Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Character Maps:
This strategy will help the students gain a deeper understanding on the characters in the fiction and
non-fiction stories that are read in the classroom. This strategy will encourage students to make
predictions about the character during shared reading time. The students will be able to ask questions
through the story that can be added to the character chart.

How to Use:

1. Teacher Guides Students

- The students (or the teacher depending on the grade) will decide on a character to dive into
and learn more about.
2. Create a Model
- It is important that the teacher models a Character Map before he/she gives the students free
reign to create their own collaborative map. This way, the students will know exactly what the
teacher is asking for during this activity.
3. Choose a Character
- It is time to choose a character. Once the class has chosen, as a group you will create an anchor
chart with the character’s personality traits, physical characteristics, and possibly things that the
character thinks or says during the story. If the teacher teaches an upper level elementary
grade, they could split the students up into small groups and have them each depict a different
character.

When to Use in the Classroom:

1. This strategy could be used as an opening activity before the story is read. This would promote
the idea of predictions. The students could draw who/what the students think the character is
going to be like.
2. This could also be used as a conclusion activity to the story. If the students work in groups to
create their own character chart, the charts could be used to create a gallery walk around the
classroom. With the gallery walk, the students could see the similarities and differences
between the characters.
3. Another way this could be used in the classroom could be a lesson on character traits. In the
younger grades, character traits and growing into a good person is something that receives
much emphasis. The teacher could compare the character traits of the character in the story to
the character traits that are encouraged to the students.
4. The character walk could also be used in older grades to compare the character in the book to
the character in the movie of the book. This would require the class to create a Character Chart
for the book and then one for the movie. Many times, the movies and books are different and so
are the characters.
5. This strategy could also take place during a literature circle group. If the students are all reading
different books, the character charts could be created to compare the main characters of each
story.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Variations:

1. Character maps could be used as part of a summative assessment over a literature unit. The
students could create their own chart on the assessment to show how much they remember
about the character and what main ideas stuck out to them.
2. This strategy could be used with technology. The students could use Popplet to create a diagram
that represents the character and their traits. The cool thing about a Popplet chart is that the
main character could be the center of the chart, but the other characters in the story could also
be on the Popplet as well. The different bubbles could should the connection between the
characters in the story.
3. For the GT students in the classroom, the teacher could have them come up with the story and
character that the class would discuss. To make it more student led, the teacher could have the
GT students come up with a few questions that would prompt the class to go into more detail
when creating the map.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

See, Think, Wonder:

This strategy encourages students to dive deeper into learning by promoting inquiry-based learning in
the classroom. The students will be shown a quote, picture, political cartoon or a piece of artwork and
will be asked to create questions relative to the piece being shown to them. At the beginning, there will
more than likely be surface level questions. But, with teacher guidance, the students will begin seeking
and researching answers to higher level questions they may have.

How to Use:

1. Choose the Piece

- The teacher will choose which piece that the students will analyze. This could be something
from a textbook or reputable source.
2. Prompt Students
- Teacher will then prompt students to ask questions or make inferences about the photo,
quote, or political piece. This will create a discussion in the classroom.
3. Extension to Activity
- For older grades, I would have them write one higher order thinking question on a piece of
paper and use it as their exit slip. That way the next class, those questions could guide the
discussion.

When to Use This in the Classroom:

1. See, Think, Wonder could be used as a lesson opener activity. The teacher could show the
students a photo related to the upcoming lesson, and have the students brainstorm on the topic
before it is introduced.
2. The teacher could hand out the photo after introducing the topic, and have the students answer
a few questions on the back of the paper. Questions such as, “What details stand out? What do
you think is going on and why do you think it is happening?”
3. This strategy could be used before a shared reading in the upper grades. The teacher could
project a quote from the story and the students could make an inference on what they think the
quote is about.
4. This strategy could be used to promote inquiry-based learning. The teacher could show multiple
photos on the projector and the students could choose one to “wonder” about. This could
prompt research including technology.
5. Before an exam, the teacher could review by showing the students the slideshow of photos and
have them give an explanation of where and what the photo means.

Variations of the Strategy:

1. This activity could be used as a pre-assessment before the lesson is taught to see what the
students know or could guess what the lesson will be about.
2. Another way this could be used is through a student led classroom discussion. The students
could be organized in a circle and let their ideas bounce off each other. This could open their
minds to new concepts of what the photo could be that they never would have guessed before.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

3. To utilize technology, the teacher could make a slideshow on Nearpod and have the students
review the photos or quotes and have the students type and record their own responses
through Nearpod. That way, the teacher could go back and review what each student thought.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Alphabet Brainstorm:
Alphabet Brainstorm challenges the students to recall a variety of information from the lesson
previously given. When using this strategy, the students must recall a piece of information about the
topic based on letters from the alphabet. Using the letters, A-Z, the students must come up with
different relative information to the topic.

How to Use:

1. Topic of Discussion
-The teacher will first choose a topic that they would like the students to brainstorm on. This
strategy could be used in any subject area. The only area I find that it would be difficult is Math.
2. Groups or Individual
-The teacher must decide if this strategy will be used with pairs, groups, or independently.
3. Execution of the Strategy
-The groups will work together to generate ideas on that topic for each letter of the alphabet.

When to Use:

1. This strategy can be used in almost any subject area.

2. Alphabet Brainstorm could be used to see how much the students know on a topic before the
unit is taught or after the unit has been taught.
3. It could also be used as a presentation piece. If the teacher decided to do groups, the groups
could present the Alphabet Brainstorm in front of the class.
4. After the presentation, the teacher could request that the students copy their “acrostic poem”
on to an anchor chart. Once that is completed, the students could hang up the anchor chart and
have a gallery walk. That way each student could see and relate their information to another
students’.
5. This strategy could also be used as a summative assessment at the end of the unit being taught.

