Two weeks ago I attended an INSET day on Kagan structures. I wrote then that I had been impressed and was keen to try out some of the strategies. I have always been a huge fan of collaborative learning but have been bowled over by the improvement these strategies have made to the quality of the students' learning.
The main strategies I have used have been Rally Robin, Timed Pair Share and Write Rally Robin. All of these are similar to strategies I have used in the past but the structure here forces students to play a full part in the whole process rather than let someone else do all the work.
Rally Robin - students take it in turns to say word on a topic is a great starter and surprisingly hard. On most occasions I have played too and I would recommend always trying to get involved in all the collaborative games you are playing.
Timed Pair Share I really like as students have 30 seconds to talk about something to their partner - their partner then paraphrases what they said. This is great for reinforcement and making the partner actually pay attention. I have thrown in a variation where the partner has to add something the speaker forgot. I find you need some variations to the formula to keep the kids on their toes.
Write Rally Robin is a brilliant way to build and develop the ideas students produce in groups. Students have a few minutes to work on a task. They then feedback to the group or the whole class - the other students tick it off if they thought of it and add it if they hadn't - a great way to make sure they all are involved.
I have used these techniques with all groups but they have been particularly successful with my Sixth Form groups. My year 13 group is only 4 students who are all naturally quiet so this has really helped structure and develop their discussion.
I am very impressed at how some really simple extra touches have made such a difference to my lessons. Looks like I may be adding the Kagan book to my Xmas wish list. At the INSET session some teachers were a bit skeptical and thought this was all too simplistic and silly. I hope they give these ideas a try - I am glad I did.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Nice perspective, thanks John. I've also found good results with my class of 4 year 13 students, rally coach being very good for them to improve their written exam answers. Like you say, these structures are often similar to activities I've used before, but that bit of refinement and focus on the structure itself does give engagement a boost. I am running out of silly reasons to pick someone to go first though...
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Andy. I have tried all kinds to pick who goes 1st - most letters in name, number of Facebook friends, number of Xmas cards sent/received, distance travelled to school, number of legs in house, money in pocket. Need to think up some new ones
DeleteI've had birthday closest to Christmas, who woke up earliest/latest today, biggest number if you add up the digits in your phone number - but I am nicking some of your suggestions - should keep me going 'til Christmas!
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