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Appetizers Agree or Disagree?Between 2 NumbersCounting CirclesCube ConversationsDaily DesmosEstimation 180Fraction TalksGraphing StoriesMath Arguments 180Math MistakesMath TalksMath VisualsOpen Mid…

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Make Math Meaningful & Fun with EduProtocols Math Edition Author Lisa Nowakowski!

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Templates

What teacher doesn't want to save themselves time and teach better? It's finding those low-prep, high-return activities that we can use right away that can be challenging. That's where EduProtocols come in.

EduProtocols, created by Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern, are a series of lesson frames that are easy to adapt to any subject or grade. And the amazing part is that many of their templates are absolutely FREE!

So what exactly ARE EduProtocols? Watch the video below for a short walkthrough.

Ready to get started?
In a past #Ditchbook chat, guest moderators Jon and Marlena, creators of EduProtocols and authors of The EduProtocol Field Guide Series, showered us with loads of FREE resources. And of course, the #Ditchbook community shared tons of great tips, ideas, and resources of their own!

Below you will find:

More than 10 FREE EduProtocol templates

10 tips and ideas for using EduProtocols in your classroom from the Ditch That Textbook community

10 Ways to use EduProtocols to wrap up the year by Deploying EduProtocols author Kim Voge

Ready to dive in even deeper?

10+ FREE EduProtocol templates

The Fast and Curious EduProtocol

Repetition-based worksheet homework frustrates teachers and students alike. It often struggles to get results and you never know who's doing the work. Plus, the feedback to students comes very, very late.

There's an alternative. Try the Fast and the Curious EduProtocol, an idea from Marlena Hebern and Jon Corippo's book, "The EduProtocol Field Guide." It provides students with timely feedback. It's fun. It gives great repetitions. In short: it works!

Check out this video that gives you the step-by-step instructions on how to use it and why it works.

Three additional points from EduProtocols author Jon Corippo:

- This is a pedagogy that applies to any kind of instant CFU product (Kahoot with groups, GoFormative to draw answers, Socrative with open ended questions). The pedagogy of "test light, feedback, test again" daily functions in other apps.

- I'm going to go until we hit 95 percent. On a tough week, that might be on Thursday on the second round. On an easy week, that might be Tuesday on the first round. I'm getting more than one day back!

- The repetitions are important! If a student gets them right the first time, we should be able to get them done faster the second time. It's like shooting a three-point shot in basketball. You can't make one and say, "I've got it!" It takes repetitions.

The Random Emoji Generator Power Paragraph

Use the Random Emoji Generator for story ideas and summarizing practice. EduProtocols has created a kid-safe emojis and animated emojis built in at Eduprotocols.com/class.

The Emoji Power Paragraph for Seesaw

Check out this Seesaw version of the emoji power paragraph by Jennifer Dean. It's a perfect way to use the emoji power paragraph with littles.

BookaKucha

BookaKucha puts a new and exciting spin on your basic, boring book report. Use BookaKucha to monitor independent reading progress while connecting back to skills learned in class.

BookaKucha can be a powerful tool in any classroom. Read more about this EduProtocol and how Heather Marshall incorporated it into her middle school class in her post The BookaKucha.

Frayer a Friend

During the first few weeks of school use this EduProtocol to build community and learn more about each other. Watch the EduProtocols Worldwide 1 The Frayer Model video below to see how teacher Brian Fish using the Frayer model with high school students.

EduProtocols Smart Start

Ready to have the first four days of school planned for you? The Smart Start includes links to directions for each EduProtocol plus TONS of FREE templates! Learn more about Smart Start in this video What is Smart Start?

Get the best start to your school year ever! Enroll in the Smart Start Your Year with EduProtocols online course

What you'll get:
-Two 45 minute recorded sessions with EduProtocols Master Trainers and Authors
-FOUR days of EduProtocols - based lessons
-Over 20 ready to use EduProtocols Smart Start Lessons
-Free Lifetime Tech Support and access to session recordings

20 ideas for using EduProtocols with your class

10 ways to use EduProtocols in class
From the Ditch That Textbook community

1. Use Smart Start at the beginning of the year, after a long break and again to finish the year strong!

2. Use the Cyber Sandwich to (GASP) summarize the textbook!

3. Combine Cyber Sandwich with VR to level up the experience.

4. Study social interactions with Iron Chef.

5. Level up the emoji paragraph with fake text messages.

7. Combine Quizlet Live with the Fast and Curious EduProtocol.

8. Combine Math Reps and Jamboard for engaging math activities anywhere!

9. Incorporate BookaKucha into small group guided reading and literature circles.

10 Ways to use EduProtocols to wrap up the year
Teach Better- Work Less - Achieve More by Kim Voge

1. Gamify it!

Review facts, dates, vocabulary using the Fast and Curious EduProtocol

The key to remembering is repetition. Gain back valuable teaching time by making the basics fun and gamified.

Choose your topic and find or create a quiz. We love Gimkit, Blooket, and Quizziz.

Run the "quiz" and see how your students do round 1.

Provide a mini lesson to address the gaps.

Run the "quiz" again to see the immediate impact of review and feedback.

Repeat this process daily until it is time for the assessment.

