COMPONENT: Interaction
Grade Levels: All (k-1 use illustrations for jobs)
Subject Levels: All
Grouping Configuration: Partners, small groups, whole class
Materials: Construction paper, marking pen; pencil
or pen
Description:
The purpose of Reader-Writer-Speaker Response Triads is to give students
the opportunity to read, write, listen, and speak to each other while working
in a small group. The key to this activity is that each triad can only use one
paper and one writing utensil (pencil/marker). Assign each student to a triad;
each student takes a turn reading, writing (recording), and speaking (reporting
the answer). Everyone in the triad helps the other team members: the reader
reads an article, chapter, or adapted text; the writer (recorder) writes or
draws the group’s response; the speaker (reporter) shares the group’s responses
with the other class members. This activity can be used for brainstorming
(e.g., naming all the proper nouns they know), for review (e.g., writing all
the fact families they know), or even for drawing the cycle of something (e.g.,
the water cycle). This can also be used for test preparation.
Barbara Formoso (Guston Middle School, Arlington, VA) makes simple
construction paper “tents” in three different colors. Each group has one
Reader tent, one writer tent, and one Speaker tent; the tents are then rotated
among each student within the triad based on the lesson’s objectives.
