TRY TH IS Collaborative Mind Mapping

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TRY THISCollaborative Mind MappingLEVEL: Intermediate to AdvancedPREPARATION:TIME REQUIRED: 45–60 minutes1.GOALS: To practice alternative waysof brainstorming and activating learnerknowledge; to collaborate with classmates ondiscovering the potentials of career choices;to reinforce vocabulary related to jobs andcareers; to engage in self-discovery related tocareer interestsMATERIALS: Chalk and blackboard ormarkers and poster paper; pens and paper;tapeOVERVIEW: A mind map is a type ofgraphic organizer that allows for shortideas to be written and linked to relatedideas on a “map.” Imagine the central ideain the middle of the paper with relatedideas connected to the central idea as wellas to other ideas. When students step backand look at a mind map, they have a clearvisual representation of how their ideas areconnected.This activity can be used to brainstormideas, develop existing ideas for projectsand activities, or review content studentshave learned. The example below uses thetopic of jobs and careers to demonstratehow the activity works; however, you canuse the activity for other topics that fityour students’ needs and interests. In thiscase, students will start with a job orcareer that interests them, work togetherto compile what they collectively knowabout each job, and finish with a briefwriting activity.44ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM2 01 6As part of a unit on jobs and careers,or as a separate activity, ask studentsto choose a job or career that intereststhem.2 . Collect a large piece of paper (newsprintworks well) and a marker or pen foreach student. Markers work best ifstudents are writing on large paper,but pens also work well. If paper andmarkers are not available, have enoughchalk for each student to use.PROCEDURES:1.Write on the board an example job orcareer idea with a few lines extendingfrom it. This will be a template forstudents to follow later as they workindividually. Start with an idea that isfamiliar to students but not likely to be apopular choice. For example, a job suchas veterinarian works well if students arefamiliar with that career. Tell studentsthat together you will use mind mappingto explore the chosen career—in thiscase, veterinarian. Tell students, “Weuse mind mapping because it allows forshort ideas to be written and connectedto related ideas.” Tell students that theywill use this template to create their ownmind maps later in the activity.2 . Answering specific questions will helpstudents work on their mind maps; youcan write questions on the board. Thefirst one is the big question that startsthe thinking process, while the last rum

relate specifically to what should belisted on the mind map.a.What do you know about this job?b.What do people who have this jobdo on a daily basis?c.Who else works with someone whohas this job?d.What skills are needed for this job?3 . Model the activity by having studentsconsider the career you suggested. Ifsome students do not know that job,elicit ideas from the class. What is aveterinarian? What does a veterinariando? (Possible answers: “A veterinarianis a doctor who takes care of animals.”“Veterinarians treat animals that aresick.” “Veterinarians help animals stayhealthy.”) Once veterinarian is defined,have students brainstorm possible dailytasks associated with the job. Studentsmight say “giving exams,” “giving shots,”“performing surgery,” etc. As studentsoffer ideas, write them on the board—or better yet, have students come tothe board and write their ideas. Oncestudents have finished brainstormingdaily tasks, move on to brainstormingwith the class for the other questions,about people and skills.Note that when brainstormingabout people associated with thejob, students might not know thenecessary vocabulary.You can providethe vocabulary as students describe theperson or allow students to work withthe vocabulary that they have. Oneexample might be a term like “veterinarytechnician.” Students might say “nurse.”At this point you could provide the term“veterinary technician” or simply write“nurse.”Once you reach the subtopic of skills,students will likely be engaged withthe activity, and so this subtopicmight generate the largest number ofresponses. Encourage students to offerboth technical and non-technical skillsneeded. Some students might suggestthat veterinarians must be good atbiology; others might say veterinariansmust be patient. The first suggestionemphasizes technical knowledge, whilethe second focuses on the importance ofcertain personal characteristics.4 . After students have explored all threecategories, ask them to connect someof the ideas they have come up with.For example, students could draw a lineconnecting “biology” to “surgery” becauseit is important to study biology in orderto perform surgery.5 . Pair students and have them share theircareer ideas. You might say, “Please tellyour partner which job you chose, andexplain why you chose that job.” This stepshould take just a few minutes—enoughtime for students to share with each othertheir choice and offer an explanation asto why this particular job interests them.While students talk, pass out paper,markers, and tape (or pieces of chalk).6 . Tell students they will now do the samemind-mapping activity individuallythat they have done as a class with“veterinarian.” Tell them to use thematerials you have given to them. Ifpossible, have students choose a spot onthe wall to hang their paper and beginby copying the mind map template youshared in Step 1, with their own careerchoice written as the central idea. Theadvantage of using large paper is thatwhen students step back from theirmind maps, they are able to look attheir ideas from a different perspectiveand easily see the bigger picture. Butnote that if you do not have large piecesof paper, this activity can be donewith any materials you have on hand.Students can stay at their desks and usepaper or their notebooks to completethe g-forum2016ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM45

