The two activities I would like to use in my future classrooms are Concept Cartoons and Card Sorts. Concept Cartoons are cartoons with multiple characters in them. The teacher splits the students into groups (of about three or four) and passes out the cartoon. Students read it over and decide which character they agree with, or create their own comments. As the student talks with their group, they are forced to explain why they believe with a particular character. This discussion makes them publicly take ownership of their beliefs and education. It also allows for the teacher to walk around to each group and informally assess where the students knowledge is.
The effect is the same with Card Sorts. This activity is composed of placing multiple true or false statements on individual index cards. Again, with students in groups, have them sort through the cards to decide which statements they agree with and which they do not agree with. The groups are bound to have disagreements, which forces students to explain to the others why they agree (or disagree) with the statement on the card. Through this discussion children are verbalizing the concepts which helps them see why they are right, or wrong.
Both of these activities create curiosity in the students - they will want to know whether they were right or wrong in their beliefs and gain the knowledge that you as a teacher are about to give them. Also, teachers can hear how much students already know. It would be a great addition to the KWL activity - what students already KNOW, what they WANT to know and what they LEARNED.
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| Left: Examples of Card Sorts ... Right: Example of a Concept Cartoon |
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