Hi all,
I'm currently teaching WHP Origins, and it's my first year. It's been great, and challenging, and interesting, and . . . all of the things you'd expect from a giant new prep! Origins has a lot of readings. I know that we surely don't have to assign them all, but as "input" methods go, they're great. What I'm looking for is lesson plans that are adaptable to pretty much any reading that bring joy to the classroom *while processing* the reading. I have two that I've come up with so far, and one that I believe I got from Adam Esrig . I'm a little limited because my classroom is *jam packed* with kids and desks, so things that involve a lot of movement are hard--there's just not much room to move around. Here's what I've got so far:
1) 2 True, 2 False: Class does the reading, then pairs of students are assigned specific bold-headed chunks of it to create two true, two false statements. One student stays at the desk, one student travels, and they rotate to quiz each other. This was well received, no special supplies needed. This is pretty short; you can knock out a reading and the activity in one period.
2) Paper Chase: Extra long sheets of paper are useful for this. Class does the reading, students are in pairs, I project a question on the reading, the student pairs answer. Then they pass their sheet to the pair behind them, who do the following: "Add examples or information to the answer, slightly revise or adjust it, (nicely & politely) correct it, add nuance (subtle distinctions) to it, add qualifications to it (where or to whom does it apply?), politely agree or disagree with the opinion, etc.". Then the same pair answers another question I project, and they switch again, do the same thing again. This is good for in-depth processing; depending on the number of questions, can take 1.5 periods 50 minute periods
3) Stations: This i believe I got from Adam Esrig . It was the idea of splitting up chunks of the readings and making them into stations for the students to travel to. This is a little more prep heavy, but really helps break things up. With 50 minute periods, this usually takes 1.5 periods for me.
4) One-pagers: In this strategy, groups of 2-3 students process the reading through more or less creating a poster about it. It can be digital or paper. We're one to one, so digital is often easier. This is often 1.5 periods.
I thought I'd ask the community--what other collaborative ideas or activities do you have that could translate to most readings? I'd LOVE to be able to expand this list!
Carla Geovanis
Madison West High School
