Save the last word for me

* Teaching Strategy *
Rationale
The Save the Last Word for Me discussion strategy
requires all students to participate as both active
speakers and active listeners. Working in groups of
three, students follow a pattern of sharing and
discussing their responses to a text. By creating a
clear structure for the discussion, this strategy
encourages reserved students to share their ideas
and ensures that frequent speakers practice being
quiet. It can be a useful strategy for helping students
debrief a reading or film.

Procedure
Select a Text

Identify a reading or video excerpt that will serve as the catalyst for this activity.

Students Read and Respond to Text

Students will read or view the selected text. Ask students to highlight three sentences that
stood out for them and write each sentence on the front of an index card, three different
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colored post-it or loose sleeve. On the back, they should write a few sentences
explaining why they chose that quote—what it meant to them, reminded them of, etc.
They may have connected it to something that happened to them in their own life, to
something that happened in history or is happening in current events.

Students Share in Groups

Divide the students into groups of three, labeling one student A, one B, and the other C in
each group. Invite the A students to read their chosen quotation to their group. Then
students B and C discuss the quotation. What do they think it means? After several
minutes, ask the A students to read the back of their card, or to explain why they picked
the quotation, thus having “the last word.” This process continues with the B students
sharing and then the C students.