Facilitating Projects - FAQ Boards & Racetracks

I often use "anchor" or "menu" projects in my instruction. Sometimes I will dedicate a week to a menu project. Other times, I will incorporate anchor projects into instruction that students have two weeks to complete. During free time after lessons, they may work on the projects.

Working on projects with so many choices, though, can be overwhelming to some students. Some complain that they don't know what I expect on each activity. When they have a menu of 21 choices, how can I clearly give directions on each choice?

One solution that I developed in response to student feedback is the "Project FAQ" board, where I record answers to commonly asked questions on each menu choice. That way, students can see what I expect. I can also refer students to the board when they ask about something that I've gone over a zillion times!

Another common problem is keeping track of where students are in the process of project completion. Especially during anchor projects, getting feedback on what they've done can be time consuming. To address this issue I started using "racetracks". I post a line on the board and either mark it off with number of points or label the major steps of the project (thesis statement, notecards, prewriting, rough draft, bibliography, final draft, etc). Then, I give the students post-its with their names on it (an easier solution is just having them write their names). Students place their post its under the number of points they have completed. Students can then move their post it along the line as they finish activities. It gives me a great visual of who is working ahead, and who is staying behind. Students are refreshingly honest with where they are in the process! Those who aren't completing their work leave their post its on the board as a clear sign that they are straggling. 

Index Card Review

I learned this at a county professional development led by APL associates.

Set it up:
1. Create a list of 20 review questions, based on enduring understandings, an upcoming summative, or whatever you want to review
2. Copy the questions onto index cards, two-three cards per question
3. Number the questions
4. Use a plastic sleeve hanger (or, make one by gluing half-envelopes to a poster in rows and columns). This will hold index cards individually. Put the question cards in the sleeves so the numbers are showing
5. Modify questions for exceptional learners by having a "special color card" in which the answers are provided in cloze format or using first letters. Tell students that only certain kids should use this card & point out to target students the special color to take (or just make it luck of the draw, whoever gets it gets the modified version).

Use it:
1. Put the poster up somewhere in the room where students can get to it.
2. Provide students with a matrix or chart to record the questions and answers (this way, they know what numbers they have answered or not)
3. Use this as a review activity, "seatwork" for students who finish early, or bellringer activities
*I used this as a bellringer and allowed students to work with "desk partners" on the activity. Breaking them into pairs greatly reduced the number of cards you needed.
**I also used this as a daily closure/review activity. With the students we would MAKE 2-3 review questions from the day's lessons, then add them to the index card supply for the next day.


Credit:
I got this activity from APL associates.

Deck of cards

This was used at a recent professional development I went to.

Set it Up: Have a deck of cards ready and something you want your class to do (discuss, review, question, etc)

Use it:
1. Ask students to meet up with someone who has the same number
2. Ask students to meet up with someone from the same suit
3. Ask students to meet up with the same color
4. Ask students to meet up with the opposite color


Source: My assistant superintendent (KG) used this at a recent training.

Basics of Stations

This isn't a specific strategy, but more of a post that summarizes my thoughts on the use of stations instructionally.

First off, there is a distinct difference between centers that remain throughout a unit, and stations that are used for one to three classes. Stations are an easy way to get students engaged and talking but there is also a fine line to them: students easily get "station fatigue" if too many teachers are doing stations in the same week or so.

How many stations?

This depends on the purpose of your stations, the number of students you have, and how long you want to spend on this lesson. A good starting number is five stations for a particular topic.

How many kids at a station?

This depends again on the purpose of the activity. I honestly only like 2 or 3 at stations because it gets too chaotic otherwise. But I have done review activities with four students at a table. Less kids per station means more stations and overall more time spent

on the activity, unless you use two tracks of stations.

How can I shorten the time used/ break up my larger class into stations?

With my classes of 25+ kids, I usually put students into pairs or triads, and create two tracks of stations. Here is a picture of the board when I am setting up two-track stations:

With tracks, there are only five (or four, or three) stations I need to create. But I double them, so A=1, B=2, C=3, etc. That way students are doing the same things on different tracks. This makes differentiation possible without being obvious or embarassing. I usually change up activities on one of the tracks (review instead of enrichment, small group instruction with me, binder organization at a station instead of the activity, etc.).

