Marvellous Monday 30.6.14

I attended a conference on Teaching and Learning on Friday 27th June which looked at changes to curriculum and assessment. The middle session of the day however was simply about fun and engaging teaching techniques which help youngsters 'get it' and become 'hooked'! Some of these were familiar and it was good to be reminded of them and some were brand new. It was brilliant to share these and I hope they can be of use in your subject area;

1) Freeze frame. Get students into groups and give them five minutes to form a freeze frame showing either a part of a story, a stage in an experiment etc. To assess their progress pick on each individual and get them to explain what they are feeling/what they are doing and more importantly - why!
2) Verbal Boxing - Ban all normal hands up/hands down rules and select the two most opinionated students to have a discussion at the start of the lesson. Hopefully they will inspire the rest of the class.
3) Hot seat. Prepare an information sheet on a key character or two. At the start of lesson (or as HW) give a student (or two) these role sheets to read. Meanwhile have a planned starter for the rest of the class. Invite the students back into the lesson and get the class to question them. Hats and props really help. The teacher can take on the character role if that is more appropriate.
4) Use PPT or your interactive whiteboard to set up a picture reveal. Expose parts of the picture at staged times asking students what they think it is and why?
5) Mystery object. This can be an object in a sealed box with just a hole to put a hand in or even an object under a piece of material. Can the youngsters guess what it is and how it links to the lesson?
6) Picture on the wall. Have a picture on the wall outside the classroom. In teams students must re-create it. However only one student is allowed out of the room at a time to look. They must develop team work and observation skills. Great if analysing images is important in your exam.
7) PE idea! Give every student a green sash. As they become more confident in the skills they are learning they should go to the side and swap it for an amber and then a red to show they are 'hot' at this topic/skill. They can then become the student leaders. Great for showing progress.
8) Music at the start of a lesson. Can students link it to the topic being studied?
9) Props!! For example placing glitter in a water bottle and swishing it is a great way to demonstrate a tornado or use lego to show population pyramids.
10) Mini whiteboards - all students then reflect on the learning.

I shall be trying 6 and 10 in my lesson this week. I hope some of these are of use to you too!