White board hold-ups

Hello colleagues, In my advanced ESL class yesterday, we had a vocabulary quiz over the academic words we've been studying. On Wednesday, I wanted to give the students some time to review the vocabulary words and prepare for the quiz. I decided to try an activity with white boards that I've used before, but I wanted to make the activity more interactive and cooperative than I had in the past.

Students worked in groups of three, and each group had one white board and marker to share.  The small groups worked together to answer the teacher-posed questions. They were very engaged in their small group discusssions. Group members took turns writing the answer on the white board. When I called time, each group had to hold up their white boards. We were able to immediately see which groups had the correct answer.

We also worked together as a whole class to make any needed corrections to the responses on the white boards. I didn't make this competitive this time, but it could be done that way, too, with prizes for those who get the correct answers.

This was a wonderfully engaging way to review material for a quiz. I highly recommend this and other "total participation techniques" drawn from Bill and Perside Himmele's book by the same title. In addition, you can check out an ASCD blog about "hold-ups" which highlights a lot of different ways to implement hold-ups to assess learning in fun, interactive ways.

I think the Himmele's text would make for a worthwhile book group discussion on LINCS. We've held a LINCS book group in the past with success, so if any members would like to be part of a group to discuss this book, please let me know. I can look into the possibility.

Reference: Himmele, W. & Himmele, P. (2011). Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL, Assessment, and CCS CoPs

Comments

Susan and all,

I did a similar review activity this week, but I used Kahoot (https://getkahoot.com). It's an Internet based games, so you do need access to the Internet. You can set up quizzes and students play competitively with smart phones or other mobile devices. Although students can play individually, I always set up teams, so students can support each other. The students really love playing it and I often hear them explaining to each other, in English or a shared language, why the answers are or are not correct. It also gives me an idea of what they understand or are still having problems with. My students are refugees and immigrants, but so far I have always had enough students with mobile phones or tablets to form small groups - I find 3 is a good number. I'd definitely be interested in a discussion of total participation activities.

Dorothy Taylor 

Educational Opportunity Center, SUNY/University at Buffalo

Hi Dorothy, Thank you for sharing the kahoot website and how you are using this digital tool to engage students in collaborative learning as well as to assess. Your example shows how we can engage everyone in cooperative activities even when some do not have their own smart phone. In fact, when students collaborate in this way, they have the opportunity to use more English than they would otherwise.

I know members would love to hear a specific example or two of how you are using kahoot.

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL & Assessment CoPs

 

So far, I've only used Kahoot for review. Here's the link for the one that I used for the grammar/writing class review last week:

https://play.kahoot.it/#/login?next=%252Fk%252F5296b309-bac4-4dc3-9296-f9d8448728ab

I think you have to sign up and log in to see it. Although I made it public, it's pretty specific to my class and school. One thing I like about Kahoot is that it makes a fairly boring topic, such as parts of speech, a little more fun. 

Dorothy

I love using mini whiteboards in my ESOL classes!  I've used them for a range of different activities, and my observations suggest that the large and temporary format seems to encourage more sharing of ideas in a group. They also write much larger than they would on paper - possibly because of the big fat whiteboard markers, but also I suspect because they can just rub out what they've written and start again.

A couple of the ways I've used them very successfully with different groups at different levels:

  • Practicing writing language that is usually spoken (kind of like 'texting'):
    We started by watching this lovely short film 'Signs' - http://youtu.be/uy0HNWto0UY
    Then we had a 'silent conversation' on mini whiteboards using an idea from Chia Suan Chong's blog: 10 things I do with my Mini-WhiteBoards
     
  • Explaining the rules of a childhood game to a partner or group:
    Nearly all used the whiteboards to draw and demonstrate.  I couldn't stop the conversations in this lesson - most students went on to explain several games!

Here are some more ideas shared by other language teachers on their blogs:

Cheers
Lesley

 

Hi Lesley, Wow! You've given us so many great ideas to try out with white boards! Thank you! I appreciate what one of the blogger's you shared with us, Phil Bird, says about white boards,

"The key to this resource is the fact that unlike paper any thing can be rubbed off and written again, easily, which seems to be really conducive to group or pair work – getting learners to work together to construct a text/word/sentence. It’s less permanent than writing on paper, so learners are more keen to experiment and correct each others’ work."

Having students talk about a childhood game is a great idea! I definitely want to try this one.

Do you have a source for reasonably priced white boards?

