In-Class Activity Ideas

Students love to point out mistakes and what's wrong! This could be a class or group activity. Show a slide or give out papers/cards with a scenario or description.

Have each group discuss and pick out the "errors" or things that don't accurately match in the text/scenario and identify the correct term/wording.

• Each round (2-3) could include more "errors" to increase difficulty or cover the more complex topics in the module/unit.

Special Round

• Maybe at the end, have one last round as the entire class and have different "pieces" or "cards" that are all scrambled up on a table and they must place them into their correct scenarios (mix of terms, descriptions of an influential person, etc.) You could even add a 2-3 minute timer displayed on the board as a fun gamification feel! (larger classes might consider making 2-3 groups to ensure all students are participating)

• Each jumbled piece should include 1-2 sentences about the topic. Altogether, the pieces should create a passage with a logical flow about the assigned topic. Be sure to type the information on strips of paper that are all a similar size/shape. The pieces are not meant to be fit together by a shape like a jigsaw puzzle. Students are connecting ideas/content!

Challenge!

• Want to have students think outside the box? For the last round with the jumbled cards, have the class broken into 2-3 groups. Give each group their cards face-down. Give them the instructions to place the scrambled pieces accurately in the time allotted and let them start. Eventually, they will realize they cannot make all their pieces make sense and will realize they need to reach out to the other groups and see if they have pieces they need to swap.

• Did they organize the slips of paper correctly? You could either have each group read out their passage or allow each group to rotate to a different table and read that passage. Then each group could share whether they agreed or disagreed with how the prior group fit the pieces together and why. 

Day 1 (the Monday/Tuesday of class) would be for learning the material. For homework, they would have to email you OR submit on Canvas (an assignment or in a Discussion Board format) a list of the top 3 topics/content they need a little more clarification on OR that they keep forgetting. Ask them, "If you were given an exam right now over this content, what areas/questions/subtopics do you think might worry you?"

Make them write down/type general notes about the chapters to bring to class next time.

On Day 2 (Wednesday or Thursday) of the module, have the list of terms people submitted on the board or on a slide. Could make a "word cloud" online easily, where the most repeated terms are larger than the other ones.

https://www.freewordcloudgenerator.com/ (download cloud as an image and paste it onto a slide before class starts)

All students have their notes out. (Consider allowing 10 minutes to edit/add to notes at the beginning of class after letting students know that will be their only resources during the upcoming activity!)

Use a ball or object and toss to students as the "microphone". That student will pick a term from the board/slide then using their notes, explain/describe it for the other students. Students can actively alter their notes as other students talk.

• Could also use a random name-picker with THIS website!

Keep passing the mic around to volunteers until all terms have been discussed. (toss to/from professor each time, or have the current student toss object to next student) Tossing the object to/from the professor each time allows you to correct/add any information the student might have left out.

• Allowing students to pick the term they want will prompt them to volunteer earlier so they can pick a term they are comfortable with, plus it allows some level of personal control/interaction.

• For students with accommodations, consider starting with them first and possibly letting them pick their term/topic first. They could also write down their response prior to class and bring it with them to read off of. This will help decrease anxiety about speaking to the class!

• Could also have students add the terms into Padlet at the beginning of the class.

 Erase each term after a student has spoken about it.

Could be a GREAT way to review for a mid-term or final exam!!

Group or Class activity.

Give them a moral/ethical dilemma scenario and have them explore possible reactions/actions. Encourage them to think outside the box to help with their critical thinking.

Could use a discussion board, a group typed/written response, or each group verbally share what their group decided they'd do in that dilemma scenario. You cloud also have each group post on a class Padlet.

Challenge:

• What if you divided them into groups but each group's scenario was slightly different without them knowing. Don't tell them they are different. Then when class comes together to discuss each group's decision.... a discussion/debate will probably bring those differences to light and encourage more conversation. What topic would have small differences in your course? 

Are there any topics in class that could be viewed in different ways or disagreed with? Controversial? As a class, go through 2-3 scenarios and ask students would they choose "this or that" as a diagnosis/reaction/analysis. Allow students time to defend their argument/perspective. Teacher includes terms included from the class content and ensures the conversation still prompts students to have an improved understanding of the chapter.