2. No Paper Exit Tickets!

Use Thin Slides! Provide a slide deck where students grab a slide and include 1 word or sentence and 1 image to show what they know. This flexible EduProtocol can be used as a way to see what students think they know or as an exit ticket. It can also be used as a way to document what new knowledge is gained. Really flex the collaborative nature of learning with the Thin Slide Study Guide. No need for flashcards...routine review over time will build lasting impact.

3. Make independent reading purposeful with Game of Quotes.

Heather Marshall put together this gem based on "bring your own book". I found additional quote cards here.

Students read independently for about 10 minutes.

The teacher announces the subject on the game card.

Students search the text they have just read (close reading!) and look for the quote that embodies the topic on the game card.

When a student locates the "perfect quote" they notify the teacher. The rest of the class has 2 minutes to find their own quote.

Students share quotes a table group and vote for the winning quote for the table.

Those students then stand and read their quotes.

Informal voting can occur to declare a "winner".

4. Revamp the research project with Thick Slides

Thick Slides quickly became a class favorite in Spring 2021. Students didn't even realize they were doing a research project. (It's like slipping the veggies into the dessert!) Thick Slides are a deconstructed paragraph. Students are researching and writing all the parts of a paragraph, but in a highly engaging way that does not lead to paragraphs that start and end with "Let me tell you about" or "I hope you like my paragraph". As with all EduProtocols, you need to start with a fun, low cognitive load topic. In the samples attached, you will see how we went from favorite food, odd animals, to researching a self selected topic. The template is in there, too!

5. End plagiarism with Parafly

In general, students struggle with putting things into their own words. We need to teach them this skill so they learn how to paraphrase and find synonyms to "put things into their own words". Last year, Jon came up with Parafly. My sixth grade students successfully paraphrased and were able to metacognate about this activity, explaining their thought processes.

Find a multiparagraph piece of content, but at a lower lexile.

Open up Socrative and launch a "short answer" question.

Copy and paste a paragraph from the article.

Send out to students, providing them with support as they learn how to paraphrase (invert sentence order, say it in plain language, use synonyms, join ideas)

Display work on board in class, not showing names. Find some "glows" and "grows" to share aloud. Ask students to verbalize what they notice as well.

Launch a new paragraph and practice again, repeating this process.

Once you do this a few times, students get the idea. You may need to revisit often or review before the next research project. The instant feedback and repetition are key to this working well!

6. Crowdsource learning with Number Mania.

Number Mania is an innovative way to introduce a topic or summarize learning via an infographic. Students contribute number related facts to a Google Form that auto populates a spreadsheet that students can access. Set the timer and have students begin the hunt for facts. After 7-10 minutes, students create an infographic. I find it helpful to expedite the creation process by providing a template with some icons readily available. Here is a student created sample.

7. Grow writing skills with purposeful practice 3X Genre.

This idea, inspired by Josie Wozniak, allows students to practice 3 genres of writing. Provide an image or gif for your students. Then select 3 genres/purposes for writing. For example, you may have a picture of a skateboard and students need to come up with a title and the first paragraph if they were writing a personal narrative, informative article, or a persuasive letter. This builds on-demand writing skills. This can be used across multiple content areas as well. The picture can be a primary source, artwork, sport, etc. Here is a generic template.

8. Solidify math skills or front load for next year with Math Reps.

Lisa Nowakowski and Jeramiah Reusch wrote the book, literally, about using EduProtocols for Math. Lisa's Math Reps website has templates ready to go. You basically supply a few numbers and students practice multiple standards based on a domain of learning.

9. Use the Random Emoji Generator for story ideas and summarizing practice.

Have your kids ever ASKED to write? We have kid-safe emojis and animated emojis built in at Eduprotocols.com/class Here's the flow:

Teacher opens up Socrative and launches a Short Answer question. Students join class.

Teacher opens Eduprotocols.com/class in a new tab, displaying this for the class.

Teacher clicks to reveal the first emoji.

Students write a sentence BUT THEY DO NOT submit.

Teacher reveals next emoji and the process repeats until all 5 emojis have been revealed.

Now that students have 5 sentences, they press submit.

The teacher can display paragraphs without student names and provide some global feedback.

The paragraphs can be sent out to be viewed and voted on by students.

NACHO Paragraph (as in "It's not your paragraph" is a great follow up where students can edit a classmates' paragraph. Here is an example of how I used this with my students.

10. Keep the collaboration going with Iron Chef.

Think Jigsaw, but with a twist. Students work in groups on a slide deck, each with their own focused piece. They note the facts, vocabulary, or information about a provided topic. They insert a picture or gif and then the Secret Ingredient. The Secret Ingredient is often a way for students to connect to the material, provide an additional random fact, something humorous, or even a vocabulary word in context. You can grab the Iron Chef template here.

As with ALL EduProtocols, be sure to introduce using low cognitive load material. A commercial, picture book, or low lexile passage are ideal. Once students understand how to use the protocol, then you can dial up the information and cognitive load.

More EduProtocols!
Scroll through this Wakelet of over 50 collections of EduProtocol resources! You'll find more templates, video tutorials, tips, ideas and tons of inspiration.

