video clips can be used to start class, as an in-class activity, or as a homework assignment to introduce a new topic. You can further explore a topic by using one of the activities on the C-SPAN Classroom Deliberations page with your students. However you use them, Bell Ringers will connect your students with real world examples of civics in action.

• Divide the class into small groups. 

• Ask students to work together to LIST as many examples of a topic or concept they can think of. Each example should be written on a note card, sticky note, small scrap of paper, or within an online collaborative space (e.g. jamboard, Google drawing)

• Instruct students to GROUP their examples. The goal is to sort the examples into a manageable number of groups, each with definable characteristics.

• Students should create a LABEL for each of their groupings that describes the relationship between the examples within.

• Share each group’s labels with the class through discussion or a Gallery Walk.

• Extension: combine the labels of all groups into one master list and reorganize all of the examples within each group

• Engage in discussion or writing, having students respond to the relationships they identified and how the groups work together to define the concept, topic, or idea.

DIRECTIONS:

• Find pictures that correlate with your lesson.

• Cut each picture into four pieces (like a puzzle).

• Give a piece to each student as they walk in the door.

• Have the students find the other students with the puzzles pieces that match theirs. They will sit with this group of students.

• Have the students tape the picture together on the back. Then tape it to a large sheet of poster paper. 

• Ask students to write 3-5 higher level questions on the paper below the picture.

• Hang the pictures around the room and have students do a gallery walk to look at the pictures and read the questions.

• If the students do not think that the question is higher level, have them write a higher level question on a post it and put it on the paper. 

• Go over each picture and questions with the class.

Say, Do, Mean

The following summary exercise can be used to assist students as they learn how to analyze an author’s argument. Say, Do, Mean scaffolds some of the important elements found in a rhetorical précis—a summary exercise that asks students to craft a concise analysis of an argument. 

From Facing History & Ourselves

Rationale

To engage with and analyze a text effectively, students need to be able to identify appropriate evidence, thinking about whether or not it supports their claims and argument. The purpose of this strategy is to help students distinguish between relevant and irrelevant evidence so that they can make appropriate selections for their analytical writing and debates.

Procedure

1. Model the Process of Determining the Relevance of Evidence
   In this exercise, students will identify evidence that is relevant to prove a particular claim. This activity is most effective if students have a basic command of the concept of relevance. Therefore, we suggest modeling this process with a few examples. We recommend that you start with a real-world example and then test students’ understanding in a literature-based example
   
   

2. Example 1: Real-World Claim: Cell phones should not be allowed in school.

   1. Which of the following pieces of evidence are relevant and support this claim? 

   2. Which of the following pieces of evidence are not relevant to this claim?

• Mobile phones distract from the learning environment. Students who text or play games on their phones during class do not hear directions or miss learning important content. 

• Many students today bring mobile phones to school. 

• Mobile phones are more affordable now than they were in 2000. 

• In surveys, some students report using their mobile phones to cheat in exams.

Here are some ideas to bring up during a discussion of this question:

1. (a) and (d) are both relevant to defending the claim. 

2. (b) provides accurate information but is irrelevant to proving the claim. 

3. (c) may or may not be accurate. It is also irrelevant to proving the claim.

Example 2: Literature-based Claim: Priestley presents the character of Mr Birling in An Inspector Calls as ignorant and out of touch.

1. Which of the following pieces of evidence are relevant and support this claim? 

2. Which of the following pieces of evidence are not relevant to this claim?

   • The Crofts are not celebrating the engagement dinner with the Birlings. 

   • Birling is looking forward to a time when Crofts and Birlings ‘are working together – for lower costs and higher prices’.

   • Birling believes that there ‘isn’t a chance of war’.

   • Birling speaks more than anyone else in the opening scene.

Here are some ideas that you might bring up during a discussion of this question:

1. While (a) may be correct, it is not relevant to supporting the claim about Mr Birling. 

2. (b) could be used: it suggests Mr Birling is out of touch, but it does not suggest he is ignorant. 

