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ctional

instru STRATEGIES PL YLIST


for teachers
NEW new helpful hints around classroom management, differentiation, technology connections, STAAR 2.0 connections,
and lead4ward resource connections!

movement and rehearsal extending learning evidence


discourse and practice thinking from mistakes of learning
playlist playlist playlist playlist playlist
*Best used in Learn It and *Best used in Learn It and *Best used toward the *Best used in Comprehend *Best used in Comprehend
Comprehend It when Comprehend It to practice, middle/end of the learning It as bell ringers or in review It to collect independent
students need to be process, and reflect on to collaboratively make to correct mistakes. May evidence of learning. May
energized as they learn. learning. May also be used deeper connections. May also be used in Apply It to also be used in Apply It to
May also be used to review to review before a test. also be used in Apply It if transfer from instruction to collect evidence in addition
learning before a test. providing student voice assessment. to tests and independent
and choice. work.

Ball Toss Boogie Each One Teach One Card Sort 3-2-1 Test Review 3-2-1 Summary

Fact or Fib Compare/Contrast


Café Conversations Balloon Bop Connect 4 Thinking
Showdown Model

Choose and Chat Jig Saw “Sell” Connect the Dots Brain in the Game Exit Ticket

Dance It – Chance It Just the Facts Crash Card Connections Catch and Release Graphic Organizers

Four Corners Mystery Bag Idea Shuffle Chatterbox High-Five Summary

Mystery Sequence/
Learning Loops Justified List Fixer Upper Independence Day
Re-sequence
Musical
Play It – Say It Link It Up Focused Listing Mind Bender
Mix-Freeze-Group
Matching Double
Notable Quotables Sticker Stackers Go with the Flow One Minute Paper
Trouble

Pair-SQUARE-Share Stop, Plop, and Roll Nine Squares IQ Slap Down Show and Tell and Teach

Positive Pings Summary Salad Odd One Out Make the Case SNAP-tastic

Rock and Roll


Rise and Shine Tour of Knowledge Pick Up the Slip Up Tabletop Tweet
Vocabulary

Stand, Stick, or Stray Triple Play Talk a Mile a Minute Presto – Chango! Team-Two-One

Rock and Roll


Texas Two-Step Undercover Agent Three’s a Crowd Thought Bubbles
Item Review
Vocabulary Pyramid
Think and Throw Tic-Tac-Tally Toss a Question Total Recall
Game
Vocabulary
Thinking Partners Who Am I? Triad Trades What’s On Your Plate
Dominoes

Vote with Your Feet Word Whack Would You Rather Yes, No, Maybe So Wishful Thinking

Add YOUR ideas below: Add YOUR ideas below: Add YOUR ideas below: Add YOUR ideas below: Add YOUR ideas below:

*suggestions for using the strategies in connection with lead4ward’s planning guide

@lead4ward All rights reserved.


Instructional Strategies Playlists for Teachers

The lead4ward Instructional Strategies Playlists are designed to provide teachers with detailed descriptions of specific,
instructional strategies, many of which are modeled and experienced in lead4ward professional development sessions.

Instructional Priorities
What are the priorities in a highly successful classroom? Engaging, rigorous instruction aligned to state standards that
helps students comprehend, connect, and communicate content deeply.

How can we accomplish these instructional priorities? Provide students opportunities to:
1.) make and justify choices 2.) create and use stimuli 3.) think, talk, write

The strategies associated with the research-based categories below are excellent resources to help teachers and students
achieve these instructional priorities!

movement and Learning is activated when kids are moving and talking. Movement provides the opportunity
discourse for learners to become actively engaged and talk to each other in a variety of group sizes.
playlist Get them moving every 18-20 minutes.

rehearsal and Learning requires rehearsal and practice. The more the teacher varies the practice, the more
practice likely kids are to engage in learning. Rehearsal and practice that allow for collaborative work
playlist also help learners self-correct misconceptions.

extending Learning requires thinking. Well-designed learning tasks allow kids to think about a topic in
thinking multiple ways or think through a topic to arrive at more complete and justifiable answers.
playlist Often learners stop too early in their thinking or in the learning process.

learning Learning is assessed in a variety of ways on high-stakes tests. Items will never be repeated on
from mistakes these tests, but the visuals and errors associated with the content will be. Teachers use items
playlist strategically and purposefully to help students discover and correct their mistakes.

evidence Learning is best assessed in multiple measures – tests, products, discourse, and other
of learning formative and summative assessment methods. When kids describe their own learning
playlist strengths and areas for growth, they are more willing to commit to additional learning.
back to strategies
movement and discourse playlist

Ball Toss Boogie


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Allow students to respond to a question or text, collaborate with a friend, and justify
answers by catching and throwing a ball.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into a large circle or smaller circles of 5-6.
2. Teacher poses a question, presents a concept, or displays a visual and asks:
• What is one thing you learned today about _____?
• What words are associated with _____?
• What is one thing you remember from yesterday about _____?
• If this visual could talk, what would it say?
3. Students catch the ball, offer a response, and throw to another student.
4. Continue tossing and responding until every student in the circle has responded.
5. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate/inappropriate ball tossing to clarify behavior expectations.


Promote access by previewing the question, using response/thinking stems, encouraging a quick sketch/visual response,
and/or allowing students to “phone a friend” in their group to collaborate on a response.
Consider using activity as part of an interactive lesson delivery and/or allow students to toss the ball and then capture their
ideas in a virtual space/whiteboard.
Analyze a released test item using the strategy as a bell ringer or lesson closure activity by responding to one these prompts
when the ball is caught: What is this about? What do you see? What is important? How would you start? Use strategy to
encourage students to make and justify choices or to analyze visuals and texts.
Develop the Ball Toss Boogie prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to
discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; and selecting TEKS
cluster or subcluster concepts to explain from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• prepared question, concept, or visual related to content; beach ball (or soft object to toss)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict how this concept might be assessed on a test.


• Connect: What did the responses have in common?

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Café Conversations
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Students write responses, sketch visuals, write summaries on paper “tablecloths,” and
roam to evaluate, add to, and discuss other’s ideas.

Step-by-Step Instructions
Round 1: Think, Talk, Write
1. Organize students into groups of 3-4 and place bulletin board paper over desks to create a paper “tablecloth.”
2. Provide students a prompt or question, and have students discuss potential answers.
3. Students write their final, individual responses on their paper “tablecloth.”
Round 2: Think, Talk, Sketch
4. Students roam to another section of the room, forming NEW groups.
5. Students read and discuss the previous written responses, place check marks beside the ideas with which they agree and
question marks beside ideas they challenge.
6. Teacher provides a second prompt or question, and students discuss how they could respond by sketching various visual
representations.
7. Students sketch a variety of visuals on their paper “tablecloth.”
Round 3: Think, Talk, Summarize
8. Students roam to another section of the room to form a NEW group.
9. Students view and discuss the previously written responses and visuals, and then place check marks beside the ideas with
which they agree and question marks beside ideas they challenge.
10. Students discuss how to summarize the importance of the concept represented in the previous two questions in a hashtag
response.
11. Students write their final hashtag summaries on the paper “tablecloth.” (Students may have different hashtags.)
12. Teacher clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play ways to respond on the “tablecloth” and model how students should stroll to each new “café.”
Provide access by providing an idea/word bank, response/sentence stems, or visual supports; allowing students to use
teacher/student notes; partnering students with supportive peers; and/or allowing students to dictate their ideas to a scribe.
Consider implementing a virtual “café conversations” activity using a virtual space/whiteboard.
Use released test items as the café topics; use strategy to encourage students to think, talk, write.
Develop the Café Conversation topics by selecting visuals, released test items, or STAAR passages from the IQ Tool; selecting
words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• paper “tablecloths” for desks, markers, 1 question/prompt for written response, 1 question/response for visual response,
1 summary question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Evaluate all the responses you read and viewed, and select the best written
response, the best visual, and the best hashtag summary.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Choose and Chat


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Analyze and evaluate your understanding of a concept, text, process, or skill by choosing
a response and chatting with a partner.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students CHOOSE their response to a question:
• choose from a variety of assessment answer choices (inline choice, multiselect, multipart, multiple choice, drag and drop,
hot spot, etc.)
• choose a response symbol like plus (know it), check (know parts), minus (confused)
• choose a nonverbal response like thumbs up, sideways, or down
2. Students mingle while music plays then get a partner when the music stops.
3. Students CHAT with their partner justifying their response, symbol, or hand signal and help each other better understand
the content.
4. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate mingling to get a partner; ensure every student ends up with a thinking partner.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question/task, thinking through a response with a supportive peer or adult, and/or using
thinking stems to frame responses.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after they chat to see how misconceptions have been
corrected.
Use the strategy with released test questions to Choose and Chat as they make and justify their choices around the best
response, the worst response, and a potential learning mistake; connect the evaluative and justification thinking used in the
strategy to the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text,
drag and drop) as well as traditional multiple choice.
Develop Choose and Chat prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to discuss
from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to discuss from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• appropriate music, question(s) prepared for students to choose a response

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize what you learned from the Choose and Chat conversation.
• Predict what type of activities would help students better understand this content.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Dance It – Chance It
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Allow students to respond to a question or text, collaborate with a friend, and then take
two chances as they solve problems.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Play music as students DANCE around the room (slides with embedded music available in templates).
2. Students get a partner closest to them when the music stops.
3. Present students with a question, vocabulary word, visual stimuli, or text excerpt.
4. Students assign themselves a role (A or B) and take TWO chances:
• partner A: take a CHANCE and justify the correct response, describe the term/visual, or summarize the text
• partner B: take a CHANCE and predict a mistake, provide examples of the term or visual, or infer from the text
5. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Preview your music clips to ensure they are appropriate, allow students to dance or walk around while music plays, role
play how students should appropriately dance as a funny way to infuse the playful “vibe” of the strategy, and ensure every
student has partner when the music ends.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the prompts/questions with a supportive peer/adult, providing sentence
stems to frame responses, and/or providing students with the correct response to justify and/or a specific common mistake
to correct.
Allow students to use an audio/visual support to capture/share ideas, and/or use a virtual quiz/poll at the end of the activity
to check for understanding.
Implement strategy with a released test item and ask these questions in 4 rounds of Dance It – Chance It: What is it about
and how will you start? If the visual could talk, what would it tell you? Justify the correct answer. What mistake should you
avoid? Teacher takes pop out responses and clarifies/verifies after each round; use strategy to encourage students to make
and justify choices or to analyze visuals and texts.
Develop Dance It – Chance It prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to
discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to discuss from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• appropriate music; question, vocabulary word, visual stimuli, or text excerpt to analyze

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict another mistake and correct the error.


• Evaluate the word/question difficulty (easy, medium, complex) and explain your reasoning.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Four Corners
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Allow students to move to a corner and then huddle with 2-3 people to answer a
question, practice a skill, describe a word, analyze a visual, or respond to text.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Assign each corner of the room a preference (4 soft drinks, 4 candy bars, etc.).
2. Students move to their favorite corner.
3. Students then huddle in duos or trios, making sure no student is left out.
4. Teacher poses a Think It Up question, assessment item, brief task, word, visual, or text.
5. Students collaborate with their duo/trio members to answer the question, rehearse the skill, describe the word, analyze the
visual, or summarize the text … justifying their responses along the way.
6. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Move students into their corners, one group at a time, and ensure every student has partner.
Promote access by previewing the question/task, thinking through response with a supportive adult, and/or using thinking
stems to frame responses.
Consider using an audio/visual support or virtual space/whiteboard to capture each corner’s group ideas.
Select a released test item as the prompt and assign students one of the following 4 corners: corner A identifies what it is
about and how to start – corner B summarizes the most important words and visuals – corner C justifies the correct answer –
corner D explains a learning mistake; groups then share discoveries. Associate this type of evaluative thinking with the same
type of thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, drag and
drop).
Develop Four Corners prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to discuss from
the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common mistakes to discuss
from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• four corner choices determined; question, assessment item, or brief task prepared

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare your group’s response to another group. How many different ways could you approach or answer the question?
• Analyze visuals: Sketch two different visuals associated with the concept.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Learning Loops
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Describe a term, respond to a question, analyze a visual, or interact with text with a variety of
partners.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. One-half of the class forms a loop facing out; the other half forms a loop facing in.
2. Inside-loop students each have a different question card, important word, interesting visual, or question about a text for their
partner to answer, describe, or explain.
3. Inside-loop presents their card, outside-loop partner responds, then inside praises or prompts.
4. At the teacher’s signal, the outside circle rotates one person to the left.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 for as many rounds as the teacher determines appropriate.
6. Inside-loop gives outside-loop their question cards, and the process repeats with the inside-loop rotating this time.
7. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

NOTE: Consider organizing students into several smaller learning loops (e.g., three separate learning loop groups with 4 on the inside
loop and 4 on the outside loop for a class of 24). This means the teacher would only need 8 unique question cards for each group.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Supervise students moving desks to the perimeter of the room or consider doing the activity outside or in a larger space; students
should write a justification for the correct answer on the back of their card and verify response with a peer or the teacher.
Time Saver: Require students to create their own “cards” by presenting all the activity questions on 1 handout. Organize the
students into their groups and give each group 1 copy of the handout; then ask students to cut the questions apart to create their
group’s cards.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they will
be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to partner with a supportive peer when initially answering their assigned question, allowing
students to dictate their correct response to a scribe, and/or encouraging use of speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Consider closing the activity with several virtual quiz/poll questions to check for understanding.
Consider using released test items as the inner/outer circle question cards. Associate the task of making and justifying choices
in the activity with the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., multiselect, multipart, inline choice, drag and drop,
match table grid, hot spot, hot text, and short constructed response).
Develop Learning Loop questions by incorporating visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, STAAR passages to discuss from
the IQ Tool, or words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides.
Materials:
• terms, questions, or visual cards for the inside-circle students

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.
• What connection can you make between several terms, questions, and visuals?
• Evaluate which question was most difficult and summarize what you learned.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Musical Mix-Freeze-Group
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Allow students to form brief partnerships to answer a question or complete a short task
with a partner or triad.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. MIX: Play music while students MIX around the room.
2. FREEZE: Stop music and say, “FREEZE!”
3. GROUP: Say, “GROUP!” so students get a partner or triad close to them.
4. Teacher presents a Think It Up question, an assessment item, a vocabulary word, a visual, or a text.
5. Students work with their partner to answer the question, summarize the word, explain the visual, or summarize the text.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
7. Repeat 3-4 rounds with 3-4 different questions or words.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate mixing and ensure every student has partner.

Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the questions/prompts, providing an idea bank for open-ended questions,
and/or providing response/thinking stems.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after the strategy to see how misconceptions have
been corrected.
Select a released test question as the prompt and ask 3 questions using 3 rounds of Mix-Freeze-Group; Round 1 - What is this
about and how would you start? Round 2 - What is the correct answer and how can you prove it’s the best? Round 3 - Which
answer represents a mistake many students might make? Associate the type of analysis required in this activity with the
thinking required in most of the new item types.
Develop Musical Mix-Freeze-Group prompts by including visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages
to discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to discuss from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• appropriate music, questions/words prepared for each round

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Evaluate which question was the most difficult and explain what you learned.
• Make an inference of how this information might be assessed on a test.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


back to strategies
movement and discourse playlist

Notable Quotables
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Students collaborate to answer a complex question or summarize a concept in writing as
a “notable quotable” they share with others.

