Alternatives to the DREADED

LECTURE!!!!!!!!

  • Jigsaw – In a small group, each person is assigned to read a few paragraphs out of the passage. They then summarize the paragraphs to the rest of the group.
  • Deciding upon a concept – On a sheet of paper, put three columns “plus,” “minus” and “(more) information.” After answering questions related to “more information,” students must make a decision.
  • Think, pair, share – write down your response to a prompt, pair up and one at a time, share your response. May be asked to share with the group.
  • Construction site – a certain number of people are at the board. They get asked a question, they write the answer. If correct, they put a tally mark above their name. If not, they sit down and are replaced by someone else.
  • Group discussions/debate – lay groundrules
  • Bulletin boards/poster – assign topics to student groups who create a display about that topic. Could be a new bulletin board every two weeks or posters that are displayed in the health room. Each group briefly presents their display. Create guidelines and a scoring instrument.
  • Create newsletter/brochure
  • Videos – students create a public service announcement about a particular topic. The video must be 30 seconds in length. Show some sample videos from the Ad Council.
  • Current events/Current Health – students bring in and presentcurrent information (internet, print media) to their peers
  • Games:
  • Jeopardy
  • Who Wants to be a Millionaire? - Form groups with each “one” in the hot seat. Each successive question is worth more points: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 etc. With each questions, groups risk the number of points they’ve earned. At any point a group may “bank em” which means protect their points from being lost but they start back at one point for the next question.
  • Finish the story, moral dilemmas – present a scenario and then students write down how they would respond (may report out to class)
  • Music with a message – play music and analyze the song/lyrics for the message and how it relates to the lesson topic
  • Alternative - Create song, rap, poem, comic strip about a topic
  • Alternative – Analyze a song, movie or commercial to determine how it is trying to influence people’s or society’s perception
  • Skits/role plays – create a mini-play (how respond to being offered pot or getting in the car with someone who has been drinking) where every person knows their lines. May also do “stand up” where only a portion of the group knows their lines and the rest is improvisation.
  • Question box – students drop anonymous questions into a box. Teacher picks questions to answer or after screening the questions, distributes them to groups to answer as best they can.
  • Family homework assignments
  • Webquest – students answer a series of questions using internet resources provided by the instructor. (see sample webquest on
  • Art project - anatomy, digestive system
  • Debate – win converts to your point of view. See face off (debate) assignment on
  • Brain breaks – get students moving if they have been sitting too long or their minds appear to be wandering
  • Hands on/experiments – students spoon out the Crisco that equals the amount of fat in a Big Mac, flaming Dorito, smoking soda bottle
  • Paper down the lane - write what you know about a topic, pass to another student
  • Do con-currently with another activity
  • Video/movie worksheets - watch a video and answer corresponding questions
  • Post its – Ask students what they believe the answer or definition to a question. Students post the answers on the board and are used to form the basis of a discussion.
  • Grab-bag – Put questions into a hat which students draw from and then answer.
  • Best summary (3-5 minutes max) - Stop class at an appropriate point and ask students in pairs of groups of three to write a summary of the information presented thus far. Best summary wins. Read it aloud if warranted.