Ready, Set, Rank: Reasoning without a Worksheet
Ready, Set, Rank: Reasoning without a Worksheet
May 18, 2024|Education, Testing
Imagine a meaningful learning experience where you get to dive right in, give the task a try, and immerse yourself in the interactive adventure. Wait…why imagine it? Let’s live it. Right now. Here are some uncomplicated steps to set you up for success:
How was that? Interactive? Check! Easy to implement? Check! Had you thinking? Check.
Maybe ranking is a go-to strategy you already infuse often, or maybe this is a fresh idea, and you feel energized at the chance to give it a whirl. Wherever you fall on that continuum, we are here to help uncomplicate the what, the why, and the how. Finally, we’ll leave you with a WOW…a fun freebie to utilize in your instructional setting.
The Four Steps to "Rank and Reason"
Think. Rank. Reason. Refine. Poster
To keep things uncomplicated, we are going to name four simple steps to consider and keep in mind as you read on:
THINK: Think about the task, make connections, and generate ideas.
RANK: Manipulate the elements in an appropriate layout to represent your thinking.
REASON: Justify your thinking and prepare to share with your peers.
REFINE: Consider alternative perspectives and make any relevant adjustments.
Ranking protocols can be used in any grade and for any subject. What a win when it comes to a strategy that can be utilized school-wide! But let’s dive deeper.
So, what, in fact, is a ranking protocol?
The What
Simply put, a ranking protocol involves exactly what it says…ranking. Like the kitchen gadget task you just participated in, it is an interactive technique to help students prioritize information, understand relationships between ideas or items, and make informed decisions. Students take ideas and maneuver them into a rank order based on the parameters of the presented problem.
Items can be ranked in a diamond fashion (which works well for four or nine items), a triangle shape with the apex displaying the ranker’s top priority (unless, of course, you decide to invert the triangle), or a linear layout (oriented horizontally or vertically). The adaptable architecture makes this a useful instructional tool and a top classroom contender for student participation and ownership.
James A. Nottingham, author of Teach Brilliantly: Small Shifts That Lead to Big Gains in Student Learning (2024), reminds us that the power is in the process as it is “more important than the structure,” which can help us stay grounded in the purpose, keeping our attention and feedback focused on critical thinking and collaboration. Check out the example below, where two students used different organizational structures for their ranks related to the themes in Little Women by Lousia May Alcott.
Example of how two different students ranked the impact of the same themes of a text.
So, why would we engage learners in ranking protocols?
The Why
Ranking protocols not only build a sense of community and provide a pathway for total participation but also have boundless benefits. Here, you will see an Uncomplicate Ed Pick Six to solidify the why behind the what:
Ranking protocols have the potential to:
Activate Cognitive Engagement
Increase Empowerment and Motivation
Cultivate Collaboration and Conversation
Foster Critical Thinking and Decision Making
Offer Access to Multiple Perspectives
Provide Opportunities for Formative Assessments
What would your triangle-rank look like, if you organized these six benefits with your top priority at the apex of your rank-shape? What if you have three top contenders? Would you prefer to arrange your items in an inverted triangle? Lean into a structure that best suits your thoughts.
Now that we’ve explored the WHAT and the WHY let’s get down to the HOW.
The How
The planning side of this strategy is easy and accessible and can be adapted to align with various instructional targets across disciplines and contexts. Think about the general goal, target, or essential question, and keep the items connected to the concept and relatable.
It’s also a snap for students to implement this strategy and interact with their ideas because they will follow a predictable pattern as they go through a think, rank, reason, refine process, communicating intentions along the way.
Allow yourself to be inspired by the options that ranking offers. Perhaps students will rank ideas as they reflect on the order of significance, practicality, or plausibility. The ranking process might have learners consider how comfortable or knowledgeable they are with key understandings for an upcoming unit of study. Additionally, readers could rank pieces of text evidence and determine, for example, which relevant details best support a central idea.
Here are some snapshots of authentic applications (in no particular order, of course) to help visualize the concept a bit more.
This example comes from a professional learning experience.
Show a question with choices on the board and have students rank from most correct to least. This works great for test-prep with multi-select too!
Use ranking as a fun end-of-year exercise to have students reflect on their most memorable learning experiences. Here, a third-grade teacher is having students determine their favorite texts. The next step would be for students to support their selections and share their thoughts. Finally, students would have an opportunity to refine their thinking which could lead to reworking or reinforcing their rankings.
Remember to have students justify their reasoning! Back in the sixth-grade classroom, students were asked to think about, and rank, how author Scott O’Dell developed themes in the Island of the Blue Dolphins. The image below shows how two students provided reasoning, through writing, to support their ranking. Think. Rank. Reason.
The Wow!
We covered the WHAT, WHY, and HOW, and so on to the WOW! Grab your freebie by clicking this link, which will give you access to a Ready, Set, Rank anchor chart.
Now, all that is left to do is prepare your ideas, set your students up, and rank away!
Click the button to get your free download from this blog.
References:
Nottingham, J. A. (2024). Teach Brilliantly: Small Shifts That Lead to Big Gains in Student Learning. Solution Tree Press.
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