Active Learning for Gen Z/Generation Alpha

 Activate Active Learning!

What is Active Learning?

Image Source: Good Sensory Learning, Dr. Erica Warren

     From my own experience in school, we were mainly taught to sit in our desks, stay quiet, and follow directions. Although my teachers incorporated hands-on learning from time-to-time for science, math, and art, we rarely had those experiences in reading, writing, and social studies. Active learning allows students to actively (mentally and physically) participate in the lesson's activities and be consciously aware of what is being taught. Students can engage with their classmates and teacher, rather than sit in their designated spots and listen to another lecture.

    Active learning can be done in multiple formats--it doesn't always involve using trinkets to count, blocks to build, or chemicals to mix. Dr. Erica Warren mentions a few of the ways we can include active learning in our classrooms in her blog: How To Help Students Be Active Learners. We can: 

• Roleplay
• Include class discussions
• Incorporate cooperative learning
• Think Pair Share
• & other learning games

Personal Experience with Active Learning

    In the Generation iY PowerPoint, Tim Elmore mentions, "Forget the lecture unless it is accompanied by an experience that enables them to remember the point you are making." This stuck with me as I thought about some of the changes I have made in my classroom and to my lessons over the years.
    As a Reading/English teacher, it can get a bit challenging to get students to actively learn and participate in class. The true challenge was finding new ways of introducing (or reintroducing) them to parts of speech (grammar), literary devices, and writing without lecturing the rules over and over again to the class. My students have always enjoyed POPCORN reading when it came to reading through the textbook, but I noticed that my lessons were extremely repetitive with: reading the rules, showing the class examples of the rules/how they're applied in writing, students completing the exercises, going over the answers, recapping the rules, and assigning homework/extra practice. I knew my lessons needed--craved--something more, as did my students.
    Within the last couple of weeks, I wanted to actively teach verbs to my 7th graders. However, I have had this same groups of kids for two years, and I wanted to try something new with them, something that would involve them more in the lesson, and challenge them, too. I decided to assign the different types of verbs to groups, who had to research their given verb-type and present the information to the class. Students were excited to "be the teacher" for a change. One student even remarked how "fun and interesting" the lessons were and that I should let them do it more often. Below, I included just a few slides from one of the four presentations students gave. They included a recap of verbs in general, definitions and examples of linking verbs, videos, and example sentences (for in-class practice) that included students' names. It was a wonderful way of connecting learning and students into one lesson.

Image Sources: Author

    Another activity I completed with my 8th graders was a lesson on symbolism. I started this lesson off as I usually would: introduce the topic/idea, the rules and meanings behind them, and how they're applied in literature. It didn't take long to notice how uninterested my students were. I decided to bring up a saying I had heard back when I was in college: English majors always read too much into the details in a novel. For example, if the author writes that the curtains were blue, English majors will read into the color and define it at as the tone/mood the author was depicting for that particular scene, when in reality, perhaps the author just really liked the color blue and chose that for the description.

    I used that as my gateway and asked my students what color notebooks they have for their classes. The colors: green, blue, purple, yellow, red, and black were shouted out. I quickly listed them on the board and asked students which color represents each of their subjects. Students organized their notebook colors and subjects on a sheet of paper and listed which color was for which subject. I then asked them to think about why they selected those colors; what was the reason behind math being red versus blue, or science being blue versus green? This opened up an entirely new topic about symbolism.

    As the conversation progressed, I got the idea to implement symbolism into their everyday lives. Students needed to come up with a list of their top ten used emojis. They needed to explain when they use those emojis and why. I included a list below, which was compiled by one of my students.

Image Source: Author

    It was interesting to see how each student used some emojis in different context--they each had a different meaning for them. Overall, it was a great activity to get students actively learn about symbolism and the meaning of various types of symbols.

Six Word Story

    Again, as a teacher who focuses on reading and writing, the first topic that stuck out to me was the One Year Told in Six Words activity. As I read the blog post, it reminded me of an introductory activity I do with my students: a name acrostic poem. In order to get to know my students, I ask them to write their name down on a sheet of paper, in a list format, and think of a word that begins with each letter. The words must describe their personality. However, the Six Word Story/Memoir would be a wonderful closing-out-the-year activity for a group of students as well.

    The post mentioned that the memoirs were open for grades 1 thru 7, where students were challenged with writing a six-word memoir about the following topics:

Tell something you like about Coonley

What activity did you really enjoy this school year?

Write about yourself

Give advice to others

    The compiled product of 470 slides is a wonderful dedication to the school year, the school, students, and teachers.

    I wondered about how each teacher scored the final product. Although the assignment was the same, there have to have been different expectations per each grade level, not to mention modifications and expectations for students with IEPs and other educational accommodations.

    Overall, the activity was challenging enough for each grade level, and it opened up multiple opportunities for students to think back on the school year and create the six-word memoir in a creative format.

Inclusion of Active Learning for the Future

    I would love to incorporate this activity with my 8th graders next year as a start- and end-of-the-year assignment. This way, they can look back on their work from the beginning of the year and see how far along they've come in building their voice, as well as how their thoughts on the school year have changed once they've actually experienced it versus when they were anticipating it.

    Take a look at my Padlet to see how I have used the information from the original blog post to sort out ideas on how I can incorporate a six-word memoir into my classroom, as well as other forms of six-word stories used in active learning.

Image Source: Author via Padlet

Resources

Elmore, T. (n.d.). Generation iY by Tim Elmore. Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/17SDlTXa-13Y2uPC9V1Kmun1s7BWGOhyFQxa0JEFaQLQ/edit#slide=id.g516200a087_0_0Sakamoto, B. H. 

(2011, March 3). Six Word Stories (by Barbara Hoskins Sakamoto). Teaching Village. https://www.teachingvillage.org/2011/03/03/six-word-stories/

Warren, E. (2021, January 12). How To Help Students Be Active Learners. Good Sensory Learning. https://goodsensorylearning.com/blogs/news/how-to-be-active-learner

Zumpano, N. (2015, June 17). One Year Told in Six Words. One Year Told in Six Words. http://zumpanotechlab.blogspot.com/2015/06/one-year-told-in-six-words.html