Using the Venn Diagram

Recently, we were exploring the ways that a Venn Diagram, a wonderful chart for sorting and grouping data, can be used with numbers, when a student called out, "Hey, I think we used this for books!" Perfect timing because that happened to be where we were heading!  We started our fairy tales study in first grade and have read several variations of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We chose our favorite two to use in a Venn Diagram.  A large venn was drawn on the board and we chose one side for Somebody and the Three Blairs by Marilyn Tolhurst and the other side for The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett.  Next, we brainstormed the ways that each book was unique and recorded our ideas on the correct side and then shared ideas about what the two books had in common for the center area of our venn.  It was a great deal of fun recalling the unusual details of these two books.

Since we were now Venn Diagram Experts, the students were invited to work with a partner and interview each other.  With the information that they gathered from their questions, they were to record their discoveries on a Venn Diagram.  It was such a wonderful activity!  The students were so engaged as they learned many new things about their classmates that they had not previously known.  They were equally excited to see how their chart was filling out.  Some had many facts on one side or the other and very little in the middle and others had lots in the middle and nothing on either side.  This of course changed the more questions that they asked.  To conclude, everyone joyfully shared at least one new thing that they had learned about their partner and they all requested to have a copy of their work! The buzz in the room as the students worked was really exciting and to have that level of engagement last to the very end of the lesson was truly rich!  It really deepens class connections when the students get to know each other better through the year.