This cooperative activity provides opportunities for students to read, write, speak, and listen about specific topics before studying an historical event. This helps build background knowledge and interest about topics to be studied.

1. Select four short high-interest texts about one topic. The text should be no more than two pages in length. For example, if teaching the Civil War, you might include a reading about the Lincoln Presidency, military strategy, Andersonville Prison Camp, and the life of a Confederate Soldier 

2. Arrange students in groups of three or four. Assign each student a different topic to read. Students then read their assigned text. 

3. After reading, students return to the text and create a list of important and/or interesting facts to be discussed at the table. 

4. Each student should be given 3 – 5 minutes to explain their notes about their reading, while the others in the group take careful notes. 

5. Each group is given one piece of paper to construct their writing. Begin the writing process with the first reader’s topic.

   1. • Reader #1 writes a topic sentence about their reading 

      • Student #2 adds one sentence about the SAME reading to the paragraph 

      • Student #3 adds another sentence 

      • Student #4 adds another sentence 

6. Continue rotating until time is called or ideas are exhausted. 

7. The writing process continues with student #2 constructing a topic sentence for the second reading. Continue until all four readings have a paragraph.

SNAP Vocabulary

from Cult of Pedagogy

S: Seeing and saying each word 

N: Naming a category or group each word belongs to or noticing connections to related words or word families 

A: Acting on the words (engaging in a brief task or conversation about the words)

P: Producing an individual, original application of the words

Hypothes.is

(from Ditch That Textbook)

Popular culture, the news, and blogs are great sources of relevant, up-to-date content we can connect to our classes. Hypothes.is (hypothes.is) lets us share an article with students and start a digital discussion there. 

 Hypothes.is lets students digitally highlight and add sticky notes all over the article — but with enough room to have unlimited annotations. Discuss an article with your class — or even share the discussion with others outside of your classroom. (Example: The author of the article you’re discussing!)

The Iceberg Diagrams teaching strategy helps students gain awareness of the numerous underlying causes that give rise to an event. It’s often difficult for students to see these causes because they rest “beneath the surface.” The visual image of an iceberg helps students remember the importance of looking deeper than the surface in order to better understand events in the past or present. This strategy can be used as a way for students to organize their notes as they learn about a period in history, as a way to review material, or as an assessment tool.

Select an Event

Select an event that students are exploring in class. It can be an event from literature, history, or recent news. Students should already be familiar with this event.

Introduce the Iceberg Visual

Ask students to list what they know about icebergs, or you can show them a picture of an iceberg. The main idea you want to establish is that what one sees above the water is only the tip of the iceberg; the larger foundation rests below the surface. Then ask students to draw an iceberg on a piece of paper or in their journals, making sure that there is a tip, a water line, and a larger area below the surface. Their drawings should be large enough so that students can take notes within the iceberg. Or, use this handout.

The Tip of the Iceberg 

Ask students to list everything they know about the facts of a selected event in the “tip” area of the iceberg. Questions they should answer include: What happened? What choices were made in this situation? By whom? Who was affected? When did it happen? Where did it happen?

Beneath the Surface  

Ask students to think about what caused this event. In the bottom part of the iceberg (under the water), they should write answers to the question, “What factors influenced the particular choices made by the individuals and groups involved in this event?” These factors might include events from the past (i.e., an election, an economic depression, a natural disaster, a war, an invention) or aspects of human behavior or nature such as fear, obedience to authority, conformity, or opportunism. This step is often best done in groups so that students can brainstorm ideas together.

Debrief

Prompts you might use to guide journal writing and/or class discussion include:

• What did you learn from completing your iceberg?

• Of the causes listed in the bottom part of the iceberg, which one or two do you think are most significant? Why?

• What more would you need to know to better understand why this event took place?

• What could have been done, if anything, to prevent this event from happening?

• What have you learned about how to prevent similar events from happening in the future?

• How does the information in this iceberg help you better understand the world we live in today?

From: https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/iceberg-diagrams

An activity based on the S-I-T strategy provides a quick and straightforward way for students to demonstrate their engagement with a text, image, or video. In this activity, students identify what they find surprising, interesting, and troubling about the material. Because the activity gives students an opportunity to process and articulate a short response, it’s especially useful when students are encountering material they find shocking or an outcome that is counterintuitive. Having students complete an S-I-T activity can be an effective way to help them prepare for a class discussion in which you want everyone to have something to contribute. It can also be an effective prompt for an exit card at the end of a lesson.

