Mind Bender

Purpose

Students collect evidence that misconceptions and false assumptions have been corrected.

Materials

• Mind Bender handout (printed or projected)
• Mind Bender template (English/Spanish)
• Notebook paper (if handout is projected)

Instructions

1. Project the Mind Bender handout.
2. Students think about how their previous misconceptions have done a “mind bender,” adapting and changing into new, confirmed information.
3. 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 _____.
4. Students get a partner to share/compare and talk about the new ideas they have learned.
5. 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.