3-2-1 Bridge

What is 3-2-1 BRIDGE Strategy?
*This strategy is an ideal way to understand what your students know before a lesson about a topic and then understand what they've learned about a topic after your lesson.
*However, this strategy pushes students a bit more than "I know, Now I know" because it has them reveal what associations they have around a topic
*Students will make a set of initial responses and following an instructional period create new responses. The BRIDGE is comparing the initial responses to the new responses.

Steps for 3-2-1 Bridge

• Provide students with a way to write down their responses.
• Ask them to write down 3 words that quickly come to mind about a concept/topic
• Ask students to record 2 questions about the topic/concept
• Ask them to write a metaphor/simile about the topic. (Ex. "Oceans are..." "Oceans are like...")

Steps for 3-2-1 Bridge cont.

• Provide an instructional period ensuring that you're presenting enough meaningful material that students can provide new ideas.
• Following the lesson, have students do the 3-2-1 strategy again. They are now doing this based on the information they just received.

steps for 3-2-1 brdige cont.2

• BRIDGE! Have students share their initial and new responses with their classmates.
• They should evaluate how their thinking changed from their initial response.
• The teacher should have students share their major shifts and changes as a whole group.

Things to remember...
1. This is most effective with topics/concepts that all students have some prior knowledge about.
2. Make it clear to students that their initial responses are not right or wrong, but just a way of remembering what we already know about the topic.
3. The instructional period is critical to the success of the strategy. You must provide thought-provoking information that is new to your audience.
4. It is critical that students BRIDGE their initial and new responses. This allows them to better understand their learning and development on the topic.

Uses & Effectiveness in the elementary classroom:
1. This strategy would be great to incorporate ELA standards into a math or science lesson.
2. This allows students to structure their thinking in a precise way and allows for deeper understanding following the instructional period and final 3-2-1 activity.
3.