No Series: Post-its: Little Notes for Big Discussions

ELA.SL.5.1a

Common core State Standards

  • ELA:  English Language Arts
  • SL:  Speaking and Listening Standards K-5
  • 5:  5th Grade
  • 1a: 
    Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
    discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
    with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and
    texts, building on others' ideas and expressing
    their own clearly.

    a. Come to discussions prepared, having read
    or studied required material; explicitly draw
    on that preparation and other information
    known about the topic to explore ideas under
    discussion.

    b. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and
    carry out assigned roles.

    c. Pose and respond to specific questions by
    making comments that contribute to the
    discussion and elaborate on the remarks of
    others.

    d. Review the key ideas expressed and draw
    conclusions in light of information and
    knowledge gained from the discussions.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

Post-its: Little Notes for Big Discussions

Lesson Objective: Take notes to prepare for discussion
All Grades / ELA / Discussion
ELA.SL.5.1a

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

  1. How does this strategy enrich discussion?
  2. What is the difference between the Post-it strategy and traditional note-taking?
  3. How could you use this strategy to encourage reluctant students to participate?

26 Comments

  • Private message to Daniel Lerma

Daniel Lerma Apr 27, 2018 2:16am

I really like this idea of using post-its because it really helps students with the process of understanding the material by writing what they are reading, predicting, or any ideas that they have on the subject. It also helps them remember what they were thinking about when they were reading the section in the books. I defiantly will be using this in the future in my class room to make sure that everyone has an understanding of what is happening in the section.
Recommended (0)
  • Private message to Ernesto Hernandez

Ernesto Hernandez Mar 4, 2018 6:53pm

Ms. Brewer did a good job teaching her students to meet Common Core speaking and listening standards. Often I have certain students dominate classroom conversations, but in this video it looked like all students were participating. It is true that children often forget great thoughts that they have, or have trouble articulating them, so I think giving them time to work out their thinking and record it is enormously beneficial. This strategy works great with reading comprehension but I believe it would be effective across all areas of the curriculum.
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  • Private message to Douglas Jaynes

Douglas Jaynes Aug 8, 2016 8:21pm

Post-it notes are an easy way to make sure students are prepared to share out thoughts with a partner, small group, or whole class. It's easy to forget an important idea that came to mind as you continue to read along in the text and this practice provides students the opportunity to quickly stop and reflect before they continue reading. Will definitely use this strategy in social studies and grade level novels. Will help all students feel successful as they participate in the discussion.
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  • Private message to iris ortega

iris ortega Nov 13, 2015 1:55am

I really like this idea because not all students remember what they read.
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  • Private message to Erin Wheeler

Erin Wheeler Jun 28, 2015 8:52pm

Love this and easily adapted to lower grades. My first graders participate with quick draw post-its (they may have more than one of each image) but they are then ready to have something to discuss with their neighbor. They also love to see when a classmate had a similar reaction to a part of the story. Here are our post-it's (images are in the parenthesis). 1) a suprising part (:O face) 2) an imporant part (!) 3) a confusing part (?) 4) a part I loved ( a heart) 5) a prediction part ( a thought bubble
Recommended (3)
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Materials

Transcripts

  • TIMECODE COMMENT GRAPHICS
    TEXT:
    Strategies:
    Hand Signals
    00:00:00 STACY BREWER: A big part of the speaking and listening standard that I was focusing

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    TIMECODE COMMENT GRAPHICS
    TEXT:
    Strategies:
    Hand Signals
    00:00:00 STACY BREWER: A big part of the speaking and listening standard that I was focusing on has to do with coming prepared for the discussion. TEXT:
    Stacy Brewer
    5th Grade teacher
    Stevenson Elementary – Bellevue, WA
    00:00:12 STACY BREWER: So I wanted to give my students ways to share their thinking and one strategy I used was giving them a Post-It to record that thinking so that when it came time to actually discussing the text, they had evidence or remembered what it was that they were thinking when they read. TEXT:
    Post-it: That would be very hard to cross that many miles.
    00:00:32 GIRL: On page, well no, it’s page 639, I predicted that the Shoshone Tribe will try to find Clark and the rest of the crew, and my prediction became true. TEXT:
    Post-it: I predict that the Shoshone tribe will find Clark and the rest of the crew. (pg. 639)
    00:00:43 STACY BREWER: My favorite thing about the Post-Its is that it honors their thinking and it helps them to remember what it is that stood out to them. TEXT:
    Post-it: I was surprised that it took 24 days to go around the waterfalls (637). I saw Niagara falls, but they weren’t as big.
    Post-it: I know that here in WA it rains a lot in November, so I think that the same thing happened to Lewis and Clark crew.
    00:00:53 BOY: I said that the Cross of Discovery had…
    00:00:58 STACY BREWER: I talk to the students about how sometimes, we have this great thought and then we move onto the next thing and we already forgot what we were thinking. So a Post-It is a way of kind of holding on to that thinking and we can even put it right in the book.
    00:01:12 GIRL: Oh, on page 638, it said that carrying her baby boy on her back, Sacajawea won the admiration of the crew. She carefully scanned the riverbank to find edible fruit roots, and fruit.
    00:01:23 STACY BREWER: What I like about the Post-It is that it helps them feel prepared for the discussion and that it gives them a record of something that they might be able to share with the whole group. TEXT:
    Post-it: I was surprised it took them more than 8,000 miles to come back. (pg. 643)
    Tch Teaching Channel

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School Details

Stevenson Elementary School
14220 Ne 8th St
Bellevue WA 98007
Population: 495

Data Provided By:

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Teachers

Stacy Brewer

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