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It’s All About Engagement!

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of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from Kagan Publishing.

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59
a t e g i e s
e n E n g a gement Str
Prov

Dr. Spencer Kagan

Miguel Kagan
Laurie Kagan

KCL: BKS
59 Kagan Structures
Proven to Boost Engagement!
Activity Ideas
FuRallynRobiLisn ts Across the Curriculum
les. These fun topics
ts RallyRobin examp
to have studen
following topics

Str
or more of the teambuilding.
ctions. Use one at any time for
Teacher Instru or can be used Movies

uct
ng RallyRobin
are great for teachi ure
Sports #
15 Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c
ulum
Mathematics
• What is your
definition of a
• Make change ___?
from money given
• Calender questi
ons
• Where is my mistak Social Studies
Candies • Use manipulative
e?
• Community helper
s to represent s
Vacation Spots
the number or • How did Native
problem Americans use
• Read graphs • Vocabulary words these tools?
• Build a math • Land formations
problem with manip questions
• Draw out a solutio ulatives • Difference past/n
n ow
• Measure object • Answer review
s questions for a
• Solve word proble • Identify a state chapter
ms based on geogra
• Write a word descriptions phical
problem to repres
• Plot numbers ent an equation • Describe a histor
on graph or numb ical event
Desserts • Draw conclusions
from the data or
er line • Identify the branch
of government
graphs shown • Describe charac
Cartoons • Identify the cause
teristics of a cultur
e
or effect
Language Arts
• Spelling words Science
• Main idea of • Animals
a paragraph
• Good ending • Parts of plants
for the story
• Adjectives to • Review steps
describe… of experiment
• Correct gramm • Rain forest
ar mistakes
Food • Skim page—What
do you think it’s • Steps of cell divisio
• Describe events about? n
Hobbies • Identify part
in a story or book • Seasons
of speech • Principles or
laws
• Simile or metap • Answer questi
hor ons about the experi
• Appropriate end • Identify an eleme ment
mark nt based on charac
• Generate a good • Describe what teristics
topic sentence would happen
for the paragraph • Define a term, if…
• Define a vocab law, or principle
ulary word • Draw or define
cell part
• Identify the state
of matter

Music
• What instruments
do you hear in
this piece?
ures om
59 Kagan Struct 67 • KaganOnline.c
ing • 1 (800) 933-26 Art
142 Kagan Publish
• What is the artist
trying to conve
y?
Physical Education
• Review rules
of the game

Ready-to-Use Numbe
ad
red He s Tog

eth
er
Activities and
Kagan Publish
ing • 1 (800) 933-26 59 Kagan Structures
67 • KaganOnline.c
om 93

Resources
Getting Readydiscussion topics.
Steps The teacher prepares

#
Structure 14

Listen Right! stops. Students write

During a lecture, the teacher a partner, and celebrate. S te p
Teacher Lectures S te p
Students Write Key Points
the main points, compare with 1 The teacher lectures while
students listen 2 the teacher stops.
notes. After a short period of lecture,
d with brief carefully without taking of the lecture.
more when lectures are punctuate Students write the key points
Students learn and remember Right! does just that—it
periodically interrupts a
lecture for
processing breaks. Listen takes
types of processing involved
new learning. Further, the To use Listen Right!
students to process their of learning and memory.
of many principles
maximum advantage for elementary, 5–15 minutes
after a period (3–5 minutes
the instructor stops lecturing
Differentiated
the key points of the lecture
pick up their pens and write
for secondary). Students
or small groups. They take turns sharing what they

Instruction
pairs the
so far. Then, students form or Timed Pair Share. Next,
n, RoundRobin, Instant Star, if they
learned, using RallyRobi celebrate with their partners
the key points. Students the than
instructor quickly reviews any. Then the teacher resumes • Students can draw rather
or add them if they missed
covered all the key points process the new material. write their responses. S te p
after a few minutes and students
lecture. The teacher stops • Students may be Partners Share Key Points S te p
There are some powerful
learning principles at work
here. First is Understan
and develop an
ding.
understanding
assigned a buddy
to help them
3 The teacher asks students
to pair up and share
4 Teacher Reviews Key Points
ity to process new learning taught. for accuracy and making key points just
Students have the opportun not really grasp what is being articulate and/ with a partner, checking The teacher reviews the
processing, students may tanding. The brain will papers. To share, they any additional
of its meaning. Without or record their corrections on their own shared. Students record
e understanding is misunders to take equal timed
Worse than fuzzy or incomplet ones. So it is important for responses. may use Timed Pair Share points that they missed.
wrong ideas as it will to right RallyRobin or Pair
cling just as tenaciously to learning requires unlearnin
g
turns to share, or they use
the first time, otherwise sharing a key point.
students to learn it correctly process. By review of the material in many Share where students alternate
more difficult come away with a
and relearning—a much ding of the content, and
a concise understan is the
ways, students gain is Recitation. Recitation
first time. The next principle
correct understanding the strongest technique s for long-term
learning and is one of the
process of “repeating” the writing, or verbalizing the
can occur by thinking about, tes both the vocal and
content retention. Repeating
the strongest since it incorpora
content. Verbalizing is probably Overlearning is another
principle
do all three in Listen Right!
Benefits
or
auditory senses. Students that after we understand
Overlearning is the principle
Listen Right! incorporates. mental trace deeper and deeper in our brains
engrave the
master a concept, we may learn the material, the better our
chances of
The more we
by processing it again.
retention. Through the many
forms of recitation, Students…
establishing a base for long-term are on their way to overlearning the content. learn.
plus the teacher’s review,
students …retain more of what they S te p
and Partners Celebrate S te p
Continue Process
The analogy that the brain
is like a cup of water serves
more water is fruitless. It
as a good visual image. When
spills over the cup. The brain
is
…find lectures more engaging
less boring.
5 Partners celebrate with a
praiser 6 for a short period,
the cup is full, pouring in empty the cup by pouring
out
…process learning in many
ways. The teacher resumes lecturing
ready for new learning. We or celebration. to take notes and
temporarily full and not learning by allowing it to process new then stops again for students
the water. And we prepare
the brain for new
…are accountable for listening Usually only part of the
to longer-term memory.
After brief processing
the lecture. process the new content.
it from working to carefully to Listen Right!
learning, moving and are more receptive lecture is punctuated with
likely to recall past learning taking
breaks, students are more …receive feedback on note
while teachers are not lecturing.
new learning.
n Right!
Liste 59 Kagan Structures
933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
81
Kagan Publishing • 1 (800)

59 Kagan Structures
933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
80 Kagan Publishing • 1 (800)

Step-By-Step Kagan Structures

ISBN 978-1-933445-33-5

9 781933 445335 Engage Every Student!

59
t r a t e g i e s
o v e n E n g agement S
Pr

Dr. Spencer Kagan

Miguel Kagan
Laurie Kagan
© 2016 by Kagan Publishing

This book is published by Kagan

Publishing. All rights are reserved
by Kagan Publishing. No part of
this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage and
retrieval system, without prior written
permission from Kagan Publishing.
The blackline masters included in this
book are intended for duplication only
by classroom teachers who purchase
the book, for use limited to their own
classrooms. To obtain additional copies
of this book or information regarding
professional development contact:

Kagan Publishing
981 Calle Amanecer
San Clemente, CA 92673
1 (800) 933-2667
www.KaganOnline.com

ISBN: 978-1-933445-33-5
Kagan Structures
Quick Look
1. AllRecord RoundRobin 27. RallyRobin 45. Rotating Role RoundTable
2. AllRecord Consensus 28. Both Record RallyRobin 46. RoundTable Consensus
3. Centerpiece 29. RallyInterview 47. Simultaneous RoundTable
4. Fan-N-Pick 30. RallyRead 48. Single RoundTable
5. Dip-A-Strip 31. RallyRecall 49. Timed RoundTable
6. Fan-N-Pick Partners 32. RallyTable 50. Sage-N-Scribe
7. Flashcard Star 33. RallyTable Consensus 51. Showdown
8. Idea RoundUp! 34. Simultaneous RallyTable 52. Similarity Groups
9. Inside-Outside Circle 35. Read-N-Review 53. Talking Chips
10. Rotating Lines 36. RoundRobin 54. Team Interview
11. Instant Star 37. Continuous RoundRobin 55. Timed Pair Share
12. Jot Thoughts 38. Rotating Role RoundRobin 56. Gossip Gossip
13. Kinesthetic Symbols 39. Single RoundRobin 57. Timed Pair Interview
14. Listen Right 40. Think-Write-RoundRobin 58. Traveling Pair Share
15. Numbered Heads Together 41. Timed RoundRobin 59. Invisible Pal
16. Paired Heads Together 42. RoundTable
17. Traveling Heads Together 43. Continuous RoundTable
18. Pair Share 44. Pass-N-Praise
19. Paraphrase Passport
20. Quiz-Quiz-Trade
21. Quiz-N-Compare
22. Snowball
23. RallyCoach
24. Mix-Pair-RallyCoach
25. RallyQuiz
26. Traveling RallyQuiz
 59
ag
59

K
an Structures

Kagan Structures
Table Of Contents
Structure Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
In This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Dedication. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
1. AllRecord RoundRobin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. AllRecord Consensus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
• Recording Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Centerpiece . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
• Story Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
• Revolution Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
• Animal Classification. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4. Fan-N-Pick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5. Dip-A-Strip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6. Fan-N-Pick Partners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
• Fan-N-Pick Role Mat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
• Fan-N-Pick Role Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
• Role Pyramid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
• Calculating Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
• Getting To Know You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
• Card Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
• Equivalency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
• À Quelle Heure? (At What Time?). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7. Flashcard Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
• Flashcard Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
8. Idea RoundUp!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
• Idea RoundUp! Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
9. Inside-Outside Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
10. Rotating Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
• Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
• Animal Cell Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
• Animal Cell Illustration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
• Prewriting Question Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

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 Table Of Contents continued
11. Instant Star. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
• Student Selector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
12. Jot Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
• Top 5 Brainstorming Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
• A–Z Brainstorming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
• Idea Sorting Mat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
• Yes-No-Maybe Sorting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
• Topic Mat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
13. Kinesthetic Symbols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
• Management Signals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
• Hand Geometry Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
14. Listen Right!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
• Note Taking Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
• Key Ideas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
• Key Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
15. Numbered Heads Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
16. Paired Heads Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
17. Traveling Heads Together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
• Animal Fun Facts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

18. Pair Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

• Who Starts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
19. Paraphrase Passport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
• Passports to Speak. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
20. Quiz-Quiz-Trade. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
21. Quiz-N-Compare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
22. Snowball. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
• Text Types—Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
• Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
• Counting Coins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
• Mole Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
• Tempo Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
23. RallyCoach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
24. Mix-Pair-RallyCoach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
• Addition/Subtraction Word Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
• Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
• Contractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
25. RallyQuiz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
26. Traveling RallyQuiz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

ble of Conte
Ta
nt

59 Kagan Structures
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 59
Table Of Contents continued ag

K
an Structures
27. RallyRobin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
28. Both Record RallyRobin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
29. RallyInterview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
30. RallyRead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
31. RallyRecall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
• Parts of Speech Spinner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
• Fun Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
32. RallyTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
33. RallyTable Consensus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
34. Simultaneous RallyTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
• RallyTable Review. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
35. Read-N-Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
• Dinosaur Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
36. RoundRobin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
37. Continuous RoundRobin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
38. Rotating Role RoundRobin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
39. Single RoundRobin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
40. Think-Write-RoundRobin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
41. Timed RoundRobin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

42. RoundTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

43. Continuous RoundTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
44. Pass-N-Praise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
45. Rotating Role RoundTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
46. RoundTable Consensus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
47. Simultaneous RoundTable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
48. Single RoundTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
49. Timed RoundTable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
50. Sage-N-Scribe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
• Processing Area of Trapezoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
• Order of Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
• Mass Stoichiometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

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 Table Of Contents continued

51. Showdown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

• Showdown Captain Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
• Renaissance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
• Middle Ages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
• Decimals into Fractions Task Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
• Suffixes -ly, -ful. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
• Forces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
• Compare Whole Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
52. Similarity Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
53. Talking Chips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
• Talking Chips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
• Turn-Taking Strips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
• Story Element Strips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
• Story Part Chips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
54. Team Interview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
• Planning Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
• Answer Recording Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

55. Timed Pair Share. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

56. Gossip Gossip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
57. Timed Pair Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
• About Me Question Cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
• Character Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
• Rain Forest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
58. Traveling Pair Share. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
59. Invisible Pal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

ble of Conte
Ta
nt

59 Kagan Structures
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 59
Structure Functions ag

K
This dot chart illustrates recommended uses for the
an Structures
structures featured in this book. The structures here
represent a subset of the over 200 Kagan Structures.

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Structures Page Interpersonal Academic
AllRecord Consensus 3 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ • • ★
AllRecord RoundRobin 1 ★ ★ ★ ★ • • ★
Both Record RallyRobin 139 ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Centerpiece 5 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Continuous RoundRobin 158 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Continuous RoundTable 166 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Dip-A-Strip 16 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ • •
Fan-N-Pick 11 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Fan-N-Pick Partners 17 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Flashcard Star 31 ★ ★ ★ ★ •
Gossip, Gossip 222 ★ ★ ★ ★
Idea Roundup! 35 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Inside-Outside Circle 39 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★
Instant Star 61 ★ ★ • • ★ ★
invisible Pal 230 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Jot Thoughts 65 ★ ★ ★ • • ★
Kinesthetic Symbols 75 ★
Listen Right! 79 ★ ★ ★ •
Mix-Pair-RallyCoach 129 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Numbered Heads Together 87 • ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★ ★
Pair Share 99 ★ ★ ★ ★
Paired Heads Together 95 ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★ ★
Paraphrase Passport 103 ★ ★ ★
Pass-N-Praise 166 • ★ ★ • •
Quiz-N-Compare 116 ★ • •
Quiz-Quiz-Trade 109 ★ ★ ★ ★ •
RallyCoach 123 ★ ★ • ★
RallyInterview 139 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
RallyQuiz 133 ★ ★ ★
RallyRead 140 ★ ★ ★

59 Kagan Structures
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Structure Functions continued

ills

rning
lding
Sk

king

nfo
tion

s
a

Skill

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★ Highly Recommended

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• Recommended

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Class

Team

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Pres
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Structures Page Interpersonal A
A cc aa dd ee m
m ii cc
RallyRecall 140 ★ ★ ★ ★
RallyRobin 137 ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
RallyTable 143 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
RallyTable Consensus 146 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Read-N-Review 149 ★ ★ ★
Rotating Lines 46 ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★
Rotating Role RoundRobin 159 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Rotating Role RoundTable 167 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
RoundRobin 153 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★
RoundTable 162 ★ ★ • ★ • • ★
RoundTable Consensus 168 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Sage-N-Scribe 171 ★ ★ ★ ★
Showdown 179 ★ ★ ★ •
Similarity Groups 193 ★ ★ ★ ★
Simultaneous RallyTable 147 ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Simultaneous RoundTable 169 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Single RoundRobin 159 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Single RoundTable 170 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Snowball 117 ★ ★ ★ ★ •
Talking Chips 199 ★ ★ ★ • ★
Team Interview 209 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Think-Write-RoundRobin 160 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Timed Pair Interview 223 ★ ★ • • ★ ★ •
Timed Pair Share 217 ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★
Timed RoundRobin 160 ★ ★ ★ ★ • ★ ★
Timed RoundTable 170 ★ ★ ★ ★ • • ★
Traveling Heads Together 96 ★ ★ • ★ ★ ★ ★
Traveling Pair Share 227 ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Traveling RallyQuiz 136 ★ ★ ★ ★ •

ructure Func
St
tio

59 Kagan Structures
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ns
 59
ag

K
an Structures

59 Kagan Structures

Introduction
By Dr. Spencer kagan

Structures are empowering. They transform teach- answers the question, and then the teacher responds to the
ing and learning. When I think of the power of structures, I student’s answer. The teacher talks twice for each time the
think of the power of a well-placed lever. Given the proper student talks, so it takes about 2 minutes to give a student
lever, with little effort we can lift a huge load. Structures are 1 minute of active verbalization. With approximately 30
like that. With a little effort we can dramatically increase ac- students in the class, the best the teacher can do is give each
ademic achievement, reduce the achievement gap, improve student 1 minute of active engagement per hour!
social and ethnic
relations, foster In contrast, after asking the same question of the class, the
teacher uses RallyRobin or Timed Pair Share, allowing
social skills and “Give me a lever long enough students 2 minutes to interact. In 2 minutes every student
character, and re- and a fulcrum on which to place in the class has had a minute of active engagement. Using
duce the incidence
and severity of dis- it, and I shall move the world.” Kagan Structures, the teacher accomplishes in 2 minutes
cipline problems. —Archimedes what the traditional teacher would take an hour to accom-
Structures are an plish; Kagan Structures produce 30 times as much active
educator’s dream! engagement!

Any thoughtful educator should question these claims. RallyRobin and Timed Pair Share are just two examples of
How can instructional strategies as simple as RallyRobin the many Kagan Structures in this book. They are alterna-
or Timed Pair Share transform teaching and learning? tives to the ever-present traditional question and answer
Although each structure fosters specific thinking skills and sessions. Structures multiply student engagement by
social skills, the structures all have something in common: unleashing the power of simultaneous student-to-student
They radically increase the amount of active engagement interaction. All students are engaged at once instead of one
among students. And when students are actively engaged, at a time. The structures in this book provide alternatives
learning is accelerated. to traditional teaching that escalate student engagement for
many different learning objectives, including brainstorm-
Let’s examine how a simple structure transforms the ing, guided practice, reviews, test preparation, information
amount of active engagement. Let’s compare the amount of processing, higher-level thinking, and more. When we use
engagement in a traditional classroom with the amount in Kagan Structures as a regular part of the way we teach, stu-
a classroom using Kagan Structures. After asking a question dents’ classroom experience is radically transformed. Instead
of the class, the traditional teacher calls on students one at a of listening passively or being engaged rarely, full engage-
time to answer. To give a student 1 minute of active engage- ment becomes the daily norm. Kagan Structures actively
ment—1 minute to verbalize his or her thinking in response engage all students!
to the teacher’s question, it takes about 2 minutes. Why?
First, the teacher has to ask the question, then the student
Why would we want to call on
just one student when in the
same amount of time we could
call on all students?

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Introduction Continued
If increasing active engagement were all structures did, it After observing traditional classrooms, I always come
would be enough of a justification to begin teaching with away asking myself the same questions:
structures. Why? Because students who are not engaged
by the traditional classroom structure disengage from Why call on one, when we can call on all?
schooling. They tune out, fall behind, and when the gap
becomes oppressive, drop out. Engagement is like a safety Why engage some, when we
net for the classroom. It catches students who otherwise
would fall through the cracks of our traditional educa-
can engage everyone?
tional system. When they are engaged, students learn
so much more. The gap between the higher and lower
achievers shrinks because the students who could opt to
tune out are tuning in with great interest and excitement
as they interact with partners, teammates, and classmates
over the curriculum. The gap shrinks by engaging the
disengaged and bringing the bottom up.

Full student engagement boosts student learning and

decreases the achievement gap. But structures do so much
more. Kagan Structures build social skills and transform
social orientation by creating a more cooperative and car-
ing classroom. When students compete for the teacher’s
attention, learning is a competition where students hope
to beat their classmates so they can shine. When learning
is independent, students learn that they are in it for them-
selves. In stark contrast in the classroom that uses Kagan
Structures, students interact with each other. They share
learning goals. They are on the same side. They hope for
the success of their classmates and they help each other
learn. Strangers become friends, and bullies become bud-
dies. Discipline problems disappear, replaced by positive
social skills and behaviors.

I have now trained teachers in almost 40 countries. In

each country I observe classrooms. Worldwide the most
common way teachers are structuring the interaction
in their classroom is to ask a question and then call on
a student who raises her/his hand. We need to look not
at the faces of the students who are raising their hands,
anxious to be called upon. We need to look instead at the
faces and body language of those who are hiding, hoping
not to be called upon. If we want to release the power of
active engagement, we need to restructure our classrooms
so every student has a voice.

du
Intro ction
59 Kagan Structures
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 59
ag

K
an Structures

In this Book
What Is A Kagan Structure? Why So Many Structures?
Kagan Structures are the core of this book. Kagan There are so many strategies because there are so many
Structures are interactive teaching and learning strate- things we need to accomplish in the classroom. Kagan
gies designed to make learning more cooperative and Structures provide engaging alternatives to traditional
engaging. Structures are a repeatable series of steps that teaching. Centerpiece, for example, is a way to brain-
describe how students interact with each other over the storm and share ideas in teams. Fan-N-Pick is a terrific
curriculum. They may be used with different subject team structure to review curriculum in a game-like
matter and at different grade levels. For example, a pri- fashion. RallyCoach is a pair problem solving struc-
mary teacher may use a RoundRobin in social studies ture—a wonderful alternative to traditional worksheet
to have students name community helpers; an elemen- work. Each structure is good for reaching a different
tary teacher may use a RoundRobin in science to have educational objective. Knowing which structure to use
students review the steps of a math algorithm; and a and when to use it is part of the art and science
secondary teacher may use a RoundRobin in language of teaching.
arts to share their written themes of a short story they
just read. The steps of the structure are the same across Another reason there are so many structures is because
the grade levels and across the curriculum. That’s what students crave novelty. If we do the same thing day in
makes structures so powerful. When you learn one new and day out, school becomes boring. It is a monoto-
structure, you are empowered to use it to create engage- nous chore where every day looks like the last—differ-
ment in so many different ways. ent day, same structure. Motivation and learning are
intricately intertwined. If students come to class and
Kagan Structures were born of the theory and re- are engaged with different classmates in different ways,
search on cooperative learning. Cooperative learning learning isn’t stale. Class time is fresh and fun. Teachers
is one of the most extensively researched educational who learn and use a variety of structures keep students
innovations of all times and study after study and motivated and excited to see how they will work with
meta-analysis after meta-analysis has confirmed its their classmates today. If variety of is the spice of life,
superior performance over traditional independent structures are the spice of learning.
and competitive teaching methods for student learning.
Teachers, schools, and districts using Kagan Structures How Are Structures Organized?
have corroborated the research, reporting giant strides In this book, structures are organized alphabetically.
in educational attainment, increases in positive student However, related structures are nested within a struc-
behaviors, and decreases in discipline problems. ture. For example, in the structure RoundTable, you
will find variations including Timed RoundTable,
RoundTable Consensus, and Simultaneous RoundTable.
Having similar structures nearby shows the relationship
of the structure and makes it easy to find and learn
like structures.

59 Kagan Structures
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 Dedication
This book is dedicated to a different
vision for education. It is a vision where
all students are actively engaged, every day.
Where teachers have a rich array of structures
to promote student interaction over the curriculum. It is a This book is dedicated to a vision of full student
vision where students are much more motivated to learn engagement. And this book is dedicated to you—the
because the classroom respects their natural desire to thoughtful educator who defiantly departs with tradition
move, interact, and process information. Where students to embrace a revolutionary new way to teach in order to
minds blossom because they understand and retain so make this vision a reality for your students.
much more of what they do and say than what they hear.
This book is dedicated to a vision where students feel a
sense of belonging in the classroom forged by positive
daily interactions where they are known, liked, and
respected by their classmates, teammates, and partners.

In this book C o n t i n u e d
How Are Structures Presented? in mathematics, language arts, social studies, science,
The main structures are presented in the same fashion: and other subjects. These ideas are intended to prime
The structure has a short synopsis, making it easy to get the pump for you to consider how you might use the
the big picture at a glance. The synopsis is also helpful structure in your own classroom. You know your cur-
when searching for the right structure or for a quick riculum best and we encourage you to brainstorm and
refresher. There is a written description of the structure, jot down ideas for how you can integrate the structure
painting a picture of what the structure looks like in ac- into your own lesson plans.
tion. Perhaps most helpful is the step-by-step directions
for using the structure. Some structures also include blackline masters. Some
blacklines are templates for you to use as you create
Please keep in mind that the steps were carefully crafted your own activities using your own curriculum. Some
and each step is there for a reason. Structures are blacklines are sample activities. These are not intended
designed to incorporate research-based educational as activities for you to use with your students, but
principles and each step has a purpose. If you leave out rather as example activities so you can see how you can
a step or two, you will be diminishing the effectiveness design your own blacklines when using the structure.
of the structure. For example, if you leave out a step, If you are looking for ready-to-use activities, Kagan of-
you may be leaving out the element that ensures equal fers many books across the grade levels and across
participation for everyone. Or, you may be leaving out the curriculum.
individual accountability which is crucial for boosting
achievement for all. When we leave out important steps, Related structures are presented in less detail than the
we water down the structures with deleterious effects main structures. They offer a description of the struc-
on student learning. Using the structures properly ture and brief step-by-step instructions.
maximizes student benefits.

There are also practical tips for using the structure, de-
veloped over years of use. Ideas Across the Curriculum
offer suggestions for how you might use the structure

du
Intro ction
59 Kagan Structures
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Structure #1

AllRecord RoundRobin
 Structure #1
AllRecord RoundRobin
AllRecord RoundRobin adds independent writing to a team
RoundRobin. After each student shares an idea orally with
teammates, each student independently records the idea on
his or her own paper, in his or her own words. Benefit: Each
student retains a written record of what was shared.
Getting Ready: Each teammate needs a sheet of paper
Steps and a pen or pencil.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question
with multiple possible answers or
provides a list of questions. For
example, “What are things we can do to
conserve water?”
S te p
Students Respond
2 In teams, students each, in turn,
respond orally while all students write
each response on their own paper.

59 Kagan Structures
2 Kagan Publishing • 1 (800) 933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
Related Structures

#
2 AllRecord Consensus
AllRecord Consensus adds one feature to an AllRecord
RoundRobin: consensus seeking. After each student
shares an idea, teammates put their thumbs up if they agree.
If they disagree or have doubt, they put a hand flat on the
table. The team discusses the answer until they reach agreement
or until a new, acceptable answer is proposed. Once the team
reaches consensus, each student writes the answer in his or her own
words on his or her own paper. The process is continued with each
contribution: idea proposed, team consensus, and individual writing.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question with multiple
possible answers or provides a list of questions.

S te p
First Teammate Suggests Answer
2 One teammate suggests an answer.

S te p
Seek Consensus
3 Students give a thumbs up to show agreement or a hand
on the table if they disagree or have doubt. The team
discusses the answer until they reach consensus.

S te p

4 Students Record Answer

Once the team reaches consensus, each student writes the
answer in his or her own words on his or her own paper.

S te p
Repeat
5 The process is repeated with the next student suggesting
an answer.

59 Kagan Structures
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 Recording Sheet
AllRecord RoundRobin

Instructions. Use this recording sheet to record everything shared in your team’s RoundRobin.

I Shared… My Teammate Shared…

__________________ __________________
Name Name
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________

My Teammate Shared… My Teammate Shared…

__________________ __________________
Name Name
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________
•__________________ •__________________

59 Kagan Structures
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Structure #3

CenterPiece
 Structure #3

Centerpiece
Students brainstorm ideas and record their ideas on sheets of
paper. To build team synergy, after recording each new idea,
they trade their paper with the centerpiece.

Getting Ready:
Steps
Each teammate needs a sheet of paper. Plus, one
sheet of paper, the “Centerpiece,” is placed in the center of the team table.

S te p
S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns a brainstorming topic or 2 Students Generate Ideas
a problem with multiple possible answers. For Each teammate writes an idea on his or her
example it can be a simple list such as, “How many own sheet of paper. Then, the teammate
ways can you make $1 with coins?” or “What are some exchanges his or her sheet of paper with
ways our class can raise funds to donate to the relief the Centerpiece, the sheet in the center of
fund?” The teacher encourages synergy as students the team table. Each student writes ideas at
use CenterPiece: “You will brainstorm lots of ideas in his or her own pace.
your teams. As you read your teammates’ ideas, see if
you can piggyback on those ideas. Make them better.
Or if they spur new ideas, record your new ideas. We
don’t care who came up with which idea, we just want
the best ideas we can come up with as a team.”

