Four Corners

Procedure

1. Prepare

Generate open-ended questions that have good potential for discussion, and can be answered several ways. Often, these might be in the form of statements with which the students can agree or disagree. You should also generate 2-4 answers. There are some examples and counter-examples below.

2. Enact.

Either project your question, or post it on your board. When you present the question to the students, tell them that they should not move immediately; they should stand still and think about the question before moving. If you have distinct answers, post/project those as well without telling the students which corners to go to yet. Again, this makes them think about their own answer first. If you like, you can have them answer the question in writing if it will be helpful.

3. Move

Announce the location for each answer, and have the students move to the corner that corresponds to their own answer.

4. Students Discuss

At their corners, provide them with a prompt to discuss their answer with someone else. 2-3 minutes

5. Share

Have one or two groups from different corners share their thinking with the whole class.

6. Continue

This is a time that you might want to debrief the question, or move on to the next question, depending upon how the rest of your lesson will go.