Teaching Strategies
Collaborative Posters
How to Use Collaborative Posters
Students are given time to think individually about how to represent on
a collaborative poster the spirit of a text read by the team. In the
ensuing discussion in their small groups - at which point the group must
reach consensus on one (or more) image, quote and original phrase - all
should be primed with ideas to share and from which to build their
consensus. In small groups the students share their ideas and reach a
consensus.
As groups plan and create their poster, a rubric is essential to ensure
that they discuss the text, stay on task, ad use images to highlight
main ideas rather than merely to decorate the poster.
Each student in the team uses a single marker, of a different colour
from any other team member’s, for his or her work on the poster, as well
as for signing the poster when the group agrees it is complete.
The first time students do a collaborative poster, they should have 30
minutes to complete it, but no more (do not compromise). After 30
minutes, post the posters as they are and have students assess them.
Team may revise their posters in their own time. Decrease the time for
work on subsequent poster assignments until students work within a
20-minute timeframe.
Copyright © 2007 WestEd. All rights reserved. From Quality Teaching for
English Learners, by Aida Walqui and associates: www.WestEd.org/qtel.
Reprinted by permission of WestEd, San Francisco.
Benefits of Collaborative Posters
- Helps students to synthesise their understandings in a visual form with close reference to the text.
- Encourages creativity.
- Helps students to self assess using a rubric.