Another way to do CenterPiece is for each paper

to have a different, but related, topic. For example,
the question might be, “What can you find in S te p
each ecology?” Each paper would be labeled with
Students Synergize
a different ecology: Desert, Ocean, Mountains,
Grasslands, and Rain Forest. Students list items that
3 Students scan the ideas teammates
are found in each ecology on their respective papers. generated on the new Centerpiece sheet
they receive. Students are encouraged
to piggyback on teammate ideas, or to
contribute new ideas. Students continue
brainstorming items, each time recording
them on the new Centerpiece they
have taken, then trading their paper for
another Centerpiece.
59 Kagan Structures
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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
Students brainstorm…
• Word problems for a given equation
• Ways to equal 100
Science
Students brainstorm…
• Fractions in the real world
• Possible outcomes of an experiment
• Things that have a circular shape
• Hypotheses
• Draw acute/obtuse angles
• Vertebrates
•D raw symmetrical/asymmetrical shapes
• Constellations
• Uses of graphs
• Exercises
• Bones/body parts
Language Arts • Foods high in proteins/fats/calories
Students brainstorm… • Birds
• Characters in a book/play • Ocean animals
• Words that rhyme with eight • Elements
• Possible settings for a story • Healthy snacks
• Nouns • Items that use electricity
• Adjectives describing a character • Recyclable items
•P ossible topic sentences for a paragraph • Predators/prey
• Words that start with s • Systems of the body
• Words that have the “ch” sound
• Rhyming words
• Metaphors
Teambuilding
Students brainstorm…
• Idioms
• Favorite TV shows
• Favorite songs
Social Studies • Favorite things to do around town
Students brainstorm… • Things to do on a rainy day
• What would be different if… • Qualities of a good friend/teammate
• Events in the chapter/unit • Favorite places to go
• Historical figures in the era • Random acts of kindness
• Landforms studied • Things to bring to the beach
• States/countries/oceans • Things to bring to the mountain
• Facts about an event • Cartoons
• Community helpers • Cereals
• Solutions to a social issue

CenterPiec
e

59 Kagan Structures
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 Story Elements
CenterPiece
Instructions. List one thing you recall about the story and switch papers with the Centerpiece.

Setting Events/Plot

Characters Conflict

Moral/Theme Climax/Resolution

59 Kagan Structures
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 Revolution
CenterPiece
Review
Instructions. List one thing you recall learning about this revolution on this piece of paper. Then switch papers with
the Centerpiece.
Causes

Important People Consequences

Events Conflicts

59 Kagan Structures
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 Animal CenterPiece
Classification
Instructions. List one animal in its group, then switch papers with the Centerpiece.

Mammals

Birds

Fish

Reptiles

Amphibians

59 Kagan Structures
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Structure #4

Fan-N-Pick
 Structure #4

Fan-N-Pick
Teammates rotate roles as they ask, answer, paraphrase, and
praise, or coach each other.
Fan-N-Pick is a highly structured, but fun team process for responding to
questions. Each team receives their own set of question or problem cards.
The cards can have review questions about the chapter the class just read,
they can be mastery-oriented problems or flashcards, or they can be open-
ended thinking questions. Student #1 fans the deck of cards and holds the fan
up to Student #2. Student #1 says, “Pick a card, any card!” Student #2 picks
any card from the deck, reads the question to the team, and gives the team
Differentiated
some Think Time.
Instruction
For reading comprehension, it might sound like, “What would be a good title Different ability groups may be given
for the story? Think of a good title for 5 seconds.” Then, Student #3 answers different leveled questions. Students
the question, “I think ‘The Woman Who Changed the World’ is a good title.” or teams can answer at
Student #4 responds. If the question is a thinking question, Student #4 the appropriate level of
paraphrases and praises the response, “Excellent title. It really captures the difficulty: some may
essence of the story.” If the question has a right or wrong response, Student #4 be required to state
checks the answer and praises or tutors. “Actually ‘adumbrate’ means to give a their answers,
faint shadow or slight representation of, or to shade or overshadow. I remember others to draw their
it because the ‘umbr’ in the word is like umbrella, and umbrellas can give shade.” answers, and yet
Teammates rotate roles for each new question. others to write
their answers.
Fan-N-Pick is terrific for turn taking, equal participation, and individual
accountability. Students each have a role in the questioning process and the
roles are rotated so that everyone plays each role.

Benefits
Students…
…each play an important role.
…rotate roles so they perform each role.
…have fun as questions and reviews
become game-like.
…are each accountable for participating.

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 Getting Ready: Each team receives
Steps a set of question or problem cards.

S te p
Student #1 Fans Cards
1 Student #1 holds the question cards in a
S te p
Student #2 Picks a Card
fan and says, “Pick a card, any card!” 2 Student #2 picks a card, reads the question
aloud to the team, holds the card up so #3
can see the question for 5 seconds, then lays
the card down. (For cards that have answers
on the back, Student #2 passes the card to
Student #4 to check for correctness.) “What
time is it if the little hand is between the two
and three and the big hand is on the six?”

S te p
Student #3 Answers
3 Student #3 answers the question.
“It’s two-thirty.” For problem
solving, have students think aloud S te p
Student #4 Responds
as they write so teammates can
hear their thinking process. 4 Student #4 responds to the answer.
• For right or wrong answers:
Student #4 checks the answer and
then either praises or tutors the
student who answered. “That’s
correct! You’re a true genius.” or “I
don’t think that’s correct; let’s solve it
again together.”
• For higher-level thinking questions
that have no right or wrong
S te p answer: Student #4 does not check
Rotate Roles
5 Teammates rotate roles, one person
for correctness, but praises the
thinking that went into the answer
and/or paraphrases. “You gave three
clockwise for each new round. plausible reasons why the main
character left home. I like the way
you approached the question.”

Fan-N-Pick
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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
re #
While the traditional teacher is asking questions of 4
students one at a time, the teacher using Fan-N-Pick has
a student in each team answering a question. Why would
we want one student in the class answering a question if in the same
amount of time we could have one student in each team answering? But Fan-N-Pick does much
more than just increase engagement: Students learn to praise, augment, tutor, take turns, and enjoy
learning. Fan-N-Pick is another structure that lends itself to easy differentiation: Students can play
in different ability level teams with different content or different levels of questions.

Tips
• Model It. Model Fan-N-Pick with • Student Questions. Have students or teams create the
one team before having teams play. questions cards.

• Mat. Use the Fan-N-Pick mat provided. • Thumbs Up or Sideways. If the student responsible
The mat lists the four roles so students each know their for checking the answer doesn’t know, he or she may ask
responsibilities. The mat is rotated for each question. teammates to indicate with thumbs up, if they agree, or
thumbs sideways if they don’t. Teammates must then
• Role Cards. Use the role cards provided. Role cards tutor the student who did not know the answer.
are rotated with each new question so that students and
the teacher can see at a glance whose turn it is to perform • If Students Can’t Answer. If none of the teammates
each action. knows the answer, all four teammates raise a hand to
signal they have a Team Question. The teacher then
• Role Pyramid. Create a pyramid with a square consults with the team.
base and four faces. One role is written on each face.
The pyramid is placed in the center of the team table. • Answers. For problems with right or wrong answers, it
Students assume the role on the pyramid facing them. is helpful to provide the answers for students to self-check
The pyramid is rotated with each new question. each problem. The answers may be on the back of each
card, on the bottom of the card when students can cover
• Repeats? Tell teams in advance whether the question the answer, or on a separate answer key.
card goes back in the stack or if it is removed, so the
question is not repeated.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
Students answer questions about:
• Math facts
• Number identification
Music
Students answer questions about:
• Money
• Instruments
• Time
• Note names
• Graphing questions
• Musicians
• Word problems

Language Arts Art

Students answer questions about:
Students answer questions about:
• Styles of art
• Spelling words
• Art tools
• Comprehension questions
• Who’s the artist?
• Parts of speech/punctuation
• Character
• Setting, plot
Teambuilding
Students answer questions about:
• Grammar
• Personal questions
• Food
Social Studies • Vacations
Students answer questions about:
• Pets
• Community
• Hobbies
• State
• Family
• Constitution
• TV shows
• Culture
• Geography
• Current events
Second Language
Students answer questions about:
• Chapter review
• House
• Clothes
Science • Animals
Students answer questions about:
• Foods
• Inventions
• Community
• Space
• Grammar
• Animals
• Careers
• Chemical reactions
• Human body
• Plants
• Weather
• Ecosystems
• Sports
• Matter
• Transportation
• Energy
• Animals
• Solar system

Fan-N-Pick
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 Str
ctu
Variation

u
re #
• Fan-N-Spin. The team plays Fan-N-Pick with 4
a random team selector spinner. After a question
is read, the reader spins the spinner and the
selected student answers. This keeps everyone thinking
because anyone may be called on to answer at any point. The
student to the left of the student who answered responds to
the answer. For right or wrong answers, the student checks the
answer. For thinking questions, the responding student either
paraphrases and/or praises the answer.

Related Structures
#
5 Dip-A-Strip
Dip-A-Strip is a hybrid structure, borrowing pieces from
Fan-N-Pick and Sage-N-Scribe. Questions are written
on strips instead of cards. It is easy to take an existing
worksheet and cut it into strips. Each team receives a
baggie with question strips. Student #1 “Dips for a strip”
(pulls a question strip from the baggie), then reads it
aloud and places it faceup in front of Student #2. Student
#2 is the Sage and orally gives instructions to Student #3,
the Scribe, to work out the problem (or record the answer) on a
paper or response board. Student #4 checks the answer and leads the
team in coaching, praising, or in a team celebration. Students rotate roles one clockwise
for each new round. Play continues until all strips are used, or until the teacher calls time.

S te p S te p
Student #1 Pulls a Strip Student #4 Checks
1 Student #1 dips for a strip and then reads
3 Student #4 checks the answer and leads the
it aloud and places it faceup in front of team in coaching, praising, or in a team
Student #2. celebration.

S te p S te p
Student #2 Instructs
2 Student #2 is the Sage and orally gives 4 Students Rotate
Students rotate roles one clockwise for each new
instructions to Student #3, the Scribe, to work round. Play continues until all strips are used, or
out the problem (or record the answer) on a until the teacher calls time.
paper or response board.

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Related Structures continued

#
6 Fan-N-Pick Partners
Fan-N-Pick can also be played in pairs. Partner A fans the cards
and asks Partner B to “Pick a card, any card.” Partner B picks a card,
reads the question aloud, and allows 5 seconds of Think Time.
Partner A answers the question. Partner B responds. For right/
wrong answers, Partner B checks the answer and congratulates
his or her partner if correct, or if incorrect, provides coaching. For
open-ended questions, Partner B paraphrases the response, then praises
it. Students trade roles for each new question. The advantage of playing
in pairs is that students are more active throughout the process. There is less
downtime. Playing in teams, however, creates greater variety and provides more resources for
coaching and tutoring. For novelty, play Fan-N-Pick in teams and occasionally in pairs, too.

S te p
Partner A Fans Cards
1 Partner A holds question cards in a fan and says, “Pick
a card, any card!”

S te p
Partner B Picks a Card
2 Partner B picks a card, reads the question aloud, and
allows five seconds of Think Time.

S te p
Partner A Answers
3 Partner A answers the question.

S te p

4 Partner B Responds
Partner B responds to the answer:
• For right or wrong answers, Partner B checks and then
either praises or tutors.
• For questions that have no right or wrong answer, Partner
B does not check for correctness, but praises and then
paraphrases the thinking that went into the answer.

S te p
Students Switch
5 Students switch roles for each new round.

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 Fan-n-Pick Role Mat
Fan-N-Pick
Instructions. Place this Fan-N-Pick Role Mat in the center of the team table so that one role is facing each teammate.
For each new round of Fan-N-Pick, rotate the mat clockwise so that each teammate gets a new role.

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59 Kagan Structures
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 Fan-N-Pick Role Cards
Fan-N-Pick
Instructions. Use these Fan-N-Pick Role Cards to play Fan-N-Pick.

Fan cards and say, “Pick a card, any card!”

Fan
Fold

#
1 Fan
Pick a card and read it aloud.

Pick
Fold

#
2 Pick
59 Kagan Structures
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 Fan-N-Pick Role
Fan-N-Pick
Cards
Instructions. Use these Fan-N-Pick Role Cards to play Fan-N-Pick.

Answer the question or solve the problem.

Answer
Fold

#
3 Answer
Check the answer or paraphrase and praise.

Respond
Fold

#
4 Respond
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 RoleFan-N-Pick
Pyramid
3
Instructions. Copy the four sides of this
Role Pyramid onto construction paper.
2 3
Tape the sides together onto the square 1
below and then tape them together to form 1

2
a pyramid. Fan
4

Fan-N-Pick

Fan-N-Pick
I n s t r u c t i o n s

1 Student #1 Fans Cards

Student #1 holds the question cards in a fan and says, “Pick a card, any card!”

2 Student #2 Picks a Card

Student #2 picks a card, reads the question aloud to the team, holds the card up so that Student #3 can
see the question for 5 seconds, and then lays the card down. (For cards that have answers on the back,
Student #2 passes the card to Student #4 to check for correctness.) “What time is it if the little hand is
between the two and three and the big hand is on the six?”

3 Student #3 Answers
Student #3 answers the question.
“It’s two-thirty.”

4 Student #4 Responds
Student #4 responds to the answer.
• For right or wrong answers: Student #4 checks the answer and then either praises or tutors the
student who answered. “That’s correct! You’re a true genius.” or “I don’t think that’s correct; let’s solve it
again together.”
• For higher-level thinking questions that have no right or wrong answer: Student #4 does not check
for correctness, but praises the thinking that went into the answer and/or paraphrases. “You gave
three plausible reasons why the main character left home. I like the way you approached the question.”

5 Rotate Roles
Teammates rotate roles, one person clockwise for each new round.

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 RoleFan-N-Pick
Pyramid
Instructions. Copy the four sides of this Role Pyramid onto construction paper. Tape the sides together onto the square and
then tape them together to form a pyramid.

Fan
Fan cards and say,
“Pick a card, any card!”

Fan-N-Pick

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 RoleFan-N-Pick
Pyramid
Instructions. Copy the four sides of this Role Pyramid onto construction paper. Tape the sides together onto the square and
then tape them together to form a pyramid.

Pick
Pick a card and
read it aloud.

Fan-N-Pick

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 RoleFan-N-Pick
Pyramid
Instructions. Copy the four sides of this Role Pyramid onto construction paper. Tape the sides together onto the square and
then tape them together to form a pyramid.

Answer
Answer the question or
solve the problem.

Fan-N-Pick

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 RoleFan-N-Pick
Pyramid
Instructions. Copy the four sides of this Role Pyramid onto construction paper. Tape the sides together onto the square and
then tape them together to form a pyramid.

Respond
Check the answer or
paraphrase and praise.

Fan-N-Pick

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 Calculating
Fan-N-Pick
Area
Instructions. Cut out the Calculating Area cards and play Fan-N-Pick to solve the area of each rectangle.

1 Calculating Area 2 Calculating Area

8 in.
9 in.
2 in.

6 in.

3 Calculating Area 4 Calculating Area

6 ft.

3 ft.
4 ft.
3 ft.

5 Calculating Area 6 Calculating Area

5 mi. 3 mi.

8 mi. 7 mi.

7 Calculating Area 8 Calculating Area

4 cm 9 cm

5 cm 4 cm

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 GettingFan-N-Pick
TO Know You
Instructions. Cut out the Getting to Know You cards and play Fan-N-Pick to answer the questions.

1 Getting to Know You 2 Getting to Know You

If you could go anywhere in the

What is one of the best gifts
world for one week, where would you
you ever received?
go? What would you do?

3 Getting to Know You 4 Getting to Know You

What is one of the scariest things

What is one of the things you just
that ever happened to you, and
couldn’t live without and why?
why was it scary?

5 Getting to Know You 6 Getting to Know You

If you could win a How would you

prize, what would it be? describe your perfect day?

7 Getting to Know You 8 Getting to Know You

What is one of your favorite

What would you do
movies, books, or TV shows
with 1 million dollars?
(pick one)? Describe why.

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 CardFan-N-Pick
Template
Instructions. Use this blank Card Template to create your own Fan-N-Pick cards.

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

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 Equivalency
Fan-N-Pick
Instructions. Cut out each Equivalency card along the dotted line. Fold each card along the solid line so you have the question
on one side and the answer on the other. Cards may be glued or taped to keep questions and answers on opposite sides.

Question Answer

1 Which is equal 1
to .1?
Equivalency

Equivalency
a. 1/10 a. 1/10
b. 1/100
c. 1/8

fold
Question Answer

2 Which is equal 2
to .25?
Equivalency

Equivalency

c. 1/4
a. 1/10
b. 1/5
c. 1/4
fold

Question Answer

3 Which is equal 3
to .5?
Equivalency

Equivalency

a. 1/2 a. 1/2
b. 1/100
c. 1/12
fold

Question Answer

4 Which is equal 4
to .6?
Equivalency

Equivalency

a. 6/10
a. 6/10
b. 6/100
c. 6/12

Source: Stites, R. & Pfannenstiel, A. Cooperative Math Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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 A quelle heure?(At What Time?)
Fan-N-Pick
Instructions: Copy a set of À quelle heure? cards for each team. Cut out each card along the dotted line. Give each team a set of
cards so that they can ask teammates at what time the person performs the activity on the card.

Fan-N-Pick Fan-N-Pick
1 À quelle heure est-ce qu’il
2 À quelle heure est-ce qu’elle danse?
joue au basketball?

Fan-N-Pick Fan-N-Pick
3 À quelle heure est-ce qu’ils
4 À quelle heure est-ce qu’elles
font leurs devoirs? regardent la télévision?

Fan-N-Pick Fan-N-Pick
5 À quelle heure est-ce qu’ils
6 À quelle heure est-ce qu’il se lève?
jouent au hockey?

Source: Jozin, C. Cooperative Learning & French. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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Structure #7

Flashcard Star
 Structure #7

Flashcard Star
Students circulate in the room quizzing new partners,
hoping to retire cards from their practice deck.

Getting Ready: The teacher provides students with flashcards on items they don’t know, or students

Steps
create the cards on missed items following a pre-test. Cards have a question on the front and an answer on
the back. Each student needs a marker or something to write with.

S te p
Partners Trade Cards
S te p
Students Pair Up 2
1 Students collect a pen or
Students trade flashcards with their partners,
so partners can quiz each other using the
marker and five flashcards, cards students need to master.
stand up, put a hand up, and
pair up.

S te p
Partner A Quizzes Partner B
3 Partner A selects one flashcard and quizzes Partner B.
For example, Partner A shows the name of a country
and asks, “What is the capital?”

S te p
Partner B Answers
4 Partner B attempts to answer.

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 Tips
• Coaching Tips. Instruct the class
how to be a good coach and to offer
helpful tips.

• Show the Card. During quizzing, it is helpful for • Fold-N-Flash Cards. The question and answer are
partners to show the question or problem as well as read written on the same side of the card. The card is folded
it. This provides visual and auditory cues. (Spelling word in half so the answer is behind the question. To reveal the
flashcards are an exception.) The same is true for the answer, the card is unfolded. Fold-N-Flash cards allow
answer. Partners should say and show the correct answer students to see the question and answer at the same time,
when possible. making a stronger visual connection.

• Challenge Cards. Because some students will finish

more quickly than others, the teacher provides bonus
cards to draw from.

S te p
Partner A Checks Answer
5 S te p
A Quizzes B on Next Card
If Partner B responds correctly, Partner A
congratulates Partner B and puts a star on the front 6 Partner A selects a second flashcard and quizzes
of the card. If the answer is not correct, Partner A
states the correct answer and provides coaching or Partner B. Partner B stars the card if correct or
a tip. For example, “Beijing is the capital of China. I provides coaching or a tip. Partners only quiz each
think ‘Being’ in the capital of China.” other on two cards, so they are frequently quizzing
new partners for variety and movement.

S te p
S te p New Partners
7 Switch Roles 8 Partners thank each other, each put a
Partners switch roles and Partner B hand up, and seek new partners. When a
quizzes Partner A on two cards. card receives two stars, it is retired from
the deck. When all five cards are retired,
the student returns to his or her desk to
gather five more cards.

ashcard Star
Fl
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 Flashcard Template
Flashcard Star
Instructions. Use this Flashcard Template to make your own flashcards for Flashcard Star. Fill in a star when the answer
is correct.

Flashcard Star Flashcard Star

Flashcard Star Flashcard Star

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Structure #8

Idea RoundUp!
 Structure #8

Idea RoundUp!
Students repeatedly pair up to “RoundUp” ideas from
different partners.

Getting Ready
Steps Students each have a recording sheet or something to write on and something to write with.

S te p
StandUp—HandUp—PairUp
S te p
2 Students stand up, put a hand up, and pair up
Teacher Announces Topic
1 The teacher announces the topic and
with a classmate. After pairing, students lower
their hands, indicating they have a partner.

provides student Think Time. For example,

“What are some real-world examples of
when you may need to know fractions?” Or,
“What are the events from the story?”

S te p
Partner A Shares Idea
3 Partner A shares one idea with
Partner B.

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S te p
Partner B Records Idea
4 Partner B records the idea on his or her sheet S te p
or response board. Partner B thanks Partner A. Switch Roles
“Thanks for the great idea!” 5 Partner B shares one idea with
Partner A. Partner A records the
idea and thanks Partner B.

S te p
Repeat with New Partners
6 Students high five their partners and keep a
Optional
Students may use RoundRobin in their
hand up to find a new partner to repeat the teams to share ideas they have gathered
process until time is called. during Idea RoundUp!

e a R oundUp
Id !
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 Idea Roundup!
Idea RoundUp!
Sheet
Instructions. Use this sheet to record ideas you collect from classmates during Idea RoundUp!

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Structure #9

Inside-Outside Circle
 Structure #9
Inside-Outside Circle
Students rotate in concentric circles to face new partners
for sharing, quizzing, or problem solving.

For Inside-Outside Circle, students form two concentric circles. Both

circles have the same number of students. Students in the inside circle
each face out, toward a student in the outside circle. There are two ways to
structure Inside-Outside Circle: either teacher questions or question cards.
With teacher oral questions, the teacher announces a topic or question, and
students share with their partners. The share time can be an open-ended Differentiated
pair discussion, a Pair Share, or a Timed Pair Share so that each partner gets
an equal time to share. With the question card format, pairs interact using Instruction
question or problem cards. In this method, students each have a card and Two Inside-Outside Circles may be
they use their cards to quiz a partner. After pairs have interacted, the teacher formed in the classroom, each with
tells students to trade cards and then rotate so that they are facing a new different difficulty leveled question
partner to quiz. cards and/or different content.
• For different difficulty level, one
Inside-Outside Circle is an energizing structure for having students quiz each circle may have multiple-choice
questions, whereas the other circle
other, share information, or share with classmates projects, writing, book
may have free recall questions.
reports, or other creative works.
• Students with special needs may
be assigned a buddy and rotate
with that buddy, who can
offer support.

Benefits
Students…
…problem solve or share with many
partners.
…hear multiple perspectives.
…repeatedly quiz classmates.
…are energized through movement.
…create novelty and maintain attention
with each new partner.

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 Getting Ready: The teacher prepares
questions or problems, or the teacher or students

Steps prepare question cards, one per student. Students

form A-B pairs.

S te p
Form the Outside Circle
1 Partner A from each pair moves to form one
large circle in the class, facing in. “Partner A’s,
please form a large circle in the open area of the
classroom. B’s watch where your partner goes.” S te p
Form the Inside Circle
2 Partner B’s find and face their partners. The
class now stands in two concentric circles.
“Partner B’s, please find and face your partners.”

S te p Inside Circle Asks Question;

3 Outside Circle Responds
Question Cards: Inside Circle students ask a question
from their question card; Outside Circle students
answer. Inside Circle students praise or coach.

Teacher Questions: The teacher asks a question

and asks the Inside Circle students, Outside Circle
students, or both (Timed Pair Share) to share with
inued
their partners. “What did you do this weekend? Everyone t
think. Inside Circle students please share for 30 seconds.” con

e-O utside C
Insid i
rcl

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e
Steps (Continued)

Str
ctu

u
re #
9

S te p
Partners Switch Roles
4 Outside Circle students ask, listen,
and then praise or coach. “Outside
Circle students, it’s your turn to
share for 30 seconds.”

S te p
Partners Trade Cards
5 When using question cards, partners trade
cards. To indicate they are ready to rotate,
the Inside Circle students turn and face the
center of the circle.

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S te p
Rotate Partners
6 Students face their partners, then turn to
Repeat:
Students rotate and quiz many times to
touch right shoulders. Either the Inside
discuss or solve problems with different
Circle students or the Outside Circle
partners.
students rotate to a new partner. The
teacher may call rotation numbers: “Face
your partner. Turn sideways to touch right
shoulders. Inside circle, rotate three students
ahead.” The class may do a “choral count” as
they rotate.

A A

A A A A
B B
B B B B

A B B A A B B A

B B B B
B B
A A A A
A A
Interact in Pairs Inner Circle Rotates

e-O utside C
Insid i
rc l

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e
 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
re #
Like many Kagan Structures, Inside-Outside Circle 9
is brain-friendly: There is safety because students are
answering to one supportive partner, not in front of the
whole class. More oxygen and glucose flow to the brain because
students are moving. Brains light up during social interaction. As students praise each other for
correct answers, high emotion cements learning in memory. Feedback follows each answer. There
is novelty—students rotate to new partners. And the whole experience is an episode, linking the
content to episodic memory. When we teach using structures, we are teaching in ways our students’
brains best learn!

Tips
• Small Steps. Provide oral • Around the Perimeter. Form circles around the
instructions to students at each step, so perimeter of the classroom.
students know exactly what to do.
• Play Outside. If it is a nice day, bring the class outside
• Practice Rotating. Students may get hung up on how to enjoy Inside-Outside Circle.
to rotate. Practice rotating a number of times before using
questions, so students know how to rotate. Rotate only • Vary Rotating. To spice up rotating, vary the number
one circle at a time. of positions advanced, the circle that rotates, and the
direction of rotation.
• Extra Student. If your class does not break evenly into
pairs, have two students become “twins.” Twins rotate • Choral Counting. Have the class count aloud the
together and take turns asking and answering questions. number of positions they are moving so everyone knows
when to stop. “One, two, THREE!”
• Flashcards. Have each student make up one question
on a flashcard. Students ask each other their questions • Visual Signal. Use a visual cue to know when students
and switch cards before each rotation. With each rotation, are ready to continue. For example, when finished with
students get a new partner and a new question. The their question, students can stand back to back, side to
teacher can supply the flashcards, or act as a quality side, or raise a hand.
control filter by collecting and correcting the cards before
they are used.
• Seated Circles. Little ones may sit in circles on the
floor. Only one circle stands to rotate. Chalk marks or
• Student Discussion Questions. Let students come carpet patches indicate where to stand or sit.
up with questions to ask classmates. Put the questions
in a hat and draw out one question each time the
circle rotates. • Random Teams. Inside-Outside Circle can be used to
form random teams: After several rotations, the teacher
asks two adjacent pairs to step out of the circle and to sit
down as a team of four. This creates a gap in the circle.
The teacher then has the pairs at each end of the
gap move forward, meet, and leave the circle to sit
down as a team. The process continues Virginia
Wheel–style to form the remaining teams.
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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
Partners quiz each other on…
• Multiplication facts
• Rounding numbers
Science
Partners discuss or share…
• Identifying shapes in a pattern
• How to protect endangered species
• Missing number in a problem
• Depletion of rain forest
• Addition
• Recycling
• Solving for x
• Estimating answer Partners quiz each other on…
• Telling time • Elements
• Solving money problems • Cell parts
• Multiplying fractions • Bones
• Adding decimals • Organ functions
• Long division • Solar system facts

Language Arts Classbuilding

Partners discuss or share… Partners discuss or share…
• Story elements • Show and tell
• Prewriting questions • What do you like to do alone, with others
• I nterpretations of pictures, charts, and tables • Person who had biggest impact on you
• Topic speaking • Favorite singer
• Describe your family
Partners quiz each other on…
• Contractions
• Spelling words
• Vocabulary words
• Reading comprehension
• Grammar
• Test prep

Social Studies
Partners discuss or share…
• Events
• Impact of inventions
•M ost significant historical events that
changed the world
• Country like to visit and why
•E vents in history
• Drawbacks of a political system

e -O utside C
Insid ir
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 Variation
• Pair Inside-Outside Circle. Have
students rotate in pairs and discuss in groups
of four. A typical sequence might be, (1) the
teacher asks a question, (2) the inside-circle pair
discusses the question while the outside-circle pair discusses
the question, and (3) the pairs compare their answers.

