60-Second Strategy: Sage and Scribe

Sage and Scribe is a cooperative learning activity that gives every student a chance to be both an expert and a learner. In Kait Hudson’s first-grade class at Barbara Morgan STEM Academy in Boise, Idaho, she uses this simple partner exercise for a variety of academic tasks—today, she’s giving students a chance to practice decomposing a number.

After students are paired up, each duo gets a whiteboard, a marker, and an eraser. One student is the sage and the other a scribe. “The sage is the only one who talks,” Hudson explains—and the scribe has to write down exactly what the sage dictates. “The scribe can clarify, but they can’t build on or help.” When the sage is all done, the scribe has an opportunity to agree or disagree with the sage’s approach and can also offer helpful feedback. And then they switch roles.

“They speak each other’s language,” she says. “Like, I speak ‘teacher.’ I try to speak ‘kid,’ but sometimes they can say it better than I can say it.”

Hudson says the activity helps students feel ownership over what they’ve learned. “This really makes it so they have the chance just to practice, and everybody’s voice is heard and it’s valued.”

The strategy can be used in any number of subjects. “I use it a lot with math,” says Hudson, “and I’ll also use it for phonics.” Because it helps students learn to take turns and be good listeners, she’s even used it for more fun, less academic pursuits, like drawing. “I’ll say, ‘Teach a friend how to draw a dog!’”

The Sage and Scribe cooperative learning structure was developed by Dr. Spencer Kagan. To find more group and partner activities for elementary school, read Judy Willis’s article for Edutopia, “How Cooperative Learning Can Benefit Students This Year.”