Activities

Description

3-2-1 is a tool that allows your students to summarize and structure their learning process. In addition, it gives you, as a teacher, the opportunity to identify what subject matter needs to be reviewed in the next lesson and what the interests of the students are.

How it works

At the end of a lesson or a stage of a lesson the student writes down:

• three things they have learned
• two things they found interesting and want to know more about
• one question they have about the lesson (stage)

Look at the answers of the students. You can use this information to further develop lessons that still need to be taught and to determine if something needs to be explained again.

Tips

• This tool can also be used when students need to read longer texts. It allows students to process the first part of the text before continuing to the second part.
• Allow five minutes in the next lesson to discuss the answers.
• It is not always easy for younger students to identify three things they have learned. Therefore, the first time you can opt for a '1-1-1 variant' or let students work in pairs.
• Let the students know:
  • how much time they will get (often it is enough to give two to five minutes per question)
  • what kind of answers you want to receive (words, sentences or short sentences)
  • when they can expect feedback (when applicable)

Examples

• Variation for French classes: In a previous lesson, students were introduced to tâches ménagères. At the beginning of this lesson, students have to write down which three household tasks they still remember. After three minutes, students discuss with their neighbour, and together they have to come to six household tasks in total. Finally, in pairs of two, they formulate one question that they ask another pair.
• Variations on '3-2-1' are: 'starter task' and 'exit ticket'

​Example 3-2-1 all languages (12-18 year-olds)

​

Description

A starter task is a short activity or assignment that you either write on the blackboard, put on your students' desks or hand out when your students enter the classroom. It is an effective strategy to follow up on the learning process of your students.

How it works

There are different ways to use a starter task:

• Use of prior knowledge in class:
  
  • Decide which topics to be treated in class you want your students to reflect on in advance.
  • Let the students fill in the starter assignment.
  • Discuss the answers with your class immediately after completion of the starter assignment or discuss the answers systematically during the lesson.
• Link the starter task to an 'exit ticket':
  • Decide which topics to be treated in class you want your students to reflect on in advance.
  • Let the students fill in the starter assignment.
  • Discuss the subject matter during the lesson.
  • At the end of class, ask your students to take their starter assignment again and complete it.
• Use the starter task to differentiate. Let the students carry out the starter assignment and split them up into groups based on their need for more or less additional instruction.

Tips

A starter task has to meet these four criteria to be targeted, efficient and effective:

1. The students should be able to carry out the starter assignment without any help from the teacher and without consulting their classmates.
   
2. The assignment should be finished in 3 to 5 minutes.
3. The assignment should be a written assignment or an activity students can do autonomously. This way you can keep an eye on who is actively working on their task.
4. The assignment should incite students to think about the subject matter that will be treated in class.

Examples

• Use prior knowledge in class:
  
  • French: the students learn to ask for directions. It is useful to refresh some verbs (aller, continuer, chercher...). The students write down the conjugation of these verbs on a worksheet and use it as a reminder during the lesson.
    
• Variations on the starter task are '3-2-1' and 'exit ticket'.

Description

With the inner and outer circle discussion technique, you give your students the opportunity to react to questions and/or discuss information with other students in a structured way. All students are active simultaneously and even the more quiet or shy students can safely have their say.

How it works

• Divide your students into two groups and have them stand in two circles (group 1 = inner circle; group 2 = outer circle).
• The students form pairs with someone from the other circle.
  • Ask a question and provide enough time for them to think of a response.
  • Ask the students from group 1 to share their answers with their partner from group 2.
  • After one or two minutes, the students from group 2 share their answers.
• On your mark, the students from group 2 move up a place and discuss the same or a new question with another student from group 1.

Tips

• The inner and outer circle can be used at different times during the lesson:
  • At the beginning of the lesson as an introduction to a new topic.
  • During the lesson to process important concepts before having students apply them independently.
  • After reading a text to discuss the most important concepts.
• Assign the groups beforehand. For example: use the numbers 1 and 2 to divide the class into two groups.
• The students can show that they have finished their discussion by turning their faces to the centre of the circle.
• You can also ask students to stand in two rows in case you do not have enough space in the classroom to form two circles.