For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links:

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10+ FREE EduProtocol templates + ideas for using them

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Templates What teacher doesn't want to save themselves time and teach better? It's finding those low-prep, high-return activities that we can use right away that can be challenging. That's where EduProtocols come in. EduProtocols, created by Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern, are a series of lesson frames that are easy to adapt to any subject or grade.

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The U-Mazing, Universal, Ultimate EduProtocol Template #EduProtocols

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Online manipulatives bring all of the learning and fun without the mess. Our math virtual manipulatives help students grasp abstract concepts through modeling. Literacy virtual manipulatives create a fun space for practicing spelling, rhyming, and more!

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Virtual Manipulatives | Mathematical Modelling | Toy Theater

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Original teaching tools aimed at supporting teachers in the elementary school classroom. Two color counters, 3D dice, probability spinners, graph builders, fraction bars, base ten blocks, and more!

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Sharing in an app allows educators to pose problems and investigations for students by using an 8-character code or link. Students can share their thinking with their teachers and classmates. Share codes remain available for continued use for 18 months from the date they are last accessed.
Watch the video to learn how sharing works.

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Sharing in an app allows educators to pose problems and investigations for students by using an 8-character code or link. Students can share their thinking with their teachers and classmates. Share codes remain available for continued use for 18 months from the date they are last accessed.

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Sign in. Click on Activities. Navigate to Vocabulary. Select hexagonal thinking.

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Peanut Butter and Jelly (modified Cyber Sandwich for K-2) #EduProtocols

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SchoolAI gives educators the time, data, and tools to design a better, more personalized classroom experience. Free for teachers. Create. Personalize. Engage.

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MagicSchool.ai - AI for teachers - lesson planning and more!

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Join over a million teachers saving hours of time using the #1 AI Platform for Education, MagicSchool, to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more!

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Student-Centered Mathematics Classroom - Convince Me That

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Ms. Haughs

"Number of the Day" #MathReps (numbers to 1000)

Grades: 2nd Grade, 1st Grade, 3rd Grade

Student Instructions

Math Reps are an EduProtocol created by @nowatechie and found in the book "EduProtocol Field Guide" by Marlena Hebern & Jon Corippo Number of the day template is modified from an original by @JohannMundy

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"Number of the Day" #MathReps (numbers to 1000) - Seesaw Activity by Ms. Haughs

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🎯 I can represent a number up to 1000 using visuals and numbers. 1) ⏯ Watch the video directions 2) Complete the "Number of the Day" form using the number that your teacher gives you. Use the :drawing: :pencil: :label: or :shapes: tool to complete the form.

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Teaching  Eduprotocols Number Mania with Cause and Effect

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The Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO) serves as an easy-to-use reminder of what you can include in lessons. Not only does it provide handy links to SEL and assessment, but it also does something more - it provides easy, one-stop access to evidence-based instructional strategies. Then, it combines those strategies with digital tools suggestions.

But no one outline can do everything, right? One big omission from ALDO? EduProtocols. Let's talk about giving ALDO a new name. But more importantly, let's take it further to blend digital tools into classroom workflows. But first, let's review ALDO.

What is ALDO?

ALDO is a lesson design outline containing five components:

1. Relationships First: Trust and Social-Emotionl Learning. Select an activity you can use to connect with students.

2. Assessment. Select a pre-assessment activity you may find useful.

3. Teaching and Learning. Select a high-effect size strategy that matches your learning intention.

4. Assessment. Select a post-assessment activity you may find useful.

5. Reflect and Share. Select a Reflection Activity.

You may be familiar with Where's Waldo series of books. You're trying to find Waldo in a variety of fun settings. That's one way of looking at the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO). Within the five-part outline, the lesson design blends in and offers resources for the following:

Positive teacher-student relationships. This part of the outline takes brain-based learning and social-emotional learning into account.

Evidence-based strategies. For example, high-effect size strategies detailed in the VisibleLearning MetaX database)

Digital tools. There is a vast array of digital tools available today. How can you pick the right one and use it to augment the effect of a paired instructional strategy?

Assessment. How can you assess students and then provide quality feedback about where students are?

ALDO integrates research from several key authors. As a result, educators have shared it a zillion times on social media. What ALDO is missing, though, is a connection to EduProtocols.

What Are EduProtocols?

Having read the first two books by Marlena Hebern and Jon Corippo, I found myself marveling at their work. EduProtocols makes blending research-based strategies and digital tools fun and exciting.

"EduProtocols are instructional lesson frames. They are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. EduProtocols can be used with any subject, any grade level."

What's amazing is that EduProtocols have been out there since 2018. But there are still folks who may be unfamiliar with them. This means that there are tons of great EduProtocols resources out there for you to explore.

I love the use of the word "workflow" in the EduProtocols Field Guide #1. In it, the authors describe protocols as:

"workflows which can be repeated with changing content...[they] stabilize workflow for the teacher. The protocol shifts the main workflow from teacher-to-student to student-to-student."

Resources for Exploring EduProtocols

Trust me, you can go down a rabbit hole exploring EduProtocols. Keep the idea of EduProtocols as "workflows" in mind.

For now, here are a few links that will start you on your journey:

Where Do EduProtocols and ALDO Connect?

