Four Corners

by Tom Rimmer,

Teacher of Science

 

I usually use this as a starter to a lesson which covers a controversial topic. This is probably more suited to a subject like English or R.E where there is lots of debate, but I have found it works well to introduce certain topics in Science.

 

The way it works:

1.       Present the students with a controversial statement or problem and give them a few minutes to discuss their view on it. (e.g  – It is immoral to burn fossil fuels) This allows them to form and then present their own opinion.

2.       Give the students four choices, one in each corner of the room. For my example the four choices would be ‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘disagree’, ‘strongly disagree’ – but these choices could be fictional opinions or even differing opinions from four different class members.

3.       Students have to commit to a corner, splitting them into four smaller groups. Each group has a few minutes to come up with a summary of their views and a nominated speaker then presents the groups views to the rest of the class.

4.       (optional) – Students either write a summary of the classes different views or complete a relevant exam q such as ‘evaluate the effects of carbon dioxide on the average global temperature’.

 

How it helps:

·         Students learn how to cooperate and debate. It also promotes tolerance of other peoples views.

·         I have found it helps with evaluate/compare and contrast exam questions.

·         Content is vital in my subject as it is in many others, allowing students to present their views early on in the lesson allows you to then focus on the content for the remainder of the lesson.

·         It gives all students a chance to present their opinion to someone/the rest of the class instead of a few students dominating the conversation which I find happens in whole class discussions.