Last Thursday night for one of my courses, I worked on a group presentation where we had to debrief an article. Although it was a painfully long and boring 20 pages (The Central Role of Discourse in Large Scale Change: A Social Construction Perspective by Barret, Thomas, and Hocevar - 1995) it was right up my alley!
Placemats are pretty simple to make - take chart paper, draw a rectangle in the middle and divide the remaining outer part into the number of people in your group (I've found groups of 4 work best).
The article talked about how we construct meaning through discourse - the importance of prior knowledge and communicating with others in order to implement change. I decided to try a placemat activity and received positive feedback from several classmates (none of them teachers). I want to share two ideas for using a placemat in your classroom.
Placemats are pretty simple to make - take chart paper, draw a rectangle in the middle and divide the remaining outer part into the number of people in your group (I've found groups of 4 work best).
Each person gets an outer section to construct their own understanding of a text read while the inner rectangle is where the group builds community.
Placemat to summarize (works for fiction and nonfiction):
- read the text (read/think aloud, shared reading, guiding reading, or independent)
- ask each student to individually record what they believe are the main ideas in their part of the placemat. This is to be done quietly and independently.
- each student takes a turn to read their box. The other group members are listening attentively to hear common/similar ideas and put a check mark beside that point.
- points that two or more people shared go in the middle rectangle.
I always ask the students to double check the centre of the placemat in case anything was missed. Following this, I have asked students to write a summary paragraph or share orally what they have come to consensus on.
Placemat to synthesize: basically the same as summarizing but, there are some variations:
- use several texts from different sources about the same topic. Either allow students to self select the text they want to read or assign them (based on reading level).
- in each outer section of the quad, select a quote or paraphrase the text. Have each student comment on each quote/passage before synthesizing common understandings.
To be honest, this is one of my favourite things to use in the classroom. It allows everyone to have their voice heard, practices attentive listening, and builds community. I have also been able to use the individual quadrants for formative assessment as well as the post activity (i.e., writing a paragraph - organizing ideas).
How have you (or can you) use a placemat in your classroom?
One of the best uses of the placemat activity I've seen is in Grade 8 History when discussing Canadian war. The students used the activity as a springboard for discussion after reading short sections of the textbook. Listening to the conversation reinforced for me how important "talk" is in a classroom. The placemat allowed students to jot down their own ideas and discuss a topic that many of them were not interested in at the beginning of the period. It really brought the topic to life and built good understanding (as well as accountability)in the students. Kudos to the Gr. 8 team!
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