Providing multiple opportunities to respond (OTRs) is a practice that allows students many chances to actively participate in their learning, and also provides teachers frequent opportunities for formative assessment. It is important to consider providing both high rates for response (i.e. frequency), as well as providing variety. When considering frequency – how often students are given the opportunity to engage directly with the content – consider methods that allow all students the opportunity to formulate their responses. The ripple strategy found in Total Participation Techniques (Himmele & Himmele, 2017, pg. 172) promotes participation by providing a safe way for every student to respond to a prompt or question, thereby demonstrating the same high expectations for everyone, followed by pairing students with a partner, and finally putting students into a small group to come up with a final response. When considering variety, try out different response types for Active Participation, then observe, and ask for feedback from your students, to find those that best meet your students’ needs. Check out: VTSS: Foundations of Student Success – Modules 5 & 6 to learn more about OTRs and how to monitor and modify your practice.
References
Active Participation for Effective Delivery of Instruction. (2010, June). https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56b90cb101dbae64ff707585/t/571e696eb654f99a5e54c292/1461610866688/Active_Participation_Lewellen.pdf
Himmele, P., & Himmele, W. (2017). Total participation techniques: Making every student an active learner. ASCD. https://files.ascd.org/pdfs/publications/books/himmele2017.pdf
Virginia tiered systems of supports: Foundations of Student Success. CIEES OSEP LMS.(2024).https://osep.cieesodu.org/videomodule/virginia-tiered-systems-of-supports-foundations-of-student-success/
