I’ve previously written posts about using the 3-2-1 strategy in classes (see The Best Ways To Use “3-2-1″ As An Instructional Strategy) and about using inductive learning (see The Best Resources About Inductive Learning & Teaching).

I thought readers might be interested in seeing some work representative of what’s being typically done in my English Language Learner U.S. and World History classes using those two strategies.

First off, World History students read a chapter on Hunter-Gatherers and, after applying a number of reading strategies, had to create a poster with these elements:

* Three words they thought are critical to understanding the chapter, what they mean, and why they think the words are so important

* Two phrases critical to understanding the chapter and why they think they are important

* One quotation critical to understanding the chapter why they think the quotation is important

* A drawing representing something important about the chapter

Students then shared them in a “speed-dating” style with multiple classmates, including asking each other questions using an academic question-starter sheet (see The Best Resources Sharing The Best Practices For Fruitful Classroom Discussions).

Here’s a photo of one piece of student work:

Three two one

U.S. History students, after completing a chapter on Christopher Columbus and then reading and categorizing a text data set (a series of short passages), they researched additional information about Columbus online, chose what they thought was the most important piece of information in each of the four categories, explained why they thought it was important, and drew an image illustrating it. They then, too, shared and discussed them in a “speed-dating” styles.

Here are a couple of examples of students work:

Three two one

Three two one

Considering that these classes are each a combination of Beginner and Low-Intermediate English Language Learners, and that these were the first times each class had done these types of projects, I think they did well.

And they’ll only get better….