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Gallery Walk

This discussion technique allows students to be actively engaged as they walk throughout the classroom. They work together in small groups to share ideas and respond to meaningful questions, documents, images, problem-solving situations or texts.

How to use

1. Write

Create six questions or prompts about the current topic of study, and write each one on a piece of chart paper or on a white board. Hang or place the questions or prompts in various places around the classroom to create six stations. Images, documents, problems, or quotes may also be used.

2. Group

Group students into teams of three to five students, depending on the size of the class. Each group should start at a different station.

3. Begin

At their first station, groups will read what is posted and one recorder should write the group’s responses, thoughts, and comments on the chart paper or white board. For individual student accountablility, you may also have the students record their own responses on a worksheet (see template below), or put their initials below what they wrote. Having different colored markers for each student is also an option.

4. Rotate

After three to five minutes, have the groups rotate to the next station. Students read and discuss the previous group’s response and add content of their own. Repeat until all groups have visited each station. To involve all group members, you can  have groups switch recorders at each station.

5. Monitor

As the teacher, it is important to monitor the stations while the students paricipate. You may also need to clarify or provide hints if students don't understand or misinterpret what is posted at their station.

6. Reflect

Have students go back to their first station to read all that was added to their first response. Bring the class back together to discuss what was learned and make final conclusions about what they saw and discussed.

When to use

Use a Gallery Walk at any point in the lesson to engage students in conversation:

  • After reading a story to discuss ideas, themes, and characters
  • After completing a lab to discuss findings and implications
  • To examine historical documents or images
  • Before introducing a new topic to determine students’ prior knowledge
  • After students have created a poster or any other type of display project, or even before they submit it for a grade, use  I Like, I Wonder, Next Steps (see below)
  • To solve a math problem using UPS√
  • To generate ideas or pre-writes

Variations

Graffiti

The items posted around the room do not have to be questions, but can be ideas or concepts or even math problems. Large sheets of paper or chart paper are placed on the walls of the classroom. Students write their responses, draw pictures and record their thoughts on the given topic on the graffiti wall. Students are encouraged to use colored markers to make the wall interesting and to identify each student’s work/response.

I Like, I Wonder, Next Steps

Use a Gallery Walk format for students to get feedback on their work.  Hang student products, such as drawings, visual representations, poster projects, etc. Students, individually or in groups, rotate around the room and provide feedback to the creator of the work. Students are required to record one thing they like about the work displayed, one thing they wonder about it, and one thing the creator could do next or improve. This can be done before work is submitted to the teacher so that students may use their classmates’ feedback to improve their products. Students can write feedback on chart paper posted by each work, or they can use three different colored sticky notes (one for each category) to write their feedback and stick it directly onto the student product for instant feedback.

For PK-K

complete this Gallery Walk in shifts. Students should stand by their work while “gallery walkers” orally tell the student one or two of the required comments about their product. Depending on the number of students, you might have four or five “shifts” so that each student can hear from everyone in their class. It might be easier to do one shift per day for an entire week to accomplish this task (beginning with students who need the most help with their product or are slow workers.)

Gallery Run

This is a quicker version of a Gallery Walk. The questions posted at each station are lower level questions involving knowledge or comprehension. Students don't need to spend as much time discussing questions at each station, so they rotate them through at a quicker rate.  You can post many more than 6 questions so students get much more practice.

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