Brainstorming

Below is a sample of student work during a “Brainstorm.” The students were asked to suggest fun things that they did with their friends after school. The teacher wrote their ideas on an overhead transparency. The students copied the written words if they had difficulties in spelling what they heard. The words were placed anywhere in the brain. There was not any judgment about the validity of the suggestions. After everyone had contributed an idea, the teacher asked the students to indicate which activities were expensive or inexpensive. Brainstorming can be used in any lesson to identify applications of a social skill. It can also be used as a starter before class. An extension of this activity is to have the students make a prioritization of the items. In this example,the student determined the most expensive leisure activities and the least expensive activities.

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