AITSL STANDARD: 3.3 – Use teaching strategies
Select and use relevant teaching strategies to develop knowledge, skills, problem solving and critical and creative thinking.
The Situation
You want your students to feel accountable for their learning and contributions in class.
The Solution
Discussion is fantastic in a English classroom! A Numbered Heads Together activity is a great way to get students discussing positively and coming to group consensus on a topic. Here are the instructions for Numbered Heads Together:
- Students number off 1-4.
- Teacher asks question to students.
- Students stand up, think, discuss and write down ideas.
- Teams sit down once they are done.
- Teacher calls a number at random. That number will answer.
To build in more safety, you might like to get a randomiser app that will choose a number. This will ensure that students do not feel that you are not ‘picking on them’, but rather the computer/iPad is.
The English Classroom 