Active Learning: the Fish Bowl

This year our SIT is focusing on Active Learning in our classrooms.  My team has decided to focus on one Active Learning strategy a week.  This week we focused on "the Fish Bowl".

We used "the Fish Bowl" strategy this week when we were practicing our addition.  I had each student write down a sentence that would join two groups.  For example 2 and 4 is ___.  We put all the sentences in a fish bowl.  Then to practice joining groups I pulled a sentences and students had to show that sentence on their work mats.

We also used this strategy in small groups to make rhyming words.  Each student wrote a cvc word on a post it.  All the post it's went in the fish bowl. One by one each student took a post it from the bowl.  They had to read the word and say a word that would rhyme with that word.  They had so much fun, especially because they got to write on post it notes.

Here are a couple more ideas:
~Have students write numbers on cards and put them in the fish bowl. Draw two cards and have students write an addition sentence for those numbers think have them solve the addition sentence.

~Again have students write numbers(0-9) on cards or post it notes. Fold them up and put them in the fish bowl. Have students draw a card and figure out how many more they would need to make 10. An interactive way to practice common core standards.