Purpose

With this teaching strategy, students first learn a fact, definition, or small amount of information. Then, they share what they have learned with classmates who studied different information. This method is good for building student interest when introducing a unit or summarizing the points learned at the end of a unit.

Procedures

  1. Prepare fact cards or strips. Put a fact/definition on a note card or a strip of paper, one per student. With larger groups, you may need to replicate facts or definitions. For example, with 30 students and 10 facts, each fact would appear on three strips.
  2. Distribute one card/strip to each student.
  3. Each student should spend a few minutes reading the information on the card. You may want to ask them to restate the information into their own words or think of an example that illustrates the concept or fact. Circulate and check that students understand the information they have received.
  4. Tell the students to circulate around the room and teach their fact to one person at a time. For each interaction, students will share their own fact and learn one fact from the person they are speaking to. It may be helpful for students to take notes about what they learn. Then they may move on to another person and share and learn from them.
  5. Conclude the activity with a whole-class discussion. Ask students to share something they learned from another student.