response cards
- Are you teaching or counseling a group of students who seem shy or reluctant to respond to open ended questions, regardless of the topic? There are many books, blogs, and videos that address this, but I wanted to share one activity that was a big hit with one group of fifth graders: response cards.
You'll need:
- a set of question cards appropriate for your topic (Mine were related to emotions, such as "When was the last time you felt unhappy?" or "What is one thing about yourself that makes you proud?" but could also be a variety of other topics.)
- a set of response cards (without their meaning written):
- repeat: reflecting back, rephrase, "I hear you saying..."
- wonder: ask a question, "I wonder if you..."
- dis/agree: taking a position, "I dis/agree because..."
- add on: proving additional information or opinions, "In addition, I think..."
Small Group Setting
Students sit in a circle. The leader discusses four ways in which students can respond to teachers' or peers' questions, and explains that the students often have great ideas hidden away but haven't learned how to share them. Then students begin drawing cards. One student takes a question card; the next student takes a response card. The first student shares their answer to the question, then the next student must respond using the response card drawn (Some students find the response skills challenging, so the leader can allow other students to help in the first round or two). For example, one student could draw a question card that says "What is the last thing that you were super excited about?" and responds with "My trip to Germany, when I got to see my favorite football team play." The next student, who drew an 'add on' card, says, "I've been to Germany, and my favorite part was seeing that giant old castle." Another student with a 'wonder' card asks, "why did you get excited about football rather than seeing some of the cool sites like castles and the Berlin wall?" The student who originally responded to the question card would then be given the chance to respond to any student statements or questions.
Hopefully, these response cards will encourage:
- all students (even the shy or disengaged one) to respond to/engage the topic
- higher order thinking skills
- students to engage in metacognitive thinking about how they behave and think
- stimulate debate and discussion among students
- self reflection and self awareness of opinions, beliefs, and feelings about topics
- awareness that others may have very different perceptions and opinions
The video above was the inspiration for the response cards, with a few modifications for small group purposes. Check out other Teaching Channel videos, which are a wealth of free information for both teachers and school counselors!
fall 2103 small groups, grades 3-5
This school year, I have had the opportunity to provide six week cycles of classroom lessons and small groups (see my blog post advocating for (a schedule) change for further details). This means I am scheduled into every classroom like music or P.E., but rotate every six weeks. I teach in grades K-2 while I run small groups for grades 3-5, and after 6 weeks I start small groups for Kinder through 2nd grade students and teach in grades 3-5. I really enjoy this schedule, because it allows me to run more small groups than I could if I taught all 24 classes weekly. For the past six weeks, I had the opportunity to run eleven groups with five different topics, accompanying curricula, and a sample lesson that went over well with group members:
Topic: social thinking
Curriculum: Superflex
Popular Lesson: Using the Superflex Distractor Shield against the "Brain Eater"
Example: bottom right artwork theme: "tennis," top right theme: "summertime"
Topic: friendship
Curriculum: G.I.R.L.S.: Friendship
Popular Lesson: Creating artwork from random scraps to discuss perspective taking
Lesson Details: Group members selected 4-6 items from a random collection of scraps, then arranged the items into a work of art. They were then asked to think of a theme for their art. The group went around the circle guessing what each person's artwork was themed. Members were excited to guess the theme, or to "see" it once it was revealed by the artist. We then discussed as a group how gratifying it can be when someone sees our perspective from the start, or can learn to see it after talking for awhile. We then extended this to our experiences at recess and other common social interactions.
Curriculum: G.I.R.L.S.: Friendship
Popular Lesson: Creating artwork from random scraps to discuss perspective taking
Lesson Details: Group members selected 4-6 items from a random collection of scraps, then arranged the items into a work of art. They were then asked to think of a theme for their art. The group went around the circle guessing what each person's artwork was themed. Members were excited to guess the theme, or to "see" it once it was revealed by the artist. We then discussed as a group how gratifying it can be when someone sees our perspective from the start, or can learn to see it after talking for awhile. We then extended this to our experiences at recess and other common social interactions.
