Exclusion Brainstorming
When to use:
- to activate background information
- gain experience with key vocabulary words
- get a purpose of reading
How to use:
1. Teacher will create a word list related to a NON-FICTION piece or TEXTBOOK chapter & include a few words that don't
fit the topic.
2. Read list to students. Then, in small groups or as a whole class, students decide which words relate to the topic and
which ones don't. Students circle the words they think don't relate.
3. Students read the assignment, paying attention to the words from the exclusion brainstorming exercise.
4. After reading, students check the list & make corrections based on the reading. They put a check-mark by the related
words and cross out the unrelated words even if they circled them earlier.
- to activate background information
- gain experience with key vocabulary words
- get a purpose of reading
How to use:
1. Teacher will create a word list related to a NON-FICTION piece or TEXTBOOK chapter & include a few words that don't
fit the topic.
2. Read list to students. Then, in small groups or as a whole class, students decide which words relate to the topic and
which ones don't. Students circle the words they think don't relate.
3. Students read the assignment, paying attention to the words from the exclusion brainstorming exercise.
4. After reading, students check the list & make corrections based on the reading. They put a check-mark by the related
words and cross out the unrelated words even if they circled them earlier.
Wormeli, R. (2001). Meet me in the middle: Becoming an accomplished middle-level teacher. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.