Cultivating Deeper Understanding With a Comprehension Clash

When an engaging review activity asks students to distill the most essential takeaway from the unit, they must reflect, revise, and debate until they reach consensus.

Join the Edutopia community to get curated articles, videos, and more delivered via email every Wednesday—it's free and always will be: https://edut.to/3wEVHUh

Cathleen Beachboard, an English Language Arts teacher at Fauquier High School in Warrenton, VA, doesn’t shy away from debate in her classroom. In fact, she finds it to be an extremely useful tool.

At the end of a unit of study, she asks each student to reflect with the following prompt: What is the unit’s most important piece of information? They start with a solo writing exercise, then take their idea and have mini-debates with their classmates, trying to convince others to change their opinion and adopt their idea. “You get to learn persuasive argumentation,” Beachboard says, “and it values everybody's voice in the conversation.”


For more strategies for critical thinking, visit: https://www.edutopia.org/topic/critical-thinking


*Follow us here:*
Official Website: https://edutopia.org 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/edutopia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edutopia
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edutopia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/edutopia/



© 2024 George Lucas Educational Foundation