1. Choose a text, image, or video that you expect students will find engaging and will want or need to discuss after reading or watching.

2. After reading, observing, or watching this stimulus, ask each student to identify the following:

• One Surprising fact or idea

• One Interesting fact or idea

• One Troubling fact or idea

3. Give students an opportunity to share and debrief their S-I-T responses, either in pairs or as a class discussion. Or collect their responses and read them to find out how students are feeling about and understanding the material presented in class.

From: https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/s-i-t-surprising-interesting-troubling

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. 

Says, Means, Matters Template

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.

Rereading to Clarify or Summarize Information

From Facing History & Ourselves

Analyzing historical documents requires students to identify the purpose, message, and audience of a text. Document analysis forms are graphic organizers that guide students through a process of identifying important background information about a document (e.g., author/creator, date created, place, format, etc.) and using this data to determine the text’s bias or perspective.

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?

(Facing History) 

1. Students Read/View Content
   Have students read the text or view the chosen content.

2. Think, Write, Read, Repeat
   Using a timer, lead students through this series of steps:

1 minute: Quiet thought; no writing.

3 minutes: Write (try not to stop writing the entire time).

1 minute: Read and circle three main ideas (words or phrases) from what you have written. No writing during this time. You can read, reread, and think, but do not start writing again.

2 minutes: Write.

30 seconds: Read and put a square around one word or phrase.

1 minute: Write.

3. Reflect
   After the quiet, reflective time of rapid-fire writing, the resulting clarity of thought can be powerful in conversation. Depending on the size of the group, this could be done in small groups or as a whole class.

During distance learning, it may be more difficult for students to access books to read for enjoyment. Here are some resources that might help:

• Epic!: Epic! offers free eBooks. Choose the “read to me” option on select books.

• Bookshare: This service is supported by the U.S. Department of Education and offers free eBooks to students with qualifying special needs. Books are available in audio, braille, large font, and other formats.

• Librivox: This website offers free audio versions of books in the public domain.

• Lit2Go: This website offers free audiobooks in .mp3 format.

Using the I Have, Who Has? strategy, students match up vocabulary words to definitions, creating a loop that repeats.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Identify key terms or vocabulary words that students need to know in order to understand course concepts/ideas. 

2. Organize students into groups of 4-5 and assign each student a color.

3. Create a slide (see template below) with all vocabulary terms in colored boxes matching the colors assigned to students that can be dragged and dropped by students. 

4. Each student finds boxes in their color. All boxes must be used.

5. The student with the box showing, “I have the first box” reads the text aloud to the group and moves the box to the top left part of the slide.

6. The student who has the word that matches the definition connects their arrow to the first box and reads their text aloud.

7. Follow this pattern until everyone has used all of their boxes and the student with the last one reads, “Who has the first box?”.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Identify 3-4 key terms or vocabulary words that students need to know in order to understand course concepts/ideas.

2. Add all vocabulary terms to a spinner (Here is a good one from Wheel of Names)

3. Create a blank Jamboard for Pictionary for each group 

4. Organize students into small groups of 4-5

5. Students click the spinner and follow the link to spin the word wheel.

6. Without talking or making noise, students act out OR draw out the vocabulary term while the rest of the group tries to guess the word.

7. Once the word has been guessed, a new person acts/draws a new word.

8. Continue until everyone in the group has had a turn drawing/acting.

Using the Collaborative Picture strategy, students in small groups will identify images that best represent vocabulary terms and add them to a collaborative slide.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Identify 3-4 key terms or vocabulary words that students need to know in order to understand course concepts/ideas.

2. Organize students into small groups of 4-5 and create one slide with colored boxes for each vocabulary term for each.

3. Each student within the group chooses a different color to represent his/her work on each slide.

4. Students use the search feature on Google Slides to find an image that represents each vocabulary term and enters it into their own colored box.

Identify key terms or vocabulary words that students need to know in order to understand course concepts/ideas. Students sort the words into categories and label them with a term that describes the relationship between the words.

DIRECTIONS:

• Create a slide with all vocabulary terms that can be dragged and dropped by students.

• Students organize all of the vocabulary terms into categories that make sense by dragging the words that are similar into a column.

