Your students have trouble making connections. Connections can help.

by Glenn Weibe

on August 13, 2024

In the article "Your students have trouble making connections. Connections can help," Glenn Wiebe discusses how educators can use a game-based approach to help students develop better connections between concepts, particularly in social studies. The article highlights the New York Times game Connections, which challenges players to group 16 words into four different categories based on shared characteristics. Wiebe argues that this game is more than just a fun activity; it serves as a powerful educational tool that can help students improve their ability to see connections across different topics and concepts.

The Educational Value of Connections

One of the main challenges students face, especially in subjects like history, geography, civics, and economics, is making meaningful connections between ideas, events, and concepts. These connections are critical for understanding the interconnectedness of historical events, geographic locations, government structures, and economic systems. Wiebe points out that students often struggle to link past and present, primary sources with textbook content, or people with events. The Connections game offers a structured way to practice this skill, making it ideal for use in the classroom.

How Connections Can Be Applied in Classrooms

Wiebe suggests that the Connections game can be adapted for classroom use to help students develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. By creating custom Connection games tailored to specific content areas, teachers can provide a fun and challenging way for students to engage with the material. For example, in a history class, teachers could design a game that asks students to connect different events across time periods, identify cause-and-effect relationships, or compare and contrast key figures and their impacts.

The game format also lends itself well to various classroom activities, such as introductory lessons, reviews, formative assessments, and even as a brain break during longer class periods. The flexibility of the game allows educators to integrate it seamlessly into their lesson plans, whether they are introducing new material or reinforcing previously learned concepts.

Practical Steps for Implementing Connections

Wiebe provides practical advice on how to create and implement a Connections game in the classroom. He suggests starting by choosing categories that align with the lesson objectives, then creating a list of 16 words that include some distractors to challenge students. Teachers can use digital tools like Connections+ or Create a Puzzle to build and share their games with students. This interactive approach not only engages students but also helps them build mental schemas that are essential for deeper learning.

Moreover, Wiebe encourages teachers to allow students to create their own Connection games as a way to reinforce their understanding of the content. This activity can foster collaboration, creativity, and a deeper grasp of the material as students must think critically about how different concepts relate to one another.

Conclusion

Wiebe concludes that incorporating the Connections game into classroom activities can greatly enhance students' ability to see and understand connections within and across subject areas. This approach not only makes learning more engaging but also supports the development of essential critical thinking skills. By adding this tool to their instructional strategies, teachers can help students make sense of complex information in a way that is both enjoyable and educationally valuable.

Source: Wiebe, G. (2024, August 13). Your students have trouble making connections. Connections can help. History Tech. Retrieved from History Tech

Original Article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com