Gallery Walks: Gallery Walk consists of instructors prior to students arriving in class,
pre-tapping pictures around the classroom, along with either displaying a word bank on the board or passing
out a fill in the blank worksheet with a word bank. Once the students arrive in the classroom, the
instructor will explain the instructions. Each student is to walk around the classroom quietly, looking at
the pictures displayed in the room while trying to match the pictures with the correct word or phrase from
the word bank. While enacting this teaching strategy in the classroom, one could play light classical music
while the students are walking around and observing the pictures. Give the students 5 – 10 minutes to
walk around the room to view the pictures. Once time has run out ask the students to go back to their seats
to review the answers. Also, this assignment can also lead to classroom discussions. You may also allow
students to have time to discuss the pictures, before reviewing the answers. For example, “students in
picture one, what did see or feel from the picture?”
Guided Readings: Guided Readings consist of instructors passing out folders with the selected articles or
readings of choice placed in them. Instructors will either pass out or have folders pre-placed on the
student’s desk with highlighters. To begin, allow students to read along quietly, while you are
reading aloud the text. Have the students highlight important sections of the reading that will be important
for the unit. Also, you may allow students in the beginning to read the passages by themselves, to see what
they are able to gain from the readings.
Classroom Discussions: Class discussions consist of students receiving discussion question cards from the
instructor, that are centered around the readings from the passages in the guided readings. Students will
answer the questions on the cards in their own words to display understanding. The instructor will initiate
the discussion by first modeling the activity, by reading aloud a question followed by answering the
question in front of the class. This activity can be great for classes, whose student population is
comfortable and open to speak freely amongst themselves. For those classrooms, in which students may not be
so inclined to speak freely, this activity could be done using Padlet. Padlet is an online discussion tool
used to allow students to post their answers and thoughts, without verbalizing them. Once one has
established their account and created their discussion board, then one can distribute a code to students
allowing them to post their answers to the discussion card questions.
Poster Board Presentations: Poster board presentations allow students to creatively demonstrate their
mastery of the knowledge taught in the lesson. Students can use standard poster boards or trifolds to create
their presentation. To provide students with limited resources with the necessary items to complete the
assignment, one may allot time out in the lesson for students to create their presentations in class. Also,
students completing their presentations at home is always an option. The project must have a rubric that
outlines the necessary components that must be displayed on the project, and which areas are allowed for
creative expression. It is also important that before students begin on the project, they must have received
the rubric and reviewed it the with instructor for clarity and understanding.
Field Experiences: Field experiences can consist of instructors taking students outside of the school
building to venture to museums that host exhibits or hold information that reinforces or coincides with the
information one is delivering in the classroom. To ensure that the experience is educational, have the
students journal their experiences down in a notebook. One may even provide a prompt for the students to
complete after the conclusion of the excursion.
Interactive Notebook: An interactive notebook is a notebook or composition book, that houses all of the
information worked on for the lesson. Students may glue, tape, and staple worksheets utlized for the lesson,
utilize for journal completing journal projects, and utilize for warms up and brainstorming. The important
aspect of an interactive notebook is that is houses all the information together for one’s in unit in
one singular place. For the instructor grading can be done easily, and for the student it provides
organization and easier access when referencing back to information when completing other assignments and
projects.
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