Cubing/Think Dots

Cubing and Think Dots are strategies that allows teachers to plan different activities for different students or groups of students based on student readiness, learning style, and/or interests.

CUBING requires students to look at a topic from six different angles such as: Describe It!, Compare It!, Associate It!, Apply It!, Analyze It!, Argue For or Against It!.  Teachers often create a visual cube that serves as a starting point when they want students to analyze or consider various aspects of a topic.  Cubes can be an after-reading strategy that requires students to think critically about a topic.  When students work with cubes, they apply information in new ways.  Cubes can be differentiated by interest and readiness. 

Adaptations

• Design cubes based on interest or learning profiles.
• Use the cubes as dice which students roll.
• In math, create problems for students to solve.  One problem is printed on each side of the cube.
• Create cubes around the Multiple Intelligences
• Incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy.

From Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessing and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom by Rick Wormeli

After students have worked to gain essential knowledge, understanding, and skill about a topic, they can use THINK DOTS to review, demonstrate, and extend their thinking on the subject.  Think Dots are made of six cards that are hole-punched in one corner.  The set is held together with a notebook ring, a loop of string, or any other device that allows students to flip through the set easily.  Each card has one ot more dots on its front.  On the back of each card is a question or task that asks students to work directly with important knowledge, understanding, and skills related to the topic they are studying. 

From Fulfilling the Promise of the Differentiated Classroom by Carol-Ann Tomlinson