Summary
This professional development session is designed to help educators explore the role of student clubs in fostering college and career readiness. During the session, participants will explore the benefits of club participation, engage in reflective discussion about research on clubs, and collaborate to create strategies to increase student participation and support for clubs. This session will help educators gain a deeper understanding of how clubs contribute to a positive school culture and create an action plan to enhance extracurricular engagement in their own school communities.
Essential Questions
How can schools create and support clubs to engage students and enhance college and career readiness skills?
Snapshot
Engage
Participants discuss students’ participation in clubs, the benefits of clubs, and how club offerings at their school could be improved.
Explore
Participants explore the benefits of club participation for students including how clubs encourage the development of college and career-readiness skills.
Explain
Participants read and summarize research related to school clubs.
Extend
Participants examine how clubs are promoted, celebrated, and supported in their school and address current barriers to club participation and how they can be overcome.
Evaluate
Participants evaluate their roles in supporting clubs in their school and how they could increase club involvement.
Materials List
Presentation Slides (attached)
Instructional Strategy Note Sheet handout (attached; one per participant)
T-Chart handout (attached; print two-sided; one per participant)
Club Articles handouts (attached; print one-sided; one set of handouts per seven participants)
Beach ball (one per six participants)
Chart paper (11 sheets)
Writing utensils
Learning Objectives
Research the benefits of student participation in school clubs.
Explore how clubs contribute to student growth and school culture.
Collaborate with colleagues to identify opportunities and strategies for expanding club access and engagement.
Preparation
Number seven sheets of chart paper 1–7. You should have one sheet of chart paper for each of the seven Club Articles.
Label the remaining four sheets of chart paper with the words “Promotion,” “Celebration,” “Support,” and “Barriers.”
Print enough copies of the Club Articles so that every participant receives one article. There are seven articles in the document. Print approximately one set of articles, single-sided, for every seven participants so that the articles are evenly distributed among attendees.
Engage
10 Minute(s)
Begin by giving each participant one copy of the attached Instructional Strategy Note Sheet handout and a writing utensil. Encourage participants to use this note sheet to take notes on the strategies and resources referred to throughout this session.
Use the attached Presentation Slides to facilitate this professional development session. Display slide 2 and briefly introduce yourself and the session to participants.
Go to slide 3 and introduce the Beach Ball Talk and Toss instructional strategy. Give each group of participants a beach ball. Have participants toss the ball back and forth to each other. When a participant catches the ball, have them identify the color their right thumb lands on. Have them then respond to the question on the slide that corresponds to the color. Once they have responded, have them toss the ball to someone else in the group, who will repeat the process. Allow enough time for all questions on the slide to be discussed.
Engage participants in a whole group discussion. Invite groups to share out some points from their Beach Ball Talk and Toss. Discuss key takeaways from the activity and any interesting insights.
Use slides 4–5 to introduce the session’s essential question and learning objectives. Encourage participants to consider the question and objectives during the course of the session.
Explore
10 Minute(s)
Display slide 6 and introduce the Stand Up, Sit Down instructional strategy. Pass out one copy of the T-Chart handout to each participant. Have participants complete the T-Chart by recording the benefits of club participation in the left side of the chart and the college and career-readiness skills that can be learned in clubs in the right side of the chart. Begin the three-minute timer on the slide and allow them time to work.
Have all participants stand. Invite each participant to share a single item from their list. If a participant has the same item shared on their own list, they should cross it off. Once a participant has shared every item from their list or marked off every item on their list, have them sit down. As individuals share out, record their items on chart paper or on a whiteboard.
Explain
20 Minute(s)
Display slide 7. Give each participant one page of the attached numbered Club Articles. Ensure that each participant at a table receives a different article summary.
Introduce participants to the Jigsaw instructional strategy. Have participants read their assigned articles and identify the main ideas and key takeaways of each.
Have participants then join a group with others who read the article of the same number. Have each group move to their designated chart paper marked with their article number.
Show slide 8 and introduce participants to the modified version of the Color, Symbol, Image instructional strategy. Explain that each group should select a color that represents their article and design a unique image that reflects the core idea or theme of the article. Have each group also create a short summary of 1–2 sentences that captures the main idea of the article.
Once all groups have completed their posters, have each group select a spokesperson. Invite that spokesperson to share out their color, summary, and image, and explain how each element connects to the article.
