As a Social Studies teacher with over 20 years of experience, I still get excited when students make historical connections I hadn’t thought of. Their ability to find new ways to link ideas, people, and events across time never stops impressing me. But here’s the catch: most students don’t come into our classrooms naturally seeing those connections. They need a structure. A nudge. And sometimes, they need to visualize, or better yet, immerse themselves in it to help them lay it all out. This is where hexagonal thinking comes into play. It’s a strategy I use regularly because it turns my students into thinkers and debaters, instead of just absorbers of information.
What is Hexagonal Thinking?
“Hexagonal thinking” is a simple but powerful strategy that can help students analyze relationships between key concepts. Each hexagon-shaped tile is labeled with a term (event, person, idea, law, etc.). Students can work in groups to arrange the tiles so that each hexagon touches others it meaningfully connects to, and then they explain why. It’s not just about where the tiles end up, but about the thinking behind the connections. Ask your students to think about the importance of each placement. Why should that tile be there instead of somewhere else? That’s what makes it such a rich tool for deep historical analysis in your classroom.
How I Use It in My Classroom
I teach high school social studies and have implemented this strategy across all different levels and abilities. I’m a big believer in student-centered learning and active engagement. Hexagonal thinking fits perfectly with this approach. Here’s how I implement it:
1. Choose Your Focus
You can use hexagonal thinking to wrap up a unit, review for a DBQ, or dig into a particular theme, such as civil rights or the reform era movements. The key is to develop about 15-25 key terms that relate to your focus. Sometimes I choose the terms myself, other times I ask students to help create them. Having them contribute builds ownership and can lead to even better conversations. For example, when we study the Vietnam Conflict, my set includes:
• Tet Offensive
• Lyndon B. Johnson
• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
• Viet Cong
• Ho Chi Minh
• Domino Theory
• Anti-War Protests
• Living Room War
• Vietnamization
• Fall of Saigon
• Credibility Gap
• Containment Policy
2. Print and Organize
I keep it simple and print the hexagons on paper, then laminate them for reuse. Students work in groups of 3-4.
I direct them to arrange the tiles so that each one touches at least two others, and be ready to explain every connection they make. Some of the connections are obvious, like the Ho Chi Minh tile goes next to the Viet Cong tile. But soon they’ll get into deeper questions: Should the Tet Offensive go next to Living Room War or Credibility Gap? Could the Domino Theory be connected to a later event, like the Fall of Saigon, as a reason to credit or discredit the theory?
The conversations between students are rich. The disagreements, as long as they are civil, are even better. Students passionately arguing for a tile to be placed in a certain spot show that they’re invested in the activity.
3. Label and Justify
Once groups are happy with their layout, I have them label the connections on a printed worksheet. Each shared edge gets a brief explanation. After that, I project photos of each group’s web of tiles and have students present some of their most meaningful connections. This is where the deeper thinking really shines. It also lets me know what they understand and where they might still need support.
Turning Students into Historical Thinkers
Once students have used hexagonal thinking a few times, they start approaching content differently. They look for those relationships, and they are more willing to argue about meaning. They begin to see that history isn’t just a set of isolated facts, but a web of people, events, and ideas that shape each other across time.
This method pushes students to analyze how events are connected, synthesize ideas across time periods, and evaluate cause and effect. It gets them to truly think like historians and use those skills to interpret the past. I’ve used hexagonal thinking in every kind of unit, from the Gilded Age to Cold War policy, and each time I walk away impressed by the conversations it sparks and the ideas it uncovers. It opens up deep thinking, collaboration, and debate. It moves away from memorization and single narratives. It’s what social studies should be all about.
More About the Author:
David Forster is a veteran high school educator in Massachusetts with a passion for hands-on, project-based learning. He has taught a variety of Social Studies courses and recently expanded into EdTech marketing, where he helps connect educators with innovative learning tools. Through his work in product marketing, he has created teacher-focused content and resources to support meaningful classroom engagement.