Related Structure
#
10 Rotating Lines
Rotating Lines is very similar to Inside-Outside Circle. The
big difference is students standing in facing lines instead
of concentric circles. Lines are easier for younger students,
work well with smaller groups, and may work better based
on your room configuration.

S te p S te p
Form Lines
1 Partner A’s line up. Partner B’s line
4 Rotate Lines
Have one line take a step forward so that students
up in a facing line. are facing a new partner for the next round of
sharing. “Partner A’s, take a step forward to face the
A A A A A next partner in the other line.”

B B B B B A A A A A

S te p B B B B B
Teacher Asks Question
2 The teacher asks the class a question and states
The first person in line is no longer facing a partner.
That student walks to the end of the line to face
who will begin the Timed Pair Share. For the last student in the other line. Now, everyone is
example, “What are you thankful for? Partner A facing a new partner.
share for 30 seconds.”
S te p
Repeat
S te p
Timed Pair Share 5
3 Both partners share for their allotted time
The teacher asks the next question, and students
interact with their new partners.
and respond to their partner.
Note:
Like Inside-Oustide Circle, Rotating Lines can
be structured in two ways: teacher questions or
question cards. With question cards, partners quiz
each other using the card, then trade cards before
59 Kagan Structures they rotate.
46 Kagan Publishing • 1 (800) 933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

1 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 1 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: without
a-, an- Examples: amoral, atypical,
anonymous

2 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 2 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: human
-anthrop- Examples: anthropic , philanthropy,
anthropomorphic, anthropology

3 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 3 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: opposite; against

anti-, ant- Examples: anticrime, antipollution,
antacid

4 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 4 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: self, same

auto- Examples: autobiography, automobile,
automatic

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re

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 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

5 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 5 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: book

bibl- Examples: bibliography, bible

6 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 6 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: life, living organism

bio-, bi- Examples: biology, biography, biopsy,

biennial

7 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 7 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: time

-chron- Examples: chronometer, chronic,

synchronize

8 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 8 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: people

-dem- Examples: democracy, demagogue,

epidemic, demographic

59 Kagan Structures
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 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

9 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 9 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: Earth; geography

geo- Examples: geography, geology,

geopolitics

10 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 10 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: written or drawn, a record

-gram Examples: cardiogram, telegram,

seismogram

11 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 11 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: written or drawn; an instrument

-graph-
for writing, drawing, or recording
Examples: photograph, graphical,
phonograph, seismograph

12 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 12 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: above, excessively

hyper- Examples: hyperactive, hyperbole,

hypersensitive

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 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

13 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 13 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: belief in, practices of, theory of

-ism Examples: criticism, optimism, socialism

14 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 14 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: one who believes in or

-ist practices
Examples: conformist, biologist, cyclist

15 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 15 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: forms verbs from nouns
and adjectives

-ize Examples: formalize, jeopardize, legalize,

modernize, emphasize, hospitalize,
industrialize, computerize

16 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 16 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: speech, discourse; to speak

-logue, -log Examples: monologue, dialog, travelogue

59 Kagan Structures
50 Kagan Publishing • 1 (800) 933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

17 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 17 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: discourse, expression;
science, theory, study

-logy Examples: phraseology, biology,

dermatology

18 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 18 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: measurement
-meter, -metry Examples: spectrometer, geometry,
kilometer, parameter, perimeter

19 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 19 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: small

-micro- Examples: microcosm, microchip,

microscope, submicroscopic

20 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 20 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: one, single, alone

mono- Examples: monorail, monosyllable,

monocle

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 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

21 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 21 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: form

-morph- Examples: amorphous,

metamorphic, morphology

22 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 22 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: new, recent

neo- Examples: neonatal, neophyte,

neofascism

23 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 23 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: like, resembling; shape
of, form of

-oid Examples: android, humanoid,

spheroid, trapezoid

24 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 24 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: feeling, suffering

-path- Examples: empathy, sympathy,

apathy, pathetic

59 Kagan Structures
52 Kagan Publishing • 1 (800) 933-2667 • KaganOnline.com
 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

25 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 25 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: child, children

ped- Examples: pediatrician, pedagogue

26 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 26 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: having a strong affinity
or love for

philo-, phil- Examples: philanthropy, philharmonic,

philosophy

27 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 27 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: one that loves or has a strong

-phile affinity for; loving

Examples: audiophile, Francophile

28 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 28 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: one who fears a specified
thing; an intense fear of a specified thing
-phobe, -phobia Examples: claustrophobia, arachnophobe,
xenophobia

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 Greek Roots,Inside-Outside
Prefixes, Circle
and Suffixes
Instructions. Cut out the Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes cards and use them to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

29 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 29 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer: Meaning: sound; device that receives
or emits sound; speaker of a language

-phone Examples: homophone, saxophone,

telephone, smartphone

30 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 30 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: all

pan- Examples: panorama, panchromatic,

pandemic, pangram

31 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 32 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: sound

-phon- Examples: phonics, symphony,

phonetics

33 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes 33 Greek Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes

Question: What is the meaning? Provide examples. Answer:

Meaning: heat
-thermo-, -therm- Examples: thermal, thermometer,
thermostat, geothermal

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 Animal Cell Cards
Inside-Outside Circle
Instructions. Display the Animal Cell Illustration. Use these cards to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

1 Cell Membrane

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

2 Lysosome

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

3 Nucleus

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

4 Nucleolus

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 Animal Cell Cards
Inside-Outside Circle
Instructions. Display the Animal Cell Illustration. Use these cards to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

Nuclear
5 Membrane
Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

6 Vacuole

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

7 Mitochondrion

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

8 Golgi Body

59 Kagan Structures
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 Animal Cell Cards
Inside-Outside Circle
Instructions. Display the Animal Cell Illustration. Use these cards to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

9 Ribosomes

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

10 Smooth ER

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

11 Rough ER

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

12 Cytoplasm

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 Animal Cell Cards
Inside-Outside Circle
Instructions. Display the Animal Cell Illustration. Use these cards to quiz a partner in Inside-Outside Circle.

Animal Cell Cards Animal Cell Cards

Question: What is the organelle? Describe it. Answer:

13 Centrosome

Animal Cell Answers

1 12
Cell Membrane Cytoplasm

2
7 Lysosome
Mitochondrion 9
Ribosomes

6
Vacuole
11
8 Rough ER
3
Golgi Body
Nucleus
4 10
13 Nucleolus Smooth ER
Centrosome 5
Nuclear Membrane

59 Kagan Structures
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 AnimalInside-Outside
Cell Illustration
Circle
Teacher Instructions. Display this Animal Cell Illustration for the class as they play Inside-Outside Circle using the
Animal Cell Cards.

1 12

2
7
9

11
8 3

4
10
13

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 Prewriting Question
Inside-Outside Circle
Cards
Instructions. Make enough copies of this blackline so that each student has one card. Cut out the question cards and give each
student one card. Students use cards to ask partners prewriting questions during Inside-Outside Circle.

Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions

What topic What do you What

are you already know questions do you
planning to about this still have about
write about? topic? this topic?

Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions

What is the Where could you What

most important find more will readers find
idea to get across information about interesting about
to your readers? this topic? this topic?

Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions

If you could add What information

What does a photograph about this topic
this topic to your writing will you not
remind you of? about this topic, include in your
what would it be? writing?
Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions Prewriting Questions
What words do
How can you What would
you want to
present the topic be a good title
include in your
so that it is not for your writing?
writing about
boring to read? Why?
this topic?
Source: Skidmore, S. & Graber, J. Balanced Literacy Grade 5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
59 Kagan Structures
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Structure #11

Instant Star
 Structure #11

Instant Star
Students are randomly selected to be the “Instant Star” of their
team. Stars stand to applause and share with their teammates.

Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares question(s).

S te p
Think Time
S te p
2 The teacher calls for Think Time and
Teacher Asks Question
1 The teacher asks the class a question.
gives students 3–5 seconds of silent
time to formulate their answers.
“Everyone think of your best response.
The question can be a simple review No talking.”
question such as, “Where did the first
Gulf War take place?” Or the question
can be a thinking question such as,
“Do you think the first Gulf War was
justified? Why or why not?”

S te p
Teacher Selects “Stars”
3 The teacher randomly selects one
student on each team to be the Instant
Star. “Student #3’s, you’re the Instant
Star. Teammates applaud for Student #3
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as they stand.”
 Tips
• Student Selector. Use a student selector
to randomly select the Instant Star.

• Create Suspense. Say something like, “Let’s see who will • Manage Timing. Tell Instant Stars to sit down when they
be the next Instant Star.” are done sharing. Don’t wait until the last Star is seated to
continue with the lesson. When about two-thirds or three-
• Elicit Applause. Say something like, “I will spin the spin- fourths of the Stars are seated, say “Most Stars are finished,
ner. We will give wild applause for whoever’s number comes everyone take a seat, and class let’s hear it for the Instant Stars!”
up. Why? Because they are the Instant Stars!”

S te p
Stars Share with Teammates
4 Stars stand and share their thoughts or
answers with teammates. They sit when done,
so the teacher can tell when everyone is ready
to proceed. “Stars, please share your response
with your team. Sit when you’re done sharing.” S te p
Praise or Coach
5 For high-consensus (right or wrong)
questions, teammates praise the Star
if the answer is correct; if incorrect,
teammates coach the Star. For low-
consensus questions (thinking
questions), teammates praise or
comment on the thinking that went into
the answer. “I agree that Saddam had no
right to invade Kuwait, and that the first
Gulf War was justified to liberate Kuwait.
You are a logical thinker!”

Instant Sta
r

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 Student Selector
Instant Star
Teacher Instructions. Spin this spinner to randomly select a student on the team to be the Instant Star. “The Instant Star
is student number ….”

1 2

3 4
59 Kagan Structures
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Structure #12

Jot Thoughts
 Structure #12

Jot Thoughts
Students brainstorm in teams, each teammate simultaneously
writes ideas, with each idea on a separate slip of paper.

Jot Thoughts is a terrific way for teams to generate many ideas quickly.
Teammates write an idea on a slip of paper, and announce it to the team.
The team covers the table with ideas. The ideas can be solutions to a
social problem, “How can we end racism?” The ideas can be solutions to a
curriculum problem, “What are the many ways to form the number 24?” The
ideas can be a list of examples, “What might you find in a rain forest?” The
ideas can be representations of a type or category of items, “List as many
Differentiated
adjectives as you can.” Often, the goal of brainstorming is to generate ideas
from which to choose, “What should be the topic of our team presentation?”
Instruction
The best idea is not always the first idea that comes to mind. Sometimes the • Students can draw a symbol of their
best idea is hidden in the depths of the mind, and brainstorming draws forth idea rather than writing it.
many ideas from students’ minds onto paper, so students may select that one • Students may be assigned
perfect solution. a teammate to work with
them as a buddy, to help
When Jot Thoughts is used for brainstorming creative ideas, the basic rules them articulate, or
of brainstorming apply. The ideas are deliberately as diverse as possible. record their ideas.
Students need to think “out of the box.” Funny, silly, and even wacky ideas
are encouraged. They may not be the final solution, but they may help lead
to it. Students need to suspend judgment on the ideas. Evaluation is the
killer of creativity. During Jot Thoughts, neither criticism, nor praise of
ideas is allowed. The goal is to simply get as many ideas as possible out of
students’ heads and onto slips. During brainstorming, students don’t discuss
or elaborate on ideas. There is a time for elaboration and evaluation, but that
time is after the brainstorming.

Jot Thoughts has some distinct advantages over independent brainstorming.

Students with different mindsets, backgrounds, and experiences generate a
Benefits
broader range of ideas. Plus, there is the power of synergy—the interaction of
ideas is greater than the sum of independent ideas. Students announce each Students…
idea to teammates to unleash synergy. An idea by one teammate may trigger
ideas for others. Spreading the ideas out on the table gives students instant …generate many possibilities quickly.
access to all the ideas at any point, so they can piggyback on an idea …participate in heterogeneous groups
or direction. that have a broad base of backgrounds
and experiences from which to draw.
…build on the ideas of teammates.
…develop creativity.
…learn to generate many possible ideas
or solutions.

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 Getting Ready: The teacher prepares
Steps
a brainstorming topic. Each student needs a
pen and slips of paper.

S te p
Teacher Announces Topic
1 The teacher announces the brainstorming
topic and sets a time limit. “Brainstorm as
many team names as you can. You have 3
minutes. First, announce your idea to the team.
Second, write the team name on a slip of paper, S te p
Team Brainstorms
and third, place the idea faceup on your team
table. See if you can cover the table.” 2 Teammates simultaneously generate
as many ideas as they can in the
allotted time. They write each idea
on a separate slip of paper, announce
the idea to teammates, and place the
idea faceup on the team table. They
attempt to “cover the table” rather
than stacking the slips.

S te p
Team Processes Ideas
3 When time’s up, the team processes their
brainstormed ideas. There are many
ways to process ideas. How students
process ideas depends on the goal of the
brainstorming task. See What to Do with
Ideas on page 68.

t Thoughts
Jo
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 Variation

Str
ctu

u
• A—Z Brainstorming re #
Have students brainstorm an idea for each
12
letter of the alphabet. Prior to brainstorming,
students deal out A–Z Brainstorming Cards to
teammates (see blackline). To brainstorm, they say it, write
it, and place it. A–Z Brainstorming can be done also in teams
using RoundTable or in pairs using RallyTable, with each
student generating the next idea beginning with the next
letter of the alphabet. For animals: anteater, bear, cougar, and
so on.

What to Do with Ideas

• Organize Ideas. Teams organize ideas using a graphic organizer or a chart.

• Select Best Idea. Teams pick their best idea among the ideas generated.

• Prioritize Ideas. Teams sequence ideas by priority. Idea Sorting

• Share Ideas. Teams share ideas with other teams. Hot Warm Cold

Tips
• Model. Select a team, and model the • Time It. Set a time limit to encourage speed, but don’t
Jot Thoughts process for the class. make the time limit too short. Suggestion: 3 minutes.

• Suspend Judgment. Tell students not to • Say It, Write It, Place It. For each new idea,
censor their own ideas, criticize, or evaluate the ideas of students say it first, so they are not writing redundant
others during brainstorming. ideas. Then they write it on a slip of paper and place it
on the team table. When introducing Jot Thoughts to
• Suspend Discussion. Students are not to discuss or students, use the expression, “Say it, write it, place it,” so
elaborate on their ideas during the idea-generation phase. students know exactly what to do with their ideas.

• Make It Fun. Creativity thrives in a positive • Sorting Mat. After Jot Thoughts, have students sort
learning environment. their ideas on an Idea Sorting Mat. See blacklines.

• Color Code Contributions. To encourage • Brainstorming Tips. Display for the class the
participation by all and to promote accountability for brainstorming tips sheet provided on page 70. Reinforce
contribution by each student, have each student the tips for effective brainstorming.
use a different colored pen or marker to record their ideas.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
Students brainstorm…
• Word problems for a given equation
• Ways to build 20
Science
Students brainstorm…
• Applications of an algorithm
• Mammals
• Things that are square
• Possible outcomes of an experiment
• Symmetrical objects
• Hypotheses
• Vertebrates
Language Arts • Constellations
Students brainstorm… • Bones/body parts
• Characters in a book/play • Insects
• Rhyming words • Examples of a law or principle…
• Possible story endings • Similarities between…
• Nouns • Objects with a simple machine
• Adjectives describing a character
•P ossible topic sentences for a paragraph
• Words that start with s
Music
Students brainstorm…
• Words that have the “ch” sound
• Bands that meet a criterion
• Proper nouns
• String instruments
• Story character characteristics
• Musical professions
• Events in the story
• CDs students own
• Songs of a certain style
Social Studies • Well-known musicians
Students brainstorm…
• Events in the chapter/unit
• Historical figures in the era
Classbuilding and Teambuilding
Students brainstorm…
• Landforms
• Cartoons
• States
• Type of cars
• Countries
• Fun free time activities
• Facts about an event
• Water sports
• Community helpers
• Qualities of a good friend/teammate
• Facts about a state
• Vacation spots
• Examples of change
• Praising words
• Differences between…
• Rainy day activities
• How to solve a social issue
• Favorite movies
• Campaign ideas

t Thoughts
Jo
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 Top 5 Brainstorming
Jot Thoughts
Tips
Teacher Instructions. Use this sheet to teach students the Top 5 Brainstorming Tips.

1 The More, the Merrier

Generate a lot of ideas. The more ideas you come
up with, the more you’ll have to choose from.

2 Piggyback
Build on the ideas of others. Combine ideas.
Create similar ideas. Use associations.

3 Don’t Judge
Don’t discuss or criticize any ideas. Don’t judge
your own ideas. Put them out there. Evaluation
can come later.

4 Speed It Up
Write the first idea and every idea that comes
to mind.

5 Get Wacky
Include creative, unusual, and silly ideas.

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 a–Z Brainstorming
Jot Thoughts
Instructions. Cut out one set of letter cards for each student to use for A–Z Brainstorming.

A B C D

E F G H

I J K L

M N O P

Q R S T

U V W X

Y Z Possible Topics:
• Animals • Careers •H
 istorical
• Food • Teams events
• Movies • Books
• Countries • Characters
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 Idea JotSorting
Thoughts
Mat
Instructions. Use this Idea Sorting Mat to sort the ideas your team brainstormed.

Hot Warm Cold

(Great) (Good) (So-So)

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 Yes-No-Maybe
Jot Thoughts
Sorting
Instructions. Use this mat to sort the ideas your team brainstormed into Yes, No, and Maybe categories.

YES

NO

Maybe

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 Topic Mat
Jot Thoughts
Instructions. Write your topic in the center. Write the subtopic in each section. As a team, brainstorm ideas and write
them in the subtopic section in which they belong.

________________
Subtopic

_______________ ________________
Subtopic __________________ Subtopic
Topic

___________________ ___________________
Subtopic Subtopic

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Structure #13

Kinesthetic Symbols
 Structure #13
Kinesthetic Symbols
Students create and practice hand or body symbols
associated with the content.

Getting Ready
Steps The teacher selects the words or topics for the Kinesthetic Symbols.

S te p
Students Practice Symbols
2 Students practice using the symbols. When the teacher
prepares the symbols, the teacher asks questions of the
class, and the class responds by sharing the symbol. Or,
when students develop their own symbols, teams can
S te p share their symbols with the class or with other teams.
Students can take turns leading the team in a review of
Create Symbols
1 The teacher prepares the symbols for
the symbols. For example, Student #1 takes the team’s
list of geometry terms and quizzes teammates on the
the class, or students work in teams to symbols. “What is the symbol for parallel? What is the
create symbols to represent the content. symbol for a right angle?”
The symbols are hands or whole-body
motions. For example, to learn geometry
terms, students use their hands or arms Using Symbols and Signals
to represent terms such as: parallel,
In the Classroom Beyond the Classroom
perpendicular, acute angle, right angle,
• Symbolize curriculum • Machinery operation
obtuse angle, and straight angle.
• Communicate basic needs • Sports plays
• Manage the class • Sports officials/referees
• Finger numbers • Animal/obedience training
• Response Modes • Scuba diving
• Road safety
• Military
• Police/SWAT

Content Possibilities
• Punctuation • Parts of a letter
• Steps of procedure • Water cycle
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 Management Signals
Kinesthetic Symbols
Instructions. Use these illustrations to share management signals with your class.

Quiet Signal Over My Head Slow Down

Can’t Hear Can’t See Question or Share

Repeat Good Work Still Thinking

ten Right!
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 Hand Kinesthetic
Geometry Symbols
Terms
Instructions. Use these hand symbols to represent geometry terms.

Parallel Perpendicular Point

Acute Obtuse Right Angle

Intersecting Circle Concave

Convex Diameter Circumference

Horizontal Line Vertex Vertical Line

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Structure #14

Listen Right!
 Structure #14

Listen Right!
During a lecture, the teacher stops. Students write
the main points, compare with a partner, and celebrate.
Students learn and remember more when lectures are punctuated with brief
processing breaks. Listen Right! does just that—it periodically interrupts a lecture for
students to process their new learning. Further, the types of processing involved takes
maximum advantage of many principles of learning and memory. To use Listen Right!
the instructor stops lecturing after a period (3–5 minutes for elementary, 5–15 minutes
for secondary). Students pick up their pens and write the key points of the lecture
so far. Then, students form pairs or small groups. They take turns sharing what they
learned, using RallyRobin, RoundRobin, Instant Star, or Timed Pair Share. Next, the
Differentiated
instructor quickly reviews the key points. Students celebrate with their partners if they
covered all the key points or add them if they missed any. Then the teacher resumes the
Instruction
• Students can draw rather than
lecture. The teacher stops after a few minutes and students process the new material.
write their responses.
• Students may be
There are some powerful learning principles at work here. First is Understanding.
assigned a buddy
Students have the opportunity to process new learning and develop an understanding
to help them
of its meaning. Without processing, students may not really grasp what is being taught.
articulate and/
Worse than fuzzy or incomplete understanding is misunderstanding. The brain will
or record their
cling just as tenaciously to wrong ideas as it will to right ones. So it is important for
responses.
students to learn it correctly the first time, otherwise learning requires unlearning
and relearning—a much more difficult process. By review of the material in many
ways, students gain a concise understanding of the content, and come away with a
correct understanding the first time. The next principle is Recitation. Recitation is the
process of “repeating” the learning and is one of the strongest techniques for long-term
content retention. Repeating can occur by thinking about, writing, or verbalizing the
content. Verbalizing is probably the strongest since it incorporates both the vocal and
auditory senses. Students do all three in Listen Right! Overlearning is another principle

Benefits
Listen Right! incorporates. Overlearning is the principle that after we understand or
master a concept, we may engrave the mental trace deeper and deeper in our brains
by processing it again. The more we learn the material, the better our chances of
establishing a base for long-term retention. Through the many forms of recitation,
plus the teacher’s review, students are on their way to overlearning the content. Students…
…retain more of what they learn.
The analogy that the brain is like a cup of water serves as a good visual image. When
the cup is full, pouring in more water is fruitless. It spills over the cup. The brain is …find lectures more engaging and
temporarily full and not ready for new learning. We empty the cup by pouring out less boring.
the water. And we prepare the brain for new learning by allowing it to process new …process learning in many ways.
learning, moving it from working to longer-term memory. After brief processing …are accountable for listening
breaks, students are more likely to recall past learning and are more receptive to carefully to the lecture.
new learning.
…receive feedback on note taking
while teachers are not lecturing.

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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares discussion topics.

S te p
Teacher Lectures
1 S te p
Students Write Key Points
The teacher lectures while students listen
carefully without taking notes. 2 After a short period of lecture, the teacher stops.
Students write the key points of the lecture.

S te p
Partners Share Key Points
3 S te p
The teacher asks students to pair up and share Teacher Reviews Key Points
with a partner, checking for accuracy and making
corrections on their own papers. To share, they
4 The teacher reviews the key points just
may use Timed Pair Share to take equal timed shared. Students record any additional
turns to share, or they use RallyRobin or Pair points that they missed.
Share where students alternate sharing a key point.

S te p
Partners Celebrate
5 S te p
Continue Process
Partners celebrate with a praiser
or celebration. 6 The teacher resumes lecturing for a short period,
then stops again for students to take notes and
process the new content. Usually only part of the
lecture is punctuated with Listen Right!

ten Right!
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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
re #
Listen Right! creates intense focus: When it’s time 14
to listen, students listen intently. Their attention is not
divided by trying to take notes at the same time. And when
it’s time to take notes, they focus on writing notes without having
to also listen for new, competing information. Listen Right! takes more time than the traditional take-
notes-while-the-teacher-lectures format, however the occasional use of Listen Right! fosters skills not
developed in the traditional format. Instead of writing everything the teacher says, students are forced
to hold chunks of content in short-term memory. They must evaluate, asking themselves which are
the key points. There are a number of additional benefits of Listen Right! In the traditional classroom,
there is no accountability or feedback for the quality of note taking. Some students take few or even
no notes. That cannot happen in Listen Right! because the structure holds students accountable for
writing and provides immediate feedback. With Listen Right! students benefit from peer modeling,
tutoring, coaching, and encouragement—all absent with traditional lecture/note taking formats. Having
been held accountable for and having received feedback on their note taking, students take better
notes following Listen Right! even in the traditional format. Another benefit of Listen Right! is that it
activates two powerful memory principles: Primacy and Recency. In the traditional lecture, there is one
beginning and one end; with Listen Right! there are many beginnings and many endings; the chunked
lecture multiplies powerful primacy and recency effects to enhance memory. Yet another reason Listen
Right! is powerful: Frequent pauses allow the teacher to walk around observing and listening in as
students interact with the content. This provides authentic assessment of student learning and allows
the teacher to adjust if necessary. Finally, not to be underestimated: Lectures are improved! Why? When
we frequently pause during our lectures, we better compose what we are going to say next.

Tips
• Prime Students. Tell students • Cloze Form. The teacher may provide students with
in advance to listen carefully to a form with blanks to fill in missing key words from
the lecture because they will have to the lecture.
remember and share what they hear.
• Outline. The teacher may provide students with an
• Plan Breaks. While planning the lecture, look for good outline of the lecture that students complete when the
break points that will break the lecture into like concepts teacher pauses.
in acceptable time chunks.

• Lecture Duration. In a traditional lecture, a good

rule of thumb is that the lecture should be punctuated
by processing time about every 10 minutes, somewhat
longer for easy content and older students, and shorter
for difficult content and younger students. Listen Right!
is different. Because the students are not taking notes
while the lecture is going, the teacher must stop more
frequently—Usually about every 3 to 5 minutes. For
this reason, Listen Right! is used only as part of a long
lecture, not the whole lecture. It is a strong addition to a
traditional lecture used to emphasize and ensure mastery
and memory of important points.

Periodically stop lecturing to allow

time for student processing.

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 Variations
• Draw Right! The lecture is punctuated
with intermissions for students to draw the
key points.

• Map Right! The lecture is punctuated with intermissions

for students to mind map the central concept.

• Cover Those Notes! Students are allowed to take notes

during the lectures, but must cover them when they are to
share key points in Step 2.

Flowchart of Listen Right!

Lecture

Write Key Points

Repeat Process

Students Share Key Points

Teacher Reviews Key Points

Celebrate!

ten Right!
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 NoteListen
TakingRight!
Page
Topic_________________________________________ Date____________________________

Key Ideas Notes

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

______________________________________________

_____________________________________________

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 Key Ideas
Listen Right!
Topic Date

Part #1 Part #2

Part #3 Part #4

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 Key Points
Listen Right!

Topic_________________________________________ Date____________________________
Processing #1 Processing #2
My Key Points My Key Points
______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

Partner’s Key Points Partner’s Key Points

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

Teacher’s Key Points Teacher’s Key Points

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

______________________________________ ______________________________________

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Structure #15

Numbered HEads Together

 Structure #15
Numbered Heads Together
Teammates put their “heads together” to discuss the question and
make sure everyone knows the answer. One teammate’s number is
randomly called, and that teammate shares the team’s answer.

In teams, students number off so each student has a number: one, two,
three, four (thus the name “Numbered”). The teacher asks a question. The
question can be a high-consensus, right-or-wrong question such as: “What
is the distance to the moon?” Or it can be a problem to be worked out by
the team: “Convert 650 feet per second into miles per hour.” The question
Differentiated
can also be a low-consensus discussion question like: “Do you think there is
extraterrestrial life?” For individual accountability, students independently Instruction
• S tudents can draw their answers.
write their own answers. Students stand up and huddle together (thus the •T  he teacher can call on students to repeat or
name “Heads Together”) to show what they have written, and/or discuss the explain the answers given by others.
question. The teacher then calls on a number. The student with the number •T  he teacher can call on students to agree
called is responsible for giving the team’s answer or summarizing what the with or disagree with an answer using a
team discussed. thumbs up or sideways signal, and then call
on students to explain why. Thus, students
do not have to generate an answer. Instead,
Numbered Heads Together is a powerful antidote to the traditional review having just heard it, they simply explain why
session. All students become active during the question and answer. Each they agree or disagree.
student is accountable for writing an answer to each question, and each • I f a teacher numbers the students by their
student knows he or she may be called upon to share the team’s answer or ability, the teacher can ask developmentally
summarize the team’s discussion. differentiated questions, asking for the
appropriate ability group number
to respond.

