Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) is used in schools as a college readiness program. It promotes academic success skills, in grades 7-12, that develop academic growth while teaching students how to be independent thinkers. There are many aspects within the program to ensure students will be in college ready and you can help them prepare by including a few of the wonderful activities listed below.
1. Ted Talk Analysis
Ted talks are widely used in an AVID class. This graphic organizer will help students practice their listening skills and are an AVID note-taking system that will help with their college education and can be used in any content area classes.
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2. Socratic Seminar Preparation
This poster will help students remember how to prepare for Socratic Seminars. There is also a link to a graphic organizer that you can download and personalize for your class. Socratic seminars are a great way to practice oral communication skills and remind students of the importance of recognizing body language cues.
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3. How to Cite Evidence
Color coding is a great way to teach students how to cite their evidence. This will set students up for academic success and is a college-readiness skill as well. Being able to cite evidence shows that students have a deep understanding of the material as well.
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4. Discussion Ball
Socratic seminars are one of the more difficult aspects of AVID. This soccer ball activity can help liven them up. It builds on the rigorous standards of the program and helps those who are struggling to come up with something to say.
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5. Revised Cornell Notes
The Cornell-focused note-taking method is an AVID study skill since students are required to go back and reduce their content before reviewing their notes. Cornell notes teach beneficial academic behaviors that will follow students to college.
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6. Collaborative Notes on Google Docs
Using Google Docs is the perfect way to include technology in assignments. It also helps them develop their understanding of collaboration, which is one of many aspects of college. This will also help with writing skills.
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7. Collaborative Placemats
Need a brainstorming activity? Here kids will have 2 minutes to answer a given question on a large sheet of paper and then discuss what they think with their group. Everyone is given time to then share their thoughts and students help each other using a peer editing system.
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8. Connect the Dots
This motivational activity is aimed at developing public speaking skills briefly and comfortably. Students will blindly select 2 nouns and have to tell a 1-2 minute story using them. It can be fact or fiction but must be original and use those words.
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9. How to Hold Classroom Debates
Holding debates can be scary if there isn't a good structure and plenty of planning. Here you'll get tips and graphic organizers to set yourself up for success in the least threatening way possible. They will help develop a deeper understanding of topics and build on students' public speaking and listening skills using engaging speech topics.
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10. Mock Ted Talks
Ted talks are amazing and can set students up for success. This teacher had a goal for all their 8th-grade AVID students to leave middle school with a recorded mock Ted Talk.
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11. Critical Thinking with Costas House of Questions
AVID students will use Costas House of Questions for responses to class content. They are important as they help develop critical thinking skills and build a deeper understanding of all subject areas by answering content-specific, higher-level questions.
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12. Philosophical Chairs
Philosophical chairs are one of the AVID strategies that are widely used. Students will answer questions posed by the teacher by moving to a designated area in the room and then take turns discussing why they made that choice. It fosters public speaking, gets students paying attention to body language, and they're great motivational activities that can be used in any academic class.
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13. Peer Revision Stations
Peer revision is beneficial for students' academic growth. It helps them gather insight into how their peers write and is important in the editing process. Here students will circulate and read others' work while leaving constructive criticism.
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14. Goal Setting Doodle Sheet
Students in AVID need to set goals for success. This sheet allows them to think about their previous goals and then set new ones or go backtracking in order to revise past ones.
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15. Hula Hoop Pass
Hula Hoop Pass is intended to develop leadership skills as well as promote team building, all while creating a community of students. Kids will have a blast without even realizing they are learning these important skills, but it is however important to discuss the purpose of the activity afterward.
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16. Plan a Community for the Homeless
Project-based learning is a great way to incorporate community involvement into the curriculum. Students will be able to develop their interpersonal skills here too.
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17. Genius Hour
Part of the AVID program gives students time to focus on a passion project. Genius hour focuses on inquiry-based learning and allows students to individually explore what they are interested in. They take an active role in their education through these projects and learn leadership skills along the way.
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18. Article of the Week
Each week students are assigned a nonfiction article to read, annotate and respond to, to push them past basic understanding. You can focus on specific skills or ask general open-ended questions. This is a great way to develop nonfiction writing process skills and increase academic language whilst promoting continuous learning.
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19. Vision Boards
Vision boards are aimed at helping people set and meet goals for success, in small pieces. This way reaching goals is less stressful, as learners can focus on one area at a time. Once you meet all your goals, you can put the pieces together and see how much you accomplished which allows for continual growth.
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20. Collaborative Writing
There are so many reasons why collaborative writing is a beneficial part of the writing process. This activity has students answer an essential question by writing a color-coded paragraph as a group. Being able to work on a group project with others is an important college readiness strategy and helps deepen their understanding of collaboration.
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