Diagnostic: Rumor Has It Students fill out a T/F diagnostic chart relating to common misconceptions and errors that people have about viruses and diseases. Students are asked to explain their answer in the next column (see photos). Sample Statements -
Learning Activity: Viral Transmission POE
Debrief Questions: Why might there have been different shades of pink? What kinds of properties do pathogens have that allow them to infect you so quickly? What preventative measures can you take to keep pathogens at bay? Suggested Modifications: Assign a certain proportion of students as "mosquitoes" to track the spread of malaria among humans. "Mosquitoes" use pipettes to exchange liquids with humans. Video: Flu Attack! How A Virus Invades Your Body A fun and quirky video about viral invasion. Note that no scientific terms are actually used in the video, so it is important to go back at the end of the unit and address any misconceptions that the video may perpetuate about viruses. Research Project: Ebola Outbreak Action Plan
Complete lesson guide available on PBS. Students pick one aspect of the epidemiological triangle to focus on and research in order to come up with a strategic action plan to deal with the ebola outbreak. What I learned: I liked that the group who presented this workshop broke down the action plan into manageable steps. They created a student handout in chart format with categories titled "the problem," "action to implement," "what is the expected outcome," and "what evidence supports this." The action plan can easily be turned into a summative assignment, and students can be given to research a disease of their choice. If students pick a disease that has already been eradicated, alternative considerations to make include the historical context which the disease occurred, the treatment, preventative measures, and current status of the disease.
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Method: Print out pictures of objects or scenery related to the unit students are learning. Cut the pictures up into the number of pieces that correspond to the number of groupings you wish to have. Include the photo of the completed puzzle on the tables ahead of time so students will know where to sit once they have identified their group members.
Other ways this can be used in the classroom: Instead of putting the picture of the completed puzzle on the tables, you can instead put the name of the object. This can be useful in the beginning of the unit as as a diagnostic for determining what students already know. For instance, at the start of the electricity unit, I may have distribute puzzle pieces that correspond to pictures of alligator clips, voltmeters, copper wires...etc. to the students, place the corresponding terms on the table groups. Right away, students will be able to learn what the different components of a circuit looks like before even building one. You may also adapt this method by giving students complete pictures of items that relate to the terms on the tables (ex. for "circulatory system" distribute pictures of red blood cells, the heart, platelets...etc. to the students) and form groups that way. The possibilities are endless! Last week's student-led workshop was presented by a group of students in our biology curriculum class. Their workshop was focused on the grade 9 electricity unit. Here, I have described each of the activities in detail, made note of possible debrief/scaffolding questions you can ask students, and some of my annotations on how the activities can be improved. Focus Question: "How do we prevent an electrical shock?" Introduction: Give one blank sheet of paper to each group of four. Get students to draw a light-bulb on the center of their page. Assign one student as the "recorder" and ask the group to brainstorm words or phrases that come to mind when they think of the word "electricity." Learning Activity: Turn the Light On! Materials: -wires (stripped at both ends) -Christmas lights -AA batteries -electrical tape PART A- Teacher Instructions: Ask one student in the group to collect 1 wire, 1 AA battery, 1 Christmas light, and electrical tape. The students' task is simply to "turn the light on." Debrief Questions: What components do we need to create a circuit? (load, wires, power source) PART B- Teacher Instructions: Now ask one student in each group to get one extra wire and one additional light bulb for their group. Instruct students to try and turn both lights on using different wiring strategies. Have students draw each of the circuits they create in their notebooks. Go around and assist students as they go through the activity. Ideally, you should have students building both parallel and series circuits. Designate one or two people to draw the two types of circuits on the board. Debrief Questions: Explain to the students that they have just built series and parallel circuits. What observations can you make about each type of circuit? Which one do you think is series and which is parallel? Why? Follow-up: Proceed by showing students a string of Christmas lights. Ask them to predict what they think will happen when one light bulb is removed from the middle. Record students' predictions on the board, and host a secret vote of science to determine the most popular choice. (Extension: ask students to explain their choices, e.g. "Why might something think the lights will get brighter? Dimmer? ...etc.). Turn off the lights for dramatic effect. Pull one bulb out of the string of lights and the lights all go out. Ask students to see if they can figure out whether the Christmas lights were wired in series or parallel. See if they can use the materials they have and the diagrams on the board to figure this out! Learning Activity: Electrical Quiz Board
Materials: (per board) - 1 Poster board - 1 AA battery - Electrical tape - 10 Brass fasteners - 5 small electrical wires - 2 long electrical wires - Markers PART A- Teacher Instructions: Tell the class that you will be making an electrical quiz board to review the electricity terms of the semester. Students can pick 5 terms from a given list of terms, and they will be asked to go into their textbooks to look up the definition, and then write it down in their own words. These terms and definitions will be used in their quiz board. (Extension: give students a graphic organizer with three columns, with the terms on the first column, the textbook definition on the second column, and the paraphrased definition in the third column.) PART B- Student Instructions:
How this can be used in the classroom: Often times students will work in groups and some may feel that the workload was not evenly distributed. Instead of asking students to explain this in words, ask them to draw a circle, and visually show using a pie graph, how much each person on the team contributed. They may also jot down tasks that each member completed as a part of the assignment.
