Flawed Summaries

This week the ASPIRE 5 class tried one of Dr. Bertie Kingore's GT strategies called Flawed Summaries.  This fun and high-level activity can be used for any subject.  We applied it to the end of our history unit, as we are finishing the causes of the Revolution.  Students were assigned to a group, and each group was given a topic such as the Boston Tea Party or the Stamp Act.  The directions were to create a five-sentence summary for their topic, and to include at least one mistake in each sentence.  To prevent tales of space aliens and time machines, they were required to keep the "essence" of their topic.  When the task was complete, each group presented their flawed summary to the class, and gave them the opportunity to find the mistakes and fill in the correct information.

The students had no problem getting started.  They took the assignment as a challenge, and were excited about the opportunity to stump their classmates.  They also used it as a platform for their creativity and humor, as so often the opposite of the truth can be very funny.  There were two primary reasons this lesson was effective.  First, according to Dr. Kingore, correcting the mistakes helps transfer the information to long term memory.  In addition, the class was engaged, challenged, and motivated to find the flaws, as it evolved into a competition of sorts.

Overall, I was very pleased with the energy of the classroom and the depth of the summaries.  It was much more interesting than a traditional review, as it was student-led, used cooperative learning skills, and allowed the students to incorporate creativity and technology.  I can't wait to try it again with another subject such as science or math.  For more information on Flawed Strategies and other GT lessons, pick up a copy of Rigor and Engagement for Growing Minds by Dr. Kingore.  You won't be disappointed.