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Instructional Strategy

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INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Four Corners

Grade:

K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, UNIV

Type:

Discuss & Collaborate
/ Develop Language (MLL)
< 20

Minutes

When:

Before, during, and after reading

Materials:

None
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Description

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© sergio34—iStock/ Getty Images Plus/Getty Images
Four Corners is a discussion and collaboration strategy that is used to promote verbal reasoning, active listening, respectful discourse, and flexible thinking as students discuss their response to a teacher-posed statement or question.
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Procedure

1
Generate a list of debatable statements or questions related to the material being studied.
2
Label the four corners of the room with signs reading “Strongly Agree,” “Agree,” “Disagree,” and “Strongly Disagree.”
3
Display and read aloud a statement. Provide thinking time for students to consider their opinion about the statement and reasons to support this opinion. If doing this activity after reading, remind students to use textual evidence to support their opinion. Encourage them to jot down their thoughts and evidence to help them organize and articulate their ideas.
4
After the thinking and writing time, invite students to move to the corner of the room that best represents their opinion.
5
Once all students have moved to a corner, have them explain to their group why they chose that corner. Allow about 2 or 3 minutes for discussion before asking groups to come up with a brief statement summarizing their group’s thinking.
6
Invite a volunteer from each group to present their group’s summary.
7
After all groups have shared their responses, provide time for students to switch corners if they have changed their minds.
8
Once any students who wanted to move have settled in their new corners, call on a few volunteers to share why they changed corners. This promotes flexible thinking and active listening as students learn from their classmates.
9
Repeat the process for as many rounds as desired.
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Differentiation

Vary Response Options: Offer alternative response methods, such as limiting choices to “Agree” or “Disagree” and using chart paper for written explanations shared by a spokesperson. This simplifies engagement and promotes inclusive participation.
Four Corners Debate: Encourage students to strengthen their claims by discussing how to convince others to join their corner, presenting their strongest reasons first, and then sharing and refuting evidence with other groups. This process enhances critical thinking and persuasive skills.

Multilingual Learning Support

Beginning Proficiency: Provide visual cues alongside each opinion corner (e.g., thumbs up/down symbols, facial expressions). Pre-teach opinion-expressing vocabulary in both English and students’ home language, and provide simple sentence frames on portable cards students can carry to their corners (e.g., “I agree because…” / “The text shows…”). Provide visual brainstorming templates on which students can draw or write in their home language before sharing. During corner discussions, give students bilingual word banks specific to the topic and allow the use of nonverbal signals (like holding up evidence cards) to participate before speaking.
Intermediate Proficiency: Support more complex argumentation while building students’ academic discourse skills by providing a structured note-taking guide for evidence collection before moving to corners, with sentence frames for making claims and citing evidence. During corner discussions, students can use academic conversation frames (e.g., “Building on what…said…” / “This evidence supports our position because…”). Group summaries can be structured using a simple outline format with key transition phrases. Movement between corners can include written reflection cards to help students articulate their reasoning for changing positions.
Advanced Proficiency: Emphasize building skills in sophisticated reasoning and academic discourse by giving students prompts for evaluating the strength of different arguments and considering multiple perspectives. Provide sentence frames to support complex argumentation (e.g., “While this evidence appears compelling, we must also consider…” / “The nuances of this position suggest…”). When students summarize group positions, encourage them to use academic vocabulary and complex sentence structures to articulate subtle differences between “agree/strongly agree” or “disagree/strongly disagree” positions. The reflection on position changes can include metacognitive analysis of how specific evidence or arguments influenced their thinking.
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Variations

Human Continuum: Use the Human Continuum strategy to allow students to express why they are undecided or neutral on a discussion prompt. Create a horizontal line on the board or floor with labels on either end for “Completely Agree” and “Completely Disagree,” and “Neither Agree nor Disagree” in the middle. Read a statement and invite students to position themselves on the line according to their opinion. Once they are positioned, ask students to discuss their placement, providing evidence to support their stance.
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