Active Learning: Ideas For Movement, Games & Hands-on Activities

This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about active learning in the ELA classroom. Middle and High School English Language Arts teachers discussed movement in the classroom and layouts that accommodate it, games, hands-on activities, and technology that helps to engage students. The highlights are below.

Movement:
*Brain breaks using GoNoodle
*Stations/centers
*Using carousels to preview or respond to texts
*Four Corners
*Play SCOOT with task cards
*Use an "appointment sheet" where students set up appointments with 4 different students in the class, each meeting lasting 3-4 minutes

*Flexible seating

*1/4 class water fountain breaks

*Do a warm-up each day that incorporates some type of movement in pairs or groups
*Line students up facing each other to practice Poetry Out Loud recitations

*Small classroom? Take students in the hallway or outside

Games:
*For vocabulary, Pictionary and other made up games
*Kahoot!
*JeopardyLabs
*Spelling/Vocab Tic-tac-toe

*ZAP

*SCOOT
*SCATTER

*Vocabulary games from Vocab Gal

*Word chains

*Word webs (with a twist)

*Charades

*Literature related challenges, i.e. Dickens Dash to learn about Dickens before reading "A Christmas Carol." An amazing race style team challenge with clues, info, then tasks to introduce the author's life. At one stop, students learn that his dad had financial troubles and they have to balance a check book.
*"Survivor" vocabulary review. If a student gets a question right, they get to vote someone off the island, and that person sits down.
*Improv games

Technology:
*Backchannels like TodaysMeet
*Interactive lessons and assessment tools like Nearpod
*Ask and answer questions with Socratic
*Response cards like Plickers

*QR Codes

*Quizlet

*Quia

Hands-on Activities:
*Have students make mini books
*Interactive notebook foldables
*Coloring pages for word parts
*Flipbooks
*Props
*Interactive notebooks
*Sketchnoting
*Art
*Gestures activities

*Kagan games/activities

Hope you'll join us next Tuesday night, January 26th at 8pm EST to active independent reading in the classroom. The questions for our next chat will be posted here on Sunday. We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group (even if you aren't on Twitter). 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction. If you missed this most recent chat, scroll down and read the whole thing below.