Cubing! By: Beth Stephens, Michael McCartney, Julie Marquardt and Lauren Aufdembrink

What is Cubing? ◊ Cubing is a technique that helps students consider a subject from six points of view. ◊ Different commands or tasks appear on each side of a cube.

What is Cubing? (continued) ◊ Cubes may vary with commands or tasks appropriate to the level of readiness of the group. ◊ Cubes may also be constructed with tasks relating to different areas of intelligence, such as verbal/linguistic or bodily/kinesthetic.

What is Cubing? (continued) ◊ In a more sophisticated form, this is a technique that helps students think at different levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Cubing Tied to Bloom’s Taxonomy 1. Knowledge Recall: What is this about? 2. Comprehension Understanding: Why did this happen? 3. Application Transfer: Use the information to predict. 4. Analysis How many elements are present? 5. Synthesis Combining: Change to a new scenario. 6. Evaluation Rating: Rank solutions in priority order.

Why Do We Use Cubes? ◊ To differentiate learning by readiness (familiarity with content or skill level) ◊ To differentiate learning by interest

Why Do We Use Cubes? ◊ To differentiate learning by student learning profile (visual, auditory, kinesthetic; multiple intelligences) ◊ To add an element of novelty to classroom instruction

How To Use Cubing ◊ Students can work alone, in pairs, or in small groups with the appropriate cube. ◊ When the children roll the cube , they are able to roll the cube up to 2-4 times depending on the teacher and the extent of the assignment.

Variations on Cubing 1. Number the list of tasks to be completed. Roll the die to select the item on the list to complete. 2. Write each task on a tongue depressor and let students select one.

Variations (continued) 3. Incorporate learning styles in the cubed activity, such as visual/spatial; bodily/kinesthetic, etc. 4. Design a cube for reading nonfiction (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?); especially powerful in content areas.

Examples! Onomatopoeia Side One Find an example of onomatopoeia in a poem from our anthology Side Two Make a list of all the examples of onomatopoeia that you can think of in two minutes. Have your partner time you. Side Three Write a letter to Webster’s Dictionary from onomatopoeia on the topic, “We are words, too! Include us!” Side Four Write a limerick, concrete poem, or haiku using at least one example of Onomatopoeia Side Five Why do you think writers use onomatopoeia? What purpose does it serve? Side Six Research the origin of the word “onomatopoeia.” Where does it come from? What do its parts mean?

Examples! Fractions Side One: Locate It Side Two: Define It In two minutes, make a list of all of the places in which we find fractions in every day life. Have your partner time you. Side Two: Define It What is a fraction? How would you explain what a fraction is to a first grader? Side Three: Solve It Complete fraction problems 1-10 on page 65. Have your partner check your work. Side Four: Analyze It What are the parts of a fraction? Define each part and describe their relationships to one another. Side Five: Think About It When dividing fractions, why do we have to “invert and multiply”? Show your thinking on paper. Side Six: Illustrate It Create a children’s picture book about fractions. Use “Give Me Half!” as an example.

Barbara Ewing Cockroft, M.Ed. NBCT, presenter Works Cited Barbara Ewing Cockroft, M.Ed. NBCT, presenter Visit: http://www.cdeducation.org/ocea/handouts/39%20-%20Differentiation%20Strategy%20101-%20Cubing%20a%20Lesson/ For more activities and lessons using cubing http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/file/view/nagc_cubing__think_dots.pdf