Finished?

This, my very first blog post, is inspired by the recent addition to my classroom displays.  I shared a picture of my “Finished? Try one of these…” display on Twitter on the 19th August and since then I have been overwhelmed by the support and positivity from the Twitter community about this display idea!

The idea behind the display is two-fold.  Firstly, those students who finish first can always have access to something else, another activity to keep them engaged.  Secondly, with the element of student choice in the selection of their next activity, I hope it will encourage higher levels of independence amongst my learners.

The activities themselves are simple review tasks which encourage the students to reflect on their learning. Here are a few details about each different activity:

Thinking Hats – Based on De Bono’s Thinking Hats. Students answer selected questions linked to the “theme” of different hats. If students select an image of a hat, this will require them to construct their own response without a prompt question.yellow and black hats yellow and green hats white and black hats thinking hat postcard hats

3,5,1 Review – Students summarise their learning into 3 key sentences, then 5 key words and finally, 1 main idea. 351 review

Gimme 5 – Students draw around their hand. In each finger they write a new word, in the thumb they write a question they still have and in the palm they describe what they have learnt.gimme 5

Learning Triangle – Students identify 1 thing they would like to find out more about, 2 things they found interesting and 3 things they have learnt.learning triangle

Challenge Cards – A fantastic resource produced by a wonderful colleague of mine (Kelly H). Each card has a different challenge for the students to complete ranging from creating a set of crossword clues, to writing a newspaper headline for the lesson or an acrostic summarising the key ideas from the lesson. challenge cards

Tweet Me – Students write a tweet about their learning. 140 characters and they must create an appropriate hashtag.twitter

I Like…I Wonder – A bit like an exit ticket with the simple prompts “I like…” and “I wonder…” which students respond to.

Review Cards – Another awesome resource produced by another amazing colleague (Helen N). Students answer the prompt questions which encourage them to reflect on their learning. The questions are differentiated, becoming more challenging as they move down the card.plenary cards

I’ve started to think of ways to encourage students to try a range of tasks and not select the same ones over and over.  I’m thinking of producing simple checklists for the students books and they can tick off the tasks when they complete them. Students who complete one of each and “get the full set” will receive a prize. I still need to work this out but I guess that gives me a reason to do another blog post at some point!