In designing these projects, there are three basic concerns:

1. Does it engage students in the curriculum?
2. Does it engage students in using real-world skills?
3. Does it engage students in creating an authentic and meaningful product?

The first two are the easy ones.  The difficult part is to create a project such that the product the students make has a meaning beyond the classroom.  If the product is just going to be consumed by me, the teacher, then it’s not really authentic.  It has no purpose other than as an assignment.

Example of Utilizing Skills

I just read about a good example of using authentic skills today while reading through my RSS feeds.  Tom at Bionic Teaching shared an idea for teaching vocabulary – building CD compilations around a specific vocabulary word.

Basically, the student is assigned (or picks) one of the vocab words to be the theme of the CD.  Then, he or she chooses a series of songs that exemplify that theme.

This hits #1 and #2 on the head.  The curriculum is certainly involved (the vocabulary term) and students need to use real world skills.  They’re doing the same thing that an exec (or intern) at a record label would be doing.

An Authentic Product – Self Publishing

Last year, my students worked on a project in which they created a children’s storybook.  I had a few ideas for making the product more authentic – like sending it out as a submission to a publisher or inviting the kids from the pre-school next door to come and listen to the stories.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to it last year.

I stumbled on an incredible resource last night, which I think could be used to authenticate a lot of different products.  At Blurb, you can create and self-publish books pretty cheaply.  I searched around and another alternative is Lulu.

Both offer a variety of formats, and neither charges a set-up fee (which some other POD publishers do).  Depending on the format, the average book will cost $5 to $30.

If your students are engaged in creating some kind of book (novella, comic book, anthology, magazine, children’s book, etc), then I’m not sure what would be a more authentic process and product than actually designing the book and making it ready to publish.

How Could This Be Used In Class?

The uses for this would vary a lot, depending on the resources available in your community.

If you live in a middle class or affluent area, you could probably have the kids design the books and then asks the parents to purchase them.  The books aren’t all that expensive, and I’m sure most parents would like to see their child’s work in print.

In high poverty areas, this may be more difficult.  While $10 might not be a lot, you may have a hard time convincing parents to shell out the cash.  Instead, you could turn the project into a contest, and you would be the publisher.  Students design and pitch the books, and the best one (or two or three) are purchased, published, and saved in the classroom library.

You could shell out the cash yourself, or look for a grant to pay for it.  The dollar amount is fairly low (less than $100 to publish a handful of the books), so you may have luck with the grants.  Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind paying $10-20 to buy one of the books myself.

You can add a business edge to it, too, by having your students actually try to market and sell the books.  With either publisher, the books can be made publicly available for people to buy (profit margin optional).

More Later, With a Test Run

I’m not sure yet exactly how I’ll use it in my class, but I’d really like to utilize one of these publishers by years end.  I’ll figure out the logistics of it later.

In the meantime, I’m going to take one of the storybook projects from last year and create a sample book.  This will give me an idea of production/shipping time, quality, etc, and it’ll help me determine if I really want to use it in class or not.

The problem for you is giving directions to these different groups easily, quickly, and clearly. The solution: task cards.

<h3>What Are Task Cards?</h3>

In general, written instructions are a must for group activities. In fact I’ve given up on most oral instructions for group activities for two reasons.

The students listen to the oral instructions and then don’t understand them. They then refuse to read the extra written instructions – because they already got instructions orally.

The idea of task cards is that students are divided up into groups and each group will receive its own notecard describing its task. The task that you assign is where you “do” the differentiation.

For example, your Social Studies class could be engaged in creating a newspaper about the Civil War. You could break the class up into four groups, giving each group a different task card.

One group would research and write short biographies of people involved on the war – politicians, generals, etc.

One group would find or create pictures, maps, and other multimedia for the newspaper.

One group would research the “social history” of the war – conditions at war, living conditions back home, etc.

One group would write editorials about decisions made during or after the war – such as the Emancipation Proclamation.

