Visualize & Think Critically… with Domino Blocks

Why domino blocks?

Physical objects (such as colorful wooden domino blocks) can helps students better  understand abstract concepts through visualization and higher-order thinking, in addition to improving their teamwork and communication skills.

Students were asked to form teams and come up with their brief summaries of a reading text or its specific paragraphs. The product of their discussion would then needed to be distilled to the single most essential (in team’s opinion) concept, key word or problem. By using the wooden domino blocks teams attempted (quite successfully) to recreate these concepts into real-world objects. “Different thinking” was highly encouraged. This week’s English Reading class focused on the story of Mr. Maruge – The world’s oldest first grader.

For the English Writing classes student had to go through the same process, especially by visualizing the content before reflecting on it in written. They watched videos related to a wide variety of topics, including “Mutilated Money? This Place Will Give You a Fresh Stack” and “How the Secret Service Uses Ink to Solve Crimes”.