3. (c) is relevant evidence: it highlights how Birling is out of touch because he states that war is not going to happen, but the audience knows that not only did the First World War begin two years later, but that the Second World War broke out less than thirty years later. The dramatic irony makes Birling seem ignorant and out of touch with reality. 

4. (d) highlights Birling’s self-involved nature and the fact that he may be out of touch with the social situation, but not his ignorance.

3. Determine the Relevance of Text-based Evidence
   Continue to have students practise this exercise individually or in groups. Provide text-based analytical claims for students, and have each individual or group come up with three pieces of evidence that might be used to support the claim. Two of these selections should represent relevant evidence – evidence that addresses the particular claim. One of these selections should be accurate and credible but not relevant to proving that particular claim. Explain to students that they will present their claim and three pieces of evidence to the whole class (or to another group) and that the audience will have to determine which evidence is relevant and which is irrelevant.

This instructional practice encourages students to examine the perspectives and voices behind the texts that they are reading. 

Instructional Strategies

• Provide copies of the selected text.

• Have students read through the text and mark essential elements, such

as the main idea, events, mentions of time, or interesting word choices

that show emotion.

• Have students complete the SOAPSTone Graphic Organizer.

• After completion, have students pair up and compare their work. This

should include discussion and editing of the student resource or the use

of focused note-taking.

• Review the graphic organizer responses as a class, focusing on the

author’s voice and the other voices presented in the text.

• Depending on the intent or desired learning objective, students can work

individually, in pairs, or in small groups to consider the questions posed

about the balance of perspectives.

• Complete the lesson by charting student responses to the questions

posed about balance: Was it present? What was missing? How could it

be supplemented, if necessary?

Students studying notes on a common topic work collaboratively in groups to generate questions by beginning with “I wonder...” statements about the notes. 

• After allowing group members some time to peruse their notes and ponder, ask the students to proceed around the table sharing their statements while one group member records the responses on paper or digitally. 

• Do not stop to discuss or critique the responses. 

• Allow enough time for groups to go around the table several times. 

• When time is called, students should review the list of “I wonder...” statements and write some questions they would like to discuss about the notes. 

• The questions generated could be used for 

  • discussion in the groups that posed them,

  • they could be switched with other groups,

  • or they could become the questions for a full-class discussion or Socratic Seminar.

STEM Remote Teaching Resources

• Desmos Digital math activities

• Hall of Science STEM video games, science tutorials & more

• Museum of Natural History Online activities, virtual tours and videos

• NASA Space Place Interactive games and hands-on activities all about space

• Ology Science activities from the Museum of Natural History

• Science and Math simulations (PheT team at the University of Colorado) Research-based, thoroughly tested, simulations.

• ActivelyLearn Resources of articles, videos, lessons, and more during this time. Search by grade, Lexile level, standards (CCSS, NGSS, US/World History), or content. Great ways to engage students in reading about STEM. (K-12)

• NOVA Labs Games and interactives that foster authentic scientific exploration. (6-12)

• Real world design challenges Students to think about, prototype with materials they might find at home, or to discuss with peers or families. (K-12)

From Teaching Tolerance

SQP2RS stands for survey, question, predict, read, respond and summarize. SQP2RS (or “Squeepers”) ensures students recognize the steps to reading and understanding informational texts.

Survey: Have students take 1-2 minutes to scan the new text and preview the concepts they will learn. Prompt students to read the title, notice text features (e.g. pictures, captions, headings, bolded text) and read the first few paragraphs. After reading, ask: What key concepts do you think you will learn from reading this text?

Question: Assign students to small groups to generate questions they anticipate will be answered by the text. Display student questions in a visible location; mark the most frequently asked questions. After students begin reading, prompt them to attend to the questions by asking: What questions do you have as you read the beginning part of this text? If the text is too lengthy to be read in one sitting, have students formulate new questions for each section as they come to it.