Variations:

1. Alphabet Brainstorm could work for grades 4-6. For the technology savvy students, they could
create a presentation with photos describing each letter they discussed in the presentation.
2. To utilize technology, the students could use the app Green Screen to create a presentation
about the topic they chose with each letter integrated into the presentation.
3. For the students who are more musically driven, they could create a song or drama presentation
based on the information they find on the topic.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Two Minute Interview:

Two Minute Interview is a strategy that can be used in the upper elementary grades in a variety of
subject areas. It focuses on listening and communication skills while also sharing information or data
with a classmate to see the different insights. This strategy could help improve the confidence of
students who may not like to speak in front of the whole class.

How to Use:

1. The teacher first poses a problem/area of discussion to the students. This problem can vary
based on grade level. The problem could also be a topic of an essay they are writing on or even
something they would like to know more about.
2. Once the students have their topic of interest, they will go on to do some research on the topic
chosen.
3. After the students researched their topic of choice, they will generate questions that they will
use in their “interview” with a classmate. The student will ask their questions and gather the
information they need to begin their paper or assignment.

When to Use:

1. This activity can be used to start a discussion in the classroom. It encourages collaboration
between students and their peers.
2. It can be used to introduce a new topic in a unit or used to discuss a topic that has already been
taught.
3. It could be used as a formative assessment to determine how well students collect and organize
their thoughts and others’ opinions in an essay.
4. This strategy could be recorded, and the students could recall from a recorder what the two
students discussed and the questions that were asked during the interview so that the writer
could go back on the information when writing.
5. This strategy could be used when writing an opinion based paper. The writer could state their
opinion and then their classmate’s opinion based on what they were told.

Variations:

1. To add difficulty to this activity/strategy, the teacher could have the students record their mini
interviews using an iPad or Chromebook. After recorded, the student could edit their interview
and present it in front of the class.
2. The students could collaborate and make FlipGrid videos with each student asking the other
their question and the response they give.
3. After the interviewing process has taken place, the students should be educated enough on the
topic to have a class discussion with the rest of their peers.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Human Timeline:
Human Timeline is a strategy that can be used to help students recall dates, as well as get them up and
moving. This strategy can be used with almost any elementary grade level. I would suggest using this
strategy in Social Studies. There are many different ways this timeline can be utilized in the classroom.

How to Use

1. Decide on the Topic

The teacher must decide on a time period for the human timeline. This time period must be one
with multiple important dates so that the students get the most out of this activity.
2. Choose/Research
The students must choose a date during the time period chosen and research what came before
and after their date.
3. Execution of Activity
Once the students have chosen and finished their research, you may then begin your human
timeline! The students may ask other students questions about their spot on the timeline. Write
them on the board and circle back to them after the presentation is complete.

When to Use:

1. This can be used to review with the students before a summative assessment.
2. The human timeline could be used to practice sequencing with the class.
3. Human Timeline could be used to “fill in the blanks.” Some students could be missing from the
timeline and the class together has to work to figure out who goes where and in which order.
4. This strategy could be used in Science to discuss the life cycle of a seed. This is a simpler version
of the timeline for the younger grades.
5. This could be used as a summative assessment and be taken as a class participation grade.

Variations:

1. The teacher could use this in the younger grades as a story sequencing activity to tell what
happens when in a story or picture book.
2. In the younger grades, the teacher could use this to teach on the timeline about events that
happened in each month in the classroom. For example, the teacher would have photos from
activities that the students completed during the year, and the students would put them in
order based on the month the event took place.
3. For technology integration, the students could get in line on the Human Timeline. One student
could record each student explaining their spot on the timeline and what took place in that year.

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Starr Barkley-Strategies in Teacher Toolkit

Reader’s Theatre:
Reader’s Theatre gives the students choice in what and how they present the information given to them.
This strategy can be used in almost any elementary classroom for Social Studies or Language Arts. The
students will become proficient in using words such as the author in the story. With teacher guidance,
the Reader’s Theatre will promote learning and a new understanding of the story through another
classmate’s voice.

How to Use:

1. Select Excerpts and Groups

The teacher will select excerpts from the story being read in class. The class will then be divided
or will choose the groups they would like to work in.
2. Students Read
Once in groups, the students will then read the excerpts given to them. As a team they will come
up with a way to present this to the classroom in the character that the author depicts.

When to Use:

1. This strategy could be used as a formative assessment to determine the level of understanding
the students are on with the literature.
2. Reader’s Theatre could also be used as a comprehension check to see if the students can recall
information that happened in the story.
3. This strategy could also be recorded, and the students could self-reflect on their work.
4. This could be used in younger grades to introduce drama. Drama is a TEKS that is introduced in
Kindergarten. I personally used this strategy when teaching drama this year in Kindergarten. The
students loved it, and everyone was involved.
5. This could be used to practice sentence stems as well. It could be used to prompt a formative
assessment. Afterwards, the students could provide feedback to the presenters and use stems
such as, “It was interesting how….” Or “The performance helped me understand the text in a
new way by…”

Variations:

1. An extension to this could be having your students record their Reader’s Theatre and presenting
it to the younger grades once it was perfected.
2. Another extension to this activity could be to have the students write their own story and create
a reader’s theatre on the story. This would allow the teacher to get a writing sample from the
students as well as comprehension.
3. This could also be used in a small group setting. The Reader’s Theatre would not be as dramatic,
but it would have the same effects. In the younger grades, the teacher could provide costumes
for the students to get into the character they are portraying.