My big question has been, "How would EduProtocols fit into the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO)?" I suspect that question popped into my head for a simple reason. My brain is trying to make sense of where EduProtocols fit into my schema, or my theory of how things work together.

Since EduProtocols are workflows, it seemed pretty obvious to rename ALDO to WALDO: Workflowing the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (WALDO) and include EduProtocals within the original five-part outline of ALDO. For me, WALDO is awesome because it combines three elements: 1.) instructional strategies, 2.) digital tools, and 3.) FUN.

Here, you can see section one, "Relationships First," within the WALDO outline. It contains a plethora of linked activities and resources to choose from.

In WALDO, you can match phases of learning, instructional strategies, and digital tools - just like in ALDO. But, the original ALDO chart was updated in WALDO to include suggested EduProtocols for each phase and strategy! Here is the chart providing suggestions and resources under "3. Teaching and Learning" in the WALDO outline.

There's a lot to plug in, discover, and explore with WALDO! But designing lessons with strategies, workflows, and digital tools in mind helps me to see how EduProtocols fit into existing evidence-based instructional approaches. I hope that it does the same for you.

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EduProtocols: Workflowing Amazing Lesson Design

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ALDO becomes WALDO! Explore a lesson design outline with lots of resources for mixing and matching strategies, EduProtocols, and digital tools.

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Eduprotocols for Littles with Jon Corippo

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8 Parts for Littles- Eduprotocols - Seesaw Activity by Mrs. Dean

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1. Tap :add: 2. Use the :label: or :pen: to complete each part 3. If you want, you can use the :mic: to record reading your story 4. Tap the :check: when you are done.

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Clicking on content like buttons will cause content on this page to change. Items will update when they are liked.

Sample Frayer Templates and Examples of student lessons Use and remix!

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Clicking on content like buttons will cause content on this page to change. Items will update when they are liked. Sample Frayer Templates and Examples of student lessons Use and remix!

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MathReps: 1st Grade "Show Me the Number" 1 & 1.5

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Eduprotocols for Littles with Jon Corippo #kinderchat

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Eduprotocols for Littles with Jon Corippo #kinderchat

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Copy of Emoji Word Problem - Google Jamboard

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Generate lessons with AI

Plan and deliver interactive lessons on any topic - with help from AI

I am teacher of 15 years who, until recently, has delved no more deeply into tech in the classroom, and here I am encouraging colleagues to come on in and see Curipod in action and leading CPD sessions. To top it off, I'm spending my evenings playing on my iPad to see how many new lessons I can create, and what new features have been added that week. The time saved, and the improvement in my lesson materials, is tangible.
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Join the growing movement of teachers using Curipod to make interactive lessons filled with creativity, reflection and critical thinking

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Look at generated content as a sculptor might a block of marble. Shape the raw material to suit your unique context. Use our suite of personalization tools to more deeply differentiate instruction.

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Eduaide.Ai is an AI-driven platform that helps educators create lesson plans, teaching resources, and assessments.

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3 Act Math Tasks By Kyle Pearce, Dan Meyer and Others

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3 Act Math Tasks by Kyle Pearce, Dan Meyer and many others to spark curiosity and fuel sense making.

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Blended Learning Demo 5: How to maximise Flippity (Randomizer)

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Think about it: kids go to camp and get rapidly acclimated on the first day or two - then they have a great week. The more expensive a university is, the more days freshmen spend in a Summer Camp. Businesses spend a LOT of money for lavish on-boarding and culture to benefit their productivity. In K-12 what do we do? Launch kids into the syllabus, the rules and then rocket right into the content - with about the same results every year... What if there was a better way to start up your classroom? Well, there is. The Eduprotocols Smart Start.

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Boot your year up with Eduprotocols and Smart Start!

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Think about it: kids go to camp and get rapidly acclimated on the first day or two - then they have a great week. The more expensive a university is, the more days freshmen spend in a Summer Camp. Businesses spend a LOT of money for lavish on-boarding and culture to benefit their productivity.

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A collection of EduProtocols templates for mathematics instruction. Based on the book EduProtocols: MAth Edition by Lisa Nowakowski & Jeremiah Ruesch

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Clicking on content like buttons will cause content on this page to change. Items will update when they are liked. A collection of EduProtocols templates for mathematics instruction. Based on the book EduProtocols: MAth Edition by Lisa Nowakowski & Jeremiah Ruesch

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Number Mania @EduProtocols Worldwide  #1

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This post will describe an instructional sequence using the Numbers Mania EduProtocol, a corroboration activity, and a rhyming game to formatively assess student's knowledge of the French Revolution. Numbers Mania is a lesson frame from Marlena Hebern and Jon Corripo's book The EduProtocol Field Guide: Book Two where students create an infographic to demonstrate their knowledge of your subject.

In this case, students used numbers to tell the story of a historical event. I use this lesson frame to motivate students into reading the textbook more closely than they would if they were just taking notes.

Here they are specifically looking for numbers that can be pulled from the text and used to tell the beginning, middle and end of the French Revolution.

For this assignment, my students had one class period to pull numbers from their textbook in order to tell the story of the French Revolution. This explains the lack of variation in their infographics. You can see an entire class period of Numbers Mania infographics HERE. On average my students created five stats for their story in one class period. There was a high of ten numbers and a low of 1 in the sample.

