Great For: Reading aloud

December 17, 2014
Link: 11 Alternatives to "Round Robin" (and "Popcorn") Reading

By Becky Edwards www.edutopia.org/blog/alternatives-to-round-robin-reading-todd-finley 11 BETTER APPROACHES 1. Choral Reading The teacher and class read a passage aloud together, minimizing struggling readers' public exposure. In a 2011 study of over a hundred sixth graders (PDF, 232KB), David Paige found that 16 minutes of whole-class choral reading per week enhanced decoding and fluency. In another version, every time […]

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December 31, 2012
Watch for Questions

While reading a scripture block, what are the things, phrases, allusions, etc that you don't understand? What questions do you have after reading some scripture verses? ALSO, look for actual questions in the block. Can you answer them? What if you had to answer the question aloud, especially if they were asked by the Lord […]

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December 31, 2012
Look Under Your Seat

Write the assigned verses or passages on a post it note. Mix up the order you will be covering the passages in, and stick an assignment under each seat in the classroom. When it comes time to read, have everyone look under their seat for their passage and read. I usually employ this method when […]

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December 31, 2012
Cold-calling

Teachers can randomly assign students to read randomly by calling them by name. The key is the order of the direction and the assignment. Here's how: "Turn in your Bible to Isaiah chapter 1. [pause] Everyone look at your scriptures. We'll be reading verses 1-15 aloud one at a time and discussing each individually. Verse […]

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December 31, 2012
Popcorn Reading

This is another form of student-directed randomized scripture reading. Students stand to read a verse and then call the name of someone else to stand and read the following verse. The kids are "popping" up to read. This is also a good technique when you're doing Everybody Writes (each student writes a a brief response […]

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December 31, 2012
Group Drawing

My students love group drawing. It's good for covering material that is easy to imagine visually. I have also used it to cover distressing topics -- like the events preceding the second coming -- because these events seem less frightening when sketched for some reason. I have done group drawing a couple of ways. One […]

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December 31, 2012
Mime

Invite all students to read a passage silently. Have a couple of students come to the front of the class. Tell them they will be acting out the events in the story, but with a twist -- they are mimes, and must act out silently. OPTIONAL: Ask other students in the class to follow along […]

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December 31, 2012
Wait for it

This is a simple tip that will help you leverage media in the classroom and get better discussion. Determine before class what the main discussion points are in the material you will cover. Instruct students before you watch or listen to your media which main points to watch for as the media plays. You might […]

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December 31, 2012
Gospel Cartoonist

Give each student a pencil and piece of paper. Tell your students that they will be cartoonists and should draw a cartoon of the story you are about to read aloud. Stick figures are perfectly okay -- this is not about drawing skill, but it's about picking out the most important details they hear from […]

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December 31, 2012
Find a pattern

Try to identify patterns in the scriptures that can help your students overcome challenges. Look for words that repeat, phrases that describe a behavior or character trait, or doctrine, principle. EXAMPLE During our discussion of Matthew 4, I had my students explain Jesus' three temptations to the class. I listed them on the board. Then […]

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