Strategies in the Health Classroom - Worksheet 2021

Strategy name and age group

Decision making process- Year 3

How does the strategy work? Working in partners or small groups students are posed a scenario and asked to identify 3 choices they could make- and then the positive or
negative elements associated with these choices

Advantages Requires students to be the facilitators of the ideas- and use reasoning to justify ideas
Open-ended
Facilitates discussion
Applicable to multiple areas of health- bullying, safety etc

Disadvantages Some students would come up with inappropriate choices

High written component- difficult for EAL/D students
The sheet doesn’t ask students to explain their choice- just asks them to pick. Justifying the choice would make this task more effective.

Variations or modifications Lower years- fewer choices/ use pictures instead of writing
- Choose your journey
Upper years- Create mind map on ICT

Follow on activity Depending on the choices students take, the students could write a script asking for help to solve their problem

Other comments Suitable for students Year 3 + as the activity requires a lot of writing

Strategy name and age group Venn diagram Year 5

How does the strategy work? Students receive a Venn Diagram with labelled section and statement cards. They are to discuss and place the cards into the section of the Venn
diagram that they see correct. Questioning and discussion will help students to explore and clarify understandings of health topics such as
drinking.

Advantages Facilitates discussion

Supports students to visualise health choices
Hands-on

Disadvantages Students can struggle to make a clear decision

Difficult discussions for some students

Variations or modifications Younger years- images over writing

Follow on activity Students can create their own statement cards that fall into the categories of the Venn diagram
Script or role play
Write a persuasive text using the statements in the Venn diagram

Other comments This would work well to get students to do, discuss and then using understanding re-do and see if their placement of statements changes.
Strategy name and age group
Choose a corner Year 6

How does the strategy work? Place numbers 1-4 in the classroom. Have students hear a scenario and 4 possible solutions (corner 1,2,3,4). Students move to the corner that

Advantages Facilitates group discussion

Allows teacher to see students understanding/ perspective – good for assessment

Disadvantages Chaotic
Potential for misunderstanding
Follow friends over answering honestly

Variations or modifications Agree- disagree continuum

Younger years- Agree/ disagree to the decisions

Follow on activity Create a social story using the decisions they made
Choose your adventure story

Other comments As this activity involves a lot of talking- visually having the corners with the decisions available to students will help them.
Clear communication is required for this to flow effectively.

Strategy name and age group

Circle Talk- Year 4

How does the strategy work? Students make 2 concentric circles. Teacher poses questions and assigns the inside or outside circle to answer. The teacher then directs the
students to move in their circle and poses a new question.

Advantages Facilitates discussion/ shows other points of views because students get to speak to multiple people

Disadvantages Loud activity

Chaotic to get students to form circles

Variations or modifications Making smaller groups for mini discussion

Sharing back to whole class
Writing (silent) rather than speaking

Follow on activity Write 1 idea you gave and 1 idea you liked- justify why you liked the idea

Other comments Clear student roles are required- inside circle shift 2 spots to the right etc.
Reflection- This reflection is to be done individually.
1. Think about the 4 strategies you have just workshopped and reflect on 2 strategies that appealed to you most. Use the follow questions to guide your reflection:
 What was it that appealed to you about the chosen strategy?
 What evidence could you collect to assess individual learning when using this strategy?
 Do you think the chosen strategy enabled the content to be delivered effectively?
 How would you improve implementation or delivery of this strategy?

Strategy 1 – Circle Talk

What was it that appealed to you about the chosen strategy? This strategy appealed to me because it was an effective way to facilitate a structured discussion. Moreover, everyone got to share
with other people.
What evidence could you collect to assess individual learning when using this strategy? Peer assessment would be an effective strategy. You could also target certain students and stand behind
in the circle and record using a device or write anecdotal notes.
Do you think the chosen strategy enabled the content to be delivered effectively? Structure of the circle rather that the more common discussion strategies such as think-pai-share. It also means
that students can move when rotating in the circle.
How would you improve implementation or delivery of this strategy? Be more specific with circle movement direction. Discussion points- give students individual time to plan answers to circle
talk questions before forming the circle.

Strategy 2 – 4 Corners
What was it that appealed to you about the chosen strategy? The strategy was a fun way to engage in discussion and health topics. I like that we could visualise that not everyone shared the
same outlook as us.
What evidence could you collect to assess individual learning when using this strategy? Assess students understanding based on which corner they decide to stand on. Teacher could also take
anecdotal notes on student responses.
Do you think the chosen strategy enabled the content to be delivered effectively? Movement enabled students to digest information and then required them to reason for their choices.
Reasoning is essential in health.
How would you improve implementation or delivery of this strategy? Teacher must display the 4 corner options on the IWB other wise students will ask for clarification on which corner is what.

Qu 1. When planning a health Lesson, what would be the value of using a variety of strategies in the lesson?
Using a variety of strategies will mean that students are engaged in the learning. Higher engagement leads to higher learning outcomes. Moreover, a wide variety of learning strategies also
supports different learning styles such as bodily kinaesthetic- as a result, this means every student is given the best chance to succeed.
Qu 2. Feedback to Katie / Jo/ Maria
What improvements could we make to improve this session?
As an adult, I would really prefer to have adequate seating when learning and engaging in this unit. Floor seating can become uncomfortable for a 2 hour lecture.