Four Corners is a common classroom technique to get students out of their seats while giving them a lot of information in one class. In this activity, student groups work on a particular topic or activity in each corner of the classroom. Four Corners can be adapted easily to fit a variety of teaching and learning needs.

This week’s Teacher’s Corner offers a lesson that uses Four Corners to promote collaboration and encourage movement to keep class lively and active. In groups, students will be assigned a grammar point and work together to prepare an activity to teach the grammar point to each other.

Beginning and above

• Speaking
• Listening
• Grammar

During this activity, students will be able to:

• Teach classmates a grammar point they have been working on in class
• Collaborate with classmates to develop a way to teach the assigned grammar point

• Large pieces of paper for each group
• Markers
• Tape

• Divide the class into four groups.
  
  • If the class is large, this activity can be done in any number of groups. One option is to have eight groups; four groups work with each other and the other four groups work together. In this scenario, you only need four grammar points.
  • Alternatively, eight groups could be assigned and all groups interact with each other. For this scenario, you would need to prepare eight different grammar points.
• Choose the grammar points you would like learners to focus on, based on what you have done in class.
  
  • For example, grammar points could include the formation of Wh- questions, auxiliary verbs, third-person singular, plural nouns, etc. In short, choose anything that is level appropriate for your students and has already been taught in class.
• On each big piece of paper, write one of the grammar points at the top. Each piece should have a different point.
• Hang the paper in the corners of the room or the areas where groups will be sitting.

1. Start class by telling students that today they will work in groups to create a review activity for a grammar point they have been studying.
   
   1. Explain that to do this each group will be assigned a corner of the room and a grammar point.
   2. Using the big piece of paper hanging in their corner, students will write the answers to the following questions (listed on the board) on their grammar point:
      • How is this grammar structure formed? What are the rules for the form?
      • When is it used?
      • Give an example of the grammar structure as it is used in a sentence.
2. Put the students into their assigned groups and send them to their corners to respond to the questions. Tell students that they have 5-7 minutes to write their answers.
3. Circulate around the room as students work in their corners and answer any questions they might have.
4. Bring the students’ attention back to you to explain the next steps.
5. Tell students they will have 10 minutes to come up with a way to teach this grammar point to other groups. They can be as creative as they wish, but the game or activity will need to be completed in 5 minutes. Here are some possibilities:
   
   1. Students could simply go through the information they have written on their pieces of paper and then ask each group that they teach to come up with their own examples.
   2. Students could also invent a game that would help classmates practice the grammar point.
6. Give students time to work on the activity in their groups, and circulate around the room answering questions and checking in on students.
7. Once students have completed their activity plan, bring their attention back together as a group to explain the next steps.
8. First, give each student in each group a number from one to four.
9. Tell students all groups will rotate clockwise around the room to practice a new grammar point. For the first rotation, students assigned the number one will stay in their spots to teach the grammar point and present the activity to the other group that moves to their corner.
   
   1. The papers hanging in the corners or group  areas help to remind the students who are rotating which grammar point they will be learning about.
10. Remind students that they only have 5 minutes at each paper. When the time is up, the teacher can clap hands to signal the end of the round.
11. Students will then have 1 minute to reorganize so that a new presenter takes over the task and the groups can rotate to the next corner.
12. For the second rotation, the students assigned the number two will return to their original corners to present their activity, and the other groups will rotate once again. Continue this process for each subsequent rotation.
13. The activity is complete when all groups have visited each corner.
14. Wrap up the activity with a class discussion on examples each student came up with at each corner.
    
    1. If short on time, this could be done in the form of exit tickets with each student writing an example for each grammar point on a piece of paper and submitting it before leaving class.

This activity can be adapted to fit any time constraints the class might have. Instead of having each group prepare and present an activity, they could work to answer the questions listed on the board. After each group answers the questions, the rotation could start. Each group rotates together to the next corner to read about the grammar point and add their own example to the paper. After 2-3 minutes, the groups rotate again moving to the next corner. This adaptation can also be used so that all groups stay together and a student presenting doesn’t miss out on information offered at one corner.

Each week of this month’s Teacher’s Corner has required students to reflect and think critically in order to deepen their understanding of culture and how it can affect interactions. This week, students will apply their experience and knowledge to figure out how to make intercultural interactions successful, even if they are challenging.

