Choose-a-Chip & Draw-a-Chip

Choose-a-Chip & Draw-a-Chip A Gem of a Structure for Nurturing Critical Thinking

Choose-a-Chip and Draw-a-Chip are terrific structures for building communication skills and promoting more engagement with the curriculum. One of the great things about these two structures is that they regulate communication. They ensure that every student gets an equal opportunity to participate, leading to equal status, and that no one student will do all the talking at the expense of others. If you noticed from the names of these structures, they both have the word "Chip" in them. What is a chip? Chips are like tokens with discussion prompts or questions on them. (Do you remember the craze of Pogs? Chips are very similar.). The structures derive their names from how you choose the chips. Chips can be made using card and a little imagination or you can purchase readymades from our online shop.

The steps for implementing Choose-a-Chip: Students choose from among face-up chips and respond to their prompts.

Setup: One set of chips per team.

1) Chips are all spread out on the team table, face up.

2) Teacher provides topic.

3) Teacher selects who will start on each team.

4) That student chooses and reads one chip.

5) The student responds to the chip’s prompt.

6) The chip is ‘retired’, encouraging use of remaining chips.

7) The next student chooses the next chip and the process is repeated.

Students draw chips from a stack of face-down chips and respond to their prompts. Setup: One set of chips per team.

The steps for implementing Draw-a-Chip:

1. Chips are placed face down in a stack in the center of the team table.

2. Teacher provides topic.

3. Teacher selects who will start on each team.

4. That student draws and reads one chip.

5. The student responds to the chip’s prompt.

6. The chip is ‘retired’.

7. The next student draws the next chip and the process is repeated.

What’s On the Chips?

Each chip has a discussion prompt on it. The topic of the prompts depends on the intended goal of the structure. If we want our teams to do teambuilding and get to know and like each other better, the chip prompts will be teambuilding. For example, “What did you do over the weekend?” If we want our students to practice paraphrasing, we may give them an open-ended discussion topic and use paraphrase chips such as, “I heard you say…” If we want our class to critically examine the elements of a story they just read, the chips may have questions such as, “How did the main character change?” Like all structures, you can plug in your own content to make your own activity work for your year group and subject.

Management Tips:

Timed Turns: Use a timer (see MegaTimer below) to make sure that no one student dominates the discussion. Use a one-minute maximum. Select Who Starts: Have students number off in their teams. Spin a Student Selector spinner or use SelectorTools to pick the student who starts. Stand Up: Have the student whose turn it is stand up. This gives students and the teacher a visual prompt. ‘Used’ Chips: Chips once used may be placed face in front of the person who used them. Students and the teacher can then monitor and process ‘how equal was the participation?’

Social Skills:

Active Listening: Students discuss topics in small groups and are therefore more active listeners than in larger group discussions. Paraphrase chips reinforce active listening. "I heard you say…" Taking Turns: Every student gets their own turn. Respecting Differences: Students learn to express differing opinions on issues whilst valuing others. Use gambits to practice disagreeing respectfully. "I respectfully disagree. I think…" Use gambits to appreciate teammates' ideas. "Great idea…"

Ideas: · Classbuilding Chips – Interview questions for getting to know classmates.

· Teambuilding Chips – Fun interview questions for getting to know and like teammates.

· Thinking Chips – Promoting higher-level thinking to deepen thought about topic (e.g., The War in Iraq).

· Lesson Review Chips – Review a social studies or history lesson. – Review a maths lesson.

· Discussion Chips – Discuss a mathematical concept.

· Event Chips – Examining a scientific event such as a discovery, invention etc.

· Famous Folks Chips – Investigating the life and times of a celebrated scientist (e.g., Newton). Investigate the life and times of a famous author etc.

· Reading Comprehension Chips – Reviewing science chapter reading or procedures.

· Paraphrase Chips – Promoting listening skills during any discussion.

· Story Discussion Chips – Discussing any novel, children's story book, or short story.

· Interview Chips – Interviewing teammates in the role of a story character (e.g., Harry Potter).

Check out chips in the T2T(UK) online shop: http://www.t2tuk.co.uk/Products.aspx?CategoryID=7&selection=4