Increasing Student Engagement Through Class

Activities: A Comprehensive Manual for the

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant
Jordan N. Brown
ENGL 388V – 0202
 2

As a UTA you are asked to complete at least two lesson plans during the semester.
The great thing about lesson plans is they really are what you make of them. If you
just want to review material that the class should already be familiar with, perhaps
a brief PowerPoint presentation will seal the deal. On the other hand, some topics
require deeper level analysis. You might me tasked with presenting novel
information to your students or juggling a topic that in the past has been unclear for
students. Regardless of what you’ve decided to create a lesson plan on, it is always
important to meet the students where they are at. However, sometimes it can be
difficult assessing how well students comprehend class material/assignments,
especially if the students are appearing to be unengaged. But have no fear! There is
a way to assess the students understanding of course material while also keeping
them involved throughout the lesson plan.

A study conducted by the University of California - Berkley’s Graduate Studies

Division found that students who engage with one another in learning tasks
remember material better and find ways to apply and extend their new knowledge
more effectively (2019). This idea of collaborative learning ultimately strengthens
the argument for integrating activities in class lectures and lesson plans. For this
reason, this artifact will serve as a comprehensive guide for future ENGL UTAs at
the University of Maryland - College Park. The guide will discuss ways to
integrate activities into lesson plans, address activities used during two lesson
plans for an ENGL101 course, and conclude with detailing different activities and
the best time to integrate each respective leaning task.
 3

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Types of Interactive Activities 4–7

Lesson Plan Examples 8 - 12

 4

Fishbowl Activity

Description:

• While a tradition fishbowl activity, typically has a group of students (the

fish) sitting in the middle of a circle of students (the bowl). Students in the
middle of the “bowl” will answer and discuss the topic questions. In the
scenario, a fishbowl serves as a Socratic method of discussing course
material.
• However, as with any activity, you have the option to modify it so it best fits
your class. For example, perhaps you find that the spotlight being on a select
number of students will hinder discussion. It is absolutely okay to ditch the
traditional method and make it your own. For an example on how to modify
a fishbowl activity, please find page 8 You will see that for this lesson plan,
I opted to use a literal fishbowl to pass around different topics, and each
student was responsible for answering their selected topic. To foster
communication, each student was also required to respond to at least one
peer.

When to Use:

• Holding a fishbowl in your classroom is a great way to get all of the students
involved in a classroom discussion. Because you are providing students with
the discussion topics, you might find that this activity works well in classes
where students are more reluctant to contribute without guidance.
• It is also a great way to help students learn difficult concepts. Some course
material is easier to grasp than others. A fishbowl activity helps students
share their thoughts regarding class content and allows you (the UTA) to
assess how well students are grasping the material.
 5

Gallery Walk

Description:

• Stations or posters are set up around the classroom, on the walls or on tables.
The stations can be virtually anything. For an example on a gallery walk
activity please find the example on page 10. You will find in that because
my lesson plan was devoted to concision, clarity, and the revision process, I
opted to have students revise a written text at each station. The students were
expected to collaborate with group members to revise the text.
• Because groups s travel from station to station together this should result in
some form of conversation.
• This activity also serves as a great time for the instructor or UTA to circulate
between groups to address any clarifying questions and gauge students
understanding of the material.

When to Use (revised from “The Teacher Toolkit”):

• Use a Gallery Walk at any point in the lesson to engage students in

conversation
• After reading a story to discuss ideas, themes, and characters
• After completing a written text to discuss findings and implications
• To examine historical documents or images
• Before introducing a new topic to determine students’ prior knowledge
• To generate ideas or pre-writes
 6

Class Discussion/ Socratic Method

Description:

• Discussions take many forms. Perhaps your students come in prepared for
the activity of the discussion is impromptu. Nevertheless, be sure to
introduce the topic to students.
• Provide students with a brief itinerary of the discussion. Remind students of
the ground rules and let them know you have guiding questions, should they
need them.

When to Use:

• Use to engage classroom engagement

o Make discussion participation required and ensure all students
participate
• When reviewing what has been taught and learned
o by providing verbal and nonverbal affirmation in response to student
comments
• Clarifying through verbalization through providing feedback and asking
questions
o Receiving feedback. Provide feedback in both written and oral form to
students
o Asking questions. Encourage students to ask questions. Additionally,
signal that questions are valued by including and rewarding them in
the grading criteria for participation
 7

Kahoot! Activity

Description:

• Kahoot! Activities are becoming ever more present in classrooms. This

online interactive platform allows students to plug into their phones. Kahoot!
is a tool that allows instructors to administer quizzes, discussions or surveys.
• The game based classroom response system played by the whole class in
real time. Once students select a response to multiple choice questions their
answers are projected on screen. This platform allows instructors to gauge
students understandings of topics and find areas that require more attention.
• There is also an option for students to form teams which plays a huge role in
student engagement. A little bit of competition can’t hurt!

When to Use:

• After reading a story to discuss ideas, themes, and characters

• After completing a written text to discuss findings and implications
• Before introducing a new topic to determine students’ prior knowledge
 8

Fishbowl Activity Example: Lesson Plan #1 – Strengthening and Weakening

Arguments

Learning Objectives:
1. Students should understand the three primary components of an argument.
2. Students should be able to differentiate between a strong argument and a
weak argument.
3. Students should understand the scholarly credibility between sound
arguments.
4. Students should be able to recognize strong arguments for their particular
research topic and apply what they learned to their Inquiry Essay.

