Successful Closers
A successful closing includes five elements: (1)a sense of accomplishment-- comprehension, (4) a sense that students will follow up, and (5) a sense of com pletion and wholeness. Learners like to know that progress was made and to have that acknowledged. That validation can come from many sources, including the following:
o a student-led (or teacher-led) review or test
o students' introspections or self-discoveries during the class
o students sharing with each other in the group
o students writing summaries
As you say this, the students answer orally in unison to fill in each of the blanks. This type of review requires mostly simple recall skills. Ask for items that you are confident students know. A slightly more review is Students work in pairs to come up with three key questions about the content just introduced.
A good closure also offers a sense of completion. Students like completing a section or part of something. Facilitate group sharing by asking students to think about such questions as "What happened today? "What did I learn?" "How what learned affect me or How do I feel about it?" This is a great time for you to get some feedback on the value of the class. You might ask students to do the following:
o complete their learning logs
o put a learning thermometer on the wall to jump up and touch
o do a self-assessment
o post a personal handprint above the door; put a poster up that says, "If you learned something new, high-five!"
o take a walk outside with a partner and discuss what they learned
o play a game involving the key points of the class
o bring in something relevant to the class to share with others
o write a poem about their learning or their feelings about the learning
o offer a verbal word of thanks for something they received from the class or a classmate create test questions for the next class
o celebrate-use music, streamers, and party favors; if it's worth learning, it's worth celebrating