SOCIAL STUDIES
STRATEGIES
Four Corner Analogies
How Does It Work?
1. First, ask students to take three or four minutes to jot down their response to
the prompt that focuses on a key aspect of the unit or a specific event such as
Westward Expansion or Texas Revolution.
Ask students to imagine or visualize what it would be like to be at that location
during that time period while the events are actually taking place. What would you
see, hear, and feel? What would other people be doing? What would the
environment be like?
2. Then ask students to decide whether their vision of that event is more like (a)
deep-sea fishing, (b) white-water rafting, (c) mountain climbing, or (d) scuba
diving. Then students group together with others who chose the same metaphor
and share reasons for their selection. As a group, they brainstorm as many
responses as possible to the following:
Westward Expansion is like _________ because…
Organization:
The teacher may choose to create posters for each group to utilize when
brainstorming their responses.
Example:
Westward Expansion is like white water rafting because…
Alternatives: roller coaster ride, hot air balloon ride, or various movie
genres such as horror flick, comedy, drama, etc.