ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS ACTIVITIES
Think-Pair-Share
Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative learning strategy that can promote and support higher-level thinking. The teacher asks students to think about a specific topic, then pair with another student to discuss their thinking and, after that, share their ideas with the group.
-From the online teaching resource: Eworkshop
-From the online teaching resource: Eworkshop
Cloze Activity
Cloze procedure is a technique in which words are deleted from a passage according to a word-count formula or various other criteria. The passage is presented to students, who insert words as they read to complete and construct meaning from the text. This procedure can be used as a diagnostic reading assessment technique.
- From the online resource: Instructional Strategies
- From the online resource: Instructional Strategies
Poetry Strips
When introducing a poem, cut up each line into individual strips. Have students take one/two strips and consult with as many classmates as possible to construct meaning. After discussions, have students share what they think the poem is about. This sets the context for the poem and also enables formative assessment for teachers.
Character Cubing
When engaging in character analysis, provide students with a cube template in which they will write down important information on each face. This activity is valuable for tactile learners and serves as a creative formative assessment. When students complete their cubes, they can share their products with peers to add any other information they have missed.
In my novel study unit, students had to character cube the protagonists Chad and Jill. I numbered each face 1-6 and had students complete the following: 1 = Write down places that are meaningful to Chad 2 = Write down important personality traits 3 = Write down his interests 4 = Write down other people related or associated with him 5 = Write down his personal conflicts or problems 6 = Character's name/nicknames |
Dice Discussion
For student engagement and participation in group discussions, provide a dice on each table. Let students know that each of them will roll the dice and answer a corresponding question according to the number they rolled. For example: Roll a 1 = Why does Chad describe Jill as 'carefree' and 'unpredictable'?
This activity enables all students to contribute in group discussions, rather than have one or two members dominate the conversation. Teachers can easily walk around the classroom to observe and formatively assess throughout the activity. |
Sticky Note Exit Slip
As a closure activity, have students respond to a key question at the end of class on a sticky note and stick it to the whiteboard on their way out. This is a simple but effective formative assessment and attention grabber for the next lesson. I used this exit slip activity in ELA 20-1 after discussing the short story, The Lottery Ticket by Anton Chekhov. I asked students to respond to the question: What are 2 concerns or problems associated with winning the lottery?
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Conflict Mapping
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Conflict Mapping enables students to not only retell the plot of a narrative but also explore different perspectives to find resolutions and reasons for the conflict. This activity works very will with character analysis activities such as character cubing above. As students consider a character's personal conflicts or problems in a narrative, they can deepen their understanding of such conflict by mapping out the information with this document from readwritethink.org.
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Fakebook Profiles
To demonstrate their understanding of characters in the novel, students in ELA 10-2 are creating online/offline fakebook profiles that highlight significant character information such as where they are from, likes/dislikes, age, etc. Students are also creating "status updates" that retell the plot of the story or showcase the character's personality traits and attitudes. Relationships between characters in the novel are shown in the "fakebook friends" area or by having specific characters like or comment on particular status updates by the protagonists.
This activity is valuable for students to explore different perspectives in the novel and engage with ICT outcomes. For students who do not feel comfortable using the online program, hard copy templates or "Offline fakebook profiles" are available. As a culminating activity, teachers can use this as formative assessment and ultimately utilize the final versions as summative assessment, which is what I intend to do with the ELA 10-2 Class. |
Logbooks
In the ELA 10-2 novel study unit, each student is provided with a logbook where they write down responses to key questions posed in class. The logbook serves as a formative assessment tool not only for teachers but also for the students themselves since the information they collect will help them in their final projects. Students submit their logbooks to me every Friday- I read/view students' responses, writing, visual representations, etc. and provide feedback, comments, and suggestions.
This culminating activity of logbook writing enables students to be reflective of their learning throughout the unit and relate the text to prior knowledge and personal experiences. |