02 February 2011

Tool of the Week: Affinity Diagrams

So, I realize I was supposed to do another quality tool last week, but I got busy. Such is my life. Here is another example of how you can use a consensogram in your classrooms. I think it's really important to track student progress and growth throughout the year and this is a great way to let kids see their growth. We take the MAP test three times a year. It tracks Reading and Math progress throughout the year and then gives us correlations for how our kids will perform on the state standardized test at the end of the year. Anyway, the picture below shows our first MAP scores of the year in red and our mid year scores in green. Look at how all of those dots moved! Well, most...




Another quality tool that I have just fallen in love with is called an affinity diagram. An affinity diagram is a great tool for sorting and grouping things based on common characteristics. Here are a few examples.





It's important to have your kids come up with all of the information, but you guide them in the sorting and grouping. You also help them name each group based on their commonalities.

I hope everyone is well! I will try to be good and post again soon!