ACTIVATE: 
Concept Attainment

Determine the specific concept that students will be learning. 

Create a presentation with several examples and non-examples of that concept. 

Refer to Educator Resource: Concept Attainment Example for “Collaboration” to review a finished product using the concept of “collaboration.”

PREP STUDENTS:  Begin by informing the students that they will be shown several images. Some of the images will be examples of the concept to be learned, and others will be non-examples of the concept. Do not yet share with them what the concept is. 

INFORM STUDENTS OF EXAMPLE & NON-EXAMPLE:  Inform students that the first image is an example of the concept, and the second image is a non-example. 

STUDENT CLASSIFY REMAINING IMAGES:  After the initial two examples, students then provide responses for the remaining images, classifying them as either examples or non-examples with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, respectively. At the same time, they will be thinking about what specific concept the examples are promoting. 

STUDENT WRITE DOWN WORDS THAT CAPTURE CONCEPT:  As the examples and non-examples are shown, have students secretly write down several words that may capture the concept. 

STUDENTS NARROW LIST:  Before revealing the concept, have students narrow their list to one concept and write a short reflection on why they chose that word. Students can share their hypothesis with other students before the concept is revealed.

REVEAL CONCEPT:  Reveal the concept to the class and introduce the Essential Question for the upcoming text.

Once students feel like they have discovered the concept being represented, they can find another example and non-example to show that they have figured out what concept will be introduced in the reading.