Essential Lesson Structures: Going to the Movies with Paired Verbal Fluency

Essential Lesson Structures: Going to the Movies with Paired Verbal Fluency

Part One: Exploration and Gathering Information

1. Read the text. You may read alone, in a partner, or with a group as your teacher sees fit.
2. Prepare for discussion:
1. What questions are you thinking about at the end of this reading? What are you wondering about? What is confusing or unclear?
2. Powerful passages: What sections of the text caught your attention? This could be something surprising, weird, or well said.Make a note of the page number and beginning words so you can read it to your group. Be sure to write why you chose it.
3. Connections: What personal events were you reminded of in this reading? Are there other books you have read that connect with this story or information? How?
4. Sketch: Make a simple picture or diagram that represents this reading to you. Remember that what’s important is not your artistic ability—it’s your ideas.

Part Two: Consolidation and Collaboration

1. Meet with your group and discuss the text.
2. Using only images, create a poster that conveys the major concepts of the text. Prepare an oral explanation or retelling. Record the page numbers or headings from the text at the top of your poster.
3. Post your images on the wall in order as they appear in the text.
4. 

Part Three: Refining and Reflecting

1. Present your findings to the class. Listen closely to all presentations, as you will be expected to replicate the information.  
2. Be ready to present: Someone needs to be “at bat” to present. The next person “at deck” ready to step in when the person before has completed their presentation. A third person needs to be “in the whole” and in place. Watch the order so you will know when to get into position.
3. Paired Verbal Fluency: After everyone has presented, please meet with a partner to follow these instructions:
1. Decide who will be speaker  #1 and who will be speaker #2.
2. Beginning with the first poster, the first speaker recalls and summarizes the main ideas.
3. When the timer goes off (or the signal word “switch” is used), speaker two continues summarizing without repeating previous information.
4. Continue until time is called.
4. Note: “Three to four rounds are usually sufficient. The time for each partner usually should not exceed forty-five seconds. Decreasing the time for each round keeps the energy high. We usually use three rounds of forty-five seconds, thirty second, and twenty seconds. At the end of the paired verbal activity, you may wish to allow pairs a few more minutes for true conversation about the topic at hand” (pg 80 from How to Make Presentations that Teach and Transform, ASCD, 1992).

Part Four: Whole Class Debrief

1. As a class, debrief the salient ideas. Consider ending with intention statements:
1. I will…
2. I intend…
3. No matter what…
4. I promise…
2. As a class, debrief the experience in terms of social and behavioral collaboration. Consider: What worked well? What needs improvement?

Adapted from Learning Forward: The Professional Learning Association’s “Tips and Tools”