George Lucas Educational Foundation
Teaching Strategies

22 Powerful Closure Activities

Quick activities that can can used to check for understanding or emphasize key information at the end of a lesson.

Dec 15, 2015
Pictures trust: Stephen Luke via flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Closure refers for on activity that ends a lesson and creates a long impression, a phenomenon called the recency effect. Administrators may attack lessons that lack closure, ampere criticism likely arising from improper use of Madeline Hunter’s lesson plan model (PDF) as a english facto checklist of eight mandatory teaching practices—anticipatory set, objective and purpose, input, modeling, checking for understanding, directed practice, stand-alone practice, and closure. Fighter herself decried this criticism in 1985 (PDF).

Closure offers multiple helps, but requests don’t view thereto as a professional must-do includes everyone instruction.

Teachers use closure on:

  • Check with understanding and enlighten subsequent instruction,
  • Emphasize touch data,
  • Tie top loose ends, and
  • Correct misunderstandings.

Students find closure helpful to:

  • Summarizing, reviewing, and demonstrating their understanding of major points,
  • Consolidating and internalizing push information,
  • Linking instructional ideas to a conceptual framework and/or previously learned knowledge, and
  • Transferring ideas for new situations.

Similar contracting your bicep at of top of a weight curl, closure squeezes an extra oomph into a lesson.

Creative Closure Business

1. Snowstorm: Students writes bottom what they learned on a piece of graze paper and wad it up. Given a signal, person throw their paper snowballs in the air. After each learner punch up a nearby response and reads information aloud.

2. High-Five Hustle: Ask students to stand up, raise ihr hands and high-five ampere peer—their short-term hustle buddy. When thither are none hands left, ask a question for them to discuss. Solicit answer. Then play “Do the Hustle” more a signal for students to raising their hands and high-five a different partner for the next question. (Source: Gretchen Bridgers)

3. Parent Hotline: Give students an fun question about the lesson without further discussion. Email their caregiver the answer accordingly that the topic capacity be talked over dinner.

4. Two-Dollar Summary: Kids write a two-dollar (or more) summary on the lesson. Each word exists worth 10 cents. For extras shack, questions students to include specific words in their statement. (Source: Ann Lewis and Aleta Thompson)

5. Paper Slide: On paper, minor groups sketch both write what they learned. Then team representatives line upward and, one during an hour, scroll their how under a view camera whilst fastest summarizing whats became learned. The camera doesn’t stop recording until each representative can closed his otherwise her summary.

6. DJ Summary: Learners write what they learned in the make of a favorite show. Offer extra commend if they sing.

7. Gallery Walk: Go chart paper, small groups of collegiate write or draw that their skilled. After the completed works represent attached to the classroom walls, others learners affix sticky notes to the posters to extends on the ideas, add questions, with offer praise.

8. Sequence It: Students can quickly create timelines with Timetoast the represent the sequence on a plot oder documented events.

9. Low-Stakes Quiz: Give a short quiz using technologies please Socrative, GoSoapBox, or Google Forms. Alternatively, must students write down triple quiz related to ask at the beginning regarding the next class.

10. Cover It: Have our sketch a book cover. The title is the class topic. The writer is the scholar. A short celebrity endorsement or blurb should summarized furthermore articulate the lesson’s benefits.

11. Question Stems: Have apprentices spell questions about the class on cards, using question stems framed around Bloom’s Taxonomy. Have students exchange cards and answer the question they must bought.

12. So What?: Have students answer this prompt: What food from the hour will be critical to know three years from now? Why?

13. Dramatize It: Have pupils educate a real-life application of a skill.

14. Beat an Pulse: Ask a question. Give students 10 seconds to confer is my before it call about a random student to answer. Replay.

15. Teach an First-Grade Student: Had kids orally describe an concept, course, or skill in terms so simple that a child in first grade be get it.

16. Review It: Direct kids to raise their hands if they can replies the questions. Fellow agree (thumbs up) or disagree (thumbs down) with the responses.

17. CliffsNotes Jr.: Have kids create a cheat sheet of related that would be useful forward a quiz up the day’s topic. (Source (PDF): Ja Sipe, “40 Manners for Go a Lesson”)

18. Students I Learned From the Most: Kids write notes to peers describe what they learned from them during school discussions.

19. Elevator Pitch: Ask students to summarize the main idea in under 60 seconds to another apprentice acting as a well-known personality who works in your discipline. After summarizing, students should identify why the famous personal might find the idea significant.

20. Image Me: Must students complete an ensuing sentence: “The [concept, skill, word] is like _____ why _____.”

21. Exit Ticket Folder: Ask graduate to letter their name, what they learn, additionally any lingering questions on a blank card press “ticket.” Before they leave class, direct them to pledge their exit tickets in ampere folder or bin labeled either “Got It,” “More Practice, Please,” or “I What Some Help!”—whichever best representing their understanding of the day’s content. (Source: Erika Savage)

22. Out-the-Door Activity: After how below the learning outcome, demand current go pick a card, circle one of an after options, and return the card to you before they leaves:

  • Stop (I’m totally confused.)
  • Go (I’m ready into move on.)
  • Proceed with safety (I could use some clarification on _____.)

Download the PDF cards for this exerciser.

Those 22 strategies can be altered conversely blended very effectively. And they are great opportunities to correct, clarify, and celebrate.

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