When it comes to kicking off a new unit, you want to spark curiosity, engagement, and a sense of wonder in your middle school and high school ELA students. That’s where a gallery walk comes in—a highly interactive strategy that turns your classroom into a dynamic learning environment. Think of it as a treasure hunt of ideas and connections that will set the tone for the unit ahead. In this post, I'll walk you through how to implement a gallery walk in your ELA classroom, step-by-step, using a mix of collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.
Why a Gallery Walk?
A gallery walk isn’t just a fun activity—it’s a purposeful way to:
Engage students with the new content.
Encourage collaboration and independent thinking.
Build excitement and anticipation for what’s to come.
Allow for student-led inquiry and discovery.
By having students explore evidence, make inferences, and pose questions, they’re taking ownership of their learning from the very beginning. Ready to give it a try? Here's how to set up a gallery walk in your own classroom:
Setting Up Your Gallery Walk
Choose Your Evidence: Gather a variety of evidence related to your new unit. This could include photos, artifacts, maps, quotes, graphs, and excerpts from texts. Aim for diversity to keep things interesting and ensure connections to multiple learning styles. For example, for my literature circle unit on the Industrial Revolution, I include quotes from each book along with images from Lewis Hine, a child labor photographer from the early 1900s, images of workers on strike for better conditions today, and a video of a clothing factory.
Prepare Stations: Create 6-8 stations around the room. Each station should feature one piece of evidence along with chart paper for student responses. Space them out to allow for easy movement.
Group Your Students: Divide students into small groups (3-4 students per group works best) and assign each group a starting station.
Explain the Process: Walk your students through the three steps of the gallery walk. Post instructions at the front of the classroom or on your Smartboard as a visual reminder.
The Gallery Walk: Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One: Group Examination
At their starting station, students will work together to examine the evidence and respond to the following prompts on chart paper:
Details: What details stand out to you? What seems to be important?
Setting: Based on the details, what inference can you make about the time and place of this piece of evidence?
Questions: What questions do you have about this piece of evidence?
Connections: What topics does this evidence connect to?
Step Two: Independent Exploration
After groups have examined their starting station, students will circulate independently to the other stations. Encourage them to bring sticky notes to add their thoughts to the charts already started by their classmates. They’ll focus on:
Details: What additional details seem important?
Setting: Do you agree or disagree with the group’s inference about the setting? Why?
Questions: What new questions does this piece of evidence raise?
Connections: Do you agree with the group’s connections? What other topics does this evidence connect to?
Step Three: Group Synthesis
Once students have examined all the stations, they’ll return to their original group to review the sticky notes added to their chart. As a group, they’ll:
Predict: What topics do you think we’ll study?
Setting: What time period and places will we explore?
Questions: What big questions might we work to answer?
Connections: Why might this topic be important to you?
Class Discussion
Wrap up the gallery walk with a whole-class discussion. Use the following guiding questions to synthesize ideas and build excitement:
What topic(s) do you think we’ll study?
What time period and places might we explore?
What big questions will we work to answer?
Why might this topic be important to you?
Tips for Success
Model Expectations: Walk through one station as a class to show how to analyze evidence and respond to the prompts.
Encourage Curiosity: Remind students there are no “wrong” observations or questions.
Mix It Up: Include a mix of visual, textual, and interactive evidence to keep students engaged.
Monitor and Guide: Circulate as students work to answer questions, provide support, and keep groups on track.
Celebrate Ideas: Highlight thoughtful observations and connections during the class discussion.
Why It Works
By participating in a gallery walk, students are exposed to the themes, settings, and questions that will drive the unit. They’re given the opportunity to collaborate and contribute their perspectives while building anticipation for the learning ahead. Most importantly, they’re at the center of the learning process.
So, what do you think? Are you ready to kickstart your next unit with a gallery walk? Let me know how it goes or if you have any questions about getting started. Happy teaching!
Engage, empower, and motivate your 6th-9th grade ELA students with this standards-based Industrial Revolution 6 week literature circle study. Over 250 pages of activities, classroom transformations, reader's notes, literature circle study, argument writing graphic organizers, rubrics, revision stations and more! This comprehensive unit has EVERYTHING you need for a solid six weeks of learning in your ELA classroom. It's also editable and digital links are provided.