Strategy of the Week

I guess at this point, I might more honestly be called a strategy of the month. But, I promise, this one is a good one that can be used (HONESTLY) for almost any grade level.

Strategy-

CUBING

This strategy gets students thinking about an issue, idea, item, or topic at all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. This strategy can be good as a post-learning activity, or to build background on a familiar topic before connecting that to new learning. For example, I used cubing to activate my students' prior knowledge on water before beginning a lesson on the Water Cycle. 

On each side of the cube, have a different prompt. 

Describe it: Look at the subject closely (perhaps with your physical senses as well as your mind).

•Compare it: What is it similar to? What is it different from?

•Synthesize it; What does it make you think of? What are some ways that you can change it?

•Analyze it: Tell how it is made. What are it is traits and attributes?

•Apply it: Tell what you can do with it. How can it be used?

•Argue for or against: Take a stand.

Believe it or not, I have used this strategy for students in grades 2-8, and I know it works well in high school as well. It's all in the presentation, my friends! When I did this with water for my second graders, I first wrote specific questions for each category. Then, I talked them through each side of the cube, read the questions, and gave them 1 minute to talk with a buddy. With middle school students, you can write your questions and then let them complete the cube on their own. With high schoolers, I have seen colleagues give students the general categories and let them come up with their own questions to discuss. You can also use the cube to explore different parts of a story (characters, setting, plot, climax, conflict, resolution).

Click HERE to get the free templates from my TpT store!