I used to use role play a lot more. Some of the responses I got made me feel like it was to elementary. However, in refelction, the majority of the kids really enjoyed them. Some of my activities have included:
1. Having kids take a stand about teaching Huck Finn in schools. We then held a board meeting and kids dressed up as their "roles."
2. I had kids make videos or act out scenes from the books. The best one I ever received was a reenactmetn of the ending of Farenheit 451.
3. I have kids act out vocabulary words.
4. Last week we held a mock trial concerning the guilt or innocence of Davy Land in Peace Like a River.
I would love to do this online. Kids could show off their technological savvy, and I think quieter kids would become more involved. Here are some ideas from the Kennedy Center.
These sound like great role-play activities. I'm curious if you've found that the "performance" and "play" aspects improve their ability to talk about difficult issues such as racism in Huck Finn? They definitely promote engagement.
ReplyDeleteoops didn't finish last comment
ReplyDelete... They especially promote engagement with VOCAB, which can be so difficult to teach.