Hatful of Quotes involves guiding a discussion about a reading by having each student pull a short key passage of an assigned text out of a hat, being given some time to reflect on it, then sharing their passage and their thoughts on it with the class.
As there will usually be more students than key quotes, replicas can be included, and a student who pulls out a passage that has already been read can choose to build on or respond to what a previous student has said.
Instructions
- Pull a selection of key short passages from a recently assigned text and put them in a hat, ensuring there are enough for each student to get one (double-ups of the same quote are fine).
- Get each student to take a quote from the hat and give them a minute to read and consider it.
- Have each student read their quote out loud and make a comment on it.
- Once every student has had the chance to speak, the educator can use remaining time to have an open discussion about the text as a whole.
Resources
- A selection of key quotes from a recently assigned text
- A hat, or other object for students to pull the quotes out of
Variations
- Make it small group or whole class: To give everyone a chance to speak, a larger class could do the activity in smaller groups.
- Make the quotes student-nominated: Get students to bring in quotes from the text that they found particularly interesting and put them in the hat.
- Make it less or more structured: Students could self-nominate when to read out their quote, judging by when it seems most relevant, or each be given a turn at a set time (e.g. going around in a circle).
- Make it more targeted: Get students to target something specific when they comment on their quote, such as whether or not they agree with it (and why), or discuss some points for or against the quote, etc.
References
Chapter 36: Hatful of Quotes | The Discussion Book (oreilly.com)