Examples

A possible topic for the first foreign language class after the weekend or a holiday is to have the students talk about their weekend/holiday using this format. This way, students can also check their understanding of certain grammatical rules with each other.

​Example of inner and outer circle French class (14-15 year-olds)

​Example French class: video​

Description

With this method you check in various steps (think-pair-share) whether your students understood your explanation or what they already know about a subject.

How it works

• Determine the objective of the lesson. Are you working with a new text? With a series of questions or concepts?
• Describe the "think-pair-share" strategy to your students:
  • The students think about your question individually.
  • They share their answer with each other, which allows them to compare and adjust their answer.
• Then they report back to the class; you ask students to give their answers and the other students are asked to comment in between.

Tips

• First ask students to think about the question for themselves and only afterwards tell them that they can share their answer with each other. This way you avoid that certain students adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
• Provide guidelines for the discussion that will take place during the exchange.
• Correct misconceptions and reinforce correct answers.
• Formulate an open question to which several answers can be formulated.
• Make sure that the students have enough time to think.
• Remind students to take turns talking, listening carefully to each other and asking questions.
• Encourage students to make their thinking visible by asking them to write down or draw their ideas before and/or after sharing.​

Description

With this method you can give students the opportunity to show what they have learnt about a particular chapter or part of the lesson.

How it works

• Ask your students to each write four statements about the subject matter they learnt in a specific lesson (three facts and one lie).
• Have the students form groups of three or four.
  • Each student takes turns to present their four statements without saying which one is the lie.
  • The other students have to figure out which of the statements is the lie. They select one claim per group that they think is the lie and justify why they think so.
• After discussing this in group, the lies, as well as the reasoning behind them, can be discussed in class. This way, you can correct any misconceptions.

Tips

• Let the students prepare the statements as homework or make these statements yourself. In this way, you have to free up less time during the lesson to try this technique. Another way to save time, is to do the exercise in pairs.
• You can also give the students all the same facts and lies and ask them to pick out the lie through Kahoot!. This way it is easier to spot the most common mistakes.
• Give an example with four statements of your own and have the students guess what the lie is. This way, students experience what is expected of them.
• Use coloured answering cards (e.g. a red and a green card) so your students all can simultaneously indicate what they think is the lie when you go over the statements with the entire class.

Examples

• As an application of new subject matter:

The students write four short anecdotes about themselves, one of which is not true. They have to use, for example, the past simple or subjonctif, which they have just learnt. As extra support, you can give an example of what a correctly formed sentence looks like.

• Processing new subject matter: French class (14-15 years old)
  

The students formulate four claims about similarities or differences between the education systems in Belgium and France, one of which is incorrect.

Variation: students read a text and extract three elements from it. Of these elements, they reformulate two into a lie. The other students, who have also read the text, have to indicate which elements actually are in the text and which are not.

• ​Revising new subject matter: English class (13-14 years old)​

Description

With this teaching method you can create space for your students to reflect on their learning, connect with prior knowledge and request further information or clarification.

How it works

• Students individually summarize the essence of a lesson and consider how it relates to what they have learnt in previous lessons.
• Group the students in pairs or groups of three.
• The students are given 'three minutes to think' to:
  • share the preparations with each other,
  • explain to each other matters that are still unclear,
  • formulate a question for the entire class.
• With the whole class, make time to share what has been discussed in the smaller groups and to ask questions about matters that are still unclear.

Tips

• Remind students not to ask the teacher any questions during the 'three minutes to think'.
• Use 'three minutes to think' when large chunks of subject matter have to be processed.
• You can pre-structure this teaching method with the 'placemat method'.
  
• The questions that the students formulate can be used in a subsequent review moment.

Examples

'Three minutes to think' as a reading strategy:

This technique is often used in language teaching to teach students to process longer and more difficult texts. The text is divided into smaller parts. Each section is followed by 'three minutes to think' so that students are better prepared for the next one.

