Activities by Model
Why is this section here?
I hope familiarity with these different models or styles of activities will encourage you to construct your own activities.
It’s important not to see an activity as a one-off because students get better at activities with familiarity. Their confidence increases because they know what’s expected of them and so perform better and understand more. Therefore they’ll be helped by repeating e.g. living graphs several times across KS3.
Which model should you use?
So, how do you decide which model to use?
In essence, follow these stages:
1. Identify the precise learning problem, not just the topic, i.e.
My pupils have problems with x – what is it they struggle to understand?
2. Assess which kind of physical activity would best help them overcome this learning problem. Look at the different models - each model begins with a brief (or not so brief) summary of the strengths of that kind of activity.
Final note: The breakdown by model is necessarily artificial. Some activities fit more than one category – e.g. one about a community may also be a role-play – so it’s very much a pragmatic list. Any suggestions for alternative categories are welcome.
