Spiced-Up Venn Diagram

One of the things I look forward to as a young teacher is finding ways to put a new spin on old techniques.  Spice things up a bit.

Instead of handing notes or worksheets out everyday like a robot, I like to create different types of notes. Last week I had the kiddos make a brochure about South America which served as their notes.  They also made a flip-book about the four layers of the rain forest.  Still notes, but disguised as interactive activities.  My students seemed to really enjoy it, and didn't see it as notes.

Last year I tried a fun interactive activity with my fourth graders.  I was teaching a unit on fairy tales (and realism vs. fantasy) and we read the book, Cendrillon, which is the Creole version of Cinderella.  The story of Cinderella is so well-known that it was SCREAMING for a compare & contrast activity.

Venn diagrams are wonderful.  They fit a multitude of Common Core standards and can be used in any subject.  Of course I would have my kiddos create and complete a Venn diagram.  But how could I make it more exciting?  

Here was my solution:

You might have seen this idea floating around cyberspace.  But did you actually give it a shot?  It is a very inexpensive, fun way to engage students in a critical thinking activity.  I bought a pack of paper plates for about $2 and got well over 50 plates (which is what I needed for a class of 25 kiddos).  How cheap?!

I decided to make it a little easier on my students and stapled the plates together the night before.  It only took two staples per diagram.  It would save you time, as the teacher, to have them do it themselves.  I know would be easy enough to do with fourth graders, but I wanted to prevent any time delays.  The older they are, the easier it would be as well.

Next, I created the template above to show my students what they needed to do.  They had to get two colors and trace a circle for each side.  Then I had them label one side "Cendrillon" and the other "Cinderella".  Of course there was also a label for the center, too.

My fourth graders really got into the activity.  They used different colors to represent different ideas or the separate stories.  Here are a few fun examples:

It's amazing how much fun a typical activity, such as comparing and contrasting, can be when you put a little creativity into it.  Students love it, and sometimes don't even realize they are doing school work.  You can spice it up even more by giving a prize or reward for the student who comes up with the most ideas.

Whatever you do, make it more interesting!  The hum-drum of class can get boring for students.  Put yourself in their shoes and try to come up with activities or lessons that YOU would enjoy learning yourself.

Emily   :)