To add in accountability, have students turn their work in at the end of each station. Escape rooms are all the rage right now, and they make learning fun. In fact, students beg for more escape rooms. To add in accountability, require every student to turn in either an answer sheet or a reflection. Incorporating learning stations in your lesson plans is a great way to encourage movement in the classroom. Several stations I frequently use in the classroom are a reading station, practice station, and tech station. The reading station might be a section from a novel you are currently reading in class, a speech related to the theme of a novel you are reading in class, or a nonfiction article that connects to your current unit of study. The practice station is usually a group worksheet or brainstorming organizer where students practice a skill they are working on. The tech station is generally dedicated class time for students to work on an assignment on the computer. These three stations require little prep on your part, and they help the class period go by much quicker. Escape Room Learning Stations Take them outside One sure fire way to get students moving is to take them outside for the lesson. If it is a beautiful day and you have reading or writing scheduled, take students outside to complete the task. To add in accountability, collect the assignment at the end of the class, or plan to do this again (especially if the students like being outside) as a positive reward for their conduct outside. Carousel Questions The carousel questions strategy is similar to a gallery walk, but rather than taking information from the posters and learning from the posters, students are contributing to the posters. This is a great strategy to use when you are introducing a new unit or reviewing a unit. Post chart or butcher paper around the room and write different introductory or review questions on each page. Instruct students to walk throughout the room and answer each question. Complete the introduction or review strategy by reviewing several of the answers with the class. h To add in accountability, you can assign this as group work. Have students circulate throughout the room in groups and assign a different color marker for each group. At the end of the activity, check to see if every single color is present in the paper . Give One, Get One Give One Get One is a great strategy that is easy to implement in any lesson. I like using this strategy best after taking notes or reviewing a film or Ted Talk. To incorporate this learning strategy in your lesson plan, instruct students to get up and share their notes or one of their takeaways with another student. Then, they will need to ask another student to share notes or for their takeaway. To add in accountability, have students write down the information they receive. Post-It Parade Group students into small groups of 3-5 students and supply each group with markers and a piece of large, tabloid-sized white paper. Assign each group a different topic for the essay and have them create a poster that represents that topic. The poster should include words, phrases, and key points for each group’s assigned topic, as well as images and other visual representations. If applicable, encourage students to write quotes from the text on the poster. After student groups complete their posters, have each group present their poster to the class. Display some of the posters on the walls as additional support. Throughout the essay writing process, students can refer back to these posters for additional ideas, guidance, and support. Place students in pairs or small groups. Provide each student pair or student group with 2-3 post-it notes for each main essay topic. It is especially beneficial if you give each student group different colors of post-it notes so that you can color code the ideas. Each essay topic will have its own designated color. If you are assigning a five-paragraph essay with three main points –each one serving as a body paragraph, provide each student pair or group with 6-9 post-it notes. After discussing the essay topic with your students, ask each student group to write down an example, explanation, or quote on each post-it note that supports the topic. There is a lot of flexibility here to have students brainstorm different ideas with this activity. After providing students with enough time to brainstorm in their pairs or groups, call on one person from each group to share their ideas aloud. After all of the groups share their responses, have students place their post-it notes on coordinating chart paper or on the whiteboard. Keep the post-it notes up on display for the entire essay writing process. This will provide your students with additional information that might be beneficial for the essay. Poster Project Sticky Note Questions and Answers One quick and easy way to get students engaged and moving is to incorporate sticky notes in your lesson. Ask students a question and have them respond on the sticky note. After students write the answer to the question on the notes, they will get up and post their notes on the board. This strategy can work as a bell-ringer activity or as a quick little break in the middle of the lesson. It is also a great strategy to use to survey your students when assessing prior knowledge. To add in accountability, instruct students to write their names on the back of the sticky note Brainstorming Stations Set-up essay brainstorming sessions throughout the room and divide your students equally into the number of stations you’ve created. Each station should be a different essay topic or task. Prepare each essay brainstorming station with a particular task and graphic organizer. For example, one station may require students to think of as many examples as they can to support a topic sentence, and another station might require students to read closely to find a supporting quote. Have each student rotate throughout the brainstorming stations. Students should spend equal time at each station. At the end of the class, come together and discuss what students learned and brainstorm. Gallery Walk Divide students into small groups and assign a designated color marker for each group. Prepare for the gallery walk by placing chart paper or poster board on the walls. You may also designate a large portion of your whiteboard for student answers if you have enough colors of dry erase markers. Each piece of chart paper or poster board will be a different essay topic. Provide student groups with time to brainstorm each topic, and then have students rotate around the room at each station/piece of chart paper. While students are in their designated stations, they should be using their designated color markers to write their ideas on the paper. Encourage student groups to always add new information to the paper; this task will increase in difficulty as you progress throughout the stations. Keep the visuals up on the walls during the essay writing process.