F*ck I.C.E. - Let's F.L.Y.

In case you haven't purchased it yet, my top selling item on Teachers Pay Teachers is my graphic organizer bundle. These are five methods for students to break down their sources and research in impactful and useful ways. Not only does giving students these tools help them better understand their own research, these graphic organizers are designed to function as pre-writing. In the age of AI slop, this is especially important. Honest, hard-working students can prove their work is their own by pointing to drafts and the genesis of ideas in their notebooks (i.e. in these graphic organizers).

All that being said, I was introducing one of my graphic organizers that I've used for years to my own students this year and... well, it just hits different now. The old acronym was I.C.E. which was actually cribbed from a test-writing technique I learned about when I was doing my grad studies.

I have now adapted it further, changing it from the polarizing group to a new acronym. New acronym, same great thinking strategy. Are you ready to F.L.Y.?

F if for Facts

Similar to the original's "ideas" this is a place for students to just jot down notes. What's the main idea? What did they learn? What data is presented? They can jot down a key quote or other evidence they may want to use later.

OR!!!

F can be for First Reaction

This is a space for students to journal. To write down their knee-jerk response to the text. To talk back to the source. Some teachers call this freewriting, others quickwriting. In AP Seminar, it's a valuable place for students to check their biases and jot down their own ideas in relation to the text.

L is for Links

Formerly "connections," this space is divided in half: Links between sources and links between this source and outside knowledge. This is so important for source synthesis and putting sources in conversation.

Y is for why. (get it?)

In the final section of this easy graphic organizer, students write why the source matters. This can be useful as first drafts of commentary or even conclusions. In this section, students ask themselves: "Why does this matter?" "So, what?" In the old version of this easy notetaking strategy, this was called "extensions." If you remember the old higher-order thinking house from AVID, this is basically the top of level of that house. If Links is the second level (book and brain) then this is the top (just brain).

Anyway, whether you prefer no ice in your AP Seminar or just want to avoid the debate altogether, here's an easy notetaking strategy for Sem students. For a prettied up version of this good for print or for inserting into digital notebooks, toss me a few bucks on teachers pay teachers.