<h3>Why Not One Assignment Sheet?</h3>

Now you could give each student an assignment sheet with all four tasks on it and then tell the students which task they are supposed to do… but this could easily result in chaos.

Instead, give each group a color. The blue group receives a blue card. The green group a green card, so on and so forth.

On each card (a large colored index card, or a piece of construction paper with printed instructions stapled or taped on), the group receives only its individual task. As a group, they read the task, decide what to do, and divy up responsibilities.

By limiting the card to their individual task, they aren’t sidetracked and/or confused by other tasks. By skipping the oral instructions, you’re also freeing up more time for them to get working – since giving four sets of instructions could take a while. You can then spend your time helping the groups that need the most guidance.

The final piece is assigning students to groups. There are many ways to do it. You could write them up beforehand on the board (if you have your own room) or on a transparency sheet.

You could type up a list of students divided by group, and give that to each student (this is a good option if you have a problem with absenteeism). Or you could simply call out the names – which is ok if your students are disciplined and driven.

As with most things related to differentiation, the hardest part of task cards is the work beforehand – creating them and designing the groups. Once you hand out the individualized instructions, you’re good to go.

Teachers always strive for the best – a thought provoking, thorough class discussion. We often fall short.

There are many reasons that a class discussion fails, but one major problem is a lack of participation. A student may have something terrific to say, but he or she may simply be too shy to say it.

One way to address this problem is to utilize a different spin on class discussions – silent discussions.

What is a Silent Discussion?

It is more or less what it sounds like. Students discuss things without talking. They write their responses down instead.

You’ll need two things – some large pieces of paper (giant post it notes or poster paper would work) and a well behaved class.

On the large pieces of paper, write or tape small quotations, statements, or questions. These prompts should be short and to the point. They should also be provocative.

Divide your class up into pairs. Have them move their desks together (facing each other). In between each pair, place one of the large pieces of paper. As you may have noticed, you’ll need one discussion sheet and prompt for every two students.

Students take two minutes or so to respond to the prompt in front of them. When you feel that a pair has responded thoroughly, switch their paper with another pair. Try to float all of the discussion sheets around so that each pair sees each sheet at least once.

Be careful not to take too long between switches. With 10 pairs of students and only two minutes per prompt, this discussion will take 20 minutes. It’s easy to run out of time.

Instructing the Students

For this activity to work well, the students need to know what is expected of them.

They need to be quiet. Absolutely quiet. Talking will distract students and you’ll run out of time before any real progress is made.

When a student gets the prompt at the beginning, he or she should respond to that prompt. Make a statement, raise a question, etc.

Afterwards, the student should focus on the statements made by other students. Argue against a statement another student made. Answer a question another student raised. Raise a question about another student’s statement.

Wrapping It Up

By the end, each sheet should be covered with a messy web of statements and questions. Now it’s time to debrief and share what has been said.

Each pair of students should have a sheet in front of them at the end. Instruct them to look through all of the statements and circle one “gem.” What is the most insightful or interesting comment on the page?

Go around and have the students share the gems that they found. Keep discussion brief. You’ll be running short on time at this point and it’s important to get some sort of closure for the activity.

At the end of the activity, you may want to hang the sheets up on the wall. Students can peruse them at their leisure and see what their classmates wrote. You could also allow students to continue adding to the discussions over the course of a few weeks and re-evaluate them.

Why Use a Silent Discussion?

This is a great technique, but it can be tricky. So why go to all the trouble?

Some students are simply too shy to speak in front of the class. Others don’t want to say anything insightful because it might hurt their image. Others are afraid their viewpoint might be unpopular.

The silent discussion solves all of these problems by making the discussion anonymous. No one has to speak or worry about any kind of backlash. Quietly write something on the page and the discussion goes on. Participation rises.

In a discussion, some students shoot out a response right away. Others may take a while to formulate their response. The silent discussion also helps these students because they can take time to think.

