Gallery Walk
The Gallery Walk activity is a strategy in which students are to walk
around their classroom and examine various posters, pictures, or
documents that have been placed on the walls. Students will move
throughout the classroom to explore the various stations, analyzing and
engaging in discussion with their fellow classmates. This activity resembles
walking through a gallery at an art museum, and is an engaging and
interesting way to get students up and moving around the classroom to
familiarize themselves with the material at hand.
One of the many ways in which I could utilize this in my C&I lesson plan is
to divide the students into small groups, and have them analyze
photographs of different rocks from the Frank Slide location as an
introduction to our lesson on Rocks and Minerals. I would put up
different examples of the types of rocks that can be found at the Frank
Slide, and have the students do a Gallery Walk around the room to
examine the pictures. While the students are doing this activity, I will ask
them to make a mental note of the rocks various features, such as shape,
size, color, and luster. Once the gallery walk has concluded, I would have
them gather back in their table groups to discuss some of the interesting
aspects of the rocks they examined with their classmates.
Jigsaw
The Jigsaw activity is a strategy that allows students to break down and
disperse large assignments or tasks amongst their classmates. The task is
broken down into sections for small groups of students to complete. Once
they have completed their section of the task, the students will regroup to
share their findings with one another. This allows the students to gather
and break down information far more quickly and efficiently by becoming
experts on their own section, and teaching it to others. The students act
as individual pieces of a puzzle, and by completing their task, they are able
to come together as a large group to complete the big picture, hence the
name Jigsaw.
One of the aspects we are exploring
within our C&I lesson plan is the five
main elements of a story. A possible
classroom application for the Jigsaw
Strategy would be to use it for breaking
down the down the five main elements
of a story, and applying it to the novel
we read, All Fall Down. The students will
be placed into small groups using a Random Team Generator, in which
they will be assigned one of the five main elements. I will tell the students
this will be the ‘home’ group that they will come back. Ask students in
each group to number themselves from 1 to 5. These will be their expert
groups where they will focus on a specific element of the story to bring
back to their home group. 1’s focus on Characters, 2’s focus on Setting, 3’s
focus on Plot, 4’s focus on Conflict(s) and 5’s focus on Resolution. They are
to record their specific findings on a worksheet, which they will be able to
fill in as each expert group teaches their element.
KWL Charts
The KWL chart is a graphic organizer strategy that helps students organize
their learning and understanding of new material. The KWL chart is
divided into three sections titled, “What I Know”, “What I Want to Know”,
and “What I Have Learned”. Students are to fill in the first two sections of
the chart before the lesson begins, allowing them to brainstorm their
prior knowledge of the subject. After the lesson has been completed,
students will go back and fill in the final section of the charts. This creates
a visual representation of the learning that has taken place throughout
the lesson; where they began with the material, and what they have
learned.
There are a plethora of
different ways to
incorporate KWL charts
into a lesson plan activity.
For example, in my lesson
plan for my C&I assignment, I could create a KWL chart in which students
are to reflect on their knowledge of the events that took place at Franks
Slide in 1903. As an introduction to the lesson, I may use a KWL chart to
allow students to recall what they already know, or what they want to
know, about Frank Slide. I will ask the students to work with their table
groups to fill in the first two sections of their KWL charts, recalling what
they know, and what they want to know about the event. This will
introduce them to the lesson, while requiring them to recall some of the
details they already know about the subject. After the lesson has come to
a close, the students can fill in the final section, assimilating and
accommodating the new knowledge they learned from the material
taught in class.
Fist to Five
The Fist to Five strategy is used to assess student understanding of a
concept or idea. They provide a rating of their comprehension on a scale
of zero to five, by raising the number of fingers that reflects how confident
they are in their understanding of the material. A full fist, or a one, would
indicate that the student is unclear on the material and is in the need of
clarification. Whereas, a four or five would indicate that the student is
confident in their understanding of the materials. This will give me the
opportunity to assess where each student is at, and provide extra help
and clarification where it is needed.
