The Save The Last Word teaching strategy is a fantastic way to get all students to practice both speaking and listening in the classroom.
How Does This Save The Last Word Teaching Strategy Work?
- Select a text that students will be responding to. Most commonly Save the Last Word is done with an actual written text, but it also works very well with a video, an image, a classmate’s speech, a poem, or anything else that you would like students to discuss and react to.
- Have students read the selected text or review one that they have already read (i.e. last night’s assigned reading). This can be done as a class or individually.
- Each student should pull out several quotes (ideas, thoughts, portions of the image, etc.) that stand out and/or speak to them.
- Pass out (or have students pull out) note cards–one for each quote the students chose. On one side of each notecard, students should write one of the quotes they picked. On the other side of the notecard, students should write a few thoughts they have on the quote. This might be why it stood out to them, what they think about it, a connection to their lives, or anything else that the student wants to share.
- Once students have finished the above work, place them in groups of three.
- Students will take turns sharing a quote from one of their cards and then listening while their other two group members discuss the quote. For instance, Student A will share a quote and then listen as Students B and C discuss it.
- Once the two group members (B and C) have finished discussing, Student A will read what he or she wrote on the back of their card, thus getting the “last word” in the discussion.
- Students then rotate who shares/listens and who discusses until all students have shared all their cards.
- Remember to set a visual timer for this activity so students do not waste time.
How Do I Use This Save The Last Word Teaching Strategy?
- Use Save the Last Word to give some variety to your typical class discussion. This could be anything from discussing a chapter in a literature class to a primary source document in a history class.
- Save the Last Word is a great way to break up a video that you are showing in class. After every section of the video, stop and begin at Step 3 above. Have students pull one thing (instead of several) to put on a notecard. These breaks should take no more than five or six minutes, but they allow lots to be discussed and help the material stick with students much better than just showing the movie and discussing it at the end.
- Save the Last Word is one of my favourite ways to discuss primary source artwork, images, and photographs in history class. I project one of these on my projection screen, maybe give a bit of background on the item, and then have students react to it. This can be a productive way to either go through a whole series of visual items in a single class period without students losing interest or to do one image every day at the beginning or end of the period as a bellringer activity.
Why Do I Love This Save The Last Word Teaching Strategy?
- Save the Last Word gives all students practice in both speaking and listening.
- Save the Last Word is a student-led activity. Students get to identify and discuss the aspects of the text that stand out to and interest them thus giving the activity a built-in hook for your class.
I hope you can use this Save The Last Word teaching strategy in your future lessons.
Other Teaching Strategies
- What’s Important Teaching Strategy
- Jigsaw Teaching Strategy
- Chalk Talk Teaching Strategy
- Entrance and Exit Tickets Teaching Strategy
Related Posts
What?
Save the Last Word for Me is a comprehension strategy that builds speaking and listening skills by structuring a text-based discussion for students. Students highlight two to three of the most important sentences of the central text, then discuss their text-based responses in small groups.
When?
During and after reading
Why?
Save the Last World for Me builds active reading, speaking and listening skills. Giving students a task to complete while reading engages them with the text, and the structured format draws all students into the discussion. Students with stronger comprehension model their process for others, and all students benefit from hearing the alternative viewpoints and different interpretations of the text.
How?
- Choose a central text for students to read independently
- After reading, instruct students to determine the text’s main idea. Ask them to summarize it in their own words in two or three complete sentences and record the summary in a place they can easily reference during the rest of the activity.
- Ask students to choose two to three sentences from the text that they think are important, keeping their main idea summary in mind.
- Put students in small groups to share their selections. Group size may vary.
- Have the first student begin by reading her first quote to the group without making any disclaimers or comments about the quote.
- Prompt each member of the group to respond briefly to the quote until everyone has had a chance to comment. Remind students not to engage in cross-talk.
- After everyone has commented, the first student elaborates on why she chose that phrase or sentence as important to the central text. That student gets “the last word.”
- Monitor the discussion as students take turns reading their quotes, listening to the group’s responses and explaining their reasons for choosing those quotes. Repeat the process until all students have shared.