Time: 60 minutes

Goals:

• To help students continue to reflect on what defines culture.
• To think about ways to avoid or mediate miscommunications or misunderstandings during intercultural interactions.
• To listen, speak, read, and write about culture in English.

Materials: Culture Thinking Map (Week 1) and Intercultural Interactions Thinking Map (Week 3), student notebooks, pencils

Preparation:

1.     Ensure that all of the thinking maps and descriptive lists from previous activities are displayed in the classroom so that students can see them.

2.     If desired, assign students to participate in completely new groups. Alternatively, students can continue to work in the same groups used during Activity 2 of Week 3.

3.     If you have a large class, you can make a plan for how students will present their scenes at the end of Activity 2. Instead of having each group present to the whole class, you can pair groups to present to each other.

1.     Have students get into groups (see Step 2 under Preparation).

2.     Give groups a few minutes to review the information on the Intercultural Interactions Thinking Map and the information they recorded in their notebooks about how different groups would interact with each other (See Step 6 in Week 3, Activity 2).

3.     Tell students that they will work together with their group to create a scenario where a misunderstanding or miscommunication due to cultural differences might occur. Provide students with the examples below so that they understand expectations for this part of the activity.

a.     Example 1: There are eight people in a sales department at a company. The two leaders have received a cash bonus for the achievements of their department. One leader comes from a culture where resources are shared amongst community members and accomplishments are celebrated by everyone. The other leader comes from a culture where the needs of each individual are most important and every person works for and keeps what they earn or receive. The two leaders must come up with a plan for what to do with the bonus money.

b.     Example 2: A teacher is giving a test to his or her class. The teacher notices that three of the students from the same culture group are whispering and helping each other on the test. After class, the teacher asks these three students to stay and explain why they were cheating on the test. One student explains that they were simply trying to help each other get good grades and make their parents proud because their parents want them to do well in school. The teacher must decide whether the students should get in trouble and have to retake the test.

4.     Let students know that another group of their classmates will act out the scenario they write. Allow time for students to ask questions and clarify what they are expected to do. Tell students that they will have 20 minutes to write down a scenario with their group.

5.     As students are working, move around the room and check in with each group to ensure that the scenarios make sense and will work for others to act out. Help any groups that need guidance or may be struggling with ideas.

6.     When 20 minutes have passed, check to see that all groups have finished. If needed, give students more time to complete the task.

7.     When students are done, collect all of the scenarios.

1. Explain to students that they will stay in the same groups but will receive a scenario that they did not write. On the board, write the following steps:
   
   1. Read the scenario.
   2. Discuss the different elements of culture that may cause conflict or misunderstanding in the scenario. Write these cultural elements down on the same paper as the scenario.
   3. Think about possible ways to resolve the conflict or misunderstanding. Write these resolutions down on the same paper as the scenario.
   4. Make a plan for how to act out the scenario using one of the resolutions your group thought of.
2. Answer any questions that students may have about the assignment.
3. Tell students they will have 15 minutes to discuss the scenario, brainstorm possible resolutions, and practice performing the scene.
4. When 15 minutes have passed, tell students that in a moment they will present their scene to their classmates. If you have paired groups together, as noted in Step 3 under Preparation, explain the plan to students.
5. Explain to students that as they watch their classmates, they should reflect on a few things. Write the following questions on the board:

a.     What were the different cultural elements that caused a problem in this situation?

b.     How was the conflict avoided or resolved?

6. After each group performs their scene, ask the rest of the class (or the other group if groups are paired) to discuss and share their answers to the reflection questions.
7. After all groups have shared their scenes, ask students to reflect on the following questions in their notebooks in class or for homework:

a.        What are some possible reasons that intercultural interactions can be successful or not?

b.       What are some actions you, or any person, could take to prevent or resolve misunderstandings when interacting with people from different backgrounds?

The activities in this month’s Teacher’s Corner have aimed to help students increase their cultural awareness through reflection and critical thinking. Because speakers of English come from many different backgrounds, the ability to recognize and acknowledge the less obvious elements of culture is an important skill for students studying English. With this knowledge and a better understanding of how to apply it to intercultural interactions, teachers are setting students up for success as they communicate in English.

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