Last week, my students took over.  They became the teachers.  And they loved every minute of it.  Interestingly, they represented the teaching population quite well..some who lectured straight up, some who relied on a textbook, some who included visuals…and others that some of the ‘students’ had to jump in to help.

My students became the teachers during a great SIOP activity that I like to do quite often.  This activity allows students to discuss content and to hear the content multiple times so that it really resonates with them.  Granted, the time taken for this kind of lesson is about double that of a regular lecture/worksheet lesson, however, I feel the students know the information at double the depth.

Here are the steps I took:

1.  Decide on topics students have to summarize (I chose these topics from the lesson: Patrick Henry, Sons of Liberty, Daughters of Liberty, The Stamp Act, The Townshend Act/Duties)

2.  Divide students into equal groups.

3.  Students read up on their teacher-selected topic.

4.  Students create a poster with pictures, quotes, and information that can be used to teach the concept.

5.  Students select a ‘teacher’ for each group.

6.  The ‘students’ for each group rotate to another group and get taught the information by the ‘teacher.’

7.  The group then selects a new ‘teacher’ (one of the students from the new group) and rotations continue.

The Stamp Act

Happy Monday!

Related posts:

1. Turning a Worksheet into an Activity
2. Mind the Gap!