In the past, I have extended this activity by adding an annotated bibliography assignment. To evaluate the efforts of my students, I "graded" them on the number of statistics they included and the number of sources they used. Thanks to Ryan O'Donnell aka @creativeedtech for giving me access to his great templates.

Corroboration

On the second day of this unit, students were given a lengthy Sparknotes reading on the French Revolution and asked to corroborate facts from that reading with events in their textbook.

I ask my students look for areas of agreement in two separate texts. They document them in a Fact 1, Fact 2, Implication format. This helps high school students learn to analyze texts critically and to improve their explanations of quotes they select as textual evidence.

In one class period, my students could identify a low of two corroborations to a high of 16 corroborations of varying quality. The class average was five.

Rhyming Couplets

On the third day of this unit, students were asked to retell the story of the French Revolution in rhyme. They were allowed to work in groups or as individuals. Twenty-nine poems were created in two class periods.

I have removed student last names in order to publish the poems. At this point, I can turn them over to my ELA teacher colleagues and they will follow up with helping the students review their rhyme scheme, improve their drafts, and polish their prose. Interestingly, when I asked students which activity they felt them learn the most about the French Revolution (numbers, corroborating, or rhyming) - they overwhelmingly chose the rhyming activity. It helped them remember more historical details.

Conclusion

The EduProtocols book series has helped my transition to a 1:1 classroom by making the learning in my classroom visible. This allows me to give students discrete skill builders that I can remix for coherence and consistency. This has helped me get off the lecture and test treadmill. What protocols or skill builders are you using in your classroom to help students demonstrate they understand the content you are teachng them?

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This post will describe an instructional sequence using the Numbers Mania EduProtocol, a corroboration activity, and a rhyming game to formatively assess student's knowledge of the French Revolution. Numbers Mania is a lesson frame from Marlena Hebern and Jon Corripo's book The EduProtocol Field Guide: Book Two where students create an infographic to demonstrate their...

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Step 1 - The class will contribute data related to a given topic on a Google Sheet. (10-15 minutes) Step 2 - Share some infographics and focus students to create an infographic around a topic. Step 3 - Design an infographic - 20-30 minutes. Step 4 - Share out and give feedback.

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Resources for implementing Eduprotocols in Spanish 

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While working with the small group, I noticed a few students who seemed to not be working. So I pulled out my phone! I quickly pulled up the Classroom App and went into select students' work to monitor their progress. Needless to say, my observations proved correct.

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Copy of Cyber Sandwich [Template ] #EduProtocols

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Parkinson’s law is the observation that public administration, bureaucracy and officialdom expands, regardless of the amount of work to be done. This was attributed mainly to two factors: that officials want subordinates, not rivals, and that officials make work for each other.

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Hexagonal Thinking - Directions and Template

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Are you in search of a discussion strategy that can save you from the creaking silence of a class full of non-talkers?

Enter hexagonal thinking. While this strategy is also wonderful in the physical classroom, it's a great digital option for unlocking discussion in this very moment. Below you'll find background on the topic and then some strategies for how you might implement hexagonal thinking in the classroom.

What is hexagonal thinking?

Hexagonal thinking is a classroom strategy borrowed from the business world. Concepts are placed on hexagons, and then moved around to build a web of connected ideas. The most interesting part comes in the debate about where to connect what, and why. In the classroom, students can build hexagonal webs in groups or alone, online or off. No two webs will ever look the same, and neither will the explanations of the connections students have made, whether given in writing or aloud.

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How you might structure hexagonal thinking in the classroom.

1. Begin by choosing key ideas from a reading or unit and adding them to your hexagons. From there, branch out into related concepts from other disciplines, the news, or modern culture. Now you have an idea deck.

2. To create your hexagons, you can use this free online generator or pick up a free digital toolkit with tons of templates and examples here.

3. Share your deck with students in groups. You can hand them a set of printed cards or direct them to their own copies of your digital deck on Google Slides.

4. Ask them to connect the concepts by lining up the sides of different hexagons with related ideas. Each card can connect to up to six others, but might only connect to one. They want to make the strongest connections they can. This will lead to a lot of debate. Remind them that there's no right answer for how to connect the cards, and that they should push themselves to provide evidence for the strength of their ideas as they argue productively (and kindly) within their group.

5. Finally, students will have a web of strong connections laid out. Have them write about several of their most interesting intersection points-why they've connected several hexagons in this way. At this point they can share their thinking back to the class. In the physical classroom, students can present aloud and gallery walk to see each other's work. Online, you can have students save their webs and drop them into a collaborative gallery on Google Slides, report back on Zoom, and/or record a video about their web on Screencastify or Flipgrid.

Examples of hexagonal thinking in the classroom

Now let's take a peek at some of the wonderful ways hexagonal thinking is taking place around the world. Sit back, relax, and enjoy.

