High School Sponge Activities
Madeline Hunter, a teacher from the Texas Education Agency, created a list of activities that would engage students and keep them learning during periods of "adminstrivia," such as taking attendance. She believed that time should not be frittered away in class, according to the book "First Time in the High School Classroom: Essential Guide for the New Teacher" by Mary C. Clement. Known as "sponges," these activities can help students focus their attention on planned lessons. Other names that teachers use for sponges are "vocabulary builders" and "bell work."
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Introductory Activities
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An introductory activity or sponge used at the beginning of class can rally students' interest in the lesson. Depending on the subject, teachers can use a variety of techniques, such as short and impromptu writing exercises, list-making or problem-solving, to create a sponge. For example, if you're examining the major themes in "To Kill a Mockingbird," you would instruct the students to write a paragraph on a time in their lives when they felt misunderstood or discriminated against. If you're teaching a math module, then involve the students in a statistics exercise that leverages the school football team's past record to predict the chances of winning the next game. You can make these introductory exercises relevant by relating them to current or school events.
Creative Activities
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Sponge activities come in handy when emergencies arise. Teachers may not have time to think of an activity, but reach for the nearest box of objects to occupy their students. Keep a supply of pipe cleaners and a box of straws. With the pipe cleaners, you can instruct the students to create cultures based on a concept related to the lesson. If you're teaching "The Great Gatsby," ask students to create wire sculptures of their idea of the American dream. If your students are restless, ask them to pair up. Hand out straws and masking tape. Engage them in a competition to build the highest freestanding tower. Straws can be folded, curved and squeezed inside each other, but they cannot be cut. You can relate the tower-building exercise to engineering principles, such as compression, tension, stability and geometric structures, according to Inside the School.
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Social Media-Based Activities
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Teachers compete with cell phones for the students' attention. You can leverage their devices to create activities based on social-media applications. Instruct your students to pick a famous historical character, such as a President, a renowned scientist or artist. Ask them to write a series of tweets as if they were that character.
Grading Sponges
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Grading sponges depends on the teacher. Some teachers refuse to grade a sponge but will warn students that material created or used in a sponge may appear in exams. Other teachers may grade a sponge on occasion but do not tell students when or which activity will be graded. Either method will motivate students to focus on the activity.
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