Step-by-Step Instructions
ROUND 1
1. Students stand up and mix around the room as music plays until the teacher says, “FREEZE!” Students get a partner.
2. Students take turns verbally answering the question or summarizing the concept the teacher has assigned.
3. Students COMBINE their two verbal summaries to create a written Notable Quotable on an index card.
ROUND 2
4. Students mix around the room a second time as music plays until the teacher says, “FREEZE!”
5. Student form new groups of 4 this time and each reads his/her Notable Quotable card.
6. Students vote on which Notable Quotable is the most complete and profound using an applause-o-meter (clap for the
quote you think is most complete; have a “clap-off” if there is a tie; quote with most claps is the winner).
ROUND 3
7. Students mix around the room a third time as music plays until the teacher says, “FREEZE!”
8. Students form new groups of 6-8 and each reads his/her Notable Quotable card.
9. Students vote on which Notable Quotable is the most complete using an applause-o-meter (see Step 6).
10. Groups read the winning cards and the class votes on the one that is the most complete using a final applause-o-meter.
11. Students write the best response in their journals as a reminder of the learning.
12. Teacher clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Demonstrate ways to combine verbal summaries into written summaries and role play how to evaluate responses using
applause-o-meter.
Promote access by providing a word/idea bank, offering response/thinking stems, providing visual examples of the concept,
and/or allowing use of a speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Consider using a virtual space/whiteboard for students to capture and combine their ideas.
Remove the answer choices from a released test item and ask students to organically develop a response to the question.
Associate this type of thinking, talking, and writing with many of the new item types (i.e., text entry, short constructed
response, equation editor, graphing tool, number line, or fraction model).
Develop Notable Quotable prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to write
about from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting
common mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the
Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• concept, process, visual, or genre demand (reading) students will summarize; index cards
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Connect this concept, process, visual, or genre demand to another concept; explain the connection in 1-2 sentences.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Pair – SQUARE – Share


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Generate ideas with a partner, then share and compare responses with another pair.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into pairs.
2. Student PAIRS work collaboratively to answer a Think It Up question, analyze an assessment item, summarize a vocabulary
word, analyze a visual, or respond to text.
3. Two pairs then form a SQUARE.
4. Student pairs SHARE their response to the question, task, or text.
5. Students may revise their original responses based on their discussions.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play first how to get into pairs then role play how to move into squares.

Promote access by pairing with a supportive peer, allowing peer to read aloud any text, using thinking stems to frame a
response, and/or using speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after the strategy to see how misconceptions have
been corrected.
Select a released test question as the prompt. PAIRS make and justify their response. In the SQUARE activity, students share/
justify/change their response as appropriate. Associate the type of analysis and justification in this activity with the thinking
required in most of the new item types.
Develop Pair-SQUARE-Share prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to
discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting
common mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS clusters or subclusters to summarize from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• question or tasks prepared

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare/Contrast the two pair’s responses.


• Summarize in 1 sentence what you know better after the activity.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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movement and discourse playlist

Positive Pings
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Students are assigned a specific question or task based upon the number of positive
“pings” they score.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 3 or 4.
2. Provide each group with a large plastic cup and 6 ping pong balls.
3. Taking turns, students bounce ping pong balls off the table and into the cup as many times as they can in 1 minute.
(Elect a score keeper to count the group’s pings.)
4. Based on scores, teacher assigns each group a specific question or task such as:
Score Questions Tasks Text Responses
Question #1: Justify the correct answer and Task #1: Describe, illustrate, and Task #1: Summarize what the text said in your own
0-8
explain how you got there. provide an example of __________ . words.
Question #2: Analyze and interpret the visual Task #2: Sequence the events of Task #2: Find three important facts/details from the
9-15
(or genre) and explain why it is so important. __________ into logical order. text and justify why they are the most important.
Questions #3: Find an answer choice that Task #3: Compare and contrast Task #3: Make an inference from the text. What
16 + represents a mistake, summarize the mistake, __________ and __________. does it mean if you ”read between the lines?”
and explain how to avoid it.

5. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to appropriately bounce the ping pong balls into the container, how to quickly retrieve the balls to continue
tossing, and how to keep score.
Promote access by allowing students to preview the questions, allowing use of student/teacher notes, offering a brief
audio recording of content, providing visual representations of content, providing a word/ idea bank, and/or providing
response/thinking stems.
Extension idea: Students hold up 1, 2, or 3 fingers representing the task they had, form new groups with each number
represented, and cross-train/teach each other on their varying tasks/questions.
Consider having students use a virtual space/whiteboard or audio/visual support to collaborate and share their collective
group responses.
Select a released test multiple choice question and ask students to redesign the question into a new item type:
• 0-8 pings task #1 - redesign the question into a drag and drop
• 9-15 pings task #2 - redesign the question into a multiselect
• 16+ pings task #3 - redesign the question into a multipart
Students then trade and answer each other’s newly designed questions. (Provide an exemplar of each new item type for
students to follow as they “morph” the MC question into a new item.)
Develop Positive Pings tasks by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to solve, or STAAR passages to discuss from
the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate using the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to explain from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• cups and ping pong balls; 3 questions or tasks to assign various groups

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize what you learned in the activity.


• Draw a conclusion about why this content is important.

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movement and discourse playlist

Rise and Shine


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Allow students to get a partner based on common interests and then collaborate to
answer a question or complete a task.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Student choose their favorite item from a list of four
numbered choices (4 candy bars, 4 soft drinks, 4 colors,
4 ice cream flavors, etc.). For example:
2. Students hold up the number of fingers representing
their favorite and then RISE to find one or two
students who have the same response.
3. Teacher poses a question, task, vocabulary word, visual, or text.
4. Student pairs or triads SHINE as they collaborate to offer solutions, descriptions, examples, or responses to text.
5. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play how to get into pairs or triads using the “1-2-3-4 finger up technique” that represents their choice; ensure
everyone has a thinking partner.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question, task, word, or text for the activity; providing a summary, visual, or description
of the content; allowing the use of teacher/student notes; providing response/thinking stems; and/or allowing the use of
speech-to-text or word prediction support to answer before talking with a peer.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student responses before and after they Rise and Shine with a partner to see
how misconceptions have been corrected.
Select a released test question as the prompt and facilitate 3 rounds of Rise and Shine using the following prompts:
• Round 1 – Make and justify your choice of how to start
• Round 2 – Think, talk, and write a justification for the correct answer
• Round 3 – Create a new visual that might correlate with this concept
Teacher takes pop outs and clarifies/verifies after each round.
Develop Rise and Shine prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to discuss
from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS clusters or subclusters to summarize from the Teacher Learning
Reports.
Materials:
• 4 numbered choices prepared; questions, tasks, or words prepared
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict how this concept might be assessed on a test.


• Draw a conclusion about why this concept is important.

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movement and discourse playlist

Stand, Stick, or Stray


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Take a stand to share and defend your opinion but be willing to consider other points of
view on the issue.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher presents students with a question or issue that can be answered from various points of view:
• pro - con - neutral
• always true - never true - sometimes true
• extremely important - somewhat important - not important
2. Students take a STAND by moving to an area of the room reflecting their opinion.
3. Student groups huddle to develop three reasons to justify/defend their point of view.
4. Teacher randomly selects one person from each group to share their three reasons.
5. After all groups have shared, allow a few minutes of classroom discussion.
6. Students may then STICK to their original point of view or STRAY to a new point of view.
7. Students partner with someone near them to justify why they stayed or strayed.
8. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to use discussion stems to respectfully communicate varying points of view such as, “I respect the idea you have
about _____ but I would like to offer another point of view. Have you ever thought about _____.” Ask students to take a
stand, one group at a time, to avoid movement chaos.
Promote access by previewing the question with a supportive peer/adult, providing a summary of the content, providing
visual cues associated with the content, allowing use of teacher/student notes, and/or providing response/thinking stems to
justify where they are standing.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after the strategy to see how misconceptions have
been corrected.
Select a released test item and assign different parts of the room as various responses (always true, sometimes true, never
true.) Present the selected question and these statements: this question is complex and might be difficult for most students
to answer - take a stand! Students move to their response area and huddle to justify. After justifications are shared out and
misconceptions are corrected, students may Stand, Stick, or Stray based on those explanations. Repeat with a new released
test item to see if students Stand, Stick, or Stray based on the new question.
Develop Stand, Stick, or Stray prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to
discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe and illustrate from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting
common mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the
Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• question or issue; signs designated around the room for each point of view

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize the arguments from each group.


• Predict how a controversial issue can be discussed in a way that promotes respect over hostility and logic over sarcasm.

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movement and discourse playlist

Texas Two-Step
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Students help each other remember critical information associated with key words,
concepts, topics, skills, or texts.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into line A and line B, facing each other.
2. Teacher presents an important word, concept, topic, skill, question, or text.
3. Texas Two-Step:
• Step 1 - Student A shares everything he knows about the concept in 30 seconds.
• Step 2 - Student B adds at least 1 more idea.
4. Teacher presents another important word, concept, or topic, and A/B switch roles.
5. Get a new partner (play country music here to make it fun!):
• Line A takes 1 step to the right, then line B takes 1 step to the right.
• The LAST person in line A and the LAST person in line B walk through the middle to the other end.
• Now each person should have a new partner!
6. Teacher presents another word, concept, topic, or skill and the Texas Two-Step continues.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse the movement in step 5 before adding the academic content; consider using the hallway or a larger common area
for this strategy.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the prompts/questions; allowing the use of teacher/student notes, vocabu-
lary journals, or visual supports; and/or providing word banks or thinking stems to answer the prompts.
Consider using this strategy as part of an interactive lesson delivery.
Select a released test item as the prompt. Partner A analyzes the visual (If this visual could talk, it would tell me _____);
Partner B justifies the correct response. Partners switch roles with the next question. Associate this type of deep analysis as
the same type of thinking required in many of the new item types.
Develop Texas Two-Step prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to discuss
from the IQ Tool; select words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; select common mistakes to avoid
from the Field Guides; and select TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• music; list of words, concepts, topics, or skills to review in each round
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• What connections can you make between some of the words, concepts, topics, or skills?
• Summarize one idea you know better after this activity then you did before.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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movement and discourse playlist

Think and Throw


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Analyze, summarize, defend, share, and evaluate a response to a question.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students anonymously answer an assessment question, respond to a Think It Up question, complete a one-minute paper,
create a visual, or respond to text.
2. At the teacher’s signal, students crumple response into a snowball and throw it.
3. Students pick up and toss three more snowballs.
4. Students pick up a fourth snowball, form groups of 3-4, and share responses.
5. Student groups evaluate responses and select the one that is the best.
6. Teacher allows 3-4 “winning” responses to be read aloud.
7. Teacher clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate and inappropriate crushing and throwing so students clearly understand behavior expectations; any
student who cannot find a final snowball may partner with a friend and share.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the question/prompt, providing response/thinking stems, offering an idea/
word bank, allowing students to dictate their response to a scribe, and/or encouraging speech-to-text or word prediction
support.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after the strategy to see how misconceptions have
been corrected.
Present a released test item with the answer choices removed and instruct students to organically develop answers to
rehearse short constructed response, text entry, equation editor, graphing tool, number line, or fraction model as a Think
and Throw activity.
Develop Think and Throw prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to
discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common
mistakes to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• notebook paper, question, or one-minute paper prompt prepared

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare your response to one that was read aloud and either justify why your response is stronger or revise your
response to be more complete and profound.

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movement and discourse playlist

Thinking Partners
PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Increase rigor by thinking different ways around one topic or concept with a partner.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Using the Thinking Partners handout, students mingle to get different thinking partners for the unit.
2. Throughout the unit, teacher poses Think It Up questions using the verbs on the Thinking Partners handout.
3. Students pair up with the appropriate thinking partner to help form a response.
4. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play how to get different thinking partners to sign your Thinking Partners handout.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by pairing with a supportive peer, using thinking/response stems, allowing students to dictate responses to a
scribe, and/or encouraging use of a speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to capture student choices before and after the strategy to see how misconceptions have
been corrected.
Use a released test item, along with Think It Up questions as the prompts to:
• summarize what the question is about
• sequence your step-by-step method for answering the question
• justify the correct answer
• make an inference about a potential learning mistake students might make
Associate the thinking in this activity with the ways to show process standards, which will be dual-coded in the majority of
STAAR questions.
Develop Thinking Partner questions using the Think It Up questions resource and released test items from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• Thinking Partners handout – one for each student; Think It Up questions prepared

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize what you just learned and explain why it is important.


• Evaluate this question as easy, medium, or difficult and justify your rating.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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movement and discourse playlist

Vote with Your Feet


PURPOSE – Movement and Discourse: Students move to a part of the room that reflects their response and explain their “vote”
to others in the group.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Pose a question to the whole class that allows for various correct responses.
2. Label sections of the room with responses based on the question posed (examples below).

3. Students “vote with their feet” and move to the area of the room that reflects their answer.
4. Students summarize the concept and then justify their vote by developing a list of reasons for their vote on chart paper.
5. Teacher randomly selects one person from each group to share responses.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Require each student to orally explain AND write their justification on the chart so that each student participates fully.
Model how to move into selected areas of the room to reflect their vote.
Promote access by allowing students to preview the question, thinking through an answer with a supportive adult, providing
a quick written or visual summary of each concept, allowing the use of student/teacher notes, providing thinking stems,
dictating response to a scribe, and/or using a speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Consider using a virtual space/whiteboard or audio/visual support on which responses are collected.
Select 4 different released test items and display them on 4 walls in the room. Ask students to Vote with Your Feet on the
following prompts:
• Round 1: Which question do you feel most confident in analyzing correctly?
• Round 2: Which question is most complex in your opinion?
Students huddle to justify their vote and the teacher takes pop out responses at the end of each round.
Develop Vote with Your Feet prompts by incorporating visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages
to discuss from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; and selecting TEKS
cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• appropriate question, answer choice signs, chart paper, markers

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s
Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Sequence all the labeled concepts from the ones you know least to
the ones you know the best, then find a friend to coach you on the
one you know the least.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Each One Teach One


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students collaborate to coach each other about complex words, visuals, questions, texts, or
assessment items.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Select 4 different words, visuals, practice problems, think it up questions, text excerpts, or assessment items and assign each
student one of the topics or tasks represented on 4 different colored cards.
2. Students with the same topics/tasks (like colored cards) huddle together to think, talk, and prepare to teach their topic/task
by answering questions such as the following:
• Topic/Words: How can we summarize and teach this? • Think it Up: How can we explain and justify our answer?
• Visual: If the visual could talk, what would it tell us? • Text: How can we summarize the most important parts?
• Practice Problem: What is it about? How can we solve? • Test Item: How can we justify the correct answer?
3. Students mix around the room to find a partner with a different topic or task.
4. Each One Teaches One about his assigned topic or task.
5. Partners trade colored task cards.
6. Repeat steps 3-4 until each student has taught each of the 4 topics or tasks.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes about these topics/tasks in the future.
*Variation: Rather than trading cards, students could simply form small groups and have each one teach the others one specific
assigned word, concept, visual, text, or assessment item.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Time Saver: Provide each group member a different colored index card and have them create the cards themselves!
Role play how to huddle with like groups, how to form teaching pairs, how to trade cards, and how to find a new partner to
teach.
Promote access to text by providing auditory, summarized or electronic text; offering text in manageable chunks; providing
visually supported text; partnering with a supportive peer for read-alouds; and/or allowing text-to-speech supports.
Promote access to content by previewing the 4 topics/words/items; summarizing topic with a supportive adult before
teaching group, allowing students to use an audio/visual support to record their teaching points, and/or allowing speech-to-
text or word prediction supports if completing with a digital version of the Each One Teach One template.
Allow students to record summaries using an audio/visual support while in expert groups, and/or capture collective ideas
using a virtual space/whiteboard.
Provide each group member a different released test item with the answer choices removed so students develop organic,
justified, written responses. Associate the think/talk/write analysis in this strategy with the organic, written responses
required in many of the new item types: text entry, short constructed response, equation editor, graphing tool, number line,
and fraction model.
Develop Each One Teach One prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to
teach from the IQ Tool; selecting words to teach from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common mistakes
to discuss from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to teach from the Teacher Learning
Reports.
Materials:
• Each One Teach One handout with 4 different questions

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• What generalization could you make about all 4 questions?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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rehearsal and practice playlist

Fact or Fib Showdown


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Clarify misconceptions as students determine which statements are facts and which are fibs
in a slap down game.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Assign each student a thinking partner.
2. Students create a FACT card and a FIB card and hold one in each hand.
3. Present students with a statement (fact or fib) relating to a concept, word, visual, text, or test item.
4. Allow students 5-8 seconds to infer if the statement is a FACT or a FIB.
5. Say, “One! Two! Three! Showdown!” Students slap down their response cards at the same time.
6. Students then take turns justifying by saying, “This may not be totally right, but I think this is a (fact) or (fib) because
______________.” Allow students to change their minds after talking with their partner.
7. Students pick up their FACT or FIB card and put it back in their hand.
8. After students pick up their response cards, teacher clarifies/verifies the appropriate answer. Then, students turn to their
partner and finish this stem verbally or in writing: “The correct response was ___________ because __________.”
9. Repeat steps 3-8 with each statement.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play how to slap down answer cards in an appropriate way and how to take turns justifying responses.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the fact or fib statements, providing a summary of content, allowing the use
of notes, providing thinking stems to frame responses, pairing with a supportive peer, and providing the fact/fib statement
both orally and visually.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to review the fact/fib statements quickly to collect evidence of learning at the end of the
activity. Consider creating a Fact or Fib Showdown response game using interactive lesson delivery technology and/or an
audio/visual support.
Select a released test item and develop Fact or Fib Showdown statements about the item. Connect justifying choices in the
strategy to the thinking required in many of the new test items (i.e., multiselect, multipart, inline choice, short constructed
response, hot spot, drag and drop, and match table grid).
Develop Fact or Fib Showdown statements using visuals or released test items from the IQ Tool, using words from the
Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides, or using TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 4-6 FACT or FIB statements (may include visuals), sticky notes or paper for FACT/FIB cards, FACT or FIB template (optional)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about mistakes you corrected and what you learned.
• Create a one-minute paper summarizing what you learned from the game.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

Adapted from Kagan Cooperative Learning

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Jig Saw “Sell”


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Group members become experts in different parts of the content and “sell it” (teach with
enthusiasm) to their home group members.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into home groups of 4, then number off 1-2-3-4 to form expert groups.
2. Assign each expert group a topic, step in a process, or section of content.
3. Expert groups use the Jig Saw “Sell” template to:
• collaborate and dig deeply into their assigned topic
• summarize how to “sell” the important information in 5 key “selling” points
4. Experts return home and have 1 minute each to “sell” the importance of their topic.
5. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
6. During the activity or at the end of the strategy, students summarize all 4 parts of the content through a graphic organizer,
journal entry, or note-taking device.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play the movement between home groups/expert groups, move one group at a time, and facilitate each expert’s
1-minute “sell.”
Promote access to text by providing auditory, summarized or electronic text; offering text in manageable chunks; providing
visually supported text; partnering with a supportive peer for read-alouds; and/or allowing text-to-speech supports.
Promote access to content by allowing students to record their selling points through an audio/visual support; allowing
students to dictate ideas to a scribe, and/or allowing speech-to-text or word prediction supports if completing with a digital
version of the Jig Saw “Sell” template.
Consider allowing students to record the 5 selling points through a virtual space/whiteboard and/or audio/visual support.
Select 4 different released test items, assigning one to each group member. Students think, talk, and write to “sell” the
5 most important things they need to know to their home group. After each problem has been “sold,” students solve.
Associate this type of question analysis with the analysis required for answering the new item types.
Develop Jig Saw “Sell” prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to discuss
from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common mistakes
to avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning
Reports.
Materials:
• assignments prepared for each expert group, Jig Saw “Sell” template copied or projected

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• How do all the expert group ideas connect?


