I LOVE Four Corners! It is seriously one of the easiest strategies to boost engagement that I know of and it's a cinch to put together!
Basically, all it requires is four signs for your classroom:
Hang one in each corner. I leave these up all year so that I can use this strategy anytime the opportunity presents itself.
What you do is present students with an idea. Recently, we were prepping to read a story about segregation, so I presented them with the statement: "Fair is not always equal."
Then, have them travel to the corner that best represents their level of agreement with the statement... Cold = you totally disagree; Cool = somewhat disagree; Warm = somewhat agree; Hot = you totally agree.
When they get to their corner, have them discuss their thinking with the others who moved there, too. Once students have had some time to talk to their group, have each group present their thinking to the class.
**It's really fun, then, to have each group try to convince other classmates to change their thinking and move corners. The kids will become so persuasive and it's great prep for argument writing :)
Happy Teaching!!
Check out all five of the posts in this series:
- Strategy #1 – The Graffiti Wall
- Strategy #2 – The Scavenger Hunt
- Strategy #3 – Read-Around Groups
- Strategy #5 – Collaboration Station
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