• Students create a label to describe each category – the label should represent how the words in each category are alike.

• NOTE:

  • Categories must have clear labels that make sense (no “miscellaneous” or “other” categories).

  • All words must be used.

  • Each category must contain at least 2 words.

Word Sneak

Word Sneak is a game invented by Jimmy Fallon that he plays with guests on the Tonight Show. In the game, Jimmy and the guest each get a stack of cards with words on them that they have to work into the conversation naturally (without sounding forced or stilted). It’s hysterical to watch and fun to play. It’s also a great way to learn different ways to approach a word.

In its most basic form, just give kids words, put them in pairs, and have them try to work the words into a natural-sounding conversation in a certain length of time. See an example below of Word Sneak with Jimmy Fallon and Ricky Gervais.

Hexagonal Thinking

from Cult of Pedagogy

When you place an idea on a hexagon, it has six sides where connections could be made to other ideas. When you place many ideas on many hexagons, the discussion about where to connect what will be different every time.  

Students discuss the placement of their terms/hexagons. In the example below, rather than shifting paper hexagons around, they will go into the Google Slide, then drag and drop their terms across the slide and into the web of hexagons as they decide where to place them.

Now that the students have made their connections as they wish, they need to explain their choices. This can take place in many ways: 

• Students could record arguments for one or two connections on a tool like Flipgrid,

• Students could write down their analysis. 

• Groups could collaborate to write explanations for several of their connections or present them back to the class.

• Free copy of the digital hexagonal thinking toolkit here.

• Create your own digital hexagons with PowerPoint or Google Slides by following these instructions:

Talk Text Time

from Teaching Tolerance

Text Talk Time is a whole class discussion that facilitates rich dialogue, active listening and use of textual evidence.

1. Text Talk Time prepares students for structured group discussion of a complex central text. The strategy allows students to practice answering questions verbally about a text that they may later be asked to write about. The strategy encourages them to provide evidence for their answers.

2. Choose the central text.

3. Read the text in class during Close and Critical Reading or assign it as independent reading.

4. Instruct students to prepare two or three text-dependent questions prior to beginning Text Talk Time. Answers to text-dependent questions must require textual evidence. Text-dependent questions might: examine the text's central ideas; analyze how and why individuals, events and ideas developed throughout the text; determine the meaning of important words and phrases in the text; and consider how those word choices affect meaning or tone. Regardless of their questions, remind students that they should examine the text in order to come to a better understanding of what it says or infers.

5. Use the Text Talk Time handout to help students generate questions. Guide students the first few times they generate their questions. As you gradually release more responsibility to students, consider the extent to which parameters for question topics would help.

6. Arrange the classroom for large group discussion.

7. Go over the expectations for Text Talk Time. Establish guidelines for when students can talk and how to signal if they have something to say. Students might raise two fingers to indicate, “I have something to add,” or a thumbs-up to mean, “I have something new to say.”

8. Build “think time” into Talk Text Time to allow students to generate follow-up questions and responses to their classmates' questions and ideas. Facilitate to ensure equal participation and safe discussion behavior and to make sure text references are accurate (page, line, paragraph). Remind students to cite specific textual evidence and quote accurately from the text.

9. To bring the discussion to a close, ask summarizing questions that require students to consider the text as a whole. Pose questions such as, “What does the author seem to think about [insert central text idea here]? How do you know?” "How might you summarize the text's central idea(s)?" To further scaffold this pre-writing opportunity, have students turn and talk with an elbow partner before responding to the whole group.

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.

Reading Against the Grain

From Teaching Tolerance

In reading against the grain students analyze the dominant reading of a text and engage in alternative or "resistant" readings. Resistant readings scrutinize the beliefs and attitudes that typically go unexamined in a text, drawing attention to the gaps, silences and contradictions. A "reading" refers to what we believe the text means; textual meaning is always dependent on context. A reader situated in a cultural context other than the one in which the text was written may find meaning the writer did not intend. When students read against the grain, they learn to push back against the foregrounding and privileging of a dominant point of view (often heterosexual, non-disabled, Christian, white, or male). This strategy adds the experiences of less represented individuals and groups into the textual discourse.