• Explain a cause/effect relationship between two of the expert groups’ ideas.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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rehearsal and practice playlist

Just the Facts


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students read a text passage (any subject area), select specific facts to promote
comprehension, then share/compare facts before making an inference.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students read a selected passage or text associated with the content.
2. Individually, students record a cool fact, an interesting fact, a wow fact, a useful fact, a new fact, and a most important fact/
detail from the text.
3. Students then Mix-Freeze-Group to get a thinking partner.
4. Students justify why they chose their selected facts/details.
5. Students select one or more facts from their partner’s ideas and write an inference.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy with a previously read text. Role play how to Mix-Freeze-Group, and make sure everyone has partner.
Promote access to text by providing auditory, summarized, or electronic text, offering text in manageable chunks, providing
visually supported text, partnering with a supportive peer for read-alouds, and/or allowing text-to-speech supports.
Promote response access by partnering with a supportive peer, allowing students to dictate responses to a scribe, providing
thinking stems for each of the response boxes, and/or using speech-to-text or word prediction support with a digital version
of the Just the Facts template.
Allow students to record responses through an audio/visual support. Encourage students to highlight/drag/drop critical
words or phrases from the text into a digital version of the Just the Facts template as part of an interactive lesson delivery.
Select a released test item and use the Just the Facts – assessment template to deeply analyze the question; associate
justifying choices and using visuals in the strategy with the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., hot text, hot
spot, graphing, number line, equation editor, and fraction model).
Develop Just the Facts prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to analyze, or STAAR passages to read
from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• text, Just the Facts template, 6 note cards (or students replicate the projected template on paper)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Connect all six facts and draw a conclusion about the text’s main message.
• Cut your partner’s facts apart and sequence the fact cards in the appropriate order.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Mystery Bag
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students teach others about words, visuals, text excerpts, or assessment items and make
connections between these concepts.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 3-4.
2. Present each group with a bag of questions, assessment items, manipulatives, visuals, text excerpts, or words.
3. Each student draws an item out of the bag and explains its importance to the group.
4. Groups members discuss, add ideas, or clarify confusing parts for each item.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until all items in the bag have been discussed.
6. Groups then draw a conclusion about how all the items are connected.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Time Saver: Assign each group a different concept and ask them to create a Mystery Bag with words, visuals, examples, and
test items. Groups trade bags and complete the strategy.
Promote access to content by providing written or auditory summaries of each concept, allowing the use of teacher/student
notes; providing vocabulary cards; allowing peer read-alouds; and/or using text-to-speech support.
Promote response access by encouraging verbal explanations, writing explanations, sketching explanations, explaining with a
supportive peer, and/or using speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Allow students to record their explanations or sketch their ideas using a virtual audio/visual support; allow students to share
explanations using a virtual space/whiteboard; create virtual Mystery Bags using an interactive lesson delivery technology.
Include a variety of released test items, words, and visuals in the Mystery Bag. Associate the analysis of words, visuals, and
questions in the strategy with the thinking required when analyzing the words and visuals in the new item types.
Develop Mystery Bag items by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to discuss from
the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common mistakes to discuss
from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 1 bag of items for each group or empty bag if groups are creating the Mystery Bag

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Can you draw a conclusion about how all the items in the bag connect?
• Classify/categorize the items in the bag in some way.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Mystery Sequence/Re-sequence
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Sequence, rank, or order a series of terms, concepts, or steps in a process and justify the
sequence.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 2-4.
2. Provide each group one handout representing steps in a process, a sequence of events, important concepts, various visuals,
or multiple test questions in random, mixed-up order.
3. Students cut the handout into separate cards.
4. Students collaborate to Sequence the cards: sequence in chronological order, rank from most important to least important,
rank from ideas you know best to ideas you know least, etc.
5. Groups Re-sequence after instruction or consulting text.
6. The teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Time Saver: Assign groups different topics and ask them to create separate note cards sequencing or ranking the steps,
events, concepts, visuals, or test items. Groups trade card sets and complete the strategy.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing supportive peer read-alouds, offering auditory or electronic text, presenting text in manageable
chunks, offering auditory text or text-to-speech support, providing the first and last step in the process, and/or dictating
responses to a scribe.
Sequence the steps using a virtual space/whiteboard; create a digital Mystery Sequence/Re-sequence where students elec-
tronically drag and drop steps into a sequence as part of an interactive lesson delivery.
Ask students to sequence their problem-solving steps for a selected released test item, justify their choices with a peer, and
re-sequence if appropriate. Associate the sequential problem-solving thinking in the strategy with the thinking required to
solve many of the new item types.
Develop Mystery Sequence/Re-sequence prompts by selecting visuals to sequence or rank; released test items to sequence
or rank, or details from STAAR passages to sequence from the IQ Tool; selecting words to sequence or rank from the
Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides.
Materials:
• handout with mixed-up steps, events, or concepts; or note cards if students create steps

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize visually the sequence you learned by sketching each step.


• What is the cause/effect relationship when one card is removed from the sequence?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Play It – Say It!


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students infer which response best matches a prompt and justify their thinking.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Students create their own response cards and hold them in their hand like playing cards.
Examples:
• 5-7 important terms, concepts, historical figures, characters, formulas
• steps in a process (one step on each card)
• different genres, literary devices, or reading comprehension skills
3. Teacher presents a statement and students match the statement to one of their cards
4. Teacher says, “1-2-3, PLAY IT!” and students slap down their response card.
5. Teacher then says, “SAY IT!” and students shout out their answer, all at the same time.
6. Students justify why they slapped down that card by completing this response stem: “I may not be correct, but I think the answer
is ______ because _____.” Allow students to change their minds after talking.
7. After the teacher has clarified/verified, students turn to their partner and finish this stem verbally or in writing: “The correct
response was _____ because ______.”
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play ways to slap down cards and say their response at the same time. Add an element of humor by asking students to Say It
in different voices: Say it like a cowboy, say it like a football coach, whisper say it, etc.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they will
be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Provide access by previewing response cards with a supportive adult or peer; providing access to the content through student/
teacher notes, journal entries, or visual supports; and/or encouraging text-to-speech supports.
Allow students to interact with virtual games to review vocabulary; consider using the activity as part of an interactive lesson
delivery.
Select examples of new test item types and have students create cards representing the answer choices. Play the game using
these prompts: correct answer – Play It Say It! worst response – Play It Say It! tricky distractor – Play It Say It! Teacher takes pop
outs and clarifies/verifies between each round. Connect the skill of making and justifying choices to many of the new item types
(i.e., multiselect, drag and drop, multipart, and inline choice).
Develop Play It – Say It! prompts by selecting visuals to analyze, released test items to answer, or STAAR passages to compre-
hend from the IQ Tool; selecting words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting common mistakes to
avoid from the Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• index cards, statements or descriptions that correlate to the various response cards
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Sequence the response cards in order from the ideas you know best to those you know least. Get a friend to coach you on the
one you know least.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Sticker Stackers
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students practice describing and sketching important vocabulary words with different partners
with the goal of getting as many stickers stacked on your arm as you can (like badges).
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher provides students a list of 4-5 vocabulary words aligned to a concept, topic, text, or subcluster (include visual
representations of each word as appropriate.)
2. Students are given garage sale dot stickers (or sticky notes) for each word then number their stickers to match the words.
3. Students “ping/pong summarize” the words with a partner.
4. Students stand up with their stickers and dance around the room as music plays. When music stops, students get a partner.
5. Students play “rock, paper, scissors” with their partner – winner selects a word and describes it.
6. If the partner determines the winner’s description was correct, he/she places the appropriate sticker on the winner’s arm.
7. If the description is incorrect, partner can earn the sticker by describing the word correctly.
8. If NEITHER partner can describe a word, they may join another pair and give their stickers to the winner in that group.
9. Repeat steps 4-8 for as many rounds as there are words.
NOTE: A student cannot earn a second sticker for a word he/she already described correctly.
10. Teacher facilitates the music for each round, makes sure every student gets a partner, listens to descriptions, and clarifies/veri-
fies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate and inappropriate sticker “sticking” to clarify behavior expectations.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they will
be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing use of student/teacher notes or vocabulary cards; and/or previewing the words with a supportive
peer/adult.
Encourage students to use an audio/visual support to digitally describe, sketch, or represent words; allow students to interact
with virtual games to review vocabulary at the end of the activity.
Use key words from released test items as the Sticker Stackers word bank. Associate the thinking around vocabulary in this
activity with the thinking around vocabulary required in many of the new item types (i.e., drag and drop, inline choice, and text
entry).
Develop Sticker Stackers word lists by selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides.
Materials:
• garage sale dots or sticky notes (or any type of stickers)
• 4-5 words written on the board and numbered

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about which word was most difficult for you and develop a plan for understanding it better.
• Connect the words by writing 1-2 sentences using as many words from the list as possible.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Stop, Plop, and Roll


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: During a reading assignment (in any subject area), students participate in an interactive game
to better comprehend what they are reading.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners and project the Stop, Plop, and Roll game board.
2. One student reads a short section of text aloud to their partner (paragraph or page).
3. The other student rolls the die and verbally responds to the correlating question on the Stop, Plop, and Roll game board,
focusing only on the one paragraph or section that was just read. The reader may add value to the roller’s response as
appropriate. NOTE: Students DO NOT write their answers at this point; they only respond verbally.
4. Switch reader/roller roles and repeat step 2-3 until the reading is completed.
5. Students roll one last time and perform the task focusing on the WHOLE TEXT and record their response in writing.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a “fishbowl” where a pair of students demonstrate the strategy while the class circles around and
observes. Allow students to roll the dice ten times to get it “out of their system,” roll dice on a book to avoid noise, or use a
virtual die www.lead4ward.com/dice. Consider using the activity as a learning station.
Promote access to text by providing auditory, summarized or electronic text, offering text in manageable chunks, providing
visually supported text, partnering with a supportive peer for read-alouds, and/or allowing text-to-speech supports.
Promote response access by partnering with a supportive peer; allowing use of sentence stems for each task; and/or allowing
speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Encourage text-to-speech support; find virtual dice at www.lead4ward.com/dice/
Select a released test question or passage to use as the prompt for Stop, Plop, and Roll. Associate the thinking in the strategy
with the thinking and comprehension skills required for reading all content area texts.
Select the Stop Plop and Roll prompts using released test questions or passages from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• dice (1 for each pair); Stop, Plop, and Roll game board projected; reading assignment

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize the main ideas of the text by writing the 5 important words.
• Write a one-sentence summary of the text and compare with a friend.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Summary Salad
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students read a passage, create 6 summary cards, mix cards with another pair, and then
sequence the best 6 cards.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students buddy read (take turns reading) an assigned text (any subject area).
2. Student pairs collaborate to create 6 separate cards that summarize the text.
3. Pairs join another pair (4 students) and the 12 cards are mixed together like a salad.
4. The 4 students collaborate to pick out the 6 best cards to summarize the text and sequence the cards in the appropriate,
logical order.
5. Students individually write a summary using the 6 best note cards.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a “fishbowl” where 4 students model how to write their 6 cards, how to mix the 12 cards and
how to negotiate - with respect - as they “pick out” the BEST 6 cards to complete their final summary while the class circles
around and observes.
Promote access to text by partnering with a supportive peer; providing auditory, summarized, or electronic text; offering text
in manageable chunks; providing visually supported text; partnering with a supportive peer for read-alouds; and/or allowing
text-to-speech supports.
Provide response access by providing 2 important facts from the 6 cards to get them started, allowing students to dictate
responses to a scribe, and/or using speech-to-text or word prediction support to record responses.
Consider allowing student groups to collaborate through a virtual space/whiteboard, collect student responses through
digital notetaking/writing supports or through an audio/visual support, and/or consider using the strategy in an interactive
lesson delivery.
Select a released test item (or passage) and have students summarize the 6 most important elements of the question/
passage (words, parts of a visual, answer choices, skills, etc.).
Select appropriate text passages or assessment items to summarize from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• 6 note cards per pair (or notebook paper cut into cards); reading assignment

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Select two cards that represent a cause/effect relationship.


• Make a connection between this summary and something you have previously learned.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Tour of Knowledge
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Analyze concepts, subclusters, stimuli/visuals or text passages aligned to important concepts
through a group rotation activity.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 3-4.
2. Assign each group a specific color and give each group member a marker in their assigned color.
3. Teacher posts 7-8 posters around the room representing various concepts, subclusters, or stimuli (various visuals for math,
science, and social studies; various passages for reading).
4. Groups have 3-4 minutes at each station to record what they know about the stimuli.
• check mark information they agree with from another group
• question mark beside any ideas they think may in incorrect
• add new ideas, sketches, facts, words, connections
5. At the signal, groups rotate to the next Tour of Knowledge poster and repeat step 4.
6. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play ways to advance to the next poster in an organized way using a musical signal and ensure that every student writes
at least one idea/comment on each poster.
Promote access by providing a word/idea bank, allowing use of notes, providing a summary of each concept, allowing a
supportive peer to read any associated text, and/or allowing student to dictate responses to a scribe.
Consider completing the strategy using a virtual space/whiteboard; ask students to summarize their learning using an audio/
visual support.
Select several released test items or passages as the Tour of Knowledge prompts. Associate this deep analysis of visuals and/
or questions with the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., hot spot, match table grid, multiselect, multipart,
drag and drop, equations, graphs, number lines, and fractions).
Develop Tour of Knowledge prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or STAAR passages to analyze from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to analyze from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; and selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts
to analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 7-8 different posters for each Tour of Knowledge station, markers (one unique color for each group)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict how test questions might reflect different stimuli for the same concept.
• Evaluate which stimuli was the most difficult and work with a peer to learn it better.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Triple Play
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Connect important words, descriptions, and sketches.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Write 4-5 important words on the board.
2. Organize students into teams of three and assign each a role: A, B, or C.
3. Assign each group a different term and instruct them to complete the following 3 tasks:
• A = Write the term/word on paper 1
• B = Describe the term in words on paper 2
• C = Sketch or provide a visual example of the word on paper 3
4. Students wad their papers into “baseballs,” and at the teacher’s signal toss them.
5. Students randomly pick up a second and third baseball and toss them.
6. Students pick up a fourth baseball and find two others to make a TRIPLE PLAY: word, description, and sketch.
7. Students call out “TRIPLE PLAY!” and move to sides of room after finding their three matches.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 three or four times, asking students to find a baseball that represents a word they have not yet played with
so that students are exposed to different words.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play how to create the 3 “baseballs,” how to toss appropriately, and how to move to the perimeter of the room once
they have found their Triple Play partners.
Promote access by pairing with supportive peers, allowing students to preview their assigned word, and/or allowing the use
of notes or digital resources.
Consider using a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding; allow students to interact with digital games to review
vocabulary.
Select words associated with complex released test items as the Triple Play prompts. Associate the thinking around words
required in this strategy with the thinking required around words in many of the new item types (i.e., drag and drop, inline
choice, and text entry).
Develop Triple Play prompts by selecting words associated with complex test items or passages from the IQ Tool; selecting
words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher
Learning Reports.
Materials:
• list of 4-5 important terms, 1 sheet of notebook paper per student
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Create a new sketch for the word you ended up with and add to the description.
• Connect one of the words to an assessment item and justify how they are related.