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL & Assessment CoPs

 

Hi Susan

This is the type of mini whiteboards we bought: Colorific Double Sided Whiteboard:  http://mydesk.officemax.com.au/furniture/colorific-double-sided-whiteboard.html  - this is an Australian link, but you might be able to find a local supplier.  They are 300x400 mm.  They do tend to get a bit grubby,  but I take a roll of kitchen wipes into class and that's fine with an occasional clean with a whiteboard cleaning spray.

When I shared my ideas with teachers in my college, one of the physics teachers shared this:

I use 600 x 800 mm boards. I use them mainly for group work. The bigger size seems to works well, as there is more space for diagrams, and a group of 3 or 4 can easily gather around it.

I got my boards made up at Bunnings (local hardware store). I bought some whiteboard pieces, and asked for them to be cut to size. The  sharp edges and corners also need to be smoothed off. Very cheap.

He also shared this link, which includes lots of additional ideas plus links and tips for making your own, with mention of US suppliers.

The $2 Interactive Whiteboard: https://fnoschese.wordpress.com/2010/08/06/the-2-interactive-whiteboard/

Have fun and do report back how it goes.

Cheers

Lesley

What a lot of terrific ideas for using white boards!1  I have used and recommended them for a long time as part of the learning centers that can be used in adult ESOL classrooms.  One activity that students particularly like is pair spelling or pair dictation.  Each student has a board and some words on cards that they are learning to read and/or spell.   For the spelling, one SPELLS a word only-- WITHOUT saying the word first-- and the partner writes the letters and then reads the word.  This reinforces knowledge of letters-- saying, understanding, writing.  Pair dictation is similar-- the pair has a stack of cards with words they want to learn-- these can be review for a subject areas (e.g. CNA work or words for a reading or topic).  One student dictates, the other writes, then they check.  Students reported that they LOVE this activity because it involves all four skills, AND it is entirely self-checking.  (The only trick to success is making sure students actually WAIT to check until the partner has finished trying to write the word-- at first they just want to show their partner the word to copy....!).   For the reasons detailed in this discussion- ease of erasing, bigger writing, less "commitment" in writing than paper requires-- white boards lend themselves to a vast array of activities.   I use them constantly in my current life as tutor to adult immigrants (and the children in the homes where I tutor LOVE them, too!). 

When I was assembling and selling kits with supplies for learning centers, I purchased white boards in bulk-- usually at Amazon, where there are LOTS of choices.  I never paid more than a dollar apiece--- but those were one-sided, not two -sided boards. Several companies have them in packages of 10 or 20.    Walmart has them as part of their "back to school" displays--again-- usually for 99 cents.   Regularly they are under 2 dollars.   Walmart has a nice selection of different kinds too.  I have found some that come with black markers with little erasers on them--much less messy than paper towel or a rag!     At Amazon you can enter "individual white boards" or "individual erasable boards".

Robin 

 

 

 

Hello Robin and all, Peer dictation is an all time favorite activity of mine -- I use it routinely with students and in workshops with teachers, too. I absolutely love your suggestion, Robin, to use white boards for spelling peer dictation. I will definitely be "stealing" this one!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL & Assessment CoPs

I just had an excellent experience at Home Depot in Falls Church, VA and received a good deal on some tempered hardboard to use for dry-erase boards and use with my intermediate level adult ESL class.  The Home Depot salesperson actually had a slightly damaged piece and discounted it 70%.  At a retail price of $7.95 and discounted to $2.38, I couldn't pass it up.  (Found in the lumber department.) In addition, he cut the 4' x 8' board into 8'x12" individual boards.  I'm a volunteer and currently teaching just one day a week but eager to try this tool.  I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to use them for a a civics lesson on elections but I'm eager to try them. I also bought some super absorbent Quickie towels that I've cut into small pieces (originally approx 19x19"). Each package has 2 towels, are washable and cost $2.98.  I'm really looking forward to trying these out.  If you have an idea of how to use them for a civics lesson, I'd love to hear them. 

Hello Ellen and all, Thank you, Ellen, for sharing your experience at Home Depot. What a great deal! I've used white boards for various civics oriented lessons, especially when teaching American history for students who are interested in citizenship. As part of the naturalization process, individuals are asked to write a dictated sentence in English, so I've used the boards for dictation practice.

I've also used white boards to pose questions related to the content we are studying. Students work in a small group with each student taking a turn writing the answer. Everyone in the group needs to agree that the answer is correct. This activity can also be done as a game.

I'm sure other teachers have ideas to share, too.

Let us know how your white board activity goes!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, AELL CoP