A common ELA classroom practice is literature circles, but management can be tricky and it is hard to determine if all students are working to their best ability or participating equally. Actively Learn takes the guesswork out of the equation since students will need to respond to the Q&A and actively work with their group in discussion, which can be tracked in Actively Learn. This format could be used for any content or class as well, not just ELA.
Consider using it as a discussion board for Book Clubs, Literature Circles, or non-fiction book/article studies. Questions could be specific or more general to fit any book or article your students may be reading. Students could be assigned in different groups based on their choice and have detailed discussions and Q&A right within Actively Learn. Because of the ease of modifying and editing, you could upload a template Book Club “class” and duplicate the class as needed to make modifications for your groups (uploads are limited to PDF or Google Doc). Consider having students create their own questions after reading and add those to the group discussion.
Since this is done online, students could even participate from home, which could be a great way to supplement what is happening in class. For example, a social studies/humanities class is learning about World War II, students might have several book options they could read that relate several different sides of the Holocaust conflict that was also happening. Some great middle school book options include Night, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Between Shades of Gray, and The Invisible Thread. Perhaps a science class is studying ocean topography, to add an additional layer to students learning, include Actively Learn non-fiction articles for group work and discussion beyond the classroom literature. Titles include “Ocean Ecosystems” and “Ocean Zones” or create discussions around classroom literature or library books based on topic and interest. This is just another great way for incorporating Actively Learn into your classroom’s digital discussion.
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