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rehearsal and practice playlist

Undercover Agent
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Parts of a problem, visual, or question are revealed one small piece at a time, and students
synthesize all the clues to determine the big idea.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. The teacher covers up a question, visual, or problem with multiple cover boxes. (This may be done electronically or physically
with sticky notes.)
2. The teacher removes one cover box at a time.
3. Students synthesize the uncovered clues and give a thumbs up signal when they can identify the big idea.
4. As each cover box is removed, students list what they see, synthesize ideas, and give a thumbs up when they can make an
inference about the big idea.
5. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse the strategy with a common visual such as a fast-food logo before using with academic content; encourage partners
to create their own Undercover Agent activity with sticky notes.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by pairing with a supportive peer, allowing students to preview associated visuals with a supportive peer/
adult, and/or providing a word/idea bank to help with clues.
Present the strategy as part of an interactive lesson delivery.
Select visuals associated with complex assessment items as the Undercover Agent prompt. Associate analysis of complex
visuals with the same kind of analysis required in many of the new item types containing visual stimuli (i.e., hot text, hot spot,
match table grid, equation editor, fraction model, number line, graphing, multiselect, multipart, etc.).
Select complex visuals and STAAR passages as prompts from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• paper copy of the problem, visual, or question; cover sticky notes; highlighters

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Justify which clue was your spotlight and how it helped you the most.
• Explain how you made connections with all the revealed clues.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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rehearsal and practice playlist

Vocabulary Pyramid Game


PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Give clues, make inferences, and draw conclusions about important words.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Create the Vocabulary Pyramid Game using the game template provided.
2. Organize students into thinking partners and assign each a role: A or B.
3. Student A gives clues about the word revealed.
4. Student B guesses the word from the clues.
5. When B guesses correctly, A pops up his/her hand and says, “Woo Hoo!”
6. Teacher reveals the next word in the game after hearing 7-8 “Woo Hoos!”
7. Student pairs continue giving clues and guessing until all words are guessed.
8. Conduct an Applause-o-Meter quickcheck: Teacher reads one word on the game board at a time and students applaud
loudly for the one word they thought was most difficult. Teacher reviews the words that receive the most applause.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse the game using simple words (candy, soda, movie titles) before using with academic content.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing use of vocabulary journals, student/teacher notes, and digital resources; preview words with a
supportive peer; include visuals in the gameboard along with the written prompts; consider using as a learning station; and/
or adjust pacing of the game as appropriate.
Present the game electronically using the Vocabulary Pyramid Game template and a digital platform to make the activity
part of an interactive lesson delivery.
Select words associated with complex released test items as the Vocabulary Pyramid Game words. Associate the thinking
around words required in this strategy with the thinking required around words in many of the new item types (i.e., drag and
drop, inline choice, and text entry). Rehearse short constructed response by answering which word in the game was most
important and why.
Develop Vocabulary Pyramid Game word lists by selecting words associated with complex test items or passages from the
IQ Tool; selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from
the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Vocabulary Pyramid Game created using words and visuals (game template provided)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Can the words be classified or categorized in any way?


• Select the 2 most difficult terms and create analogies connecting each to something you are familiar with.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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rehearsal and practice playlist

Who Am I?
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Give clues, make inferences, and draw conclusions about important words.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher assigns each student 1 word from a list of 6-8 terms on the board.
2. Students write their assigned word on a sticky note and sketch a quick visual.
3. Students fold their sticky note, walk around the room, and trade sticky notes 5 times.
4. Without looking, students unfold their new sticky note and stick it to their forehead (or hold it above their head).
5. Students get a thinking partner to give clues and make guesses about their forehead words.
6. After guessing the word, students repeat steps 3-5 for three or four more rounds.
7. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play the activity, especially NOT LOOKING AT YOUR CARD; make sure everyone gets a partner.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing use of vocabulary journals, reviewing words with a supportive peer/adult prior to the game, and/
or providing a list of clues for teaching the words.
Implement strategy through an interactive game application, use a virtual quiz/poll at the end of the lesson to check compre-
hension, and/or allow students to interact with digital games to review vocabulary.
Select words associated with complex released test items as the Who Am I words. Associate the importance of vocabulary
comprehension with the vocabulary requirements in many of the new item types (i.e., drag and drop, inline choice, and text
entry). Rehearse short constructed response by answering which word in the game was most important and why.
Select words associated with complex test items or passages from the IQ Tool, select words from the Academic Vocabulary or
Field Guides; or selectTEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• list of 6-8 important terms; sticky notes

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Apply your understanding of these words by connecting them to assessment questions.


• Describe 3 words you know better after Who Am I.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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rehearsal and practice playlist

Word Whack
PURPOSE – Rehearsal and Practice: Students complete a statement by choosing potential correct answers from a word bank.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher develops a word bank from a targeted concept (subcluster).
2. Teacher then presents a sentence with a word missing.
3. From a word bank, students select a correct response and a distractor (answer that looks good, but is not the best), and they
write both selections on 2 different sticky notes.
4. Students trade their 2 notes with a thinking partner.
5. Students place the two notes their partner gave them on their desk.
6. At the teacher’s signal, “1-2-3 Word Whack!” students WHACK their hand on the answer they think is correct.
7. Students discuss their Word Whack with their thinking partner and are allowed to change their minds after their discussion.
8. Student partners then discuss why the other response is incorrect and the learning mistake it represents.
9. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate/inappropriate ways to whack the word cards and clarify behavior expectations.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to dictate the 2 words to a scribe; providing word cards; allowing use of vocabulary
journals or digital resources; and/or previewing the words.
Use a virtual quiz/poll at the end of the lesson to check comprehension; allow students to interact with digital games to
review vocabulary.
Select words associated with complex released test items as the Word Whack word list. Associate the importance of words
with many of the new item types (i.e., drag and drop, inline choice, and text entry). Rehearse short constructed response by
answering which word in the game was most important and why.
Develop Word Whack word lists by selecting words associated with complex test items or passages from the IQ Tool;
selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the
Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• note cards, sticky notes, or notebook paper cut into rectangles
• sentence with a word missing

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Select a different incorrect response and make an inference about why a


student might mistakenly choose it and the mistake it represents.
• Develop another written sentence using the correct word/phrase in a new
context.

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extending thinking playlist

Card Sort
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Make connections by classifying/categorizing important terms, concepts, visuals, manipulatives,
or assessment items.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students are given (or create) a set of cards reflecting various terms, concepts, visuals, genre demands, or assessment items.
(Manipulatives can also be sorted.)
2. Students work cooperatively to sort the cards into various categories such as the following:
• + (know it) ü (kind of know it) – (don’t know it)
• Always true Sometimes true Never true
• Closed Sort: teacher provides content/concept categories
• Open Sort: students create their own categories
3. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Time Saver: Write words on the board and have students use sticky notes or ripped paper to create word cards.
Model the Card Sort using a think-aloud to verbalize the metacognitive thinking associated with the activity; use at the begin-
ning, middle, and end of a lesson to monitor progress.
Promote access by providing visuals, descriptions, and anchor charts associated with the concepts; partnering with a
supportive peer; allowing peer to read text aloud; and/or creating digital cards that can be read using text-to-speech
supports.
Consider using a virtual space/whiteboard for students to create and sort cards digitally.
Select released test items, words, and visuals to sort associated with a complex released test item. Associate the thinking
required in this strategy with the classification thinking required in drag and drop, inline choice, and match table grid.
Develop cards by selecting visuals or released test items from the IQ Tool or selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary
or Field Guides.
Materials:
• set of cards or manipulatives to sort (or students can create their own cards using sticky notes)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Sequence the cards from those you know best to those you know least.
• What generalization can you make about all the cards?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Compare/Contrast Model
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Compare/contrast two different concepts, texts, visuals, or problems by collaboratively building a
tactile-visual model.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into triads and provide each group a set of materials:
• 2 white plastic plates for topics • 6 blue plastic plates for differences
• 6 purple plastic plates for similarities • set of sticky notes (write ideas on the notes
• 6 red plastic plates for differences and place them on the plates)
• OPTION: use sticky notes on each plate instead of writing on plates
2. Each group member gets 2 plates of each color.
3. WHITE: Students write the two topics being compared.
4. PURPLE: Students take turns writing similarities.
5. BLUE: Students take turns writing differences for #1.
6. RED: Students take turns writing differences for #2.
7. Teacher clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
8. Collect each group’s best purple, blue, and red ideas to create a final model for students.
OPTION: Transfer model to writing by summarizing the most important ideas.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse strategy by comparing 2 fast food restaurants before using with content. Consider conducting a “fishbowl” activity
where 1 group models the strategy while others observe. Write ideas on sticky notes so plates can be reused . Consider using
the activity as a learning station.
Promote access by providing an idea/word bank, partnering with 2 supportive peers, providing summaries of each topic,
previewing the 2 topics with a supportive peer/adult, and allowing speech-to-text or word prediction support if creating the
model digitally.
Consider having students create the model using audio/visual supports or a virtual space/whiteboard.
Use 2 released test items with different stimuli as the topics for comparison or use with paired passages in RLA. Rehearse
short constructed response by asking students to write about the most important similarities/differences; associate students’
compare/contrast thinking with thinking required in match table grid.
Develop Compare/Contrast Model topics by selecting 2 complex visuals, 2 complex test items, or 2 RLA passages from the
IQ Tool; selecting 2 complex words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting 2 TEKS cluster or subcluster
concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 1 baggy of materials per group; 2 items to compare
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Write a summary of the best similarity, the best difference for topic #1, and the best difference for topic #2.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Connect the Dots


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Make connections among four different visuals, terms, assessment questions, events, texts, historic
figures, or characters.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of two or three.
2. Project the Connect the Dots handout representing four different visuals, terms, assessment questions, events, texts, historic
figures, characters, etc.
3. Students make connections between the two ideas at the end of each arrow: relationships, similarities, differences.
4. Teacher models the connection between the topics/images on the first 2 dots: relationships, similarities differences. (I do)
5. Student pairs work collaboratively to record connections between the next 2 pairs of words/images. (we do)
6. Student independently records connections using last pair of words. (you do)
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse strategy with candy examples before using with academic content. Use the following for the 4 dots: 4 released test
items, 4 complex words/concepts, 4 visuals, 4 subcluster concepts, 4 texts, 4 types of learning mistakes, 4 characters, 4 histor-
ical figures, or 4 math visuals.
Promote access by providing an idea bank, pairing with a supportive peer,using concrete objects for the 4 dots in a 3D activity,
and/or providing summaries or visuals of each topic.
Allow students to record their connections using a virtual space/whiteboard.
Use 4 different released test items or visuals as the dots. Emphasize the importance of gaining fluency with various stimuli as is
required in many of the new item types (i.e., hot spot, match table grid, inline choice, drag and drop, equation editor, fraction
model, number line, and graphing).
Develop Connect the Dots prompts by selecting visuals or test items from the IQ Tool, selecting words from the Academic
Vocabulary or Field Guides, or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Connect the Dots handout, notebook or chart paper, markers (if handout is projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• What conclusions or generalizations can you draw about the ideas on all four dots?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Crash Card Connections


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Students crash vocabulary and visual cards down into stacks, communicating connections.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of three or four.
2. Provide each group with a set of 10-20 cards containing visuals and vocabulary words (or ask students to create the card set
using sticky notes or index cards).
3. Distribute cards so that each student has a set.
4. Leave the last 2 cards face up in the center of the table as the “discard” decks.
5. At the teacher’s signal, students take turns (in random order) “crashing” cards down onto the 2 “discard” decks, stating the
connection their card has to the last card played (similar to the game “Slap Jack” with playing cards).
6. Students continue “crashing” cards and stating connections until every card is played.
7. Teacher sees and hears students connections and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate/inappropriate card “crashing” and how to communicate the connections.
Promote access by encouraging students to use journals/notes, assigning a specific set of cards that students preview with a
supportive peer/adult, playing the game with one supportive partner instead of 3-4, and/or adjusting the pace of the game.
Consider ending the activity with a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding; allow students to interact with digital games
to review vocabulary.
Select highly tested academic vocabulary words and visuals from released test items. Associate the thinking around words
and visuals with the thinking required in inline choice, drag and drop, and text entry.

Consider selecting visuals from the IQ Tool and selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides.

Materials:
• set of visual and vocabulary cards per group

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Pick up two random cards and compare/contrast how these two concepts are similar and different.
• Select a word card and create/develop a visual for that card.

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extending thinking playlist

Idea Shuffle
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Generate an idea from a specific question, then students trade cards, and rate.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher presents the class with a short constructed response question, a Think it Up question, or an assessment item with the
answer choices removed.
2. Students anonymously respond to the question on a note card.
3. Idea Shuffle:
• Trade: Students stand up and mix around the room trading cards at least 5 times.
• Read: Students carefully read the card they have.
• Rate: Students evaluate the response by rating the card on the back:
• 3 = excellent! (well-written, great thinking!)
• 2 = good! (makes sense, good thinking)
• 1 = getting there! (good start but needs a little more work)
4. Repeat 3 rounds of Idea Shuffle so students read/rate 3 cards.
5. After the third round, ask students to add all three ratings for a total.
6. Students read 3-4 examples that scored 8-9 points so students see/hear good examples.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ responses and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
8. Teacher presents a second, similar short constructed response question. Students get a second chance to write a quality response.
Students submit their response to the teacher as an exit ticket out the door instead of trading, reading, and rating.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model trading 5 times, read/rating, and preview exemplars of responses that represent a 1, 2, and 3.
Promote access by previewing the question, using a thinking stem to frame response, writing response with a supportive peer/
adult, allowing students to dictate response to a scribe, and/or using a speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Allow students to submit a final, revised response using an audio/visual support or implement strategy with notetaking/writing
digital support.
Associate the think/talk/write process in Idea Shuffle with the organic thinking required in short constructed response, equation
editor, graphing, number line, fraction model, and text entry new item types. Use with any Think It Up question stem to rehearse
process standard thinking.
Develop Idea Shuffle prompts using released test questions with the answer choices removed from the IQ Tool; use Think It Up
questions as Idea Shuffle prompts.
Materials:
• question, note cards
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Apply what you learned by rewriting your original response.

