Think-Tac-Toe

Explanation: Think-Tac-Toe, which plays off the familiar childhood game, is a simple way to give students alternative ways of exploring and expressing key ideas and using key skills. Typically, the Think-Tac-Toe grid has nine cells in it like a Tic-Tac-Toe game. The number of rows and cells can, of course, be adjusted. As with related strategies, it's important that no matter which choices students make, they must grapple with the key ideas and use the key skills central to the topic or area of study. Think-Tac-Toe allows for differentiation by readiness, interest, and learning profile.

Think-Tac-Toe Example:
The Example that follows was developed as an alternative to book reports in middle school. Rather than having specific content goals, the teacher wanted students to explore characterization, setting, and theme in their novels. This reinforced key concepts students were discussing in their language arts class. The teacher also developed the Think-Tac-Toe to help students make connections between their own lives and the elements of literature.

This example of Think-Tac-Toe is tiered. That is, while both versions below ask students to explore the concepts of character, setting, and theme in novels of their choice and in there own lives, and while both allow multiple modes of expressing ideas (learning profile differentiation), the first version is somewhat less complex and abstract than the second (readiness differentiation). You'll notice that one item in each row of the second (more advanced) version also appears in the first version. This allowed students who received different versions to work together if they elected to do so. It also blurred distractions between the two versions. Criteria for student work are also slightly more advanced on the second version. The teacher worked with students to develop descriptions of each of the criteria to help them determine if their work was accurate. Descriptors for "accurate" might include showing where the idea comes from in the book or how faithful it is to the books theme. Versions are designated on the examples below, but were not noted on student handouts.

At a prescribed time students turned in the Think-Tac-Toe sheet with choices marked, a reading log, and their three pieces of work. Teachers might have students set due dates individually within an appropriate window of time both to accommodate students' schedules and to give teachers more time to provide feedback. It would also work well to have students provide feedback to one another on some or all of the work.

(Activity found in "Fulfilling the promise of the Differentiated Classroom" By Carol Ann Tomlinson).