Teach Better - Work Less - Achieve More: The CyberSandwich EduProtocol

Students can easily copy facts from Wikipedia and create reports in minutes, but how do we move students out of the copy/paste cycle? We create different models that make the copy/paste irrelevant! Introducing the CyberSandwich! In this EduProtocol, students work in the two highest levels of Marzano's Nine Essential Instructional Strategies:

1. Identifying Similarities and Differences
2. Summarizing and Note Taking

As students record notes, compare and contrast topics, and summarize, they will begin to develop the foundational skills that can later be used to produce longer research reports and learn to digest challenging information. 

At its core, you can think of the CyberSandwich EduProtocol as a digital think-pair-share with an added component to hold each student accountable for their own learning. Here's how it works:

Prepare for the Activity

• Set up a Google Slides template (feel free to make a copy of this one) that includes a link to a resource you want students to read (if your source is from a book, you can type in the page numbers you want students to read rather than a link to a digital source). The Slides are set up so that there is a designated space for each student to take notes, collaborate on a Venn diagram, summarize their key take-aways in a paragraph. 
• Put the students in pairs or trios and assign a number to each student: 1 and 2 (and 3 if working in trios). 
• Share the Slides via Google Classroom and "make a copy for each student." Instruct the #1s in each group to invite their partner(s) to their slide deck. Partner #2 shouldn't open the original slides that were assigned via Classroom--partners will work on one slide deck--the one that person #1 opens and shares.

Instructions

Step 1: Student one and two will spend ten minutes independently reading the same selection. Students may use any annotation techniques used in class. Both students will enter their findings on slide one or two. (students follow the color coding on the template).

Step 2: Students will spend five minutes discussing their findings with their partner and completing a Venn diagram together on Slide Two. What did you notice and what did I notice that was the same or different. (The goal is to deepen understanding of the article that was read.)

Step 3: Using the shared research and Venn diagram, each student will write his or her own paragraph summarizing the reading selection.

Step 4: Each team will take turns presenting their findings to the class, other groups, or a partner.

Modification: Students may read articles with contrasting viewpoints. They will then compare and contrast the two topics based on the information gathered on the slides.

Key Points to Remember

• New is messy. Proficiency builds over time.
• Narrow the focus as the students are writing one-paragraph summaries.
• It is okay to expand the categories as student proficiency increases.
• Start simple: hamburgers vs. tacos, chocolate ice cream vs. pie, rock vs. country music.
• Once the tech and protocol are mastered, build up.

Adapting for Littles

• Comparing the literature that students are reading makes an ideal starting point:
• The book character vs. the movie character
• An item in the book vs. an item in real life
• Two things (car vs. carriage, cat vs. dog)
• Two processes (how we behave in the classroom vs. the playground)

You will want to do this with high-interest sources the first few times you run this protocol with students. Look for a short reading that they might find interesting with a low cognitive load. Once students have learned the expectations and routine of the protocol, teachers can up the ante with grade level and/or subject-related content. For example, when I introduced the CyberSandwith EduProtocol at a workshop, the source was a local history article from syracuse.com about the salt potato and the city's Irish heritage--check out the template here.