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extending thinking playlist

Justified List
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Select examples of a concept from both positive and negative exemplars, then justify your
thinking.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Provide students with a question stem and written or visual examples/non-examples, such as:
• Science: Which of the following can you justify is a mixture?
• Math: Which of the following equations can you justify as examples of positive slope?
• Social Studies: Which of the following can you justify as causes of the Civil War?
• Reading: Which of the following statements can you justify as inferences?
2. Students are provided a list of examples and non-examples associated with the question,
including both text and visuals as appropriate.
3. Students check positive examples and justify response.
4. Students write the rule that reflects the common attributes of positive examples.
5. Using Musical Mix-Freeze-Group, students share/compare responses with a peer.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse strategy with a simple fun topic before using with academic content. Allow students to choose any response if they
can justify their thinking.
Promote access by revealing 1 positive example AND 1 negative example to launch thinking, allowing students to work with a
supportive peer, and/or allowing the use of speech-to-text or word prediction support if using a digital version of the Justified
List template.
Integrate strategy with an interactive lesson delivery. Require students to summarize the connected concepts/positive exem-
plars through an audio/visual support.
Associate making and justifying choices in Justified List with the thinking required in multiselect, match table grid, and multi-
part new item types.
Develop Justified List prompts by selecting visuals and content examples/nonexamples from the IQ Tool or selecting content
statements from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Justified List handout (copied or projected), notebook paper (if handout is projected for students’ responses)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare/Contrast your response to peer’s and revise your list as you see fit.
• Create/Develop two more positive examples.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists
(adapted from Keeley’s Science
Formative Assessment)

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extending thinking playlist

Link It Up
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Make connections between ideas that reflect various cognitive relationships.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Students cut paper into strips using white paper and 2 other colors of your choice.
3. Students write ideas from content recently learned on the colored strips and then Link It Up by writing a connection between
the 2 ideas on the white strip.
4. Possible connections between the two strips could include:
• topic on strip 1 – topic on strip 2 – cause or effect on the white link
• fact/detail on strip 1 – fact/detail on strip 2 – inference on the white link
• text title #1 on strip 1 – text title #2 on the other – connections on the white link
• character on strip 1 – character on strip 2 – similarities on the white link
• event on strip 1 – event on strip 2 – sequence, order, or connection on the white link
5. Pairs tape their links together, with the white connection link in the middle.
6. Students work collaboratively to make as many connection links as they can.
7. Students Pair-SQUARE-Share to explain their connection links.
8. Teacher sees and hears the students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to cut and connect the strips and provide exemplars; consider using activity as a learning station.
Promote access by providing pre-cut strips, providing the 2 topics/ideas for the colored strips so students focus only devel-
oping the connections, and/or allowing speech-to-text or word prediction supports if completing activity digitally.
Use a virtual space/whiteboard or audio/visual support to capture students’ most significant Link It Up connections.
Associate the connections students make among various (but related) topics (assessment items, ideas, events, historical
figures, characters, mathematical representations, texts, etc.) to the thinking associated with many of the new item types.

Develop Link It Up prompts by selecting visuals, test items, or passages to connect from the IQ Tool; selecting words to
connect from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to connect from the
Teacher Learning Reports.

Materials:
• white paper, color 1 paper, color 2 paper, scissors, tape

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Evaluate all the connection links you and your partner created; write a paragraph explaining your strongest connection link.

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extending thinking playlist

Matching Double Trouble


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Make connections between words, descriptions, and visuals.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Provide each group a set of cards over 5-10 vocabulary words that include the following: word cards, description cards, and
visual cards.
3. Students distribute the cards and then collaborate to match the word cards – to the description cards – to the visual cards,
justifying their matches.
OPTION: Students create a card set over 3 words. Then they trade cards with another group who created a set of cards over 3
different words. Then students match the other group’s cards: word, description, visual.
4. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how each word has a double match – a description AND a visual.
Time Saver: Assign groups different sets of 3-4 words. Have groups create the word, description and visual cards. Groups
trade and play. Consider using activity as a learning station.
Promote access by previewing the cards with a supportive peer/adult, allowing a peer to read the text aloud, and/or allowing
for speech-to-text or word prediction if creating digital cards.
Allow students to create digital cards using a virtual space/whiteboard, an audio/visual support, or a notetaking/writing
support.
Create the Matching Double Trouble cards (teacher or students) using released test items: card 1 is the question and stimuli,
card 2 is the answer choices, card 3 is blank. Students match the question with the answer choices and then write the related
TEKS cluster concept on the blank card.
Develop Matching Double Trouble cards by selecting visuals, test items, or passages from the IQ Tool; selecting words from
the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.

Materials:
• Matching Double Trouble card set (or provide handout of the cards that student cut apart)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about which word is most important and explain why.
• How can you classify or categorize the words?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Nine Squares
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Think, talk, and write about a text or image to determine facts/details, make inferences, and
draw conclusions.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students read a text, view a visual, or focus on a specific subcluster concept.
2. Students think about the text, visual, or concept by writing the following:
• 5 facts/details (What did it say?) or (What do I see?)
• 2 inferences or examples (What did it mean?) or (What are examples?)
• 2 conclusions or real world applications (Why does it matter?)
3. Students cut their Nine Squares apart, trade with another student, and sort their partner’s cards into the 5 facts,
2 inferences, and 2 conclusions. Students talk to each other about how they sorted the cards, correct mistakes, and justify
responses.
4. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
5. Option: Teachers can use other prompts such as 5 things I know, 2 visuals or examples, and 2 questions I still have.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Explain the difference between the 3 prompts and the thinking they require.
Promote access by providing the 9 ideas already completed in random order and asking students to cut and sort them into
the 3 categories, provide thinking stems to frame responses, partner with a supportive adult/peer, provide auditory text,
and/or allow text-to-speech and/or speech-to-text support and word prediction support.
Allow students to create their Nine Squares digitally through notetaking/writing supports or audio/visual supports.
Use a released test item with the following prompts: 5 things you see, 2 things you need to know, and 1 correct answer
justified. Students share and compare.
Develop Nine Squares prompts by selecting visuals, test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; selecting words to
include in their squares from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to
analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• reading passage or visual, Nine Squares handout, notebook paper (if handout projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize what you learned from this activity by writing a nine-word recap.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Odd One Out


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Compare/contrast four visuals, assessment questions, words, characters, historical figures, etc.,
to determine which is Odd One Out and justify your thinking.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 4.
2. Project the Odd One Out template reflecting 4 words, test questions, visuals, characters, historical figures, etc.
3. Students number off 1-2-3-4 and summarize their assigned word/visual:
• Visuals or assessment items – students repeat 4-5 times: If this visual/item could talk, it would tell us __________.
• Words – student repeat 4-5 times: This word is important because ____________.
4. Students individually compare all 4 words/visuals and select the 1 that is Odd One Out:
• has an attribute the other 3 do not have
• is missing an attribute the other 3 do have
• is a completely different category than the other 3
5. Each student shares and justifies their Odd One Out choice. The objective is NOT for every student to select the same re-
sponse; instead, the objective is to get students to deeply analyze 4 common visuals/words so they can transfer what they
know to a variety of visual situations.
6. Teacher takes pop out ideas and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse strategy with common visuals (candy, soft drinks, etc.) before using academic content. Allow more than 1 response
if students’ justifications are reasonable.
Promote access by allowing students to preview words/visuals, providing written descriptions for each word/visual, allowing
students to work with a supportive peer, and/or allowing use of notes.
Consider using the strategy as part of an interactive lesson delivery. Encourage students to summarize each visual and justify
the Odd One Out using an audio/visual support.
Use 4 different released test items as the visual prompts. Emphasize the importance of gaining fluency with various stimuli
as is required in many of the new item types (i.e., hot spot, match table grid, inline choice, drag and drop, equation editor,
fraction model, number line, and graphing).
Develop Odd One Out prompts by selecting visuals, test items, or passages to compare from the IQ Tool; selecting words to
compare from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to compare from
the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Odd One Out handout copied or projected; notebook paper (if handout is projected)
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Cut 4 words/visuals apart and sequence them in order of importance or chronology.


• Select one square and predict how this information might be assessed.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists
(adapted from Keeley’s Science
Formative Assessment)

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extending thinking playlist

Rock and Roll Vocabulary


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Students think deeply about complex vocabulary terms.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Provide student pairs with a die.
3. Present students with a list of 5-6 complex terms.
4. Student pairs take turns rolling the die. The number rolled dictates the task.
5. Each student secretly selects a word, performs the task, and their partner guesses which word is being described, sketched,
acted out, etc.
6. Potential tasks:
Reading, Science, Social Studies Tasks Math Tasks
1 = state the meaning in your own words 1 = state the meaning in your own words
2 = provide a synonym 2 = provide an example
3 = provide an antonym 3 = provide a non-example
4 = create a quick sketch 4 = create a quick sketch
5 = connect to real life 5 = connect to a real-world situa�on
6 = act it out 6 = act it out

7. Students continue until they have analyzed all 5-6 words.


8. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a “fish bowl” where a partner pair demonstrates the strategy while the class observes. Allow
students to roll the dice ten times to get it “out of their system.” Roll dice on a book to avoid noise or use a virtual die
www.lead4ward.com/dice. Consider using activity as a learning station.
Promote access by providing descriptions of words, providing visual support of words, pairing with a supportive peer,
previewing words with a supportive peer/adult, and/or providing thinking stems to frame responses.
Randomize the vocabulary and the tasks using an interactive lesson delivery. Use a virtual quiz/poll to check for comprehen-
sion at the end of the activity. Allow students to interact with digital games to review vocabulary.
Associate the importance of vocabulary with all STAAR items but especially for drag and drop, inline choice, and text entry.
Rehearse short constructed response by responding to a teacher-provided question using the words from the Rock and Roll
Vocabulary word list.
Select words from the Academic Vocabulary, Field Guides, and/or Teacher Learning Reports.

Materials:
• dice, Rock and Roll Vocabulary handout (printed or projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal
entry as evidence of learning. Encourage students to use
lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems
to frame responses.

• Classify/Categorize the words and add


other related terms to the list.
• Connect 2-3 terms and explain their
relationship.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Talk a Mile a Minute


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Students make inferences about words and draw a conclusion about the words and the
categories they belong to in this fast-paced game.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Prepare the Talk a Mile a Minute game board. (template provided)
2. Organize students into partner pairs and assign roles of clue giver and guesser.
3. Clue giver provides clues, hints, and descriptions for each word in column #1
4. Guesser guesses the words from the clues and then guesses the entire CATEGORY.
5. Students raise hands and shout, “Woo Hoo!” after successfully guessing each category.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 with each word column until all 3 columns are completed.
7. Teacher sees/hears which words are troublesome and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse first with simple ideas (candy, soft drinks, etc.) before playing with academic content.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by providing a word bank including descriptions and visuals, partnering with a supportive peer, previewing
words before activity, and/or adjusting the pace of the game.
Use a virtual quiz/poll at the end of the activity to check for understanding. Consider integrating into an interactive lesson
delivery; allow students to interact with digital games to review vocabulary.
Select vocabulary words from complex released test items. Ask students to justify in writing which word is the most
important to rehearse short constructed response. Associate this type of classifying, categorizing, and connecting with the
thinking required in match table grid.
Develop Talk a Mile a Minute prompts by selecting words from the Academic Vocabulary, Field Guides, or Teacher Learning
Reports.
Materials:
• Talk a Mile a Minute game board prepared with words and category titles

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Select a difficult word and make a connection to another word you know better.
• Categorize the words into different categories.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Three’s a Crowd
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Students analyze three different visuals, determine which is not a fit, and then create a
connected word or visual to create the Three’s a Crowd organizer.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher provides students with a triangle with 3 different visual stimuli at each point.
2. Organize students into groups of 3.
3. Each student describes the importance of one of the visuals. “If this visual could talk, it would tell us ________.”
4. After each visual has been reviewed, students discuss which visual is not a ‘fit” with the other two, and cover that visual with
a sticky note.
5. Students then sketch another visual or write a word to complete the triangle so that all three points are connected.
6. Students then write a phrase explaining how all the visuals/words are connected in the center of the triangle.
7. Challenge Extension: Students take the one discarded visual and create a NEW triangle with three connected visuals or
words, pass the triangle to another group who must write the connection statement in the center of this new Three’s A
Crowd triangle.
8. Teacher sees and hears connections students are making and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse strategy with simple visuals (candy, soft drinks, etc.) before using with academic content.
Promote access by allowing students to preview the words/visuals with a supportive peer, allowing use of notes/journals,
and/or providing access to digital visuals.
Allow students to use a notetaking/writing support or an audio/visual support to sketch or write their new idea.
Select visuals from complex released test items. Ask students to justify in writing which visual is the most important to
rehearse short constructed response. Associate the evaluation, synthesis, and justification thinking in Three’s a Crowd with
the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, hot text, multiselect, and match table grid).
Develop Three’s a Crowd prompts by selecting visuals from the IQ Tool.
Materials:
• handout (triangle with 3 visuals), scissors, blank paper, tape

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Make an inference about how these visuals could be infused into an assessment question.
• Connect each visual with a TEKS subcluster concept.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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extending thinking playlist

Tic-Tac-Tally
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Think deeply, talk to peers, and write connections between words, visuals, and assessment items.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of three.
2. Provide each group with a handout reflecting 3 words, 3 visuals, and 3 test items.
3. Students cut out the nine cards and distribute them among the group members.
4. Project the Tic-Tac-Tally game board and students draw on a sheet of paper or with erasable marker on their desks.
5. Students individually take turns playing a card on the board, writing their connections on the game board.
6. When 3 connections are made (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally), students shout “Tic-Tac-Tally” and then try to make
3 additional connections.
7. Teacher clarifies/verifies students’ connections.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model strategy through a “fishbowl” activity where a group of students models the strategy while the class circles around
them and observes.
Promote access by providing pre-cut cards, partnering with 2 supportive peers, allowing use of notes/journals, allowing a
preview of the strategy with a supportive adult, and/or dictating responses to a scribe.
Infuse the strategy into an interactive lesson delivery; implement the strategy using a virtual space/whiteboard.
Create the cards using questions, visuals, and words from released test items. Ask students to rehearse short constructed
response by justifying which Tic-Tac-Tally connection was most important from their final game board. Associate the connec-
tions students make between words and visuals in Tic-Tac-Tally with the type of connections required in many of the new
item types (i.e., drag and drop, match table grid, and hot spot).
Select released test items and visuals from the IQ Tool; select words from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides.
Materials:
• handout – 1 per group, scissors, Tic-Tac-Tally game board (projected), notebook/chart paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Challenge your team to get a “blackout” Tic-Tac-Tally game board by making connections across the board.
• Remove three cards from the board and create new cards to complete the connections.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists
(adapted from Law Related
Education)

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extending thinking playlist

Vocabulary Dominoes
PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Make connections between important words and concepts.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into pairs or triads.
2. Provide each group a set of Vocabulary Dominoes with important terms and visuals.
OPTION: Have students create their own domino cards. Example of vocabulary dominoes below:

3. Each student draws a domino from the pile until all are distributed.
4. Teacher determines the first domino played as the “spinner” to begin the game.
5. Each player takes a turn matching one of their Vocabulary Dominoes with a domino on the board, explaining how the two
terms are related to each other.
6. Students continue taking turns and making connections until all dominoes are played.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model using a “fishbowl” activity where a few students rehearse the strategy while the class circles around them and observes.

Time Saver: Provide 8-10 words/visuals and ask students to create their own Vocabulary Dominoes using sticky notes.
Promote access by providing descriptions of words/visuals, pairing with supportive peers, and/or allowing students to preview
the vocabulary with a supportive adult.
Include the activity as part of an interactive lesson delivery; allow students to interact with digital games to review vocabulary.
Select words and visuals from released test items. Connect the importance of vocabulary to all new item types but especially
to drag and drop, text entry, and inline choice. Associate the thinking in Vocabulary Dominoes with the kind of evaluation,
synthesis and justification required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, hot text, hot spot, multiselect, and match
table grid).
Select visuals from the IQ Tool and select words from the Academic Vocabulary, Field Guides, or Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• set of Vocabulary Dominoes – teacher or student created

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Evaluate which dominoes were the most difficult to connect and describe them in detail.
• Sort the words/visual dominoes into categories.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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extending thinking playlist

Would You Rather ...


PURPOSE – Extending Thinking: Students are presented with two viable choices and must justify which they prefer.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into partners.
2. Teacher presents students with 2 choices by saying, “Would you rather 1.) _______ or would you rather 2.) ________?”
For example: Would you rather …
• be a cell in 1.) prophase or 2.) metaphase?
• learn about the Civil War by 1.) watching a video clip or 2.) discussing a political cartoon?
• begin reading by 1.) analyzing the text features or 2.) previewing the questions?
• do the following task: 1.) mow 3/4 of the yard or 2.) mow 5/8 of the yard?
3. Students can respond in several fun ways:
• Students create 2 small cards (#1 and #2) and slap down their response.
• Students can “shoot” 1 finger or 2 fingers (like rock, paper scissors).
4. After responding, students justify their choice with their partner.
5. Teacher asks for responses and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play with non-academic choices first to learn the strategy (e.g., “Would you rather have a Snickers or a Butterfinger?”).
Promote access by allowing students time to discuss each option with a supportive peer/adult before making a final decision.
Include a Would You Rather.. question as a virtual quiz/poll.
Connect the justification required in Would You Rather... to the thinking required in multiselect and hot spot new item types
because more than one response may be correct, depending on your perspective and justification.
Consider selecting prompts/questions from released test items in the IQ Tool or from the common mistakes found in the
Field Guides.
Materials:
• Would You Rather… statements

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Justify why someone might select the OTHER choice.


