Instructional Strategies Dictionary
3 X 3 Vocabulary: Used to promote the development of complete sentences as well as the identification of
relationships between concepts. By using related words, ideas and concepts students will have to
combine them together based on certain directions.
3-2-1 Countdown: Used to engage students in reflecting, summarizing, evaluating and integrating their
learning.
Anticipation/Reaction Guides: Students make predictions upon prior knowledge and evaluate those
predictions after exposure to new information. This strategy also focuses students on the essential
elements to be learned.
Bag It: Students are broken into small groups. A passage is given about different components of a topic.
Each group chooses a component within the passage. The groups collaboratively decide which clues can
be used to describe their topic (i.e. the Thirteen Colonies each colony is a separate component within the
topic). Each group will put the clues to their component in a paper bag. The others will try to figure out
which component the clues are for. Each group rotates to each other’s clue bag. The lesson finalizes by
the groups revealing which components they gave clues for.
Comprehension Strategies: These strategies require students to expand on their learning and
demonstrate understanding of information delivered.
Content Frames: Using content frames as a visual representation, students construct a table model to
organize their information. Teachers or students can determine categories and subcategories by which to
organize the information.
Final Countdown 3 – 2 – 1: This activity allows students to reflect on learning- a critical component in the
learning process. Final Countdown/3-2-1 provides learners with a framework for reflection, evaluation, and
integration of new knowledge in to previously learned material. Give students think time to reflect on the
day’s activities. Have the students write the three most important things they learned about the topic.
Have the students write two questions (opinions) they still have about the topic. Have the students write
one statement that relates or connects the new learning to previous learning. (“How is this like some
thing you learned before?” or “What does this remind you of and why?”)
Four Box Synectics: In a whole group or small group setting, ask for four items in an assigned category
(e.g., commonly found household objects, animals, things found in a forest, recreational activities, foods).
Place one item in each of the four boxes. If you divide students into small groups, you could choose
different categories for each group. Once the outside boxes are filled, put your topic, concept, character,
etc. in the center box. Reveal the sentence “A_______ is like a _______ because…” The first blank is filled
in with what is in the center box.
Four Corner: By responding kinesthetically to visual, written and oral information students are allowed to
defend an idea learned from the lesson.
Free Form Mapping: Through the use of visual representations of the text, students demonstrate their
understanding. The can be created before, during, and/or after the reading.
Give One-Get One: This strategy gives students an opportunity record personal ideas related to the new
learning, exchange ideas with each other, and review the different perspectives gained during the
exchange. This activity can be used as an activating, comprehending, or summarizing activity.
Jigsaw Reading: This is a collaborative reading strategy in which students are divided into groups. Each
group member is responsible for pulling major facts from a small portion of a reading selection and
presenting those facts to the rest of the group.
KWL Plus: Ask students what they know about a topic and record responses under the ‘K’ (know) column.
Ask students what they want to know to make their understanding of the topic more complete or what
they wonder about the topic. Record these questions under the ‘W’ column. Complete the ‘L’ (learned)
section of the K-W-L chart once the lesson has been taught. Students can put their information in the
concept and use the space provided to write a summary of their learning.
Learning Log: Students have the opportunity to personalize their learning, monitor their progress, assess
their own needs, and review essential details. A variety of formats are used: free or peer response,
visualizations, dialogues, summaries, journal entries, etc.
Literature Circles: The students are engaged. Each person gets a role: Designer (illustrates); Line Catcher
(finds interesting parts or passages things that stick out); Link-maker (makes connections to the world
text to text, text to self, text to world); Reporter (summarizes the information); Wonderer (thinks
"outside the box" is the what if? person).
Mindstreaming/2 Minute Talks: Provides students the opportunity to talk to a peer about everything they
may know about a given topic given a specific time limit and are unable to stop speaking until time is up.
One Sentence Summary: Students generate a single sentence that best represents the major ideas learned
from the lesson. Through this strategy, teachers can quickly determine students’ level of lesson
comprehension.
Organizing Strategies: Provides a structure for learning and a method of organizing the information for
transference to long term memory.
Popsicle Sticks: Popsicle Sticks encourages all students to be active listeners and participants in class
discussions. The sticks are especially well-suited to differentiation when they are used
with open-ended questions. These questions allow all students, even the struggling students
in your class, to share ideas and perceptions about a lesson. Write each student’s name on a Popsicle stick.
Place the sticks in a jar or can at the front of the room. When holding a class discussion, randomly draw a
stick. The person named on the stick responds to the question. Make sure that you replace the student’s
stick back in the jar or can. That way, students realize they can be called upon to respond more than once
during a class period or day. Leaving the stick in place makes students accountable for continued listening.
