1. Journal Writing – Journal writing affords the opportunity for thinking and writing. Expressive writing requires that participants become actively involved in the learning process. This process becomes less effective if participants need to worry about spelling or grammar. Students should be encouraged to write freely in their journals without fear of evaluation.
- Every morning from 7:30 – 7:45, after the tardy bell rings, the journal topic is written on the board for the students to answer. Students are given 15 minutes to complete their journal.
2. Class Discussion – A true discussion occurs when a GROUP of people including the leader, share experiences, debate ideas and theories, discuss experiences, and work together on common problems. It is not: a teacher asks a question and a participant answers. Class discussion can be used to initiate, amplify, or summarize a session.
- Community circle is usually done after each journal activity from 7:45 – 8:00. Topics that are usually discussed are upcoming school events and activities, new lessons, review, wrap-ups, monthly mega-skills, life skills, and other issues and concerns that a student experiences.
3. Student or Participant Experts – This is another way of having active learning. Give the participant information and let them read, and learn what they will then present to the class. They can also do research outside of the classroom, training, and prepare to teach what they have learned. Participants enjoy hearing from each other, and the experience stimulates positive interaction.
- Our 1st Quarter Social Studies Unit on Native Americans had a week-long activity that involved student experts. A group of students were given a Native American region (Great Plains, Midwest, Southwest, Northwest, and Middle America) to research and find more information to teach the class. The topics that the students researched were important tribe names, location, religion, tools, types of homes, and other important facts, etc. The students were able to teach the class about the certain region that they were in charge of.
- Our 1st Quarter Science Lesson on Careers had an activity where student experts were used. A group of students were given a handout on a certain career. Each group member had a specific job to do (leader, reporter, recorder, timer, vocabulary checker). Students had to create a poster that showed information about the career.
4. Mini-Lecture - The mini-lecture is a concise way to provide participants with background information, research findings, or motivational examples to spark interest and give them a framework for discussion or activity to follow. Mini-lectures should be brief and targeted, setting up an activity or discussion.
5. Small Groups – Participants working together can help stimulate each others activity. Small group activities are cooperative, but have less formal structure than cooperative learning. These activities encourage collective thinking and provide opportunities for participants to work together and increase social skills.
6.Question Box – An anonymous question box provides the opportunity for all participants to get answers to questions they might be hesitant to ask in class. It also gives the teacher, leader time to think about answers to difficult questions or look for more information. Questions should be reviewed and responded to regularly, and all questions placed in the box should be taken seriously. If you don’t know the answer to the question, let the participants know and research it and get back to them. I also like to pass out index cards to all participants and get them to write a question or write no question and walk around and have everybody drop their card into the box. That way you really don’t know who wrote the question and the difficult or sensitive question can be asked and answered.
- Our 2nd Quarter Science Unit on Animal Growth and Reproduction involved a question box activity. Students were given a small sheet of paper to write a question that they have about animal growth and reproduction. As the lessons went on, we were able to answer the questions that were raised during the beginning of the lesson.
7. Current Events – Analyzing local, state, national and international current events helps participants relate classroom discussion to everyday life. It also brings in local, political, and cultural issues into the training or classroom.
- Every Monday, students are given a current event worksheet to work on. They have until Thursday to finish up their current event. On Thursdays during Social Studies time, the students present their current event issue to the class.
8. Games & Puzzles – Games and puzzles can be used to provide a different environment in which learning can take place. It can also be used in cooperative learning groups. Many types of games and puzzles can be adapted to present and review concepts. Games such as Bingo, Concentration, or Jeopardy are easily formatted for different subjects. They can be used for review, reinforcement, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision-making. Watch the competitiveness, as this is a learning tool to be used as for fun.
- We had an opportunity to play games in the classroom, such as Bingo and Jeopardy. We’ve used these games in Science and Social Studies. As a closing activity for a certain lesson, we use these games to reinforce vocabulary and important facts from each lesson.
9. Artistic Expression – Participants may be offered a choice of expressing themselves in art, or through writing. Such a choice accommodates the different learning need and talents of students. Completed work should be displayed.
- Students were able to tap into their artistic side and involve themselves in art activities such as the Tapa Cloth, Crayon etching activity, Character Poster, Animal and Plant Cell drawings, Native American Stained Glass Activity, Body Systems 2D project, Body Systems Book, and many more. The classmates, teachers, friends, and family members were so proud of their student’s artwork when they had the chance to see them after it was displayed around in the classroom.
10. Surveys and Inventories – Surveys and inventories can be used to assess knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and practices. These instruments can be used to gather knowledge about a variety of groups, including participants, families, or work type settings.
- Surveys were given at the end of each quarter to assess how have the students learned in the quarter. Questions asked were:
- What is the most important thing I learned in Math/Science/Social Studies/Reading/Writing?”
- What is one thing I learned in Math/Science/Social Studies/Reading/Writing that I wish I could learn more about?
- What is one thing that I didn’t learn in 1st quarter Math/Science/Social Studies/Reading/Writing that I want to learn more about in 2nd quarter?
11. Self – Assessment - used to help individuals and groups process and reflect on their individual work or their group work.
- At the end of each quarter, students were given a self-assessment sheet where they grade themselves based upon how hard they think they’ve worked for the semester. Students give logical reasons and explanation for the grades that they’ve given to themselves.
12. Experiments and Demonstration – Experiments and demonstrations can be used to show how something works or why something is important. These activities also provide a way to show the correct process for doing something, like a procedure. They should be carefully planned and conducted. They often involve the use of supporting materials.
- One of my lessons included Origami making (exposing students to the Japanese culture). I used powerpoint to demonstrate how to make an origami crane. The presentation had a step-by-step process on how to make each fold and crease.
13. Student or Participant presentations – Individual student or groups of participants can present information to the rest of the class. Be sure to have clear guidelines for participants to follow, including time and objectives. This strategy also goes very well with adult learning theory and teaching others for retention.
- When student groups have completed their research about the Native Americans and Careers, they presented and taught the information to the class.
14. Creative Writing – This strategy can take many forms, from poems, stories, written role-play (scripted), and journal written reflective thoughts. They can be shared or not. This form gives participants a creative outlet to the subject taught or discussed. One can also see transfer learning happen in this form of expression.
- When studying the unit on cells, the students were able to create a Cell Acrostic Poem. Students had to come up with words or sentences that were associated with each corresponding letter of the word: CELLS (C-E-L-L-S).
- Our unit on culture incorporated an activity where the student groups had to work together to create a Culture Acrostic Poem. Students had to search for words or sentences that were associated with each corresponding letter of the word: CULTURE (C-U-L-T-U-R-E).
- Journal Writing is done everyday right after the tardy bell. Students are given a topic to write about and they can freely express their opinions, feelings, and ideas about that certain topic. At some times, when the students are finished early, they have an opportunity to share their writing piece to the class.
15. Celebrations – Activities that focus on the joy of completion and accomplishment. These activities serve as reminders and markers. It is appropriate to stop, acknowledge, and appreciate their accomplishments.
- As a culminating event for our Culture Unit, the 5th grade class had an opportunity to celebrate a Cultural Feast. Each student brought in a famous recipe and dish from their culture. Before the feast started, the students shared family stories from their culture, information about their dish, and traditions that are commonly practiced within their culture.
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