Instructional Strategies

• Students read the story/selection silently for comprehension.

• Older students think of different ways to look at the material they read.

  • Write their ideas on the board.

• For elementary students, the teacher discusses how ideas can be considered from different perspectives and helps the students identify those perspectives.

Example: (older students) The article is about a big company, Super Value Mart, that wants to build a big box store at the edge of town next to a residential community. They would have to clear the land of a large forested area.

• The students identify the perspective of different community groups such as neighboring homeowners, nearby schools, environmental advocates, Chamber of Commerce, etc.

Example: (elementary students) The story is about a boy who wants Mom and Dad to buy him a puppy. They live in an apartment and his parents say ‘no’ to a dog.

• The teacher helps the students understand that Mom and Dad have a different opinion than the boy.

• Guide them through the development of Mom's and Dad's perspective and the boy's perspective.

• Initially, the teacher provides guided practice for the younger children for steps 3 through 7. As the students become familiar with the process, they do more of the work independently.

• Students may work in small groups, with a partner, or independently. Assign each student or group a different perspective.

  • Students discuss their assigned perspectives and develop a chart explaining what the perspective is and why.

  • Students reread the selection to gain more information/insight into the perspective they have been assigned.

• The groups reconvene and add to or revise the information on their chart. They write a statement(s) on the bottom of their chart summarizing the perspective.

  • Students share their work with the other groups and discuss each perspective.