1. Closure Activities Thurmont Middle School, 2006-2007

2. Acknowledgements Compiled by…Compiled by… –Adam Umak, Language Arts 8 –Thurmont Middle School Administration and Faculty Adapted from…Adapted from… –Phyllis Younkins. “Brain-Based Learning Strategies: Closure,” 2005. Works Cited…Works Cited… –Linda Brainerd, Student Interactive Notebooks and Other Powerful Ways to Take Notes, 2006 Special thanks to…Special thanks to… –FCPS Department of Professional Development

3. Before and After Pictures Fold a piece of paper in half. Open the paper and label one half Before and the other half After. You have 5 minutes to draw before and after pictures for this lesson that convey: –How you felt Before and After; –What you knew Before and After; or –What you thought Before and what you wondered about After

4. Challenge Envelopes On the envelope your group received, write a challenge question on the front. –What might be…? –What could be…? –What if…? Generate an answer to the question and put it inside. Pass up the envelopes. When you receive a new envelope, answer the question on paper, then check it against the criteria in the envelope. Put your answer in the envelope and put it back into circulation. Repeat the steps for other envelopes.

5. Closure with Sensitivity This written activity draws on many senses. Be ready to answer… –What did you see? –What did you hear? –How did you feel? These questions are followed with… –Where does it fit?

6. Continuum This allows you to explore your personal interpretation of information and issues. Rank “least to most,” “worst to best,” “community interest to individual interest,” etc. This is done on paper or by standing in a line on a continuum. Be ready to explain your reasoning for selecting your position on the continuum.

7. Corners The corners of the room are labeled. Think about which of the skills covered in class today would be most important. Pick a corner, write its number, go there, interact with others with the same corner choice in a timed pair share. You will be asked to share the reasons for your choice.

8. Create Quiz Questions Question Starters –How is ______ similar to/different from ______? –How might we organize ______ into categories? –In what other ways might we show ______? –What is the key concept in ______? –What is wrong with the following information ______? –What might happen if ______? –What evidence supports ______?

9. Encapsulating Sentences Write one sentence that best summarizes or encapsulates what you consider to be the most important aspects of the lesson. Make your sentences clear and specific; do not just list topics or concepts. Be ready to share your response.

10. Exit Pass This is a simple and quick way to get you to reflect on your learning. Write your specific reflections on a piece of paper. This paper is your pass out of the classroom door.

11. The Final Countdown Individually reflect on the learnings they have had concerning the topic today. Respond to the following… –What are the three most important things you learned today? –What are two questions you would still like answered? –What is the one way what you have learned connects with what you knew before?

12. Fishing for Gems You each have two index cards. On each card you are to write something that you found valuable or important from today’s lesson. Get up and mix and mingle with each other and discuss why you chose what you did. Exchange one card with each person that you talk with. Sit down when you have exchanged both cards.

13. Habits of Mind Reflect on your thinking… –How do you feel about this concept today compared to before? –What was the best way for you to learn this? –What points interested you the most? –What did you learn about yourself today? –How might what you learned and how you learned it affect your life? –Why do you think this was taught today?

14. One Minute Paper You have one minute to answer these two questions: –What was the most important thing you learned? –What is still muddy?

15. Outcome Sentences Write your thoughts after reflecting on a lesson. These can be built on any classroom experience from today’s class. Sentence Starters –I’ve learned… –I was surprised… –I’m beginning to wonder… –I would conclude… –I now realize that…

16. Refrigerator Art Create a visual that you could put on the wall of your room or on the refrigerator. It should be a picture that represents something you learned today. Create your own sense of meaning!

17. Say What? In your notebook complete the questions about today’s lesson… What? –Explain what we learned. So what? –What is the importance about what we learned? Now what? –What are you going to do with the information you learned?

18. Roll of the Dice Each person in the group takes a turn rolling the dice. The number rolled is the number of items learned that you need to share with their group members.

19. Self-evaluation and Improvement Choose two of the below questions to answer. Make sure you are reflecting. Reflection Prompts –The reason I’m learning this is… –What I liked best about that I learned was… –A question I have about what I’m learning is… –Some ways I might be able to use what I’m learning are… –My thinking changed from…to… –If I did this again, I would… –The best thing about my work is…

20. What? Why? How? Individually reflect over what has transpired and respond to the following three questions… –By doing what we just did, What did we accomplish? –Why did we do what we did? –How might you be able to use what we did?