Three step routines: Collaborative approach to mind mapping

THREE STEP ROUTINES

A collaborative approach to mind mapping

I like this approach to mind mapping because it is done in a different way. Generally, mind mapping will happen with the teacher at the front of the class, “eliciting” ideas from the whole class. In my approach, students do it collaboratively in a way that generates more language from each learner. The teacher should get involved in it as well.

1 Get students to focus on a particular topic by writing the topic in a central position on a mini-whiteboard or a piece of paper. The collaborative mind mapping works by each person adding one word or idea to the mind map and then passing it to the next person in the group in a clockwise manner. The process is completed until the mind map returns to the person it started with. By then, it will have one idea from every person in the group.

2 Students pair up with the person sitting next to them. Without showing the words to each other, they take turns to define each word to their partner without saying it. Partners listen and try to identify the word.

3 Finally, students choose three of the words from the board and write three conversation questions to pass on to another pair to answer.