Fun and Engaging Activities

1
Fun and Engaging Activities

• Pat Todd
• TN Dept of Ed

2
Fun and Engaging

• Take a clean sheet of paper
• When time is called, start writing on an
  experience you have that during the Reading
  Conference
• When time is called, stop writing and pass your
  paper to the person on your right
• When time is called, read what the first person
  wrote
• When time is called, start writing to add to the
  story the first person started

3
Fun and Engaging

• When time is called, stop writing and pass your
  paper to the person on your right
• When time is called, read what is written on the
  paper
• When time is called, start writing to add to the
  story the first and second person started
• Return the paper to the first writer

4
WRWrite Read

• You just completed a WR
• It took 0 planning time or prep time
• It took approximately 6 minutes
• All of you were engaged
• Did you learn something?
• Was it fun?

5
Extra Scaffolds

• Write and Read (WR)
• 1. Writing
• Encourages students to think and write
• Allows students to learn from others
• Keeps all students engaged
• Helps students value teamwork and respect for
  others opinions

6
Purpose of this Session

• Provide you ways that are fun and effective in
  encouraging students to enjoy learning
• Help you teach literacy skills using your content
  and without taking your time planning

7
Forming Groups

• Teacher formed Magical Computer
• Good reader
• Poor reader
• Successful student
• Struggling student
• Analytical mind
• Party animal
• Get the job done mind

8
Team Rule

• Teamwork begins once every member has something
  in their hand to bring to the table.

9
Directed Reading ThinkingWhat-I-Know Sheets

• Allows students to use their curiosity
• Helps students learn new information and make
  connections with prior knowledge
• Helps students draw conclusions
• Increases higher-order thinking skills

10
What-I-Know Sheets How it Works

• Teacher reviews the text.
• Student works individually to complete a What I
  Know Sheet.
• Students move to a group to discuss what each
  have written on their sheet.
• Either the teacher or students read a short
  portion of text and students combine answers
• The teacher leads discussion of answers and
  questions the groups raise

11
What I Know
12
Extra Scaffolds

• What I Know Sheets
• Disadvantaged Readers
• Allow books open during the What I Know Sheet
  activity
• Reading aloud to the students
• Modeling the thinking required to make
  inferential answers

13
3-2-1

• Reviews subject matter
• Keeps students engaged in learning, bell to bell
• Provides what students have learned and what they
  have questions about
• Provides for opening class discussion or
  reviewing what was learned

14
3-2-1How It Works

• On a clean sheet of paper, students draw three
  lines dividing the paper into three equal part.
• Write 3, 2, and 1 at the top of the sections
• On the first section (3) write Three Things I
  Learned Today
• On the second section (2) write Two Things I
  was Surprised to Learn
• On the third section (1) write One thing I Have
  a Question About

15
3-2-1How It Works

• Teacher collects the 3-2-1 sheets and scans them
  for understanding
• Column 1 should be used for class discussion on
  what the students have questions about

16
Extra Scaffolds

• 3-2-1
• Reading aloud those things students learned
• and those things they were surprised to learn
• Provides for review and repetitive actions
• Keeps students engaged in learning

17
Anticipation Guide

• Uses prediction for engaging reading
• Opens new materials with a class activity
• Allows teacher to know how the student thinks on
  a subject
• Teaches students to value their personal opinions
  on a particular subject
• www.maxteaching.com

18
Anticipation GuideHow It Works

• Teacher develops a guide of 5 to 10 statements
  that guide students to the key concepts of new
  material/text
• Students mark the statement they believe to be
  valid based on their prior knowledge
• Encourages students to think and interpret large
  segments of text

19
Anticipation GuideHow It Works

• Students break into groups and discuss their
  answers first with the books closed
• Students begin silently reading or teacher reads
  aloud keeping the anticipation guide on the desk
  to verify or change their answers
• Students document their answers by placing the
  page s, paragraph s and sentence s to valid
  their answers

20
Anticipation GuideHow It Works

• Consensus is made in each group.
• Begin working on consensus with the entire class.
  
• Take the opportunities posed to reference the
  skill of predicting

21
Extra Scaffolds

• Anticipation Guides
• Low performing Students
• Read aloud the anticipation guide statements to
  the students
• Pause at each one to facilitate a discussion of
  each of the statements and its relative merit.

