General Teaching Activities/Ideas

Creating Posters, News Centres and Interactive Bulletin Boards

Visual displays provide a focus for many topics and can be used as teaching devices to reinforce the knowledge, skills and attitudes being taught. Student ownership and pride are promoted through active involvement in the creation, use or monitoring of displays, which can be powerful teaching tools.

Brainstorming

This strategy helps students generate ideas about a specific issue, topic or problem and can be used to identify the students' background knowledge or to create a common base of knowledge for the class to use. All ideas should be accepted to encourage divergent thinking. Ideas should not be discussed or criticized.

Affinity Charting

Focuses on cognitive learning that requires students to think analytically, synthesize their findings and evaluate information. Affinity charting requires that students think of answers independently (they usually write these on Post-it notes) and then group their common ideas onto a continuum.

Mind Mapping

Mind maps are tools which help you think and learn. Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focusing on key ideas written down in your own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are mapping knowledge in a manner which will help you understand and remember new information.

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