English language learners
Pre-writing tasks build confidence for students to express their thoughts and ideas. Encourage English language learners to make connections to their own lives and diverse experiences when selecting quotes. The Common Core emphasizes that English language learners enrich the school and society by building on their cultural practices and perspectives.
English language learners also benefit from Save the Last Word for Me because there is no right or wrong answer; all students have the opportunity to share without judgment. Modify this strategy for less proficient students by having them highlight pieces of text they find confusing or unclear. This not only aids comprehension and provides practice speaking with peers, but also gives other children the opportunity to teach, support and offer feedback.
Connection to anti-bias education
The strategy creates the structured conditions necessary for equitable classroom discussion. Students who are typically reluctant to speak up and those who tend to dominate discussions both get to practice appropriate speaking and listening habits. Students practice sharing their own thoughts in a low-stress situation, building confidence to speak in larger groups.
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Description
The “save the last word for me” dialogue method requires all learners to participate as both active speakers and active listeners. Working in groups of three, learners follow a pattern of sharing and discussing their responses to a piece of content. By creating a clear format for the discussion, this method encourages reserved learners to share their ideas and ensures that frequent speakers practice being quiet. It can be a useful method for assisting learners in debriefing a reading or film.
Implementation
- Select a Text: Identify a reading or excerpt that will catalyze this learning activity.
- Learners Read and Respond to Text: Have learners read or view the selected text. Ask learners to highlight three sentences that especially stood out for them and write each sentence on the front of an index card. On the back, they must write a few sentences explaining why they chose that quote—what it meant to them, what it reminded them of, etc.
- Learners Share in Groups: Divide the learners into groups of three, labeling one learner A, one B, and the other C in each group. Invite the learners to read one of their chosen quotations to their group. Then learners B and C discuss the quote. What do they think it means? Why do they think these words may be applicable? To whom? After several minutes, ask the A learners to read the back of their card (or to explain why they picked the quotation), thus having “the last word.” This process continues with the B learners sharing and then the C learners.
Modifications
- Utilizing Images: This same process can be used with images instead of quotations. You could give learners a collection of posters, paintings, and photographs from the period you are studying and then ask learners to select three images that stand out to them. On the back of an index card, learners must explain why they chose this image and what they think it embodies or why it is essential.
- Utilizing Questions: Ask learners to think about three probing questions the content raises for them. Learners answer the question on the back of their card. In small groups, learners select one of their questions for the other two learners to discuss.
In this activity, adapted from Short, Harste, & Burke’s Creating Classrooms for Authors and Inquirers (1996), students will read a text and select five statements that they think are important to discuss. On index cards, the students will write the statement on one side and then a comment on the other. In groups, students share and discuss. The student who shared the statement must comment last. The purpose of this activity is for students to engage more deeply with the text.
Preparation
Select and read a text prior to the activity. Decide whether all students will use the same text or different texts. For example, as a review for a novel, students could be assigned different chapters. Or for a social studies class you might have students read various articles on the same event . Gather index cards. Crceate student groups.
Activity Steps
1
Introduce Save The Last Word.
2
Model selection of a statement.
Model the statement selection by reading an excerpt of the text aloud. After reading the text, think aloud the selection of the most important statement within that passage. · Why did you select that statement passage? · What about made the other statements in the passage less important?
3
Model a comment.
Model writing a comment based on the statement you previously selected. Again, think aloud as you write your comment. The comment is more than a justification for selecting the statement. The comment should reflect the content of the statement. It should be something that would spark conversation when shared with other students. It can be an opinion or reflection on the statement.
4
Select five statements.
Students will have already read the text. Distribute the index cards to students. As students go through the text, they will select the five most important statements in the text. They will write the five statements on separate index cards.
5
Share and discuss in groups.
In groups, students will rotate presenting their cards. The first student will read their statement. All of the other students in the group will comment on the statement before the first student shares the comment written on the card. If there are additional comments that students want to make about the statement it is open to anyone in the group. Depending on the allotted time and group size, students will rotate through the group reading and commenting on the statements.
6
Reflect.
Students can reflect individually or as a group, orally or in writing. · Which statement sparked the best discussion within the group? Why do you think that particular statement was so interesting? Summarize that discussion. · How did this activity help you form a deeper understanding of the topic or text? · When might you use this form of discussion again?