Wallpapering

This strategy, from Pauline Gibbons’ book English Learners Academic Literacy and Thinking is called Wallpapering.

  1. Groups write down one thing they know about a topic on a post it note or small sheet of paper or a point of view they have about something controversial.  They do not have to write their names.
  2. After a few minutes , one person from each group sticks the group’s papers on the walls of the classroom.
  3. Students then walk around and read and evaluate each group’s ideas.  They need to find at least three papers to comment on.
  4. Back in their groups they can share what they have read and then in front of the whole class comment on what they group discussed, what they agreed and disagreed with from others.

This is a particularly effective strategy to use with New to English students who might be lacking in content knowledge / confidence in sharing their ideas.  It allows them to build knowledge of the particular area being studied in a non threatening way.

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