Solo ‘Stack Em’ – Jenga At the weekend one of my best friends

@redhea79 took me out for a walk. As always with us it didn't take long for the conversation to focus on teaching (I know, I know).

Andy told me a strategy that he has used and I LOVE IT!

Firstly you need a set of Jenga like bricks. Tesco do a set called 'Stack Em' and they cost £5.

These are the stimulus resource.

Step 1• At the end of a topic or as a

revision lesson activity get students to note on each brick a keyword from the topic. This is a quick AfL task as you can see what they remember. I get mine to do it as a quick plenary or a quick starter.

• 7 groups working in 4s• Peer assess – who has a

higher stack.• Class review / evaluation

against glossary

Step 2• Colour the bricks. I get students to do it as a bit of

success criteria development against level ability.

• The more difficult terms relate to higher level thinking down to the name of a landform as low level. I get students to do this on the outside of the brick.

• Students could then stack them related to significance, cost, creating a ranking sequence to the tower. They could evaluate each others blocks and students try to work out how they are ranked.

• The block could be classified into human / physical or environmental. So before you even play the game you have thinking driving the learning.

• The 4 sides to the brick could link to categories such as economic, environmental, social; or the 2 opposite sides opposites or positives/negatives. And so it continues....

Step 3• Students in tables of 4 in my room play to remove the bricks. They can do that related to their target so if they are a C target they go for pinks or if they are a B the orange. This is creating the Stretch and Challenge.

• When the student draws out a word they have to say what it is. the rest on the table could do a Kagan task with it to keep then active rather than passive. 1s draw it, 2s describe it, 3s associate or dissociate from it with another brick for 6 degrees of separation from it or say as many words that are connected to it and count. I use this as a quick timer for the others to move on when they think is right.

• Each brick that comes out, students can try and think of an overall connection or a theme for later that they will use with that keyword as the focus (EXTENDED ABSTRACT THINKING) (linked to brains on the table). I feel I am getting some qualitative formative assessment from it by verbally checking

students.

Step 4 brains on the table David Leat link• The game will play out till the block

collapses. Then we move onto the next task of 'Brains on the Table' the idea is that students sort the bricks however they want to (or by the criteria you give them on the board. So that you have control if you feel you need it to then make a direct comparison between groups.

• Students could then cross to another groups brain on the table to get ideas, compare / contrast ask for help a hint etc.

• I got students to do solo connecting of a landform. Create a list of bricks for a specific landform say like in my example : A Volcano

Stage 4• Do students know the 2 types

they need to know for the exam? I can check so a hinge point question to start.

Do they know one thing about this type of volcano to make them a uni structural learner? They might know it has gentle slopes.

Stage 5

• Multi-structural students bring in more bricks to surround it but they are not connected they are just associated with a shield volcano.

Stage 6• Relational students are creating

links between the key words so for example they are connecting gentle slopes with low viscosity basalt lava.

Students could then with all these key terms draw on paper or I prefer the table with a whiteboard pen a diagram to incorporate the key terms and to keep connected parts together.

Stage 7• Students could take

one of the keyword and change the focus of it all or take of the key words and apply it to something else - extended abstract thinking:)

Stage 8

• Each table of students could have different terms in their pack and so then you could create cross table bridges to connect terms together for the big picture:)

Stage 9• You could write differentiated terms around the

brick so runny lava on simple term side becomes low viscosity basaltic lava on the Geography Key side / literacy so a mini thesaurus task

Y12 photos to next level• The bricks are then connected together to create a connect

the learning of the unit to create a 3D relational structure!• Explain how as they connect - Oracy

Solo using question matrix How am I using solo with the Question Matrix?

Solo using photo analysis • Read my blog for this and see the solo

possibility• http://sayersjohn.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/des

cribing-photo-20-different-connected.html