1. As a wrap-up activity for an identity unit

7th grade students of Genevieve Chavez, Spain

2. Connecting "The Lottery" and "The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas"

Students of Ruth Anne Flowers, Airport High School, South Carolina

3. A conversation about The House on Mango Street

Students of Tabatha Rose, Strath Haven High School, Pennsylvania

4. Connecting poetry

Students of Megan Elizabeth

5. Discussing The Great Gatsby

Students of Sharon Ma, Shanghai SMIC Private School, China

6. Vocabulary thinking maps

Students of April Egal, Burgettstown Middle High School, Pennsylvania

7. Brainstorming for a TED Talk

Students of Rachel Barbe

8. Diving deep into Born a Crime

Students of Cheri Hayden, Colegio Americano, Ecuador

9. Summative assessment for The Kite Runner

Students of Caitlyn Farrow, Central Hardin High School

10. In conversation about The Crucible

Students of Jenna Jewell

11. Themes in Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing

Students of Taylor Sullivan, Boston Prep, Massachusetts

12. Hexagonal one-pagers for A Long Way Down and The Outsiders

Example created by Betsy Potash

13. Connecting characters and terms for Pride and Prejudice

Students of Jo LittleHorn, Velika Gorica Grammar School, Croatia

Have you used hexagonal thinking? We'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments. For more teaching tips and strategies, be sure to subscribe to our newsletters.

Plus, how to use one-pagers in the classroom.

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What Is Hexagonal Thinking? Plus, 13 Examples To Inspire You

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What is hexagonal thinking and how can you use it in the classroom? Check out these ideas and photos of hexagonal thinking in action.

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Sponsored by Teaching Channel and UL Xplorlabs

While hexagonal thinking is not new in the world of business and innovation, it's just making its way into the classroom. It's a method for considering the connections between ideas and finding the nuances in those connections. If you're looking for a fresh framework for discussion and critical thinking, this may be just the thing.

How it Works

When you place an idea on a hexagon, it has six sides where connections could be made to other ideas. When you place many ideas on many hexagons, the discussion about where to connect what will be different every time.

Hexagons for the Vietnam-War era
(click all images for a close-up view)

If you gave the same seven idea cards to seven people, do you think you'd get the same seven webs of interconnected hexagons? Would the people explain the connections in the same way?

Nope.

And really, that's the beauty of hexagonal thinking. It provides a springboard for a totally creative discussion. When you give a small group of students a deck of hexagons and ask them to connect them however they choose, every group will come up with a different web for different reasons. Along the way they'll hopefully question each other and dig deep into the concepts on the cards, arguing about which idea connects more to an important concept and which example deserves one of those precious six sides.

The Step-by-Step

Let's imagine you've got your students in small groups, and each group is staring at a beautiful deck of hexagons.

Now what?

I recommend you kick off this activity for the first time by giving directions something like this:
Once you have your set of hexagons, it's time for your group to begin making connections between them. Your conversations now will be about showing how and why you think the different ideas and options connect. Everyone will see things differently, and that's OK. Just keep talking until you find the connections that stick. As you discuss your ideas, use the text to find supporting evidence for why you think your connections are strong ones. Each hexagon can connect to up to six others. Arrange and rearrange until you feel you have the strongest hexagon web in place that you can. Then begin explaining your connections with connection arrows, writing in why you have created intersections between key hexagons. Everyone in the group will contribute differently, and that's OK. You need to have people listening and moving pieces to create the web, people debating, people asking questions. By the end of your discussion, you should have an interconnected web of concepts along with clearly explained connections. If you're working with paper hexagons, tape or glue them down to another sheet of paper to secure them, or take a photo of your finished web. If you're working digitally, submit your two slides: the finished hexagon web, followed by the slide with your explanations.
There's a lot of room here for students to participate in their own unique ways. For me, part of the point of the activity is for students to see that everyone can take on different roles that matter.

Two Examples

Let's take a look at what this might look like in your classroom. In this case, I'll share digital examples created in Google Slides, since you may well be leading your discussions and small group activities via online channels this year. But paper hexagons are equally wonderful when you can use them.

Example 1: English Language Arts

First let's take a look at a hexagonal thinking discussion for an English class, wrapping up a unit on 1984.

Here's the set-up, with the terms listed in individual (moveable) text boxes.

Now students can discuss the placement of their terms/hexagons. In this case, rather than shifting paper hexagons around, they will go into the Google Slide, then drag and drop their terms across the slide and into the web of hexagons as they decide where to place them.

Now that the students have made their connections as they wish, they need to explain their choices. This can take place in many ways:

Students could record arguments for one or two connections on a tool like Flipgrid,

Students could write down their analysis.

Groups could collaborate to write explanations for several of their connections or present them back to the class.

Take a peek at what the written explanations look like for the web pictured above. In this case, students are sharing five explanations, but you could adjust that to suit your needs. Some connections are always going to be more interesting than others - the ones that generate the most debate, the surprising ones, the ones where three key sections link in one place. Have students write or present about the key connections, rather than about every single one.

Example 2: Science

Now let's take a look at how this might look in a science class. Imagine you're looking back over a unit on global warming, and helping students review the big ideas.

Here's the set-up: For this version, students can move the hexagons as well as the terms, creating any number of different webs. Then they use the connection arrows to point to the intersections they are going to explain in detail.

Student groups discuss the possibilities, dragging the hexagons and terms into place as they go. The final product could look one hundred different ways.

