Fan Favorite

Purpose

From a list of 4 vocabulary words, visuals, assessment items, skills, or text excerpts, students make decisions about their Fan Favorites from designated prompts.

Materials

4 vocabulary words, 4 visuals, 4 assessment items, 4 skills, or 4 text excerpts such as:

• RLA: texts, characters, literary skills, text features, plot events, comprehension skills
• Social Studies: events, historical figures, primary/secondary sources, visuals, questions
• Math: words, math problems, skills, visuals, questions
• Science: words, visuals, skills, science problems, questions

Instructions

1. Organize students into groups of 4.
2. Present students with the 4 options.
3. Ask the following opinion questions in different Fan Favorite rounds, choosing different items from the option list:
   • Stand up-hand up if you are a fan favorite of ______ as the most important.
   • Stand up-hand up if you are a fan favorite of ______ as the one you know best.
   • Stand up-hand up if you are a fan favorite of ______ because you can give an example.
   • Stand up-hand up if you are NOT a fan favorite of ______ because you think it is the most confusing.
4. Students who vote for that option stand up, put their hand up, and take 30-45 seconds each to justify why they are standing, using the following sentence stems, if needed:
   • ______ is my fan favorite as the one that is most important because ______.
   • ______ is my fan favorite as the one I know best because ______.
   • ______ is my fan favorite because an example of this is ______.
   • ______ is NOT my fan favorite because the confusing part is ______.
5. Continue asking Fan Favorite questions from step 3.
6. At the end of the game, each student finishes this statement verbally in their group: “One thing I know better now is ______ because ______.”

NOTES

1. Present the options in a way that there is no wrong answer; students should be allowed to choose any option.
2. If no students stand during the round, it may indicate a need to review the concept.
3. Other Fan Favorite prompts you might use to check for conceptual understanding include:
   • Sketch it in a different way
   • Provide another example of it
   • Explain it in a real-world context
   • Connect it to another concept
   • Compare/Contrast it to a related concept

Classroom Management

• Role-play the activity with a small group demonstrating how to participate in the strategy with Fan Favorite candy bar prompts (e.g., Snickers, Butterfinger, Hershey’s Bar, and Milky Way).

Differentiation

• Promote access to the content by allowing students to use vocabulary journals, visuals, or other memory aids to assist in deciding on their Fan Favorite.

Think It Up!

• Have students think more deeply about the concept by responding to a Think It Up prompt as an exit ticket or journal entry:
  • How would you sequence/rank the 4 options in order of importance or in order of your understanding? How can you justify your sequence?
  • Compare/Contrast two of the options. How are they similar? How are they different?
• Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.