There is one additional strategy to add to your toolbox that is a bit more conducive to demonstration of mastery and understanding and may serve as a culminating activity resulting in a grade. It is called the Socratic Seminar. This is an excellent way to move from recall to authentic understanding of a topic by using a question and discussion format. We’ve videotaped a class working on a Paideia Seminar (almost identical to the Socratic Seminar) to help you visualize what this looks like in the classroom. Listen to the level of discussion and the conversations between the children as you view this video.
Regina Public Schools and Saskatchewan Learning have teamed up to create the Best Practices: Instructional Strategies & Techniques web site. They have put together a very straightforward approach to Socratic Seminars. It is broken up into three sections that provide activities and preparation for each.