First, I told the students to answer the questions about energy flow through ecosystems based on current knowledge.
Next, I told them to find evidence to support their answer or change their answer from the textbook by incorporating the Kagan structure Rally Coach.
I told the students to work in groups of two. Partner A would find support for the first statement. Partner B would find evidence on the second statement, and so on. The students were told to write the page number to support their answer. Partner A was the person whose birthday was closest to that day.
I also told them to correct the incorrect sentences.
When pairs finished, they could confer with another pair (Kagan structure Round Robin).
Finally, we discussed our findings as a whole group.
Things I liked about this activity:
- Prior knowledge was acknowledged and utilized
- Misconceptions were discussed and addressed
- Cooperative learning strategies were incorporated
- Students were allowed to be experts
- Struggling students and students who engage in off-task behavior were on-task and helping other students
In flipping my class, I need to provide engaging activities from bell to bell. This particularly important because Our classes are on a block schedule. As I work to improve my teaching, I will continue to update this blog.