They can also backtrack and respond to an earlier part of a discussion, whereas they might have missed their chance to speak on a topic in a regular classroom discussion.

Get some interesting prompts together and give it a go. If your regular classroom discussions have been lackluster, a silent discussion may be just the boost you need.

You can’t build something on nothing. In education, like construction, a sound foundation is important.

When introducing a lesson, it is important to activate prior knowledge that students already have. Perhaps they know something about the US Constitution or the play Romeo and Juliet.

Students also need to promote their own curiosity. Questioning leads to more learning than answering. If your students learn to question, they will learn.

Both of these things – activating prior knowledge and promoting curiosity – can be accomplished with a KWL (Know-Want-Learn) activity.

What is KWL (Know-Want-Learn)?

The method consists of three steps.

First, students identify what they already know. They should be given a short period of time – 1 to 2 minutes – to jot down anything they know about a subject. Students should share this information and record it on the board.

Next, students should discuss what they want to learn. Go around the room and allow students to pose any questions relevant to the topic. These questions become goals and objectives for the lesson.

At the end of the lesson, students should consider the question, “What have I learned?” This concluding activity gives students a chance to re-organize and cement the knowledge that they’ve gained in an activity.

How to Do It?

The format is fairly simple – but there are several ways to do this.

The most basic way to do a KWL is collectively on the board. Students identify their prior knowledge and the teacher writes it on the board. Students generate questions and the teacher writes it on the board. At the end, students discuss what they have learned and the teacher writes it on the board.

One of the goals of KWL is to allow students to direct the learning process. It makes sense, then, to allow students to direct the KWL activity as well.

One way to do that is through individual graphic organizers or foldables.

Create an organizer with three sections. One section corresponds to the question, “What do I already know?” A second section corresponds to the question, “What do I want to know?” The final section corresponds to the question, “What have I learned?”

This allows for instant differentiation. Each student can create their own KWL – identifying their own knowledge and setting their own learning goals. It would still be wise to share and record some responses on the board, but each student would retain his or her individual organizer.

Purposes and Advantages

This method has several uses and advantages.

It allows students to build off of prior knowledge. By identifying and activating prior knowledge – such as every day knowledge of the government – students are activating their schema and preparing to add new things. This foundation is important.

It allows students to drive the learning process. The second step, “What do I want to learn?” is crucial. This takes the power out of the teachers hands and places it with the students. They decide the appropriate learning outcomes.

It comes with a built in assessment tool. If students can answer the final question – “What have I learned?” – then they have learned something. By making this response correspond to the second step – “What do I want to know?” – you validate the learning process and prove that the activity is in line with your objective.

KWL is a quick and simple activity. It is perfect for introducing new topics and finishing old ones. Give it a try and let your students have a hand in guiding the learning process.

This is a simple exercise that takes only a couple of minutes. The students are given a prompt, they write a response, and then they are asked to read their response to start the classroom discussion.

How to Use It

An A/B writing assignment consists of two opposite statements. One position should be labeled statement ‘A’ and the other position should be labeled statement ‘B’.

After the students read the two statements, they must choose one statement to agree with. They should spend two to three minutes writing down why they agree with that statement.

After the students have had time to write down their responses, ask the students how many supported position ‘A.’ Choose one of the students to share his or her thoughts. If the student prefers, he or she can simply read down what was written on the page.

Give other students time to share their responses. Then ask how many supported position B and repeat the sharing process.

After both sides have presented their arguments, students can discuss the issue at large.

Why Use It?

Students are often shy to speak in class because they haven’t yet formulated what they want to say. By requiring them to write their thoughts down, you are preparing them to speak.

If they do the assignment, they have no excuse for being quiet – all they have to do is read their own paper.

It also provides a specific starting point for the conversation. Students should agree with and respond to both position A and position B. In stating why they support that specific statement, they will raise other points that give the discussion a new direction.

