Ways To Make Worksheets More Engaging.

 

How many times have you googled interactive activities and gotten pages of nothing but worksheets.  Those worksheets filled with problems.  Every worksheet is expected to be completed.  Do the same search for worksheets + engaging or engaging worksheets and you'll get about the same answers.  Furthermore, if you pass out a worksheet, students moan and many of them are not actively engaged the way we want.  So what if with a little bit of work,  you can turn boring humdrum into something more exciting.

One way to do this is to pair up your students.  Each pair of students will get half of a worksheet.  One student has the even problems with the answers to the odd problems and the other student has the odd problems with the answers to the even problems. The student with the odd problems works the first problem while the other student provides coaching as needed until the first student arrives at the correct answer.  Then the other student does the second problem while the first student provides coaching.  They go back and forth until they have finished the assignment.

If you don't mind a slightly active classroom, you can cut the problems up into individual slips so each slip has one problem but before you start cutting, make sure the worksheets are not double sided.  Take each problem, crunch it up into a paper wad and put in a container.  Pass out two or three paper balls to each student but before they start the game, lay down the rules and expectations such as "Do not try to peg the person with it", or "throw it in a general area".  Once the rules and expectations are given, let students toss the balls, pick up ones that land near them and toss those for say 20 seconds.  At the end of the time, each student will pick up a certain number of balls to take back to their group. Then they open the balls and work the problems on whiteboards.  Once the problem is completed, they write the problem and answer on a paper to turn in.

One way to turn the worksheets into a more interesting collaborative activity is to divide the students into groups of 3 to 4 people. One person is designated as the "announcer".  The announcer reads the first question to the rest of the group who work the problem out on whiteboards, tablets, or paper but they keep their work secret from the others.  When students are done, the announcer asks to see the answers and students discuss any answers that differ from each other. Then the second student becomes the announcer and reads the second question.  Students repeat the process and once they've shown their answers and discussed the discrepancies, the next student takes charge and the process repeats.

For a variation on basketball, divide your students into teams of four.  Print off enough worksheets so each group has one worksheet worth of problems.  Cut the problems up and make sure each group has one set of problems.  One student in the group will select a problem and the whole group works on it together to get the answer.  Once the answer is found, a student checks with the teacher to see if it is correct.  If it is correct, the student gets to crumple up the problem and dunk it in a basketball hoop or in a trash can, or similar container. If it isn't then the student has to take it back to the group to rework it.  Once it's correct the student goes back to his group and another problem is selected.  Students continue until all the problems are done and first group who gets them all correct, wins.

These are just a few ideas to turn making worksheets more engaging and interactive.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.