Teachers, I have used each of these strategies in my classroom
(some more than others) and found them all to be successful. I encourage you to
find something new here and try it. Use the resources listed or
email me if you
have questions.
| What is it? |
How to do it |
How it helps |
Further resources |
| Textmapping |
- Copy a text and tape the pages together to form a horizontal
scroll.
- Have students mark blocks of text using markers, highlighters,
and/or colored pencils.
- Further mark the scroll to emphasize what matches your teaching
objectives, such as key vocabulary or cause and effect.
- Scrolls can be mounted on butcher paper for more extensive
note-taking or summarizing.
|
- Accommodates visual and kinesthetic learners
- Shows how text features such as subheadings, captions, and
diagrams help readers by connecting them to the text they are
related to
- Motivation -- presenting text in the scroll format is novel and
motivating
|
http://textmapping.org/
|
| Flyswatter Game |
- Project "answers" on the board (or write them).
- Divide students into two teams, giving each a different colored
flyswatter.
- Have one representative from each team at the board.
- Call out a question and the first to swat
the correct answer earns a point for their team.
|
- I've used this to practice or review material, including math
facts, vocabulary, and locations on a map.
|
|
| Gestures and Mini-lectures |
- Make up a gesture or action to go along with a key concept or
vocabulary term.
- Teach the students and have them repeat back to you with the
gesture. (Insist on 100% participation!)
- Have students "teach" a partner.
|
- Increasing the number of times and ways students encounter a
word or concept increases their retention
- Forcing students to teach each other what they've just learned
from you every 3-5 minutes keeps them engaged.
- Accommodates kinesthetic and interpersonal intelligences
|
http://wholebrainteaching.com/
|
| RAFT |
- Give students a writing assignment specifying the Role,
Audience, Format, and Topic (or options for those areas).
|
- Facilitates understanding of various viewpoints
- Great for content area writing
|
|
| Graphic Organizers |
- Have your students fill out a graphic organizer before, during,
or after an activity.
- You can give students a copy or have them create their own.
- Find just a few you like and use them repeatedly so your
students focus on the information, not the new picture.
|
- Easily organizes information
- Helpful for visual learners
- Can become a great pre-writing tool
|
Collection of Graphic Organizers from TeacherVision |
| Foldables |
- Similar to graphic organizers, have your students record and
organizer information using a folded paper format.
|
- Folding paper is motivating
- Information stays organized
- When used for study, kids have to manipulate the information,
engaging their senses.
|
Foldables from Catawba County Schools |
| Accountable Talk |
- Teach kids one or two accountable talk strategies at a time.
- Post sentence stems for reference.
- Monitor discussions, tracking student use of talk strategies
with checklists.
|
- Sentence stems give all students a starting point for
communicating their thoughts.
- Facilitates learning in a social, cooperative way without
letting it become socializing
|
I created these
Accountable Talk Posters. |
| Choice Boards/Menus |
|
|
|
| Kagan Structures |
- Structure cooperative learning to engage all children
|
- Provides easy-to-use structures
- Prevents "We're in groups- now what?" syndrome
|
Kagan
Structures PowerPoint |
| Rubrics |
- Create a rubric for a project by starting with observable
descriptors of an A project. Then lower the quality for lower
scoring projects.
- Show the class the rubric when giving the assignment (or create
it with the class).
- Design rubrics with an even-numbered scoring system, so it's
less tempting give the middle score. I prefer a 4-point scale.
|
- When students know what an A project looks like, they're more
likely to strive for and achieve it.
- Rubrics provide support for student grades.
- Rubrics can allow for more projects and performance assessment.
|
http://rubistar.com/
|
| Scoot |
- Write one numbered question on each of a set of note cards.
- Place one card on each student desk.
- Have students number their paper and write the answer to the
question on their desk.
- After a certain amount of time, call out, "Scoot!" Students then
rotate to a new place and answer that question. Continue until
students have completed the rotation.
|
- Movement is brain-friendly.
- More motivating than a worksheet
|
|
| Alphaboxes |
- Given a topic, fill in an alphabet grid with related words.
- Can be done individually or as a class
|
- Can be used before, during, and after reading
- Great alternate for a KWL for a social studies or science unit
|
Alphabet Grid |