Once they have their web created, they make their explanations.

Creating Your Hexagonal Thinking Decks

You can create decks of hexagons with the terms already inside (let your students help you cut them out!) or print blank hexagon sheets and invite student groups to brainstorm the concepts to put inside before their discussion.

No matter how you create them, you want the hexagon decks to be filled with the key ideas of your recent class work, as well as interesting ties across disciplines and to the modern world. Hexagonal thinking makes it easy to cross disciplines and bring relevant modern connections into the discussion.

Let's say you're creating a hexagon deck for Jason Reynolds' book, Long Way Down. You'll fill it with characters, themes and style elements, but also with figures from the news, current political movements, similar books, and background information about the author.

Now imagine you're creating a deck for a unit covering an artistic period. You can put in key terms and artists, but also important authors and political figures of the period, and artists and movements of today that connect back.

As for making the shapes themselves, there are lots of time-saving options, whether you want to use digital hexagons or paper ones.

Digital Hexagons

Get access to your free copy of the digital hexagonal thinking toolkit featured above right here.

Create your own digital hexagons with PowerPoint or Google Slides by following these instructions:

Paper Hexagons

Use this online hexagon generator, created by Pam Hook.

Print and laminate these free rainbow hexagons, then add concepts with dry erase markers for quick discussions.

Print blank sheets of hexagons (you can easily create these in any size using the shapes tool in PowerPoint) to give out to small groups of students, then ask them to generate key terms, ideas, connections to other disciplines, connections to the modern world, etc. on their hexagons and cut them out. Then have groups switch decks so they are discussing a fresh list of ideas.

Create your own hexagon templates with terms you can change up whenever you want to do a hexagonal thinking discussion. Cut them out while watching New Girl on Netflix, or make the first step of the discussion in class to cut out the hexagons while beginning to discuss how they will connect.

A fun addition to any paper deck is a set of connection arrows. Print a few bubble arrows (again, the PowerPoint shapes tool makes it easy) on paper for students to put in at key intersections. Have students fill them in with their explanation of the connection. Sticky notes will also work well.

Wondering how to grade this?

There are a few ways you could grade hexagonal thinking. You could have everyone write a short reflection at the end about their contributions, and grade that. You could use it as a springboard into a writing assignment, asking students to explain and argue for key connections from the discussion, then grade that. You could have students present about a key connection on Flipgrid. Easy.

But I want to suggest a slightly more complex option too. Recently I interviewed Sarah Fine, co-author of In Search of Deeper Learning. One of her findings, after years of study across American high schools, was that we rarely ask students to truly collaborate in our core subjects, so we don't really create a culture of interdependence among them. They don't get to use their individual gifts to contribute to a final product created by the team, although that is often what real-world projects look like. Instead, we favor what she calls "lockstep learning." Everyone must do the same thing, separately.

So maybe for hexagonal thinking, you grade the final group web. And you ask the kids to share about how their different strengths allowed them to contribute to the final product.

Maybe some kids are super brainstormers, coming up with lots of great terms and ideas for what to put on the hexagons. Maybe one or two students in the group are great at lettering and drawing. They could create beautiful visual representations of the terms and ideas. Maybe some students shine at leading discussion. Maybe some are natural at making spatial and visual connections, and can help move the hexagons around as they listen to the group. Maybe some are excellent listeners, and can be taking notes about the connections based on what they hear from others. Maybe some are good mediators, who can help find common ground and calm down heated debates when discussion gets intense.

If you go this route, I really think it's worth discussing in advance what project teams are like in the workplace, and how people contribute in different ways. Then, at the end, you might let kids write a short paragraph about how they contributed based on their own strengths and skills, and whether they were happy with the way the group dynamics turned out.

Variations and Additions

Individuals or Partners

This would certainly work as an individual assignment or a prompt for partners as well. But with a small group, you'll get more perspectives on where to place what, which can be nice. You might consider giving students the option to work alone, with a partner, or in a group.

Adding Visuals

If you and your students are fans of sketchnotes or one-pagers, you can always add a visual layer to your hexagons. Invite students to illustrate their concepts with representative imagery and add quotations from their texts to bring more meaning for each idea into the conversation.

This is certainly not necessary, but adds dimension to the discussion and the eventual display of the concept web.

Hexagonal One-Pagers for Long Way Down

Gallery Walking

Once your students have completed their webs, you can do a gallery walk to see each other's concept webs and check out the connections their peers have made (this can be done online through a collaborative Google slides presentation), or have each group in turn present briefly back to the class about some of their most interesting connection points. The hexagons that caused the most debate will probably be the most fun to share back, and everyone will get to see how others mixed and matched the same hexagons in unique ways.

When you bring hexagonal thinking into your classroom -whether that's online or in person-you bring a fresh spark of energy to discussion. Your students will see things in new ways as they seek to connect wide-ranging ideas. If you're finding it difficult to get kids talking this year as they transition into new scenarios, you're definitely not alone. Hexagonal thinking just might be the tool you're looking for to help your classes over this transition and back into their critical thinking zones.

Come back for more.
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Hexagonal Thinking: A Colorful Tool for Discussion

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If you've been looking for a fresh way to get students thinking outside the box, this may be just what you need.

