Instructional Coaches Newsetter
December 2018
Chat Stations
Pass the Portrait
Looking for a new writing strategy for your students. Try: Pass the Portrait.
- Have students sitting in groups of 4 – 6.
- Give each student an interesting picture (can be cut from magazine advertisements).
- Give students four minutes to write a story about their picture.
- At the end of the four minutes, students pass their partial draft and picture to the person sitting next to them.
- When the student receives the new picture, they study it, and the partial draft, then pick up the writing where it was left off. They need to recognize, and adopt, the narrative point of view that the original writer started with.
- After four minutes, the pictures and drafts are passed on again.
- Students share stories with one another when they receive their original back (it can make the rounds more than once).
- Students then nominate their “best” story as a group, and share it with the class.
- An alternative idea for this activity is to display the same image for the entire class. The procedure is the same. Students will really need to pay attention to the draft, as the line of thinking for the story behind the image may be quite different from their own initial thought.
CSI: Color, Symbol, Image
CSI: Color, Symbol, Image
CSI is a strategy in which students must figure out the big ideas from a reading, video, or speaker through color, symbol, and an image.
Procedure:
Optional beginning:
You could have students share out main ideas to get started.
1. Each student chooses a COLOR and states why this color represents the main idea.
2. Next, each student chooses a SYMBOL that represents the main idea and states why.
3. Lastly, each student chooses an IMAGE that represents the main idea and states why. The image may be a sketch or a photograph.
4. Share with a partner, small group or on a Google presentation for a large group share.
http://www.rcsthinkfromthemiddle.com/uploads/2/3/4/1/23418034/csi.pdf
Snowball
The purpose of the snowball fight strategy is to predict, summarize, justify, and think critically. Teachers can adapt the strategy to their own purposes.
First, have students write the answer to a poignant content-related question on a piece of paper. Students then crumple their paper into a “snowball.” Then, students throw their “snowballs” across the room and retrieve one that is not their own. Students then open the “snowball” and respond in some way to the content of the “snowball.”
Finally, you can ask the next question, and allow the students to write the next answer on the paper they have and repeat the process. Modify the process to meet your classroom needs.
The Snowball Fight activity enforces writing, responding to text, critical thinking, justifying, and collaboration. The anonymity of the activity encourages students to respond even if they are unsure of the “right” answer.
Edpuzzle
Enjoy your Holiday Break!
Central Lee CSD
Email: jwoodley@centrallee.org
Website: centrallee.org
Location: 2642 Highway 218 Donnellson, Iowa 52625
Phone: 319-835-5121
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Twitter: @CentralLeeCSD