Asking Students to Give Feedback: Prior to asking students to evaluate their peers for a group presentation, it is important to scaffold this process by providing students with strategies on providing good feedback. You may choose to simply give students a list of strategies to be mindful of (use inclusive language, don't present accusatory statements...etc.), or you may break up students into groups for a brainstorming session. (Example: You may ask students to brainstorm on chart paper what constructive feedback Looks Like, Sounds Like, and Feels Like). The second method works well because you are engaging students when creating the "success criteria" for a good presentation, and that way all students can take ownership of the evaluation process. Some tips from my classmates: When asking questions about overall impressions of the workshop, present the "Yes/No" answers on a spectrum. Were facilitators prepared? YES ____X_________________NO Was there a clear structure? YES ______________X_______NO Were the written and verbal instructions useful? YES ____X_________________NO Did the learning activities support your learning? YES X_____________________NO When providing individual comments for each group member, instead of using "Start/Stop/Continue," which may sound harsh, we can ask students to use this alternative format: TRY: Describe something in the presentation that the facilitator can work on next time (e.g. pace, body language, volume...etc.) EX. Next time, try to make more eye contact to students sitting in the back of the room. CONTINUE: Describe aspects of the facilitator's role in the presentation that worked well. EX. Anne did a good job paraphrasing student's responses during the question and answer period. Pick a card, any card! For this grouping method, all you need are cue cards. How this can be used in the classroom: This method provides an easy way to mix up the group pairings for a collaborative project or assignment. Works especially well if students tend to clump in certain geographical areas of the classroom. Method: How this can be used in the classroom: This method of grouping is ideal for group projects require students to work collaboratively on a topic of their choice. This is a semi-anonymous grouping strategy to ensure that students are all working on a topic they enjoy with classmates that are also interested in the topic instead of always working in the same groups. Method:
Explore other fun uses of sticky notes in the classroom on Pintrest. Objective: In 10 minutes, build the tallest newspaper structure possible using the materials given.
Materials Needed: 1. Two sheets of newspaper 2. One metre of masking tape 3. Scissors How this can be used in the classroom: For activities like this one, some teachers will argue that there is no time to engage students in these types of activities because there is often no explicit link to curriculum content. Of course, others are more creative and can find ways to use team building exercises such as this one as analogies for concepts to be learned in class. I argue that there is inherent value to these exercise themselves. When teachers teach only subject matter, we fall into what Paulo Freire calls "the banking model of education," in which we treat student minds as empty containers which to deposit information. However, when teachers shift their focus to teaching students, we acknowledge them as individuals that need to be taught essential skills such as teamwork, cooperation, communication, and problem solving. |
A Note from the Author
This blog documents some of the things I learned while I was in teacher's college at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario back in 2015. Many of the ideas presented here are taken from my classes, professors, and fellow students. I do not take personal credit for the work presented here. Categories
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