6 PEEL Ideas - borrowed from PEELWEB.ORG

These are a selection of the ideas that I have selected from the Physics course I am working in. They are designed to increase student action in class and increase their production. I will be adding more to the ideas.



Questioning Light
As light is a form of energy that our eyes are sensitive to, many students likely have questions surrounding it. Also, the questioning part could be modified to waves or sound
The questions are created by students to be asked of an expert source. As they become the expert source as the unit progresses, they eventually answer their own questions. This should help them become more independent in their learning and help to build confidence in their ability.

H1 Coloured Highlights
This activity is designed for decoding a piece of text in a language class however could be modified to work for a physics class. As students need to read for a variety of purposes, decoding scientific writing samples is a skill they will need.
By setting out as a class what the different colours mean, students are then engaged in the process. Then they look at the text individually and highlight the sentences or parts of them which fall into the correct categories. As they get more adept at recognizing information, facts, theory etc, they will be able to decode the text samples and their own reading easier. They should also be able to draw the relevant information out of the text materials they read.

Predict, Observe, Explain (POE)
This activity works a little like the KWL method we have discussed in previous discussion topics, however it is meant to be as part of a experiment/demonstration which they watch. The students are asked to predict what will happen when the demonstration is carried out, observe the results and then explain what they think happened.
This activity also builds on the idea of constructivist scaffolding. The students are asked to predict what they think will happen (linking their ideas to previous situations), observe what they see and then question why the results are what they see. This activity also builds inquiry methods, linking theory with practice and analytical skills as they must then prove the validity of their explanation.



G26 Students Teach Their Parents
This activity asks students to prepare a small lesson to bring home and teach an adult friend or family member. It requires students to have a very good understanding of the concepts in order to teach them.
In order to teach something, a student has to really understand the concept. Because of this, this activity allows for deeper understanding of the material that is to be taught by the student. It also has the added benefit of creating links between the home and school.

C2 Pinning Questions On the Wall
(Questioning Light)
This activity allows the students to have a vested interest in the unit because at the beginning they write down questions they have about the topic and these questions drive the lessons. In one example all the questions were put into a calendar and during each lesson 4 questions were read and the class decided if it had been answered yet.
This improves students learning by involving them in the process of creating the unit focus to some degree. They will have a more vested interest in the information presented because it will be answering questions that they themselves posed. This improved motivation leads to improved learning.

G16 Limited Word Poster
This activity highlights the importance of encouraging students to identify the key ideas and use fewer words to demonstrate their understanding. This increases the chance that students will convey their own personal understanding on the poster because they have to be so creative in thinking of ways to display their ideas with very few words – 15 words in one example.
When students are asked to convey an idea in as few words as possible, it forces them to really search for the key points behind the lessons. When students can identify the key points, it helps to simplify the learning and thus helps to create deeper understandings. In order to properly simplify an idea, the student has to really understand all aspects in order to correctly sift out the most important points.