Pique Student Interest With Gallery Walks

Introductory activities allow students to reflect on what they already know about a given topic, theme, event, or idea – before learning new information. Making these connections is essential, as they lay the foundation on which new learning builds. ReLeah Cossett Lent, an international educational consultant responsible for the literacy initiative at the University of Central Florida, puts it this way:  “Background knowledge is an essential component in learning because it helps us make sense of new ideas and experiences (2012).”

Unfortunately, such anticipatory activities are often skipped due to the assumption that students don’t have any or enough prior knowledge to make the experience worthwhile. While I would argue against the validity (and harm) of such suppositions, our time is better spent discussing an effective practice that can both activate and provide prior knowledge.  Let’s talk about Gallery Walks!
 A Gallery Walk is an engagement strategy requiring students to visit several stations, independently analyzing each display and making comments using Post-It Notes, before discussing the display's content with their group. I suggest using quotes, pictures, artifacts, short excerpts from texts, or a combination of these when creating Gallery Walks.  Select material that will evoke some sort of an emotion from your students. Additionally, you may wish to choose 7-8 different pieces to use during the Gallery Walk, as this allows groups to be smaller and more manageable.

 

 

Procedure:

1. Post the displays (ex: quotes/pics/artifacts/excerpts).
2. Divide students into groups (based on # of displays).
3. Allow students time to read and/or analyze the display, write their opinions, thoughts, or connections on a Post-It and leave it near the display.
4. Rotate groups through each display, providing extra time for students to read the comments posted by classmates.
5. Once all displays have been visited, encourage students to discuss them.
6. Wrap-up the activity as a whole class. Discuss which displays were the most powerful and why.

One additional benefit of using Gallery Walks is that even if a student lacks prior knowledge prior to the activity, he will glean information from his peers as he visits each display/station. Thus, when the actual lesson starts – he has something on which to build his new learning, which (of course) was the point all along. Keep in mind activating prior knowledge isn’t just a nice way to start a lesson; it is essential to the learning process.  This makes Gallery Walks an effective opener for any lesson; and that’s another Pint-Sized PD.

Resource:

Lent, ReLeah Cossett. Overcoming Textbook Fatigue: 21st Century Tools to Revitalize Teaching and Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2012.