Assumptions Wall
This protocol helps students process their own assumptions about a work compared to others’ assumptions about a work. The types of assumptions will be different for literary vs. non-literary works. Teachers can narrow the assumption task (e.g., assumptions about the protagonist) if they feel this will be of more benefit to students.
Process
- Ask students to list assumptions about the work.
- Have students choose the one that most informs their reading.
- Participants write their assumption on a sentence strip.
- Form groups of 4-5 people.
- Have students anonymously post assumptions on a wall and number them.
- Ask students to sit in a line in front of their posted assumptions.
- The student sitting farthest to the left begins. They choose one assumption they are curious about and pose a question about the assumption in an inquisitive voice (e.g., I’m curious about this assumption. What occurred in the work that is leading you to think this?)
- The student who wrote the assumption responds.
- Individuals continue down the line, choosing an assumption to ask a question about.
- Halfway through, remind students to be mindful of balance, working with different assumptions and questions.
- The protocol can go through the line a second time if the groups feel there is more to inquire and discuss.
- Ask students to reflect in pairs, small groups, as a class, or in their portfolios: What drives our assumptions about a work? How does critical discussion of these assumptions help me understand my relationship to the work?
Credits
Adapted from: “The Adaptive School: Strategies and Moves for Facilitating Groups”. Thinking Collaborative, https://www.thinkingcollaborative.com/as-resources
Photo by Gary Butterfield on Unsplash
