Summary
Strategic lesson closures offer a myriad of advantages, including guiding students in meaningful reflection, consolidating their comprehension, fostering real-world connections, bolstering memory retention, and equipping them with the skills for self-assessment and constructive feedback. In this collection, you'll find effective strategies that will help you to purposefully conclude your lessons in just a few minutes.Resources
3-2-1
- 6th - 12th
This writing activity enables students to summarize their understanding of material, to evaluate understanding for gaps in knowledge, and to communicate this to their teacher. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
October 28th, 2022
- Individual
- Engage/Opening, Explain/Closing, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Conversation Starter, Critical Thinking, Evaluate, Reflection, Review, Self-assessment, Writing
- 6th - 12th
Color, Symbol, Image
- 11th - 12th
This instructional strategy allows participants to explore a new concept without using written words or oral language. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
October 2nd, 2023
- Individual, Whole Class
- Explain/Closing
- 10 - 20 Minutes
- Conversation Starter, Critical Thinking, Reflection, Student Choice
- 11th - 12th
Commit and Toss
- 6th - 12th
Students are encouraged to evaluate their classmates' effort without personal bias in this anonymous peer evaluation and writing strategy. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
February 20th, 2024
- Individual, Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Explain/Closing, Extend/Additional Learning Activity
- 10 - 20 Minutes, 20 - 30 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Compare & Contrast, Critical Thinking, Elaborate, Evaluate, Persuade, Reason, Reflection, Self-assessment, Student Choice, Summarize, Writing
- 6th - 12th
Emoji Reflection
- Preschool - 12th
Students use emojis to summarize, demonstrate, and reflect on their learning. Read more »
Created by: Sarah Brewer
February 8th, 2024
- Individual, Small Group (at least 4)
- Explain/Closing, Evaluate/Assessment
- 10 - 20 Minutes
- Analyze, Collaborate, Critical Thinking, Evaluate, Interpret, Reflection, Self-assessment, Student Choice, Summarize, Synthesize, Writing
- Preschool - 12th
Fist to Five
- 6th - 12th
The Fist to Five strategy gives teachers a quick and easy way to identify the needs of their students before discussing a topic more in depth. The strategy can be used to indicate the extent of student understanding of a concept, procedure, or directions. It also can be used as a weighted voting activity. Read more »
Created by: Susan McHale
October 13th, 2023
- Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Analyze, Conversation Starter, Evaluate, Identify, Problem Solving, Self-assessment
- 6th - 12th
Fold the Line
- Preschool - 12th
This strategy pairs students of opposing views or opposite levels of understanding together so they can discuss a prompt. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
October 13th, 2023
- Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Identify, Organize, Physical Movement, Reflection, Self-assessment, Student Choice
- Preschool - 12th
GramIt
- Preschool - 12th
Students use an image to illustrate the main idea of a lesson, concept or text, paired with a hashtag that summarizes their understanding. Read more »
Created by: Evalyne Tracy
September 26th, 2022
- Individual, Large Group (at least 30), Medium Group (at least 10), Small Group, Small Group (at least 4), Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment
- 10 - 20 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Conversation Starter, Evaluate, Infer, Reflection, Review, Summarize, Synthesize
- Preschool - 12th
How Am I Feeling? What Am I Thinking?