Using two tracks also allows me to finish a station activity in a day or two because all

students are getting the activities.

How much time per station?

This again depends on the activity itself. Come up with a general idea of time per station-- too little and students get frustrated and lose focus. Too much time, and they get off task easily. By the second station they'll talk first and work later.

With timing, a few things with timing to always use: first, when you start, list the number of stations on the board and map out the times for each station (with a minute in between for set up). It's amazing how easily you can get off track of time working in small groups or monitoring behavior at stations. Before you know it the period is over, your room's a mess and the kids are gone! Make a timetable and "try" to stick to it.

I like to use a countdown on my smartboard projector. That way kids know how much time is left to prioritize their work.

Another way is to assign a "time keeper", who is in charge of ringing a bell or doing

something to tell the class time is up. This is good for some reluctant, yet trustworthy, learners.

Still to add to this post:

-links to stations tips

-credits

Everyone UP

In this activity the entire class participates in a response activity that gets everyone up and expects each child to participate.

Set it up:

1. Know what to ask

Use it:

1. Tell everyone in the class to stand up

2. Ask students to either share a response to something or ask review questions. No one sits until they answer a question.

3. With the first questions offer your reluctant or foundational learners an easy way out by calling on them first (notice how quickly the reluctant learners raise their hands!)

Credit:

I don't know where I got this from, but I have been using this since I student taught. My principal recently emailed a list of activities and this is similar to something she credited to Brian Jenkins.

Envelope Review

This is an easy on-the-spot review activity for the time-strapped teacher who wants students to stay engaged in a review (when they may have had little time to put together a review game).

Set it up:

1. Take a test or study guide, preferably one sided. If it's two sided just cut up two copies of it and "x" out the side you don't want to use. Cut the test up into strips of 3-5 questions (dependent on your students' ability levels).

2. Put the strips in envelopes and tuck the top in.

3. Organize a station "route" for your classroom. I usually group my tables into threes for review (see my post on "how to group"). Then, depending on the number of envelopes I have, I either have one long snake of a review activity or two "tracks" doing the same activities. If you have short class periods, two tracks works best because you can lead whole-class station activities while still only finishing in one instructional period. See my post on "basics of stations".

Use it

1. Ask students to take out a piece of notebook paper and number the paper based on the number of questions you have.

2. Group them however you wish.

3. Explain the activity to a level of detail based on their needs.

4. Have them table up their desks and then move to their review stations.

5. Ask for a student volunteer and MODEL the station track, so students know where to go next (my 7th graders just love getting lost and then saying "where do we go? what's next?).

6. The best way to tell students to use this is to have one group member open the envelope, another read the question, and another try to answer it first. Then they should rotate jobs at the next station. This works on reading skills and listening skills, and also prevents one student from monopolizing the answering time so all students can be challenged.

7. Before students move to the next station, AGAIN, point out who goes where next.

8. Complete the circuit.

9. Lead a review session at the end to make sure students got the answers (or post on the board during a closure activity, so students can check answers at their own pace and move on to homework or anchor activities or something else!).

Credits: I am sure someone wrote this somewhere... but I came up with this activity on a day when the copier was broken. With only two printed off study guides, how could I meaningfully engage my students? This is what I came up with and the kids loved it.

Gallery Walk Review

In this activity, students answer review questions about a given topic.

Setup: Create your master list of 26+ questions. Post them on sheets of paper.

Agenda:

1. Post the questions around the outside walls of the room like a gallery walk.

2. Pair students up or allow them to choose partners.

3. Provide a handout for them to record answers on, or have them set up a piece of notebook paper with lines to record the answer.

4. Explain that this is a review activity and is also a competition to see who finishes the review quickest.

5. Movement: depending on the ability/interest/behavior of your class you can have them rotate in order OR go around randomly. The random movement facilitates better competition but can also lead to chaos in some groups!

Make it easier: First, put a starting letter at the start of every question so students know what letter the answer starts with. Another way to help is to post in small letters the answers to all the questions on random question cards. That way as they circulate the room they either have their schema triggered by seeing answers to future questions OR by getting a reminder for one of the answers

that was just on the tip of their tongue...

Credit: I have no idea where it came from. I first saw this review activity used at a

faculty meeting at EMS.