Assessment:
The students understanding of strong and weak arguments will be assessed
during the Fishbowl activity at the end of the lesson. If time permits, we also plan
to hand out a notecard to students and ask them to write what they believe worked
well along with areas of improvement. Doing so will allow us to understand the
extent to which they understood the material presented during the lesson plan.

Materials Needed:
• Handouts on “Claims as a Rhetorical Strategy”
• Pen & Paper
• Index cards containing various issues for fishbowl activity
• PowerPoint:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F1wMG_cJV8WSphWhsZDhrTN
WH8lGv5Lbfcr591LuHZc/edit#slide=id.p

Lesson Plan - (Estimated time 55 mins)

● Free write (7-8 mins)
○ What does it mean to make an argument? What is a claim? How do
claims support or weaken an argument? What views do you plan to
discuss in your Inquiry Assignment? What claims are multiple experts
and viewpoints making? Do these claims strengthen or weaken their
overall argument?

● Discussion (5 mins)
○ Pair off and share what you wrote during the free write.
 9

● Significance of Strong and Weak Claim (5 mins)

○ Inventing Arguments pages 435 – 436 (source)
● Fishbowl Activity (20-25 mins)
○ The class should be sitting in a circle
○ Each student will pick a piece of paper from the fishbowl
○ Each paper will have a topic (ex. Videogames and violence) and say
either “strengthen” or “weaken”
○ Students will have time to create either a strong or weak claim about
the topic they choose
○ Students will then go around and read the claim they made aloud to
the class
○ A classmate must respond to another student claim and explain why it
was either strong or weak (participation and responding will count for
the student’s daily participation grade)
■ We will first do a demo to show the students how the activity
will play out.
■ Example topics include: Genetic engineering, videogames and
violence, drinking age, etc.
 10

Gallery Walk Activity Example: Lesson Plan #2 – The Revision Process: Cohesion
and Clarity

Learning Objectives:
1. Students should understand how the framework of their writing shapes
reading
2. Students should understand the foundation of coherence as it pertains to
writing
3. Students should understand the basic principles of clarity
4. Students should be able to apply coherence and clarity to the revision
process

Assessment:
The students understanding of cohesion and clarity within the revision
process will be assessed during the gallery walk activity at the end of the lesson.
Difficult words and lengthy phrases will be included in the activity. If the groups
are able to point out the problems area and re-work them according the lesson on
cohesion and clarity, then the learning objectives will have been met. A notecard to
students at the end of the lesson. Students will be asked to write down what they
took away from the lesson and any remaining question they have on the revision
process. I will compose a FAQ of the questions asked by the students and send it
out later that day.

Materials Needed:
• Handouts on “Revision Checklist” handout
• Pen & Paper
• Inventing Arguments pages 392 – 404
• PowerPoint:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FiVPDMc1W2F9mDBJgjZ0ZfmzG
a1C7LHStpf6yHdSyxw/edit?usp=sharing

Lesson Plan - (Estimated time 45 mins)

● Free write (7-8 mins)

 11

○ What is coherence? What is clarity? How do the two pertain to the

revision process? How do cohesion and clarity contribute to a text’s
readability? What steps do you take when revising your work?
● Discussion (5 mins)
○ Pair off and share what you wrote during the free write.
● PowerPoint on Cohesion and Clarity (15 - 20 mins)
● Pass out handout on “Revision Checklist” (just something to keep)
○ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/faculty-resources/classroom-
handouts/revision-checklist/

● Gallery Walk Activity (20-25 mins)

○ The students will form groups include no more than 4 students.
○ Taped around the wall will be different excepts from past ENGL101
position papers
○ Excerpts should include some obvious mistakes such as unclear
phrases, run-on sentences, and jargon unknown to the layman lacking
a definition.
○ Each group will take time to apply the lesson on cohesion and clarity
to rewrite the paragraphs around the room
○ The groups will then come together, read the original passage, and
then read their revision
○ The groups will be asked to explain why they made the changes and
what how they believed it shaped the readability of the passage.
■ Example
● Before: “In fact, modern neuroanatomical routine and
tests have demonstrated that the neocortex of cetaceans
encompass a part of the brain that is incomparable to
many mammals, this is called the paralimbic cortex.”
● After: “Modern neuroanatomical routines, or brain scans,
have shown that the cortex of a whale’s brain houses the
paralimbic cortex which is not found in most mammals.”
 12

Kahoot! Activity Example: Lesson Plan #3 – Logical Fallacies

Learning Objectives:
1. Students should be able to evaluate a speaker’s point of view,
reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious
reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence
2. Students should be able to consider counter-arguments for their
Position Paper and present the information, findings, and supporting
evidence clearly, concisely, and logically.
3. When addressing counter-arguments students should be able to
address rebuttal using logic lines of reasoning to tear down opposing
sides arguments

Assessment:
• The feedback from the previous lesson plan indicated the students enjoyed
closing the class with a Kahoot activity. Similar to the previous lesson plan,
the Kahoot will asks students to form groups of four and answer the different
multiple choice questions as a time. If the groups are able to answer the
questions correctly, then the learning objectives will have been met.

Materials Needed:
Fearless Writing pages 379 – 382
Mobile Phone

Lesson Plan - (Estimated time 30ish mins)

• Logical Fallacies Review (10 mins)
• Kahoot Activity (10 mins)

o Based off the feedback from the previous lesson plan, this Kahoot will
include examples of logical fallacies. The students will have a choice
of four types of logical fallacies and must select the fallacy present in
the example.
§ Example: “If you don’t learn how to use a computer, you won’t
be able to get a decent job.”
§ This is an “Either/Or” fallacy because it stands on the
assumption that the only way to get a decent job is by
being able to work a computer, where there could be
other factors that play a role.