Probable Passages: Allows students to make sense of vocabulary words or key concepts by making
connections through inference. They also allow students to strengthen thought process skills such as
predicting, elaborating and confirming essential information.
Probable Sentences: Takes what a student knows of a topic and their familiarity with the English language
sentence structure to activate prior knowledge. After new information is introduced through the use of
cognitive teaching strategies, possible sentences are re-evaluated for accuracy.
Problem/Process Chart: Used to demonstrate the importance of showing how a problem is solved. The
strategy involves having students explain step by step how to complete a particular task, activity or solve a
problem and verbalize the reason(s) for doing each step.
Question Answer Relationship (QAR): Helpful is assisting students in recognizing the construction of
quality questions by writing questions that prepare them to answer the four basic types of questions.
The question categories are as follows:
In the BookRight There (Cognition)
Think and Search (Interpretation)
In Your HeadAuthor and You (Critical Stance)
On Your Own (Connections)
RAFT Writing: Used to increase comprehension of key concepts through a structured written format.
Provides unique opportunities for students to apply content information engage creatively in the learning
process and demonstrate their understanding of information from different points of view.
Shaping Up Review: Through the use of shapes, students synthesize major concepts from the lesson using
four different shapes.
Sticky Notes: This strategy helps students, sort, highlight, and distinguish between main ideas and
supporting details. Students can pose questions about the content, make comments, and draw visual
representations or symbols during the reading process.
Story Plans: Identifies structures of a reading passage, its literary elements and their relationship to one
another. There graphic organizers are helpful in sequencing and connecting the elements of different
narrative text. There is more than one form of story plans.
Summarizing Strategies: Provide an outlet for information to transfer to long term memory. These
strategies promote retention by being engaging for students. It offers opportunities to rehearse and
practices concepts, skills and information exposed during course of lesson/unit.
Talking Drawings: This strategy allows students to draw pictures of their mental images of a topic, event,
or character before reading a passage. After reading the passage, students construct a second drawing
that reflects newly learned material.
Target Notes: A graphic organizer designed to help students expand their thinking while focusing on a
main idea, topic or concept. Ask students to consider what is at the center of the inquiry.
The First Word: Is a variation on traditional acronyms. By going through the process of analyzing words
and creating related sentences, students will gain a deeper understanding of the material.
Thinking Text Patterns: An outline/graphic organizer used to help students organize thoughts for writing,
but can also be used to help students become more familiar in recognizing various text patterns used to
organize information. Emphasizes categorizing information in a comprehensible format on a single page.
Three Step Interview: A cooperative activity that helps students personalize their learning while listening
and appreciating the ideas and thinking of others. Students must actively listen and paraphrase thinking of
others.
Trading Cards: Students create a trading card for a person, item, idea, or topic of study. By transforming
their knowledge of a topic in both visual and written format, students’ retention of information will be
increased.
Two Column Notes: Assist students in organizing learning by differentiating between key information and
supporting details during reading assignments. Very versatile and can be designed for any lesson.
Vanity Plates: Promotes summarization of a lesson through creative thinking. Students will create a vanity
plate that is based on the information presented in the lesson.
Vocabulary Mapping: This graphic organizer enables students to expand definitions of words by
encouraging a more complex, critical thinking type of definition that shows relationships. Create an
overhead of the Vocabulary Mapping organizer. Discuss the questions that reveal relationships- “What is
it?” “What is it like?” and “What are some examples?” Model this strategy on the overhead using a
familiar vocabulary word that can be easily mapped. (Ex: rain, forest, shoes) Ask “What is it?”, record
responses. Ask “What is it like?”, record responses. Ask “What are some examples?”, record responses.
Discuss how this definition now includes properties, categories, and examples of the word. Brainstorm
and write a final definition.
Word Splash: Brainstorming and prior knowledge. A word of phrase is put on the board. Students each
comment on what the word means to them. It could be a personal comment or a synonym.
Writing Roulette/Fast Write: A writing strategy in which students write about a topic non –stop for a
designated amount of time. Writing Roulette is a springboard variation of Fast Write in which students
exchange their writing with peers and extend it by adding their own thoughts. The writings are not limited
by grammar and mechanics.
You Ought to be in Pictures: Students write down their individual reactions to pictures, photographs,
artwork, or images. This strategy is used to elicit students’ prior knowledge and allow them to make
personal connections in order to motivate them to read and comprehend new texts.