Benefits
Students…
…are each responsible for learning and
sharing.
…receive frequent and immediate
feedback.
…are on the same side as teammates and
hope for each other’s success.
…stay on their toes because they write
and share their answers, and each
knows they may be called on.

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 Getting Ready: The teacher prepares
questions or problems to ask teams. Students

Steps
have response boards or individual think slips
and writing utensils.

S te p
Students Number Off
1 Students number off in their teams
from 1–4.

S te p Teacher Asks a Question

2 and Provides Think Time
The teacher asks a question or poses
a problem and provides Think Time.
The question can be a question with a
right or wrong answer such as “What
is the sequence of colors in a visible color
spectrum?” Or the question can be an
open-ended discussion question like
“What conditions make the formation of
a rainbow more likely and why? Everyone
think about your answer.

c o ntin
u ed

S te p
Individuals Write
3 Students privately write their
answers, no talking.

d Heads Tog
bere e
Nu m
th

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re
Steps (Continued)

Str
ctu

u
re #
15

S te p
Heads Together
4 Students lift up from their chairs
to put their heads together, show
answers, and discuss and teach.
Students reach a consensus on S te p
the team’s answer and make sure Students Sit
they all know the team’s answer
because one of them will be
5 Students sit down when
selected to represent the team. everyone knows the answer
or has something to share.
Students erase their boards or
hide their answers (so they must
individually re-solve or recall the
answer if selected).

S te p
Teacher Calls a Number
6 The teacher randomly calls a student
number from 1–4. All selected students
stand. The teacher asks standing students the
question (or a similar question).

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S te p Selected Students Solve
7 the Problem
The standing students independently solve
the problem and write the answer(s) on their
boards. The teacher calls “Show Me,” then
the selected student on each team holds up
his or her response board.

S te p
Class Praises Respondents
8 Classmates cheer the students who responded.

d Heads Toge
bere
Num
th

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er
 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
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Numbered Heads Together is classic cooperative 15
learning. It has positive interdependence: One student
knowing the answer helps the others, and all students
must do their part for the team to be successful. There is individual
accountability: Students must write their answers on their own, and a quarter of the time they are
called upon to answer in front of the class. There is virtually equal participation: All write; students
are called upon about equally. And finally, there is simultaneous interaction: In contrast to the
traditional classroom in which only one student responds to the question and the others are free
to tune out, in Numbered Heads Together, every student writes his or her answer—100 percent of
the students respond to the question, not just one in the class! It is no wonder that when teachers
abandon the traditional question-answer format, and switch to Numbered Heads Together, their
classrooms become a beehive of active engagement and achievement accelerates.

Tips
• Random Numbers. Make Num- • Teams Sit. Having teams sit once they are done is a
bered Heads Together more game-like great visual cue. If most teams are still standing, then they
by randomly calling a student number need more time to work on the problem or it’s time to
by spinning a spinner, rolling a die, pulling reteach.
numbers from a hat, throwing a dart at a dartboard (with
four sections), or using an electronic student selector. • Different Numbered Teams. If you have some teams
of three and/or five, you’ll have to change the rules a little.
• Individuals Write. Make sure students think and In teams of three, Students #3’s answer when number
write their own answers and share them with the group to four is selected. In teams of five, Students #4 and #5 take
increase participation and accountability. Chalkboards or turns answering when #4 is called.
individual AnswerBoards work great for students to write
and share their answers. • Scoring. Teams may earn points for correct answers
and the points may be summed toward a class goal.
• Clean Slate. Have students clean their slates or boards
or hide their notes after the team has shared and before
the number is called.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• What is your definition of a ___?
• Make change from money given
• Calender questions
Social Studies
• Community helpers
• Where is my mistake?
• How did Native Americans use these tools?
•U  se manipulatives to represent
the number or problem • Vocabulary words
• Land formations questions
• Read graphs
• Difference past/now
•B  uild a math problem with manipulatives
• Answer review questions for a chapter
• Draw out a solution
• Identify a state based on geographical
• Measure objects
descriptions
• Solve word problems
• Describe a historical event
• Write a word problem to represent an equation
• Identify the branch of government
• Plot numbers on graph or number line
• Describe characteristics of a culture
•D  raw conclusions from the data or
• Identify the cause or effect
graphs shown

Language Arts Science

• Animals
• Spelling words
• Parts of plants
• Main idea of a paragraph
• Review steps of experiment
• Good ending for the story
• Rain forest
• Adjectives to describe…
• Steps of cell division
• Correct grammar mistakes
• Seasons
• S kim page—What do you think it’s about?
• Principles or laws
• Describe events in a story or book
• Answer questions about the experiment
• Identify part of speech
• Identify an element based on characteristics
• Simile or metaphor
• Describe what would happen if…
• Appropriate end mark
• Define a term, law, or principle
•G  enerate a good topic sentence
for the paragraph • Draw or define cell part
• Define a vocabulary word • Identify the state of matter

Music
• What instruments do you hear in this piece?

Art
• What is the artist trying to convey?

Physical Education
• Review rules of the game

d Heads Tog
bere e
Nu m
th

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e
r
 Str
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Variations

u
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Response Modes. Step 7 calls for students to
15
share their team’s answer simultaneously.
A variety of possible response modes can be
used, depending on the type of question, including the • Teams Post. All selected students write the team answer
following: on a designated area of the class whiteboard.

• Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down. For yes or no, or • Choral Response. All selected students say the answer
agree or disagree answers, all students selected answer in unison.
simultaneously with a thumb up for yes or agree, or a
thumb down for no or disagree. • Discussion Questions. If it is a discussion
question, call on a few different teams to get a range
of ideas discussed.

• Shared Responses. If the question has multiple parts,

• Slates and Response Boards. It is ideal for each choose a different team or a different number
student to have a response board. That way, students can to answer each part.
independently write their answers on their boards, and
then use their boards to share with the class when selected. • Adding On. If a response is incomplete, select another
When a number is called to select one student from each team to add on. “Team 6, what can you add to the answer?”
team, that student writes the answer on the team slate or
board, and shares it with the class. • Agree or Disagree. One of the many standing students
is selected to share his or her team’s answer. If the other
standing students agree, they sit down. If they disagree,
they remain standing and the teacher can call on one to
share a different answer. Alternatively, teams use Agree and
Disagree response boards or cards. The teacher can call on
• Response Cards. All selected students hold up a a team displaying Disagree.
response card (such as Yes or No).

YES NO AGREE
• Finger Responses. Selected students hold up the
number of fingers to indicate their answers.
DISAGREE
• Kinesthetic Symbols. Students respond with
predetermined Kinesthetic Symbols to show the answer.

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 Related Structures
#
16 Paired Heads Together
In each team, students have face partners and shoulder
partners. Each pairing consists of a Partner A and Partner
B. The teacher asks a question, provides Think Time, and
students independently write their answers. They first pair
up with their shoulder partners to share answers and coach
if necessary. The teacher randomly calls, “A” or “B.” Then, the
selected partners share their answers with their face partners.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Pairs Students Signal
1 The teacher distinguishes shoulder partners
5 Students signal when ready. Probably the best
from face partners. Shoulder partners are signal is to have students stand when they
students sitting next to each other on the team. share and sit when done. This provides a great
Face partners are students sitting across from visual signal, and the standing and sitting
each other on the team. keeps their brains awake.

S te p S te p
Teacher Asks Question Students Share
2 The teacher presents a problem or question
6 The teacher says, “Turn to your face partner.
and provides Think Time. As, share your best answer. Bs, just listen.”
Students share as individuals, face partner to
face partner, not pair to pair.
S te p
Students Write
3 Students write their answers S te p
individually, without help. Teacher Gives Answer
7 The teacher announces answer, saying, “If
your partner said X, then give your partner a
S te p high five (hug, hand shake...).”

4 Share and Discuss

Students share and discuss their answers S te p
with their shoulder partners, coaching Repeat
if necessary. 8 The teacher does additional rounds, mixing
up each time which face partner answers.

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Related Structures continued

#
17 Traveling Heads Together
Traveling Heads Together is Numbered Heads Together with a traveling
component. It starts the same as Numbered Heads Together. The teacher presents
a problem. Students independently think about their answer, then privately write
their answers. Then, everyone on the team stands and puts their heads together
to reach consensus on the answer. They sit when everyone agrees on the team’s
answer. The teacher randomly calls a number 1–4 and all students with that number
stand. Now here’s the change: Instead of having the standing students share with the
class, have the other teams beckon for one of the standing students to join their team. The
standing students travel to a new team and remain standing. At the teacher’s cue, the standing
students share their answer, then sit. The new team celebrates or coaches the traveler. With each question, any
student can be randomly selected to travel and share.

Traveling Heads Together can be used for opinion questions. While standing, students discuss an issue and
share their opinions on the issue. When the student travels to a new team, he or she can share his or her own
opinions or the opinions of others on the issue.

A small variation of Traveling Heads Together that some teachers prefer is to have a preestablished traveling
pattern rather than having students beckon for a new teammate. For example, Student #1’s move one team
ahead; Student #2’s move two teams ahead, and so on.

S te p
Teacher Asks Question
1 The teacher presents a problem and gives
Think Time. (Example: “Everyone think about
why days are shorter in the winter.”)

S te p
Individuals Write
2 Students privately write their answers.

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Related Structures continued

S te p S te p
Heads Together Traveler Joins Team
3 Students lift up from their chairs to put 7 Traveling students move to a new team, standing
their heads together, show answers, and behind the chair of the student who just left, and
discuss and teach each other. wait for a cue from the teacher to begin sharing.

S te p

4 Students Sit S te p
Standing Students Share
Students sit down when everyone knows the
answer or has something to share.
8 The teacher gives a cue for the standing students
to share their answers, and tells them to sit when
they have finished.

S te p
Teacher Calls a Number
5 The teacher calls a number. One student on
S te p
Coach or Praise
each team with the selected number stands. For
example, the teacher calls Student #3 and all
9 Seated students coach or praise the traveler.
Student #3’s stand.

S te p
Teams Beckon a Classmate
6 The teacher instructs the seated students to
beckon for one of the standing students to join
their team.

The Beckoning
To make Traveling Heads Together fun
for students, encourage them to “beckon
wildly” in Step 6. Students cheer and
wave at their traveling classmates. They
call, “Hey Kim, come join us!” This adds
an element of fun, and who doesn’t want
to feel wanted?

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 Animal Fun Facts
Numbered Heads Together
Instructions. Use these fun questions to introduce students to the structure or to play for classbuilding fun.

1 What animals hold hands when they

6
sleep to keep them from drifting apart? Can an ostrich run as fast as a horse?
A. walruses C. polar bears Yes or No?
B. sea otters D. seals
B. sea otters yes

2 7
Squirrels plant thousands of trees What animal has four stomachs?
annually by forgetting where they put A. horse C. cow
their acorns. True or False? B. goat D. sheep
true C. cow

3 8  ow much of our DNA do we share with

H
Can any animal breathe through its a chimpanzee?
rear end? Which?
A. 25–50% C. 75–90%
B. 50–75% D. over 95%
yes, turtles D. over 95%

4 9
Some spiders can fly.
What is the only mammal that can fly?
True or false?

false bat

5 10
Which insect can taste with its feet? Are ligers and tigons—a cross
between tiger and lion—real?
A. bee C. butterfly
B. ant D. fly
with a female tiger.
female lion; liger—male lion breeds
C. butterfly yes. tigon—male tiger breeds with a

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Structure #18

Pair Share
 Structure #18

Pair Share
Partners take turns sharing and listening.

Pair Share is a quick and easy way to get full student engagement. At
any point in the lesson, the teacher has students turn to a partner and do
a two-way share. Pairs can be face partners, shoulder partners, or even
classmates paring up from a StandUp–HandUp–PairUp. There is no
end to what students can share. They can share an idea, an answer, an Traveling Pair Share
opinion, their feelings, or a solution. The idea with Pair Share is a quick Traveling Pair Share is a great structure
two-way share and to move on. If the response is an elaborated response, to use during the share time when you
a Timed Pair Share is more appropriate. Use Pair Share any time you want students to briefly share with
want every student to participate. It’s a great tool to keep everyone tuned multiple classmates. For
in, and it only takes a minute. example, “When I say, ‘Go!’ I
want you to stand up, put a
Pair Share is in contrast to a Pair Discussion or Turn-N-Talk. In those hand up, and pair with a partner.
structures, the high achiever in each pair is likely to do most or even all Briefly share one thing that
the talking. In Pair Share, students both share equally. To equalize par- happened in the story. Then find
ticipation, the teacher might limit the sharing to a few sentences each. a new partner to share another
For example, the teacher might say, “Think about the moral of the story. story event. Keep pairing up until
Now summarize your thinking in one sentence that begins with ‘the moral I call, ‘ Times Up!’ Ready, Go!”
is…’ Now share your sentences with your partner both ways and then raise
a hand to signal you are finished.”

Pair Share vs.

Timed Pair Share
There are two key differences between
Pair Share and Timed Pair Share.
First, in Timed Pair Share, responses
are timed so that students have equal
share time. This is ideal to create equal
participation for elaborate responses.
Second, in Timed Pair Share, students
respond to each other. Pair Share is for
that quick two-way share.

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Steps

S te p
Teacher Announces Topic
1 The teacher announces the topic partners
will share about and provides Think Time.

S te p
First Partner Shares
2 The teacher selects a partner to
begin sharing. The teacher can say,
“Partner A begin,” or pick a partner
using a cue such as, “Taller partner
begin.” The selected partner shares
while his or her partner listens.

S te p
Second Partner Shares
3 When the first partner is done sharing,
the other partner shares while his or
her partner listens.

S te p
Signal When Finished
4 Students both raise a hand to signal
they have both shared.

Pair Share
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 Who Starts
Pair Share
Teacher Instructions. Use these cues to inform students who shares first. For example, “The partner with the longer hair
shares first.” Mix it up for fun and variety. If partners tie, have a default rule such as tallest partner starts.

Physical Characteristics
Be careful not to use sensitive characteristics such as weight.
• Bigger hand • Bigger foot • Lighter eyes
• Smaller hand • Smaller foot • Longer hair
• Taller partner • Longer pinky • Shorter hair
• Shorter partner • Shorter thumb • Darker hair
• Partner with head • Darker eyes • Lighter hair
closest to ceiling

Clothing
Be careful not to use judgement calls such as cuter outfit.
• More buttons • Brighter colors
• Fewer buttons • More colors
• Darker shirt • Fewer colors
• Lighter shirt • Warmer clothes
• Bigger shoes • Higher socks
• Smaller shoes • Lower socks

About Me
These take more time, but add a little fun, so use accordingly.

• First name comes first alphabetically • Number of syllables in favorite band • Time of favorite TV show
• First name comes last alphabetically • Farthest I’ve traveled • Woke up earlier today
• Last name comes first alphabetically • Bigger favorite animal • More siblings
• Last name comes last alphabetically • Smaller favorite animal • Fewer siblings
• Birthday first in the year • Favorite sport alphabetically • More pets
• Birthday last in the year • Later bedtime • Fewer pets
• Earlier bedtime

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Structure #19

Paraphrase Passport
 Structure #19
Paraphrase Passport
Students earn a passport to speak by accurately paraphrasing the
prior speaker. Paraphrase Passport promotes active listening.

Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares the discussion topic.

S te p
One Person Shares
2 One person in the pair or team
shares an idea.
S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns an open-ended
discussion topic. For example, “What
are your feelings about the law?” Or,
“What do you think might happen
next in the story?” Or, “Should growing
human organs in a lab from human cells
be legal?”

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 Differentiated
Instruction
• Very young students can be taught to repeat
what their partner has said as a precursor to
paraphrasing.
• Start with practicing just one
gambit. For example, tell
students to use, “I heard
you say… .” As students
improve their paraphrasing
skills, provide more sentence
starters.

S te p
Paraphrase and Check
3 Any student can share his or her idea next,
but first he or she must paraphrase the
person who spoke immediately before,
checking for accuracy before sharing his or
S te p
her own idea. “You think it’s a terrific idea
Offer Passport or Rephrase
for scientists to grow organs from patients’
own cells because it will save lives and
4 If the student who was paraphrased feels
improve quality of life. Did I hear you right?” the paraphrase accurately reflected his
or her thoughts, the student offers the
passport for the paraphraser to speak. “You
understood my thinking.” If the paraphrased
student does not feel the paraphrase was
accurate, the student takes responsibility,
saying, “I don’t think I got my idea across.
Let me try again.” After hearing the idea
rephrased by the speaker, the person
paraphrasing has another opportunity to
earn the passport to speak.

aphrase Pass
Par
po

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rt
 Str
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Structure Power

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Paraphrase Passport is the royal road to developing 19
social skills and empathy, two dimensions of emotional
intelligence. All social skills spring from sensitivity to the
needs, feelings, and thoughts of others. Making it a habit to “seek to
understand” predicts job, family, and life success. Regardless of the content, when students
practice Paraphrase Passport they are acquiring one, if not the most important, social skill—
understanding others. Paraphrase Passport holds students accountable for listening. It is
in contrast to unstructured discussions in which many are not focused on the speaker but
rather on what they want to say next. In the process of focused listening, students develop
empathy. Empathy is what produces bonding, friendship, and leadership skills. The skillful
leader leads based on understanding the position of others. Empathy is what leads to caring,
sharing, and cooperation, as well as the desire not to harm others. Through Paraphrase
Passport, students receive feedback on how well they understand others; they develop their
mirror neurons. Paraphrase Passport develops that part of the brain associated with not just
understanding others, but also the ability to learn from others. Our mirror neurons allow us
to learn as we watch others.

Tips
• Using Paraphrase Passport • Students Brainstorm Paraphrasing Gambits. Use
with Other Structures. Paraphrase Jot Thoughts or another brainstorming structure to have
Passport can be used with other discussion students brainstorm paraphrase gambits. Post the best
structures such as: gambits.
• Timed Pair Share
• RallyRobin • Microphone. While listening, young students may hold
• RoundRobin either an imaginary or mock microphone to help them
• Agree-Disagree Line-Ups focus on the speaker. Teachers have students make mock
microphones by painting the cardboard cylinder inside a
• Provide Gambits. Provide students with sentence paper towel roll and then gluing a ball to one end.
starters such as, “If I heard you correctly… .” The sentence
starters may be posted in the class, or each student may
have chips or tokens to use.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
Students discuss…
• How to solve a problem
• Ways to use math in everyday living Art
Students discuss…
• What did you feel when you heard the piece of
Language Arts music or looked at the artwork?
Students discuss…
• Favorite stories
• Character’s motivation Classbuilding
• Story or book read Students discuss…
• Passage • What do you like best about our class?
• Story element questions • What things would you like to change about
this class?
• Prewriting questions
• Poetry questions

Social Studies
Students discuss…
• Places you would like to visit, and why
• People that are important in history
• Generation X vs. John-Boy Walton
Passport Stamp
• Textbook discussion questions The teammate who spoke has the stamp. After a teammate
paraphrases him or her, that teammate gives the next speaker
the stamp to speak. The stamp is passed from teammate to
Science teammate as they receive the passport to speak.
Students discuss…
• Steps in a sequence
• Interpretation of a lab experiment’s results
• Water cycle
• Acid rain
• Electricity
• Magnetism Permission
• Extinction
• Energy to Speak
a n t e d
G r

phrase Passp
Para
or

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 Passports to
Paraphrase Passport
Speak
Instructions. Cut out passports and give one to each teammate. Teammates complete a sentence starter on their
passport before adding to the discussion.

Passport to speak Passport to speak

• I heard you say… • I heard you say…

• In other words… • In other words…
• Restating in my own words… • Restating in my own words…
• In summary… • In summary…
• If I understand… • If I understand…

Passport to speak Passport to speak

• I heard you say… • I heard you say…

• In other words… • In other words…
• Restating in my own words… • Restating in my own words…
• In summary… • In summary…
• If I understand… • If I understand…

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Structure #20

Quiz-Quiz-Trade
 Structure #20

Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Students quiz a partner, get quizzed by a partner, and then
trade cards to repeat the process with a new partner.

To play Quiz-Quiz-Trade, each student receives one card. The card has
a question or problem on it. For example, when working on countries and
capital cities, the card may read “Russia.” For times tables, it may read “7 x
8.” With cards in hand, students stand up with a hand up and high five to
pair up with a partner. Partner A uses the card to quiz the other partner.
For example, “I have Russia. What’s the capital city?” Or,“What is 7 times
8?” Partner B answers. If correct, Partner A offers praise: “That’s right. It is
Differentiated
Moscow!” If incorrect, Partner A coaches. If it’s a problem to solve, Partner
A works it out, discussing it aloud. Next, partners switch roles and quiz the
Instruction
other way. After they have quizzed both ways, they trade cards and find a new Two different sets of
partner to quiz, get quizzed, and trade again. question cards may be made,
differentiated by content
Quiz-Quiz-Trade is a great way to master content knowledge. It makes or difficulty. The cards
redundant quizzing an energizing and engaging event, contributing to a are color-coded,
positive classroom climate. Quiz-Quiz-Trade is a student favorite as they love and students are
interacting with all their classmates. instructed to pair
up with others who
have the same color.

Benefits
Students…
…repeatedly quiz each other.
…enjoy playing, thereby, enhancing the
class tone.
…interact with many classmates.
…make connections with partners.
…practice coaching each other.
…develop praising skills.

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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher provides (or students create)
quizzing cards.

S te p
Students Pair Up
1 With a card in one hand and the other
hand raised, each student stands up,
puts a hand up, and pairs up with a
classmate. They give each other a high S te p
five as they pair up. “Alright everyone, Partner A Quizzes
stand up, hand up, pair up. High five
when you pair up and lower your hands
2 In the pair, Partner A asks Partner
so that everyone can quickly find a B a question relating to his or
partner with a hand up.” her card. For example, “My card
says ‘Jump’. What part of speech is
‘Jump’?”

c o n ti n u e d

S te p
Partner B Answers
3 Partner B answers Partner A’s question.
“‘Jump’ is a verb.”

i z -Q uiz-Trad
Qu
e

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 Steps (Continued)

Str
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20

S te p
Partner A Praises or Coaches
4 If Partner B answers correctly, Partner A praises
him or her. If Partner B answers incorrectly,
Partner A coaches or tutors Partner B (see
Coaching Tips on page 114).
S te p
Switch Roles
5 Partners switch roles. Partner
B now asks the question on
his or her card and offers
praise or coaches.

S te p
Partners Trade Cards
6 Before departing and looking for new
partners, partners trade cards. This way,
students have a new card for each new pairing.

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S te p Partners Continue
7 Quizzing and Trading
Partners split up and continue quizzing
and getting quizzed by new partners.
When done, they trade cards again and
find a new partner. Remind students,
“Hand up to find a partner, high five, and
hands down when you have a partner.”

Quiz-Quiz-Trade
vs. Mix-N-Match
Mix-N-Match is Quiz-Quiz-Trade with
a twist. The cards in Mix-N-Match each
match another card. For example, when
playing Mix-N-Match on states and
capitals, there is a matching capital card
for each state (California and Sacramento).
Mix-N-Match starts with a round of Quiz-
Quiz-Trade. After quizzing for the desired
period, the teacher tells students to find
the classmate with the matching card.

i z -Q uiz-Trad
Qu
e

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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
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Traditional worksheet drill and practice is boring. The 20
same content taught with Quiz-Quiz-Trade becomes
an exciting, energizing game! Students want to move, and
they want to talk with each other. In the traditional classroom, we
tell them, “Sit down and don’t talk.” We are going against students’ basic impulses. And it turns out
their impulses are right, and traditional worksheet work is wrong. When students move, they have
more oxygen and glucose in the brain. And when they talk, their brains get more fully engaged. With
Quiz-Quiz-Trade, students move and talk, but we channel that energy into learning. It is win-win.
Students get to do what they most want while we get what we most want—student learning!

Tips
• Coaching Tips. Here are two • Student Cards. Have students make their own
effective coaching strategies you can use quizzing cards. The cards have the question on the front
with Quiz-Quiz-Trade: and the answer on the back (3" x 5" index cards work
1. Tip, Tip, Teach, Try Again. The coach well). Have students submit the cards first for the teacher
provides one tip, and then asks the question again. If to review for accuracy.
still incorrect, the coach provides a second tip, and then
reasks the question. If still incorrect, the coach instructs • Model It. Before playing for the first time, the teacher
and then reasks the question. The coach praises his or her selects a student and models the Quiz-Quiz-Trade process
partner when the partner answers correctly. for the class.
2. Tell and Teach. The coach provides the answer and
teaches his or her partner how to reach or remember • Hand Up. Be sure to enforce the Hand Up Rule.
the answer. This makes it quick and easy for students to tell who
needs a partner. Students give a high five to pair up then
• Tips on Cards. The quizzing cards can have two lower their hands.
tips. If a student answers incorrectly or asks for a tip,
the quizzing student provides a tip from the card. • Move Out. For management, you may have students
move to the center of the room when looking for a
partner and have pairs move out from the center of the
room while quizzing each other.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Matching patterns
• Clocks: digital and analog • Animals and species
• Geometric shapes and names • Elements and symbols
• Fractions and equivalents • Inventors and inventions
• Measurements and conversions • Microscope and parts
• Fractions and percents • Parts of plants
• Coins and values • Conservation questions
• Patterns—what comes next
• Telling time
• Multiplication facts
Music
• Jingles and slogans
• Instrument and name
Language Arts • Identify instruments
• Proper nouns/common nouns • Musical notes
• Synonyms and antonyms • Read notes—name that tune
• Spelling word and definition • Clap this pattern
• Uppercase and lowercase (A = a) • Singers and songs
• Cause and effect • Pictures and words
• Compound words • Practice greetings
• Initial letter identification
• Story elements
• How did you feel when…
Art
• Art and artist
• Fact/opinion
• Famous artwork/artists
• What time period is this painting from?
Social Studies • What is the artist trying to convey?
• States and capitals • Identify art tools
• Colonies and founders
• Continents and names
• Famous athlete
Classbuilding
• Students’ names and pictures
• Famous people: quotes
• Singers and songs
• Famous people: known for
• Disney characters and story
• Geography term and definition
• Slogans:“Just Do It” = Nike
• Map reading skills
• Favorites
• Bill of Rights
• About you
• Important events—Treaty of Paris
• Vacations
• Rules

Science Second Language

• Picture and vocabulary word
• Color and color words
• English and foreign word
• Vocabulary word and definition
• Holiday
• Animals and babies

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 Related Structures
#
21 Quiz-N-Compare
In Quiz-N-Compare, students complete worksheets by pairing up
with multiple partners and comparing answers. To play, students
stand up, hand up, and pair up, each with their own worksheet. In
pairs, Partner A asks the first question on the worksheet. Partner B
answers. Partner A praises or coaches. They record the answer when
they reach consensus. Then they switch roles, and Partner B asks
the second question. Both partners check off the questions they’ve
covered, then give each other a high five before they find a new partner
to answer more questions.

S te p S te p
Students Pair Up
1 Each student has a worksheet and a pen or
4 Record Answer
When both partners agree, they both record
pencil. They stand up, put a hand up, and the answer on their own worksheets.
pair up with a nearby classmate.

S te p S te p
Partner A Asks Switch Roles
2 In the pair, Partner A asks Partner B a
5 Partner B now asks the question, and Partner
question on the worksheet. A responds. When they reach consensus, they
both record the answer.

S te p S te p
Partner B Responds Find a New Partner
3 Partner B responds. If Partner A agrees, they 6 Students thank each other, put a hand up,
celebrate; if Partner A disagrees, Partner A and pair up with a new partner to solve
coaches or they solve it together. the next problem on their worksheet. After
solving all the problems, students can check
their answers with new partners, reaching
consensus where they have different answers.

