Inspiring

Thank you for the inspiring post about the polar opposites.
I have been so bogged down with science fair expectations for my students and "other" demands I actually forgot about the polar opposites strategy. I am so excited I got onto the blog tonight and was reminded of the strategy and will be using it with my students next week.

No profound statements this evening; I will try over the weekend!

Shift Happens - You Tube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

Here is the link to the Shift Happens video we discussed at the Nov. 3rd meeting. If you haven't already seen it, check it out and if you've already seen it, its worth another look.

Polar Opposites

Today I tried the Polar Opposites strategy in my classroom. I used it as a follow-up/review activity to a reading (BDA) activity we completed the previous class. We read a section of the text about the history and culture of Mexico. I created 6 statements based on the reading and had students rate them based on what they remembered from the reading.

examples:

Tenochititlan is a ...

Huge cultural center _ _ _ _ _ Small rural village

Wealth in Mexico belongs to the ...

Majority _ _ _ _ _ Minority

Students were allowed to work in groups on rating the 6 statements but not allowed to look back on the reading. The results were fantastic, some of the best discussions I've had all year. We later shared our rankings as a class and after some intense discussions came up with agreed upon class rankings for all 6 statements.

Overall, I would use this strategy again, it works well with nonfiction readings and forces students to think critically and defend their opinions with solid support.