Sticky-note discussions

Sticky-notes discussions are fun, add variety to reading, and allow students to respond to the written text immediately. They are easy to implement in all content areas. Sticky-note discussions are effective when used individually, in a small or large group, or a combination of settings.

A lesson plan for grades 3–8 English Language Arts

By Kim Rector

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Related topics

• Learn more about information literacy, language arts, note-taking, and text interaction.

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Learning outcomes

Sticky-Note discussions are powerful tools that:

• help students organize and better understand different reading selections.
• provide an outlet that allows the student to stop, think, and respond to the written text.
• provide guidelines and goals for comprehending each text.
• decrease the chances of boredom by targeting specific skills.

It is easy to target those students with comprehension difficulties, but to also allow them to validate their responses along with the others.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

12 months

Materials/resources

• Selected reading passage
• Small sized Post-it notes (color and shape may vary. If smaller Post-it notes are not available, you can purchase larger ones and cut to size preference.)

Pre-activities

• Depending on the reading selection, a set of guidelines or rules will need to be established for students to follow. See Supplemental Resources for guideline suggestions.
• The teacher should model this activity first by reading a selected passage aloud, sticky-noting selected “targeted” items, and providing an explanation why these items were selected. For example, a teacher might sticky note all major events in a story as the class reads together.

Activities

1. As a student or group reads or completes a selection, have them stop and periodically place sticky-notes to highlight items they want to discuss following given guidelines.
2. The students will place the sticky-notes in close proximity to the written text and quickly jot a short note, summary, or picture to explain why the item has been sticky-noted.
3. Upon completion of the reading selection,the teacher will begin the discussion by having students talk about the places they have marked. They need to explain and elaborate on why they marked specific places.
4. The class can discuss the given topic by easily referring back to sticky-noted passages.
5. Written assignments can be given which require students to use the sticky-noted information. See Additional Comments for other class follow-ups to a sticky-note discussion.

Assessment

• The teacher can look at the students’ books to check accuracy of marked items.
• The students will discuss noted items and justify or explain. The teacher will assess students’ verbal responses, and the use of sticky-noted passages in any written assignments.
• It is remarkable to watch students grow over a year’s time. Reluctant readers and lower level students jump at the chance to share their notes.

Supplemental information

For more info on using sticky notes to code texts, see Strategies that Work by Stephanie Harvey.

Sample Teacher Guidelines for Sticky-Note Discussions about Fiction

Ask students to find and mark:

• questions about the topic
• something you liked and enjoyed
• something you disliked
• funny parts
• sad parts
• appeals to other emotions
• an event that happened to you or someone you know that is similar to a story event
• literary elements:character traits, setting, theme, moods of the character and author, conflicts, or point of view
• descriptive words of phrases that paint a mental picture that you can illustrate
• symbols
• predictions
• main ideas
• problems/solutions
• comparisons/contrasts
• oddities (strange and different items)
• parts of speech
• figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idiom, or alliteration)

Sample Teacher Guidelines for Sticky-Note Discussions about Non-Fiction

Ask students to find and mark:

• factual information (i.e.. birth dates, death information, life accomplishments, personal problems, career choices, etc.…)
• key words that tie into the topic that you know
• key words that tie into the topic that you do not know
• examples
• habitats/settings
• symbols
• cause and effect relationship (i.e.…snowball effect)
• descriptive words or phrases that draw a mental picture that you could illustrate
• problem/solution
• opinions
• hypothesis/proof
• comparison/contrast
• physical features
• behaviors(normal or abnormal)
• sequence
• steps in a process
• parts of speech

Comments

Sticky-note discussions allow a lot of flexibility in the following ways:

1. They can be moved around and aligned on a blank piece of paper to provide a simple outline for a student written response to the reading text.
2. They can be placed in and used with any textbook. Students are less likely to lose a sticky-note discussion stuck to the pages of their textbook as opposed to an individual sheet.
3. Sticky-notes are a great device for reviewing. Allow students to leave their sticky-notes on materials covered. At the end of each section, chapter, or unit, the students can review their sticky-notes. I have students who hate to take notes, but they love sticky-note discussions.