Topic Splash

A Topic Splash lesson provides a comprehensive foreshadowing of the information to which students will formally be introduced. As such, a Topic Splash is especially appropriate for an Exploration activity in that it helps students to build bridges between their prior knowledge (as expressed in their affective responses to questions) and new information that will be forthcoming.

Sub-topics are selected on the basis of their importance to the overall topic and their ability to stimulate initial interest in the subject being explored. The process of breaking down a single topic of study into smaller sub-units functions as an advance organizer that helps learners begin to create their own cognitive framework. A Topic Splash is ever-evolving as exciting new websites are discovered.

Implementation

As with most Internet-based lessons, the teacher’s primary responsibilities during a Topic Splash are to monitor the students’ work, ask probing questions, provide assistance when students become stymied, and solve technical problems. When the lesson concludes, the teacher leads a summary discussion.

The principal difference between this type of lesson and a Fact Finding Mission is that in place of factual information, the guiding questions in a Topic Splash prompt students to express their personal interpretations, perspectives, and reactions to the topics under investigation. Also, the conclusion of a Topic Splash is presented in a teacher-generated summary statement that does not require students to synthesize insights gained during the lesson.

A “reverse” Topic Splash can be created in which the teacher provides the subtopics and students generate questions and identify relevant websites. Students are then required to arrange subtopics in the order that represents how they have conceptually organized these items. This would also provide an excellent opportunity for students to carefully evaluate websites in terms of criteria identified by the teacher.

Classroom Management

Before the Lesson

1. Break down the broad topic into its natural subtopics. For example, a list of subtopics for a food chain would logically include producers, consumers, decomposers, energy, etc. These can be ordered in a scaffolded manner, or not.

2. Complete a visually pleasing Topic Splash template for students to use.

3. Since this type of lesson is often used as an Exploration activity, the assessment may often be used simply to assess students’ prior understanding of the topic.

After the Lesson

1. Each group describes the experience of completing a Topic Splash inquiry lesson.