De Bono's Hat
In discussions with teachers, some swear by this strategy yet others are definite that this does not work for them. Like most strategies De Bono's Hats will work for some students and not others. Don't be afraid to try different ways of introducing this into the classroom. Below you will find a number of suggestions on ways that De Bono can be introduced into your classroom.
What is De Bono's Hats?
De Bono's hats is based around 6 different hats. It is often used not only in Reading Comprehension but also used in workplaces and management courses. Each hat has a different focus for discussing texts.
The White Hat is information only.
The Yellow Hat is positive (what was the solution in the story)
The Red Hat is about the emotions of the people involved
The Purple Hat (sometimes called Black Hat) is negative (what was the problem in the story)
The Blue Hat is in control of the conversation, encouraging others and facilitating the conversation
The Green Hat is to give ideas on something that has not yet been tried.
How to use De Bono's Hats
There are many ways to use De Bono's hats within the classroom. Some teachers have students work in small reading groups with each student having one of the roles discussed above, in fact some teachers even have the different colour hats and students wear that hat during the conversation.
Reading circle
To use hats within a reading circle make sure you have clear instructions on what each hat's role is and ensure roles are rotated each time you have a reading circle, you may even choose to have coloured hats for the students to wear. Give students time to find the answers that they need for their role and then students facilitate the conversation. It is important that a safe, comfortable and will to learn culture is set up in the classroom for this to work.
Using a worksheet
Other ways of using this strategy on an individual bases is by using a worksheet asking students questions to encourage thinking under each of the different hats (see example). In the example students are given questions to answer, as students get older and more familiar and confident with this method you can change the questions or even remove them completely. You may wish for students to complete a worksheet as part of or in addition to a reading circle activity.
Click here to view an example.