Brain Blast: How to Make Lectures Interactive

BEFORE THE LECTURE

 

ASK A SETUP QUESTION

Pose a question about the topic that can only be answered if students listen closely to the lecture.

TWEET QUESTIONS

Ask students to tweet a question they have about the topic, and make it your mission to answer the questions in your presentation.

ACTIVATE SCHEMA

Ask student pairs to answer the following:

-What do you personally know about X?

-What part of the homework readings gave you the most insight about the lecture topic?

DURING THE LECTURE

 SOLVE IT

Interrupt the lecture & ask student pairs to solve a problem, given info gleaned from the lecture.

BOOK COVER

Pause the lecture. Ask learners to sketch a book cover with a title & blurb about the topic.

PREDICT

Ask, “What will the rest of the presentation be about?”

WHAT’S CLOUDY?

Write a question that puzzles you about the lecture.

POST-LECTURE

 

WRITE A MINUTE PAPER

Ask students to respond in one or two sentences to the following questions: What stood out as most important in today’s lecture? What are you confused about? (Source: Stanford Teaching Commons)

TALK SHOW PANEL

The teacher interviews a student panel of experts. They discuss their opinions of the lecture topic.

ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS

Direct kids to complete these sentence stems in writing or orally:

• What are the important features of X?
• What is meant by X?
• What would happen if X?
• What evidence supports the view that X?

PADLET QUESTIONS

After kids hold small group discussions about the lecture, ask them to write authentic questions about the topic on Padlet. Answer key questions as an entire class.