A-Z Brainstorming Strategy
A-Z Brainstorming Strategies provides metacognitive practice as students increase vocabulary, make creative connections with content, and apply higher order thinking skills in an active engaging activity.
It provides students with the opportunity to share ideas, build self-esteem, and learn from one another. Differentiation and scaffolding are inherently incorporated in the strategies. It can also be used in conjunction with other writing strategies as a support or introduction to the technique. A-Z can be used with any number of in-class activities, both individually and cooperatively. It lends itself to introductory activities or pre and post assessements
How to: A topic, concept, or idea in any curriculum is named as the focus of the activity. Students generate lists of words, ideas, sentences, or phrases that begin with each letter of the alphabet A-Z.
*Modifications:
1. Use a table with assigned categories to further focus the topics or to expand student thinking in a subject area.
2. Use with frames (see table of contents for additional information on frames)
Purposes: Among its many uses, A-Z Brainstorm can be used to:
1. Create a list of vivid verbs, nouns, adjectives, or adverbs
2. Transition word list
3. Concept development
4. Anticipatory Set
5. Closure/What have you learned?
6. Classification of words, concepts, ideas
7. Vocabulary Development
8. Dictionary Skills
9. Generating interest in a topic
10. Establish connections and build new connections
11. Creative, out-of-the-box, thinking
12. Conversation starter
13. Word list for use in writing
It provides students with the opportunity to share ideas, build self-esteem, and learn from one another. Differentiation and scaffolding are inherently incorporated in the strategies. It can also be used in conjunction with other writing strategies as a support or introduction to the technique. A-Z can be used with any number of in-class activities, both individually and cooperatively. It lends itself to introductory activities or pre and post assessements
How to: A topic, concept, or idea in any curriculum is named as the focus of the activity. Students generate lists of words, ideas, sentences, or phrases that begin with each letter of the alphabet A-Z.
*Modifications:
1. Use a table with assigned categories to further focus the topics or to expand student thinking in a subject area.
2. Use with frames (see table of contents for additional information on frames)
Purposes: Among its many uses, A-Z Brainstorm can be used to:
1. Create a list of vivid verbs, nouns, adjectives, or adverbs
2. Transition word list
3. Concept development
4. Anticipatory Set
5. Closure/What have you learned?
6. Classification of words, concepts, ideas
7. Vocabulary Development
8. Dictionary Skills
9. Generating interest in a topic
10. Establish connections and build new connections
11. Creative, out-of-the-box, thinking
12. Conversation starter
13. Word list for use in writing