Issue #11 - May 6, 2025.

Hi there, .

Ever feel like students are learning pieces of content… but not connecting the dots? We've got a strategy for that.

Concept Spine is a fast and flexible tool that gets students organizing ideas, terms, or events in a meaningful order—building a “spine” that shows how everything connects.

It’s part timeline, part graphic organizer, part critical thinking workout. And it works in just about any subject.

This Week's Strategy: Concept Spine

1. Give the "Vertebrae"
   Provide students with notecards listing key terms, events, vocabulary words, images, or steps from your content—about 6–8 per set.

2. Build the Spine
   Students lay out the cards vertically (like a spine) in the order they think makes the most sense—chronologically, conceptually, or cause-effect style.

3. Explain the Alignment
   Here’s the critical piece: students must explain why they chose that order. What connects one “vertebra” to the next?

4. Compare and Reflect
   Have students walk around and compare other “spines,” noting similarities and differences. Then discuss: Which order makes the most sense? Why might there be more than one?

Why This Works?

📌  Helps students organize information meaningfully
🔁  Reinforces sequencing, relationships, and transitions
🎯  Works well as a quick formative assessment or review
🧠  Builds metacognitive skills—they explain how they think

Alternatives:

• Use sentence strips, sticky notes, or digital slides for each “vertebra”

• Turn it into a puzzle: give extra cards that don’t belong to spark discussion

• Do it in pairs for built-in conversation and collaboration

Ways to Make Connections:

You can use this strategy to enhance:

• ELA – Arrange story events, author’s craft moves, or rhetorical strategies.

• Social Studies – Sequence causes of a war, events in a movement, or eras in history.

• Science – Build a process spine: think life cycles, the scientific method, or weather systems.

• Math – Order steps in solving multi-step problems or stages in a math strategy.

• Visual Arts – Arrange an artist’s works, technique steps, or art movements.

• Music – Sequence musical form sections (A-B-A), composer periods, or sound production stages.

Happy creating and connecting,

Susan