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Related Structures continued
#
22 Snowball
Students form pairs. Each partner has a paper and a pen. They decide
on a good question and answer. For example, if students are working
on countries and capitals, one student would write the country
name on his or her sheet (France), and the other would write the
capital of that country on his or her sheet (Paris). In a chemistry class,
one student might write, “What is the symbol for salt?” and the other
would write, “NaCl.” Students with the questions move to one side of the
classroom (or if played outside, one side of a line chalked on the ground), and
students with the answers move to the other side.

Students then crumple their papers. At a signal from the teacher, students have a friendly
snowball fight. The goal is to have as few snowballs on your side as possible when the teacher
calls, “Stop!” Students then each pick up one snowball. When each student has one snowball, the
teacher calls, “Go!” At this signal, students with questions rush to find the student holding the
question or answer that matches their card.

After a few rounds, Snowball can be used to form random teams. Two matching pairs pair up to
form a team of four.

S te p S te p
Students Pair Up
1 Students form pairs, each with a sheet
4 Snowball Fight!
The teacher instructs students to crumple
of paper. They decide on a good question up their papers into a snowball. They throw
and answer. the snowball to the other side of the room
(not at anyone!). Their goal is to keep all the
snowballs on the opposite side of the room.
S te p After a brief, friendly fight, each student
Students Write
2 One partner writes the question on one sheet.
collects one snowball.

The other partner writes the answer on the

other sheet. S te p
Find Partner
5 The teacher calls, “Go!” and students rush
S te p to find the classmate who has the matching
Students Line Up question or answer.
3 All Partner A’s go to one side of the classroom.
Partner B’s go to the other side. Tip:
Make it easy to determine if a sheet has a question or
answer. This is helpful for finding a partner. These are
a few easy ways to do this. One way is to write a large
“Q” or “A” on the sheet, representing either “Question”
or “Answer.” Another way is to have all Partner As
write the question in black and Partner Bs write the
answer in red. Another way is to write questions and

ed Pair Sh answers on different colored papers.

Tim a
re

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 Text Types—Definitions
Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Instructions: These are sample Text Type quiz cards. To play, each student receives a card to quiz a partner.

Text Types—Definitions Text Types—Definitions

Question: Answer:
Which text type tells a
story? narrative
Text Types—Definitions Text Types—Definitions
Question: Answer:

Which text type gives facts

and information? expository
Text Types—Definitions Text Types—Definitions
Question: Answer:

Which text type gives

information needed to
perform a task?
technical
Text Types—Definitions Text Types—Definitions
Question: Answer:

Which text type tries to

convince the reader? persuasive
Source: Skidmore, S. & Graber, J. Balanced Literacy Grade 5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
59 Kagan Structures
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 Arrays
Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Instructions. These are sample Arrays quiz cards. To play, each student receives a card to quiz a partner.

Question Answer

13 13

3x1=

Arrays
Arrays

Question Answer

14 14

3x2=
Arrays

Arrays

Question Answer

15 1
15

3x3=
Arrays

Arrays

Question Answer

16 4
1
16

3x4=
Arrays

Arrays

Source: Stites. R & Pfannenstiel, A. Cooperative Math Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
59 Kagan Structures
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 Counting Coins
Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Instructions. These are sample Counting Coins quiz cards. To play, each student receives a card to quiz a partner.

Counting Coins Counting Coins

1 2

28¢
twenty-eight
cents

Counting Coins Counting Coins

3 4

47¢
forty-seven
cents

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 MoleQuiz-Quiz-Trade
Conversions
Instructions. These are sample Mole Conversions quiz cards. To play, each student receives a card to quiz a partner.

Mole Conversions Mole Conversions

9 How many mol are there
10 What is the volume at
in 11.2 L of neon at STP? STP of 0.1 mol of helium?

ANSWER: 11.2/22.4 = 0.5 mol ANSWER: 0.1 x 22.4 = 2.24 L

Mole Conversions Mole Conversions

11 How many mol are there 12 What is the volume at
in 44.8 L of nitrogen at STP? STP of 2 mol of sulferdioxide?

ANSWER: 44.8/22.4 = 2 mol ANSWER: 2 x 22.4 = 44.8 L

Mole Conversions Mole Conversions

13 How many mol are there
14 What is the volume at
in 224 L of krypton at STP? STP of 10 mol of xenon?

ANSWER: 224/22.4 = 10 mol ANSWER: 10 x 22.4 = 224 L

Mole Conversions Mole Conversions

15 How many mol are there
16 What is the number of
in 12 x 1023 molecules of Argon? molecules in 3 mol of F2?

ANSWER: 12 x 1023/6 x 1023 = 2 mol ANSWER: 3 x 6 x 1023 = 18 x 1023 molecules

Source: Plumb, D. Structures for Success in Chemistry. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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 Tempo Terms
Quiz-Quiz-Trade
Instructions. These are sample Tempo Terms quiz cards for music terms. To play, each student receives a card to quiz a partner.

Tempo Terms Tempo Terms

5 6

How fast is the tempo What is the name for a

called “Largo”? very slow tempo?

Answer: very slow tempo Answer: Largo

Tempo Terms Tempo Terms

7 8

How fast is the

What is the name for
tempo called
a slow tempo?
“Lento” (len’-toh)?

Answer: slow tempo Answer: Lento

Source: Katz, M. & Brown, C. Cooperative Learning & Music. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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Structure #23

RallyCoach
 Structure #23

RallyCoach
In pairs, each student takes a turn solving a problem while
the other coaches.
RallyCoach promotes peer tutoring during problem solving. Students
pair up, usually with their shoulder partners on their own team. The pair
receives a set of problems to solve. The problems are typically mastery-
oriented practice problems, such as math worksheets or grammar practice.
But RallyCoach can also be used with more challenging or creative problems
to solve. It is used in welding class, music class, and on the athletic field as
students practice new skills. In the pair, usually one student is the Solver and
Differentiated
the other is the Coach. The Solver works out the problem, verbalizing the
steps as he or she solves it. The Coach watches and listens. The Coach offers
Instruction
help if needed. When the Solver solves the problem, the Coach offers specific • Homogeneous pairs may be
praise, “Great job partner! You used the correct order of operations!” Partners working on developmentally
switch roles and the Solver becomes the Coach for the next problem. appropriate curriculum.
• An aide or assistant may
A crucial ingredient to student success is receiving specific and immediate be a partner.
help. While working independently on problem solving, students may get • Pairs work at their
stuck, be unaware of errors they are making, or not know how to solve even own pace.
the first problem. Working alone, the minds of some students wander. In
contrast, RallyCoach structures for immediate help. Each student has a coach,
and each is accountable to a partner for staying on task.

Benefits
Students…
…verbalize their problem-solving
strategies.
…are accountable to their partners for
staying on task.
…have coaches as immediate
peer-tutoring resources.
…give and receive immediate and
specific feedback.

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 Getting Ready: The teacher prepares
a set of problems. Each pair receives only one

Steps pencil or pen and one problem worksheet or a

piece of paper to answer the problems.

S te p
Partner A Solves
1 S te p
Partner B Coaches and Praises
In shoulder partners, Partner A solves
the first problem, verbalizing the steps
2 Partner B acts as the coach. Partner B
or procedures aloud. watches, listens, and checks. If Partner A
gets an incorrect answer or needs help,
Partner B coaches. If Partner A solves
the problem correctly, Partner B praises.

S te p
Partner B Solves
3 Students switch roles and Partner B now
solves the next problem, talking it out.
S te p
Partner A Coaches and Praises
4
Partner A now acts as the coach: watching,
listening, checking, coaching, and praising.

S te p Note:
Continue Solving
5 The process is repeated for each new problem.
If students are practicing a skill like
welding or kicking a soccer ball, students
take turns, one performing while the
other watches and gives feedback and an
opportunity to improve if necessary.

RallyCoach
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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

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A veteran teacher came to me at our Summer 23
Academy and said she was back for a second year
of training because of the success she had following the
first year. She had taught geometry for 23 years and knew exactly
how many chapters she could complete in a semester. Following the first year of Kagan training, she
completed three additional chapters in her classes. When I asked how that had happened, she said,
“For 23 years I had been giving the best presentations I could and then assigned homework for students
to practice. I diligently graded the homework and then spent about 10 minutes in class the next day going
over the problems that the students had missed. After training in Kagan Structures, I used RallyCoach
for guided practice, before independent practice, or homework. When I graded their homework, they had
the problems correct. We saved almost a full 10 minutes of a class period each day. That added up to three
more chapters a semester.”

RallyCoach is powerful. Students, who would have practiced incorrectly on a worksheet, get
immediate correction. During RallyCoach, students receive feedback after every problem, not after
every worksheet. In the traditional classroom, when graded homework is passed back, students look
around to compare—who is better, who is worse. With RallyCoach, they relate as equals with their
fellow students, encouraging and tutoring, hoping their classmates did well. An entirely different social
orientation emerges. Instead of “Who did I beat and who beat me?” it becomes “How can I help you?”
Instead of a class where evaluation is the bottom line; it is a class where learning is the ultimate goal.

Tips
• Shoulder Partners. Students work • Teach Coaching. Model for students what good
as shoulder partners to help lessen the coaching looks like and sounds like.
ability gap. The high- and low-medium
students are shoulder partners, and the low- • Teach Praising. Have students generate and practice
and high-medium students are partners. The benefit of surprising and delightful praisers prior to using
pairing with shoulder partners is that no partner needs to RallyCoach.
read upside down, as is the case with face partners.
• Sponge. Pairs will finish at different rates, so have
• Think Aloud. Model for students what it means to challenge problems, more problems, or a sponge activity
verbalize their thinking as they solve the problem. ready for pairs who finish early.

• Fold Worksheet. RallyCoach worksheets are best • No Grades. Because there is no way to tell which
when Partner A and Partner B problems are on opposite student did the work, RallyCoach is not graded.
halves of the paper. That way, they can fold the paper
in half and focus on the current problem. See sample
worksheets provided (pages 130–132).

• Consult Teammates. If the pair gets stuck on a

problem or has a question, they can consult the other pair
on their team. If the other pair doesn’t know, everyone
raises a hand indicating to the teacher that they have a
team question.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Telling time
• Patterns
• Measurement
Science
• What does not belong in the group?
• Story problems
• Identify materials items are made of (rubber,
• Decimals from words
plastic, cloth, metal)
• Change for a dollar
• Identify state of matter
• Read whole numbers
• Identify plant structures (stem, leaf, roots)
• Identify congruent figures
• Identify animal structures (arm, wing, leg)
• Use correct order of operations
• Answer questions about heat
• Simplify fractions and thermodynamics
• Apply factoring techniques • Use the periodic table to identify elements
• Define geometry terms • Convert between Celsius and Kelvin
• Compute surface areas
• Compute derivatives
Music
• Notes/symbols
Language Arts • Perform a rhythmic pattern
• Realism vs. Fantasy • Identify musical forms (AABA, AABB, round)
• Spell irregular words correctly • Identify instruments
• Write a letter, word, or phrase in cursive • Play melodic ostinatos
• Identify parts of a letter • Read diatonic scales
• Use correct punctuation • Define music terminology
• Respond to questions
• Read for fluency
• Determine word meanings
Art
• Create a pattern
• Mix secondary colors from primary colors
Social Studies • Convert a 2D shape into a 3D shape
• Chapter review questions • Identify complementary colors
• Follow directions to make maps
• Place items on a time line
• Identify American symbols
Second Language
• Vocabulary
• Describe an amendment
• Locate something on a map
• Identify geographic features
•D escribe the importance of a landmark
•D escribe the contribution of American heroes

RallyCoach
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 Str
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Variations

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• RallyCoach for Oral Problems. The 23
teacher gives the class problems orally, and
students use RallyCoach to solve the problems.

• RallyCoach with Manipulatives. Students use

RallyCoach with manipulatives to solve problems.

• Timed RallyCoach. For some skills that don’t have a

definite ending like a golf swing, the student performs for a
preset time, receiving ongoing coaching from their partner.
When time is up, they switch roles.

RallyCoach Team Setup

In teams, have students work with shoulder partners.

LM l

H hm

For worksheets,
High and low-medium shoulder partners share a High-medium and low
students are shoulder partners. pencil and worksheet. students are shoulder partners.

Note:
Although the high and low achiever on each team are seated kitty corner to each other, they are not in the
same corners in each team to avoid low achieving students being labeled as in the “low corner.”

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Related Structure

#
24 Mix-Pair-RallyCoach
The teacher asks a question or posts a problem on the board.
Students mix with a hand up and find a partner. Partner
A solves the problem while Partner B coaches. The teacher
asks or displays the next question. Partner B now solves
the problem and Partner A coaches. After each partner has
solved a problem, they mix and pair up with a new partner
to do RallyCoach with the next two questions, and so on.
For some types of problems, students may carry a clipboard or
AnswerBoard to work out the problems.

S te p S te p
Students Mix Teacher Asks Question
1 Students “Mix” around the room.
5 The teacher poses another question.

S te p S te p
Students Pair Partner B Solves Problem
2 The teacher calls, “Pair.” Students pair
6 Partner B solves the problem while Partner A
up with the nearest classmate. watches, checks, coaches if necessary, and praises.

S te p S te p
Teacher Asks Question Repeat
3 The teacher poses a question. The teacher can
7 The teacher tells the class, “Give your
ask it orally, write it on the board, or display partner a high five. Mix in the class until
it on the screen. I call, ‘pair.’” The process repeats with
students solving one problem, then serving
as the coach on the other.

S te p

4 Partner A Solves Problem

Partner A solves the problem while Partner B
watches, checks, coaches if necessary, and praises.

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 Addition/Subtraction
RallyCoach
Word Problems
Instructions: Read the word problem, decide which operation to use, and think aloud as you solve the problem.

A Student A _____________

1. There were 4,231 CDs in the music store. Then 1.

B Student B _____________

Taylor borrowed $75 from her brother last

the music store got 1,367 new CDs. What was week. This week, she paid back $17.35. How
the total number of CDs in the music store? much money does Taylor still owe her brother?

Answer Answer

2. At the zoo, there were 768 boys and 356 girls. 2. There were 457 people at the baseball stadium.
How many more boys were at the zoo than During the game, 298 more people came. What
girls? was the total number of people at the stadium?

Answer Answer

3. TJ is saving money to buy a birdhouse. The 3. A bookstore had a two-day book sale. On the
birdhouse costs $357. He’ll also need to buy a first day, 4,234 books were sold. On the second
birdbath for $34. How much money does he day, 3,234 books were sold. What was the total
need to save? number of books sold?

Answer Answer

4. A new movie theater plans to serve 3,000 4. The number of people who went to a football
people in the first week it is open. During the game on Friday was 7,453. The number of
first week, the theater served 1,389 more people people who went on Saturday was 9,323. How
than expected. How many people did the many more people went on Saturday than
theater serve in its first week? Friday?

Answer Answer

5. A clothing company has 30,000 pairs of shorts 5. A distance between two cities using one route
to give away at the weekend opening of a new is 708.1 miles. The distance using a different
store. The company gave away 14,234 on Friday route between the same two cities is 534.2
and 11,987 on Saturday. How many pairs of miles. How much shorter is the second route?
shorts does the company have left to give away
on Sunday?

Answer Answer

Source: Stites, R. & Pfannenstiel, A. Cooperative Math Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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 Graphs
RallyCoach
Instructions: Analyze each graph and answer the questions. Explain your thinking to your coach.
Favorite Fruit Favorite Animal
Number of People 7 14

Number of People
6 12
5 10
4 8
3 6
2 4
1 2
0 apple pear grape banana watermelon 0 dog cat fish gerbil snake

A
1.
Student A ________________

How many students chose apples or

B
1.
Student B ________________

How many students chose pears or

grapes? __________________ bananas?___________

2. How many more students chose bananas 2. If three more people picked grapes, how
than grapes? ______________ many people picked grapes?
_____________
3. How many students are represented in 3. How many more people picked pears
the fruit graph? ___________________ than picked grapes? ______________
4. If 20 students were surveyed about their 4. How many more people picked
favorite fruit, how many students are not apples or pears than picked grapes or
represented in the graph? watermelon? _______________
___________________

5. What is the title of the fruit graph? 5. What is the title of the animal
____________________ graph?__________________

6. How many people chose fish or gerbils as 6. How many students chose snakes or
their favorite animal? fish? _______________
____________________

7. If four more people picked cats, how 7. How many students are represented in
many people would have picked cats? the second graph?
____________________ ________________

8. How many more people picked cats than 8. If 50 students chose their favorite
dogs? _________________ animal, how many students are
not represented in the graph?
_______________
9. How many more people picked cats or 9. How many students chose fish or
fish than snakes or dogs? gerbils? ___________________
_______________________

Source: Stites, R. & Pfannenstiel, A. Cooperative Math Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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 Contractions
RallyCoach
Instructions. Take turns working with your partner to write the contraction for each pair of words using RallyCoach.

Name __________________________________ Name __________________________________

1 she is___________________________ 1 is not___________________________

2 does not________________________ 2 we will__________________________

3 we would_______________________ 3 was not_________________________

4 you have________________________ 4 you are_________________________

5 do not__________________________ 5 you would_______________________

6 they would______________________ 6 we will__________________________

7 were not________________________ 7 they are_________________________

8 that is__________________________ 8 I have___________________________

9 would not_______________________ 9 it is_____________________________

10 I am____________________________ 10 you have________________________

11 was not_________________________ 11 are not__________________________

12 you will_________________________ 12 he would________________________

13 there is_________________________ 13 she will_________________________

Source: Agrew, M. & McCoy, S. Cooperative Learning & Grammar Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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Structure #25

RallyQuiz
 Str
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25

Structure #25

RallyQuiz
Students take turns quizzing their partner.

There are many times we want students to have repeated practice with the
curriculum. When the content doesn’t require in-depth problem solving,
RallyCoach is overkill because there is no need for students to talk through
their thinking and solve detailed problems. Memorizing multiplication facts
is a good example. For repeated practice, quizzing works well. RallyQuiz
is a great structure to have students pair up and quiz each other. Partners
take turns asking each other the next question. Quizzing with a partner is
more fun for students than going it alone. RallyQuiz can also be used with
thinking questions where students take turns asking each other questions
and responding.

Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics Social Studies
• What is 7 x 8? • What are the three branches of government?
• What is the name of a shape with • What is Gandhi famous for?
eight sides?
• What were the Jim Crow laws?
• What is the formula for the area of a triangle?

Language Arts Science

• What are the three states of matter?
• How do you spell personification?
• Where is the magma chamber on the
• What was the setting of the story? volcano diagram?
• Which word is correct for the sentence, • What is the role of the mitochondria?
bare or bear?

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Steps

S te p
Partner A Quizzes
1 Partner A asks Partner B the first
question on the list. The question can
be a review question, “Who said, ‘To be
or not to be…’?” The question can also
be a thinking question such as, “What S te p
Partner B Answers
2
issue does the question, ‘To be or not to
be…’ deal with?”
Partner B answers. For a quiz
question, Partner B simply states the
answer. “Prince Hamlet said it.” For a
thinking question, Partner B shares
an elaborated response. “Hamlet is
contemplating suicide and is grappling
with the meaning of life and death.”

S te p
Partner A Praises
3 For thought questions: A praises the
thinking. For review questions: A
checks for correctness. If Partner B
answered correctly, Partner A validates
the answer. If not correct, Partner A
gives the answer, re-asks the question,
then praises the correct answer. If not,
A coaches, re-asks, then praises.

S te p
Students Switch
4 Students switch roles so that Partner B
now quizzes Partner A. Students alternate
asking and answering each question.

RallyQuiz
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 Related Structures

#
26 Traveling RallyQuiz
Students StandUp–HandUp–PairUp to find a partner who is not
a teammate. Partner A asks Partner B one of the questions on his
or her list. Partner B answers. For thinking questions, Partner A
praises the thinking; for review questions, Partner A praises if the
answer is correct, or coaches if the answer is incorrect. Students
switch roles so that Partner B quizzes, then praises or coaches.
Students check off the question they have asked. Students give each
other a pat on the back, raise a hand, and seek a new classmate to
partner with, repeating the process using a new question from their list.

S te p S te p
Students Create List Partner A Praises or Coaches
1 In teams, students use AllRecord Consensus
5 For thought questions, Partner A praises the
to generate a list of review and/or thought thinking. For review questions, Partner A checks
questions on the topic. The result is each student the answer. If the answer is correct, Partner A
will have his or her own list of questions on a praises Partner B. If the answer is incorrect, Partner
sheet of paper. A coaches, re-asks the question, then praises the
correct answer.
S te p S te p
Pair Up Switch Roles
2 Students take their sheet of questions and a
6 Students switch roles so that Partner B now
pen, stand up, put a hand up, and pair up with quizzes Partner A, then praises or coaches.
a classmate.

S te p S te p
Partner A Asks Question Students Find New Partners
3 Partner A asks Partner B a question
7 Students give each other a pat on the back,
from his or her list. raise a hand, and seek a new classmate to partner
with, repeating the process using a
new question from their list.
S te p

4 Partner B Answers
Partner B answers the question.

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Structure #27

RallyRobin

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re
 Structure #27

RallyRobin
In pairs, students take turns generating oral responses.

Steps

S te p
Partners Take Turns
2 In pairs, students take turns orally stating
responses or solutions. For example:
S te p • Partner A: “Four quarters.”
Teacher Announces a Topic • Partner B: “Two quarters and five dimes.”
1 The teacher poses a problem to which
• Partner A: “One dollar coin.”
• Partner B: “Two half-dollar coins.”
there are multiple possible responses or
solutions. For example, “How many ways

Benefits
can you make one dollar with coins?” Or,
“Come up with some metaphors.”

Students…
…are actively engaged either sharing
or listening.
…regularly express themselves.
…must participate.
…take turns.
…practice respectful listening.
…actively listen so that they may
respond appropriately.
…hear classmates’ thoughts on the
content or issues.
…remember the content more by
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verbalizing answers.
Related Structures
#
28 Both Record RallyRobin
Both partners record on their own papers each idea stated
in the RallyRobin. This structure engages both students the
entire time and results in each student having his or her own
sheet, which can be used for independent writing, sharing
with a classmate, or quizzing a classmate.

S te p
Teacher Asks a Question
1 The teacher poses a problem to which there are
multiple possible responses or solutions.

S te p
Students Respond and Record
2 In pairs, students take turns stating responses or solutions,
each recording each answer on their own paper.

#
29 RallyInterview
Partners take turns asking each other questions
about the topic and receiving a response.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher poses interview questions, or students
create interview questions.

S te p
Students Interview
2 In pairs, students take turns interviewing their partners
on each question.

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Related Structures continued
#
30 RallyRead
Partners take turns reading aloud. After
reading for a specified time or amount
(either a sentence, paragraph, page, or for
a time limit), partners switch roles.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Reading Partner B Reads to A
1 The teacher provides reading material and states
3 Partner B reads to Partner A for the
how much or how long each student should read specified time or amount.
to his or her partner. For example, it may be for
1 minute or 1 page.
S te p S te p
Partner A Reads to B
2 Partner A now reads to Partner B for the
4 Repeat
Partners continue taking turns reading.
specified time or amount.

#
31 RallyRecall
RallyRecall is a RallyRobin specifically for recall. Students take
turns stating information that has been presented. RallyRecall is
most often used at various intervals during a lecture, reading, or
video. Taking the time to process the content periodically makes
it more memorable. RallyRecall can also be used for a review at the
end of the day, the next day as a memory jogger, or before a test as a
review. For example, “What do you remember about Mother Teresa?”

S te p S te p
Teacher Reads Teacher Reinforces Points
1 The teacher reads a portion of a story or text,
3 The teacher reinforces key points and
or presents a portion of a lecture, then stops. resumes the presentation.

S te p S te p
Students RallyRobin
2 In pairs, students do a RallyRobin, taking
4 Pairs Celebrate
Pairs celebrate if they described the key
turns describing key points they recall. points the teacher shared.

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 Parts ofRallyRobin
Speech Spinner
Instructions. In pairs, take turns spinning the spinner and stating a word matching the part of speech the
spinner selects.

Preposition Noun

Pronoun Verb

Adjective

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re

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 Fun Lists
RallyRobin
Teacher Instructions. Use one or more of the following topics to have students RallyRobin examples. These fun topics
are great for teaching RallyRobin or can be used at any time for teambuilding.

Sports Movies

Vacation Spots Candies

Cartoons Desserts

Hobbies Food

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Structure #32

RallyTable
 Structure #32

RallyTable
In pairs, students take turns generating written responses
or making contributions to a project.

Getting Ready: Each pair receives one paper and one pencil or pen
Steps to record responses. Or, pairs receive materials to build the pair project.

S te p
Teacher Assigns a Task
1 The teacher provides a task. The task
can be a question to which there
are multiple possible responses. For
example, “What are some examples of
the uses of pliers?” Or, the task can be S te p
a pair project. For example, “As a pair,
Partners Take Turns
you are to build a collage to represent
your selected animal.”
2 In pairs, students take turns. For written
responses, partners pass the paper and
pencil, each in turn writing one answer.
For a project, each partner takes a turn
making a contribution.

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 Tips
• Shoulder Partners. Students pair
up with their shoulder partners so that
they are seated side by side.
• Think Aloud. As students make their • Color Code. Give each partner a different colored pen
contributions, have them verbalize their thinking to their or marker. As you monitor, you can see they are taking
partners. turns and who has written each response.

Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics Science
Generate a list of… • List living things
• Numbers that add up to 100 • What do you know about the solar system?
• Even numbers Generate a list of…
• Math uses in the real world • Possible outcomes to an experiment
• Objects with a triangular shape • Science fair ideas
• Jobs that require mathematics • Elements
• Things I remember about the lesson
Language Arts • What a magnet will stick to
• Plot story on time line • Things that float
• How would the story be different if…? • Uses of technology
• Alphabetize a list • Bones in the body
Generate a list of…
• Events in the story Music
• Nouns/verbs/adjectives • List musical instruments
• Words with double letters
• Exclamations
Teambuilding and Classbuilding
• Adjectives to describe the setting
Generate a list of…
• Grammar rules
• Possible team/class names
• Possible team logos
Social Studies • Party theme ideas
Generate a list of… • Qualities of a good teammate
• What events led up to the war? • Jobs that require cooperation
• Famous Americans • Things to say to encourage a teammate
• Benefits of mass production • Ideas to get to know classmates better
• Drawbacks of child labor • Hobbies I like
• Characteristics of Pilgrims • Favorite food
• States and their capitals • TV shows I watch
• Disasters • Games I like to play
• Countries
• Wars
• Holidays
Second Language
• People in the community

RallyTable
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 Str
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Variations

u
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• Pass-N-Praise. Students praise their 32
partners’ contributions each time the paper or
the project is passed to them.

• Timed Turns. When students may take long or uneven

turns, use a timer. Set the timer for 1 minute, so each minute
partners switch off who is making the contribution
to the pair project.

Related Structures

#
33 RallyTable Consensus
Students must get approval from their partner before they
write the next response or make the next contribution to the
pair project. If an answer or idea is rejected, the pair discusses
options and tries to reach consensus.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns a Task Consensus
1 The teacher assigns the pair a list or project. For
3 If partners agree, the student who proposed the
example, “List products of the rain forest.” idea writes it down. If a partner disagrees, they
hash it out until they reach consensus, then
record it. If they can’t reach consensus, they
either move on to a different idea or get help
S te p from the neighboring pair or from the teacher.
Partner Proposes Idea
2 The partner whose turn it is proposes an idea to
add to the list or project. For example, “Rubber is S te p
a product of the rain forest. Do you agree?”
4 Switch Roles
Partners switch roles for each new item. They
propose it, reach consensus, record it, and
switch roles.

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Related Structures continued

#
34 Simultaneous RallyTable
Pairs have two pieces of paper and two pencils. They each write at
the same time, then trade at the same time. Students review their
partners’ last contribution before adding to the list, drawing, or
story. Different colored pens or markers allow accountability for
contributions. For example, one student may be adding an item
to a list of mammals while the other student is adding to a list of
amphibians, and then they trade lists to continue adding items.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic Students Record Response
1 The teacher assigns either the same topics for
3 Each student records a response on his or
each partner, or a different topic for each. For her sheet.
worksheet work, the teacher either assigns both
partners the same worksheet or each has a
different worksheet. S te p

4 Students Exchange Papers

Students exchange papers to record each new
S te p question or idea.
Students Label Paper
2 If there are two topics, one student labels a
•F or lists, each student adds another item
to the list.
paper with one topic while the other student •F or worksheets, each does the next
labels the other paper with the other topic. If problem.
there is one topic, each student labels his or her •F or drawings, each adds something to the
paper with the same topic. drawing they receive.

