Learner-Centered Activities: Find Your Match and I Describe
By Adrianne Roggenbuck
Find Your Match: Cause & Effect
Sample Standard: Understand events, trends, individuals and movements shaping colonial history and settlement in the United States.
Grade Level: 4
Time: 10-15 Minutes
Materials: Set of cards with causes, set of cards with matching effects
Group Size: Any. An even number of students works best for this activity.
Activity:
- Distribute cards randomly one per student.
- Students will mingle to find the card that is either the cause or the effect of the card they hold.
- Once all students have found their match, share the cause and effects with the whole group.
- The cards may be generic cause/effect or specific to a classroom reading selection, either fiction or nonfiction..
- A variation of this activity is to give a set of Cause cards to a small group and have them brainstorm the possible effects. Give the same set of cards to every small group and compare their responses to see how many different effects could occur given the same cause.
Examples of Generic Cause/Effect Cards:
|
Cause |
Effect |
|
John's alarm did not go off. |
He was late for school. |
|
Nick did extra chores. |
He had spending money for the movies. |
|
The teacher was sick. |
The class had a substitute. |
|
Michele worked hard on her report. |
She got a good grade. |
|
Jane walked in the rain. |
Her hair got wet. |
Adaptations for above level students:
Have students create the cause and effect cards from a class reading selection.
Submitted by Adrianne Roggenbuck, a former teacher who is currently a training consultant with the Bob Pike Group.
I Describe
Standard: Identify character traits for a specific literary figure.
Grade Level: 3-4
Time: 15-20 minutes
Materials: Trait Cards with one character trait on each. Enough for one per student.
Group Size: Any
Purpose: To match character traits to a literary figure that has been studied.
Activity:
- Post the names of several literary characters on the walls around the room.
- Hand out Trait Cards, one to each student.
- Students read their trait and decide which character it best describes.
- Students go to the station on the wall with that character's name on it.
- The group that gathers at the station will compare their cards and determine if they are all at the right character. If it is determined that a student's trait would better fit a different character, then they are free to join another group.
- If there are two students with the same card, determine which other character shares that same trait and have one student move to the new station. Some of the characters may share similar traits.
- A spokesperson from each character group will share their traits with the class.
Adaptations for Above Level Learners:
- These students may create the Trait Cards based on figures from their reading.
- After the students have revealed the traits in the small group, they write a character sketch of their chosen character.
Submitted by Adrianne Roggenbuck, a former teacher who is currently a training consultant with the Bob Pike Group.