Description

An exit ticket is a tool to gain insight into what students think and what they have learnt at the end of a lesson. An exit ticket can indicate to what extent students master the lesson content. You can use this input to adapt instruction to the learning needs of your students in the next class.

How it works

• Design: decide what you want to know about your students' learning at the end of the lesson. Formulate one or more questions or write down a problem on the exit ticket.
• Collect: give your students a few minutes to fill in the ticket. Collect the tickets in a collection box or in the doorway.
• Clarify: sort the tickets into stacks. For example, into categories such as: understood – misunderstood – not sure about the student’s answer(s). Start the next lesson with interesting tickets or with a graph that highlights general responses. Another option is to start the next lesson by correcting the exit ticket. The students then correct their own or their neighbour's ticket.

Tips

• Link the exit ticket to your lesson objectives. Focus on a specific skill or concept that the students are to acquire in the lesson.
• Check students' understanding by having them summarize key points from the lesson or apply the content in a new way.
• Avoid general questions such as 'Do you understand?'
• For the first time, teach students to work with an exit ticket by using closed-ended questions or multiple-choice questions. When your students know how an exit ticket works, you can switch to open questions.
• For the next lesson, provide remedial teaching for students who have not yet mastered the lesson content and provided expansion opportunities for students who have mastered it well.
• Have students use their exit tickets when assembling a portfolio for your course.
• You can create digital exit tickets via Google forms. This is a free tool that allows you to create forms (e.g. questionnaire, quiz). The information you obtain from these forms can be uploaded to Google Drive and automatically saved in an Excel file.

Examples

• Exit ticket as preparation for a test: Questions you could ask are 'Are you ready for the test?', 'Do you have any questions about the subject matter?', 'What would you like to practice before taking the test? '
• Exit ticket variations are: '3-2-1' and 'starter task'​

​Example exit ticket English class digital + paper version (15-16 years old)​

​Example exit ticket English class (16-17 years old)​​

Description

Factstorming is a summarizing activity that you can do at the end of a lesson stage or to recap a large chunk of subject matter. You start with a summary of important facts and concepts from the subject matter with the entire class. Afterwards, the students work either individually, in pairs, or in small groups to thoroughly process the information in their own way.

How it works

• Write the topic you have been teaching on the blackboard (e.g. Romeo and Juliet).
• Ask your students to list important elements and concepts related to this topic (e.g. characters, themes, events in the play, cultural background information on the Elizabethan period).
• Formulate a number of assignments that allow students to structure the information in different ways and reflect critically on it.
• Ask you students to select one assignment and let them carry out the chosen assignment individually, in pairs or in small groups.

Tips

• Provide assignments that are extra challenging as well.
• Give students the opportunity to explain the assignment they have been working on to each other.
• Let students choose a second assignment as homework. This way, you will enable the students to process the information even more thoroughly.

Examples

• Assignments on the topic of 'Romeo and Juliet' that are achievable for everyone:
  • Choose one character and compare it with two other characters from the story.
  • Create a timeline of at least five important events in the play and briefly discuss their importance.
  • Choose at least two themes and give examples of passages in which those themes are addressed.
• Assignments on the topic of 'Romeo and Juliet' that are more challenging:
  • Select two important events in the story and discuss how they influence the main character.
  • Describe how the social, cultural, economic, and/or political events of that period influence the main characters.

Description

Pyramid is a co-operative structure that has students solve similar assignments in team first, after which they gradually become more independent. By first carrying out an assignment together, they can use each other's prior knowledge. Afterwards, students have to be able to work on the assignment without help from their peers.

How it works

• Set an exercise on a particular curriculum item. For instance, the exercise may be on applying a theory or practising a lesson stage that has just been finished. There have to be different variants of the assignment that deals with the same theory.
  
