TEACHING

Open-Ended Questioning
Snowball Discussions
Brainstorming
SWOT Analysis
Anticipation
Debating
SIT

STRATEGIES
Discussant: CHIMNEY A. PAUSAL
ANTICIPATION GUIDE
An anticipation guide is used before reading to activate
students' prior knowledge and get students excited
and curious about a new topic.
 Anticipation Guide - Purpose

• Anticipation guides stimulate students’ interest in a topic

and set a purpose for reading.
• They teach students to make predictions, anticipate the
text, and verify their predictions.
• They connect new information to prior knowledge and build
curiosity about a new topic.
How to Use
ANTICIPATION GUIDE
 CONSTRUCT
Write four to six short, declarative, thought-
provoking statements about the new
concept, some true and some false. Include
two sets of columns before and after the
statement. One column should be labeled
“Agree” and the other “Disagree”
 DISPLAY

Read or display the statements to the

class. Allow students time to respond
to each statement, either individually,
with a partner, or as a class. They
should use the columns to the left of
each statement to mark whether they
agree or disagree.
 DISCUSS

Conduct a short class discussion

about the statements before
presenting the new material. Ask
students to explain why they
agree or disagree.
 REVISIT
Revisit the guide after presenting the new
material and have students use the
columns to the right of each statement to
mark whether they now agree or disagree
based on what they’ve learned.
 When to UseANTICIPATION GUIDE

• Before/after introducing new material to tap into

prior knowledge

• Before/after watching a film clip to gauge a reaction

• Before/after reading a short text to begin a discussion

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SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS
The Snowball Technique is a way for students to teach each other
important concepts and information. Students begin by working
alone. Next, they collaborate with a partner. Partners form groups
of four. Groups of four join together to form groups of eight. This
snowballing effect continues until the entire class is working
together as one large group.
 SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

Why use it
• Students are actively engaged in the learning
process.

• Promotes key teaching and collaborative skills.

 How to do it
SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

1. Introduce the topic and provide the required information to the students.

2. Allow the students to go over the information provided (say for 10-15 min)
and jot down the key facts or ideas or answers to the questions.
3. You may want to help the students to organize their facts if needed.

4. Get the students to share the facts, ideas or answers with one other
student and discuss for another 5 min or so.
5. Once the pair has discussed and consolidated their thoughts, ask
them to move to another pair and share their thoughts again.

6. Now the two pairs join to form a group of four students.

7. Get the group of four students to continue the process leading to the
formation of a group with 8 students.
8. You may continue this to the point that is comfortable for you and
your class.
9. Follow it up by a class discussion at the end.
Variation #1 – Have students work individually, with a partner, and
then in groups of four. Stop at this point and have a class discussion.

Variation #2 – Place students in groups of four or five. Call this group the Expert Group.
Students in this group discuss one portion of a task. After a specific time, students move to
Home Groups. A Home Group consists of one person from each different Expert Group.
Students share the information from the Expert Group with the Home Group. With this
technique, each member of the class is responsible for teaching one bit of information to the
Home Group.
 Considerations
SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

• If you end up with one large group at the end, then get
the group to present their findings.

• If you stop at a point where there are few groups left,

then follow it with a whole class discussion.
 Advantages
SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

• This technique actively engages students.

• Students become the teachers.

• This method provides opportunities for collaboration.

 Benefits
SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

With snowball, students are exposed to “publication” of their

knowledge and are given the opportunity to peer review another
group’s work. This requires students to cooperate in order to come to a
consensus. Because each group presents their findings, students can be
exposed to more examples in the time that it takes them to work
through one.
 Challenges
SNOWBALL DISCUSSIONS

When different groups go at a different pace this can complicate how the
class is managed. If one group is too far ahead, assistance can be provided
to the teams that are lagging behind without hindering the group learning
process. If one team is only slightly ahead, they can be provided with
additional questions or asked to revisit what they have done.
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONING
Open-ended questions start with “why?,” “how?,” and “what if?”
Open-ended questions encourage a full answer, rather than a
simple “yes” or “no.” Closed-ended questions can be answered
with “yes” or “no.” Open-ended questions and closed-ended
questions can be used together in order to create fuller answers
from respondents.
 How to create
Open-Ended Questions

Be genuinely interested in your audience. A genuine curiosity will

help you to create open-ended questions that are meaningful and
will help you to reach your goal or get the information you need.
When writing your questions, spend time thinking about what
you would really like to know from your respondents.
• Genuinely open up your curiosity about
students’ thinking

• Clarify the boundaries

• Use words that encourage cooperation, not

competition

• Watch out for pseudo-open-ended questions

BRAINSTORMING
Brainstorming is a large or small group activity that
encourages students to focus on a topic and contribute
to the free flow of ideas.
 Brainstorming Is an Excellent Strategy To...

