5 Effective Closure Activities for the Classroom

5 Effective Closure Activities for the Classroom

Closure Activity: What is it?

Closure or exit activities help to wrap up a learning session. The activities are generally simple and quick tasks and can be conducted as individual or group tasks.

Why use it?

Closure activities help students to:

• Review and summarize the information presented during the lecture
• Connect new learning with past knowledge
• Apply their problem solving skills and understanding of the content

Closure activities also serve as effective assessment tools, providing teachers with feedback regarding:

• Students’ understanding of the lesson
• Highlights areas that require further clarification or re-teaching

This feedback allows teachers to plan for their next class, facilitating a smooth transition between classes.

5 Closure Activities

Take a few minutes at the end of the class to conduct these quick and effective exit tasks in the classroom:

Exit Slips: Exit Slips are flash cards with two or three questions on it. The questions stimulates reflection on the material taught in class. Students are instructed to answer each question in one or two lines and hand them over to the teacher before exiting the class.

3,2,1 Strategy: On an index card, students are instructed to write 3 points they learned, 2 points they have questions on or want clarified and 1 feedback for the instructor (about teaching methods, tools or strategies employed).

2-2-2 minute Doodling: This can be given as a group task. Each group is given a small portion of the material to reflect upon (what, why, how or causes, factors, affects.) Groups are then given 2 minutes each for:

• Discussion and reflecting upon their part of the material
• Summarizing information and presenting it as doodles either on the board (in different sections) or on charts (arranged in different walls of the class)
• Going through other groups’ doodles, and assimilating information about other parts of the topic.

Question the Answer: In this closure activity  answers are given and students have to frame its respective question. It can be conducted as a whole class activity with teachers cold calling students for the questions. The activity can also be conducted in the form of a quiz with students grouped into teams.

State a Key Point: Prepare index cards with topic related questions and put them in a open box. The box is passed around and students are instructed to state one key point for the question they pick. The card is then placed back inside the box. Questions are repeated to draw out more points from the students.

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