|
One of the most
important parts of the
any lesson is the how it
ends. Teachers need to
have some type of
closure activity at the
end of each lesson if
they are truly
interested in improving
comprehension amongst
their students.
Improving comprehension
with closure activities
doesn't have to be
difficult. Closure
activities can be any
short and simple
activity that reinforces
the lesson's objective(s).
For example, in a
lesson on the "causes of
World War II", I may
simply have the students
create 1 test question
and 1 test answer for
each of the causes
learned from that day's
lesson. If there is
time, I even have the
students exchange their
questions with each
other.
This simple closure
activity took very
little time, gave the
students a chance
reinforce the objectives
of that day's lesson,
and gave the teacher an
opportunity to see if
those objectives were
met.
Here are five more
simple closure
activities that help in
improving comprehension:
1. Have students keep
a learning log. At the
end of class have them
write something that
they learned (or found
interesting) from class
that day.
2. When running short
on time simply have
students pair and share
the answer to a couple
of questions based on
the lesson's objective.
3. Have the students
draw a picture that
somehow shows that the
lesson's objective was
met.
4. Write a letter.
As a social studies
teacher this is one of
my favorites. I often
have students write a
short letter to the
person we were studying.
5. Write a journal
entry. Similar to having
to students write a
letter, this closure
activity also allows the
students to be creative
and add their own flare
to the assignment.
Each of the above
closure activities are
quite simple and each
can be adjusted
depending on the time
remaining at the end of
the class. It is very
easy for teachers to
skip this part of the
lesson, especially when
they always feel so
pressed for time.
However, if teachers are
truly interested in
improving comprehension
they will not skip this
all-important piece of
the lesson. |
