Carousel+Brainstorming

=Carousel Brainstorming = Amanda Edwards



What is Carousel Brainstorming? Carousel Brainstorming is a Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English strategy (SDAIE) that teachers can use with English Language Learners (ELL students). Carousel Brainstorming allows students to activate prior knowledge while working in groups and moving around the room. Carousel Brainstorming can be used across different content curriculum and at any age range.

Here is how it works:
 * 1) The teacher thinks of questions to ask the students relating to the topic of study. These questions must be open ended questions that can generate a lot of different answers.
 * 2) The teacher writes these questions down on large pieces of poster paper or on flip charts and places them around the room
 * 3) Students are divided into groups. These groups work best when they do not exceed 5 students per group.
 * 4) Each group is given a different color marker or writing utensil.
 * 5) Groups will rotate around the room and brainstorm an answer to the question. Since each group is given a different colored marker, it is easy to track which group wrote what answer.
 * 6) At the end of the rotation, each poster will have a series of answers written on it. This can be used for a group discussion, compare and contrasting answers, further research on questions or other activities the teacher can think of.

Why use Carousel Brainstorming? Carousel Brainstorming is an excellent way to engage ELL students because it activates their background knowledge. This allows the student to make connections to the new content learning, and prepares the student for the lesson. This activity can also provide a personal connection for the student to the new content learning, which will help build interest. This strategy can be used for creating subtopics for a main topic. It can be a way of organizing information, which can help for deeper understanding of the content learning. Another benefit for ELL students is integrating group work and movement into this brainstorming activity. Group work is another SDAIE strategy that helps promote the development of English for ELL students, and movement around the classroom (in an organized fashion) is always a good idea as it allows students to use some of their energy in the classroom. Also, physically moving from station to station can signify a clarification between questions or ideas if needed.


 * Activates prior knowledge
 * Makes connections to new content learning
 * Prepares the student for the lesson
 * Creates personal connections
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Organizes information
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Promotes group work
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Engages in movement
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Is FUN!

<span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">When to use this SDAIE strategy? <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Carousel Brainstorming can be done before or after a lesson. If it is done before, it is used as a brainstorming activity for students to prepare for the lesson and promote discussion of the topic. If it is done after the lesson, it can be used to summarize information that has been taught. Carousel brainstorming can be used once students have the ability to read and write comfortably, most likely starting in second grade, providing the questions and topics are appropriate for your students.

<span style="color: #ff5c00; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">How can I use Carousel Brainstorming in my classroom? <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">Carousel Brainstorming can be used across the content curriculum easily. Here is an example of using Carousel Brainstorming as a way to activate prior knowledge and prepare students for a 5th grade Social Science lesson:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The topic of the lesson is the Pilgrims coming to the New World
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The teacher writes questions like: What does it feel like to move to a different city? What would you take with you on a very long trip? What is one reason to leave your home permanently? Name some characteristics that a European explorer might have. What are some tools or resources we use to help us find different places?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">These questions foster personal connections and deeper understanding of the difficulties the Pilgrims faced in coming to a new world.

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">Here is an example of using Carousel Brainstorming as a way to summarize subcategories within a main idea:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The topic of the lesson is Animals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The subcategories are: mammals, reptiles, birds, insects and fish.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The teacher writes questions like: Name a mammal that lives in the arctic. What kind of reptile might you find around your house? Name one bird that does not fly? Name an insect that can fly. Name one fish and say if it lives in fresh water or salt water.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">These questions/ topics help students reflect and review the information that has already been presented to them. It helps them organize information and understand a connection between each of these subtopics and the main topic; animals.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;">Resources: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;"><span class="wiki_link_ext"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;"><span class="wiki_link_ext"> <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;"><span class="wiki_link_ext">Video: <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 150%; text-align: left;"><span class="wiki_link_ext">media type="custom" key="7970752"