An Example or Two

Let’s take a look at a possible A/B writing exercise for a lesson about the difference between federalists and anti-federalists.

Statement A: The states should have ultimate authority and a final say on all laws.

Statement B: The national government should have ultimate authority and a final say on all laws.

By choosing one side or the other, students will have to support either the federalist or anti-federalist side. After presenting the arguments, students can then debate the merits of one position vis-à-vis the other.

In a physics class, you might have students do an A/B writing on their hypotheses for an experiment.

Statement A: If two different objects are dropped simultaneously, I think the heavier one will hit the ground first.

Statement B: If two different objects are dropped simultaneously, I think they will hit the ground at the same time.

This could be extended to an A/B/C writing to include the possibility that the lighter object would hit the ground first.

Some A/B Writing Tips

This is a simple exercise, but there are a few tips you should keep in mind.

Make the statements controversial. By forcing students to choose one controversial position, the argument over which is correct will be livelier.

Make sure that both statements are plausible. You don’t want to have everyone choose Statement A – or the discussion will be over pretty quickly.

If everyone does choose the same statement, have students explain why they didn’t choose the other one.

This is a perfect Do Now exercise. Give the students the prompt as they walk in or write it on the board. The discussion naturally leads into the rest of the activity. Likewise, it is a good transition exercise for a block schedule period.

A Think-Pair-Share activity is perfect for this type of introductory or transition situation. The students individually contemplate the topic, expand their response with a partner, and share with the whole class in a brief discussion.

The Method: What to Do

The students need some kind of prompt to respond to. This could be a quote, an image, a short video clip, or a question.

This prompt should be broad enough that students can respond to it based on the knowledge they already have, but it should engage them in thinking about the upcoming topic.

Once the students have the prompt, they should take about one minute to think about it. In this time, they should consider the prompt and jot down any ideas that come to mind. These don’ have to be complete sentences – ideas, fragments, and notes are just fine.

After the individual thinking time is up, the students pair up. For the sake of time and convenience, students should talk to someone that is directly next to them. The partners should share their original thoughts on the prompt and briefly discuss the topic. This partner time should last two to three minutes.

Finally, bring the class together and allow several pairs to share. This shouldn’t be a long class discussion. Give a variety of students a chance to share, but keep the discussion short. It should only last a few minutes – three to five.

Once the short discussion is done, segue into the introduction and activity part of the lesson.

When to Use This Method: Introductions and Transitions

Think-Pair-Share is perfect as an introduction or a transition. This activity makes the perfect Do Now for a class – it sets the tone, zones the students in on a topic, and provides a basis for later instruction.

It can also be used as a transition or short break in a period.

If you’re giving a long lecture (longer than ten minutes), a Think-Pair-Share can be used to break up the lecture delivery. After ten minutes or so, give the students a question to consider about the first part of the lecture. After the Think-Pair-Share is done, continue with the next part of the lecture.

In block periods, this is also a vitally useful too. Students can’ do the same thing for 80 minutes – you need to break it up into chunks. A Think-Pair-Share is a quick and easy way to transition from one part of the lesson to another.

Keys to Success

A Think-Pair-Share can be useful, but you need to implement it well.

Students should be well-trained in the format. If they don’ manage their time and follow the appropriate steps, the activity can be a waste of time. Instead of engaging in the new topic, they’ll spend five minutes chatting and wasting time.

Make sure the prompt is meaty enough to respond to. It can’ be a simple factual question. It needs to have multiple dimensions and multiple answers. Otherwise there’s no room for discussion.

Here are some example prompts.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” What does this mean? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

In the song Southern Man, Neil Young sang “Southern Man / when will you / pay them back? / I heard screamin’ / and bullwhips cracking / How long? How long?” What is Neil Young referring to? Do you agree with his point or not? Why?

This activity can be adapted for any topic and any subject area with a little imagination. Start using Think-Pair-Share and make sure you introduce your lessons well.