save the last wordYesterday my students were given a homework assignment to read up on the 36th governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus. Students were asked to read the given article and prepare a index card that has two components…on one they were asked to write any interesting facts that they found in the article and the other side they were asked to write their reaction to the article about Faubus.

Today in class we took those note cards and students were placed into groups of four and participated in a discussion activity called ‘save the last word’…here are the guidelines to this discussion.

  • Students take turns reading their interesting facts on their cards to the rest of the group…this serves as a conversation starter.
  • After everyone has chimed in with their thoughts on the fact presented to the first student, that student then reads their reaction to the article and therefore gets the last word…this continues to everyone has gone.

This activity did work very well and students were able to use it with success in starting meaningful conversation about who Faubus was as a person and a politician.

Mr. McClung

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