Chalk talk

A discussion carried out, in silence, through writing. The teacher writes a question on the board. Students come up, individually to write responses, to the teacher's question or each other. Students can circle others' points for emphasis, or draw lines to make connections.

I used this on the Day of Silence, when three-quarters of my class were keeping silence. It enabled us to have a good "discussion" of the Chinese Revolution without saying a word. If you do it on-line via technology, you'd even have a permanent record. I don't think Google docs could do it, but perhaps some of the online whiteboards. But a regular old chalkboard worked just fine.

A good summary can be found here.

Find the Fib

Students write three sentences about the history, one of which is incorrect. Students write their answers on the board, and other students need to figure out which one is incorrect.

Collaborative Corners

Give students a few choices (two, three, four), and have them move to a particular corner depending on their choice. For example, in a discussion of ideologies, I had students move to corners for "liberal," "conservative," "moderate," and "don't know." Each group then had to define what the term meant to them (except the "don't know" group--I talked with them myself). Students could also be challenged to come up with the best possible argument for their position, and then try to convince others to change corners.

Summary ball

After presenting information, have students stand in a circle. Give the ball to a student. That student must state some fact or concept just presented, and pass the ball to another student, who must do likewise. Give students a short time (e.g., five seconds) to say something, in order to keep things moving.

When I tried this with students, there was a little lack of enthusiasm, which I think came from their uncertainty as to what to say. I think it might be easier if they could just throw out facts (e.g., Truman, Stalin, containment). Another possibility is to have students say a term and toss the ball, so the other student must identify the term, the say another term and toss the ball.

Running dictation

Post sentences on a wall. One student sits. The other student (or students) run/walk to the piece of paper, memorize one sentence, return to the first student, and repeat it. The writer writes it down. Continue until all sentences are written down.

I've used this when discussing sequence (e.g., Russia Revolution or 1905). The sentences/terms list certain events out of order. Students must transcribe the sentences/term and then put them in the correct order.

Human continuum

Put a line on the ground (I usually use masking tape), and give students a question (e.g., attitudes towards tradition) and ask them to stand on the continuum. The longer you can make the line, the better.

Human Bingo

Create a bingo sheet, with questions in squares--throw in a few fun things, about people, just for grins. Pass out sheets and have students find a person for each square, someone who can answer that question. When sheets are filled in, student return to their seats. Pull student names out of a hat, have students mark bingo sheets. When someone gets bingo, everyone whose name is on the bingo must be able to answer the question for the class. If everyone can do it, it counts as a bingo. You can have edible markers for students to eat them. Another possibility is, for a bingo, both the student with the bingo and the students on the sheet must be able to answer the question.

Good for review before tests, since the questions on the bingo sheet can be either specific terms (e.g., "Can identify Eugene Debs") or general ideas (e.g., "Can name three reasons unions were weak in the Gilded Age")

Source: Wormeli, Summarization in any subject

Crumpled paper review

Students write term on one paper, definition on another, crumple them up and throw in a pile. Students pick up two balls of paper, must find the matching ones.

Moving summarizations

Students come up with actions to 'act out' the meaning of a sequence of events

Share one-get one

Students get or draw a nine-by-nine grid. In the top three squares, they put three facts or ideas from the lecture, reading, or other material. They then walk around and compare notes with other students. They fill in the blank squares, copying from other students--no student may contribute more than one idea to a given student, and no student may repeat any ideas in his/her squares.

Inside-Outside Circle

See Kagan for details

Carousel Brainstorm

Either divide students into group, or have them work individually. Assign students a topic, and have them brainstorm on the board. After a certain time, tell everyone to rotate to the next station.

A good way to get lots of information on the board first, which can be useful if you want to do comparisons. Having students/groups use different colored markers/chalk enables you to track group contributions.

Another way to do this is to set up multiple wikis (say, in moodle) and use those for the brainstorm. The advantage is that the information is then preserved and accessible.