Teaching Strategies

Hot Potato

How to Use Hot Potato
Students are given a topic or a question to brainstorm and write down a key point (or more than one if time) before passing their paper on to the next person. Each time the students read what is written and add their statements. Points cannot be repeated. The paper keeps getting passed around until it arrives back with its original owner. One piece of paper can be used, or if all students need a record, then there can be one sheet of paper for each student and each writes at the same time. You may like to ring a bell (or similar) each time you want the paper to be passed on.

The Benefits of Hot Potato

• Teachers can find out what the students know and use this for planning.
• Students can activate and build their prior knowledge by thinking about what they know.
• It is cooperative - students learn from reading each other's (often divergent) comments