What is Gallery Walk? --a discussion technique for active
engagement
Gallery Walk gets students out of their chairs and actively involves them in
synthesizing important concepts, in consensus building, in writing, and in public
speaking. In Gallery Walk teams rotate around the classroom, composing answers to
questions or reacting to pictures or images, as well as reflecting upon the answers
given by other groups. Questions, images, or quotes are posted on charts or just
pieces of paper located in different parts of the classroom. Each chart or “station”
has its own question that relates to an important class concept. (Some teachers do
not write questions, they just let students react and comment). The technique closes
with an oral presentation or "report out" in which each group synthesizes comments
to a particular question or the comments one poster. learn more here
Why use Gallery Walk? --promotes higher order thinking,
oral/written presentation skills, and team building
Gallery Walk is flexible and has many benefits. Gallery Walk can be organized for a
simple fifteen minute ice breaker or for a week long project involving graded oral and
written reports. The technique encourages students to speak and write the language
of the classroom content rather than just hearing it from the instructor. In addition
to addressing a variety of cognitive skills involving analysis, evaluation, and
synthesis, Gallery Walk has the additional advantage of promoting cooperation,
listening skills, and team building. learn more here
How to use Gallery Walk? --student teams rotate between posted
charts
In Gallery Walk student teams rotate to provide comments about images or quotes,
or to provide bulleted answers to questions posted on charts arranged around the
classroom. After three to five minutes at a chart or “station” the team rotates to the
next station. Gallery Walk works best with open ended questions or topics, that is,
when a problem, concept, issue, or debate can be analyzed from several different
perspectives.
Modified from Gallery Walk, compiled by March Frances at
http://sec.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/index.html
Gallery Walk
Materials
For this activity, you need several sheets of large newsprint paper or Post-Its and thick magic markers in
various colors. They will be posted around the room with enough space between so participants can gather
at them.
Procedure
Participants respond to statements written or images glued on the newsprint. Each page will then contain
numerous responses of varying lengths. They can even respond to the responses.
They take the "gallery walk" throughout the activity as they choose which ones they want to respond to,
unless they have time to respond to all of them. When the time is up for writing responses, participants then
walk around, as if in a gallery, and read the statements and responses. Discussion of the activity follows.
The Gallery Walk works best with highly charged, even objectionable, statements or polemics that get the
participants to reveal their own feelings and thoughts about the topic under exploration. These statements
can be chosen by the session leaders in advance, or by the participants that day. The statements can come
from their own writing or from readings.
Modified from http://www.lbw.cuny.edu/how/pd/gallery.html
Modified from Gallery Walk, compiled by March Frances at
http://sec.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/index.html