• Analyze the cause/effect relationship of your choice.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

3-2-1 Test Review


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Create student ownership in learning from graded assessments and help teachers prioritize
which items to review.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. As students think through each item on a computerized test/quiz, they write the question # on paper and code each question
with a plus, check, or minus symbol. (Students place symbols directly on a paper test.)

2. After students receive their grade, they access the test electronically and their coding sheets in order to think, talk, and write
about strengths and mistakes following the projected 3-2-1 Test Review template:

3. Teacher facilitates students mixing around the room to discuss and coach each other on their “3s” and “2s.”
4. Teacher collects and organizes the “1” questions on the sticky notes, selects 3-4 to review with the whole class, and uses a
strategy like Make the Case or IQ Slap Down to help students discover and correct their learning mistakes on these targeted
questions.
5. Teacher sees and hears students thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
6. Students summarize what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the plus, check, minus coding activity during an electronic test and role play how to find friends to help coach the
“2s,” ensuring all students have various thinking partners. Students who scored a 100 select 3 difficult questions, 2 tricky
questions, 1 weird question.
Promote access by allowing students to code and discuss questions with a supportive peer/adult, providing a paper copy of
the test questions, encouraging students to celebrate the questions they got correct by using their expertise to help others,
allowing a peer to read the test questions aloud, and/or allowing speech-to-text or word prediction supports if completing
with a digital version of the 3-2-1 Test Review template.
Record 3-2-1 Test Review ideas in a virtual space/whiteboard to promote collaboration and finding friends who can coach
2s. Use a scaled slider through an interactive lesson delivery application to indicate level of confidence on test items. Record
ideas around tricky questions using an audio/visual support.
Use strategy to help students correct STAAR 2.0 mistakes AND to help students identify which STAAR 2.0 Item types they find
easy, medium, or difficult. For example, a student might record the following: 3 = EASY - inline choice, multiselect, drag and
drop; 2 = MEDIUM - short constructed response and multiselect; 1 = DIFFICULT - match table grid.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• Graded assessment
• OPTIONAL: 3-2-1 Test Review handout (printed or projected), notebook paper (if projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• What learning strategies will you apply to correct a mistake you (or others) made?
templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Balloon Bop
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students analyze an assessment question and correct learning mistakes by participating in a
collaborative balloon activity.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 5-6 and provide each group with 1 blue balloon and 1 green balloon.
2. Project a complex assessment question (multiple choice and/or STAAR 2.0 item).
3. Round 1:
• as music plays, students pass the blue balloon around the circle like “hot potato”
• when music stops, person holding blue balloon shares one way to start - group shares another
4. Round 2:
• as music plays, student bop the green balloon around the circle, not letting it hit the ground
• when music stops, person holding green balloon eliminates 1 answer choice - group eliminates another
5. Round 3:
• as music plays, students pass blue balloon and bop the green balloon at the same time
• when music stops, person holding blue and green balloons debate the final 2 answer choices
• group decides which answer is correct

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to pass blue balloon and bop green balloon. Role play how students must STOP playing when the music stops
and how the person nearest the balloon is the one who grabs it without argument.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing balloon holder to “phone a friend” to collaborate on response, previewing the questions,
allowing use of notes/journals, and/or providing the correct answer for student to justify.
Present the concept as a quick, virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding and to address misconceptions.
Select a released test item to use with the strategy. Associate the justification in the strategy with the thinking required in
many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• blue and green balloons (may substitute with colored paper), music from template provided

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Connect a mistake to the steps of how to avoid the mistake in the future.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Brain in the Game


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Access content by knowing how to start answering complex assessment questions.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students get their Brain in the Game as they analyze and think about a difficult assessment question:
• Analyze the item’s visual stimuli (chart, table, picture, word problem, genre, etc.) by completing this statement with a
partner 6-8 times: “If this visual (genre) could talk, it would tell me ____________.”
• Identify 3-5 important vocabulary terms in the item and describe them to a peer.
• Predict what the question might be about by summarizing the “big idea” (which TEKS cluster, subcluster, or genre the
question represents).
2. Musical Mix-Freeze-Group and have pairs compare, discuss, and justify responses.
3. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
4. Students answer the question, justify responses, summarize what they learned, and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the tasks with a simple, fun question before using academic content. Ensure each student has partner. Post a graphic
of a filing cabinet with all the TEKS clusters listed so students can use it to answer: “What’s this about?”
Promote access by allowing student to process question with a supportive peer/adult, providing sentence stems to frame
responses, allowing text-to-speech support as needed, and/or allowing for speech-to-text or word prediction support if using
with a digital version of the Brain in the Game template.
Conduct the activity using a collaborative virtual space/whiteboard. Use a virtual quiz/poll to gather responses for each
question. Infuse strategy into an interactive lesson delivery to elicit online, open responses.
Use released test questions as the prompts, clarifying that different item types may require a different approach. For
example, the visual in a hot spot question may be the most important part of the question, while the word bank in an inline
choice item may be the most important element to emphasize.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• assessment item, Brain in the Game handout (printed or projected), notebook paper (if projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare the stimuli in 2 questions. How are they the same/different?


• Justify that there are different ways to start answering assessment questions.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Catch and Release


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students toss a paper ball around their small group to analyze an assessment question
through the lenses of process – content – process.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of 4-5 and present the class with an assessment question that has visual stimuli. (Question may
be traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0 item type.)
2. Provide each group with 1 blue paper ball (process) and 1 green paper ball (content).
3. Round 1: Students pass the blue paper ball around the circle like a “hot potato” as music plays. When the music stops:
• CATCH: Student holding the blue paper ball explains what the question is about (process) then releases the ball to anoth-
er student.
• RELEASE: New student explains a way to start (process). Group agrees or adds new ideas.
4. Round 2: Students throw and catch the green paper ball across the circle. When the music stops:
• CATCH: Student holding the green paper ball describes 2-3 important words in the question and why they are important
(content) then releases the ball to another student.
• RELEASE: New student explains the importance of the visual stimuli (content). (If this visual could talk, it would tell me
_____.”
5. Round 3: Students pass the blue paper ball around the circle while at the same time they throw and catch the green paper
ball across the circle. When the music stops:
• CATCH: Students holding the green paper ball and the blue paper ball collaborate to find the correct answer and justify
why it is the best. Group either agrees or respectfully challenges.
• RELEASE: Release paper balls to two new students who collaborate to find the distractor (tricky incorrect answer) and
explain the mistake represented in this response. Group agrees or respectfully challenges.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model appropriate and inappropriate ball tossing to clarify behavior expectations. Rehearse the strategy with a simple, fun
question before using with academic content.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing balloon holder to “phone a friend” to collaborate on response, previewing the questions,
allowing use of notes/journals, and/or providing the correct answer for student to justify.
Present the concept as a quick, virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding and to address misconceptions; integrate strategy
into a virtual game.
Select a released test item as the prompt for the strategy. Associate justifying choices in the strategy with the thinking
required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• assessment question provided or projected, strategy template with sentence stems provided or projected, music, green
and blue paper balls

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict how this concept might be assessed in a variety of ways.


• How does this question connect to another question or concept?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists
© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist
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learning from mistakes playlist

Chatterbox
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students think, talk, and write to deeply analyze an assessment question and to correct their
mistakes through a Chatterbox game.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into partners and project a troublesome assessment question. (Question may be traditional multiple choice
or a STAAR 2.0 item.)
2. Students cut/fold the Chatterbox template into the Chatterbox toy.
3. Round 1:
• Student 1 chooses a word on the Chatterbox and student 2 spells it – working the Chatterbox.
• Student 1 chooses a number and student 2 counts it out – working the Chatterbox.
• Student 1 chooses another inside number and student 2 lifts the tab to reveal the question.
• Student 1 answers the question and student 2 compliments or coaches.
4. Round 2:
• Repeat step 3 with students switching roles.
• Repeat for 6-8 rounds, with each student answering 3-4 questions.
5. Teacher sees/hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies 3-4 questions from the Chatterbox as appropriate.
6. Students summarize what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to cut/fold/create the Chatterbox. Rehearse the Chatterbox strategy with a simple, fun question before using
with academic content. Consider using the activity as a learning station.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question, partnering with a supportive peer, allowing use of student/teacher notes/
summaries of the content, and allowing peer to read the question aloud.
Present the concept as a quick, virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding and to address misconceptions.
Select released test items as the prompts. Rehearse short constructed response by requiring students to write a note to a
friend explaining the correct response.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• Chatterbox template and scissors, assessment question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about how the Chatterbox questions helped you better understand the concept.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Fixer Upper
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students analyze the reason they missed an assessment question.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Return a graded assessment to students.
2. Using the Fixer Upper template (printed or projected) to record ideas, students get a thinking partner to help them correct
1-2 test questions they missed by analyzing the following:
• Foundation: What is the foundational topic of the question?
• Stimuli/Visuals: Why is the stimuli/visuals (or genre) in the question important?
• Words: What are the important 3-5 words in the question and what do they mean?
• Learning/Thinking Mistake: What mistake did you make? (guess? stop too early? mix up concepts? careless mistake?)
• Fixer Upper Plan: How will you correct your mistake next time?
3. Using a movement and discourse strategy like Rise and Shine, students find a new partner, describe their fixer mistake, and
explain how they corrected it.
4. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
5. Students summarize in writing what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud; consider using activity as a learning station.
Students who made a 100 select 1-2 questions they thought were the most difficult for the activity and predict potential
mistakes others may have made.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by providing the Fixer Upper graphic, allowing students to select the 2 questions to “fix up” with a supportive
peer/adult, and/or allowing student to dictate responses to a scribe.
Present the concept as a quick, virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding and to address misconceptions.
Extend the activity by asking student to discuss at least 2 ways their Fixer Upper questions could be assessed using the STAAR
2.0 format (e.g., How could this be assessed as a drag and drop?, How could it be assessed as a multipart? etc.).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• graded assessment, Fixer Upper handout (printed or projected), notebook paper (if projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Apply the mistakes others made to your own work. Explain how you made similar mistakes or how you avoided those
errors.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Focused Listing
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students collaborate to develop a comprehensive list of words, visuals, etc. associated with
the major visuals, subclusters, or texts in a unit.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Post chart paper around the room with the major visuals, subclusters, or texts from a unit.
2. Organize students evenly among the posters and provide each group member with a marker of their group’s assigned color.
3. Each student adds at least 1 idea to each poster.
4. Groups collaborate to list as many related words, visuals, events, characters/people, examples, main ideas, etc.
5. Original groups analyze the other groups’ comments on their poster then complete a 1-minute verbal summary of the main
ideas.
6. Students write what they learned about each topic in a graphic organizer or in their journals.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies additions, confirms strikethroughs, and answers questions as
appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Assign student groups and their specific posters. Move one group at a time to their assigned posters to avoid chaos. Clearly
model the revolution pathway. Use music as your movement signal.
Promote access by previewing the assigned poster topics/visuals, providing an idea/word bank, allowing the use of student/
teacher notes/summaries of the content, allowing students to dictate ideas to a scribe, and/or allowing speech-to-text or
word prediction support if completing the task digitally.
Encourage students to use an audio/visual support to record their group’s 1-minute summary, conduct activity using a
virtual space/whiteboard instead of posters, and/or infuse the strategy through a word cloud activity in an interactive lesson
delivery.
Select released test items as the prompts. Add a final task at each poster to rewrite the question into a different STAAR 2.0
format (e.g., change it into a drag and drop or a multiselect question).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• chart paper with different questions, words, visuals, etc.; markers (different color for each group)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Make a connection between 3 of the posters. How are they related?


• Evaluate all the posters and justify one word as the most important for each topic.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Go with the Flow


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students analyze incorrect assessment questions using a step-by-step flow map.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students choose 1 question they missed on a graded assignment.
2. Using the Go with the Flow template, they think about their mistake: guessing, careless, stopped too soon, or mixed things up.
3. Using the Rise and Shine strategy, students get a partner, talk about their mistake, and develop a correction plan.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 with another incorrect item and a new partner.
5. Students write about how to avoid making that same mistake in the future in their journals or notes.
6. Teacher sees and hears student’s thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the use of the Go with the Flow template as a think-aloud and ensure everyone gets a partner. Students who made a
100 select the most difficult question and do the activity over mistakes one MIGHT make on this question.
Promote access by pairing with a supportive peer, assisting students in selecting the appropriate question to analyze,
allowing students to dictate responses to a scribe, and/or using student/teacher summary notes.
Students use an audio/visual support to record a summary of the mistake they corrected and how they plan to avoid that
error in the future.
Select released test items as the prompts. Rehearse short constructed response by asking students to write a note to a friend
explaining how to avoid this mistake.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• graded assessment, Go with the Flow handout (printed or projected), notebook paper (if projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Generalize what type of mistake you make most often and how you can avoid these errors in the future.
• Develop a plan for learning the concepts better on which you were “mixed up” or “guessed.”

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Investigating the Question (IQ) Slap Down Game


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Analyze or practice assessment items by determining the worst answer, the distractor, and
the correct answer through a slap down game.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Provide students with an assessment question. (Assessment questions may be traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0
item.)
2. Organize students into thinking partners and each creates a set of response cards based on the type of question:
• multiple choice: create A-B-C-D cards • hot spot: create cards over the hot spot options
• drag and drop: create cards with drag options • multipart: create A-B-C-D cards
• inline choice: create cards with the inline response choices • multiselect: create answer cards
3. Round 1: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the WORST answer: justify with partner; pick card up; teacher clarifies.
4. Round 2: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the DISTRACTOR: justify with partner; pick card up; teacher clarifies.
5. Round 3: At teacher’s signal, students slap down the CORRECT answer: justify with partner; pick card up; teacher clarifies.
6. Teacher sees and hears student’s thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
7. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid those mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to create the cards, how to slap them down appropriately at the same time so no one cheats, and explain that a
distractor may represent a partially correct answer.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question, pairing with a supportive peer, providing the correct response and the distractor
so students only explain/justify, and/or allowing the use of student/teacher summary notes.
Present question as a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding at the end of the activity. Students record how to avoid
making a mistake in the future using a virtual audio/visual support. Using an interactive lesson delivery, students drag and
drop answer choices into the categories: worst, distractor, correct.
Select a released test item as the prompt. Associate the deep analysis of potential responses in the strategy with the thinking
required in many of the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• assessment question, notebook paper or index cards to create response cards

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• What was the main cause for student mistakes on this question?
• Predict another way this question might be asked.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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learning from mistakes playlist

Make the Case


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Defend or prosecute answer choices as incorrect (guilty) or correct (innocent).

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Present students with an assessment question. (Assessment questions may be traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0
item.)
2. Organize students into groups of 4 and allow them time to analyze the question:
• Analyze the visual stimuli (or genre): If this visual could talk, it would tell me _______ .
• Analyze the vocabulary: three important words in the question are _______, _______, and _______ because ______.
• Analyze the topic (TEKS cluster or subcluster): This question is mainly about _______.
3. Assign each student a potential answer choice.
4. Students huddle together with their answer choice group in different corners of the room to determine if their answer choice
is ...
• Correct or “innocent” by explaining why it is the correct response OR
• Incorrect or “guilty” by explaining why their answer is the incorrect response
5. Students return to their home group and have 1 minute each to Make the Case by prosecuting guilty/wrong answers and
defending innocent/correct answers.
6. Students deliberate and come to consensus about which answer is innocent (correct).
7. The teacher sees and hears the students’ defense or prosecution arguments and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
8. Students summarize what they learned, sketch a related visual stimuli, and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Rehearse with a question about candy or soft drinks before using with academic content. Role play how to appropriately
move into/out of expert groups, and model how to verbally Make the Case.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question, pairing with a supportive peer, allowing the use of student/teacher summary
notes, and/or providing student a written defense or prosecution while in expert group to share when making their case in
their home groups.
Record defense/prosecution arguments in expert groups using an audio/visual support and play it in their home groups to
Make the Case.
Select a released test item as the prompt. Associate the justification in the strategy with the thinking required in many of the
new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• assessment question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict which answer choice most students may have mistakenly chosen and
how this error could be avoided.
• Infer which errors were careless mistakes and how to correct them.