7. Give students 7 to 10 minutes to fillin the subtopics on the mind map.As they write, circulate around theroom, helping them with vocabulary.You could give students a time limit,or you might want to put a limit tothe number of ideas they should writerelated to each subtopic. Advancedstudents could be told to write fiveideas per subtopic, while intermediatestudents could be asked to write twoideas per subtopic.8 . Tell students they will now rotate tothe right and add to the mind maps oftheir classmates. (If they are workingat their desks, students can pass theirmind maps to the person on their right.)Sometimes it is helpful to suggest thatthey should add three ideas to a mindmap before moving to the next one,but this suggestion can be adapted tofit each classroom’s needs. If you wanteach student to contribute to everyother student’s mind map, it might bebest to say, “Write one idea per subtopicand then move to the next mind map.”In a class of fewer than 20 students,each student can contribute to everyclassmate’s mind map. Choose thisoption if you are confident all studentsare capable of responding to all the jobsubtopics.For larger classes, you can put a timelimit on the rotation, or you can groupstudents so that they have a limitednumber of mind maps to work on asthey progress through the activity.Another option is to group students withsimilar career choices together to ensurethat they will each have something tosay. For example, if five students haveselected careers related to medicine,these students could work together,particularly since their schema relatedto the topic has already been activated.In addition, grouping students of similarinterests gives them time to explaintheir career choice to the others beforestarting the rotation.46ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM2 01 6It is also important to let students knowhow much they should write during therotation. Because the activity is based ona mind map, suggest that students writeshort phrases or even single words. Ifone student’s topic is “race car driver,”another student might write “goodeyesight” under the subtopic of skills.Asking students to write full sentencesfor a mind map, or many types ofbrainstorming activities, places an extraburden on their cognitive load. The goalhere is for students to generate ideas, andthey should not be inhibited by grammaror structure.9 . Ask students to return to their ownmind maps. They will then do thefollowing steps, which can be postedon the board.a.Read everything that has beenadded to your own mind map.b.Add anything new to the subtopics,now that you have looked at yourclassmates’ mind maps.c.At the bottom of the paper, writetwo or three questions you still haveabout your career choice.If students have trouble coming upwith questions, you might suggestthe following:i.How many hours per week dopeople in this career typicallywork?ii.What is the average salary forthis job?iii. How easy is it to find a jobdoing this?1 0. Have students pair up with their partnersfrom the beginning of the activity. Tellstudents to (a) orally summarize for theirpartners what they first wrote on theirmind maps and (b) explain to one forum

what they learned from the additions theirclassmates made to their maps.1 1 . Have students, still in pairs, ask thequestions from their mind map to eachother. Tell them to work together tocome up with possible answers. Theseanswers don’t necessarily have to beaccurate (for example, they might notknow the actual salary for someone inthe chosen career), but students shouldwork together to propose possibilities.Together they might guess that aprofessional soccer player makes alot of money but a teacher makesmuch less.1 2 . Have students work individually onceagain. Tell them that now they willcompile all that they have proposed andlearned about their topic. This can takethe form of a short writing assignmentto be done in class or for homework.Students should summarize in five toseven sentences what their mind mapstell them about their career choices. Theycan also mention any questions they stillhave about the career they chose. If youkeep the questioning aspect of this activityalive and constantly engage students inthe question-and-answer process, theircuriosity remains high, and they continueto evaluate the information before them.introduction to different types of jobs, studentscould complete this activity before takingon additional research for a final report orpresentation on their career choice. Studentscould then be assigned to do further researchon their choice, either by interviewingsomeone in their chosen field or by reading,watching, or listening to materials relatedto the field.VARIATIONSThis activity is designed to work for a varietyof topics and areas of study. Here are just afew of the ways it can be used: Brainstorming and narrowing down atopic for a research project. Studentswork together to develop their own ideasfor research. During rotation, they offersuggestions for possible research questionsand approaches. Getting students excited about a topic theyhave yet to learn about as part of a largerunit, such as vacation planning, weather,hobbies, or holidays. Instead of choosing acareer, students choose—for example—avacation site or a hobby, generate questionsas in Step 2, and then continue the activityas described. Pre-reading for a piece of literaturewhere perhaps students already knowInstead of completing the activity with asomething about the author or story.writing task, students could end with aWhen students know the characteristicspresentation to the class or a large group,of a genre or the style of an author, yousummarizing what they have learned andcan use this activity to promote guessingwhether their opinion of the career hasand prediction. Students brainstormchanged.before reading by using the author, genre,or title as a central theme.You can break1 3 . Once students have completed thethe reading into parts so that studentssummary, ask them to add two sentencesreturn to their mind maps to clarifyexplaining whether they are stillpredictions and offer additional predictionsinterested in this career choice—andand questions before reading further.why or why not.Collaborative mind maps can also helpstudents make connections between plotEXTENSIONelements, characters, and themes.This activity can be part of a larger unit onjob or career choices. Early in a unit, after an Helping students work through andunderstand a process or aching-forum2016ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM47

Drawing/photo by Melissa Mendelson Comparing topics—for example, tofurther understand two topics studentshave been learning about throughouta course or term. Students work withtwo central ideas at the start insteadof one and develop both ideas duringthe activity. In this way, students canmake clear connections betweensubtopics or can actively separatedifferences.48ENGLISH TEACHING FORUM2 01 6SCAFFOLDING (OPTIONAL)This activity can be adapted for manyages and levels. In order to make it lesschallenging for lower-level students, youcan have them simply create a mind mapshowing what they know about theirtopic rather than relating ideas to specificsubtopics. In addition, beginners could endwith a short oral presentation rather thana written piece. More advanced studentscould be tasked with developing the subtopiccategories at the beginning of the lessonwith a prompt from the teacher such as,“What do we need to know about a job inorder to understand it?”This activity was written by Melissa Mendelson, anESL teacher with more than ten years’ experiencein the United States and abroad. She is currently anAssociate Instructor in the Department of Linguistics atthe University of rumGPS Designed, produced, and printed by Global Publishing Solutions (A/GIS/GPS) (16-20680-E-1.0)relationships. Students will have tostructure a mind map that shows alinear process rather than multi-layeredrelationships. They will start with amain topic and follow it through to anatural conclusion. For example,students might develop the steps of arecipe chronologically and then returnto each step to suggest possible variations.Each variation could lead to a differentend that students would work toward.

other student’s mind map, it might be best to say, “Write one idea per subtopic and then move to the next mind map.” In a class of fewer than 20 students, each student can contribute to every classmate’s mind map

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