Activity Ideas to enhance the classroom
I wanted to give you a few ideas to vary classroom activities. These are ones I’ve
learned about in workshops, books, internet, used in my own classroom, or have
seen other teachers use successfully. I hope you can find a few that will be useful in
your lesson planning when you need something different With any of the activities, they
should be used to reinforce the SCOS objective being taught, and should be time
sensitive/brisk paced. Often the prep/background work can be done as a HW assignment
to better utilize the limited class time.
According to a study by Milken Family Foundation, students whose teachers used
HANDS-ON-ACTIVITIES outperformed their peers by about 70% in math and 40% in
science.
Dividing students into SMALL groups to work on substantive topics improves student
achievement, creates enthusiasm for classwork, and teaches students crucial skills, such
as how to move a group forward and how to include all members in a
discussion.(according to a Harvard study)
Feedback for teachers in the form of a DAILY “one minute paper” at the end of class
helps focus the students’ minds and provides teachers feedback on whether they are
getting their main ideas across. Students are encouraged to think throughout the class
about what they will write down as the main idea of the lesson and any unanswered
questions they may still have.( Harvard study)
1. Have students write down key words, phrases, details, questions, related to the
lesson on sticky notes or sticky posters and place in the center of a sheet of paper
after reading. Use these to generate discussions in small groups or as a class.
2. Have a relay race to write down a fact/detail/event/vocabulary/work out a
problem, etc on the board in teams. To make it more interesting, set ground rules,
controlled chaos, perhaps have students suck up a cotton ball through a straw and
hold it there until they reach the board to write down their answer. This makes it
a bit more exciting. Each student on the team must take a turn at answering a
question.
3. Sequence Line up for working math problems in steps, sequencing events, etc.Write the steps on strips of paper, mix them up and put them in a container.
While working in group sizes equal to number of strips needed to complete the
process your studying, have each student obtain one strip. As a group they must
move around putting the steps in the correct order without any talking. They can
use body language, point, etc. This could also be used to pair up question strips
with answer strips, but once again no talking.
4. Concert presentations are when a student has to share to the class about what
they’ve learned while a piece of classical music is being played softly in the
background. Music should be instrumental only. When the music stops the
presentation should be complete. This could be in small groups.
5. Classical music can be used softly in classrooms while students are working or
testing. Research has proven that classical music stimulates the learning centers
of our brains. This technique used during class time will help students retain
information. It’s important to explain to students that it doesn’t work with all
music. Students will also become conditioned by the classical music to focus
better when used regularly. I have a few of the CDs’ I used in my office if you
would like to burn a copy. The music starting and stopping can also be used as a
timer for assignments.
6. Have students role play characters in material being taught.
7. Give students sticky notes before a reading assignment to mark important sections
or ideas presented. Limit the number you give them so they will have to be very
selective. In small groups they can discuss where they put their markers and why.
Also useful to springboard class discussions. To make sticky notes go further cut
them in half inch strips.
8. Develop a system of symbols that students can use as they work on material in
your class. Have them mark the text with these symbols on sticky notes or on
their notes, worksheets, etc.. Make up your own or use some of these ?=I don’t
understand this part, *=important to remember, N=new vocabulary, MI=main
idea, !=check this out/interestintg detail. Make a poster of your symbols to
display in the room and encourage regular use, this makes it easier to check for
understanding when you walk around checking student progress.
9. Make signs on large index cards glued to popsicle sticks to leave at each students
seat to use during daily lessons to check for understanding instead of asking are
there any questions and moving on. (Green-I’ve got it Red-I still need
help)Students can hold up the appropriate one when you ask the class as a whole
are there any questions, then the students aren’t put on the spot individually to
admit they need help.
10. websites-www.teachertube.com googleearth.com(3D satellite maps of locations
you are teaching about) learnnc.org www.googlelittrips.com (literature
fieldtrips) study island eduwaretestmaker/games for science and math (should be
coming to you soon) United Streaming/discovery education streaming. All of
these websites are user friendly and full of ideas to mix up your lessons and to
help keep the students hooked.
