Ask students to compile wordmats for a given topic (idea being that they will know what they needed to know, if that makes sense) - a good revision activity?
Set up a league table to encourage healthy competition
Award a raffle ticket for each good piece of work done - prize draw at the end of a unit as a reward (prizes don't have to be massive)
Ask students to podcast a topic (gets round literacy issues??)
Use play dough in a lesson to teach a concept
Get students to role play an event or scenario you are learning at the moment
‘Close your eyes and imagine’ - put whatever you are teaching into as descriptive terms as possible so that they are in the centre of the learning experience. Get them to draw what they see….
Create a quiz sheet with multiple choice and true or false statements for LA – they still get all the information that they need for an exam/assessment and have to think about the work but without lots of writing
Create support sheets for a lesson that have key ideas/concepts and hints for the lesson
Writing frames
Kineasthetic hands on activity in place of something you’d normally do written work for
Action Research – try mixed ability V’s single ability groups and compare outcomes
Differentiated outcomes for the lesson
Use a prop as a starter, e.g. a soft cushion ball. Students throw the ball to another student and they have to think of a subject key word. The student has 4 seconds to answer, if the answer is wrong, is the same as a previous answer or is not said within the 4 seconds then they are out. It’s fun and the students enjoy it. With a small class it lasts 5 minutes. For a large class it lasts about 10 minutes.
Use video tutorials / interactive resource to explain key concepts which will allow pupils to revisit at their own pace..
Provide audio feedback.
Students to use video cameras or audio recording to evaluate their work.
I did the close your eyes and imagine mission with 9B2 and 9B3. I wanted them to have a deeper understanding of the death penalty as a form of punishment and to think about how it affects the lives of people involved and not just the person be executed. I also thought that they would find visualisation more powerful and accessible than just reading about it. I asked them to rest their heads and arms on the desk and close their eyes. I read them the story of a man executed in Texas and asked them to concentrate on what they can see and how it made them feel. I had positive feedback on two dimensions - one they came out with some excellent points about what they could see. One student in 9B3 said 'I could see the happy faces of the victims family watching the execution'. Also, when asked if they preferred it to just reading, students said they found it easier to think about what was happening.
ReplyDeleteI also have introduced a mission to 9B2 to encourage better behaviour. They all have to set themself a learning target at the beginning of the lesson, for example 'to not call out' or 'complete all tasks'. At present they have been getting a house point for achieved targets but I may try out the raffle ticket idea with this class.