Predict: Ask the whole class to come up with three or four key concepts they think they will learn while reading. The predictions should be based on the questions generated in the prior step, especially those marked “frequently asked.”

Read: Have students read the text, either independently, with a partner, in small groups or one-on-one with you. Instruct students to search for answers to their questions and confirm (or refute) their predictions. Their answers should include textual evidence, and students should use sticky notes to mark those places where their questions are answered or predictions confirmed.

Respond: Independently, with partners or in small groups, students should write or discuss answers to their questions from step 2. Again, require students to cite textual evidence, both in discussions and their writing. Lead a whole-group discussion of the text's key concepts, prompting students to use textual evidence to support their ideas and claims. Clarify any misunderstandings.

Summarize: Independently, with partners or in small groups, students should summarize the text's central ideas in writing or through discussion. Consider these prompts:

(Oral): In your own words, tell your group and/or a partner the most important ideas and facts from what you just read. You should use your text to support your thinking.

(Written): Write a summary of this text in your own words. Include the important ideas and facts from each section of the text. You should use the text to help you write your summary.

Collaborative Study Groups

 AVID’s new Collaborative Study Group (CSG) strategy allows all students in ALL classrooms to gain a deeper understanding of content through collaborative inquiry with their classmates. AVID CSGs are also designed to reinforce important academic behaviors, such as inquiry, note-taking, organization, collaboration, communication, and other skills necessary for college readiness.

3 Steps to Get Started:

• • Access the materials on MyAVID

  • Download and read the CSG Overview

  • Watch the CSG Overview Video

Use all the parts of WICOR and improve the depth of student understanding.

• Check out the AVID Socratic Seminar On Demand Modules (ODM)

• Socratic Seminar resources files.

• Read about Socratic Seminar’s part in making AVID go schoolwide in a schoolwide case study.   

This Reciprocal Teaching Video, geared toward students, shows how to use reciprocal teaching to read and understand a shared text in a small group. 

Roles:

Clarifyer:  Looks for new vocabulary or words that are confusing. Identifies unknown words or concepts.

Questioner:  Creates Costa's Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3 questions from the passage/text.  Asks questions about words or concepts that are unclear.

Summarizer:  Creates a brief summary of the main ideas and concepts.  Provides the main idea from the reading.

Visualizer:  Draws the main idea with strong visual cues and images.  Connects the main idea to a shared or common visual.

Additional/Optional Roles:

Predictor:  Makes predictions about the next section of the text or topic.  Justifies predictions from facts.  Checks predictions at the end of the text.

Note-gatherer:  Records the group discussion in words, phrases, and/or visuals.  Each member receives a copy of the record following the discussion for future studying and review.

Using WICOR with Online Technology

This handbook offers writing, inquiry, collaboration, and reading strategies. It provides explanations for how to implement each strategy using both face-to-face and online formats.

To better understand the content being presented in their core subject areas, it is essential for students to learn to think critically and to ask higher levels of questions. By asking higher-levels questions, students deepen their knowledge of and create connections to the material being presented. Inquiry is an important aspect of the curriculum. Inquiry-based learning focuses on the student as a learner developing and becoming adept with open-ended questioning skills. Being able to recognize different levels of questions is beneficial for all students and areas of learning. 

  Attached you'll find more information about Costa's Levels of Thinking.

Philosophical chairs is a form of discussion, similar to a debate, that encourages students to choose a stance and defend their opinions.  The benefits include the development of students' abilities to give careful attention to other students' comments and to engage in dialogue with one another to gain a greater understanding of the topic being discussed.

• A central statement (typically something controversial) is presented to students.

• Those who agree with the central statement sit on one side of the room and those who disagree sit on the other.

• The teacher remains in the middle of the room as the neutral moderator.

• Someone from the side of the classroom that agrees with the central statement begins the discussion. Next, someone from the other side will respond to the argument.

• In addition to speaking in the discussion, students may express their opinions by moving from one side to the other.  Students may move back and forth throughout the discussion at any time.

