+1 Thinking Routine to Power-Up Your Classroom

+1 Routine is very similar to the Take Note Routine that we highlighted in a previous post. This routine is used immediately following new learning or content. It requires students to recall and record key points from memory. Just like the Take Note Routine, students can focus on the in-the-moment learning instead of trying to decipher what the key points are during the learning. But this routine doesn’t stop there. These notes then become collaborative as students engage in a silent conversation in the following step. Students pass on their key points to be added to by other classmates and are then passed back to the original owner to be reviewed. Students can add additional notes from the notes of others if needed.

Anytime a new routine is introduced, it is best used synchronously as students become comfortable with the process. This strategy is easily modified for asynchronous environments. For example, students may read an online text or watch a video. Immediately following this learning, students recall and record the key points with a digital tool, like Jamboard. During a synchronous meeting, students can then review their frame in Jamboard and move to the next frame for the Add (+)1 step. This is a very flexible strategy with the ability to use synchronous and asynchronous learning within the different steps. Our suggestion would be to make sure due dates are very clear for students to make sure the silent conversation is timely.

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To help you get started implementing this thinking routine in your classroom, we have created a Jamboard template. To use this template:

  • You will be forced to make a copy of this template. Make sure to rename for your purposes.
  • On the first frame, we added the recall prompt for initial thinking and the three prompts for Add (+)1 and a few additional instructions.
  • We duplicated this frame for 5 students. You can duplicate more frames if needed.
    • We also added template frames for classes with over 19 students (Jamboards are limited to 20 frames) that divides each frame into two sections, if needed.
  • You will want to set the editing rights to ‘anyone with the link can edit’ when you share with your students.