Extend
15 Minute(s)
Display slide 9 and organize participants into four groups: Promotion, Celebration, Support, and Barriers. Have each group find the chart paper labeled with their group name. Give each group a marker of a different color so that each group’s writing will be easily identifiable at the end of the activity.
Go to slide 10 and introduce participants to the Gallery Walk instructional strategy. Have participants visit each group’s poster and write a response to the question on the slide that corresponds to the poster’s title. Remind groups to take their markers with them as they rotate to different posters.
Allow three minutes for the first rotation, two minutes for the second rotation, one minute for the third rotation, and one minute for the fourth rotation. Allow one minute for the final rotation, as groups return to their original posters and record any lingering ideas on the posters.
Show slide 11 and have groups review what others have added to their posters. Have them circle one idea from their posters that they would like to share. Allow time for different groups to share out their chosen ideas.
Evaluate
5 Minute(s)
Have participants return to their original seats and transition to slide 12. Introduce the Aha! Huh? Uh uh. instructional strategy. Have participants respond to the following questions on the back of their Instructional Strategy Note Sheet handouts:
Aha! What is something you can implement or do immediately to support clubs at your school?
Huh? What is something you would like to do with the right support, but still have questions or concerns about?
Uh uh. What is something that would be difficult to change or implement in your school?
Allow participants about three minutes to complete their responses. Invite volunteers to share their reflections with the whole group.
Transition to slide 13. Review the various instructional strategies participants have used throughout the session. Draw their attention to the front of their Instructional Strategy Note Sheet handouts. Invite them to complete their handouts with information about how each strategy was used throughout the session and ideas for how they could use the strategies in their classrooms. Invite volunteers to share out different ideas.
Research Rationale
Club participation can lead to higher grades, regardless of the focus of the club, or extra-curricular or co-curricular activity (Durlak et al., 2010; Fredricks & Eccles, 2006; Kronholz, 2012). Club participation also enables students to acquire and practice skills beyond a purely academic focus. Participation in these activities also affords participants the opportunities to develop skills such as self-regulation, collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking (Allen et al., 2019). Supportive relationships between teachers and students can be instrumental in developing a student’s sense of belonging (Pendergast et al., 2018; Wallace et al., 2012). These support systems enable high-need, high-opportunity youth to establish social capital through emotional support, connection to valuable information resources, and mentorship in a club context (Solberg et al., 2021). School clubs can enable participants to build the critical social skills and “21st-century skills” that better position them for success in college and the workforce (Allen et al., 2019; Durlak et al., 2010; Hurd & Deutsch, 2017).
Resources
Allen, P. J., Chang, R., Gorrall, B. K., Waggenspack, L., Fukuda, E., Little, T. D., & Noam, G. G. (2019). From quality to outcomes: A national study of afterschool STEM programming. International Journal of STEM Education, 6(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-019-0191-2
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., & Pachan, M. (2010). A meta-analysis of after-school programs that seek to promote personal and social skills in children and adolescents. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45(3–4), 294–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-010-9300-6
Fredricks, J. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2006). Is extracurricular participation associated with beneficial outcomes? Concurrent and longitudinal relations. Developmental Psychology, 42(4), 698–713. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/10.1037/0012-1649.42.4.698
Hurd, N., & Deutsch, N. (2017). SEL-focused after-school programs. The Future of Children, 27(1). 95–115. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44219023
Kronholz, J. (2012). Academic value of non-academics: The case for keeping extracurriculars. Education Digest, 77(8), 4–10.
K20 Center. (n.d.). Aha! Huh? Uh uh. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/4414
K20 Center. (n.d.). Beach ball talk and toss. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/3049
K20 Center. (n.d.). Color, symbol, image. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/161
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk / carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Jigsaw. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/179
K20 Center. (n.d.). Stand up, sit down. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1771
K20 Center. (n.d.). T-chart. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/86
K20 Center. (2021, September 21). K20 Center 3 minute timer [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iISP02KPau0
Pendergast, D., Allen, J., McGregor, G., & Ronksley-Pavia, M. (2018). Engaging marginalized, “at-risk” middle-level students: A focus on the importance of a sense of belonging at school. Education Sciences, 8(3), 138.
Wallace, T. L., Ye, F., McHugh, R., & Chhuon, V. (2012). The development of an adolescent perception of being known measure. The High School Journal, 95(4), 19–36. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23275415