Head in a hole – a different way of reviewing learning and progress.

I first saw the Head in a Hole activity on Gemma Harvey’s [@Gemmaharvey73 on Twitter] blog – http://www.gemmaharvey73.blogspot.co.uk – who I saw present at the recent Beaumont School’s TeachMeet – and was really impressed with some of the strategies on her blog which were subsequently highlighted by Beaumont School’s Teaching and Learning Team. One I wanted to use almost immediately was the Head in the Hole strategy, which focused upon summarising the role and impact of a person – be that historical figure, historian, poet, sportsperson or scientist.

How it works is this, students in groups are given a piece of sugar paper, some coloured card, glue and a board marker. With this, they are given ‘a map’ of what a Head in the Hole presentation looks like. This map is included in the worksheet below. Each group is allocated a figure to present in their Head in a Hole presentation. Then with their map, materials and books, they make their Head in a Hole presentations. First, they cut the hole for the head and add features of the body. Then they add the information which comes in the form of speech bubbles, thought clouds to show what the figure was thinking, key quotes and ideas using the language that person used. Add to this a fact file on the figure and a devil and angel on each shoulder, writing the strengths and weaknesses of that person.

Creating a head in a hole gallery guidesheet

Once the presentations are finished, you then have a Head in a Hole gallery which summarises the topic and students then present what they have made. I used it this week for Year 8’s on Henry VIII and his six wives and it worked tremendously.

This is a great reviewing strategy that enables students to work collaboratively, creatively showing their learning and progress. Many thanks must go to Gemma Harvey for inspiring this idea and you should look at her blog for some fantastic ideas. Highly recommended!