Daily Assignment #82: Carousel Brainstorming

Carousel brainstorming can be done as an activator or a summarizer.  This strategy lets the teacher know what students know about a topic.


Put students in groups of 3-4.  Each group has a sheet of chart paper and a particular color of a marker. On each chart paper the teacher has written a subtopic related to the main topic of study.  One student serves as the recorder.  Give the students 30-45 seconds (set a timer) to write down on the chart paper all the terms they can think of that they associate with their subtopic.  


At the end of the 30-45 seconds, the students pass their charts, keeping their assigned colored marker, clockwise to the next group.  Do this until all groups have had a chance to work on all the list and the sheets have made it around to the original groups.  Each time add about 10-15 more seconds to the alloted time, because it will be more challenging for students to add new information to the brainstorming list.


When the activity is completed, post the charts around the room to use for future reference.  Ask the students what they noticed or what did they learn from the brainstorming?  


Examples:
Topic:  Circulatory System

• Heart
• Lungs
• Arteries
• Veins
• Capillaries
• Gases

Topic: Database

• What is database used for?
• What do you see when viewing a database?
• What are examples of databases that we use in everyday life?
• What fields of information would you place in a database of your friends?
• What types of information do not necessarily belong in a database?

Topic:  U.S. Government

• legislative
• executive
• judicial
• checks and balances

Topic:  Systems of the body

• muscular
• skeletal
• digestive
• lymphatic
• nervous
• endocrine
• cardiovascular

Topic:  Animals

• mammals
• amphibians
• reptiles
• birds
• insects
• fish

Topic:  Parts of speech

• nouns
• verbs
• adjectives
• adverbs
• prepositions
• pronouns
• conjunctions
• interjections

I hope you will experiment with this strategy.   It helps students to know that they do know something about a topic that is about to be studied or it helps students to review a topic they have just completed studying.

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Best Effort,

Linda103