Triangle of Success & 4-Corners
There are two ways that you can do this activity:
1.) Form groups and have those students come up with a list of at least 12-15
words (or however many words you want)that describe success or a successful
person. I usually show some pictures of stereotypically successful people and
juxtapose that with a successful person that looks ordinary. This reinforces the
fact that success isn’t based on personal appearance.
Next, have the groups categorize their list. They have to review each word and
see if it is a “SKILL” “KNOWLEDGE”based or “ATTITUDE”based. Students will then
make a poster with a giant triangle of success in the middle and their words listed
next to the proper side of the triangle. Groups will present their poster and
explain why one of the three has more words and if they believe SUCCESS is
mostly one side or if it is a combination or all three sides of the triangle.
Skills
attitude
knowledge
2.) You can also do a 4-corners activity with this that gets them up off their feet.
Put up a sign in each corner of the room: “SKILLS,” “KNOWLEDGE,” “ATTITUDE”
and one with a “?” mark or “COMBINATION” on it.
Ask students to get up and go stand in the corner that they feel best
represents/defines success.
From here you can do a few things: assess how your class generally feels about
success BEFORE a lesson starts, count the number of students in each corner and
then do the activity at the end of the lesson so you can compare numbers and see
how many minds changed (kids like this sort of stuff for some reason). You can
also have students share their opinions of why they are standing in a particular
corner (I do EVERY student when I do this strategy and I make then say their
names too).
Once the students have shared or after you collect data they can sit down and
then you can form groups at random or by the students already grouped in a
corner. The students will form a list for “traits of SUCCESS” just like the first
option above. They will edit/categorize this list and then make a poster and
present (I look for anyone who changed their mind to share that or if they were
surprised by anything)
An all class list is also a good thing to have. I attached an example. This is
something you can refer back to later on in the year or build upon it as new vocab
is discovered. The posters themselves are a great visual as well.
I hope this helps. Today we did the 4-corners but only half the class shared
because the bell rang haha!