Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Think -Tac -Toes: You Have a Choice and a Voice!

I don't know about you, but we are faced with loads and loads of data collection beginning the first week of school. it is a double edged sword because it is obviously really important that we ascertain where our students are academically, but it is also a huge bummer to come back to school and take a bunch of boring tests!

Time is of the utmost essence, and the first week of school is almost as busy as the last.  My co-teachers and I came up with a way to keep everybody engaged, enthused and BUSY (in a productive way) while we get everybody settled, assessed and into the school routine.  We use a Back to School "Think Tac Toe".

We have found this format has been HUGE in engaging our students.  They love to have a choice in what they do.  Our need to interrupt student conferences, reading groups, etc. has dwindled down to nothing.  My Think-Tac-Toes are designed with a purpose, but that purpose can be varied (depending on your goals).  This one is designed with some differentiation in mind regarding work styles, interests and developmental levels (keeping in mind this is a group of fourth and fifth grades who work cooperatively.)

Below you will find the Think-Tac-Toe I created for the beginning of this year.  It's going to take some explaining- and if you want to use it...I will include all of the templates you'll need.  It will just take me a day to get them all polished up and pretty.  Have a "look see" and see what you think!  I'll be back tomorrow with some more ideas and the rest of the templates!
 

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