Are Kagan Structures a part of your everyday teaching? If not, they should be!
I have mentioned before that I did not come to teaching via the traditional pathway, with lots of methodology classes. No, I graduated with my BA in Spanish and then didn’t use it for, I don’t know, maybe 20 years? I had the occasional conversation with a kind stranger who tolerated my halting question and answer, but no authentic interactions to keep my Spanish fresh. So since the day I decided to use my Spanish again and go into a classroom, everything I’ve done has been self-taught.
Anyway, fast forward to today, and I am now researching ways to design speaking tasks that are the correct level for my students, are a natural extension to what is going on in class, and that reach more students in the time available to me (51 minutes / day). My typical ask-individual-students-questions-and-wait-for-their-individual-responses was frustrating to me this past school year. I was only able to interact with one student at a time. After about 4 questions, the rest of the class would lose patience and want to talk or just stare off into space. With very large class sizes, this became difficult to manage. Another problem with this type of question/answer is that it really puts students on the spot. Talk about a raised affective filter!
Enter Kagan Structures!
Kagan Structures are carefully designed to build class community, social skills, communication skills, and knowledge. They also assist in procedure learning, processing information, thinking skills, and presentations. They give classroom engagement a super boost, too! Sounds like an infomercial for teaching tools, right? Too good to be true and promise more than they deliver?
No! They actually do all these things!
Like many classroom tools and games that I rely on to keep my students engaged, I was first introduced to Kagan Structures via this post from
The Comprehensible Classroom. Quiz-quiz-trade was my first introduction to Kagan Structures. Read Martina’s post and give it a try! There is also this post on
Fan-n-pick.
So, what is a Kagan Structure? According to Dr. Spencer Kagan, they are “interactive teaching and learning strategies designed to make learning more cooperative and engaging” (p. xii, 59 Kagan Structures Proven to Boost Engagement, available from Amazon). They stem from Cooperative Learning and can be used in all grade levels and just about any subject area.
So I revamped how I was asking those questions in class. Now, instead of me asking one individual a question and having a one-on-one in front of the whole class, I might say, “turn to your partner and list three things you did this weekend.” (Depending on the level, I might even have them make their list on paper first.) After about a minute, I will then say, “turn to the person behind you and report about what your partner did.” Then, after about another minute, I will call the class together and offer the opportunity to share out. This works so much better than me speaking one-on-one, interview style, in front of the whole class. Their affective filters are much lower and I have 100% participation.
Here are a few structures to get you started.
1. Centerpiece. (This is a great extension activity for a novel.)
Small groups.
a. Each student has a piece of paper and a pencil, plus one extra piece of paper for the group that is the “centerpiece” and sits in the middle of the table.
b. Assign a topic with multiple possible answers.
c. Students generate ideas.
Each teammate writes an idea on his or how own sheet of paper. Then, they exchange his or her piece of paper with the “centerpiece.” Each writes at his or her own pace.
d. Students synergize by scanning the ideas generated on the new “centerpiece” sheet they receive. They may piggyback on teammates ideas or generate new ideas. They continue brainstorming, each time recording on the new “centerpiece” they have received.
How I have used Centerpiece in class:
- possible settings for a story
- add a character to a class novel
- change an important decision made by a character in a class novel
- removing an important character from a story
- write the next chapter
Then, to extend it, I offer the opportunity to share out ideas students find interesting on their paper. They can talk about the paper, instead of themselves, thus lowering the affective filter a bit. Plus, they don’t have to generate a ton of spontaneous language which is especially good for levels one and two.
2. Pair Share (Good just about at any time during class!)
Partners.
a. Announce a topic and provide a few moments for students to think.
b. You can allow students to decide who goes first, or you can assign (taller student goes first, whoever is wearing a shirt with green goes first, whoever likes strawberry ice cream goes first, etc.)
c. The partner listens.
d. After first partner finishes, the second partner shares.
e. Students both raise a hand to signal they have finished.
At this point, students may look around the room to see who else is finished and pair up with a new partner.
f. You can extend this activity and have students offer to share what they learned or how their idea/opinion differed from their partner’s.
3. Similarity Groups
Students move around the room forming groups. They discover qualities of their classmates they did not know, and each student makes a connection with at least one classmate.
a. Announce a topic. (What is your favorite character/scene from class novel?)
b. Give students time to think and record their answer on a piece of paper.
c. Students form groups based on similar responses. Any students without a group can form a new group called “other.”
e. Announce a subtopic related to the original topic. (Why is this character/scene your favorite? What did the character do/happened that you liked/disliked?) Allow time for students to think and jot down their ideas.
f. Students pair up within their groups and share their responses. Students respond for 30 seconds each.
**Extension: Have students re-group based on a related topic. (Who is the character you “love to hate?” Then have students pair up to discuss another related subtopic. (What is it about this character that is so intriguing to you?)
Kagan Structures require very little preparation and offer so much bang for the buck that I use them often. I hope you do, too!
Do you use Kagan Structures in your classroom? What has your experience been like?
