Teaching Strategy Catalogue

Strategy
Jigsaw

Exit Slips

Explanation

Mark Alexander

Key
Considerations/Reflection
s
Members of a small group This strategy provides
(4) are each given
students with an excellent
separate aspects of a
way to collaborate and feed
particular topic (economy, off of each others ideas in
culture politics etc. of
order to further personal
Sweden). Students then
knowledge. Students help fill
get together with their
in each others gaps on a
counterparts in other
certain topic, and then are
groups who share a topic, able to reinforce learning by
researching and sharing
teaching it. Teaching calls for
information as they
a high level understanding
master that topic. Each
from the student first, and
student then returns to
those on the learning side
their original small group
will develop comprehension
to teach the other
and communication skills as
members about the topic they inquire about the topics
they specialized in, fitting they did not specialize in.
all the parts of a topic
There may be an issue with
together.
trusting central topics to this
Resources: dependant on technique, especially if they
the content
turn up in summative
evaluation, but the Jigsaw
strategy is great for student
collaboration,
communication,
comprehension and
understanding.
Students provide an
Reflection is key to critical
answer to a question, or
thinking and retention of
pose a question of their
knowledge for students,
own on a slip of paper
however I believe this
and hand it in as they
strategy is equally valuable
leave the class.
for teachers as it opens up a
Resources: Index cards
channel for direct feedback.
The ability to derive
formative assessment from
exit slips is monumental as it
allows teachers to gauge
understanding on a topic,
what needs to be re-visited
and what is understood. It
also allows the teacher to
self evaluate as they

Teaching Strategy Catalogue

Summarizin
g

Word
Scramble

Mark Alexander

discover whats working in

the classroom based on
which areas students are
struggling with. Teachers can
use this information to tailor
to students and create a
more learner-centred
environment where the
classroom direction has input
from students. Exit slips are
excellent for both the
teacher and student.
After a section of text,
Summarization is an
video or activity, have
excellent technique that is
students summarize the
very flexible and works in
main points and some
almost any context. This
support for those main
technique assumes that
points either verbally or in students will take in more
writing. If you want, have information than they need
them identify the
and that certain information
irrelevant information as
is more important to know. It
well.
allows students to determine
Resources: Writing
essential points and weed
materials and paper
out the less relevant
potentially.
information. Effective
summarization increases
understanding of key
concepts and big picture
ideas rather than facts,
which is essential to the new
paradigm of education.
Summarization is key to
understanding rather than
memorizing.
Give students a word
This is a great strategy
relevant to subject
because it forces students to
matter, then have them
think creatively and wrestle
use the letters from that
with a problem until they find
word to create as many
a solution, all while
new words as possible.
expanding their vocabulary.
Then pool what they
Students get in the habit of
came up with to create a
moving things around and
list of the words they
trying different methods to
found.
reach a solution. When all of
Resources: Chart
the words students come up
paper/White board,
with are being pooled

Teaching Strategy Catalogue

writing utensils.

Think-PairShare

After examining specific

content, students then
answer a question about
the topic on their own
before pairing up with a
peer to share what they
discovered.
Resources: dependant on
content.

Story Maps

Set up the main

components of a story
(plot, characters etc.) in a
discussion, then hand
each student a blank
story map consisting of
empty boxes titled by the
main components of a
story. As the students
read through a story,
have them fill in the
boxes on the story map.
Resources: writing
materials, blank story
maps for each student.

Writing

Having students share

Mark Alexander

together on a whiteboard,
its a great opportunity to go
through new words and
explain their context and
meaning. Soon these words
will show up in their writing
as it advances the students
writing literacy.
This strategy is excellent
because it takes the onus off
the teacher to explain an
answer and instead allows
the students to explore
themselves individually,
before having a peer check
their thought process. It is on
the students to take initiative
to answer a question and
then vocalize it to someone
else. Students then develop
collaborative skills as they
combine ideas.
This strategy will up the
engagement level of
students as they read a story.
Some students may have no
problem entering the world
of a book, but some who
have a tougher time
picturing whats happening
may need a cheat sheet to
fully comprehend the
meaning of a text. Having
students write down the
setting, plot, characters etc.
will help them discover the
point that is being made by
the author. And when
something happens in a
story and the students fully
grasp the text, they are able
to take more away from an
event in the book, relating it
to their own experience or
their own writing.
Going over what a writers

Teaching Strategy Catalogue

Conference
s

their writing with another

student, in a group or
with the teacher, seeking
feedback as they revise
their work. Conferences
can be strictly reactionary
or there can be editing.
They can also focus more
on a particular aspect. It
is advisable that the
teacher goes over what
an effective writing
conference looks like with
the entire class before the
activity. They should
discuss which questions
to ask and how to behave
in a writing conference.
Resources: The students
work

AudioAssisted
reading

Students read along in a

book with an audio
version read by a fluent
reader.
Resources: an audiobook
and hardcopy,
headphones,
computer/ipod

Reciprocal

Students become

Mark Alexander

conference looks like is a

good way to use an exemplar
that students can follow as
they seek to progress as
writers. Collaboration is once
again front and centre as
students are able to turn to
prospective audience
members into writing
evaluators. Students gain
understanding of what an
audience is looking for when
they are able to read others
work as well as be evaluated
on their own writing. This
strategy is an excellent way
to have students push each
other to get better, without
the push coming from an
authoritative source like the
teacher. It is a great way to
practice co-operation for
future workplaces.
There are obvious limitations
to this strategy. The school
must first have the resources
to support an audiobook i.e.
headphones and a
computer/ipod. You then
must find the audiobook form
of a book that the student is
passionate about because
they are ultimately deciding
what it is that they want to
read. If all the stars align and
you have a hardcopy and
audio version with all the
resources to play it, students
can greatly benefit from
reading along with an
audiobook as they learn how
to use the words they hear in
a book in real life and
eventually improve their
ability to read
In order to teach something,

Teaching Strategy Catalogue

teaching

teachers in a small group

setting, focusing on
summarizing,
questioning, clarifying
and predicting as they
teach. Once again
teachers model before to
give students a base to
work from. Resources:
Again dependant on the
content, however, if the
student teaching as an
idea that they want to run
with, give them any
resource they require.

Scaffolding

Introduce students to a
new topic in sequential
steps, allowing them to
progressively gain an
understanding of a large
concept. Teachers provide
successive levels of
support, working their
way to a bigger picture.
An example might be
working through the
scientific method one
stage at a time.
Resources: Dependant on
content.

Mark Alexander

you must reach a high level

of understanding with that
particular topic. One of the
best ways to learn something
is to in fact teach it. This
strategy shifts the power to
the student as now all of a
sudden, they need to gain a
full understanding of a
concept if they are to
adequately teach their peers
or the teacher. There is a
higher level of engagement
and also a chance for
creativity as you put a
student in a position of
responsibility
Scaffolding allows a group of
students to look at a really
big task and then over time,
realize that through small
steps, that big task was very
accomplishable, boosting the
confidence of a student. This
strategy accompanies a
great deal of formative
evaluation because
determining how big the
steps are for each student
really is key. If steps are too
small, students lose interest,
if they are too big, students
become overwhelmed and
feel defeated. Its important
to find that zone that
challenges a student while
also remaining supportive of
them. Over time, through
scaffolding, the teacher
eventually shifts
responsibility of the learning
process over to the student
as they discover how much
they can actually achieve.