Sample Content
List 1 List 2
Things that have a Things that
Math right angle have a circle
Science Plants Animals
Sentences with Sentences with
Language Arts adjectives adverbs
Functions of Functions of
Social Studies executive branch legislative branch

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 RallyTable
RallyTable
Review
Instructions. Take turns listing information you recall from the lesson, lecture, video, story, or chapter.

Partner A Partner B
1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

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Structure #35

Read-N-Review
 Structure #35

Read-N-Review
Partners take turns reading passages and quizzing each
other to enhance attention and comprehension.

Getting Ready
Students pair up. The teacher tells the class how much or how long students are to

Steps
read before they quiz their partner: after every 3 minutes (or selected time), after
every paragraph, after every page, or after every section.

S te p
Partner A Asks Review Questions
2 Partner A asks Partner B one or more comprehension
questions about what he or she just read. For
S te p example, “Where did the main character go?” Or,
Partner A Reads “What was the magnitude of the earthquake?” Or,
1 Partner A reads aloud the assigned
“What was the scientist’s hypothesis?”

section (or for the allotted time) while

Partner B listens.

S te p
Partner B Responds
3 Partner B responds to the review question(s).

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S te p
Partner A Praises or Coaches
4 If Partner B answers correctly, Partner A
praises. If Partner B answers incorrectly,
Partner A provides the correct answer,
referring Partner B to the appropriate
part of the text. S te p
Switch Roles
5 Partners switch roles, taking
turns reading and quizzing each
other on their assigned readings.

a d -N -Review
Re
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 Dinosaur
Read-N-Review
Facts
Instructions. Read the following in pairs. Partner A reads two sentences, then asks Partner B a question about the reading.
Partner B answers. Partner A praises or coaches. Switch roles after every two sentences.

Dinosaurs lived long, long ago. They first appeared on Earth over 200
million years ago. Today, dinosaurs are extinct. Extinct means
they have died out and no longer live on Earth. Fossil records
indicate that birds evolved from a type of dinosaur. Birds survived
the extinction event that occurred 66 million years ago.
Scientists who study dinosaurs are called paleontologists. They have
learned much about what we know about dinosaurs from fossils, bones,
and remains dinosaurs left on Earth. There are over 1,000
different species of dinosaurs. There are fossil remains of dinosaurs
on every continent. Some dinosaurs, called carnivores, ate meat,
and some dinosaurs, called herbivores, ate plants. The biggest dinosaurs
were herbivores. The word dinosaur means “terrible lizard.”
Terrible means “terribly large,” not mean or bad. The largest
dinosaurs were as long as 100 feet and had a height of 30 feet.
This is bigger than most houses!

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Structure #36

RoundRobin
 Structure #36

RoundRobin
In teams, students take turns responding orally.

RoundRobin is a simple turn-taking structure. The teacher announces a topic,

and each student in turn shares something with teammates. For example, the
teacher may ask students to name as many adjectives as possible to describe
the main character. An easy way to remember the name RoundRobin is break
the word into two: “Round” means it goes around and each member gets a
turn. “Robin” is a songbird that sings out. Each member gets a turn to sound
off. The RoundRobin and RoundTable family of structures are among the
most commonly used simple cooperative learning structures.

RoundRobin is flexible. It can be used to share just about anything.

RoundRobin is used for teambuilding and getting acquainted, “Share with
the team your favorite thing to do on the weekend.” RoundRobin is used
to share writing, “Read your poem to the team.” RoundRobin is used for
sharing opinions or perspectives, “Is global warming fact or fiction? Why?”
RoundRobin is used to share answers, “What did you write for question 1?”
RoundRobin can proceed in a single round with each teammate taking
a single turn (Single RoundRobin), or there can be multiple rounds of
RoundRobin—a Continuous RoundRobin. RoundRobin is a powerful tool in
any teacher’s toolbox.

The Power of a RoundRobin

Here are some of the many ways you can use RoundRobin.
• Teambuilding—Describe your • Thinking—Predict what will
favorite holiday. happen next.
• Brainstorming—Describe a • Sharing Answers—Share what
drought-busting idea. you wrote for number 4.
• Prewriting—Describe what • Sharing Products—Share
you might write about. your drawing.
• Recalling—Name and describe • Sharing Opinions—Defend
Benefits
a type of cloud. your favorite candidate.
• Processing—Name a key point • Sharing Writing—Share Students…
from the lecture. your story.
…share in their teams.
• Comprehension—Describe one • Making Decisions—Name your
thing that happened. preference. …receive equal turns.
…hear the ideas and answers of
teammates.
…are held accountable to teammates for
staying on task

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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares the topic or questions.

S te p
Teacher Assigns a Task
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question
with multiple possible answers and
provides Think Time. “In your teams, you
will RoundRobin your favorite part of the
book. When I say, ‘Go!’ you will start with
the teammate with the longest hair and
proceed clockwise. First, think about your
favorite part.”

S te p Teammates Take
2 Turns Responding
In teams, students respond
orally, each, in turn, taking about
the same amount of time.

undRobin
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Structure Power

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RoundRobin is the workhorse of cooperative learning 36
structures. Together with its many related structures,
for many teachers, RoundRobin is the most frequently
used structure and has the greatest range of functions. As simple
as it is, RoundRobin has all the elements of strong cooperative learning. Students are on the same
side, encouraging each other. Each in turn is accountable for participating. Participation is equal.
And a quarter of the class is responding at any moment. In the traditional class, the teacher calls on
students one at a time to answer the question, “What did the author want us to feel or think?” In the
cooperative learning class, the teacher asks the same question, but then has students do a Continuous
RoundRobin.

In the same amount of time that the traditional teacher can call on and respond to three or four
students in the class, each giving one answer, the teacher using RoundRobin has had every student
in the class give several answers! The traditional teacher is always calling on those with their hands
up—the high achievers. The cooperative learning teacher is calling on everyone. By calling more often
on the high achievers in the traditional class, the achievement gap increases. By calling on all students
equally in the cooperative class, the achievement gap decreases. Why call most on those who least need
the practice and call least on those who most need the practice? Why call on one, when in the same
amount of time, we can call on everyone?

Tips
• Stand Up. Students stand when it is • Polite Listening. Make sure to mention that no one is
their turn so that everyone has a visual to speak out of turn. When it is not their turn, teammates
cue of whose turn it is to talk. are to practice “polite listening.”

• Pass It.Visually indicate whose turn it is by passing an • Right to Pass. Students may need some more time to
item, such as a microphone, ball, or conch. think about what they want to say or how they want to
present. Rather than holding up the team, students can
• Think Time. Allow students several seconds of Think “pass” one round.
Time before the RoundRobin. Think Time is just 3–5
seconds of quiet time for students to think about their
responses. Think Time encourages more responses and
more thoughtful responses and is used frequently in
the cooperative classroom where students interact with
teammates about the curriculum.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Practice skip counting • Describe one way to
• Practice times table, each solve the problem
stating a problem and • Name next item in • Offer one solution to • RoundRobin Read—take
answer the pattern pollution turns reading chapter or
• Define geography terms document
• Explain the steps of a • Define spatial terms
proof in geometry • Define geometry terms
• Name things with right • List odd numbers Science
angles in the room • Estimate the likelihood • Identify hot/cold items; • Examples of a category
• Share your word of an event list state of matter (e.g., mammals)
problem • Make an inference from • Science project reports • One difference between
• Name ways to build 12 a graph • Explain the stages of plant and animal cells
• Answer the next • Describe a real-world ____________ • Jobs scientists have
problem application • Things that float; things • Describe your hypothesis
that sink • Properties of energy
Language Arts • List or describe elements • A principle of motion
• What is your favorite • Provide feedback to a • Things that are in motion • An observation from the
story? written piece • Sources of energy experiment
• Retell the story • Define literary terms • One use of electricity • Ideas to save endangered
• Retell the story without • Define story elements • Things that stick to a species
a character • Evaluate a book magnet • Natural disasters
• Retell the story with a • Create a topic sentence • Define scientific terms
major switch for a paragraph • Read your conclusions
• Give book reports • RoundRobin Read—
• Read creative writing
and get input
take turns reading
story or book
Art
• Repeat the rules • Share your artwork
• Predict what the book • Read your poem
• List a famous artist • Define art term
will be about • Read your letter
• List character trait • Read your descriptive
adjectives story
• State possible morals to • Read your persuasive Teambuilding
the story paragraph • Favorite food • What did you do over the
• List ideas to write about • Favorite hobby break?
• Vacation I loved • What is the scariest thing
you’ve experienced?
Social Studies • Music I listen to
• Where would you like to
• List how the time of the • 3 wishes I have
• Favorite TV characters go on vacation?
Pilgrims was different • Give opinion about a
• What are you most • What is your favorite
from today social issue
proud of? meal?
• Give famous people • Describe one similar- • If you could be a profes-
reports ity or difference in the • What did you do this
sional athlete, what would
• List things the executive culture weekend?
be the sport?
branch does • Describe one event in
• List a pro or con the time period
• Describe one prominent
• List a cause or effect
individual in the
Second Language
• Describe a Bill of Right
Amendment movement • People in the community
• Give opinion about a • Estimate the distance • Pronounce the
current event • Describe one outcome voocabulary word
of the court case • List item of clothing

undRobin
Ro
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Variations

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• Add Paraphrase Passport. During 36
RoundRobin or RallyRobin, the next student
to share must first paraphrase the prior speaker
before he or she has the “passport” to share.
• Add Praise Passport. During RoundRobin or
RallyRobin, the next student to share must first praise the
prior speaker before he or she has the “passport” to share.

Related Structures
#
37 Continuous RoundRobin
Continuous RoundRobin is a RoundRobin that
goes on for multiple rounds on the same topic. For
example, the RoundRobin topic may be: “Describe
one event in the story.” Since many events occur in
the story, students can do round after round without
repeating ideas. A Continuous RoundRobin is in
contrast to a Single RoundRobin, where teammates
only take one turn each.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic Students Respond Orally
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question with
2 In teams, students take turns responding orally. The
multiple possible answers or provides a RoundRobin continues for multiple rounds until
list of questions. time is called or until a specified number of rounds
are completeled.

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#
38 Rotating Role RoundRobin
Different roles can be added to RoundRobin, depending on the type of task. For example,
students may brainstorm in RoundRobin fashion. The roles might be the following:
• Idea Generator—comes up with an idea.
•P araphraser—states the idea in his or her own words.
• Augmenter—adds to the idea.
•C heerleader—leads a brief celebration of the idea.
After each idea, teammates pass their role cards clockwise for the next round. Fan-N-Pick
and Rotating Role Reading are two structures based on Rotating Role RoundRobin. Rotating Role
RoundRobin is a highly-customizable structure based on a specific learning objective. The teacher
selects the best four roles to perform the task at hand, and students rotate roles for each new
problem or task.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Task Rotate Roles
1 The teacher assigns the task. Each teammate has
3 Teammates pass their role cards clockwise
a role card in front of them, relating to the task. for the next round.

S te p
Teammates Take Turns
2 Each teammate takes a turn, preforming
the role on the role card relating to the task.

#
39 Single RoundRobin
A Single RoundRobin is a RoundRobin in which
each teammate takes a single turn. For example,
students may be asked to share their one best
idea, one thing they did over the weekend, or their
response to the question.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Task Teammates Take Turns Responding
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question
2 In teams, students take one turn responding orally. The
with multiple possible answers or provides RoundRobin is complete after each teammate has had a
four questions. turn to share.

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
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40 Think-Write-RoundRobin
The RoundRobin is preceded by Think Time and individual
writing. For example, “What did you have for dinner last
night?” or “What do you predict will happen next in the story?”
Students think about their response and write it before they
share with teammates. Including the think and write time
before RoundRobin promotes deeper thinking on the topic.
Students then develop their own ideas and are therefore less likely
to simply copy a teammate’s idea.

S te p S te p
Teacher Asks Question Students Write
1 The teacher presents a question or assigns
3 Students independently write (or draw) their
a writing (or drawing) task. For example, responses. “Write your own answer. No talking.
“What made Alexander the Great so great?” Pencils down when you’re done to signal you’re
ready for the RoundRobin.”

S te p S te p
Think Time
2 The teacher provides students a silent
4 Teammates Take Turns Sharing
Students share their writing with their teammates,
3–10 seconds of Think Time to think using RoundRobin.
of their responses. “Everyone think
about what you can write.”

#
41 Timed RoundRobin
If the topic is sharing an opinion on something
which may be time consuming, such as a project
or creative writing, give teammates timed turns.
Students may get 20 seconds for a short turn or 2
minutes for a long turn. If students finish before time is
up, teammates can ask the student questions.

S te p S te p
Teacher Asks Question Students Respond Orally
1 The teacher asks a question with multiple
2 In teams, students each, in turn, respond orally for
possible answers and states the time allotted the predetermined amount of time.
for each response.

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Structure #42

RoundTable

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re
 Structure #42

RoundTable
In teams, students take turns generating written responses,
solving problems, or making a contribution to the team project
that is passed around the table.
RoundTable is a fun and easy turn-taking structure. Students literally pass
a list, story, or project “around the table,” thus the name RoundTable. When
it is their turn, each student makes a contribution to whatever the team is
working on. If teams are creating a list of ocean animals, a pen and paper are
passed around the table, stopping at each student as they add their animal to
the list. If teams are generating a list of ideas, they pass the paper around and
each student adds the next idea. If it is a team collage, each student in turn
Differentiated
glues on the next piece.
Instruction
RoundTable is good for mutual support and developing synergy in • Students can draw or select
teams. Teammates all work on the same project and build on others’ objects rather than write.
contributions. Students who otherwise might not contribute are held • Students can have a
accountable for contributing. Scribe or aide write for
them.
• Students can have
guided practice
on the content
prior to the team
RoundTable.

Benefits
Students…
…receive equal turns.
…see the contributions of teammates.
…build off other’s contributions.
…work in teams toward a team goal.

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 Getting Ready: Each team receives
Steps one piece of paper and one pencil or pen.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Task
1 The teacher provides a task to which there
are multiple possible responses and provides
Think Time. “In teams, come up with a list
of adjectives in alphabetical order: amazing,
beautiful, cuddly... . Pass a sheet of paper and
a pen around the table clockwise. When the
paper comes to you, write an adjective starting
with the next letter.”

S te p
Teammates Take Turns
2 In teams, students pass a paper and
pencil or a team project around
the team clockwise. On their turn,
each teammate writes one answer or
idea on the team paper or makes a
contribution to the team project.

RoundTable
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Structure Power

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RoundTable is the action counterpart of 42
RoundRobin. In RoundRobin, students take turns
talking; in RoundTable, students take turns doing
something. Very young students may be passing around a basket,
each adding something red from many items on the table. Older students may be passing around
a copy of the periodic table, each filling in a bit of missing information. Young or old, students
are learning more than the academic content. They are learning to work as a team, take turns, and
appreciate the contributions of others. The power of RoundTable is in its flexibility. During one
activity, students use RoundTable to build a tear-art clown: each in turn adding a piece. At another
time, students use RoundTable to generate a written list of prime numbers. Later, they may pass
around a Geoboard, each in turn building a geometric form by wrapping rubber bands around pegs
on the board. There is hardly any academic content that can’t be enriched by a RoundTable activity.
Structures are like empty containers; to generate engaging activities, all we need to do is fill them with
today’s academic content. Tomorrow we fill that same structure with a very different content to create
a different activity. Structures are activity generators.

Tips
• One Minute Rule. One of the most • The Right to Pass. Students may need some more
common mistakes among teachers using time to think about their contribution. Rather than
RoundTable is to give tasks or questions holding up the team, students can pass one round.
that call for long responses. The longer the
response, the more downtime for the other three students • Many Rounds. Select topics or projects that can be
as they wait their turn. In creating RoundTable questions completed in several rounds.
or tasks for students, it is helpful to remember the One
Minute Rule: Every student should be able to respond • Level of Difficulty. Since every teammate is
within 15 seconds, so the project or paper makes it performing without help, the team task must be easy
around the table in 1 minute. Longer responses usually enough for the weakest team member.
mean too much downtime while the other three students
wait their turn. For longer tasks, consider a Timed • Short and Quick. Tasks to which there are short quick
RoundTable or a RallyTable. answers keep the turn-taking process lively.

• Use Colors. Have each student use a different colored • Add RoundRobin. Have students say what they
pen or maker when contributing to the team project. write or read what they wrote, so all teammates know
For papers that are turned in, students make a color key. what is written.
This holds each student accountable for contributing and
makes it easy to tell who did what.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Solve math problems
• Build a robot from shapes
• Measure angles
Art
• Creative drawing
• Graph coordinates
• Collage
• Write a bigger decimal
• Art project
• Make patterns
• Draw the next item
• Do the next step

Language Arts Teambuilding

• Foods we like
• Alphabetize words
• Songs we like
• Make words from letters
• Things we have in common
• Define concepts: Love is…
• Movies
• Identify parts of speech
• Items in your refrigerator
• Add the next sentence to the story
• Team projects
• Spell the next word
• Desserts we like
• Correct sentences
• Places we’ve been
• Add the next sentence to the answer

Social Studies
• Label states
• List countries
• Answer review questions
• List causes
• List an event that occurred
• Identify the capital
• List a law

Science
• List things found in the rain forest
• Identify objects in the Solar System
• Label bones
• Label muscles
• Label organs
• Label parts of a cycle
• Label a diagram
• Answer review questions
• Preform a procedure
• Do next step of the experiment

RoundTable
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 Related Structures
#
43 Continuous RoundTable
The team does multiple rounds of RoundTable until the
teacher calls, “Time’s up,” or until a predetermined number
of rounds are completed.

S te p
Teacher Provides Task
1 The teacher provides a task to which there are multiple
possible responses, provides Think Time, and states
time limit or number of rounds to be completed.

S te p Teammates Take Turns

2 Until the teacher calls, “Time’s Up!” or rounds are
completed, students pass a paper and pencil or a
team project around the team, each taking a turn
writing one answer or making a contribution when
the paper or project comes to them.

#
44 Pass-N-Praise
This is an add-on that can make almost any
RoundTable variation more positive. Students
pass their papers or projects to the next teammate.
Teammates examine the prior teammate’s
contribution, then offer a praiser. For example,
“Oooh, I like that sentence!” Then they add their own
contribution. With each pass comes a praiser.

S te p S te p
Teammate Takes a Turn Praise
1 A teammate takes a turn contributing to
2 The next teammate reads the contribution and
the team paper or project. When done, the teammate praises the contribution of the prior teammate.
passes it to the next teammate clockwise. It might sound like, “Great idea Kyle!” or, “I
really like that you added eyes to the head.” After
praising, the teammate makes a contribution to
the paper or project.

S te p
Repeat
3 Students continue praising, making a
contribution, and passing until time’s up or
the task is complete.

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45 Rotating Role RoundTable
Teammates each perform a role, then, after each round, the role is rotated clockwise.
For example, the roles may be Problem Solver, Coach, Checker, Cheerleader.
The Problem Solver solves the first problem. The Coach offers help as requested.
The Checker uses an answer sheet to check for accuracy. The Cheerleader leads
the team in a celebration. Teammates then pass their role cards clockwise for the
next problem. Roles differ for different types of tasks. For example, for descriptive
writing, the roles might be Recorder, Modifier (who adds descriptive words or phrases),
Checker, Cheerleader. For peer editing, the roles may have students check for: 1) spelling, 2)
punctuation, 3) word choice, and 4) sentence structure.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Task
1 The teacher assigns a task. Each teammate has a role
card in front of them, describing their role as they
work on the task.

S te p
Teammates Take Turns
2 Each teammate takes a turn, performing the role
on the role card relating to the task.

S te p
Rotate Roles
3 Teammates pass their role cards clockwise for
the next round.

Rotating Role RoundRobin

vs. Rotating Role RoundTable
The difference between a RoundRobin
and a RoundTable is a RoundRobin is oral
and a RoundTable is written or involves
another task such as contributing to a
project. The difference between these two
Rotating Role structures is the same: If it
is oral, it is a RoundRobin. If it involves
writing or doing, it is a RoundTable.

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46 RoundTable Consensus
Students must check for approval from teammates before they
make their contribution. Teammates use a thumbs up signal
if they approve or they place their hand flat on the table if
they disapprove or feel the contribution can be improved. If
teammates (one or more) signal with a hand down, the student
may make the case for his or her contribution and the team
discusses until they come up with an alternate contribution that is
approved by all.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Task
1 The teacher assigns the class a task to
4 Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
Teammates show approval with a thumbs up,
complete in teams. The task can be to write or if they don’t approve, they place a hand on
a team paper, create a team project, or the table.
complete a worksheet as a team.

S te p S te p
Teammate Begins Celebrate or Coach
2 One teammate starts the team task. If the task
5 If there is agreement, the students celebrate. If
is to complete a worksheet, the teammate not, teammates discuss the response until there
works out the first problem aloud. is agreement and then they celebrate. If students
can’t reach consensus, they can temporarily
set the problem aside or postpone performing
S te p the proposed action. They can seek a different,
Check for Consensus
3 The teammate who responded checks with the
mutually acceptable solution, or if it is a problem
the team can’t agree on how to answer, they can
team for consensus. “Does everyone agree that I each raise a hand to signal the teacher they have
solved it correctly?” Depending on the task, the a Team Question.
teammate may seek consensus before acting.
For example, with a team project, the teammate
may ask, “Is everyone cool with me coloring the
title red?” S te p
Continue
6 The next teammate clockwise seeks consensus
and answers or makes the next contribution.

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#
47 Simultaneous RoundTable
Simultaneous RoundTable increases active participation and the
number of responses or contributions each teammate makes.
Instead of one paper and one pen per team (or one project), in
Simultaneous RoundTable there are four papers and four pens
(or four projects). Each teammate makes a contribution to the
paper or project in front of him or her. When time’s up or when
students signal they’re ready, they each pass the paper or project to the
teammate on the left for the next contribution.

Simultaneous RoundTable can also be used for worksheet work. Each teammate receives a
different worksheet with problems. Students solve the first problem, then pass their worksheets
clockwise. The next teammate checks the previous answer for correctness. If it is correct, they
continue. If it is incorrect, the team stops and they coach. Each time the papers are passed, each
teammate checks an answer and answers a new question.

S te p S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question and
4 Students Pass Clockwise
Students pass papers or projects one
provides Think Time. person clockwise.

S te p S te p
Teammates Respond Students Add to Paper
2 All four teammates respond to the worksheet or 5 Students check the current status of the
project in front of them, simultaneously project and make the next contribution.
writing, drawing, or building something For example, if it is a story, students read
with manipulatives. what’s going on in the story, then add the
next part.
S te p
Signal Time’s Up
3 The teacher signals time, or students S te p
Repeat
place thumbs up when done with the problem. 6 When time’s up, or when students signal
they’re ready, they pass papers or projects
again. The process continues until students
finish the projects, worksheets, or when the
teacher calls, “Time.”

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48 Single RoundTable
The team does just one round of RoundTable.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Topic
1 The teacher assigns a topic or question with
multiple possible answers or provides
four questions.

S te p
Students Take Turns
2 In teams, one teammate responds first. The next teammate
responds. The RoundTable is complete after each teammate
has had one turn.

#
49 Timed RoundTable
If the task is complex, provide a time limit for
students to take their turn. For example, each
student gets 15 seconds for their turn.

S te p
Teacher Assigns Task
1 The teacher provides a task to which there are
multiple possible responses, provides Think Time, and
specifies the time allotted for turns.

S te p
Students Take Turns
2 For the specified amount of time, students take turns passing a
paper and pencil or a team project, each writing one answer or
making a contribution.

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Structure #50

Sage-N-Scribe

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re
 Structure #50

Sage-N-Scribe
In pairs, students solve problems, taking turns playing
the roles of the Sage and the Scribe.

Sage-N-Scribe maximizes overt active participation for problem solving.

It converts monotonous problem solving into a socially engaging event.
Students break into pairs, usually pairing up with their shoulder partners
within their teams. One partner is the Sage and the other the Scribe. For the
first problem, the Sage orally instructs the Scribe how to solve the problem
step-by-step while the Scribe simultaneously solves the problem according to
the Sage’s instructions. For example, for the double-digit math problem 38 +
Differentiated
47, the Sage might say, “First rewrite the problem with 38 directly on top of 47.
Now add the ones column. Eight plus seven is fifteen. Write five under the ones
Instruction
column and carry the ten to the top of the tens column. Now add three plus four Students may work in
plus one. Write eight under the tens column. Our answer is 85.” If, while giving similar ability pairs and
instructions, the Sage gives an incorrect instruction, the Scribe tutors the pairs may be given
Sage. Tutoring is not telling answers or taking over, it is reminding the Sage differentiated
of the procedure. When done with the problem, the Scribe praises the Sage, curriculum, difficulty
“You add like a true mathematician!” Students switch roles with each new levels, or time.
problem.

In Sage-N-Scribe, the whole class is 100 percent actively engaged at any point.
If we look at any pair, we see why: The Sage orally instructs the Scribe while
the Scribe simultaneously carries out the Sage’s instructions. Both students
are simultaneously engaged. And that is true for every pair in the class. In
addition, students have in their partners an immediate resource to help them
work though the problems.

Benefits
Students…
…are optimally engaged for
problem solving.
…verbalize their problem-solving
strategies.
…are accountable to their partners for
staying on task.
…have partners as immediate peer
tutoring resources.
…receive immediate feedback and praise.

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 Getting Ready: In pairs, Partner A
is the Sage; Partner B is the Scribe. Each pair is

Steps
given a set of problems to solve. Partners share
one problem worksheet and one pencil or pen.

S te p
Sage Instructs Scribe
1 The Sage orally describes to the Scribe how to
perform a task or solve a problem. For example,
the Sage’s instructions to the Scribe for
correcting sentences for grammar might sound S te p
Scribe Writes Solution,
2
like this: “To fix this sentence, first capitalize
the first letter. Next, the word “their” is spelled Tutors if Necessary
incorrectly. It should be spelled t-h-e-r-e…”
The Scribe solves the problem in writing
according to the Sage’s step-by-step oral
instructions. If the Sage gives incorrect
instructions, the Scribe tutors the Sage. “I think
we missed one. Let’s look at the punctuation for
the end of the second sentence.”

S te p
Scribe Praises Sage
3 After completion of the problem,
the Scribe praises the Sage. “That’s right,
proper nouns should be capitalized. You aced
that one!”
S te p
Partners Switch Roles
4 Students switch roles for the
next problem or task.

ge -N -Scribe
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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
re #
The Common Core Curriculum calls for students 50
to verbalize their thinking as they solve problems.
How can they do that if they are seated in rows, solving
worksheet problems alone? There are a number of advantages to
having students verbalize their thinking in all content areas. As students verbalize their thinking, they listen to
themselves. This reinforces their thinking and creates a greater probability of self-correction. Recent research
on working memory demonstrates that the more we exercise working memory, the smarter we get. As the
Sage verbalizes his or her thinking, the Sage is bringing thoughts into full consciousness, developing working
memory. There are advantages in this process for the Scribes as well. The Scribe hears the thinking of the
Sage. Because students are in heterogeneous pairs, the lower achieving partner has a positive model. Research
on mirror neurons indicates that a primary way for students to learn is for them to hear and see a positive
model. That higher achieving student in the pair is the positive model for the lower achieving student. During
traditional worksheet work, some students have their pencils on the paper while their minds are far away. In
Sage-N-Scribe, because one student is verbalizing the problem solving while the other is recording, their minds
can’t wander. In traditional worksheet work, some students think they are solving problems correctly when
in reality they are making an error. They won’t discover their error until the teacher has had time to grade the
papers and get them back. By then it is too late because the student has finished the worksheet. The student
does not have time to practice the corrected procedure. In Sage-N-Scribe, because feedback is given during
each problem, corrections are immediate and students practice any correction they receive. Praise is yet another
reason Sage-N-Scribe is so powerful. Research on retrograde memory enhancement demonstrates that anything
associated with emotion is far more likely to be remembered. Praise follows each problem, creating emotion
and cementing the learning into memory. Instead of having students working silently in isolation, during
Sage-N-Scribe students receive encouragement, tutoring, and praise. Sage-N-Scribe makes practice an exciting,
memorable experience. No wonder students love it, achievement goes up, and the achievement gap goes down!

