View of an Expert: “Hexagonal Thinking in the ELL Classroom”
As a teacher of ELL students, I am always looking for new ways to engage my students in authentic conversation. Every teacher knows this is no easy task. This is especially true now with students participating in learning through a variety of mediums both in-person and online.
I first learned about hexagonal thinking from “The Cult of Pedagogy” podcast. The host, Jennifer Gonzalez interviewed the educator and blogger, Betsy Potash, behind this discussion strategy and blog “Spark Creativity”. Hexagonal thinking is a simple discussion strategy that can be used across subject areas, grade levels, online or in-person. I immediately knew this was a strategy that I could use with my high school ELL students.
How can you utilize this strategy in your classroom, you ask? It’s simple. Start with the vocabulary or concepts you plan to teach and the hexagonal shape. I suggest creating paper cut-outs of a hexagon to be laminated, then you will be able to erase the terms and use cut-outs again. You can also create a digital version. I did this using Google Slides since some of my students are in-person and some are studying synchronously from home. I really love the digital version because it allows my online students to be paired with my in-person students. The number of vocabulary terms and concepts is left up to the teacher’s discretion, but six to nine words seem to work best.
At the time, my students and I were beginning our study of “ A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. We had completed an anticipation guide in which we discussed the “spirit of Christmas”, and whether or not different characters exhibited these traits. Using hexagonal thinking was a great way to discuss characterization and major themes of the story. I divided my students into pairs and gave them each a Google Slide deck with six hexagons and the list of terms: Scrooge, Cratchit, Fred, money, Christmas, greed, joy, and compassion. The students needed to connect and organize the words using ideas. There were no correct or incorrect answers. The requirement was that any place where the hexagons touched the students had to explain the connection.
My students set to work, and I was amazed by the results. My students negotiated, explained, and connected ideas. No two completed arrangements were alike. The pairs completed the assignment by writing sentences to explain each connection they created using their hexagons. Finally, they presented their connections to the class for discussion. The whole activity took about 45 minutes. Class time well spent, allowing my students space for authentic discussion and deeper processing of advanced concepts.
Upon reflection, the possibilities for this strategy are boundless. Students can use this strategy to connect new vocabulary to old; link synonyms or antonyms, or connect vocabulary to academic concepts. I am looking forward to using hexagonal thinking strategy in future classes and future lessons.
