Graffiti Boards : Communication Strategy
Students are either shown an image, view a video, hear a speech, or read a powerful story and respond to it. In this activity, the students go to a large blank space—provided by the teacher—and are to write their responses in silence. Also, students should look over other students’ responses and should draw lines to the comments that connect to their comment. The goal is to get students to really tap into their emotions rather than looking at something from an analytical or intellectual perspective. After all students have participated, students should look at all of the comments and discuss with the whole class what they notice about the areas of agreement and disagreement.
Virtual Posters : Presentation Strategy
Students add images, videos, music, and text to create a virtual presentation. Virtual posters are an alternative to traditional posters and prepare students for the 21st century. The students will design and share their posters digitally and will become familiar with effective use of digital media.
Save the Last Word for Me : Communication Strategy
Students are given an index card and are assigned to read an assigned text. As they read, students should highlight three sentences that stand out to them and write them on the front of the index card. On the back of the index card, the student writes why they chose the quote (what it reminded them of, what it meant to them, etc. Students then get into groups of three and are labeled as either A, B, or C. Student A speaks first and talks about what sentences they chose. Students B and C then respond and discuss the quote. After they have discussed, student A refers to the back of their card and speaks about why they chose it. The process is continued until both B and C have eventually “had the last word”. This can also be done with a series of images. Students select three images out of the variety of images shown and write on the back of the card why they chose that particular card.
Ranking : Organization Strategy
Students organize a list in order of what they feel is the most important to what they feel was the least important. Students use the ranking tool to prioritize, but it should be more than just a straightforward lists. Students will use the visual ranking tool to assign a ranking for a list and will also need to analyze and evaluate why they chose that particular ranking for the list. Students will be able to compare their work with others and the tool can help to organize debates and discussion.
Stimulation and Interactives : Interaction Strategies
Students go online and interact with the content doing different activities. These stimulations have many various categories that allow students to have a better sense of understanding of the content. The topics vary from geography, world history, ancient civilizations, current events, wars, civics, and the Constitution.
Living Images : Collection Strategy
Students work in groups of 4-6 and are given a set of 4-6 pictures which they will “bring to life”. Students will look at the pictures in their groups and one by one will answer questions about the picture (which will be provided by the teacher). After answering the questions, students will create a living image which allows them to recreate the scene in real life. Students should think of themselves as actors who are supposed to portray the image (should include facial gestures, physical positions, etc.). There should be a director for each image that coordinates the scene and a freeze frame where the actors hold the position for at least 10 seconds. All images should be re-created and there should be transitions in-between different images. After practice, students present their living images to the class.
Found Poems : Communication Strategy
Students will review any texts related to the unit of study (including work on the walls of the classrooms, journal entries, primary sources, and the textbook) and will identify between 15 and 20 words or phrases that they found particularly interesting or meaningful. The students then need to determine an overall theme of their selections. They then can review additional materials that can add more language for their poem. After they have all the language they need, students arrange the language to form a poem. Students can write words or phrases on slips of paper so that it is easier to arrange them. Students will then share their poems with their peers.
Graphic Organizers : Organizational Strategy
Graphic organizers are used to help students organize the content into ways that help them to better learn the content. They allow the students to see relationships between different terms, facts, ideas, etc. and to get an idea of what the main ideas are that they are supposed to focus on. They can be created in many different ways for many different topics. Being organized, the students are better able to comprehend material and support a diverse learning community which includes English learners, striving readers, and students with special needs.