Popcorn Response Activity (Monday)

Instruct students to draw a conclusion based on recent instructional content, and then to locate support for the conclusion from their notes or readings. Individually, each student stands, offers his/her conclusion followed by the support. Quickly and voluntarily, the next student stands and so on. Seated students can be asked to jot notes concerning fallacies or faulty logic, and the response can conclude with a discussion of those fallacies. This can easily be adapted to a game format.

Fishbowl with a Hot Seat Activity (Tuesday)

Many educators are familiar with the “fishbowl” discussion method in which a team of students moves to the center of the room to have a discussion while the remaining class members look on. To liven the discussion, and to give the observers the opportunity to contribute, leave one seat vacant at the discussion table. If an observer has a burning comment to contribute, he/she quickly moves to the hot seat to join the fishbowl, then exits once his/her comment has been voiced.

Walk About Activity (Wednesday)

Use large sheets of poster paper to display content-related prompts around the room. Divide the class into teams, distribute one marker per team, and assign each team a prompt. Station one team at each poster and allow a measured amount of time for teams to respond to the prompt, then ask them to move on to the next one. Each team should contribute to the prompt important information the previous team overlooked or did not have time to include. Conclude the activity with a large group discussion of the information written on the prompts.

Inside-Outside Discussion Circles (Thursday)

Divide the class into two circles with one inside the other—students should be facing a partner. Indicate whether the inside circle or the outside circle should respond, then call out a question to be answered. Allow time for discussion between the partners, then either the inner circle or the outer circle should move to the left or right, then the pattern is repeated. After each question, repeat the pattern.

Pass It On Activity (Friday)

Divide students into teams of four–six students. Each team should have one piece of paper with the chosen topic written across the top of the page. When you call “go,” the first team member writes a fact related to the topic. As soon as one team member has written a comment, he/she passes the paper to the next team member in a clockwise motion. If a team member cannot contribute a comment, he/she may write pass on the paper. However, each “pass” detracts one point from the overall score, which is based on the number of correct comments on the paper. Here is the real catch: team members cannot talk to one another. They may mime answers to help team members who are “stuck,” but a team forfeits by talking.