Sunday, October 2, 2011
Active Engagement
During the school day I have 2 blocks, where I have students two periods in a row. The first period I teach reading and then second I teach language arts. I always seem to struggle with students being engaged in the second hour that I have them. I am not sure if it is because they are less excited about writing, or if it is because we do both reader's workshop and writer's workshop and the formats are very similar, so essentially it is like doing the same routine for both class periods. My goal is to get the students to remain actively engaged in the language arts part of the block. Currently they sit in the same seats for both classes, so I am thinking about having them in different seats for language arts as a way to meet other classmates and mix it up from reading class. We also do a lot of turn and talks and think, pair, shares in both classes, and again by language arts I think the students get tired of it. Anybody have any other ideas to spice up routines and increase engagement?
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I think it is a great idea to trade seats that second half of class. Have you ever considered taking five mintes before the next class to do some kind of game or community builder with the class? It might be a nice little break between the classes for the student to stretch and switch gears to your LA Block. I know that it might be a bit more challenging with older students, but it is worth a try! I think it sounds like they are very engaged otherwise. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely have them move around! I would suggest maybe having "clock" partners for one class and maybe even another set of partners for the next class. That way each day/week/etc they are moving and working with a variety of students:)
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