Tabletop Texting
Grade 2-12
Big Idea
Click here for cell phone template
Click here for speech bubble template
Copy on cardstock and laminate so kids can reuse
Directions
2. Stop every minute or so in the video or every section in the text. Post a question. Students respond to the question in the format of a text.
3. Students then write a question they still have.
4. Pass the "phone" to a neighbor
5. Repeat the process through the video or reading passage until complete.
6. At the end you can share out ideas and questions, or the teacher can collect and see where students are at in response to their questions
When to Use
As a formative assessment:
*After learning a new concept or reviewing a learned concept, pose a question and have students text their response and ask a lingering question
*In Science and Social Studies, watch a content video or read summary reading. Every section or few minutes, pause and pose a question. Students answer the question and then ask one of their own and pass to a neighbor. Repeat this process.
*In reading students can stop and answer a question based on the strategies or learning that they are engaged in. Depending on their answer, you can text back with a follow up question to deepen complexity of thinking.
As an instructional strategy:
*Tabletop texting can be used to track thinking. Designate stopping points in a video or text where students stop and jot their thinking, ask a question, then pass their phone. Students can respond to their peer and pass the phone back, or you can continue the process. Students can then use these ideas to synthesize their thinking about a topic or text.*Teachers can use tabletop texting as an exit slip where students respond to a question and simply "text the teacher" instead of passing to a neighbor.
*Teachers can assess background knowledge on a new topic by having students text everything they know about a topic and asking questions they want to learn about.
Strategy Variations
*Tabletop texting could be done using pictures and/or emojis that create pictogram puzzles for the next student to try to solve.
*If you have students who need to move a lot, kids can use dry erase markers and write on their desk and instead of passing the "phone," they get up and move to the next desk.
*Provide students with key words or vocabulary they need to include in their response
*Provide sentence frames for texting responses
*While watching a video or reading a text, students write down 3 key words that are most important to their learning. Then they can pass their phone and the next students can add on 3 more new words after watching the rest of the video or reading the rest of the passage