•Use in the inclusive classroom •Tap into individuality and creativity

•Tap into prior knowledge •Eliminate the fear of risk-taking
•Give all students a chance to express their ideas
•Eliminate fear of failures
•Show respect for each other
•Try something without fear
Rules to follow!
Brainstorming

There are no wrong answers

Try to get as many ideas as possible

Record all ideas

Do not express your evaluation on any

idea presented
 Why use brainstorming?
o focus students' attention on a particular topic

o encourage learners to take risks in sharing their

ideas and opinions
o teach acceptance and respect for individual differences

o generate a quantity of ideas

o demonstrate to students that their knowledge and
their language abilities are valued and accepted

o introduce the practice of idea collection prior to beginning tasks

such as writing or solving problems

o provide an opportunity for students to share ideas and expand

their existing knowledge by building on each other's
contributions.
 Effective brainstorming: how do I achieve it?

1. In a small or large group select a leader and a scribe

2. Define the problem or idea to be brainstormed
3. Set up the rules for the session
4. Start the brainstorming
5. Go through the results and begin evaluating the responses
6. Some initial qualities to look for when examining the responses
include:
 looking for any answers that are repeated or similar
 grouping similar concepts together
 eliminating responses that definitely do not fit

7. Discuss the remaining responses as a group

SWOT ANALYSIS
SWOT is an analysis tool that is
used for planning and problem
solving. The acronym SWOT
stands for strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats.
Application in the classroom
SWOT ANALYSIS

o Know yourself

o Planning and implementation

o Feedback mechanism
 How it works
SWOT ANALYSIS

1. Divide students into groups. Or choose to keep the whole class together.

2. Distribute a blank SWOT diagram each group. Or have students create a

large version
3. Present on the
students withboard or on
a topic, chart
video clippaper. 
or written scenario.
4. Say, “As a group, analyze the video through four different lenses:
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Jot down ideas in
each box as you go.” In the customer interaction example given,
students would analyze the actions and words of the employee and
gauge customer satisfaction.

5. Lead a group discussion of the positive and negative aspects of the

topic. For a customer interaction, challenge students to suggest
changes the worker could make.
S-I-T: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling

An activity based on the S-I-T strategy provides a quick

and straightforward way for students to demonstrate
their engagement with a text, image, or video. 
Procedure
Choose a text, image, or video
that you expect students will
find engaging and will want or
need to discuss after reading
or watching.
After reading, observing, or watching
this stimulus, ask each student to
identify the following:

•One Surprising fact or idea

•One Interesting fact or idea
•One Troubling fact or idea
Give students an opportunity to share and
debrief their S-I-T responses, either in pairs or as
a class discussion. Or collect their responses and
read them to find out how students are feeling
about and understanding the material presented
in class.
DISCUSSION & DEBATING
Engaging students in discussion and debate encourages
students to create their own understanding of the content
and connect it to their experiences. Learning is improved
when students are encouraged to form opinions and develop
their own ideas about the content. 
 When planning your discussions, consider:
DISCUSSION & DEBATE

What content do you want students to focus on?

• What questions can you ask to inspire a rigorous conversation or debate?
• Will students need time to prepare in advance?
• Will students need guidance with how to ask probing questions?
 In-class discussion examples:
o A mid-point summary or reflection could be provided by a student, for 1
minute, part way through a discussion. This student could then pose a
question to continue the discussion or move it in another direction.

o Find a short reading or article that offers a controversial perspective. Ask

students to read prior to class or quickly at the commencement of the
activity. Prepare some questions to help open the conversation.
o Provide a case-study or scenario for students to read. Create roles or
characters that each look at the scenario from a different perspective.
Have students form small groups and assign each group a character. Have
students respond to the whole class, showing the scenario from the
position of their character. As a class, discuss the different points-of-view
and see if the class can find a resolution. Consider assigning some
students the role of discussion mediators, who propose compromises
and help the class to identify key points and common ground.
 In-class debate examples:
• One team arguing for and another team arguing against the issue. The
remaining students will be the non-debating audience.
• Allow the teams time to work together prior to the debate, so that they
can determine arguments for or against a given topic.
• Each member of the team is given the opportunity to present one
argument on behalf of their team.
• Arguments should be timed, approximately 3-5 minutes per person.
• Allow time for rebuttals and responses, approximately 1 per person.
• Include the class in creating a clear set of rules, timings and guidelines
for the debate. Non-debating students should work together to create
guidelines for how the debate will be judged, evaluated and how
feedback will be provided