Mind Bender
Purpose
Students collect evidence that misconceptions and false assumptions have been corrected.
Materials
Instructions
- Project the Mind Bender handout.
- Students think about how their previous misconceptions have done a “mind bender,” adapting and changing into new, confirmed information.
- Students use Mind Bender stems to write about what they have learned:
- I used to think _____ but now I know _____.
- I used to be clueless about _____ but now I know _____.
- Students get a partner to share/compare and talk about the new ideas they have learned.
- Evaluate students’ Mind Bender responses, adjust instruction accordingly, and clarify/verify the dispelled misconceptions.
Classroom Management
- Model the strategy using a think-aloud.
Differentiation
- Promote access by partnering with a supportive peer/adult.
- Promote response support by providing an idea bank/anchor charts/vocabulary journals and allowing students to dictate ideas to a scribe.
- Promote response support by allowing students to develop responses using a speech-to-text or word prediction support with a digital version of the Mind Bender template.
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:
- Create a visual to teach the new idea you know best. Then teach a peer the concept.
- Encourage students to use lead4ward’s Thinking Stems (English/Spanish) to frame their responses, if needed.
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