For my December assignment, I chose to create a new review game. Jeopardy, Trashketball, and the oh-so popular Kahoot get old sometimes, so I chose to try and figure out something new. I chose to do a rendition of Family Feud. I split my class into 2 teams and let them pick a "Family Name." They then had to set an order for their team that they would follow when it was time to come up and compete. Family Feud worked as a basic 1-on-1 style competition. Students came up and were given a question to answer. They then had to Buzz In on the buzzers and whomever buzzed first would get to answer. If they were right, they got a point. If they were wrong, the other student had a chance to answer. If neither student was correct or failed to buzz in, I allowed them to go talk over the question with their group before I called them back to answer again, having to buzz in as before. I found the kids to be super engaged with the game. It got them moving around the class and forced them think of the material instead of hiding behind their teammates as some do in Jeopardy. All in all, I think it was a successful game.
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November's homework was to include techniques that increase engagement in class and that increase academic rigor for students. One way that I tried to increase student engagement was to get my students up and moving and thinking. One way I tried to accomplish this was to incorporate stations into one of my lessons. When comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the Civil War, it can sometimes get a little mundane and boring so I like to do my stations activity as a way to keep kids involved and interested. At each station they had to read a few sentences and them summarize how it applied to the war. This activity also added a touch of rigor, as some of the statements involved connect to larger themes we have discussed in class.
For my rigor assignment I chose to have my students write an essay as part of their test on the Civil War about either the legacy of the war today or about reasons behind the fighting. Both essay prompts force the students to think about the issue and connect them with things they may have learned about in my class or other classes, as well as what they see every day. I felt that the essays both get the students to think at that Level 4 thinking of "What do you believe ...?" It also hits on "What is your opinion/perspective/thoughts?" As part of October's iInspire assignment, I was responsible for planning a lesson for class. The lesson I chose to plan was my Fishbone Activity for learning about the Articles of Confederation. The Articles were unsuccessful in establishing strong United States government and as such, the fish is a dead one. The students are responsible for finding out what makes up the parts of the fish and why it is dead, or why the Articles were unsuccessful.
The lesson started with a brief review of the major point of the previous unit: America's independence. I then asked students, "What Next?" And after discussing ideas of what the next step might be, they landed on the need for creating a new government. I next introduced "Art," our fish, and tell them that Art has died and it's their job to find out how. They then drew their own Art in their notes. I had students read to try and fill out Art's parts on their own, using documents I provided them. I walked around the room to keep kids on task and to answer questions they had. Then, when most of the class was done, I called them together and we went over the parts together. I called individual kids up randomly and they began filling in the parts of Art. When they were incorrect, I fixed their answers and the students made sure they had the correct parts in their notes. At the end, I asked what we do with a dead fish. Some said we eat it and others said we throw it out. I told them that the US government agreed and decided to throw out the Articles to find a new government. Using that as a introduction, I led them into their next project about the Constitutional Convention. |