Tips
• Shoulder Partners. Students work • Sponge. Pairs will finish at different rates, so have
as shoulder partners so that there is not challenge problems, more problems, or a sponge activity
too big of an ability gap. The high and ready for quick pairs.
low-medium students are shoulder partners,
and the low and high-medium students are shoulder • Coaching. Students need to learn what to do and say as
partners. Also, shoulder partners are better than face a coach. They need to know that telling their partner the
partners because with face partners one teammate has to answer hurts the partner. They need instead to remind
read upside down. their partner of the rule or the procedure and have their
partner apply it. It is helpful to model for students good
• Consult Teammates. If the pair gets stuck on a and poor coaching before beginning Sage-N-Scribe, and
problem or has a question, they can consult the other have students define good coaching.
pair on their team. If the other pair doesn’t know, each
teammate raises a hand signaling to the teacher that they • Appreciations for Coaching. Give the students
have a Team Question. gambits to use if they receive coaching. Ask them, “What
do you say to your partner if they have given you some
• Model Roles. Model for students the roles of the Sage coaching?” Have them generate gambits like, “Thanks for
and the Scribe. It is especially important to describe for reminding me.” “I appreciate your help.”
students how detailed the Sage should be in providing
oral instructions to the Scribe. The more precise the
instructions, the better.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Compare decimals (.30 ___ .25)
•L  ong division
• Determine volume in cubic units
Science
• Locate cell parts
• Area in square centimeters (3 cm by 6 cm)
• Label body parts
• Graph the following point (7, 4)
• Write bone names
• Geometry proof
• Categorize foods by group
• Apply a formula
• Research planet facts
•D  escribe a rule for number pairs
(40, 30; 23, 13; 52, 42 …) • Mole conversion
•R  educe an answer to lowest terms • Molecular mass
(5/8 – 1/8 = ) • Oxidation/reduction
• Write a word problem (126 ÷ 6 = 21) • Mitosis/meiosis stages
• Match mineral to definition
• Solve gravity problems
Language Arts
• Convert Celsius into Fahrenheit
• Fix the punctuation in a sentence
• Word problems
• Locate a word in a dictionary
• Convert kilos to pounds
• Use appropriate capitalization
• Classify organisms
• Fix an incomplete sentence
• Fix a run-on sentence
• Alphabetize a word or list Second Language
• Address an envelope • Translate sentences
•D etermine sentence tense • Write directions
(past, present, future) • Describe a picture
• Define a word using context cues • Practice vocabulary

Social Studies
• Locate state on map
• Ancient Egypt review
• Maya/Aztec/Inca questions
• Branches of government questions
• Civil war questions
• Explorer questions
• American colonies questions
• Map questions
• Latitude/longitude questions
• Landforms questions

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 Processing Sage-N-Scribe
Area of Trapezoids
are
Instructions. Find the area of each structure. Show your work. 90

a
mm

5 cm
6 cm

cm
4
1. 2.

3. 4.

Answers:
1. 30 cm2
2. 15 ft2
3. 20 ft2
4. 840 cm2

Source: Bride, B. Cooperative Learning & High School Geometry. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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 Order Sage-N-Scribe
OF Operations
Instructions. Perform the indicated operations.

1. −52 −8(−2) 2. −7(1−5)2 + 1

3. 10−(−3)2 + 5 4. 8(−2)−32

5. −3(2 − 4) 6. −42(2)
−6 9 − 13

7. 11−(5 − 2)2 ÷ 3 8. 6 −(8 +1)2

Answers:
1. −9 2. −111 3. 6 4. −25
5. −1 6. 21 7. 8 8. −75

Source: Bride, B. Cooperative Learning & Pre-Algebra. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
59 Kagan Structures
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 Mass Sage-N-Scribe
Stoichiometry
Instructions. These are sample chemistry Sage-N-Scribe problems.

1 C2H6 + O2 ➞ CO2 + H2O

How many g of carbon dioxide are produced at the same time
as 360 g of water vapor in the burning of ethane?
a) Balance ________________________________________________
b) Giv/Req Given ____________ Required ____________
c) Solution

2 Na2CO3 + BaSO4 ➞ BaCO3 + Na2SO4

How many grams of sodium carbonate, Na2CO3, reacting with
excess barium sulphate, BaSO4, would be required to produce
85 g of barium carbonate?
a) Balance ________________________________________________
b) Giv/Req Given ____________ Required ____________
c) Solution

Source: Plumb, D. Structures for Success in Chemistry. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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Structure #51

Showdown
 Structure #51

Showdown
Students independently answer a question, then have a
“Showdown” displaying their answers to teammates.
Showdown adds an element of fun and excitement to what otherwise may
be considered boring drill and practice. Showdown replaces independent
problem-solving practice. Showdown works best with high-consensus,
right-or-wrong answers. First, the teacher assigns the class a set of problems
to work on. For math, the problems may be adding mixed fractions. For
language arts, the problems may be answering reading comprehension
questions. Any practice or review problems work. The teacher then selects
Differentiated
a “Showdown Captain” for each team. The Showdown Captain reads the
first question. Teammates independently solve the problem or answer the
Instruction
question on their own AnswerBoards. They turn over their AnswerBoards, • Similar ability groups may be
put down their pens, or give a hand signal when done. The Showdown formed to play with developmentally
Captain calls, “Showdown!” and all teammates show their answers. If students appropriate content or
(one or more) hold up an incorrect answer, the team works together and difficulty.
tutors the student(s) needing help. Once they all know how to derive the • The teacher, an
correct answer, the Showdown Captain calls for a team celebration: “Let’s all aide, or a buddy
do a team handshake!” The Showdown Captain role is rotated around the may sit with and
team for each new question. provide support for
an individual
Showdown is the antidote to monotonous, independent problem-solving student.
practice. Students enjoy Showdown. If a student needs help on any problem,
the team knows immediately and they work together to tutor teammates who
need help.

Benefits
Students…
…are accountable for working on each
problem and sharing answers.
…receive frequent practice.
…receive immediate feedback.
…help each other when help is needed.
…have fun during drill and practice.

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 Getting Ready: The teacher prepares
questions or problems. Questions may be provided
to each team as question cards that they stack face-

Steps
down in the center of the table. Each student has a
slate or a response board and a writing utensil.

S te p Teacher Selects the

1 Showdown Captain
The teacher selects one student on each
team to be the Showdown Captain for
the first round. “Student #4 is the first S te p
Showdown Captain. Rotate the role
Showdown Captain Reads a Question
clockwise after each question.” 2 The Showdown Captain reads the first question. If using
question cards, the Showdown Captain draws the top card,
reads the question, shows it to the team, and provides Think
Time. “Think about your answer.”

S te p
Students Answer Independently
3 Working alone, all students write their answers and keep ntinu
ed
co
their answers to themselves, hidden from teammates.

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 Steps (Continued)

Str
ctu

u
re #
51

S te p
Teammates Signal When Done
4 When finished, teammates signal they’re ready
by turning over their response boards, putting
down their markers, or giving a hand signal.

S te p Showdown Captain
5 Calls “Showdown”
The Showdown Captain calls, “Showdown!”

S te p
Teams Show Their Answers
6 Teammates simultaneously show their answers
and RoundRobin state them in turn.

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 S te p
Teams Check for Accuracy
7 The Showdown Captain leads the team in
checking for accuracy. “Great. We all got the
same answer.”Or, “We did not all have the same
answer, let’s see how to get the right answer.”

S te p

8 Celebrate or Coach
If all teammates have the correct
answer, the Showdown Captain is
Team Cheerleader. If a teammate or
teammates have an incorrect answer,
teammates coach the student or
students with the incorrect answer,
then celebrate.

S te p
Rotate the Captain Role
9 The person on the left of the Showdown
Captain becomes the Showdown Captain
for the next round.

ow down
Sh
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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
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Suspense fills the air at the end of a round of poker 51
when there is a showdown, and we find out who wins
the round. Also suspenseful was when gunslingers in the Old
West faced each other, ready to draw their pistols for a showdown
that could mean life or death. Suspense also fills the air when we play Showdown in the classroom:
“Will I have the right answer? Will all of us agree?” The Showdown Captain calls, “Showdown!” And
YES, we get to celebrate. Excitement is emotion and positive emotion translates into motivation and
memory. Students are motivated to do the next round of Showdown because it is fun. Because there
is emotion linked to the learning, there is memory for the learning. Rather than filling out a boring
worksheet only to be evaluated later by the teacher, students are playing an exciting game and receive
immediate feedback and correction, if necessary. Frequent, immediate feedback aligns with the basic
principles of learning. The fun and excitement students experience as they play Showdown aligns with
motivation theory and with brain-friendly learning principles. Showdown is powerful!

Tips
• Showdown Captain Card. • Question Cards. Although any questions will work,
Each team has a role card that says, Showdown is more focused and game-like when each
“Showdown Captain.” The role card is team has their own set of question or problem cards that
passed to the Showdown Captain for each new they turn over one at a time.
question, so everyone knows whose turn it is to act as the • Showdown, Not Showoff. Explain that the reason
Showdown Captain. See blackline. students compare answers is not to see who’s better
at that particular type of problem solving. It’s not a
• Right or Wrong Answers. Showdown is ideal for contest. The idea is to get everyone to succeed: to find out
practice and review. It works best with right-or-wrong who is having difficulty, and to try to steer them in the
answers that students can easily check for correctness. right direction.
The answer can be folded inside a slip of paper to hide it.
The slip is unfolded to check the answer. Or, the team can • Sponge. Students may finish each problem at a
have an answer key to check for correctness. different time. Have one or more sponge problems
students can work on while waiting.
• Sequential Worksheets. The team can do Showdown
using problems from a worksheet or problems posted • Response Boards. Students can work on individual
by the teacher. For worksheets that are sequenced by slates, dry-erase boards, or chalkboards. This makes it
difficulty, students simply start at the first problem and easy to show each other answers during the Showdown.
progress sequentially.
• No Answer. If students don’t know the answer, they are
• Pick a Problem. Showdown can be used with any allowed to put a question mark on their board, indicating
questions or problems posted on the board or projected, that they need help with the problem.
or problems from a worksheet or book. To do this,
the Showdown Captain picks from numbered cards • Showdown Captain Plays. The Showdown Captain
corresponding to the questions displayed. The team answers every question, too. Being the Captain doesn’t
answers the problem selected. exempt him or her from solving the problems.

• Think Time. Before playing, instruct students on the

importance of Think Time and how to patiently wait 3–5
seconds before writing.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Place value
• Fractions
• Decimals
Music
• Identify types of music
• Operations to use
• Identify instruments
• Order of operations
• Define terms
• Formulas
• Identify notes
• Shapes
• Rounding
• Test questions Art
• Primary colors
• Elements of art
Language Arts • Famous works of art
• Punctuation needed
• Art history questions
• Vocabulary
• Art movements
• Parts of Speech
• Grammar
• Elements of a story Second Language
• Comprehension questions • Places in a city
• Food names
• Clothing
Social Studies • Parts of the body
• Questions from cultures
• Immediate family names
• Facts about Native Americans
• Weather expressions
• Definitions
• Items found in a classroom
• Historical characters
• Professions
• Events
• Review questions
Physical Education
• Flag football rules
Science • Muscles
• Weather
• Volleyball rules
• Nonliving items
• Nutrition questions
• Solar system
• Cloud formations
• Earth/rocks
• Formulas
• 5 senses
• Animal classification

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 Showdown Captain
Showdown
Card
Instructions. Give each team a Showdown Captain Card. The student with the card is the Showdown Captain. The card is
rotated one student clockwise after each problem.

Showdown Captain Showdown Captain

1. Read question 1. Read question

2. Answer solo 2. Answer solo
3. “Showdown” 3. “Showdown”
4. Celebrate or coach 4. Celebrate or coach
5. Rotate Showdown 5. R otate Showdown
Captain and card Captain and card

Showdown Captain Showdown Captain

1. Read question 1. Read question

2. Answer solo 2. Answer solo
3. “Showdown” 3. “Showdown”
4. Celebrate or coach 4. Celebrate or coach
5. Rotate Showdown 5. R otate Showdown
Captain and card Captain and card

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 Renaissance
Showdown
Instructions. These are sample Renaissance Showdown cards to play Showdown.

1 Renaissance 2 Renaissance

A. What does the word

A. Who painted the Sistine
renaissance mean?
Chapel Ceiling?
B. What language does
B. The Mona Lisa?
it come from?

3 Renaissance 4 Renaissance

A. Who said: “[H]e should not

deviate from what is good, if that
is possible, but he should know In what style of writing did
how to do evil, if Leonardo da Vinci frequently
that is necessary?” write his personal notes?

B. Which work is it from?

Answers:
(1) A. Michelangelo B. Leonardo da Vinci (2) A. rebirth B. French
(3) A. Niccolò Machiavelli B. The Prince (4) right to left, or “mirror writing”

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 Middle Ages
Showdown
Instructions. These are sample Middle Ages Showdown cards to play Showdown.

1 Middle Ages 2 Middle Ages

What is the title of a person who

was granted land and the What was the main
profits it generated in return for church during the Middle Ages
military allegiance to in Europe?
his lord?

3 Middle Ages 4 Middle Ages

What terrible disease killed

about 25 million people
(approximately one-third of Which century did the First
Europe’s population at the time) Crusade begin, starting with
and was the subject of the the Peasants’ Crusade?
nursery rhyme “Ring Around
the Rosie”?

Answers:
(1) vassal (2) Roman Catholic Church
(3) Black Death or bubonic plague (4) late eleventh century

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 Decimals into Fractions
Showdown
Task Cards
Instructions. Write each decimal as a fraction.

0.5 0.25
0.6 0.20
0.75 0.8
0.35 0.05
0.68 0.16
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 Suffixes -ly,
Showdown
-ful
Instructions. Add the suffix -ly or -ful to each word.

dead play
Suffixes -ly, -ful

Suffixes -ly, -ful

clear mouth
Suffixes -ly, -ful
Suffixes -ly, -ful

time spoon
Suffixes -ly, -ful
Suffixes -ly, -ful

Source: Skidmore, S. & Graber, J. Balanced Literacy Grade 2. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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 Forces
Showdown
Instructions. These are sample Forces Showdown cards to play Showdown.

1 What is the
definition of 2 What are
unbalanced
a force? forces and how do
they relate to motion?

3 What is the
one result that 4 Which of
Newton’s laws
occurs from friction? makes the Space
Shuttle fly and why?

5 How can
Newton’s first 6What is the
equation for
law be seen while Newton’s second law of
driving a car? motion?

Source: Michels, M., Manzi, A. & Mele, J. Cooperative Learning & Science High School Activities. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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 Compare Showdown
Whole Numbers
Instructions. Cut out each card along the dotted line. Teams stack the cards facedown to solve using Showdown.

1 Put in order from 2 Put in order from

least to greatest least to greatest
Compare Whole Numbers

Compare Whole Numbers

2,304; 2,403; 5,002; 5,222;
2,334; 2,430 5,200; 5,020

3 Put in order from 4 Put in order from

least to greatest least to greatest
Compare Whole Numbers

Compare Whole Numbers

43; 40; 29; 35 401; 400; 410; 402

5 Put in order from 6 Put in order from

least to greatest least to greatest
Compare Whole Numbers

Compare Whole Numbers

55,434; 55,444; 101,256; 101,555;

55,400; 55,401 101,562; 101,602

7 Put in order from 8 Put in order from

least to greatest least to greatest
Compare Whole Numbers

Compare Whole Numbers

32,978; 32,988; 73,653; 73,666;

32,977; 32,987 73,573; 73,676
Source: Stites, R. & Pfannenstiel, A. Cooperative Math Grades 3–5. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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Structure #52

Similarity Groups
 Structure #52
Similarity Groups
Students move about the room forming groups. They discover
qualities of their classmates they did not know, and each
student makes a special connection with at least one classmate.
The teacher announces a topic and has the students think about the topic.
Students then form groups—students with similar characteristics or values
group together.

Similarity Groups is powerful for classbuilding. For example, students group

by their favorite hobbies or favorite desserts. Similarity Groups can be used
to form similar interest groups. For example, students group by topics they’d
like to write a report on. Similarity Groups can also be used to explore
academic content, such as grouping by most influential world leader or most
difficult homework problem. And finally, Similarity Groups can be used for
students to explore their own values and beliefs. For example, students group
by the character virtue they most value.

Similarity Groups gets all students actively involved, energizing them while
they learn more about themselves and their classmates. It is an excellent way
for classmates to get acquainted. Students feel mutual support because they
discover there are others like themselves. Similarities are the impetus for
strong classmate bonds.

Benefits
Students…
…have fun getting acquainted and
learning more about classmates.
…clarify their own values.
…see and appreciate individual
differences.
…form friendships based on new-found
commonalities.
…build a sense of belonging.
…become comfortable expressing their
characteristics, values, and preferences.
…enjoy movement.
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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares discussion topics.

S te p
S te p Students Write Choice
1 Teacher Announces Topic 2 Students think about the teacher’s prompt
The teacher announces any topic on which and write their choice on a slip of paper.
students might group. The teacher guides
students’ thinking by providing imagery
about the topic. “Think about one of your
favorite desserts. (Long pause.) Write down
your favorite dessert.”

S te p
Students Form Groups
3 Students get up and move about the class,
grouping with those with a similar response. If
S te p students can’t find any classmates with a similar
Teacher Announces Discussion Topic
4 The teacher announces a discussion topic or question and
response, they form a new group called, “Other.”
“When I say, ‘Go,’ I want you to get up and form
groups. Group with students who like the same or
provides Think Time. “What do you most like about the a similar dessert.”
dessert? How often do you have it? When was the last time
you had it? Think about your response.”

S te p
Students Interact in Pairs
5 Within their similarity groups, students pair up using Timed
Pair Share, or Timed Pair Interview. “Pair up with the person
closest to you in your similarity group. Partner A’s respond for

m ilarity Gro 30 seconds, then Partner B’s respond for 30 seconds.”

Si u
ps

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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
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One of the most important cognitive skills is the 52
ability to categorize information. Throughout their
lifetimes, our students will be faced with an accelerating
information doubling-rate. Ability to categorize information is a
survival skill for the 21st century. In addition to practicing categorizing, during Similarity Groups
students have fun, get acquainted, and bond with classmates by solving a class challenge. The more
often students do Similarity Groups, the smarter they are at categorizing and the better they like class.
If the content is academic, “Group by what you think is the most important line in the poem,” students
have also deepened their exploration of the topic. There is more power than meets the eye in simply
having students get up and form Similarity Groups!

An occasional additional step to Similarity Groups has students recategorize their groups.
Recategorizing promotes cognitive development. Students learn mental flexibility as they learn to look
at the data and each other in different ways. This ability to look at the same thing in a fresh, new way
develops “out-of-the-box” thinking.

Tips
• Write Group Name. Have students • Open Topics. Choose a dimension so students can
write their preferences or characteristic be- surprise you with the groups they form.
fore forming groups, so they don’t group
by friendship. • No Crowding. Have groups spread out, standing away
from other groups to avoid crowding.
• Similar Groups. Students can join groups with
others similar to themselves; they don’t need to be • Recategorize Groups. After students have formed simi-
exactly the same. larity groups, we ask students to group themselves again, but
they are not allowed to use any of the categories they have
• Quick Check. Before all students have firmly formed already used. For example, after students form similarity
groups, have groups announce who they are. This avoids two groups by family cars, they are asked to recategorize them-
“apple pie” groups who do not find each other. selves. On the first round, the students typically form groups
like “Ford,” “4x4,” “Van,” and “Toyota.” On the second round,
• Triads. Make interaction triads when the groups don’t they are not allowed to use dealer labels, colors, or any of
split evenly into pairs. the categories they have already chosen. Typically, they re-
categorize themselves forming groups with labels like, “Needs
• Equal Time. Give students equal time to discuss a wash,” “Has a dent,” “Gas guzzler,” and or “Has a sunroof.”
in pairs. We have given students practice in categorizing information,
in recategorizing the same information, and in breaking a
common cognitive set. They are thinking out of the box.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Favorite shape
• Hardest homework problem
Art
• Favorite color
Language Arts • Favorite art form or style
• Genre • Artist
• Author • Art period
• Poet
• Story character
• Book Physical Education
• Sport
• Professional team
Social Studies
• PE activity to play
• Famous person
• Professional athlete
• Country (most like to vacation, live)
• Time period
Classbuilding
Science • Type of shoe
• Animal (favorite, like to be for a day, best pet) • Pizza topping
• Technology profession • Soda
• Favorite technology • TV program
• Science profession • Fruit
• Invention • Vegetable
• Plant • Dream vacation
• Weather/climate • Hobby
• Natural disaster • Birthday month
• Restaurant
Music • Cartoon character
• Instrument • Candy bar
• Song • Disney character
• Band • Car (color, make, thing they like most)
• Soloist

m ilarity Gro
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• Choral Response. Have students prepare 52
a “We are...” Choral Response to announce
their group. The statement can be a simple
statement of the group’s similar characteristic: “We • Dissimilarity Groups. After students have formed
are the apple pie group.” Or the group can be given some time similarity groups, have students form pairs or groups
to come up with a more creative statement: “Nothing is more with students from different similarity groups. Give the
American than apple pie. And nothing tastes better than a hot group a discussion topic relating to their area of difference.
slice with vanilla ice cream.” This provides the basis for sharing and hearing different
perspectives.

• Whip. After pairs share, let the class hear a sampling from
each similarity group by randomly selecting one or two • Pantomime or Skit. With some content, Similarity
students from each group to share what they heard from Groups lends itself to an exciting pantomime game. For
their partner. example, after grouping by their favorite sport, students
can be asked to think of a way to show others their group
choice using a pantomime (without talking) or with a brief
• Paraphrase Partners. After students listen to a partner in skit. After acting it out, the other groups put their heads
their similarity groups, they pair with a new partner with together and come up with their best guess. The acting group
the group and paraphrase what the old partner said. congratulates those groups who guessed correctly. Each
group takes a turn acting out their group name.

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Structure #53

Talking Chips

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 Structure #53

Talking Chips
Teammates place a “talking chip” in the center of the team table
each time they talk. No one can talk again until all chips have
been used, and teammates collect their chips for another round.

Each student receives one “talking chip.” The chips can be poker chips,
pens, pencils, erasers, slips of paper, or any other tangible item. Students
are given an open-ended discussion topic such as, “What do you think about
climate change?” In order to speak, a teammate must place one of his or
her chips in the center of the team table. At this point, it is his or her turn
to speak. Teammates cannot interrupt the speaker; they practice respectful
listening. When the speaker is finished, another student places his or her chip
Differentiated
in the center of the team table and is free to add to the discussion. When
a student uses his or her talking chip(s), he or she cannot speak until all
Instruction
teammates have added to the discussion and placed their chip in the center Selected students may be given
of the table. When everyone has had a chance to speak, students collect their time to read about, think
chips and continue a new round using their talking chips. about, and/or talk about
the topic prior to playing
Talking Chips regulates discussion, ensuring that everyone participates. Talking Chips.
Everyone gets the opportunity to speak their mind. Each contribution is
valued, and if a time limit is imposed, no single student can dominate the
team discussion.

Benefits
Students…
…each get a turn to speak and are
accountable to teammates for
contributing.
…contribute spontaneously, as there is no
predefined sequence.
…participate more equally.
…cannot interrupt; they practice
respectful listening.
…who are shy are encouraged to
participate.

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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares discussion topics.

S te p
Teacher Announces a Topic
1 The teacher announces the discussion topic
to the class and provides Think Time. “Who
do you think is the more qualified candidate
and why? Think Time.”
S te p
Any Teammate Starts
2 Any teammate begins the discussion,
placing one of his or her chips in the
center of the team table.

S te p
Continue Discussing
3 Any student with a chip continues
discussing, placing his or her chip in the
center of the team table.

S te p
Start the Round Again
4 When all chips are used, teammates
collect their chips and continue the
discussion using their talking chips.

lking Chips
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Years ago, as a research professor, I conducted an 53
experiment to study social interaction patterns. I took
sheets of colored cardboard and cut one-inch squares of
four different colors. I gave students discussion topics like “If we
could add 10 minutes to lunch time or to recess, which would you prefer, and why?” For older students it
was questions like “Do you support capital punishment? Why or why not?” I put students in groups of 4,
gave each student 10 chips of their own color, and gave them 6 minutes of discussion time. I instructed
them to place their chip in the center of the team table each time they talked.

The pattern was the same among young and old students: In many groups, red would go in, then blue,
then red, then blue, occasionally green, and yellow never. I then tried the experiment again, but changed
the rule: You get one chip each and once you use it, you cannot talk again until all chips have been used
and collected for a second round.

The pattern changed dramatically: All students participated about equally. Talking Chips was born! What
became obvious from these experiments was that an unstructured team discussion is just like giving
every student as many chips as they want. The result in many groups is very unequal participation. If we
want to equalize participation, we need to structure for it. Talking Chips is a very simple structure with
powerful results. Students who would usually let the others take over find their own voice!

An added, unexpected benefit of Talking Chips turned out to be more focused listening. Students and
adults report they listen more carefully when Talking Chips is used. After using their chips, they do not
focus on what they want to say next, but rather on what the speaker is saying.

Tips
• Talking Police. Assign one teammate • Discussion Time Limit. The teacher can set a time
the role of the Talking Police. The limit for the discussion to get all teams to end at the
Talking Police’s job is to make sure no one same time.
talks without a chip to spend.
• Timed Talking Chips. If some students are talking too
• Any Chip Will Do. Any tangible items will work as long with a single chip, set a time limit for how long you
Talking Chips: pencils, pens, crayons, erasers, tokens, can speak with one chip. A Time Monitor can use a team
poker chips, checkers, etc. timer to clock each contribution.

• No Order. Unlike most structures, Talking Chips has • Freebies. Students can respond yes or no to questions
no prescribed order. Tell students they can participate without giving up a talking chip.
when they have something to add as long as they have
a chip.

• Colored Chips. Colored chips can help the teacher and

teammates monitor who’s talked and who is yet
to contribute.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Strategies for solving a problem
• Shapes around the room
Science
• Ideas for a math project
• Discuss a field trip
• What are real-world examples of
• Discuss current events—cloning
this type of math?
• What do you know about ________?
• What is the most interesting thing you learned
Language Arts about _____________?
• Story conclusions • What did you learn from the chapter?
• Improvisational drama • What generalizations can you make from
• Discuss main ideas this experiment?
• Answer open-ended questions • Describe your own experience with a
• Favorite parts of a story natural disaster
• What would you change about the story? • Should euthanasia be legal?
• Summarize the book • Summarize the safety procedures
• Give your interpretation of the poem • Should we genetically modify food?
• Similarities and differences between characters • Ethics of cloning
• Should animal testing be legal?
• How could we stop the spread of ebola?
Social Studies
• Topics for team reports
•D  iscuss events and effects on history Music
•H  ow can we make the world a better place? • What instruments do you hear in the piece
• Advantages/disadvantages of a of music?
democratic society? • What is the best band of all time?
•T  he similarities and differences of people • What is the best type of music and why?
or cultures
• What can we do about the water shortage? Art
• Was Nixon a good president? • What comes to mind when you see the picture?
• Should torture be legal? • Evaluate the art
• Should presidents have term limits? • Is photography art?
• Should guns be outlawed?
• S hould the U.S. maintain its embargo
against Cuba?
Teambuilding
• Which cartoon character is like you?
• Solutions to illegal immigration
• If you were a superhero, which superpower would
• Should we have pre-emptive wars?
you want?
• Similarities among religions
• If you had 1 week to live, what would you do?
• Different customs
• Describe the people in your family
• Should there be campaign spending limits?
• Describe your hobbies
• Should all citizens have access to health care?
• Describe your perfect spring break
• Should students be allowed to use cell phones
at school?

lking Chips
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• Finger Count. Students discuss the 53
issue or topic in teams. Instead of using
chips to speak, they raise the number of
fingers on a hand to indicate how many times • Praise Passport. Students can share their own ideas only
they’ve contributed. For example, after each teammate after they praise or affirm the person who spoke before them:
contributes once, they all hold up one finger. The rule is, “I like how you said...”
you can only speak again and increase the number when
all teammates are on the same number. For example, no • Yarn Yarn. Young students wrap a piece of yarn around
student can speak for the second time until all teammates their wrist each time they talk. At a glance, students and the
are holding up one finger. teacher can see the students’ interaction patterns. Teams can
reflect on the equality of participation and plan how to make
• Gambit Chips. Gambit chips have sentence starters to it more equal.
direct responses. For example, if students are working on
paraphrasing skills, the gambits may be “You believe...” or • Topic Chips. To help guide the discussion, the chips can
“If I hear you right...” have topics relating to the discussion topic. For example, if
the discussion topic is, “Summarize the story,” the chips can
• Paraphrase Passport. Students can share their own be character, plot, theme, or climax. When a student uses a
ideas only after they accurately paraphrase the person who character chip, he or she describes a character in depth.
spoke before them: “You said that...”

