By Matthew Bassett
Part 1 of a 2 part series.
The start of the year is right around the corner or has already started for some of us. Its the yearly trek down expectation lane for every teacher. In the first week of class we always cover our rules/expectations, grading, absence procedures, dress code, non-participation rules and a host of other important things. This information takes time to get across and the most common way to present this information is by lecture.
I’ve always felt that specific types of content are more effectively taught through lecture, while the students are sitting at a desk. The first week of school is a very boring week for students. Every teacher tells their students all about their expectations. I have some students who have fallen asleep during the first week because everyone is lecturing about expectations. A few years ago I decided to try a change based on a professional challenge to find ways to get kids moving. This was a very difficult proposition for me because I was worried that students wouldn’t understand the information as well if I didn’t give them a lecture. As a result, I created two different types of activities for my students to cover expectations.
Option #1: (Team Building Focus)
I take my expectations and create small (paper sized) posters. Each poster lists one of the expectations for class and I also create one poster for each of my grading criteria. Lastly, I count the number of students in my class and cut all of the posters up to match the class size. For myself, I have 34 students in my fifth and sixth grade classes. I take my 8 posters and divide up the posters to have 34 pieces. I make sure that I place the poster pieces in a plastic bag to keep them all in the same location.
Upon entering class and introducing myself on the first day, I give a little story for my students. I tell them that I have made these great looking posters about my expectations, but during the weekend someone came into school and decided to cut the posters up into little pieces. I need help from my students to put them back together. I promptly hand out the puzzle pieces–one for each student. Students then use a classroom to walk around and find where their puzzle piece belong. When all of the puzzles are assembled we stop the activity.
There is another way to use the posters, as well. Students can use them to write down the expectations on a worksheet. They can continue to walk around the room and find the information needed on each puzzle. This option makes the activity an individual activity for each student. To continue to work on the team building/group focus, you can also have students become experts in their “field” (or experts on their poster). You can perform a jigsaw teaching program by having one person at each poster match up with someone from all the other posters. The students use their expertise to teach their new teams their piece of the information. Students learn from each other. The key is that students are learning the materials, but you don’t have to lecture them about the process.
I’ve done this activity with first graders through seventh graders. I’ve modified the activity for the younger students by printing each poster on a different color of paper. This allows them to find their poster quickly and not walk around aimlessly for the whole period. For the older students, I have printed the posters on the same color paper. This makes the activity a lot harder and more complicated. They really have to focus on the poster and match up words and pictures. I typically try to use a different cutting pattern for each poster. One poster I will make round cuts while another poster will be straight. I might also use more square pieces in one poster and diamonds in another, the difference being the direction of the text and pictures compared to the cuts. I usually spend a little time before letting students start by asking the students how they could tell the differences in the posters. This gives some clues on how to find your poster among the numerous pieces.
Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the series.
m Option #2 (Movement Oriented Activity)