Academic Skills
Teaching Ideas Based on New York Times Content.
As the new school year begins, we’re reintroducing a lesson plan format —Skills and Strategies — that we’ve experimented with in the past but have further streamlined for 2015-16.
In every Skills and Strategies post, we’ll focus on either a skill that students need or a strategy teachers can use across the curriculum. We’ll describe why and how to practice it, and then we’ll make a few suggestions for matching it to Times content.
Below, a simple strategy that teachers on all levels can incorporate with almost any material.
The Exit Slip Strategy
Description from the Facing History and Ourselves Teaching Strategies Collection.
Exit slips require students to answer particular questions on a piece of paper that is turned in before they leave the class. These slips — half a piece of paper, provided by the teacher or by students themselves — provide teachers with immediate information that can be used to assess students’ understanding, monitor students’ questions or gather feedback on teaching.
For students, exit slips serve as a content review at the end of a daily lesson and enhance their metacognitive skills.
Often teachers have students complete exit slips during the final five minutes of the class period. Since exit slips must be turned in before students leave class, it is best if the prompts are specific and brief. Often they refer directly to the content that was studied, but they can also be general in nature such as:
- List three things you learned in class today.
- What questions, ideas and feelings have been raised by this lesson?
- What was your favorite moment of class? Why? What was your least favorite part of class? Why?
- Evaluate your participation in class today. What did you do well? What would you like to do differently next time?
Depending on the purpose for having students complete exit slips, teachers may have students complete them anonymously. Students may leave class when they turn in an exit slip to the teacher.
Times Applications
Remembering News They Can Use:
Have students read a science, health, technology or business piece that summarizes recent research that applies to their daily lives. Then invite them to use an exit slip to write down one thing they would like to remember — and why.
For example, you might try this with:
- Screen Addiction Is Taking a Toll on Children
- A Way to Get Fit and Also Have Fun
- No, You Do Not Have to Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day
- Making Friends in New Places
Reacting to Emotional Topics Anonymously:
Invite students to write anonymously after discussing articles about which they’re likely to have strong, and perhaps very personal, opinions. Often this can surface opinions or questions that students did not want to ask aloud, and help guide future classes on the topic.
For example, you might try this with:
- Pieces that touch on issues that may hit home, such as Frank Bruni’s Op-Ed column on Today’s Exhausted Superkids or discussions of health issues like A.D.H.D.
- Sensitive news topics like race and policing
Ensuring Understanding of Complex Texts:
After students read a particularly complicated or dense article, asking them to write down one thing they understood from it and one thing they still have questions about may help you to decide where to take the lesson next. It can also help your students crystallize exactly what they do and don’t understand.
For example, you might try this with:
- Articles, Op-Ed essays, video or infographics that provide detailed background information or history on complex topics, such as ISIS or the Iran nuclear deal, or dense science topics, whether genetically modified food or Pluto flybys.
How have you used exit slips? With what Times materials might you pair this strategy? Tell us below.