Academic Activities – The Origins Program

Kudos Comments

November 4, 2016
origins

The word kudos comes from the Greek word Kudos meaning magical glory. Use Kudos comments to create a bit of magical glory.

How To Play: Begin or end each meeting with Kudos. Name a person or person(s) for something specific they have done to further their own professional or personal goals. State what was done and why it is important. E.g. “Kudos to Mark for implementing his new science unit he planned on ethics in science to help our students prepare for the future. Your innovation inspires us all!”

November 6, 2015
origins

Materials:

Paper (3 pieces of paper for each person playing)
A container to hold the pieces of paper
Timer
Pens

How To Play:

Have students or teacher create slips of paper with words or phrases related to the topic of study. Fold them in half them put them in the container.

Round 1: Taboo

January 19, 2012
origins

Purpose
To build the skills of perspective-taking

January 10, 2012
origins

Find here the Reading Interest Inventory to download, print, and use as
needed. This resource supports the implementation of the Developmental Designs 1 week-long workshop.

Reading Interest Inventory (26K Word Document)

January 10, 2012
origins

Find here the template for an Egypt Student Plan Sheet to download,
print, and use as needed. This resource supports the implementation of
the Developmental Designs 2 weeklong workshop.

Egypt Student Plan Sheet Template (PDF file)

January 10, 2012
origins

Use this PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) form to guide student reflection following a social or academic experience. You can guide students to use the form with or without a specific focus on an aspect of a learning experience (e.g., reflection on the group-work portion of a lesson or understanding of math facts).

PMI Reflection Form (10K, PDF)

January 9, 2012
origins

Purpose
To engage learners in conversation; to scaffold speaking in
large groups, especially for groups that are unwilling to or lacking confidence
to speak in larger groups: most commonly used for
processing

Process

January 9, 2012
origins

Purpose
To write and then sort ideas and opinions so each voice is
“heard” anonymously-the cards do the “talking”: most commonly used to deepen
understanding

Process

January 9, 2012
origins

Purpose
To share and gain information about group work products; to
gather a sense of the thinking of the class

Process
1. Work
groups post products and decide the order in which single members will stay to
explain and answer questions while the rest stray.
2. At the leader’s
signal, the first “stay” members remain with their products while the “stray”
members move to other groups’ products.

January 9, 2012
origins

Purpose

To discuss and create deeper understanding for a text
while a class reads it together: most commonly used for
processing

Process

January 9, 2012
origins

Purpose

To help students evaluate and extend understanding of
process, facts, concepts, or social interactions: most commonly used for showing
what you know

Process
Students reflect individually through
writing in journals, on sheets of paper, or in Reflection
Booklets.

Examples
P.M.I.

Describe a plus
Describe a minus
Describe something you found interesting

STOPLIGHT

January 6, 2012
origins

Creating the Climate

Middle school educators can teach their students how to have great group
conversations that build both academic and social skills. First of
all, we have to establish a climate that encourages participation.

Hand-raising: The first conversation format
Make hand-raising your class’s default way of responding to questions.
Establish this conversation-management tool so students feel a sense of
order, safety, and respect. Later, you can bring variety and challenge
to student participation structures.

Kudos Comments

Many words, no words

Four Corners for Perspective-taking

Reading Interest Inventory

Student Plan Sheet Sample: Egypt study

PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) Reflection Form

Think, Ink, Pair, Share

Talking Cards

Stay and Stray

Say Something

Reflection Prompts

Conversation Management

Creating the Climate

Address

Phone Number

Web Address

Activity Categories: Academic Activities

Creating the Climate