A-Z Strategy

Today we tried a new strategy for brainstorming and my students really liked it!

I'm not sure if there is an official name because I just call it my "A-Z Strategy".

I have no idea where I  found this strategy.  I don't remember reading about it on pinterest or learning it from another teacher, but who knows. I won't pretend I made it up.

Essentially, students work in partners or groups to generate ideas.

First, they letter their papers from A to Z.

Then, you present them with the topic.  Today we tried "reading strategies".

I set the timer to add an element of competition for the table teams.

They had to come up with words or phrases that fit the topic for each letter of the alphabet.  I don't make them go in order alphabetically but they had to work in whisper voices, other wise another team could (and would) steal their answers.

Here are some of their response sheets:

Which I then turned into a new anchor chart:

I like that this strategy can be adapted for any content area.

We did a "bonus round" where we tried the strategy with our novel The Lightning Thief, but the picture came out blurry.  I'll try again on Monday :)

Happy weekend!