• A final reflection at the end allows students to process the discussion and showcase their new learning.

Directions for Cats and Fish

1. Students read a text, take notes and develop their own questions.

2. Prior to the Cats and Fish discussion, students are paired with a "wingman" to discuss their ideas about the text.

3. During the Cats and Fish discussion, half of the class sits in an "inner circle" with their wingmen sitting directly behind them, forming the "outer circle."

4. Each student in the inner circle is given three tokens.

5. Students in the inner circle engage in discussion around the text.

6. Each time a student participates in the discussion, he/she places a token in the middle of the circle.

7. No student may speak a second/third time until every student has had an opportunity to place his/her first/second token in the middle.

8. Periodically, the wingmen in the outer circle will support the students in the inner circle with ideas and information from the text.

9. When all tokens have been placed in the middle, students switch places so the outer circle becomes the inner circle.

10. The discussion continues in the same manner as above.

11. At the end of the discussion, students debrief about their learning and the experience.

Below is a video of VVE 4th Graders in Nicki Le's Class engaging in a Cats and Fish Discussion.

Text-Dependent Inquiry

The linked resource provides leveled question stems and examples for ALL content areas to help students engage more deeply with text.

Traits of Effective Critical Readers

• Expect the reading to make sense.

• Make predictions and form good hypotheses about the text’s meaning before they begin to read.

• Understand the purpose for reading and adjust their rate and reading techniques to fit the purpose.

• Organize information while they read.

• Form mental pictures while they read.

• Ask (and try to answer) questions while they read.

• Monitor how well they comprehend as they go along and are aware when the text stops making sense.

• Have strategies for figuring out the text when it stops making sense.

• Recognize the main idea of the text.

• Identify patterns in a text.

• Read for global meaning (not word by word).

• Summarize/paraphrase what they have read.

• Make connections between the reading and their lives, other texts, or the world.

• Trace an author’s argument or reasoning, citing the author’s evidence.

• Identify the structure of the text and how the structure supports the author’s purpose. 

Teachers usually set up problems and ask students to provide solutions. Asking students to develop a problem statement will give them practice with both framing and solving problems in connection with your course content.

• After you introduce a new concept, ask students to write out a theoretical or practical problem that the concept might help to solve. 

• Students exchange problems and write out solutions, using conceptual knowledge developed through class activities and readings.

Challenge the Text helps students ask and answer their own text-dependent questions by taking multiple perspectives and uncovering assumptions and biases within the text. Asking critical questions encourages students to examine the validity of a text and of an author's arguments. By considering and challenging what is said in a text, students enter their voices into the textual discourse and develop agency.

Challenge the Text can be structured in a number of ways, incorporated into other strategies, and implemented during shared or independent reading. This strategy always includes these steps:

1. Choose the text: Challenge the Text works with either literary or informational texts. Consider selecting two or more texts that approach the same topic from different perspectives or through different media. 

2. In order for students to determine what is not included in the text, they must first understand what is found in the text. Begin by asking text-dependent questions that require students to:

   1. determine the text's central ideas;

   2. describe how individuals, events and ideas are portrayed and developed over the course of the text; and

   3. analyze how a particular point of view is reflected in the text.

3. Model generation of critical question types. This strategy uses critical questions to uncover what is not in the text yet is significant for text analysis. Students will likely need prompts and scaffolding to generate questions that reveal these absences. 

4. Have students generate their own questions.

   1. Prior to reading, question generation sets a purpose for engaging the text.

   2. During reading, remind students to pause and ask questions as they encounter perplexing areas, suspicion or contradiction. Although inferential in nature, these questions should point to specific instances in the text, and their answers should rely heavily on textual evidence and reasoning.

   3. During re-reading, ask students to generate more questions and give responses grounded in evidence from the text.

   4. After reading, prompt students to reflect on which of their questions were answered by the text, which ones remain and how they might go about finding answers.

