Story Cubes Promote Student Thinking

Looking for a different way for students to think deeply about what they were learning while being creative, I turned to EDrenaline Rush by John Meehan.

Amongst the myriad of activities, John mentioned Rory’s Story Cubes. The cubes are intended to
inspire creative writing by having different icons that can be randomly put together.  For social studies content, they inspired students to think differently about their understanding.

I put the students into groups of three.  Each group randomly chose three cubes and decided together which icon from each die they would use. The groups had to use the three icons as inspiration to get across important ideas about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals).

The students hemmed and hawed about which icons they should choose. Discussion about the Global Goals ensued as a result.  Making my way around the room, I listened to students processing the content I wanted them to process. Through their discussions, they agreed upon statements they could make regarding the Global Goals.

Groups then shared their statements, referencing the icons that they used as inspiration. Wanting to hear what icons the different groups blended into their statements, students were engaged with each group’s sharing.

Seeing the level of engagement, the quality of discussion, and the creativity of the students in using the icons, I am excited to use the story cubes, again, as a way of engaging students in considering what they are learning.

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If you have used story cubes or other methods to engage students in processing information or, if this post has generated some thoughts of your own, please share in the comments. I would appreciate hearing from you.