A gallery walk, or sometimes referred to as carousal, is a cooperative learning strategy that is implemented as a whole class. First, the teacher would compose a list of questions that pertain to a specific topic the class has been discussing. These could relate to a story, news article, debate, etc. Each question is recorded on top of a large poster or chart paper and placed at its own location in the room. Students form groups making sure that there are the same number of groups as there are posters. Then, each group takes a turn at each poster station. They review the question together, discuss collectively possible responses, and write them on the poster until the teacher alerts them to stop. Each group then proceeds to the next poster and follows the same procedure, adding to what the previous groups have already stated. When groups reach the last poster, they are responsible for reporting back to the class by summarizing the information on the finalized poster.
Ways to Implement
The best way to implement this strategy is for the teacher to make sure he/she prepares quality, open response questions. This means students are required to demonstrate higher order thinking strategies such as evaluate, demonstrate, critique, etc. For example, one question may be, "What inferences can you make from Olivia's decision to not go to the party?" A teacher should also make sure to decide how much time students should spend at each station. It is imperative that students, especially ESL, have ample amount of time to think and explore possible answers. This is referred to as "wait time" as discussed by Horwitz. The teacher should also decide how he/she will signal students to move. Some suggestions are to use a buzzer, code word, or clapping. Which ever you may decide to use, make sure you go over this with the class and model it before starting so they are best prepared. Finally, the teacher should consider grouping. As an ESL instructor, you may find yourself with a class of varying language abilities and WIDA levels. Do you want to put low levels with high levels for peer support? Or do you prefer to group by similar ability? In the end, the best way to group is to know your students and what will work best for them.
Why it's Beneficial to Students
This is a physical activity that is very beneficial to your kinesthetic learners. Students are required to get up and keep moving! Also, it has students working cooperatively in a situation where they can share and build ideas off of each other. While at each poster station, students are negotiating and synthesizing their ideas. They must work collectively in order to compose a final product, which makes this a great example of task based learning.
WIDA Standards
This strategy is unique in the fact that it hits so many domains in one lesson. In various parts of the gallery walk, one can see listening, speaking, writing, and reading being exercised by ESL students. As we know, it is valuable to integrate many domains into your lessons and recognize that they are not meant to be strictly taught one at a time. Students must read the given text in order to be able to participate in the discussion of ideas with their peers. Listening is involved as ESL students hear their peers point of view and reasoning. Teachers may informally assess this by circulating the room and listening to the group conversations. As students think about the question, they practice their speaking skills through the sharing of ideas. Finally, students scribe an answer in sentence or phrase form. As one can see, opportunities for active language practice in a gallery walk are endless!
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