Consensus 1-3-6
This strategy helps students develop understanding within a group and collectively reach a consensus. Students learn about making individual choices and then about collaborating to take action and support other members of the community as a whole. Developing a respect for the viewpoints and decisions of others is a critical component of achieving consensus.
Implementation
1. Refer to the course texts for topics that are relevant and of high interest.
2. Set a reasonable amount of time for individuals to brainstorm their ideas.
3. To avoid frustration and loss of interest, provide sufficient information as to where information and ideas can be located in their reading materials.
4. Groups of three should have adequate time to share their individual ideas and then merge the information into a single strong and concise message.
5. When the two groups come together (six students), there will be only two main points to discuss, one per group, but they will need about the same amount of time as the groups of three needed.
6. The teacher should monitor the discussion in the room.
7. Assigning a student in each group to be note-taker will help keep students on task and help as groups revise and reflect.
8. The format can be modified to a 1-2-4 configuration.
Classroom Management
1. Introduce a relevant topic or an idea about a piece of text students have read.
2. Students work individually to generate a list of questions or understandings about the topic or question.
3. Next, students gather in groups of three to support of statements and reasons to eliminate or edit other statements and to eventually narrow down their lists to a single idea or question.
4. Then, two groups of three come together and discuss the single statements they have compiled; repeating the revision/editing process that they used when they first became a group.
5. After the group of six members has narrowed their thoughts into one statement, they select a spokesperson to share with the rest of the class.
6. Once all presentations are complete, each group of six revisits their statement to write a reflection of the process showing how their thinking was logical or lacking in logic.