Students collect a set of articles, images, videos, or even whole websites based on a set of criteria (e.g. the most “literary” song lyrics of the year, or the world’s weirdest animal adaptations) and rank them in some kind of order, justifying their rankings with a written explanation or even a student-created scoring system. Each student could be tasked with creating their own collection or the whole class could be given a pre-selected collection to rank. Conclude with a discussion where students compare and justify their rankings with those of other students.

The TQE Process:

1. Students read the assigned reading prior to the discussion

2. Informal, Small Group Discussions as students entered the room (Options for question stems)

3. Students write their top 2 Thoughts, Lingering Questions, or Epiphanies (TQEs) on the board by the end of 15 minutes

4. Class Discussion of TQEs

Tips:

1. "Good" TQEs typically include the author’s name

2. If possible, groups should also provide their best guess for any question

3. Groups should expect follow-up questions about whatever they write on the board

4. Students should record their own TQEs from the Small Group Discussions in one ink color and the Class Discussion in another, all on the same page

Options:

1. Assign the TQEs a number and give them to different groups for a response

2. Have a student volunteer to lead the discussion

3. Class votes on top TQEs and focus only on those

4. TQEs become thesis statements and students complete an outline

A Four Corners debate requires students to show their position on a specific statement (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) by standing in a particular corner of the room. This activity elicits the participation of all students by requiring everyone to take a position. Use this as a warm-up activity by asking students to respond to a statement about a topic they will be studying. It can also be an effective follow-up activity by asking students to apply what they have learned when framing their arguments, or you can use it as a pre-writing activity to elicit arguments and evidence prior to essay writing.

Procedure

1. Prepare the Room

2. Label the four corners of the room with signs reading “Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” and “Strongly Disagree.” Generate a list of debatable statements related to the material being studied. Statements that are most likely to encourage discussion typically elicit nuanced arguments (e.g., “This might be a good idea some of the time, but not all of the time”), represent respected values on both sides of the debate, and do not have one correct or obvious answer. Examples of effective “Four Corners” statements include the following:

   • The needs of the larger society are more important than the needs of the individual.

   • The purpose of schooling is to prepare youth to be good citizens.

   • Individuals can choose their own destiny; their choices are not dictated or limited by the constraints of society.

   • One should always resist unfair laws, regardless of the consequences. I am only responsible for myself.

3. Introduce Statements

4. Distribute statements and give students the opportunity to respond to them in writing. Many teachers distribute a graphic organizer or worksheet that requires students to mark their opinion (strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree) and then provide a brief explanation.

5. Four Corners Discussion

6. After students have considered their personal response to the statements, read one of the statements aloud and ask students to move to the corner of the room that best represents their opinion. Once students are in their places, ask for volunteers to justify their position. When doing so, they should refer to evidence from history, especially from material they learned in this unit, as well as other relevant information from their own experiences. Encourage students to switch corners if someone presents an idea that causes a change of mind. After a representative from each corner has defended his or her position, you can allow students to question each other’s evidence and ideas. Before beginning the discussion, remind students about norms for having a respectful, open discussion of ideas.

7. Debrief with Journals

8. There are many ways you can debrief this exercise. You can have students reflect in their journals about how the activity changed or reinforced their original opinion. Some of their views may have been strengthened by the addition of new evidence and arguments, while others may have changed altogether. It is quite possible that some students will be more confused or uncertain about their views after the Four Corners debate. While uncertainty can feel uncomfortable, it is an important part of the understanding process and represents an authentic wrestling with moral questions that have no clear right or wrong answers. To clarify ideas shared during the discussion, you can chart the main “for” and “against” arguments on the board as a whole-class activity.

Basic Structure: Students are divided into 4 groups. Three of these groups are assigned to represent specific points of view. Members of the fourth group are designated as “provocateurs,” tasked with making sure the discussion keeps going and stays challenging. One person from each group (the “speaker”) sits in a desk facing speakers from the other groups, so they form a square in the center of the room. Behind each speaker, the remaining group members are seated: two right behind the speaker, then three behind them, and so on, forming a kind of triangle. From above, this would look like a pinwheel. The four speakers introduce and discuss questions they prepared ahead of time (this preparation is done with their groups). After some time passes, new students rotate from the seats behind the speaker into the center seats and continue the conversation.

