If you’ve been hearing the phrase, “hexagonal thinking” floating around for the past couple of years without knowing exactly what it means, we’ve got you.
Hexagonal thinking is a term for a surprisingly simple classroom activity intended to help students make new connections between multiple concepts. It uses *surprise!* multiple hexagons, which can then connect on each of their six sides to other hexagons. Each hexagon has a different word or phrase written on it, so when students connect two (or more) hexagons, they are connecting the ideas they represent. The end result is a beautiful beehive of critical thinking, which students then write about to further explain their connections.
One of the best outcomes of this activity is the critical thinking, disagreement, and problem-solving that occurs between group members who are working together. Each group of students will interpret the words, phrases, and their connections in slightly (or majorly) different ways!
Here's how it works:
FIRST: The teacher prepares the hexagons by choosing which words and phrases to print on the hexagons, and then cutting out a set of hexagons for each group which will be completing the activity. (This is the only work you have to do as the teacher, but it can be tedious. Helpers make the job go much more quickly!)
NEXT: Give a full set of hexagons to each group (we recommend doing this in pairs or groups of 3-4).
THEN: Students then must choose hexagons that they feel relate to each other in some way. If
they believe the hexagons connect, they should place them so they are touching on one side.
A single hexagon could connect on all sides to other hexagons, but doesn’t have to, and students should be able to justify the connections, if asked. As a teacher, you can require your students to find connections for all the hexagons or you could give them a minimum number that must be connected. To the right is an example of how hexagons might be connected for the novel Lord of the Flies:
FINALLY: Once students are finished arranging their hexagons, they choose certain connected hexagons to write about in greater depth. (We usually have them choose 3-4 connections to explain, but you can do whatever you want!) Another option, if you have large paper, is to have students glue their hexagons down and write the connections next to them!
Here's an example of the types of connections we ask our students to write about:
When can you use this?
-Brainstorming before an essay (connect broader themes to specific examples, symbols, and characters)
-Connecting vocabulary words with examples from current events and class content
-Finishing up a book and looking at the overarching connections an author has created through character, events, setting, symbols and theme
-A pre-seminar activity before discussing the text as a whole class
-Previewing the content of a new unit in order to access students’ prior knowledge and preconceptions
-Making connections between prior content and content your students have just learned
-A back-to-school activity to help students communicate their feelings, hopes, and worries about school and related topics (Download this activity FREE here!)
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