The Fist to Five strategy could be implemented into a lesson plan in a
multitude of ways. It could be used to check for student understanding
after the introduction of a new topic, or after delivering instructions for an
assignment to ensure the students know what is expected of them. In my
C&I lesson plan, I would implement this strategy to assess the students
understanding of the instructions I provided for the Jigsaw portion of the
lesson. After administering the instructions to the students, I would ask
them to rate their understanding of the task at hand on a scale from zero
to five. This will allow me to ensure that I have delivered the assignment
clearly and effectively, and that the students fully understanding what is
expected of them within the task. If students are primarily giving me fours
and fives, it is safe to say that we can begin the task. However, if students
are showing me ones and twos, I would go over the instructions with
them once again to provide extra clarification.
Exit Slip
The Exit Slip activity is a strategy that can be delivered towards the end of
the lesson to assess your students understanding of the material
delivered within the lesson. The teacher provides the students with one
or two questions at the end of class regarding what they learned, or any
remaining questions they may have. The students are to fill out a written
responses on the piece of paper, or “Exit Slip”, provided to them for the
teacher to collect at the door as they leave at the end of class. For
example, you could ask the students to answer one new thing they have
learned in today’s lesson, and one question they still have about it.
The Exit Slip activity is a great
strategy to assess students
understanding following a
lesson. The questions can be
manipulated to address
specific areas that you want to check for understanding in. In my C&I
lesson plan, I would apply this strategy to the end of my novel study
lesson plan that analyzes the five main elements of a story. The students
would answer the following question for their Exit Slip, “Which element of
a story that we covered today is your favorite, and which element do you
need more clarification on?” This will provide me with a sense of which
elements strongly resonate with the students, and which ones may
require more review and clarification for next class.
Book Talks
Book Talks are a literacy strategy that can be implemented in a classroom
in which students are asked to present a novel of their choice to their
classmates. For this presentation, they should try to inform and captivate
their audience including tactics such as reading passages, providing
information on authors and illustrators, or using multimedia components.
The Book Talk should provide the audience with a brief introduction and
overview of the novel without giving away the ending. The ultimate goal
of this activity is to find an interesting and engaging way to sell the book to
your audience. Book talks allow students to become experts on their
given novels, enhancing their ability to demonstrate their understanding
of a different types of literature.
Using Book Talk activities in the
classroom is an excellent way to engage
students in their reading. For my C&I
unit plan, I am doing a cross curricular
Science and English unit focusing on
Frank Slide. I have chosen to use the
book Dear Canada: All Fall Down: The
Landslide Diary of Abby Roberts as my novel of choice. For my lesson plan,
I could have an activity in which students are to present a book talk on the
novel we studied in class. I would have the students pretend that they are
selling this book to a publisher, so ultimately, their book talk must
convince the publisher to sign the book. Using the same techniques
highlighted in the book talk description, I would have the students discuss
the various interesting and engaging aspects of the novel and author, as
well as a brief overview of the events as well. This activity would require
the students to become experts on the novel, further solidifying their
understanding of it overall.
References:
Tompkins, Gail E. (2012). 50 Literacy Strategies: Step by Step (4th ed). https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&c
Boston: Pearson. d=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjogp7h14DXAhVF5YMKHWCGA
w0QjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dreamstime.com%2Fstock-
illustration-cartoon-book-talking-illustration-
Book Talk: Pages 15-17 image47816019&psig=AOvVaw0wE5Qf1-
Gallery Walks: Pages 40-41 3i1kPBVNEMTg5j&ust=1508639126013721
KWL Charts: 60-63

Picture References:
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6BdEQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hollyclark.org%2F2017%2F
06%2F18%2Fseesaw-the-making-thinking-visible-
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d=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiBtZvFkYDXAhUFsFQKHUP0Ac0Qj
RwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmrsjrees.weebly.com%2Fas-blog-2013-
2014%2Fcold-war-gallery-
walk&psig=AOvVaw3AHumTeXiMG9UWLe8Vw7IU&ust=1508621051
520756

https://lh6.ggpht.com/m75a1vOOQsbQ3iwQzrHRVY9zhliIcZbXcPhIZC
pcJAQmHLH5u4GVV9mq8RdZZvueJMr8=w300
https://jewilson01.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/setonglo-luminous-
exit-and-path-marker-signs-21408-ba.gif