Ways to know learners and structuring classroom community!
Research suggests that it is easy to remember new details when it is already related to something you know. Similarly knowing more about learners as a teacher can be quite helpful. Students are interested in things and perusing them. When a learner feels that what he is learning, in reality, relates to his life. This helped in fostering innovation in him. Being able to understand your students can help in advancing and building community and rapport.
Six activities are community-oriented that can help in enhancing kids’ inner enthusiasm and retention. It is possible by understanding their needs and interests by connecting the lessons to their said interests.
Two things liked- one thing disliked
This is a go-to activity that helps teachers to break the ice and serves as an opportunity to know their students. Ask what they like and dislike can allow teachers to establish a rapport that is comfortable for kids. Teachers can conduct this activity by allowing students to connect among themselves and be respectful of others' choices.
‘Unity Quilt’ (Digital or Paper)
Each learner makes his tailored square on the joint ‘utility quilt”. Each of these squares represents different interests and like of different students. Later, students in the classroom guesses which one belongs to whom. This project serves as a great opportunity for the educator to know about the general interests of students and to link a similar curriculum for them.
‘Judge by cover’ Activity
This project can be a handy tool that can encourage reading and develop interests in learners for lesser-known objects that belongs in the library. The task of 'getting to know you centers around a few selected novels. It doesn't matter what they are, but it might be useful to recommend books with the right reading difficulty and length so that kids are motivated and, fingers crossed, continue reading even when this activity is complete. The students pick a book from the collection that, in whatever way imaginable, best captures who they are, and then they defend their choices to the other students.
Time-traveling activity
The dictionary of Merriam- Webster has a web page Time-Traveler, where one can pick a year and check the words that came in the dictionary for the very first time. The idea behind this activity is to ask kids to choose a word from their birth year which is relevant to their lives. For example, if the birth year is 1990 but one feels younger at heart, ‘twentysomething’ is the word that primarily appeared in the dictionary in the year 1990, which just may suit the bill.
This activity encourages literacy and creativity as the kids have a chance to think about various words that they feel are relevant to their lives. This is best suited for older kids and requires proper moderation.
Top Song
This activity is inspired by Dolly Alderton’s book Ghosts, Where the central character begins her birthday by playing the number one pop song of the time. In this project, kids are supposed to seek number track on the very day they were born and pick a line that they find relatable.
This activity encourages literacy and also focuses on developing kids’ reading skills. Moreover, can also strike discussions among students based on the reasons they provide.
‘Hello, this is me Video
This activity can work as a boon for teachers. A short video where the student introduces himself in a minute or two mentioning his likes, hobbies, and interesting details about him which he may not be confident in disclosing in public.
This activity serves as a record too for teachers to refer to in the future and notice the changes that appear in kids within a period. Moreover, help kids to know where they are similar and can help in building healthy relationship among peers.