Options:

• You could have an "agree" side of the room and a "disagree" side and have students move to one side or the other in 15 seconds, then discuss their differences. Must have a class with students that are able to move freely, have enough space and a class that has enough comfort with this activity.

• Consider adding in a few "fun" questions! "Do you agree or disagree that spaghetti is better than pizza?"

• Consider altering the time allowed depending on the complexity of the question. "Do you agree that Theory X is more applicable than Theory Y in a scenario where ...."

Instead of asking questions and calling on a raised hand.... Question and Wait involves asking a question to the class then waiting 2 minutes (fun to use a classroomscreen.com timer on the projector for each question!). After the 2 minutes is up, the professor PICKS a student to answer. No raised hands. This will ensure all students are actively flipping through their notes/textbooks to find answers they don't know for each question.

Options:

• Have students in tiny groups of 2-3 and they are able to quietly discuss/research with their partners. However the professor will randomly call individuals to answer, not groups - therefore ALL students are still responsible for knowing how to answer.

• Make it a competition! You could divide the class into 2 random groups with names listed on the board/screen. As you randomly call on students to answer questions after the wait time - if they can answer it WITHOUT assistance from another classmate (when they struggle to answer after a couple minutes) then their team gets a point. If they need help from a classmate it can either be worth 0 points or even -1 points! The winning half of the class could get a free 3 points on an assignment or something.

Divide into groups (2-3).

Have terms/people/concepts on cards. Hand a card to one person in the first group.

Using a timer on the screen/on your phone, give them 1 minute. The person must describe the term/word on their card but they cannot use the 5 words listed below the term. Their group will be shouting out ideas/guesses for the 1 minute. If they correctly get the term, the student will shout "yes!" or "got it!". That group gets a point.

Group 2 will then have 1 timed minute to do the same thing. When a group is going, the other two teams will be listening. Keep a tally of points on the board.

• Don't give the person their card until it is that group's turn to do the activity!

• Consider allowing some students more time to think about their card before the timed round begins, to lessen anxiety.

• Consider allowing students to have their notes out (or maybe only the person with the card has their notes)

Example: Word is cat but the 5 words they cannot use are "fur, whiskers, meow, pet, toe beans".  The student with the card may say, "It's an animal that is small and fluffy. It lives outside or in houses. Typically people like this animal if they don't prefer dogs. You could say it's raining blank and dogs!"

Divide into groups. Give each group maybe 10 minutes to come up with a Case Study over the topic you are discussing in that week. Encourage them to make them funny or about a certain theme! (Christmas theme, super hero theme, movie theme, etc).

After that time, have groups swap. The next group must then analyze the case study and make a determination or answer analysis questions over it.

• Recommend doing this written on paper

• Have groups add all group member's names to the paper before they start writing their Class Case

• I'd recommend making this worth points and have a list of "requirements" on the board for their case they're making. Otherwise the cases might be limited in detail, not well thought out or possibly distract students with the theme/goofiness. The groups will each be graded on the case they made AND how they wrote their analysis.

• Could possibly encourage students to try and stump their peers! Make it competitive!

Give students a topic or specific prompt to write about. Each student has 1 minute to write at least 1-2 sentences about the topic.

After the time is up, have students swap their paper to the next person (determine/explain this pattern of who passes to who, before activity starts. Might need to move desks.). The next person has 30 seconds to add at least 1 sentence to the paper, carrying on the train of thought from the previous person. Every 30-45 seconds, have the students swap.

Options/Ideas:

• Consider using a bell or timer that dings with the intervals and allows for 3 seconds to pass papers

• The professor could participate! Adding content to the pages allows you to review some student work to ensure they are staying on track. Your paper you start could be a surprise topic that students won't see until later! they will be wondering why other students are laughing! Write your topic at the top of the paper for context and start a funny story that you can read aloud at the end of the activity! (Topic ideas: A bad morning.... College Student Struggles... The worst Vacation ever.... "A story about Bob"..)

• You could have students review the papers they'd started once it gets back to them. Have them read the entire paper, then go in and circle/edit any information added that was incorrect. Afterwards, have students add one paragraph of 3-5 sentences, summarizing what was in their paper.

• For capable classes or in a module that has 2 main themes/topics to compare: have every other student write topic 1 or topic 2 at the top of their paper. This will require students to swap between topics on each paper. This will dramatically require students to understand the differences between the two topics and how they compare/contrast.