Choose a text and plan initial readings:

1. Assess students' understanding of the text. Resistant readings must come after students achieve foundational comprehension.This includes an understanding of the text’s central idea(s) and how these ideas develop over the course of the text. Require students to thoroughly cite textual evidence in order to demonstrate their understanding. A shared reading lesson that uses questions from Challenge the Text is a good way to lead up to reading against the grain.

2. Familiarize students with three ways of interpreting texts:

   1. Dominant readings are the most common and widely-accepted interpretations of a text. They embody the dominant values and beliefs in a culture and position the reader to favor the interpretation.

   2. Alternative readings are any readings that differ from—but do not challenge—the commonly accepted interpretation. Alternative readings are less common but are easily accepted because they do not undermine the dominant reading.

   3. Resistant readings are alternative readings of the text that challenge dominant cultural beliefs and reject the position the text appears to offer. There are many different types of resistant reading. For instance, a feminist reading will focus on how a text reinforces stereotypes about the role of women.

3. Illustrate the three interpretations. A familiar story like Cinderella works well for this modeling exercise. Remind students that while the resistant interpretations are clearly not how we were meant to read Cinderella, these alternatives make sense when the story is read closely.

4. Have students determine the author’s point of view or purpose in the central text. In addition to describing the author’s view or purpose, students should use textual evidence to explain how the author advances her ideas or claims. This step sets up students to be successful in the next step by requiring them to engage with the dominant reading before considering other readings.

5. Challenge students to produce alternative and resistant readings of the Perspectives central text. During initial modeling, choose the "lens" for reading based on the lesson objective and the textual themes. (Click here for a sample resistant reading through the lenses of gender and class.) Selecting the lens becomes more difficult as text complexity increases. Allow students to choose a lens that they find meaningful.

Virtual Big Paper Activity

From Facing History

A virtual Big Paper can be used to help students explore a topic in-depth, slow down their thinking, and focus on the views of others. In a virtual Big Paper discussion, students respond to a stimulus, such as an interview audio clip or historical document, using a collaborative digital-tool (such as a GoogleDoc, Google Jamboard, Padlet, or VoiceThread).

Students can complete a virtual Big Paper discussion asynchronously during a defined time period, though you may choose to complete the final debrief of the activity during a synchronous session.

The following questions can help you plan to use a virtual Big Paper:

1. What collaborative digital tool(s) do I want to use to create a virtual Big Paper?

2. How am I going to deliver instructions to students about completing the activity?

3. How often am I going to monitor the discussion?

4. If teaching asynchronously, what is the defined time period I want to set for completing the activity?

Procedure

1. Select a Stimulus for Discussion
   Begin by selecting the “stimulus”—the material that students will respond to during the activity. A stimulus might consist of questions, quotations, historical documents, excerpts from novels, poetry, or images. Audio clips and videos also make great stimuli in an online environment. This activity is best done when students work asynchronously for a defined period of time (1-2 days) in small groups. Each group can either be given the same stimulus or a different stimulus related to the same theme.

2. Create the Virtual Big Paper
   Create a virtual Big Paper for each group using a collaborative digital tool (such as a GoogleDoc, Google Jamboard, Padlet, or VoiceThread). On each Big Paper, type, embed, or link the stimulus that will be used to spark the students’ discussion.

3. Prepare Students
   Determine how you want to introduce your students to the activity (for example, through video or written instructions or during a synchronous meeting). You can adapt and share the Instructions for Students. Assign students to small groups.

4. Students Comment on Their Group’s Big Paper
   Share the virtual Big Papers with each group. Ask students to post questions and comments on their Big Paper during a defined time period. If a student poses a question on the Big Paper, another should respond. The conversation must start around the text but can stray wherever the students take it. Depending on the tools you use, students can connect a comment to a particular question by drawing lines or including “@” tags.

5. Students Comment on Other Groups’ Big Papers
   Share each group’s virtual Big Paper with the full class. Still working asynchronously, students read other Big Papers, leaving comments or further questions for thought.

6. Students Return to Their Group’s Big Paper
   Have students return to their group’s Big Paper and look at any new comments left by others. 

7. Debrief
   Finally, debrief the process with students. To debrief asynchronously, create a new virtual discussion space for the whole class. Begin the conversation with a simple prompt such as, “What did you learn from doing this activity?” Use students’ ideas from the Big Papers to draw out students' thoughts and delve deeper into the content.
   You can also debrief the activity during your next synchronous full class meeting.

