Odd One Out by Mrs. Libby Smith (5th grade teacher and team leader)

 

 

The students pictured are enjoying an instructional strategy called “Odd One Out” in my 5^th grade class. After investigating and taking notes on the events of Westward Expansion, the students were put into groups to find the odd one out. Each student grouped the sections of land in any way that they wanted. It could be a group of 3, 4, 5, 6 or all 7 sections that now make up the continental United States. Each member of the group then had to find the odd one out -or one section that does not fit in a category with the others. As long as the students could justify their answer, they were correct, and the answers were limitless. Some categories the students came up with were: lands acquired in the 1800’s, lands gained from European nations, lands that were purchased, and lands that were gained from Mexico.