1. Ken Klieman Chart Paper – How To Do It
In this activity, students blog about content on chart-paper you provide, which is an ideal
way for students to reflect on that content. In addition, students are exposed to their
peers’ perspectives. This lesson simultaneously promotes dialogue and checks for
understanding. The added bonus is that the chart-paper products that are created can be
used as reference guides throughout a unit or for end of-year reflections. Following are
the multiple learning modalities accessed using this teaching format:
▶▶ Interpersonal
▶▶ Intrapersonal
▶▶ Linguistic
▶▶ Logical-Mathematical
▶▶ Spatial
This activity can be used to review or preview what you are teaching, regardless of
content. (For example, if you are teaching math, you can write multi-stage problems and
students can write a narrative of how they figure out the problem—or pictograms based
for early elementary.) The entire mini-lesson should take no longer than fifteen minutes.
You begin by preparing one piece of paper for every four students in your classroom.
You know that larger sheets allow more students to write at once. At the center of the
paper, you write one of the central ideas you have covered or will be covering in your
classroom.
You break the lesson into three different stages:
Stage 1: Students walk around the classroom and respond to the prompt on the chart
paper. The quieter students are for this step the better, as your focus is self-reflection.
You urge students to write only their own ideas and initial their comments (five minutes).
Stage 2: On the second pass, students write responses to their peers’ initial prompts. The
paper has the look of an illuminated manuscript radiating out from the initial query in the
middle of the page. You remind students not to talk so that they can focus on their writing
(five minutes).
Stage 3: You have students team up with a friend and move about the room, discussing
their own and other students’ responses to the prompt. The more you are involved in
these rolling conversations, the more insights you will gain about how students really
think and the more students will take the task seriously. After students leave, you read
what the students wrote. You immediately gain new insights about what students are
getting out of your class.
Tips for Implementing the Activity
Previewing the lesson expectations is essential for you to be successful implementing this
activity. Make sure to balance time between quiet reflection and social engagement.
Giving structured time for students to partner up also helps with mainstreaming students
with special needs.