Graphic organizers are a helpful learning tool for students of all ages to organize, clarify, or simplify complex information—they help students construct understanding through an exploration of the relationships between concepts. Fillable templates can be found here so that students can use them online during distance learning.

Connect two is a strategy that helps students explore vocabulary of the text before they begin reading. It encourages students to make predictions about the probable meaning of a passage based on what they know or can anticipate about the keywords or concepts. When students begin reading, they have already previewed the major ideas of the text.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Identify 10-15 key concepts or terms in a piece of text. Include terms that are familiar and those that may be challenging or new. All words should relate to the topic or important ideas within the text.

2. Provide students with the words in two columns with unfamiliar or challenging words in column A with related, but more common terms in column B.

3. Students work together to create matching pairs, one from each column.

4. Students then generate one sentence for each pair of words that represents ideas they predict might occur in the text.

5. As students read the text, ask them to pay attention to how the author used the terms.

This discussion technique encourages meaningful classroom conversations by eliciting differing opinions and interpretations of text. Asking students to think about their reading stimulates reflection and helps to develop active and thoughtful readers. Save the Last Word for Me also prompts classroom interaction and cooperative group discussion.

Directions:

• One person reads aloud the quote s/he selected, but does not provide any reasons for the selection

• The rest of the group engages in discussion around this quote

• Once the discussion has come to a close, the person who selected the quote reveals why it resonated with him/her

  • Elementary Video

  • Secondary Video

S"T"Art is a summarizing strategy helps students use the main or most important ideas within a text that relate to one another and write them into a shorter, coherent w hole. 

• students determine two to four central ideas within the text and write one complete sentence describing each. 

• students use the S"T"Art template to create the topic sentence:

S = Source

T = Title

A = Author

R = Right verb

T = Topic

• students add their previously developed central idea sentences to complete the summary

In ________________ (Source is italicized) article ____________ ("Title" in quotes),  ___________ (author's last name) ___________ (Right verb, e.g. argued, explained, discussed, proposed) __________ (Topic - in a few words describe what the article is about).  Write the two to four central idea sentences in the remaining space.

Instructions:

• Ask students to identify the author’s main idea or central claim.

• Ask them, “To what extent do you agree or disagree with the author’s position?” While they think about their response, label the four corners of the room as follows.

  • I strongly agree

  • I somewhat agree

  • I somewhat disagree 

  • I strongly disagree

• Ask students to go to the corner of the room where the label matching their response is located. (Strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree)

• Once in the appropriate corner, students in that corner share their opinions and come up with a position statement to present to the entire class. One person in the group records that position statement.

• Each corner’s position statement is shared with the entire class, without comments. Students are then allowed to change corners if their opinion has been changed.

• Facilitate a discussion between the different corners allowing students to question and debate one another. Students may move to a different corner any time their opinion changes.

• Debrief both the content and process of the discussion.

Text Dependent Questions

Visual Vocabulary

Using this strategy for learning new vocabulary terms, students develop a definition for each word, provide an example, and draw a picture to represent the big idea.

This resource can be found in the History/Social Science Manual in Bloomington’s online Secondary AVID Resource Library

This strategy is especially useful when analyzing primary source materials such as photographs, pieces of art, or artifacts. Students use the P.O.S.E.R.S format to record what they observe. More information about P.O.S.E.R.S. can be found in the Tutorology Handbook in the AVID Online Resource Library.

P = people

O = objects

S = setting

E = engagement (activities depicted)

R = relationships

S = summary

GIST (Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text) is a summarizing strategy.  It can be used after any reading, video, lecture, class activity, etc. and in any content area!  The students create a GIST by writing a summary limited to 20 words that precisely captures main idea(s) in one complete sentence. (Downloadable GIST Template available below.)

Marking the text is an easy critical reading strategy that can be applied to any piece of text in any content area at nearly every grade level!  See the attached packet for more information.

General Steps (these may be made more specific for different reading purposes and content areas):

1.  Number the margins

2.  Circle key terms/essential words

3.  Underline essential information

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.

This activity can be found in:

English Language Arts: Exploring Texts with Strategic Reading

This strategy can be found in AVID’s Critical Reading Handbook

Literacy in Physics: Reading a Primary Source

Watch this video to see how close reading can be used in a physics classroom.  This reading strategy can be applied to ANY content and any piece of text.

