Dump and Clump

Purpose: To provide a step by step process for organizing thinking and facilitating learning of new and difficult material.

Description: This is a great strategy to use when the students are faced with learning new and difficult information. It provides students with a process for organizing their prior knowledge and making projections. Depending on the subject matter, this strategy could utilize up to a full class period.

Procedure:

  1. Group students into small groups of 2-3
  2. "Dump"- Have students develop a list of words, items, or new information related to the topic of study.
  3. "Clump"- Using the "dump" word list, students should then group words on the list into categories and assign labels.
  4. Have students write a descriptive summary sentence for each category of words in their list.
  5. Upon completion, these should be posted around the room or shared in some manner with the entire class.

Rogers, S., Ludington, J., & Graham, S. (1999). Motivation and learning. Evergreen, CO: Peak Learning Systems.

Sample Dump and Clump Activity Sheet

from Instructional Strategies for Engaging Learners
Guilford County Schools TF, 2002

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