CAROUSEL BRAINSTORMReading to Learn in all content areas

Students Think Critically Before Beginning a New Topic

Brainstorming Focuses Students’ Thoughts• Before Reading – Students brainstorm responses to

questions related to an upcoming topic

• Students are better prepared for the new lesson, and have already considered some of the ideas

What is Carousel Brainstorming?

A Type of Brainstorming

•Students move around the room•Students respond to questions related to an upcoming topic•Students discuss ideas that come up in brainstorming session

Brainstorming DOES Have Rules• Don’t judge ideas• Wild ideas are okay• Build on ideas of others (“yes…and…)

• Be concise• Capture all ideas• Drawings & sketches are okay

• One conversation/ question at a time

Carousel Brainstorm - Summary• Teacher will come up with open-ended questions

related to a topic to be introduced.• Teacher writes these questions on large paper (one

question per piece) and places them around the room.• Students are put in groups of 3-5, and move to a

question (one group at a chart at a time), brainstorming as many responses to the questions as possible (keeping the rules of brainstorming in mind).

• After a few minutes, the students move (in groups) to the next questions and do the same, responding to other people’s responses as well as to the original question.

Carousel Brainstorm – Summary (cont’d)• Continue in this manner until students have commented

on all questions.• When finished, students review and discuss the

questions and responses.• Students are then given a copy of a related text which

they read and annotate.• Finally, a whole-class discussion takes place, and

students connect the text to the brainstorming questions they answered previously.

Let’s Try It!• Get into groups of 3-5.• Each group move to a different poster and brainstorm as

many responses as possible to the question presented.• After a 1-2 minutes, move to the next poster, and do the

same, responding to the question and the previous group’s comments.

• Continue until all groups have responded to all questions.• As a group, review the posters.• Hand out copies of the article. (Employers get tough on

health)• Read and annotate the article individually.• Discuss as a class, and tie to brainstorming session.

BRAINSTORMING - Topics• Chapters of textbooks• Novels• Experiments• News/magazine articles• New problem type• Websites/documents• Historical documents• Video• Lecture (teacher will need to

structure presentation to fit the strategy)

Flexibility

Carousel Brainstorming is best used

•Before a new topic is introduced• To introduce a topic• To help students read more critically• To engage students before learning about a topic

Can also be used after reading to get students to review what they have read, and/or to apply the knowledge they have gained

Can be used to introduce a new theme in a novel:

Can be used to introduce a new type of problem:

Can be used before introducing a new science concept:

Can be used to introduce a new concept in history/social studies

Variations• Instead of brainstorming before looking at a new concept,

try it after the students have learned the new material.

• Have students use drawings and sketches only.

• Repeat the brainstorming process at the end of the unit, and compare responses to those from the beginning.

What Can Go Wrong?

Students may run out of things to write after a few rounds.•Option 1: Make the time a bit shorter for each group, so there is still something to say by the end.•Option 2: Have more questions than groups, so groups don’t answer every question.

What Can Go Wrong?Students may not stay with the group, and may wander the room.

• Option 1: Teacher needs to monitor behavior of students throughout the process.

• Option 2: Give each group a different color pen, and hold each person accountable for responding to each question.

Assessment

• Give participation points

• Have groups share the responses to the question they started with

• Give points for annotation of text

Your turn

Choose one unit you will be teaching in the first month of school for which you could use carousel brainstorming to introduce the topic.

Write 6-8 open-ended questions you could use to get your students thinking about the issue.

Share with neighbors/group.