What It Is
Three 3’s in a Row is like Bingo, in which students interact with peers and get peers feedback on what they should write in the boxes of their template. This activity is great for several reasons:
- Students choose to answer what they feel the most comfortable with, allowing other students to get opinions from “peer experts.”
- All students, whether expert or not, are required to process the concepts in each of the nine boxes. This outcome is ensured when you required that only the template owner be allowed to write on his or her own template. Each student has to capture what is stated by peers and summarize it in the box.
- It provides teachers with a quick assessment of what the students have learned well and of what the students need help with. Teachers simply walk around and look for a trend in which boxes are still empty.
- It leads to great conversations that make use of critical thinking (when you ask the right questions.)
How It Works
- Prepare nine questions based on the content being learned and type them in a Three 3’s in a Row template.
- Students walk around the room asking peers to explain one answer (and only one answer) to them.
- Students summarize their peers’ responses in their box. (Be sure not to let students write in each other’s template, or you’ll end up with a passive game of pass the paper. By making sure that only the owner of the template can write in the box, you ensure that students are listening to each other, processing what their peers say, and summarizing it in each box.)
- Students then find another peer to answer another question and repeat the process. Students can use a peer only once. This ensures that students are getting around to nine different people in the room.
- Go over the answers as a class, by asking volunteers to share their responses.
How to Ensure Higher-Order Thinking
Your activity will only be as good as the questions you ask. Not all of your questions need to include higher order thinking, but be sure to include some big questions that require students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate components of the concepts.
Think outside the classroom. What are the implications of the concepts you are teaching for the larger world outside the classroom or for the personal worlds of the students?
Also, be sure to have students complete all nine boxes so they don’t select only questions that address lower-order thinking.
Source
Himmele P., and Himmele, W. Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner. ASCD, 2017, pp.72-75.