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 Talking Chips
Talking Chips
Instructions. Cut out and use these chips for Talking Chips.

ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip

Talk s Talk s Talk s Talk s

ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip

Talk s Talk s Talk s Talk s

ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip

Talk s Talk s Talk s Talk s

ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip ing Chip

Talk s Talk s Talk s Talk s

ed Pair Sh
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 Turn-Taking
Talking Chips
Chips
Instructions. Each teammate gets four chips. No teammate can move on to turn two until everyone has used their chip for
turn one.

n-Takin urrn n--TTaakkiinngg n-Takin

n-Takin urrn n--TTa
akkiinngg n-Takin
n--TTaakkiinngg TTuurrn-Takingg n-TTaakkin Turrn-Takingg
TTuurrn-Takingg TTu TTuurrn- ingg Tu

21 1 2 2
TTuurrn-Takingg TTu u r
r n

1 1 2
TTu

C C
Ch p ss
h ii p C C
Ch p ss
h ii p
C C
Ch p ss
h ii p C hhiipp ss CChhiippss Ch p ss
h ii p CChhiippss
C hhiipp ss

n-Takin urrn n--TTaakkiinngg n-Takin

n-Takin urrn n--TTa
akkiinngg n-Takin
n-TTaakkin Turrn-Takingg n-TTaakkin Turrn-Takingg
TTuurrn-Takingg TTu TTuurrn- ingg Tu

4 43 3 44
TTuurrn-Takingg TTu TTuurrn- ingg Tu

33
C
C hhiipp ss
C
Ch p ss
h ii p C
C hhiipp ss
C
Ch p ss
h ii p
CChhiippss
C
Ch p ss
h ii p CChhiippss
C
Ch p ss
h ii p

n--TTa
akkiinngg n--TTa
nn--TTaakkiinnggTTuurrn akkiinngg n-Takin urrn n--TTa
akkiinngg
n-Takin urrn urr n-Takin urrn n--TTa
akkiinngg TTuurrn-Takingg TTu

21 1
TTuurrn-TakinggTTu TTu

2 2
TTuurrn-Takingg TTu

1 1
CChhi p ss
ip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p
2
CChhi p ss
ip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p
CCh i p ss
hip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p CCh i p ss
hip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p

n--TTa
akkiinngg n--TTa
nn--TTaakkiinnggTTuurrn akkiinngg n--TTa
--TTaakkiinng Tuurrn akkiinngg
n --TTaakkiinngTTuurrn urr n-Takin urrn n--TTa
akkiinngg urnn T

4 43 3
TTu TTur g

44
r
u
TTur n g TTuurrn-Takingg TTu

33
CChhi p ss
ip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p CChhi p ss
ip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p
CCh i p ss
hip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p CCh i p ss
hip
C
Ch p ss
h ii p

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 Story Element
Talking Chips
Strips
Instructions. Use these topic strips to discuss the elements of the story you read.

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Plot
Problem
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 StoryTalkingPart
Chips
Chips
Instructions. Use these chips to discuss the parts of the story.

Beginning
Beginning
Beginning Middle
Middle
Middle End End
End

Beginning
Beginning
Beginning Middle
Middle
Middle End End
End

Beginning
Beginning
Beginning Middle
Middle
Middle End End
End

Beginning
Beginning
Beginning Middle
Middle
Middle End End
End

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Structure #54

Team Interview
 Structure #54

Team Interview
Each teammate experiences both sides of the interview coin:
They are interviewed by three teammates at once and also act
three times in the role of interviewer.
The teacher introduces the interview topic. The topic can be a fun
teambuilding topic such as, “Find out what your teammates did over the
weekend.” Or the topic can be academic such as, “Interview your teammates
about their assigned reading.” Team Interviews are also great for role playing.
Students are assigned different characters from a story or different figures from
a historical period, and teammates interview them in that role. For example, Differentiated
“Mr. Churchill, what was your greatest accomplishment as prime minister?”
Instruction
• If they are to be interviewed in a role or
In each team, one student stands to be interviewed. Teammates interview the about a topic, students can choose who
standing student for 1 minute (or whatever time limit is set). When time is they will be, or the topic.
up, teammates appreciate the interviewee. The interviewee sits and the next • Students can be given the interview questions
student clockwise stands to be interviewed. The Team Interview is over after in advance and be given time to prepare their
all students have been interviewed and are seated. responses.
• Selected students can be given the
opportunity to practice their responses
with a partner, aide, or teacher in advance
of the Team Interview.
• If they are to read about their interview
topic, students can be given different
ability leveled and interest leveled
content and readability.

Benefits
Students…
…learn interviewing skills.
…learn to ask open-ended questions and
follow-up questions.
…get a chance to interview and be
interviewed.
…hear the ideas and experiences of
teammates.

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 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares discussion topics.

S te p
Teacher Announces
1 a Topic and Time Limit
The teacher announces a topic on which
students are to interview each other. “Find out
your teammates’ favorite after school activity.
Interview each teammate for 2 minutes.”
S te p Teammates Interview
2 the First Student
One student stands up. He or she is the
first interviewee. Teammates can ask the
teammate any questions they want.

S te p
Teammates Appreciate
3 Interviewee
When the interviewee’s time is up,
teammates thank the interviewee,
and he or she sits down.

S te p Remaining Teammates
4 Are Interviewed
The student to the left stands up and
becomes the next interviewee. The
Team Interview continues until all
students have been interviewed.

a m Interview
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What power there is in a simple structure! It 54
transforms an academic activity that ordinarily would
take hours so that it takes only minutes—and with even
more positive results! Let’s say we want each student in the class
to give a book report or a current event. The traditional teacher has each student present to the
class for 3 minutes. The teacher is obligated to give the student feedback: praise and, if necessary,
correction. That takes about 1 minute. Now comes the transition. The student who has presented
walks back to their seat while the next student to present comes to the front of the room. That
takes another minute. We are at 5 minutes per student. With 30 students in the class, a 3-minute
book report each takes 5 x 30 or 150 minutes. Three class periods! How have the students spent
their time? Only 3 minutes of active engagement and most of the rest of the 150 minutes with their
minds wandering! Now let’s say the teacher knows the power of Team Interview. The teacher has the
students each give their 3-minute book report or current event in teams of 4. Following each report,
each student is asked questions by teammates for another minute. This totals 4 minutes per student.
After 4 x 4, or 16 minutes, the teacher has accomplished what it would have taken 150 minutes to
complete using the traditional approach. How have the students spent their time? 3 minutes actively
engaged giving their report, but far more engaged in the remaining time because they are asking
or answering questions. Students listen more intently because they know they will ask teammates
questions. Almost full-brain engagement for the entire time. With so much time saved, we can
afford to give book reports, science reports, project reports, and current events far more often
because they take 16 minutes—not 150 minutes—and students are engaged the whole time! What
power there is in a simple structure!

Tips
• Pre-Made Questions. Announce • Teach Interviewing Skills. Good interviewers come
the topic and have the class or teams prepared with an interview agenda, but great interviewers
generate interesting questions before the know how to modify and adjust their questions, based on
interview begins. the responses. Analyzing a good TV or radio interview is
a great experience for students.
• Time It. Set 4 minutes on a countdown timer. The
Timekeeper lets the team know when 1 minute has • RoundRobin Questions. If students aren’t
elapsed and that it is the next student’s turn. At the end of participating about equally, you can equalize
the allotted time, all teams are done. Interval timers are participation by having each teammate ask their
ideal for Team Interview. questions in RoundRobin fashion (taking turns).

• Open-Ended Questions. Teach and practice with • Questions I Want to Answer. If a student gets a
students how to ask open-ended questions to promote question and does not want to answer, the student has the
elaboration and avoid short answers. option of responding to a question that he or she would
like to be asked.
• Right to Pass. The interviewee has the right to pass
on any question he or she does not feel comfortable with. • Stand Up. Having the interviewee stand up helps the
He or she just may say “pass,” or a silly code word such as team focus on the interviewee. It also provides a visual
“hamburger,” and the team asks the next question. management cue for the teacher to ensure students are
switching roles on time. When the interview is done, all
students are seated.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• I f you could have any math-related job, what
would it be?
• What do you like most about mathematics? Art
• What do you like least about mathematics? • Describe your painting?
• Where does mathematics rank compare to • Would you like to be a cartoonist?
other subjects/classes? • What is your favorite sculpture?
•F  inish this equation: M + X = Y. What are X • If you were a photographer, what would be your
and Y? subject matter?
•D  o you think the U.S. should use the • Complete this sentence: Beauty is…
metric system? • What is your impression of the art of this culture?
• Do you prefer realism, surrealism, or
impressionism? Why?
Social Studies
• Are you in favor of corporate bailouts or not?
• Do you think Oswald really shot JFK? Physical Education
• I f you were the president, would you have • Which sport do you think is the most difficult?
invaded Iraq after 9/11? • Are you more of a team player or an individual
• Is war ever justified? athlete?
•D  o you consider yourself a good citizen? • Are you more of a sprinter or a distance runner?
• Which American hero do you admire most? • Do you prefer doing weight training or
aerobic exercise?
• What makes someone a good team player?
Science • Which athlete do you most admire and why?
•D  o you think the money invested in the space
program is money well spent?
• I f you could be a doctor, what type of doctor Teambuilding
would you be? • Where is the most exotic place you’ve ever been?
•C  an science and religion co-exist peacefully? • How many brother and sisters do you have?
• I f you could devise an experiment to get • If you could have anything for dinner tonight,
the answer to a question, what would your what would it be?
question and experiment be? • What is your dream job?
• What genes did you inherit from your dad? • Would you rather be rich or famous?
• What genes did you inherit from your mom?

a m Interview
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• In Role Interviews. Students are each 54
assigned a role, such as a character from a
book they just read or a historical figure from
the era they’re studying. They answer the interview • Two Questions. Rather than using a time limit, use a
questions in that role. question limit. Each student must ask the interviewee two
questions before he or she may sit down. This equalizes
• Personify It. Each teammate is assigned an inanimate participation among interviewers.
object, theory, or principle. Students are interviewed in the
role of that item and are to bring it to life for teammates.

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 Planning Sheet
Team Interview
Instructions. Write questions to ask your teammates during their turn being interviewed.

Interviewee #1 Interviewee #2 Interviewee #3

Name_________________ Name_________________ Name_________________

Questions to ask… Questions to ask… Questions to ask…

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

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 AnswerTeamRecording
Interview
Sheet
Instructions. Use this sheet to record what you learned while interviewing each teammate.

Interviewee #1 Interviewee #2 Interviewee #3

Name_________________ Name_________________ Name_________________

Things I learned… Things I learned… Things I learned…

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

_____________________ _____________________ _____________________
_____________________ _____________________ _____________________

_________________
_________________ _________________
_____________________
_____________________ _____________________
_____________________
_____________________ _____________________
_________________
_________________ _________________
_____________________
_____________________ _____________________
_____________________
_____________________ _____________________

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Structure #55

Timed Pair Share

 Structure #55

Timed Pair Share

Partners take timed turns listening and sharing.

Timed Pair Share is one of the simplest cooperative learning structures—

and one of the most powerful. The teacher states a discussion topic, how
students are to pair, and how long students will have to share, and selects
who will go first. After each student shares, his or her partner responds. As
simple as it is, Timed Pair Share implements the basic principles of Coop-
erative Learning into just about any point of any lesson and for any objec-
tive. It can be used as a set, “What do you predict this book will be about? Face
Differentiated
partners share for 30 seconds each. Partner with the darkest clothes begins.”
It can be used as a frequent processing break during a lecture, “Turn to a
Instruction
partner and take turns sharing the key points of the lecture so far. You have 1 Once the topic is announced,
minute each.” Timed Pair Share can be used for quick group processing dur- students may be allowed to
ing a cooperative project, “Pair up with someone on your team. How is your prepare in their own way
project going? Partner A share how well the team is staying on task. Partner B for the Timed Pair Share.
share how well the team is working together for 30 seconds each, go!” It can be Some may prefer to
used for teambuilding, “Share with your shoulder partner for 30 seconds what express themselves
you did during the break. The student with the shortest hair starts first.” Or with a drawing,
for classbuilding, “Pair up with a classmate who is not a teammate and share poem, rap, or
what you did this weekend. Partner with the darker hair goes first: 1 minute mind map, or to act
each.” Timed Pair Share can be used to develop thinking on any topic, “Part- something out.
ner A, how did the author convey the theme of the book? Partner B, how did the
protagonist change or grow? Take 2 minutes each, Partner A starts.” Timed Pair
Share is a staple in the cooperative, interactive classroom.

When you compare Timed Pair Share to its traditional counterpart—

selecting one student to share with the class—its true power is revealed.
With Timed Pair Share, half the class is active at any one time while the
other half listen attentively. In the traditional class, only a single student
Benefits
in the whole class is active, while the many other students often tune out.
With Timed Pair Share, no students get left behind. Everyone participates. Students…
Plus, students practice speaking and sharing their thinking, comprehension, …are actively engaged either sharing or
and opinions. They learn to take turns. They practice listening attentively. actively listening.
A single Timed Pair Share versus selecting one student in the class probably
doesn’t add up to much, but when you consider how often we as teachers …regularly express themselves.
ask questions every day and then multiply that out by the number of days …must participate.
in the school year, this simple structure has the power to single-handedly …take turns.
revolutionize classroom teaching.
…practice respectful listening.
…actively listens so they may respond
appropriately.
…hear classmates’ thoughts on the
content or issues.
…make personal connections to
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the curriculum.
 Getting Ready
Steps The teacher prepares discussion topics.

S te p
Teacher Asks Question
1 The teacher asks a question that students may
elaborate on, states how long they will have
to share, and provides Think Time. “What do
you already know about snakes? You will each
share for 30 seconds. Think Time.” S te p
Partner A Shares
2 In pairs, Partner A shares while Partner
B listens without talking. “Partner A,
please share your response for 30 seconds.
Partner B, you are listening carefully, no
talking.”

S te p
Partner B Responds
3 The teacher tells Partner B how to respond.
The response can be simply to “copycat”
the teacher’s response:
• “Thanks for sharing!”
• “You are simply fascinating to listen to!”
The response can be to “complete a
sentence” starter such as:
• “One thing I learned listening to you
was…”
• “I enjoyed listening to you because…” S te p
Switch Roles
Or the response can be a spontaneous
response by the listener. 4 Partners switch roles. Partner B
shares while Partner A listens,
then Partner A responds.

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re

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 Str
ctu
Structure Power

u
re #
Timed Pair Share offers an instructive illustration 55
of the power of structuring. Structuring makes the
difference between learning for all versus learning for some.
Contrast the outcomes of two structures that appear quite similar:
One actually accelerates the achievement gap, whereas the other decreases the achievement gap and
boosts achievement for all. Let’s see how.

Knowing that writing improves when students talk about their ideas before, two teachers decide to
allow students some “air time” before they do their creative writing assignment. One teacher has
students in pairs and gives them 4 minutes, saying, “For the next 4 minutes I want you to discuss your
stories and be sure to talk about your characters, plot, setting, and conflict.” The other teacher does a
Timed Pair Share, giving each student in the pair 2 minutes to share their ideas for characters, plot,
setting, and conflict.

If we observe students during the pair discussion, in every or almost every case, the higher-
achieving student does most, or even all of the talking. In essence, without intending, the teacher
has given an opportunity for the high achiever in each pair to articulate their ideas far more than
the lower achiever. In a pair discussion, those who least need the benefit of elaboration get the most.
Conversely, those who could most benefit from active participation get the least. In a Timed Pair
Share, all students participate equally; all students are engaged. The achievement gap decreases,
and achievement overall increases because the least participative, lowest-achieving students post
dramatic gains when they are now actively involved with each other and with the curriculum.

Tips
• Think Time. Give students at least 5 to 10 • Mix Up Partners. Have students talk with their shoulder
seconds of Think Time to think about what partners at times and their face partners at other times. Have
they will share. students occasionally pair up with classmates beyond their
teams.
• Listen Up. Tell students to listen carefully because you will
ask them to paraphrase or respond to their partner. Occasion- • Finish Early. If a student finishes before his or her allot-
ally, call on a student to share what his or her partner said. ted time is up, it is his or her partner’s responsibility to ask
related questions.
• Time It. Use a visible timer so that students know when
their time is up. Students can manage their own time better • Who Goes First? Make Timed Pair Share more game-like
if they too can see the time elapsing. by using a random partner spinner, or flipping a coin to see
who goes first. To save time when using a student character-
• Adjust Talk Time. If students don’t have enough to talk istic to decide who goes first, use something visible rather
about for the time allotted, shorten their talk time. If you’re than something that would take discussion or might side-
cutting them short, lengthen the talk time. track the discussion.
• Fast. Tallest, shortest hair, larger hand, closest to the
• No Interruptions. Timed Pair Share is not a pair discus- front of the room, has their next birthday soonest.
sion. One partner does all the talking while the other only • Time Consuming or Sidetracking. Lives farthest
listens. Work with students to practice active listening. from school, has more siblings, hours you watch TV a
night, number of video games you own, has traveled
• Brainstorm Response Gambits. Have students brain- farthest on a trip.
storm response gambits. Post the gambits for all to see and
use as they respond to their partners. • Encourage Elaboration. Don’t ask questions students can
answer with a yes or no or a short answer. Instead of asking,
“Who was the main character?” ask, “How would you describe
the main character?” Prompt students to elaborate, not to
simply respond.

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Ideas A c r o s s t h e C u r r i c u l u m
Mathematics
• Ways to solve a problem
• What is your definition of _______? • Was he a good U.S. president?
• Hardest part of about last night’s homework • How is this culture similar to our culture?
• What type of math would you use in the
grocery store?
• How would you use this in everyday living?
Science
• Predict the results of a scientific experiment
Discussion Topics
• Derive animal characteristics
• How might you use this in your life?
• Explain your experiment
• What was the easiest/most difficult for you?
• Favorite season, and why?
• How are these two equations different?
• Is evaporation important, and why?
• How would you solve this problem?
• Cloning or ethical issue
• What are the characteristics of this shape?
Discussion Topics
• If you were to do this experiment again, what
Language Arts would you do differently?
• Predict the ending of a story • How has this animal adapted to its environment?
• Explain parts of your writing you like • Why is recycling important?
• How is the main character like or unlike you? • What are some safety concerns related to
• Prewriting this lab activity?
• What is the main idea? • What is more threatening: pollution or
Discussion Topics deforestation?
• If you were to write a letter to this character,
what would you say?
• What do you think this book will be about?
Art
• Favorite color, and why?
• What would the sequel of the book be about?
• Favorite artist, and why?
• What will happen next in the story?
• What about what are you working on
• How did the setting influence the story? do you like best?

Social Studies
• Explain a political cartoon Physical Education
• How are we like/unlike __________? • Effects of good/poor health habits
• What do you enjoy doing in your community? • Favorite indoor game
• What would you take on a wagon ride west? • Favorite sport
• What new “right” would you add to the
Bill of Rights?
Classbuilding
Discussion Topics • Favorite part of school
• How are you like or dislike a • Which animal would you be for a day, and why?
historical character? • Summer fun
• What are your feelings about this • Learned this year
current event?
• Which movie star would you be?
• Would you like to live in this time period?

ed Pair Sh
Tim a
re

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 Str
ctu
Variations

u
re #
• Progressive Timed Pair Share. 55
Partners take turns sharing on the same
discussion topic for progressively shorter (or
longer) time periods. For example, the pair starts • Stroll Pair Share. Students walk around the classroom
with 2 minutes each, then get 1 minute each for the next in pairs as they each share on the assigned topic.
round, then 30 seconds each for the final round. The number
of rounds and time periods depends on students and the
discussion topic.

Related Structures
#
56 Gossip Gossip
To increase active listening to their partners, tell students in
advance to listen carefully to what their partner has to say
because they will need to remember it. After pairs have shared
both ways, students pair up with a new partner. Then, as if
gossiping, they point to their old partner and gossip about
what their partner shared. For example, “Eugene said that the
most interesting fact about the pronghorn antelope is that it is the
fastest land animal in North America and can reach speeds of over 50
miles an hour and can maintain its speed for miles, whereas the cheetah
can reach speeds up to 70 miles an hour but only for short bursts.”

S te p S te p
Partners Share Students Gossip
1 Partners pair up and each take a turn
3 Students share what they learned from
sharing information with a partner. their last partner.

S te p S te p
Students Find New Partners
2 Students pair up with a new partner. If they
4 Partners Continue
Students do multiple pairings, each
originally paired with their face partner, now they time sharing what they heard from their
pair with their shoulder partner. Or, do a StandUp– last partner.
HandUp–PairUp to have students pair with a
classmate.

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Related Structures continued

#
57 Timed Pair Interview
The teacher provides the interview topic and states the time allotted for the
interview. Partner A interviews B. “Partner A is Abraham Lincoln. Partner B
will interview the President for 3 minutes.” When done, Partner A interviews
Partner B. If they are interviewing each other in roles, Partner B may be
assigned a new role.

S te p
Teacher Provides Topic
1 The teacher provides the interview topic and states the
time allotted for the interview. “You will interview your
partner for 2 minutes to find out what your partner
knows about volcanoes.”

S te p
Think Time
2 The teacher calls for Think Time. “Think about what you
learned about this topic. Think about what questions you
can ask your partner.”

S te p
Partner A Interviews Partner B
3 Partner A interviews Partner B.

S te p

4 Students Switch Roles

Partners switch roles: Partner B interviews Partner A.

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 About Me Question
Timed Pair Share
Cards
Teacher Instructions. Use these questions to have students do Timed Pair Share with classmates.

About Me About Me
1. 6.
What are three things What makes you
that you are thankful for? really angry and why?

About Me About Me
2. 7.
What is your favorite Who is your hero and how
thing to do and why? are you alike or different?

About Me About Me
3. What is your nickname 8. Complete the following
and how did you get it? If you don’t
have one, what nickname would sentence: One thing not many
you like and why? people know about me is…

About Me About Me
4. 9. If you could have anything
Describe your best friend. you wanted for your birthday,
what would it be and why?

About Me About Me
5. 10.
When are you What do you really enjoy
happiest and why? doing with your family?

Source: Kagan, S. & Kagan, M. Kagan Cooperative Learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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 Character Questions
Timed Pair Share
Teacher Instructions. Use these questions to have students do Timed Pair Share with classmates.

Character Questions Character Questions

Who is your hero? What traits What does the following

1 or qualities does he or she
have that you admire most?
6 quote mean: “Stand for
what’s right, even when you
stand alone”?

Character Questions Character Questions

How would you define the Is morals the same thing as

2 word character? 7 values?

Character Questions Character Questions

What character trait do you “Character is who you are and

3 value most? Why? 8 what you do when no one else
is looking.” Do you agree with
this quote? Why or why not?

Character Questions Character Questions

Describe a book you’ve read The famous civil rights activist Martin

4 that has a message about

the importance of character.
9 Luther King, Jr. said, “I look to a day when
people will not be judged by the color of
their skin, but by the content of their character.” Why
should we judge others by the content of their character
rather than by how they look?

Character Questions Character Questions

Think of a movie you’ve recently There are absolute rights and

5 seen. Is the lead role a person
of high or low character? Give
10 wrongs that every person
should know about. Do you
examples to support your claim. agree or disagree?

Source: Kagan, M. Higher-Level Thinking Questions for Character Development. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.
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 Rain Forest
Timed Pair Share
Teacher Instructions. Use these questions to have students do Timed Pair Share with classmates.

Rain Forest Rain Forest

Have you ever been to a tropical How do you think the daily
1 rain forest? If so, describe it.
What did you like best? If not,
6 life of a rain forest native is
different from yours? How is
would you like to visit one? What would you it similar?
want to see most?

Rain Forest Rain Forest

What would happen if the What are three reasons

2 tropical rain forests of the
world were cut down?
7 people would want to clear
rain forest land?

Rain Forest
Rain Forest
Do you think natives to the rain
3 forest have the right to do as
they please with the land of 8 List five products that come
from the rain forest.
the rain forest, or should they have laws?
Explain.

Rain Forest Rain Forest

What can you do to help save The rain forest is sometimes

4 the rain forests? 9 called the “lungs of the
earth.” What is another good
metaphor for the rain forest?

Rain Forest Rain Forest

Are you more like a toucan, Rain forest land is often

5 howler monkey, jaguar, or
sloth? Explain.
10 cleared for raising cattle.
What is an alternative?

Source: Kagan, M. Higher-Level Thinking Questions for Character Development. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Publishing.

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Structure #58

Traveling Pair Share

 Structure #58
Traveling Pair Share
Students pair up with classmates to share.

Getting Ready: Post multiple discussion questions on the

Steps board or give students a handout with multiple discussion questions.

S te p
Partner Reads Question
S te p 2
Students Pair Up
1 Students stand up, put a hand up, and
One partner reads one of the posted
discussion questions. For example,
“What engineering principles apply to a
high five to pair up with a classmate. suspension bridge?”

S te p
Other Partner Answers
3 The other partner answers the question.

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S te p
Partners Switch Roles
4 The student who answered the question
now asks another (or the same) question
from the posted questions, and his or her S te p
Continue Pairing
partner responds. For example, “What are
the advantages and disadvantages of covered 5 When time is up, partners give each
bridges?”
other a high five, put a hand up, and
find a new partner to share with on the
next question(s).

e ling Pair S
Trav h
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 Related Structures

#
59 Invisible Pal
Students prepare by investigating, reading, or selecting an “Invisible Pal”
(examples: element from the periodic table; multiplication fact; current
or historical event; historical, contemporary, or literary figure). Students
may take notes about their invisible pal. Students stand with their notes, a
paper, and pen. Each student puts a hand up and pairs up with a classmate.
Partner A in the pair introduces their invisible pal to Partner B, who takes
notes. Partners switch roles: Partner B introduces his or her pal to Partner A,
who takes notes. Partners thank each other and trade invisible pals. Students put
a hand up and pair up with a new partner. The process is repeated a number of times
with students always introducing a new invisible pal—the new pal is introduced to them by their
last partner. The teacher calls time. Students return to their teams, taking turns describing and
comparing notes about the invisible pals they met.

S te p S te p
Students Research Topic Pair Up With New Partner
1 Each student is assigned a topic to research. For
5 Partners thank each other for sharing, then
example, each student could be assigned a different put a hand up and pair up with a new partner.
animal. Students learn all they can about their
research topic.
S te p
Repeat Process
S te p 6
Students Pair Up The process is repeated a number of times
2 Students stand up, put a hand up, and pair up
with students always introducing a new
invisible pal—the new pal is introduced to
with a classmate. them by their last partner. The teacher calls
time after students have paired many times.

S te p
S te p
Partner A Introduces Pal
3 Partner A in the pair introduces their 7 Students Return to Team
Students return to their teams, taking turns
“Invisible Pal” to Partner B, who takes notes.
describing and comparing notes about the
invisible pals they met.
S te p

4 Students Switch
Partners switch roles: Partner B introduces
her or his pal to Partner A, who takes notes.

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Notes
Notes
 A l l A bout Engagemen
I t’s t!
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for active engagement in the classroom.
Check out Kagan’s line of books, SmartCards, software, electronics, and hands-on
learning resources—all designed to boost engagement in your classroom.

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