Impromptu Lessons

Hey! It'e Jessica from The Teacher Talk here to share a fun little lesson my class and I did a week or so ago!

You know those days when you are teaching and your students lead the lesson? I had one of those a few weeks ago and I've been wanting to share it and just haven't had the chance! Today is the perfect chance to do so!

I began a lesson to teach students about the fairy tale genre (which we succeeded in) using The Little Mermaid by Christian Anderson We talked about how fairy tales normally end with a happy ending before we ended our story that day. Once we got to the end we had some disagreements. Some students saw the 'big picture' and realized that it was a a happy ending while others were just not having it. So, my teacher brain went right to ... let's have a debate!

I told students to gather their thoughts and quickly jot them down in a 5 minute quick write. So, write we did. I have never seen their little hands move so fast!

After students completed their 5 minute quick write they were divided into 2 groups. The group that believed it was a happy ending and the group that did not believe it was a happy ending.

Students shared their thoughts with one another, while the 'note-taker' wrote down important points.

As they were writing, I was going back and forth and sharing hints to make the defending group's arguments even stronger. They may have been a little mad at me - but, it got them to think harder! ;)

After we had our notes down, the groups went over them together, chose a 'speaker' and off we went! (we of course went over a few respectful phrases first)

After our debate - I chose the winner that had the best argument!

We had SO MUCH FUN! Whenever we have a disagreement, the students now ask for  debate!

I love it when I scrap the plans and go with what the students guide us to. That's what teaching and learning is all about!

Not to mention, it created a cute little hallway display.

Thanks for reading! Remember - follow your students sometimes! :)