Thursday, January 5, 2017

Santa Clause came to Psychology Class

Image result for santa


This school year my high school's winter break didn't start until December 24th. Kids get antsy...I get antsy...so I needed some creative ideas to get kids reviewing for their mini-finals and the May AP Exam and keep them engaged while visions of sugar plums were most likely dancing through their heads. So, on the fly, I came up with "Psychology Letters to Santa.":

I had kids pick 4 terms randomly from our study of psychology. (We had covered everything to Social Psychology by this time.) The students were not told anything more than to pick 4 psych terms from the past semester and that they needed to be from different units. I then had them crumple them up into a ball and toss it to another student in the classroom. The students then needed to write a letter to Santa using the terms in context and correctly.

What I thought was a silly exercise turned into a truly hilarious and fun review that made the long, arduous days prior to a break more fun. This could be amended to add more terms if you wanted, or to make it an assignment for specific terms (as in more FRQ styled.)

What fun activities did you do for the winter holidays/Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa in your classroom? What other holidays do you celebrate in class and make psychology relevant to?

Blessings and Happiness in the New Year!

-----Posted by Amy Ramponi



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