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HookED SOLO Hexagon Generator This HookED app populates a SOLO Hexagon Template. Brainstorm content ideas and enter them in the fields below. Click “Generate Document” to populate the template. 10 Small Hexagons per page 2 Large Hexagons per page Print […]

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Ed Tech

How can we ensure our lesson plans meet the needs of ALL of our students?

Now that students have access to powerful technology tools, it is time to integrate technology in meaningful, purposeful ways. Whether you are teaching face to face or virtually, EduProtocols allow teachers to work less, teach better...and most importantly...students achieve more!

What are EduProtocols?

EduProtocols are a set of strategies you can use to simplify planning and get results. They're simple activities you can use over and over again, adjusting for new content. They have fun names, like Fast and the Curious, Cyber Sandwich, and Booka Kucha. Call them "lesson frames," like picture frames. You can change the content (the picture) inside a picture frame, but the frame always stays the same.

They are not a product you purchase. Once you start using these activity ideas, they are a way of life! You can find lots of examples at EduProtocols.com.

Created originally by Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern, the EduProtocols community has expanded vast and wide to ensure all subject areas and all grade levels benefit from their use. EduProtocols are open pedagogy that work with any content area or curriculum.

EduProtocols support Universal Design for Learning

We know the two years of pandemic-era remote teaching have had a huge impact on our jobs in the classroom. We know we want students to be successful. We want to be effective teachers. We want ALL students to experience growth in their learning. This seems like such an insurmountable task. With the varied levels and abilities of our students, what is a teacher to do?

This is where EduProtocols come in. They really provide the HOW when teachers need to meet the diverse needs of learners, provide multiple means of learning opportunities, build relationships with students, and address social-emotional learning.

Universal Design for Learning is a framework for teaching that helps teachers improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. It provides for ...

Engagement, the "why" of learning (affective networks in the brain)

Representation, the "what" of learning (recognition networks in the brain)

Action and Expression, the "how" of learning (strategic networks in the brain)

Example unit: How Kim deploys EduProtocols

Here's an example showing how the elements of lesson design, UDL, and EduProtocols can align for effective lesson planning. This is from my 5th grade American Revolution Unit.

How UDL fits with deploying EduProtocols across a unit

Universal Design for Learning ( cast.org) is of utmost importance as we design lessons to meet the diverse needs of learners. UDL is a function of the general education classroom and goes hand in hand with best, first instruction.

EduProtocols align with the principles of UDL in genuine, meaningful ways. For example, Iron Chef allows students to foster collaboration (Engagement), guide information processing and visualizing (Representation), and use multiple tools for construction and composition (Action/Expression). When we take multiple means of addressing learners' needs, we meet the needs of many rather than a few.

"Racking and stacking" EduProtocols

When it comes to planning effective lessons, teachers and layer multiple EduProtocols. I call this "Rack and Stack". Like the chart above, you can see effective pedagogy and intentional lesson design in the example. When I was in the classroom, I found myself relying on the triad of Fast and Curious, Thin Slide, and CyberSandwich for a comprehensive lesson that could be taught in about an hour. I present many ideas and practical examples about how to do this through my book, Deploying EduProtocols, and in our very supporting Facebook group, EmpowerEDventure.

EduProtocols + social emotional learning

In addition to the technological needs of learning from a distance or integrating technology in effective ways, the EduProtocols support social and emotional learning (SEL). The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) created a framework based on five core needs that are integral to the development of children.

SEL does not need a separate, isolated time in the school day. The more we can integrate these skills into the lessons we create, the better. The use of EduProtocols supports each of these areas. EduProtocols can be leveraged to incorporate life skills into everyday learning. Self-Awareness, Social Awareness, Responsible Decision-Making, Self-Management, and Relationship Skills, the five core needs, are exemplified in many of the EduProtocols where learning is scaffolded, chunked, and social.

Examples of SELs and EduProtocols

Self Awareness: Create consistency, repetition, and feedback with Fast and Curious and 8 pARTS

Social Awareness: Provide opportunities for collaboration and communication by using Cyber Sandwich and Iron Chef

Responsible Decision Making: By using EduProtocols on a regular basis, scaffolds and supports are provided for a gradual release of responsibility by lowering the cognitive load. All 4 C's (creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication) are inherent in the EduProtocols.

Self Management: Build executive functioning skills in students by providing manageable tasks for students to complete, receive actionable feedback, and feel successful

Relationships: Create connections among classmates to create a safe environment for learning and failure. With Frayer a Friend, students are sharing about themselves to a partner. The partner is recording what is being verbalized on a Frayer model. Students are building a relationship with each other and among other students as the pairs for quads to share about their partner.

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An example EduProtocols unit that supports UDL, SEL

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Ed Tech How can we ensure our lesson plans meet the needs of ALL of our students? Now that students have access to powerful technology tools, it is time to integrate technology in meaningful, purposeful ways. Whether you are teaching face to face or virtually, EduProtocols allow teachers to work less, teach better...and most importantly...students achieve more!

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Welcome to the "Work Less & Teach Better: Learn the EduProtocols" playlist! This playlist is specifically designed for educators who want to streamline their...

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