Wrap up the School Year with Just in Time Learning!

So many great lessons, so little time….

Wrapping up the school year is never easy.  This time of year is filled with disruptions, testing, field trips, assemblies, yearbooks and general havoc.  It is hard for both students and teachers to carry lessons on from one day to the next.  

I have found that students are always willing to get into a good argument if there is something they might feel passionate about.  Kids are very interested in and passionate about, well, other kids.  Why not use this natural enthusiasm to get them thinking?

Teachable Moment

I think that this local news story on a senior prank gone wrong is a great teachable moment to get students thinking and writing!  Have students apply SCAN, the critical thinking strategy to determine the issues surrounding the prank and arrests, assess what is important and develop a plan on what the consequences should be. 

You could start showing the different perspectives using this news video:

  

Police:  62 Students Arrested After Senior Prank at Teaneck High School

Have them select a perspective and read the following articles:

Parent: http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2014/05/teaneck_students_react_to_prank_that_resulted_in_60_arrests.html

Student:

http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2014/05/teaneck_students_react_to_prank_that_resulted_in_60_arrests.html

Principal:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/teaneck-high-school-senior-prank-leads-to-vandalism-arrest-of-62-students-1.1006861

Police:

http://www.northjersey.com/news/senior-pranks-a-teen-tradition-that-can-get-out-of-hand-quickly-1.1007219

Have all students read this article to see what alternative activities might be possible:

http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2014/05/messy_senior_pranks_at_western.html

If you have computer access, you could have students participate as individuals or in small groups in an online guided discussion using the SCAN tool at TregoED.org.   The tool is free and the class discussion will be in a private URL (students will not be identified (except to the teacher) - no passwords, registration, or email addresses are necessary).  Teachers can register at www. tregoed.org and learn more about this tool by watching this short video.

If computers are not available, students can be put in groups with like roles, discuss the issue and then jigsaw into groups with 4 different perspectives.  They should use the SCAN critical thinking strategy as their guide for discussion.

There are lots of great discussions going on right now that your students could and should get in on:  NSA and privacy, year round school, hashtag activism (300 Girls go Missing), and more.  Take advantage of these discussions and keep the learning going!