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learning from mistakes playlist

Pick Up the Slip Up


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Analyze three statements associated with a concept and make inferences about which two
are true and which is inaccurate.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners.
2. Students create A-B-C cards and place them on their desks.
3. Teacher presents three statements or examples: two are true/accurate and one is a “slip up” that represents a common
mistake students often make.
4. The teacher instructs students to:
• “Think!” (think about which statement is the slip up or mistake)
• “Hover!” (students hover their hand over their ABC cards showing they are ready)
• “1-2-3, Pick Up the Slip Up!” (students grab the letter of the slip up and hold it high)
5. Students justify slip up response with a thinking partner.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
7. Students summarize in writing what they learned and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy with a question about candy or soft drinks before using with academic content. Role play the hover move-
ment and the way to pick up the card that represents the lie or slip up.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by allowing students to preview the 3 statements, partnering with a supportive peer, allowing a peer to
re-read the 3 statements aloud, and/or providing the slip up answer so students only justify why it is the lie.
Present question as a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding at the end of the activity. Record how to avoid making a
mistake in the future using a virtual audio/visual support.
Use 3 answer choices from multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, drag and drop, or multiple choice ques-
tions as the 3 Pick Up the Slip Up statements.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• notebook paper, sticky notes, or note cards; 3-4 sets of Pick Up the Slip Up statements

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Infer how to rewrite one of the false statements into a true statement.
• Create/Develop your own Pick Up the Slip Up statements and play the game with a thinking partner.

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learning from mistakes playlist

Presto – Chango!
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Magically change a multiple-choice question into an open-ended, short constructed
response item to deepen thinking and to correct learning mistakes.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Select a troublesome multiple choice assessment question from a previous assignment, assessment, or the lead4ward IQ
Analysis Tool.
2. Students Presto – Chango! revise the question to align to the THINKING associated with one of the STAAR 2.0 item types listed
below!
• Short Constructed Response – students cut off or cover the answer choices and write a short constructed response to
justify their answer. Students/compare with a peer and revise thinking as necessary.
• Multipart – students get a partner, select the appropriate response from the multiple choice responses provided, and col-
laborate to write a justification for their answer. Share/compare/revise thinking as necessary.
• Multiselect – students select a correct response with a partner then provide an additional justified correct answer. Share/
compare/revise thinking as necessary.
• Hot Spot – students select and justify the correct multiple choice response then use the question’s visual (or sketch a
visual) drawing 1 dot on the visual to represent the most important “hot spot.” Students write a justification for why they
placed their dot in that location. Share/compare/ revise thinking as necessary.
• Inline Choice – students take the 4 multiple choice answer choices and “morph” them into 4 “inline choice” options, select
the correct response, and justify their answer. Share/compare/revise thinking as necessary.
• Math – students “morph” math multiple choice questions into equation editor, number line, graphing, or fraction model
STAAR items.
3. Teacher sees/hears students’ responses, asks for pop-out answers, facilitates discussion, and clarifies/verifies as necessary.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model several think-alouds showing how to “morph” multiple choice into a STAAR 2.0 format. Select a multiple choice ques-
tion appropriate for the activity (i.e., the answer choices are not an integral continuation of the question stem).
Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, allowing student to dictate responses to a scribe, allowing
students to use speech-to-text support, providing the question already in STAAR 2.0 format where the student focuses on
how the question changed rather than changing it himself, and/or allowing speech-to-text or word prediction support if
completing the activity digitally.
Consider having students work in collaborative groups using a virtual space/whiteboard to record their new questions; record
the new versions of the questions using a notetaking/writing support.
Provide visual exemplars of the different STAAR 2.0 question types.
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• multiple-choice question, note cards or folded notebook paper
Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.
• Summarize a mistake or misconception that was corrected during the activity.

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learning from mistakes playlist

Rock and Roll Item Review


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Analyze complex test questions in six different ways to determine mistakes in content and
thinking.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into thinking partners and provide each pair with a die.
2. Present students with several assessment items. (Assessment questions may be traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0
item.)
3. Student pairs take turns rolling the die and analyzing the item based on the task associated with the number rolled:
• 1 = state the concept or big idea of the item (which TEKS cluster or subcluster aligns to this item?)
• 2 = explain the importance of the visual/genre
• 3 = communicate your plan for answering
• 4 = select the worst answer choice (justify)
• 5 = determine the distractor (justify)
• 6 = determine the correct answer (justify)
4. Students continue rolling the die until they have completed all the activities for each assessment item assigned.
5. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
6. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model with a simple, fun question first. Allow students to roll the dice ten times to get it “out of their system.” Roll dice on a
book to avoid noise or use a virtual die www.lead4ward.com/dice. Consider using strategy as a learning station.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by previewing the question, pairing with a supportive peer/adult, providing thinking stems, and/or providing
the answers to #4, #5, and #6 where students focus only on the justification.
Present question as a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding at the end of the activity. Students record how to avoid
making a mistake in the future using a virtual audio/visual support.
Select a released test item as the prompt. Associate the deep analysis in the strategy with the thinking required in many of
the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.
Materials:
• assessment question(s), dice, Rock and Roll Item Review handout (projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Predict how to avoid a careless mistake over this concept.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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learning from mistakes playlist

Toss a Question
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Collaboratively practice and analyze various assessment items, focusing on stimuli, terms,
errors patterns, and distractors.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into 6 different groups and give each a different assessment question. (Assessment questions may be
traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0 item.)
2. Student groups collaborate to analyze and write a response to 1 part of each question.
• Round 1: Analyze the stimulus and explain why it is important (toss)
• Round 2: Identify and describe 3-5 key terms (toss)
• Round 3: Predict the big idea (toss)
• Round 4: Justify the best answer (toss)
• Round 5: Justify the worst answer (toss)
• Round 6: Predict a careless mistake and how to avoid it (toss)
3. At the teacher’s signal, groups wad-up their question and “toss” it to the next group.
4. Groups analyze, collaborate, and complete the next task over their new question.
5. At the end of round 6, groups review their original question to determine the best response.
6. Teacher provides the correct responses, encourages discussion about other possible answers, and clarifies misconceptions as
appropriate.
7. Students summarize what they learned in writing and note how to avoid mistakes in the future.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate wadding/tossing action and clearly designate tossing paths.
Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, using text-to-speech support or allowing peer to read questions
aloud, and/or providing the answers for rounds 4 and 5 so students focus on justification.
Select 1 question from the 6. Use virtual audio/visual support to record how to answer step-by-step and how to avoid a
mistake. Students choose 1 video from class postings to watch.
Select released test items as the prompts. Associate the deep analysis in the strategy with the thinking required to answer
the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• 6 different assessment questions; Toss a Question template (projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Evaluate which question was the most difficult to analyze and explain why.
• Infer which round was easiest for you and which round was most difficult; explain why.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

(Adapted from Kagan Cooperative Learning)

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learning from mistakes playlist

Triad Trades
PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students are organized into triads to deeply think, talk, and write about an assessment item.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into triads.
2. Each triad is presented with a different assessment question. (Assessment questions may be traditional multiple choice or a
STAAR 2.0 item.)
3. TRIAD TASKS:
• Paper 1: Triads write their assigned assessment question on paper #1.
• Paper 2: Triads analyze the stimuli on paper #2. (If this visual could talk, it would tell us ________.)
• Paper 3: Triads write their justification for the correct answer and summarize a mistake to avoid on paper #3.
4. When all triads are ready, they mingle around the room trading papers 5 times with random people.
5. Students then mingle to find new triads to match the NEW paper they have: #1 the item, #2 the stimuli analysis, and #3 the
correct answer justification/mistake to avoid.
6. When students form their new triad, they discuss the question and the responses they currently have. Then they either
challenge or add new ideas to make the responses and justifications stronger.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate/inappropriate ways to trade responses and how to mix-mingle to find triad matches.
Promote access by partnering with two supportive peers, allowing student to dictate responses to a scribe, using journal/
notes/visual supports, and/or allowing peers to read the question aloud.
Present questions as virtual quizzes/polls to check for understanding at the end of the activity.
Select released test items as the prompts. Associate the deep analysis in the strategy with the thinking required to answer
the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• notebook paper, assessment questions (1 for each triad group)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Sequence all the questions in the order of the ones you understand most to those that are most challenging.
• Develop a plan for better understanding the 3 questions at the end of the sequence.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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learning from mistakes playlist

Yes, No, Maybe So


PURPOSE – Learning from Mistakes: Students categorize and defend answer choices as “yes” (correct), “no” (incorrect), or maybe
so (potential correct response).

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into groups of four and present the class with an assessment question without revealing the answer
choices. (Assessment questions may be traditional multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0 item.)
2. Assign each student a letter A – B – C – D, ask students to write their letter on a sticky note, and instruct students move to
their assigned corners to huddle with other students who have their same answer choice.
3. Group A is provided ONLY with answer choice A; group B is provided ONLY with answer choice B; group C is ONLY provided
answer choice C; group D is provided ONLY with answer choice D. (Note: for non-multiple choice responses, students are sim-
ply provided 4 different possible answers.)
4. Student huddles discuss and determine if their assigned answer is a:
• Yes – answer is correct (write a justification on the back of their sticky notes)
• No – answer is incorrect (write the mistake represented on the back of their sticky note)
• Maybe So – answer could possibly be correct (write a question about what additional information you need to confirm it
is correct or not on the back of the sticky note).
5. Huddles go back to their home groups.
6. Students verbally explain justify their responses, challenge and debate, and come to consensus.
7. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
Alternate Option:
• Teacher presents a statement to students.
• Students play rock, paper, scissors to represent their answer choice:
• Students justify their response with a partner.
• Teacher clarifies/verifies.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Role play appropriate/inappropriate ways to move into and out of the expert huddles. Role play the rock, paper, scissors
responses if using the alternate option.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, using notes/journals/visual supports, and/or asking a peer to
scribe the expert group’s justifications for their Yes, No, Maybe So response.
Present question as a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding at the end of the activity. Record how to avoid making a
mistake in the future using a virtual audio/visual support.
Select a released test item as the prompt. Associate the deep analysis in the strategy with the thinking required to answer
the new item types (i.e., multipart, multiselect, inline choice, hot spot, hot text, and drag and drop).
Select released test items from the IQ Tool as the prompt and address common mistakes from the Field Guides.

Materials:
• Sticky notes, assessment question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Make an inference about which learning mistake the majority of students might make and how they could avoid that
mistake.
• Compare/Contrast this question to another assessment item over the same concept. What are the similarities? What are
the differences?

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evidence of learning playlist

3-2-1 Summary
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Summarize learning and think deeply about content.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students write 3 things they learned.
2. Students write 2 examples, applications, or inferences about what they learned.
3. Students write 1 question or draw 1 conclusion about what they learned.
4. Students turn in their 3-2-1 Summaries as an exit ticket.
5. Teacher evaluates students’ 3-2-1 Summary responses and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by providing an idea/word bank for each section, allowing students to dictate responses to a scribe, providing
thinking stems to frame responses, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with a
digital version of the 3-2-1 Summary template.
Allow students to use a notetaking/writing digital support, an audio/visual support, or a speech-to-text/word prediction
support if using a digital version of the 3-2-1 Summary template.
Select a released test item and complete the strategy summarizing 3 important words and what they mean, 2 important
parts of the visual/passage, and 1 justified correct answer.
Select 3-2-1 Summary topics by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to summarize from the IQ Tool; selecting
words to summarize from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to
summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Optional: 3-2-1 Summary handout (projected), notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Share your summary with another student and add one new idea to any section.
• Get a partner and apply what you know to help answer each other’s 1 question.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Connect 4 Thinking
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Make connections between a concept or text and other words, ideas, or visuals.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Each student individually analyzes an assigned concept or text by making 4 different connections.
The 4 possible connections may include the following:
• synonym or antonym
• analogy or real-life connection
• quick sketch or visual
• example or non-example
• another term, concept, or text
• genre demands
• assessment item
2. Using Musical Mix-Freeze-Group, students share and compare their learning connections and add new ideas.
3. Teacher analyzes students’ connections and adjusts instruction as appropriate.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by partnering students with a supportive peer/adult, providing an idea/word bank, allowing use of teacher/
student notes and visuals, allowing student to dictate responses to a scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-
text or word prediction support with a digital version of the Connect 4 Thinking template.
Require students to explain their connections using an audio/visual support; allow notetaking/writing support if using a
digital version of the Connect 4 Thinking template
Select a released test item as the prompt where students connect to another question, another visual, other words, and a
real-life application.
Develop the Connect 4 Thinking topic by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to analyze from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to
analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Connect 4 Thinking handout (projected), notebook or chart paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Justify which connections help you understand and remember this concept best.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Exit Ticket
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Provide evidence of learning by applying a skill, answering a question, or summarizing content.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students demonstrate or explain their level of understanding to provide evidence of learning through an Exit Ticket.
Exit Ticket may include the following ideas:
• answer a Think It Up question
• answer a 1 question “quiz”
• write a one-minute paper
• 1-minute paper brain dump
• describe and sketch a term
• complete a 3-2-1 Summary
• write a symbol (plus, check, minus) with an explanation
• draw an emoji symbolizing your understanding
2. Teacher notes Exit Ticket responses, patterns, and trends, and adjusts instruction accordingly.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by providing an idea/word bank, allowing use of thinking stems, allowing students to dictate responses to a
scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support as a digital exit ticket.
Allow students to use an audio/visual support to record ideas or collect responses in a virtual space/whiteboard.
Present a released test item as a one-question quiz exit ticket where students explain and justify the correct response.
Associate making and justifying choices in an exit ticket with the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., multi-
part, multiselect, hot spot, drag and drop, inline choice, etc.).
Develop Exit Ticket prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analzye from the IQ Tool; selecting words
to analyze from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to analyze from the
Teacher Learning Reports; or selecting Think It Up questions.
Materials:
• Exit Ticket prompt or question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion by explaining why this learning was important.


• Make an inference about what might be difficult to understand about this concept.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Graphic Organizers
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Organize information into a graphic representation to provide evidence of learning, connections
between ideas, and reflect specific thinking.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students brainstorm ideas or identify specific content information, then organize and represent their thoughts/connections in
a Graphic Organizer.
2. Select a Graphic Organizer based upon the type of thinking being targeted such as:
• Cause/Effect Graphic Organizer • Make Connections Graphic Organizer • Predict Graphic Organizer
• Classify/Categorize Graphic Organizer • Generalize Graphic Organizer • Summarize Graphic Organizer
• Compare/Contrast Graphic Organizer • Sequence/Order Graphic Organizer
3. Students complete the organizer individually.
4. Through a movement and discourse strategy, students get a partner and share/compare organizers, adding new ideas as
appropriate.
5. Teacher evaluates students’ Graphic Organizer responses and adjusts instruction accordingly.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Consider implementing Ball Toss Boogie for 2 minutes to collaboratively brainstorm ideas that might go into the graphic
organizer before students individually complete the task.
Promote access by providing an idea/word bank, allowing students to think through the demands of the organizer with a
supportive peer/adult, dictating responses to a scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction
support using digital versions of the graphic organizers.
Allow students to explain completed graphic organizers through an audio/visual support; infuse digital graphic organizers into
interactive lesson delivery.
Encourage students to determine which TEKS cluster (or genre) is associated with a released test item before students
complete a graphic organizer analyzing that TEKS cluster concept. Ask students to summarize graphic organizers in writing as
a rehearsal of short constructed response. Ensure that students realize graphic organizers can be found in many of the new
item types.
Select Graphic Organizer prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; selecting
words to include in their organizers from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster
concepts to analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Graphic Organizer (printed or projected), notebook paper (if organizer is projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize what you learned from your Graphic Organizer in 3 sentences.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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evidence of learning playlist

High-Five Summary
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students prove they understand a concept by creating a detailed summary.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students draw their hand on a sheet of paper.
2. Students record the following ideas in their “high-five” hand:
• Thumb: big idea of the lesson/unit
• Pointer: 3 important words
• Middle: visuals or text titles
• Ring: something important
• Pinkie: something confusing
• Palm: one-sentence summary
3. Using a movement and discourse strategy such as Musical Mix-Freeze-Group, students get a partner and share their
summary, revising original responses as appropriate.
4. Teacher sees/hears students’ summarizations and adjusts instruction as appropriate.
Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by providing a word/idea bank, thinking through the task with a supportive peer/adult, dictating responses
to a scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with a digital version of the High-
Five Summary template.
Encourage students to explain their High-Five Summary using an audio/visual support or implement with notetaking/writing
digital support.
Select a released test item as the prompt for students to analyze and summarize. Associate the analysis of words and visuals
in the strategy with the thinking required in many of the new item types (i.e., hot spot, hot text, match table grid, or any item
with a visual stimulus).
Develop High-Five Summary prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to summarize from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to include in their summaries from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or
subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• High-Five Summary template (projected), notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Sequence your summary into steps. What comes first, second, third, etc.?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Independence Day
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students analyze their performance, noting where they are independent learners, where they
need assistance, and how they might improve.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Before the unit assessment, students PREDICT their grade.
2. After the test, students record their ACTUAL test grade.
3. Students use the Independence Day matrix to place check marks in the boxes reflecting their level of dependence/indepen-
dence.
• Tools to Know: can you get started on your own?
• Content: how well do you understand the unit concepts?
• Ways to Show: can you demonstrate you know this in multiple ways?
4. Students then develop a plan for becoming more INDEPENDENT learners.
5. The teacher supports students’ independence plans.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by allowing students to process ideas with a supportive peer/adult and encouraging students to focus on the
Tools to Know questions as the first priority.
Implement the strategy as part of an electronic portfolio. Allow students to complete the matrix using notetaking/writing
support or through text-to-speech/word prediction support.
Reflect on the task through the lens of both process and content. Associate the analytical thinking around process/content/
process in Independence Day with the thinking that will be required in all dual-coded STAAR items.
Complete the Independence Day matrix in response to released test items or passages from the IQ Tool, or select TEKS
cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports as the prompt.
Materials:
• Independence Day matrix printed for each student, assessment to analyze

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize your plan to become a more independent learner.


