Who is stronger?

Despite whatever has happened in the last day (about which, let me just say, we will some day become greater than this), I am determined to carry on. Along the lines of my last post--a look at an interesting lesson for fifth grade--I present an engaging lesson for sixth graders on the subject of comparative adjectives.

The students are The Comparative Detective who must sort the four characters according to their foot speed, age and height. There are ten clues to decipher:


and then to make sentences for. The students then report the sentence to the their teammates, who must write it in their "Clue book":


Players switch roles, so each student will read, speak, listen and write during the activity.


There are ten clues to gather. After recording them all, the team must sort out the facts to determine the names and statistics of the four people they are comparing.


I initially planned a different activity for this lesson--one that was successful at my old school--but two or three of the sixth grade classes here are what my co-teacher describes as "quiet". What I would describe as lethargic and unengaged. So, I wanted to get them on their feet, and also challenge their brains (with or without English, necessarily). Working as a team. They really got into the Stations game, so this was a similar attempt to motivate them.

Halfway through the rotation, they have been utterly enthusiastic and totally willing to work. So so far a success.