What’s in the Envelope?
This activity from Sharon Martin is relatively simple to set-up and run and, as an added bonus, can be used with any area of the Specification (both Psychology and Sociology): this example is based on the Sociology of Crime and Deviance. The activity is mainly for revision / recap sessions, although there’s probably no reason […]
Plus, Minus, Interesting: A Thinking Hats Tool
If you’ve been following recent posts featuring the work of Dr. Jill Swale you’ll have come across her “Thinking Hats” activity that’s partly designed to structure classroom discussions. If you want an activity that eases your students gently into the whole “6 Hats” process, “Plus, Minus, Interesting” is a simple evaluation exercise that uses the […]
Using “Thinking Hats” to Structure Discussions
I’ve always thought Edward De Bono’s “Six Thinking Hats” (1985) is an idea that fits quite neatly with the demands placed on students in a-level sociology and psychology. Three hats speak directly to the assessment process: 1.White: facts, information known or needed. 2. Black: weaknesses, limitations and judgements. 3. Yellow: advantages and uses. The remaining […]
Using Analogies in Sociology
Although analogies aren’t always widely used in sociology teaching – with the exception of the organismic analogy conventionally used to introduce Functionalism and the “Warm Bath” analogy used in relation to Functionalist views on Family Life – I’ve always felt that, used carefully and with suitable warnings not to stretch them too far, they can […]
Why is Gaz in Court for Mugging?
A second example of Jill Swale’s work, lovingly-culled from the ATSS archive, is based around the requirement for students to “solve a mystery by selecting and ordering relevant material through group discussion”. In terms of game mechanics, this is a relatively simple sift-sort-match exercise: students work in small groups to link case study material to […]
Global Crime Lesson Resource
If you’re not familiar with the work of Dr. Jill Swale the easiest way to describe it is that she brings a creative dimension to sociology teaching and learning through the application of critical thinking. This fusion has, over the years, produced some very interesting and innovative ways to teach a-level sociology, particularly the sociology […]
Testing Times
Testing Times is a relatively-simple board game, adapted from an original idea by Sally Stewart, designed to help students revise. The game is played in small classroom groups in the presence of a teacher because teachers will need to adjudicate student answers in order to sort the right from the wrong. Probably. Although the original […]
Creative Connections: Honeycomb Hexagons
The basic idea underpinning this simple activity is to encourage students to build-up a set of Key Revision Concepts with a visual dimension that should help them understand how and why these concepts can be connected. This is not only useful for revision – both the more-general “end of course” type and the more-specific “end […]
GCSE SociologyStuff: Roll-it To Recap
If, like me, you’re a fan of games and simulations you might find this simple Sociology game from Steve Bishop worth a look. While some games, such as the Sociology and Psychology Connecting Walls are best played on-line, this is more a pen-and-sticky-notes effort – a simple classroom activity that’s guaranteed to provide hours of fun, […]
Sweet Sampling: An Edible Lesson.
Never one not to knowingly flog a dead horse in the face of massive indifference, postmodern irony and mixed metaphors, I thought I’d do a Very Clever post on how you can teach sampling in a way that doesn’t rapidly drain the living essence from everyone in your classroom. This, to be fair, won’t actually […]