Each week the New York Times posts an intriguing image stripped of its captions and invites students to discuss them. The following image is a recent post. Without knowing the context, what are your thoughts on this picture? Students can follow up on the New York Times’ website for the caption and more information about each image one week after they are initially posted.

Rationale

The Barometer teaching strategy helps students share their opinions by asking them to line up along a continuum based on their position on an issue. It is especially useful when you want to discuss an issue about which students have a wide range of opinions. Because a Barometer activity gets many arguments out on the table, it can be an effective pre-writing exercise before an essay assignment.

Procedure

1. Prepare the Space

2. Identify a space in the classroom where students can stand in a line or a U-shape. Place "Strongly Agree" and "Strongly Disagree" signs at opposite ends of a continuum in your room. Alternatively, you can post any statement at one end and its opposite at the other end of the line.

3. Contract with Students

4. Set a contract for this activity. Since it deals with students literally putting themselves and their opinions on the line, it has the potential to promote outbursts that result from some individuals not understanding how classmates can hold whatever opinion they hold. Reiterate your class rules about respect for the opinions and voices of others, and call for students to be honest but not insulting. Re-address ways to constructively disagree with one another, and require that when students offer their opinion or a defense of their stance, they speak using "I" language rather than the more accusatory "you."

5. Students Formulate an Opinion

6. Give students a few minutes to reflect on a prompt or prompts that call for agreement or disagreement with a particular statement. You might have students respond to the prompt(s) in their journals.

7. Students “Take a Stand”

8. Ask students to stand on the spot along the line that represents their opinion, telling them that if they stand at either extreme, they are absolute in their agreement or disagreement. They may stand anywhere between the two extremes, depending on how much they do or do not agree with the statement.

9. Students Explain Positions

10. Once students have lined themselves up, ask them in turn to explain why they have chosen to stand where they are standing. Encourage students to refer to evidence and examples when defending their stance. It is probably best to alternate from one end to the middle to the other end, rather than allowing too many voices from one stance to dominate. After about three or four viewpoints are heard, ask if anyone wishes to move. Encourage students to keep an open mind; they are allowed to move if someone presents an argument that alters where they want to stand on the line. Run the activity until you think that most or all voices have been heard, making sure that no one person dominates.

11. Debrief

12. There are many ways you can debrief this exercise. You can have students reflect in their journals about how the activity changed or reinforced their original opinion. Or you can chart the main “for” and “against” arguments on the board as a whole-class activity.

Variations

1. Forced Decision: Yes, No, or Undecided: Read a statement aloud. Rather than have a continuum for agreement, require students to make a decision about whether they “agree” with the statement, “do not agree,” or “are unsure” about their agreement. If students agree with the statement, instruct them to move to one side of the room. If students disagree with the statement, instruct them to move to the other side of the room. Designate a place for students to stand near the middle if they are undecided or unsure. Have students explain why they are standing where they are standing. If after hearing another student’s position a student would like to move across the room, allow for this movement.

2. Post-It Notes Barometer: Draw a continuum on the board. Ask students to place a sticky note on the spot along the continuum that represents their opinion. Then have students discuss what they notice about the collection of notes. This variation is less about individuals explaining their point of view than about illustrating the range of agreement or disagreement in the class.

3. Presenting Different Perspectives: The Barometer strategy can be used to present the different perspectives of historical figures, schools of thought, and literary characters. Assign students a perspective to represent. Then give them time to research or study the ideas of this person or group in relation to the question being studied. When you frame a statement, ask students to stand along the line at a position that represents how their assigned individual or group would respond. For example, you could use this activity to show how different philosophers or groups have responded to the statement “Individual freedom is more important than protecting the needs of the larger community.”