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. 

This strategy can be found in the following online resources:

• AVID Elementary Bridges

• English Language Arts: Exploring Texts with Strategic Reading

• History/Social Science 1

A Graphical Abstract is a 1-page report that summarizes information through the use of pictures and/or visuals. These typically include:

1. The name of the article

2. The authors of the study

3. A brief summary of the findings (1-2 sentences maximum)

4. At least 6 visuals could include original images, graphs, figures, and/or data tables

A tableau is a representation of a scene or picture by people posing silently without moving. In a vocabulary tableau, a group of students use their bodies to create a frozen picture of a vocabulary word. This strategy draws on cooperative learning and kinesthetic intelligence to enhance explicit vocabulary instruction.  The novelty of the process increases student engagement and memory of vocabulary words. 

1. Choose vocabulary words from the central text and share the list with the class.

2. Divide the class into heterogeneous groups (up to four students per group) and assign each a word or set of words. Make sure each group gets different words. Groups should not see the words other groups were assigned. 

3. Instruct groups to use common affixes and roots in order to determine the word’s meaning. Then, provide groups with dictionaries in order for them to clarify its meaning and part of speech. 

4. Either provide groups with student-friendly definitions or have them look up definitions.

5. Explain to students they must plan a tableau for each assigned word according to these guidelines:

6. All group members must be a part of every tableau;

   1. Group members should pose at various heights (some standing, others sitting/crouching/kneeling, others lying on the floor);

   2. Group members cannot use sound or movement; and

   3. Group members should use their entire bodies (hands, legs, and facial expressions).

7. One by one, each group should perform for the class, holding each tableau for at least 30 seconds. Ask students in the audience to review their vocabulary lists and deduce which word the group is performing. Have students record their answers and turn in their answer sheets.

8. If possible, photograph each vocabulary tableau and post it in the classroom or create a digital slideshow.

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.

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

Left and Right Annotation is a way for students to mark their texts. It’s simple, memorable, and transferable. 

• On the LEFT, students write about what the author LEFT for them to find.

• On the RIGHT, students write about the connections they made with the text; the Thoughts, Questions, and Epiphanies which make them wonder if they’re RIGHT.

Lifting the Text engages all participants in focused discussion of a text and encourages students to search for answers as a community of learners. The strategy turns responsibility for learning over to the students, and creates a safe place for diverse expression, conversation, consensus and shared understanding. Guiding questions encourage students to support their text-dependent discussion with specific phrases or sentences from the text.

1. Select a text for students to read independently, in small groups or as a whole class.

2. Organize students into groups of no more than four and provide each group with chart paper.

3. Frame a question, challenge or problem related to the central text. Ask students to reflect silently on the question, challenge or problem.

4. Have students identify a phrase, sentence or group of sentences from the central text that addresses or responds to the question, challenge or problem.

5. Ask students to discuss their group’s selections and how they address the question, challenge or problem.

6. Have each group designate one student to act as the recorder and write the group’s phrase or sentence on the chart paper.

7. Have one student per group act as the reporter and share out the group’s ideas with the whole class.

8. Before the groups share their lifted texts, remind students to respect the opinions of others and to use appropriate language when expressing their ideas.

9. Ask a reporter from one team to share the phrase or sentence the group chose in response to the question, challenge or problem and why. Have the reporter elaborate using textual evidence to show how the lifted text addresses the question, challenge or problem. 

10. Invite the reporter to call on another reporter to share textual evidence that has not already been shared.

11. Chart the responses throughout the class discussion. Halfway through the discussion, ask students to identify and summarize the points provided by the reporters. Repeat at the end of the discussion.

Artifact Add-on asks students to select and share real-life objects that illustrate concepts and ideas from the central text. Artifact Add-on brings texts to life and establishes speaking and listening norms during class discussions. The strategy allows students to take on a teaching role. Students gain an understanding of themselves and their peers as active learners, and gain insight into the importance of effective speaking and listening norms. The artifacts also provide concrete manipulatives for students to handle during the discussion. The neuron stimulation from physical movement creates Total Physical Responses that help students recall ideas and themes from the text in later discussions.

1. Select a previously read text. Determine what themes, messages, information and facts are being communicated through the text.

