Gallery Walk

Gallery Walk

Definition: An activity in which the students walk around the room and respond to questions or topics that are posted at each station. Often the students will stop at a poster, whiteboard, or similar piece of paper to discuss a specific question. Then the students will be asked to respond by writing on the poster/whiteboard, individually and/or as a group.

Purposes:

  • To facilitate discussion
  • To introduce questions about a topic or concept
  • To activate prior knowledge
  • To encourage multiple responses
  • To record preconceived or learned responses to a topic


 Example A:
Before a reading on cell reproduction, you might have four posters around the room asking the following questions:

  • How do you think cells reproduce?
  • What organelles may play a role in cell reproduction?
  • How might viruses differ from other cells when reproducing?
  • How often do you think your cells reproduce?

The students will spend 5-10 minutes talking about and responding to each question. Afterwards, you can discuss the best responses (hopefully selecting different groups each time). You can also spend time clarifying any common misconceptions before focusing on the main lesson.

Gallery walks are excellent informal formative assessment tools. Multiple similar responses may reveal issues in the previous instruction or the prevalence of specific misconceptions. Discussing the responses is also an integral step in the process.

Example B:
After reading a story or novel, you might post stations that inquire:

  • The main theme
  • The most interesting characters
  • What scenes are crucial to the story
  • Opinions on how the story was written
  • Which moment was the climax
  • Identifying motifs in the narrative
  • Identifying techniques used to crucial moments. 


Find more examples and information at Starting Point, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College, https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/what.html and The Teacher’s Toolkit, http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/gallery-walk .

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