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Hexagonal Thinking

11/13/2015

3 Comments

 
I love the out of the box teaching and learning that happens at CUE.
I went to a most excellent session at the Fall Cue Conference presented by Rachel DIephouse. One of the things she had us do is hexagonal brainstorming. I was really excited to try it out with my students. When my hexagon punching device came we were working on analyzing the theme. Theme is always such a hard concept for students to understand. I decided to do some reteaching while trying out this new thinking strategy.

Picture
After reviewing topic vs. theme and how finding a topic can be very useful in determining the theme, but it is still a topic, I handed out my freshly punched hexagons. I told the students to write down words, phrases, or ideas that related to the conflict, characters, or the topic on their hexagons. 

I showed the students a short film called 
"Sweet Cocoon".  ​I love using short films because they are generally between 2-8 min long, perfect for short attention spans, and they tell wonderful stories that all readers can understand. When I want to introduce a story element, reteach a literary device, or have students of varying reading levels discuss these topics-short films are my go to. In this case, using a short film was helpful because this thinking strategy was new.


In this particular film, a caterpillar is too fat to squeeze into her cocoon. She gets some help from a couple of bugs that are passing by that notice her struggling. The bugs have several ideas that result in failure, before successfully squishing the caterpillar into her cocoon. When she finally emerges as a butterfly, she is eaten by a bird. The students watched intently and made notes on their hexagons. When it was over I told them to put everyone's hexagons together at their table and sort them, connecting ideas that went together. You can listen to one group's discussion in the video below:
When they were finished arranging their hexagons, I asked them to notice if one hexagon seemed to be connected to more ideas than the others. Then I referred back to the anchor chart (pictured above) and I asked them to try to answer the question, "What is the author trying to tell me about (insert well-connected hexagon topic here)?" I asked them to write that message down on a post-it note and bring me their most connected hexagon with their theme statement.
Picture
Picture
I connected their top hexagons in the same manner that they had done in their groups, placing their themes near the hexagon that went with it. We discussed the similarities and how some were more like a summary than a message. I have two class periods of English, so in the photo there are two hexagonal arrangements with post-it notes. On Monday we will watch the film again, then review and compare the ideas from both classes, before writing a theme statement on our chart.

I love this strategy so much and I hope someone else will want to try it with their class. In the spirit of paying it forward, I bought an extra hexagonal punching device to give to someone else. JSUSD teachers: comment below about how you would use this strategy in your Math, Science, English, History, or elective class and you might get a surprise in your mailbox on December 1st. 
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3 Comments
wendy friedman
11/18/2015 01:44:06 pm

We tried using the hexagon today. We were generating ideas about what we learned yesterday on our field trip.

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Deborah Rocchild
11/23/2015 09:34:00 pm

I would use this in all levels of Spanish, to learn and expound on vocabulary themes--and in AP Spanish Lit, to relate the course themes and essential questions to the current work(s) being studied. Love the idea!

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Rachel Medeiros link
7/21/2016 07:40:15 pm

Hello! It's Rachel Diephouse (now Medeiros). Thanks for sharing how this worked in your class! I love that you were able to use hexagonal thinking in your class and that you were able to share the love. I love the idea of exploring theme too! So many good ideas can come out of that conversation!

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    I am a lifelong learner and have had the privilege of also being called a teacher for eighteen years. 

    I am currently teaching 6th grade English, World History, and Media Studies. 

    I am an active Tweeter, Blogger and connected educator in pursuit of learning that allows me to use technology to enhance the learning experience for my students.

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    Like this blog? Are you a middle school English teacher? Check out my 20% time project. Genius Hour isn't just for students; my passion project is called "The Book Somm." It's a separate blog dedicated entirely to my love of literature. I read books and build a menu of paired texts and lessons around the YA novels that I love. 
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