2. Establish speaking and listening norms as a class. Post these norms in a visible location.

3. Define “artifact” for students. Discuss how a text could have artifacts associated with the events, characters and themes.

4. Using the familiar central text, as a class brainstorm a list of possible artifact that could accompany the text.

5. Model talking about one of the artifacts from the list (while observing the speaking and listening norms) and identify how it relates to the text. Use specific textual evidence to support your ideas.

6. Ask other members of the class to contribute to the artifact discussion. Prompt students to make specific connections to the text, with references to page numbers.

7. Model this process several times to ensure students have the necessary skills to:

   1. Independently identify artifacts;

   2. Lead a discussion related to the artifacts.

8. Select a new central text for students to read independently, in small groups or as a whole class.

9. Charge students with the task of finding an artifact to connect with the text. If the object a student selects is too large to physically bring to the class (e.g., a vehicle), he can present a picture of the object.

10. Establish a rotation for students to share their artifacts.

11. Instruct each student to facilitate a class discussion about her object and the central text using the established speaking and listening norms. After the initial introduction, pass the object around and allow each student to hold and manipulate it during the discussion. The discussion should include textual evidence with specific references to the text for each object.

12. Help students touch on the following questions during their discussion, and be sure to prompt students to use textual evidence to support their ideas and claims:

    1. How is the object related to the text?

    2. How does the object represent the characters in the text?

    3. How does the object relate to the speaker of the text?

    4. What is the text's message or theme? How can the object help you remember the message or theme of the text?

Text graffiti is an effective way to engage a group of students in talking about a text's theme, plot, or claims while keeping the discussion anchored to the text. Students activate prior knowledge and make predictions about literary elements or content themes. For instance, in an English class they may be asked to comment specifically on figurative language they find in the quotes. In a social studies class, students might be asked to comment on what political party or social class they think the author represents.

Text graffiti eases students into an intensive study of a full text. Once students begin reading the entire text, they see familiar words and phrases.

1. Choose the text.

2. Print and cut out lines from the text. Prepare as many pieces of text as you have students. Tape each text piece to a larger piece of paper; tape the larger piece to student desks. Provide the handout How to Graffiti a Text.

3. Instruct students to read and comment on the text at their own desks. Set the purpose for the lesson first to help students focus their writing. Remind students to comment directly on the text in front of them (i.e., not "I think this is sad," but, "I think this is sad because the author uses words like devastation and chaos to describe her homeland.").

4. Signal students to move to another desk. Provide enough time for students to read and respond to the text (3-5 minutes). Repeat step three. Use music to mark the transitions, pressing play/pause when it's time to switch seats.

5. Remind students to respond to each other's comments (names are optional). Creating this thread makes the transition to group discussion more effective. Depending on class size and the lesson objective, limit the number of quotes students comment on.

6. Ask students to return to their seats and read what others have written.

7. Have students make predictions about the text (subject, characters, plot, purpose, etc.). Ask them to write their predictions on index cards and cite pieces of the text that informed their predictions. Open a class discussion about the most popular predictions. Chart the major points from this discussion.

8. After reading the full text, instruct students to confirm or correct their predictions and comments. Confirmations and corrections should focus on textual evidence. Students should cite the text when explaining what it says and how it relates to their original predictions and comments.

“Annolighting” (annotating and highlighting) shows students how to identify critical information in a text during close reading. Students learn to annotate text, highlight important facts and summarize what they have read to capture main ideas, concepts and details. Annolighting teaches students to target, reduce and distill the most important information while reading, skills that improve comprehension and cut down on study and review time.

1. Select a text.

2. Identify the focus for instructions (e.g., return to vocabulary or introduce ideas or themes critical to understanding the text).

3. Divide the central text into manageable sections. Assign students one section at a time.

4. Prepare an annolighting graphic organizer for each text section.

5. Have students read the text section once without highlighting.

6. Have students read the text a second time and annolight according to the following:

   1. Highlight the facts and key information associated with the theme text's main idea(s) (not the entire sentence).

   2. Underline context clues that help determine definitions for words and phrases.

   3. Identify lists, search tools (key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) or other text features that provide additional information on the text's topic.

7. Use the annolighting graphic organizer to record information from the text.

8. Move on to the next section of the text and repeat steps 5 and 6.

Annolighting Graphic Organizer and Example

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.”