- 6th - 12th
Students self-evaluate or reflect on their learning and social-emotional status after exploring or engaging in a new topic or concept. This formative assessment can also double as an Exit Ticket. Read more »
Created by: Cacey Wells
October 18th, 2023
- Individual
- Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Reflection
- 6th - 12th
I Think / We Think
- 6th - 12th
This strategy can be used in a variety of ways to encourage students to think about and list their individual ideas on a topic and to record common ideas that surface during group share-out and discussion. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
October 25th, 2023
- Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Explain/Closing
- 20 - 30 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Brainstorming, Collaborate, Organize, Present, Reason, Speak & Listen, Student Choice, Summarize
- 6th - 12th
Inside Out
- 6th - 12th
In this strategy, students assess their existing knowledge on a topic and then explore a question both in text and with a partner. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
February 19th, 2024
- Individual
- Engage/Opening, Explore/Learning Activity, Explain/Closing
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Brainstorming, Organize
- 6th - 12th
Last One Standing
- 3rd - 12th
A bell ringer strategy that can be employed as either an icebreaker or as a means of activating prior knowledge, Last One Standing has students answer a question in a novel way. Read more »
Created by: James Doyle
August 10th, 2023
- Large Group (at least 30), Medium Group (at least 10), Small Group, Whole Class
- Engage/Opening
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Active Engagement, Physical Movement, Review
- 3rd - 12th
Mirror, Microscope, Binoculars
- 6th - Secondary
This reflection strategy is a way for students to look at their learning through three different lenses: self-reflection, learning reflection, and social/global reflection. This strategy is best used at the end of a unit or activity. Read more »
Created by: Sherry Franklin
May 4th, 2023
- Large Group (at least 30), Medium Group (at least 10), Small Group, Small Group (at least 4), Whole Class
- Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes, 10 - 20 Minutes
- Analyze, Critical Thinking, Reflection, Self-assessment
- 6th - Secondary
Muddiest Point
- Preschool - 12th
This strategy is a quick monitoring technique where students jot down the most difficult or confusing part of a lesson. Read more »
Created by: Patricia Turner
December 20th, 2023
- Individual, Whole Class
- Explain/Closing, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Evaluate, Recognize, Review, Self-assessment, Summarize
- Preschool - 12th
POMS: Point of Most Significance
- 6th - 12th
This is a quick reflection activity where students identify the most significant learning or idea they gained from a lesson. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
January 5th, 2024
- Individual, Whole Class
- Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Elaborate, Reflection, Review, Self-assessment
- 6th - 12th
Preflections
- Preschool - 12th
Students use Preflections to hypothesize about the learning in which they are about to engage. After the learning experience, students reflect on their learning experiences in light of their hypotheses. Read more »
Created by: Cacey Wells
February 9th, 2024
- Individual, Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Compare & Contrast, Reflection
- Preschool - 12th
Rose, Bud, and Thorn
- Preschool - 12th
This reflection strategy is used to get students thinking about what they are grateful for and what they look forward to. Or you can use it after a project to reflect on what they are proud of and what they hope to improve on. Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
April 5th, 2024
- Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Reflection, Self-assessment, Summarize
- Preschool - 12th
Stoplight Stickies
- Preschool - 12th
This strategy provides a formative assessment to gauge how confident students feel about their understanding of new content and/or their ability to put that new learning into action. Read more »
Created by: Shayna Pond
January 25th, 2024
- Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Evaluate, Self-assessment
- Preschool - 12th
Tell Me Everything
- Preschool - 12th
In this strategy, students write down everything they remember about a topic or concept as a review, self-assessment, or foundation to build upon for future assignments. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
January 25th, 2024
- Individual, Whole Class
- Engage/Opening, Explain/Closing
- Less Than 10 Minutes, 10 - 20 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Analyze, Elaborate, Evaluate, Identify, Organize, Reflection, Review, Self-assessment, Writing
- Preschool - 12th
Think-Pair-Share
- Preschool - 12th
In this activity, students collaborate with a partner to brainstorm and share ideas. This strategy can be used in a variety of ways to get participants thinking, communicating, and collaborating. Read more »
Created by: K20 Center
April 25th, 2024
- Engage/Opening
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Activate Prior Knowledge, Brainstorming, Collaborate, Conversation Starter, Hypothesize, Present, Reason, Speak & Listen, Student Choice
- Preschool - 12th
What? So What? Now What?
- 11th - 12th
Use this strategy as a method of reflection on a lesson, topic, or learning objective. The purpose is to allow students a scaffolding to reflect in a deeper manner than simply recalling what they did. Read more »
Created by: Cacey Wells
February 22nd, 2024
- Individual
- Evaluate/Assessment
- Less Than 10 Minutes
- Reflection
- 11th - 12th
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