How to Set a School Table

Teachers work to inspire students with the details of the courses they study. Set a school table in your classroom, library or common area with elements geared to attract student attention and to promote active and passive learning. Create a table-centered learning environment in which students can interact with materials placed on the table. Use a school table to acquaint students with various school protocols and to make information available to all the relevant learners in your school.

Instructions

1

Create interest in mathematics with a math activities table in the classroom. Display books from disciplines dependent upon math skills to give an idea of the value of a math education. Include books on botany, physics and astronomy, to name only three possibilities. Write algebra problems and word problems on sheets of paper. Encourage students to try to solve the equations at the table. Invite students to submit their solutions for review. Offer extra points toward their math grades to students who successfully solve problems.

2

Place tables around the library, assigning a different aspect of library science to each table. Set a table, for example, with reference books, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauruses and almanacs. Invite teachers to bring classes to the library for a presentation. Hand out printouts of computerized card catalog searches related to reference works. Provide a stack of index cards with a different reference book catalog number on each card, and invite each student to select an index card and then locate the reference book listed on it.

3

Expand cultural boundaries with a table in a common area by celebrating cultural events, such as Black History Month, or draw student awareness to great literary figures. Place a large table at a main entrance to the school or in an area where students regularly pass. Introduce passersby, for example, to Harlem Renaissance poets during Black History Month. Tape butcher paper across a long section of the table, and provide tubs filled with crayons. On one section of the paper, write a poem by a Harlem Renaissance poet, such as Countee Cullen. Post an invitation for students to write their own Renaissance poems in colored crayons. Select three poems at the end of the week for special recognition, and read them during assembly or over the PA during morning announcements.