The One Word Discussion Strategy
One word not might seem like enough to get a conversation going, but trust me, you need to see the magical power of this discussion strategy for yourself. Here, I’ll show you how to set up the strategy for an in-person or virtual discussion and what the benefits are for your students.
THE SETUP
Here’s what you’ll need: a completed assigned reading of some sort and 6-8 words that students have almost never used or seen. The words should be distantly related to the reading: a stretch enough that kids have to think through the reading to make a connection, but not so obscure that they’ll just sit there scratching their heads.
I create a single graphic per word using Canva (because I can make them look really nice!). I then download each graphic as a .PNG file and insert them as a background for my 6-8 different Google Jamboard “jams”.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR STUDENTS
I don’t put the instructions anywhere for students to see, but I do explain it out loud and put some directions in our Google Meet chat for everyone who is at home. The instructions are simple:
Choose at least two of the words to work with.
Using the Post-it, write down a connection that you see between the reading and the word. BONUS if you can use specific examples and/or textual evidence
Leave your initials or name on your post-it so I can see your contribution
When we go through each word, I might ask you to elaborate on your post-it, so be ready to talk if called on!
I then proceed to go through each word and share the definition and some synonyms and examples. This lesson is an awesome bonus vocabulary lesson, too! Give the students some time to work. When it looks like everyone’s ready, start with any word in the deck. Ask students to elaborate on their ideas. Invite students to chat and connect to one another.
WHY I LOVE IT
This strategy has sooo many benefits to building discussion stamina, scaffolding critical thinking, and creating interesting angles for what could have been a pretty mundane, ordinary discussion. Of course there’s also the added benefit of a mini-vocabulary lesson, too!
I really love discussion strategies that give kids a prompt for thinking (so that they’re on the right track), but don’t prescribe what they’re supposed to be thinking. I also like that, although students don’t like being called on, here, they know it’s coming AND they know what I’ll be asking them about (their own idea that they already have written down and thought about long before they were called on). Students can see their classmates thinking out loud and making interesting connections — it’s a win, win!
Want to keep learning about ways to engage students in critical thinking? Check out this video on YouTube!
LET’S GO SHOPPING!