11. Put students in groups and assign them to compete with the other groups to build
a tower out of index cards that will stand independently. The tallest standing
tower wins. The catch is they must answer questions or solve problems as a
group to get each index card. Therefore the more problems/questions they work
correctly the more building materials they get. To be successful they need to
focus on building a good foundation. They could collect index cards over time as
a group by working HW, bell starter questions, CW, test reviews, quizzes, etc.
then have the tower building contest. History classes-students write events for a
civil war on cards before they can use them. The more facts they remember the
more cards they can use to build their tower. Language arts- start with a
foundation word- then students add descriptive words to build tower.
12. Students present a lesson in the form of an opera, rap, poem, or story. This is a
great HW assignment to prepare at home and present in class.
13. Use empty symbols to stimulate writing activities, such as admit/exit slips. It just
makes it fun. I’ll attach a few examples to this page. Example-in the #1 symbolWhat is the main concept from today’s lesson? Example-in the STAR symbollist the 3 stars of today’s literature story. Use your imagination to apply to your
subjects areas.
14. Use a sheet of tin foil to create a 3D sculpture of something you want students to
focus on, such as the mood of a poem or story. Then explain their sculptures.
15. FISH BOWL activity-at any point in the lesson, stop and have students write
down questions on small strips of paper they have at this point about the lesson or
information they are obtaining from your lesson. Put them all in a fish bowl and
go fishing, the teacher pulls them out one at a time and addresses each. The
teacher gets feedback without putting students on the spot.
16. FACT FANS, LEARNING CIRCLES Forms attached.
17. Capsule Vocabulary, Sentence synthesis, Sticky note discussions, vocabulary
cartoons-SEE attachements.
18. Carousel brainstorming-attached
19. Talk show discussion format-attached
20. Story shackles-a stimulating way to involve students in a reading assignment-see
attached.
21. HOT CARDS-students are given a note card and instructed to respond to a
prompt. They write 3 quick sentences summarizing what they learned in class
that day, list 10 facts about a topic, write five quiz questions, or give a quick
explanation of their understanding of a concept.
22. LETTERS-students write letters between two historical figures, literary
characters, or current newsmakers to show not only their understanding of a
concept but their ability to see it from more than one perspective.
23. CUBING-cubing allows a student to consider a subject in six different ways.
Describe it, compare it, associate it, analyze it, argue for or against it.
24. BUMPER STICKERS-create a bumper sticker advertising or taking a position on
the concept being studied. Remind students that bumper stickers are short and
capture the essence of something in a memorable way.
25. WANT ADS-Students create want ads to show their understanding of literary
characters or historical figures by composing want ads that depict something the
person seeks, wants to sell, or could offer as a service.
26. Powerpoint looping-create a power point with around 5 facts, vocabulary
definitions, theories, etc, you want the students to focus on and loop it to stay on
each for only a few seconds. Direct students to focus and try to read each. This
can be used a bell starter or introduction to a topic. Set the looping fast enough
that it will be difficult to read with one viewing, they will have to be ready when
it loops back around to get what they missed the first time.
27. Literacy strategies-see attachment
28. GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS-If you do not have access to programs like these, then
the web offers a number of free tools that will allow you to print concepts maps
from your browser. If you need a blank map but don’t have the time to create one,
take a look at the Canadian site www.2Learn.ca. This site houses a large
collection of educational resources for educators produced by an alliance of
organizations from the province of Alberta. Available in both French and English,
one of the most attractive features of the site is the Teacher Tools section. From
this page, click on 2Learn.ca Tools in the bulleted list near the top of the page.
There are numerous teacher productivity tools in this section, but since you can
only look at one at a time, take some time to explore the Concept Map
Assignment Builder in the drop-down window for Teachers. This page offers
fifteen different blank concepts maps that can be customized and printed from the
browser. The templates for these maps allow the teacher to customize the
following information at the top of the map page:
Teacher name
Title or topic of concept map
Instructions for the student explaining how to complete the map
ALSO research learnnc.com for more resources
I plan to continue to collect more ideas to supplement your lesson plans. I have seen a lot
of wonderful activities going on in many of the classrooms I have been observing. I
would love to include your successful activities if you would like to share. Please let me
know of any I could include next time. I hope these are helpful. Let me know if I can
research anymore ideas for you.
L. Caudell
Curriculum Specialist
LSHS