Topic: self esteem & social skills for boys
Curriculum: Operation Breaking the Boy Code (see below)
Popular Lesson: Creating superhero characters
Lesson details: The book provides worksheets with prompts to help each group member to create their own superhero, with powers, costumes, sidekicks, vehicles and more. Group members were asked to think of heroes who could help our school, and were excited to draw pictures of their created heroes.
Curriculum: Operation Breaking the Boy Code (see below)
Popular Lesson: Creating superhero characters
Lesson details: The book provides worksheets with prompts to help each group member to create their own superhero, with powers, costumes, sidekicks, vehicles and more. Group members were asked to think of heroes who could help our school, and were excited to draw pictures of their created heroes.
Topic: self esteem & social skills for girls
Curriculum: Operation Breaking the Girl Code
Popular Lesson: Creating symbolic badges
Lesson details: After discussing Juliette Lowe's life and the use of badges in Girl Scouts, group members chose three symbols and colors. They created a unified badge that represented their unique traits and individuality.
Curriculum: Operation Breaking the Girl Code
Popular Lesson: Creating symbolic badges
Lesson details: After discussing Juliette Lowe's life and the use of badges in Girl Scouts, group members chose three symbols and colors. They created a unified badge that represented their unique traits and individuality.
Topic: leadership
Curriculum: Building Everyday Leadership in All Kids
Popular Lesson: Leadership Talk Show
Lesson Details: Members split up into pairs and chose A and B. "A" was instructed to play talk show host and choose one question from a long list (i.e., what kind of furniture would you be and why? If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose and why?). "B" then played talk show guest and spoke for 1 minute while "A" listened without speaking. Then the two switched. "A"s then found new "B" partners and repeated the activity, but for 3 minutes. Afterward, the group discussed how it felt to talk and listen for a shorter and extended time. Group members reflected on how difficult it can be to be a good listener, but that when you stop and really listen you learn more about the speaker. They also discovered that body language impacts how much the "guest" could talk, especially during the three minute stretch. This activity was a favorite of the entire group, and they requested to play it again with their class.
Curriculum: Building Everyday Leadership in All Kids
Popular Lesson: Leadership Talk Show
Lesson Details: Members split up into pairs and chose A and B. "A" was instructed to play talk show host and choose one question from a long list (i.e., what kind of furniture would you be and why? If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose and why?). "B" then played talk show guest and spoke for 1 minute while "A" listened without speaking. Then the two switched. "A"s then found new "B" partners and repeated the activity, but for 3 minutes. Afterward, the group discussed how it felt to talk and listen for a shorter and extended time. Group members reflected on how difficult it can be to be a good listener, but that when you stop and really listen you learn more about the speaker. They also discovered that body language impacts how much the "guest" could talk, especially during the three minute stretch. This activity was a favorite of the entire group, and they requested to play it again with their class.
organizing for small group facilitation
Eleven small groups with five different topics were offered for students in grades 3-5 this fall. It required a great deal of organization to keep everything running smoothly! Luckily, I had many school counseling blogs to use as reference for efficient methods and systems. Below are a few tools and systems that were implemented.
To organize group projects, each group was given a cardboard book box. Students could clip their checking in clothespin to the box at the end of the group, as well as placing any art projects or worksheets inside the box for safekeeping. This proved to be an efficient and space-saving way to keep track of many items and pins for eleven different groups (I will try to get a photo during our next six week cycle).
The check in scale (modeled after that of Tabitha's at Scrapbook of a School Counselor) proved to be extremely popular with group members! The scale is a simple piece of laminated cardboard with the numbers one through five, and is attached to the edge of a large whiteboard. Every week, I wrote two emotions/ states that could be considered along a range (satisfied/longing, extroverted/introverted, shy/outgoing, etc). Every group member had a clothespin with their name, and clipped their pin to the number that best suited their feelings at that moment. Each member then had the opportunity to share about their choice or pass. At the end of our groups, students reported this was one of their favorite parts of the group experience.
For my own organization, I have a groups binder with tabs that contain the list of group members by topic, permission form letters, lesson plans, and notes from each group. Each curriculum also has its own binder filled with clear plastic sleeves. As we completed projects, I placed extra worksheets and samples of group members' work to show in future groups. When I find ideas for supplemental projects or worksheets, I place these in the back of the binder as well.
