What Do You Notice? Activity Template for Any Genre, Topic, or Question

Cultivate curiosity, elevate engagement, and integrate inquiry with a "What Do You Notice?" lesson! This is a simple but powerful lesson framework that empowers students to be curious as they explore a text set, topic, or essential question. This lesson is a great way to introduce a unit, genre, or book, because it allows students to explore and “investigate” a question before you answer it with another slideshow, lesson, etc. “What do you notice?” can turn any lesson into a student-centered, inquiry-driven activity that flips the hard work—and the ownership—on the students.

While there are multiple ways to use this lesson structure, the gist of it is this: You give students a variety of texts or other artifacts to explore and ask them “What do you notice?” You empower students with the space, time, and support to be curious as they “investigate” the texts and work toward answering a question, defining a topic, or reflecting on a perspective.

For example, I facilitate a "What Do You Notice?" lesson to introduce novels in verse/poetry before we read a verse novel and do novels in verse book clubs. Students explore the structure and writing style of novels in verse before reading, and then they look for what their noticed in whole-class and choice texts. Similarly, I implement "What Do You Notice?" before our dystopian book club unit. I grab a stack of dystopian books and link even more on the digital menu, and I ask students to explore the books, noting their common elements, characteristics, questions, etc. Then, I ask them to define the genre and we discuss what we can expect during the rest of our unit.

As you can see, this is in inquiry-based alternative to a teacher-centered/slideshow introduction lesson. Instead of giving your students all the knowledge, give them a chance to explore, formulate questions, and learn via inquiry with "What Do You Notice?" You'll be surprised what your students can notice, learn, and do--if only you give them the chance to try!

With this step-by-step guide for facilitating your first "What Do You Notice?" lesson, suggestions for use, digital interactive menu template, and pack of 15 graphic organizers, you have everything you need to engage your learners.

This resource includes everything you need to make "What Do You Notice?" work for you. This is a lesson that you can use time and time again, for different units, subjects, texts, and grade levels. With the digital and print versions, multiple graphic organizer options, and various suggestions for use, it's like getting multiple resources for the price of one.

But that's not all. You can do even more than a "What Do You Notice?" lesson with this jam-packed resource. With the digital interactive menu, you can use this template for sub plans, daily/weekly book talks, etc. The possibilities are endless and the digital menu is editable. What's not to love?

What's Included?

• Introduction to the Strategy
• Step-by-Step Instructions for Facilitating the Lesson
• Suggestions for Use
• Example & Resources for Further Learning
• 15 Graphic Organizers, including:
  • Generic organizers designed to work with ANY lesson
  • Half-sheets perfect for bell-ringers, exit tickets, mentor texts, or quick checks for understanding
  • Genre-themed organizers (including an "Investigate the Genre" spinoff)

Please Note: This resource is not for commercial use.