Corridor of Voices

Corridor of Voices

What is it? This strategy requires students to stand in two lines facing each other with their arms up to make an arch or "corridor" to walk through. Students begin to go through the corridor as everybody makes statements about a certain theme or issue. This can be used to convey certain emotions that a character of a story may be feeling by having students make statements similar to those made in the story. Another idea is to have students say nice things about those walking through the corridor of voices.

Accommodations:  This strategy allows for various intelligences to be used and would thus benefit a range of different learners. Students with ADHD or  ADD would benefit from an activity like this as it gets them up and out of their seat. It would also be very beneficial for auditory or verbal learners. If there is a student who is in a wheelchair this activity could also be done by having two rows of chairs facing each other and arms up in the middle. The students would then have to crouch or crawl to go through.

Curriculum Connections:  I love this strategy because of the way it could be used to contribute to a positive classroom environment. This could easily link to the Health curriculum as students learn about healthy relationships and how to speak to one another respectfully or how to listen attentively. This could then be practiced in the corridor of voices. Another way it could be used is to convey the emotions of a character in a book. It could be used for character education in the classroom or it could serve as a way to review for a quiz. Students could take their knowledge of a specific topic, choose the point they find most important and then speak that point out as people travel through the corridor. This helps students by vocalizing their knowledge as well as the students who are listening. This could be repeated as numerous students walk through the corridor for repeated exposure to the topic (ensure that what students are speaking out is true to the topic and have a few backup ideas ready for students who cannot think of anything). This activity could also be used as a diagnostic assessment tool. The teacher could walk through the corridor as students tell him/her what they know about the topic.

Theory: A theory I would attribute to this strategy is the Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Students are moving (bodily kinesthetic), they are speaking (verbal/linguistic) as well as listening (auditory) which incorporates 3 of the intelligences in one activity. The Tribes philosophy also works really well with an exercise such as this as it promotes inclusion within the classroom.