22
Extra Scaffolds

• Anticipation Guides
• 2. Teacher reads out loud to the students from
  the text.
• Pause after reading 6 or 7 paragraphs and ask
  students if they can prove or disprove, at this
  time, any of the statements on the anticipation
  guide.
• Students explain where they found the information
  in the text.
• Students must read the citation aloud or
  summarize in their own words in an attempt to
  convince the others in the class to their way of
  thinking.
• Note If the read a loud is used, wean the
  students as
• soon as possible to encourage them to read
  silently and
• to construct personal meaning from text.

23
Stump the Teacher

• Previews subject matter
• Reviews subject matter
• Motivates students
• Rewards students

24
Stump the TeacherHow it Works

• All students read the text silently, (one or two
  pages) or
• Teacher reads the text to the students as they
  follow along silently, (one or two pages)
• Teacher closes his/her book and sets a timer for
  questioning
• Students pose questions that the teacher might
  not be able to answer correctly

25
Stump the TeacherHow it Works

• When timer goes off, students close their books
  and the teacher begins to pose questions to them
• No penalty for wrong answers only positive
  rewards for contributing to a correct answer
  (usually 1 bonus point to the responding student)
  
• Note it is easy to contribute some small part of
  a more complex answer and many students will
  usually contribute something to the answer

26
Stump the TeacherHow it Works

• QUESTION MARK
• BOOKMARK FOR QUALITY
• CROSS-EXAMINATION
• QUESTIONING

27
Question Mark Cross Examination

• Knowledge Identification and recall of
  information Who, what, when,
• where, how
• Describe __________.
• Comprehension Organization and selection of
  facts and ideas
• Retell in your own words.
• What is the main idea of __________?
• Application Use of facts, rules, principles,
  and demonstrates
• How is ____ an example of _________?
• How is ____ related to _____________?
• Why is _____significant?
• Explain the _____ process.
• Analysis Separation of a whole into component
  parts
• What are the parts or features of ____?
• Classify ____ according to _____.
• Outline/diagram/web _______.
• How does __ compare/contrast with __?

28
Question Mark-Cross Examination

• Synthesis Combination of ideas to form a new
  whole
• What would you predict or infer from __?
• What ideas can you add to ____?
• How would you create/design a new __________?
• What might happen if you combined _____ with
  ____________?
• What solutions would you suggest for _________?
• Troubleshoot ______________.
• Evaluation Development of opinions, judgments,
  or decisions
• Do you agree _________________?
• What do you think about ____________________?
• What is the most important __________________?
• Prioritize ________________________________?
• How would you decide about ________________?
• What criteria would you use to assess _________?

29
Extra Scaffolds

• Stump the Teacher
• Assist low performing readers with the task of
  constructing meaning from the text
• Read aloud to the students while they read along
  silently.
• Allow students to immediately reprocess the text
  silently while the teachers book is closed.

30
Reward Students

• Award bonus points (usually 5) on the next test
  if a student asks a question that you are not
  able to answer correctly.
• Let the student win some!!
• It is a great confidence builder!

31
Focused Free Writes

• Finds out what the student knows
• Reviews subject material
• Uses time just before the bell rings

32
Focused Free WritesHow it Works

• Students take out a clean piece of paper
• The writing assignment is on the material or
  project covered during the class period
• Teacher sets a timer (starting with 30 seconds
  and building up to 4 minutes)
• Students begin writing and cannot stop until the
  timer rings
• Note If the student cannot think of anything to
  write they simply re-write the last statement
  they wrote until another thought comes to their
  mind.

33
Focused Free WritesHow it Works

• Teacher collects all the free writes and scans
  them for understanding
• Focus Free Writes should not be graded
• Teacher may use information gathered on the
  Focused Free Writes to develop the opening for
  the next class meeting

34
Extra Scaffolds

• Focused Free Writes
• Vocabulary Terms
• List vocabulary terms on board before writing a
  free write.
• Instruct the student to use as many of these key
  terms correctly as they can.

35
The Purpose of Activities

• Involves students in their own learning
• Provides engaging activities that are fun
• Let the students sense of humor arise
• Extends learning beyond the text
• Reinforces learning
• Enhances team building skills

36
Helps Students Learn New Subject MatterKeeping
Students Engaged
37
Follow-up

• Use at least one strategy per week
• Add additional strategies to encourage students
• Help students feel involved and a part of the
  class
• Keep instruction up-beat and positive

38

• http//www.maxteaching.com
• http//www.mavcc.org

39
Are You Engaged?
40
Thank You

• Pat Todd
• TN Dept of Ed
• Pat.Todd_at_state.tn.us