• Draw a conclusion about why you did better, worse, or exactly as you predicted.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

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evidence of learning playlist

Mind Bender
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Collect evidence that misconceptions and false assumptions have been corrected.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Provide students with the Mind Bender handout (or project and students record ideas on notebook paper.)
2. Students think about how their previous misconceptions have done a “mind bender,” adapting and changing into new,
confirmed information.
3. Students use Mind Bender stems to write about what they have learned: I used to think _____ but now I know _____.
I used to be clueless about _____ but now I know _____.
4. Students get a partner to share/compare and talk about the new ideas they have learned.
5. Teacher evaluates students’ Mind Bender responses, adjusts instruction accordingly, and clarifies/verifies the dispelled
misconceptions.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, providing an idea bank/anchor charts/vocabulary journals,
allowing students to dictate ideas to a scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support
with a digital version of the Mind Bender template.
Submit Mind Benders using an audio/visual support or with notetaking/writing digital support.
Implement this strategy to collect evidence that students learned from their mistakes. Explain that the written justification
in Mind Bender is preparing them to apply that same written justification skill in multipart, short constructed response, and
extended constructed response new item types.
Develop Mind Bender topics by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages from the IQ Tool; selecting words from the
Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.

Materials:
• Mind Bender handout (printed or projected)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Create a visual to teach the new idea you know best. Then teach a peer the concept.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

One Minute Paper


PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Summarize learning through a quick writing activity.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Teacher asks students to summarize the ideas, concepts, skills, and processes they learned by writing for approximately 1-3
minutes.
2. Students may write a paragraph, a bulleted list, or create a graphic organizer.
3. Students share their One Minute Paper using the movement and discourse strategy Think and Throw.
4. Students huddle into small groups, share papers, and read out 2-3 of the best.
5. Students submit their One Minute Paper as an exit ticket.
6. Teacher evaluates students’ responses and adjusts instruction as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model One Minute Paper over a different topic using a think-aloud. Allow students up to 5 minutes to complete the quick
write, provide examples of well-written papers, and role play how to crush/throw papers.
Promote access by providing sentence starters, allowing students to process the task with a supportive peer/adult, allowing
students to dictate ideas to a scribe, and/or using a speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Allow students to capture ideas with speech-to-text support or with notetaking/writing digital support.
Associate the thinking in One Minute Paper with the open-ended thinking and organic responses required in the short
constructed response, text entry, and equation editor.
Develop One Minute Paper prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to summarize from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to include in their papers from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or
subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about why this information is important.

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evidence of learning playlist

Show and Tell and Teach


PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students provide evidence that they understand a concept by showing, telling, and teaching a
friend how to answer an assessment question aligned to the assigned concept.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into pairs and assign each a letter: A or B.
2. Provide students with 2 assessment questions on the same assigned concept. (Assessment questions may be traditional
multiple choice or a STAAR 2.0 item.)
3. SHOW and TELL: Partner A SHOWS partner B three important parts of the question:
• SHOW 3 important words and TELL what they mean and why they are important.
• SHOW where the visual is (or genre) and TELL why it is important by completing this sentence 4-5 times: “If this visual (or
genre) could talk, it would tell me _____.”
• SHOW and TELL what the question is about and how you would start.
4. TEACH: Partner A TEACHES partner B how to answer the question:
• Teach how to answer the question by verbally explaining it step-by-step.
• Teach why the correct answer is the best by justifying the response.
• Teach one learning mistake to be careful to avoid when answering questions like this.
• After partner A has finished, partner B may ask questions, challenge a response, or add value to what partner A said.
5. SWITCH ROLES: Partner B now completes a Show and Tell and Teach with problem #2 by completing steps 3-4.
6. Teacher clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model with a pair of students as a “fishbowl” activity where a few students model the strategy while the class circles around
and observes.
Promote access by providing sentence stems for each step, allowing the use of student/teacher notes, partnering with a
supportive peer, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with the digital version of
the Show and Tell and Teach template.
Present items through a virtual quiz/poll to check for understanding; allow students to collaborate using a virtual space/
whiteboard.
Select 2 released test items as the 2 Show and Tell and Teach prompts. Associate the analysis of words and visuals in the
strategy with the thinking required in many of the new item types that include complex vocabulary and a variety of visual
stimuli.
Develop Show and Tell and Teach prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to teach from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to teach from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to
teach from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 2 assessment questions over the same concept, project Show and Tell and Teach template for students to follow

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about this concept. What is easy to understand? What parts of this concept are confusing?
• Compare/Contrast the 2 questions. How are they the same? How are they different?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

SNAP-tastic
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Communicate your understanding through a Snapchat-type response.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Draw a quick sketch representing what was just taught.
2. Add a caption summarizing the sketch.
3. Write one sentence explaining your sketch.
4. Make it funky by adding an emoji reflecting how well you understand this information:

5. Fold your SNAP-tastic response like an airplane and send it through “cyberspace.”
6. Pick up a SNAP-tastic response, huddle with a group of 3-4, and share responses.
7. Come to consensus of how well the class understood the concept: thumbs up; thumbs sideways, or thumbs down.
8. Teacher evaluates students’ consensus responses and adjusts instruction accordingly.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by providing an idea/word bank, allowing students to dictate responses to a scribe, providing thinking stems
as sentence starters, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with the digital version
of the SNAP-tastic template.
Complete using an audio/visual support or notetaking/writing support; include as an activity in an interactive lesson delivery.
Present students with a visual from a released test item; students create another visual connected to the concept through
SNAP-tastic. Associate the analysis and creation of visuals in the strategy with stimuli analysis required in many of the new
item types (i.e., match table grid, hot spot, and any other new item type that includes visual stimuli).
Develop SNAP-tastic prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages from the IQ Tool; selecting words from the
Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• SNAP-tastic handout (printed or projected), notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Justify why understanding the content through visuals is so important.

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Tabletop Tweet
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Communicate your understanding of content by describing, sketching, and summarizing what
you learned.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Using 140 characters or less, students describe what they learned.
2. Students then create a graphic, diagram, or quick sketch to capture the big idea.
3. Students then summarize what they learned with a hashtag phrase.
4. Students crush their tweet and toss it across the room.
5. Students pick up a random tweet and add one more idea in the re-tweet box.
6. Teacher sees and hears students’ thinking and adjusts instruction as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model how to complete the activity through a think-aloud. Role play how to crush and throw.
Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, providing students an idea/word bank, providing a thinking stem
for box 1, allowing students to dictate ideas to a scribe, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word predic-
tion support with a digital version of the Tabletop Tweet template.
Include as part of an interactive lesson delivery or implement with notetaking/writing digital support.
Complete a Tabletop Tweet over a released test item: 1) summarize what the question is about; 2) sketch another related
visual; 3) write a hashtag; 4) crush/trade/add an idea.
Develop Tabletop Tweet prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to summarize from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to include in their tweet from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or
subcluster concepts to summarize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• Tabletop Tweet handout (printed or projected), notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Compare/Contrast the Tabletop Tweet to a real tweet. What changes would you make it this was a REAL tweet?

templates available at
lead4ward.com/playlists

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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evidence of learning playlist

Team-Two-One
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students prove they understand a concept by answering a question as a team, a question with
a partner, and answering a question independently.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Organize students into teams of 4.
2. Present a question, task, text, or problem for the Team to solve collaboratively.
3. Teacher clarifies/verifies justification for best responses.
4. Present a question, task, or text for Two students (pairs) to solve or read collaboratively.
5. Teacher clarifies/verifies justification for best responses.
6. Present individual students (One) with a final question, task, or text to answer or read independently.
7. Teacher collects and evaluates Team-Two-One question responses and adjusts instruction as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Clearly organize students into pairs and teams of 4. Role play the movement/collaboration for each step of the Team-
Two-One activity.
Remind students there will be no harm or humiliation for incorrect answers because as they participate in the strategy, they
will be growing the brain’s neural networks (getting smarter) when they correct mistakes!
Promote access by partnering with supportive peers, allowing peer to read questions aloud, and/or allowing students to work
with a supportive adult on the individual (one) question.
Allow students to collaborate using a virtual space/whiteboard; include strategy with interactive games.

Select 3 questions representing 3 different item types for the strategy.

Develop Team-Two-One prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; selecting
words to describe from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster concepts to summa-
rize from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• 1 team question, 1 pair question, and 1 individual question

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Change one part of the final question stem and make an inference about how the correct response should now change.

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evidence of learning playlist

Thought Bubbles
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students provide evidence of learning by connecting ideas through thought bubbles.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students write the lesson’s topic, the text title, or big idea in the center of their paper.
2. Throughout the lesson, students add Thought Bubbles when new learning occurs.
Thought Bubbles may be connections to:
• key words • a fact or detail
• important facts • a skill
• various visuals • steps in a process
• previous lessons
3. Students trade Thought Bubbles, share ideas, and add 1-2 NEW bubbles to their paper.
4. Teacher analyzes students’ Thought Bubbles and clarifies/verifies as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model a few Thought Bubbles with whole class. Students complete the remaining bubbles independently.
Promote access by participating in Ball Toss Boogie to brainstorm/collaborate about ideas that could be in the Thought
Bubbles as a preview activity, allowing use of notes, allowing students to dictate responses to a peer, partnering with a
supportive peer/adult, and/or developing responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with a digital version
of the Thought Bubbles template.
Implement Thought Bubbles using a virtual space/whiteboard, implement with notetaking/writing digital support, or
implement a word cloud activity in real time using individual devices to capture class responses through an interactive lesson
delivery.
Select a released test item as the topic. Students complete Thought Bubbles over the important elements of the question
(important words, skills, concepts, processes, visuals, etc.). Students summarize the MOST IMPORTANT idea in their Thought
Bubbles to rehearse short constructed response.
Develop Thought Bubbles prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; selecting
words to include in their bubbles from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster
concepts to analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Trade Thought Bubbles with a friend and evaluate which idea is most unique and profound.
• Summarize your Thought Bubble by writing 2 sentences that captures the ideas on your 2 best bubbles.

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Total Recall
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students recall academic content and the affective aspects they felt while learning the content.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students fold notebook paper to create 4 quadrants and then complete 4 Total Recall tasks associated with the lesson/unit
content:
• Section 1: list and describe 3 important words or facts
• Section 2: sketch 1-2 important visuals
• Section 3: connect this new content with something you’ve learned in the past
• Section 4: draw an emoji representing how you felt while learning this content (happy face, confused face, sad face,
thumbs up, thumbs down, etc.)
2. Teacher collects students’ Total Recall responses and adjusts instruction as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the strategy using a think-aloud.


Promote access by providing an idea/word bank for each quadrant’s task, allowing students to process the task with a
supportive peer/adult, allowing students to dictate responses to a scribe, and/or recording ideas using speech-to-text or
word prediction support.
Ask students to record their ideas using an audio/visual support; allow use of a digital notetaking/writing support.
Use a released test item as the prompt. Associate the thinking around words and visuals in the strategy with the thinking
required in many of the new item types.
Develop Total Recall prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; selecting
words to include in their analysis from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or subcluster
concepts to analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• notebook paper

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize your Total Recall ideas in 2-3 sentences.


• Compare the difficulty of these concepts with one previously learned.

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What’s On Your Plate?


PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Brainstorm all the concepts, words, processes, and skills taught in a unit of instruction, and
then evaluate strengths and weaknesses.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Provide each student with a paper plate.
2. Students brainstorm everything they learned in this unit including concepts, skills, vocabulary terms, visuals, processes, etc.
3. Rock Star Ideas: Students draw a star beside the 2-3 ideas they understand the best.
4. Loopback Ideas: Students circle 2-3 ideas they are still confused about.
5. Students then participate in three rounds of Musical Mix-Freeze-Group:
• Round 1 – Partner #1: share brainstormed ideas and add new ideas
• Round 2 – Partner #2: summarize their Rock Star ideas
• Round 3 – Partner #3: explain/coach each other about loopback ideas
6. Teacher collects and evaluates the paper plates and adjusts instruction, review, and intervention as appropriate.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Model the activity using a think-aloud. Demonstrate how to select the rock star and loopback ideas, and ensure each student
has a partner.
Promote access by providing a word/idea bank, allowing students to process ideas with a supportive peer/adult, allowing
students to dictate responses to a scribe, and/or recording ideas using speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Allow students to record ideas in a virtual space/whiteboard or with digital notetaking/writing support.
Determine the TEKS cluster (or genre) associated with a released test item and complete the What’s On Your Plate? activity
based on the designated TEKS cluster.
Develop What’s On Your Plate? prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool;
selecting words to include in their analysis from the Academic Vocabulary or Field Guides; or selecting TEKS cluster or
subcluster concepts to analyze from the Teacher Learning Reports.
Materials:
• paper plates

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Draw a conclusion about how your #1 Rock Star idea and your #1 Loopback idea will be tested.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist


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Wishful Thinking
PURPOSE – Evidence of Learning: Students analyze their understanding of concepts using the lead4ward Student Learning
Reports and make 1-3 wishes to help them improve.

Step-by-Step Instructions
1. Students self-reflect on each “I CAN” statement on lead4ward’s Student Learning Report:
• write a symbol in Check Up columns: + (I know it)  (I know parts of it) – (I don’t know it yet)
• write “I WISH” in the NOTES column on 1, 2, or 3 concepts they wish to improve.
• for each “I WISH,” students write a specific question about the concept on a sticky note.
2. Organize students into 3 or 4 Wishful Thinking groups (6-8 students in each group).
• groups move to assigned corners
• students organize sticky note wishes into categories
• use group’s strengths to grant (answer) wishes or recruit experts from other groups to help “grant wishes”
• give unanswered wishes to teacher
3. Teacher uses ungranted wishes to form intervention groups.

Helpful Hints: classroom mgmt differentiation tech connections staar 2.0 connections lead4ward connections

Implement this strategy before/during/after instruction as a progress measure. Use with subclusters rather than the entire
Student Learning Report. Role play how to categorize sticky-note wishes and how peers can “grant” wishes.
Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult, allowing partner to read the I CAN statements and sticky notes
aloud, dictating ideas to a scribe, and/or recording ideas using speech-to-text or word prediction support.
Allow students to collaborate using a virtual space/whiteboard or with digital notetaking/writing support. Ask students to
create a “how to” sharable video for their targeted skill, question, or task using an audio/visual support.
Select a variety of released test questions over a designated concept. Students complete the Wishful Thinking activity based
on their confidence and competence for each item.
Develop prompts by selecting visuals, released test items, or passages to analyze from the IQ Tool; address the common
learning mistakes using the Field Guides.
Materials:
• Student Learning Report (printed), sticky notes (3 per student)

Think It Up
Choose a Think It Up question as an exit ticket or a journal entry as evidence of learning.
Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems or Spanish Thinking Stems to frame responses.

• Summarize how your wish was granted by explaining to a friend what you learned.
• Draw a conclusion about why you will perform better on an “I WISH” concept next time.

© lead4ward All rights reserved. instruc�onal strategies playlist

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