• First, the students do the exercise in groups (of three or four). They each write down a consensus answer on their worksheet. If necessary, the exercise will be checked in class.
• When this is done, the students receive a similar exercise that has to be made in pairs. Again, if necessary, the assignment will be corrected.
• Finally, the students do one or more exercises independently.

Tips

• By having the students at first work together and only afterwards on their own, they will be able to cope with more difficult exercises, comparatively speaking. Think about increasing the level of difficulty of the assignments provided.
  
• Emphasize the 'growth mindset' for students who feel insecure about completing a more difficult exercise all by themselves.
• Consider whether it is necessary to go over the exercises in between (for example, when you notice while circulating round the class that quite a lot of groups are making mistakes). If necessary, you can decide last-minute to allow some weaker students to continue to work in groups, while others start working independently.

Description

The placemat method is suitable to identify any prior knowledge students may have or to let students reflect on what they have learnt during a lesson. In addition, it encourages students to collaborate in a structured way so as to develop knowledge together.

How it works

• Each group (max four students) gets a placemat (see image below) and an assignment from the teacher.

• Each student is given five minutes to individually work on the assignment and write the result in the space that was assigned to them.
• In each group, the individual responses of the students are reviewed.
• The answers that all group members agree on are written down in the middle section of the placemat.
• Each group explains to the whole class what they have written in the central box.

Tips

• Add a ‘spy round’ in which two students walk around and see what other groups have written down in the centre of their placemat. Give the students the opportunity to adjust their own placemat centre based on what the ‘spies’ suggest.
• Divide roles for sharing the answers: appoint a spokesperson and someone to take notes, and determine who will roam and report as a spy.

Description

The SOS summary works as follows: the teacher provides a statement (S) about which the students give an opinion (O) that they support (S) with arguments. It can be about students’ own opinions, but also about opinions of authors whose texts they have read.

How it works

• Formulate a statement about which the students have to give their opinion.
• The students first indicate whether or not they agree with the statement.
• Then they formulate arguments to support their opinion.

Tips

• Use the modelling technique to explain this format to your students. You do this by carrying out the task yourself while thinking out loud: “The question is … . To answer this question, we first have to…”
• The first time your students start working with this format, they can work in pairs to familiarize themselves with it.
• This format can be used at the beginning of a new (lesson stage) topic to find out what students already know, but also during or at the end of a chapter to check whether and how their views have changed.
• This format can also be used to help students read and write argumentative texts.

Examples

Possible statements:

• The narrator of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime is reliable / unreliable.
• Le système scolaire français est meilleur que le système flamand.

Description

The question and answer game is designed to find out what students still remember about concepts they have learnt about and to clarify the learning that took place in previous activities.

How it works

• Make two stacks of cards. One stack contains questions related to a chapter that has been dealt with in class. The second stack contains the answers to these questions.
• Give each student a question and an answer card. Write down the same number for each ‘couple’ and ask your students to check that they do not have the answer card to their own question.
• Choose one student who reads their question out loud. The student who has the answer to that question goes to the student with the question and, while standing next to him or her, reads out their own question in turn. In this way, the students will form a chain.
• The activity continues until all students have an answer to their question.

Tips

• Ask students to make their own question and answer cards and use them during the game.
• Divide the class into two groups based on coloured cards and let the students search for their match within the group by walking around the room. This will save you time and you will need to provide fewer question and answer cards.
• Give students the chance to check themselves by putting patterns on the backs of the cards that become visible when a ‘couple’ is formed.

Examples

• You can use this method to teach vocabulary, for example about ‘les tâches ménagères’, where the question is the word in English and the answer is the word in French.
• You can also use this method to practise verb tenses. The question card contains the tense, person and the infinitive, for example ‘indicatif présent, première personne du singulier, commencer’. The answer card contains the correct conjugation, for example ‘je commence’.
• Another option is to use this method for learning content such as ‘telling the time’. You can require students to use fixed sentences, for example ‘What time do you have?’, ‘My watch says ...’.

​Example question and answer game French class (14-15 years old)​

​Example question and answer game English class (14-18 years old)​​