Lesson #1: Snowball WATT
Objectives
- Students will be able to explain what they know about the Civil War before they have formal instruction on the topic.
- What Are You Thinking Questions (See WATT Reflection Page)
- A Blank Piece of Paper for Each Student
- Pen/Pencils
- Music to Play as Students Write their Thoughts
- Some Form of Media Player to Play the Music
- The student will be doing the Snowball Activity. The students will be seated in a circle. This involves the students filling out a blank piece of paper with the prompted question(s) read out by the teacher, but not writing their name on the paper. Quiet music can be played during the time when the students are writing in order to encourage creativity and prevent people from discussing the questions among one another.
- The students will then ball up the paper and throw it into the middle of the classroom, then go to the center and pick up a "snowball."
- The students will share the snowball they have picked up. This is done after a huge discussion about how this is not the person whose reading it's personal thoughts.
- The close to this activity will be bringing up that we will be learning a lot more about the Civil War in the weeks to come.
- The students can choose to write, draw, create a song, poem, or other form of expression in order to answer the questions asked.
- The What Are They Thinking snowball will be a formative assessment to help the teacher prepare the lesson that is to come. This can be a very telling activity that shapes what the teacher focuses on in regards to teaching the students.
- This lesson will need a media player of some sort to play the music that will be played while the students are writing their thoughts.
watt_questions.docx | |
File Size: | 56 kb |
File Type: | docx |