Active Learning Strategies - Class Activities for Middle and Secondary Education by Aarian McGee

Graphic Organizers

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 10:42:25 UTC

Graphic organizers help students organize, simplify, and connect their thoughts and ideas in written and visual form. Graphic organizers include Venn diagrams, spider maps, concept maps, KWL charts, and more. Students can complete this learning activity independently.

Journaling

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 11:16:21 UTC

Students can write in journals to reflect, create learning goals, practice writing skills, respond to prompts and questions, and communicate with their teacher(s).

Muddiest Point

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 12:05:36 UTC

This activity helps students communicate with their teacher. Students share the most confusing (muddiest point) part of a concept they are learning.

One-Minute Paper

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 12:15:26 UTC

Students have one minute to summarize what they have learned. This learning activity focuses on helping students engage with the learning material(s). This activity allows students to deeply process information they have learned.

One Sentence Summary

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:08:33 UTC

Students summarize a concept or topic they have learned in one sentence to address "who, when, where, what, why, and how?" This activity allows students to deeply process information they have learned.

Tabloid Titles

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:18:36 UTC

Students work to create a tabloid title on a concept or topic they are currently learning about.

Bumper Stickers

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:21:23 UTC

Students will create a bumper sticker that must include a slogan to demonstrate a specific concept or topic they are currently learning about.

Drawing for Understanding

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:24:30 UTC

Students get to create a drawing of an abstract concept or idea they are learning in class.

Think-Pair-Share

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:26:14 UTC

Students are given time to think and answer questions, prompts, theories, etc. before paring up with a partner to share their ideas.

Peer Review Writing Task

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:27:16 UTC

Students pair up to read a peer's writing to provide feedback. Students then use the given feedback to revise their writing. An example of feedback could include students giving their peer one grow and one glow (or more depending on the grade-level). A glow means areas their peer did well in, and a grow means an area of improvement.

Peer Interview

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 15:28:11 UTC

Students write down questions about content they are learning. Students are paired up to interview a peer. This activity helps students work on communication and critical thinking skills.

Do-Si-Do

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 17:41:34 UTC

Students work in pairs to gather information on a concept they are learning. Afterwards, the teacher categorizes students as ones or twos. The ones stay seated, while the twos rotate (or vice versa) to a new partner to share the information they gathered.

Forced Debate

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 17:41:50 UTC

Students are paired up to debate against another pair of students. The students must defend the opposite side of what their personal beliefs are. This activity can be timed. The group that provides the most thorough explanation(s) wins the debate.

Get One, Give One

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 17:42:14 UTC

Students will fold a paper in half. On one side they will write "Get One," and on the other side they write "Give One." On the "Give One" side, students will write three to five things they learned from the day's lesson. They will find a partner to give an insight to (give one), and their partner will give them an insight (get one). They will need to write a new insight on the "Get One" side of their paper. The teacher can label students as a one or two. Students will rotate around the classroom to a new partner. This can be a timed activity or until their "Get One" side of their paper is full.

Ticket Out the Door

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 18:02:25 UTC

Students share their understanding by writing three ideas they found interesting, two things they are still wondering, and one strategy they might try. This activity is great for all subjects, but especially math.

Fold the Line: Fold the Line

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 18:07:37 UTC

Students will line up in a straight line. The person in the back will walk to and face the person in the front of the line. Other students follow and do the same thing. Every one will be in front of someone. The teacher will give students a prompt to discuss. To make this fun, the discussions could be timed.

Student Storytelling

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 19:24:05 UTC

Students create a story that connects a concept they are learning to something personal in their lives.

Ask the Winner

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 19:28:21 UTC

Students start off solving a problem independently. The teacher then goes to the board to solve the problem. All of the students who got the problem right (winners) will find a peer who did not get the problem right to help them solve the problem correctly.

Role-playing

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 19:53:23 UTC

Students work in pairs to act out scenarios of different roles the teacher assigns them. This activity helps students practice communication skills.

Bingo Balls of Doom

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:03:03 UTC

The teacher assigns each student a number. The numbers are placed inside of a box. When the teacher pulls the number out of the box, the student has to answer the question.

Pass the Animal

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:07:35 UTC

The teacher asks a student a question. After the student gets an answer correct, they pass the stuffed animal to a peer to answer the next question.

Beachball Bingo

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:09:42 UTC

The teacher will write questions on the beachball. Students will take turns throwing the beachball to a peer. The peer must find a question on the beachball to answer.

The Half Class Lecture

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:16:00 UTC

Divide students into two groups. One group will be given reading materials, while the teacher gives the other group a lecture. Then the groups will switch.

People Search - Strategy Tool Box

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:22:46 UTC

Students walk around the room to find peers who can sign off on the boxes. The boxes could include concepts the students have learned, students' interests, things about the students, and more. This activity helps students practice communication skills.

Quiz Tournament

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:25:29 UTC

The teacher divides the class up into two teams. Before starting the game and after each round, allow the students to study the topic they are being questioned over. The teacher will ask each team a question. The team with the most points wins the tournament.

Jigsaw

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:26:13 UTC

The teacher can divide the class into groups of 4-5 students. Everyone in the groups are experts. Next, the teacher will assign each student a different aspect of the topic or content. Each person (expert) will go to a different group to discuss their shared topic. Every one will return to their original groups to share their portion of information. Lastly, the groups will complete an assessment task together. This activity is great when needing to break up complex concepts or topics.

Taboo Game

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:28:27 UTC

This activity includes a student facing the class with a word written on the board behind them. Although the student who is facing the class cannot see the word, the rest of the students can see it. The rest of the class yells out words or other hints associated with the word. The student facing the class must guess the word.

Station Rotation

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:28:52 UTC

Station rotation is an active learning activity that allows students to rotate to complete different activities. Activities could include a teacher led station, an online station, a hands-on activity, etc. This activity allows students to work on communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills.

Picture Prompt

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:29:31 UTC

The teacher shows students an image. The students will identify or explain the concept(s) or topic(s), and justify it using familiar terminology. Although students will start off doing this activity independently, they will get into groups and share their explanations with their peers.

Fishbowl Discussion

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:30:24 UTC

The teacher will move chairs into two circles. There will be one big circle and a smaller circle in the middle. In the smaller circle, there will be four to five students who will actively discuss a topic. Students in the outer circle will listen and take notes. The teacher should leave an empty chair in the inner circle for a student to join if they need clarification. Students will be rotated after five to seven minutes.

Carousel Brainstorming

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 20:31:45 UTC

The teacher can create 4-6 stations around the room with different questions/prompts, sticky notes, markers, and pencils. Students will be divided equally into groups. Each group starts at a different station. Groups rotate every 3-4 minutes to build on the previous groups' ideas. At the end, the class will come together to discuss.

Links Used

aarianmcgee — 2024-11-16 23:05:16 UTC

https://dcs.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/al-101-booklet.pdf

https://jillspencer.pbworks.com/f/Everyone+is+InvitedNMSA.pdf

https://commons.ucsd.edu/_files/228-Active-Learning-Strategies.pdf