Engaging students in learning: tips and ideas

A brain-based classroom is one in which students are actively engaged in learning. What exactly does it mean for students to be actively involved? It’s certainly not about students completing worksheets, answering basic questions, or taking notes from a lecture. Take a minute to think about the definitions of these two words. The word asset it means moving, working, participating, energizing and provoking action. The word commits it means to require the use of/occupy, to attract and hold attention, and to involve. Basically, when students are actively involved, they are engaged and working in an active, energetic and moving way, and they are engaged and interested in what is being learned.

Wow! Is that too much to ask of our students, or is it more than too much to ask of us? This type of learning requires much more work and effort on our part to make it more meaningful to students. It is much easier to read the chapter, answer the questions at the end, and complete a prepared worksheet. However, there is hope! Many of the new textbooks available now include activities that actively engage students in their learning. Does your textbook have these tips and ideas in the teacher’s edition? If so, have you ever used those activities in your study plans? The next time you sit down to plan lessons, read through the activities provided and think about how you might incorporate them into your lesson. If you don’t have a newer textbook or are just looking for other ideas to get students actively involved, the tips below are for you.

Games

Have students create their own game that applies the concepts and/or skills learned for a particular unit. This activity also integrates writing, since students will have to write the instructions. Take some time to look at the educational games that are already available and discuss them with your students. Help them see the items found in a board or card game. Notice how the instructions are arranged and written so that students have a role model. One of my students made a Colony game as a project for our 13 Colony unit. He was able to show all the learning of him through the creation of this game.

There are also many great games available these days to help practice reading, spelling, math, science, and social studies skills. How might you use Monopoly, the Allowance game, Scategories, Scrabble, Mastermind, or Taboo in your class? While students may think they are just playing a game, they are actually applying important skills/concepts learned in class. To make the most of this learning opportunity, ask students to discuss the different skills they used while playing the game afterwards. Did they learn something new? This type of report makes connections between playing the game and your curriculum. Without the report, the students simply engaged in a fun but meaningless activity.

treasure hunt

Create a scavenger hunt for clues, phrases, or questions, and have students read the chapter to find the answers. It’s more of a learning experience if the answers aren’t immediately visible, especially for older students. Have them read the chapter so they can answer the questions or find the clue. Allowing students to work in pairs or groups adds an additional element of fun to this activity. Again, take time to discuss the activity and the results with the class when everyone has finished.

Another twist to this activity that requires more thought on the part of the students is to ask them to read the chapter first and then create their own scavenger hunt. The students then switch roles among themselves and have a partner complete their scavenger hunt. Allow pairs of students to discuss the positive and negative aspects of the created scavenger hunt. What was too easy? What was challenging? Were the questions/clues misleading or clearly understandable?

scripts

Once again, this activity works very well with reading textbooks. Have students work in pairs or groups to turn a historical event, textbook chapter, or story into a play. You can also have students work together to explain a concept or skill through a skit or play. Writing the script brings writing skills into the class and gives you an assessment tool.

A twist on this activity is for students to rewrite events or concepts read in the textbook or recently learned through direct instruction as a children’s story. This type of activity requires students to think at higher levels. Comprehension, analysis, application, and synthesis are all involved, as students must understand what was read and be able to explain and apply it within a children’s fictional short story.

learning stations

You don’t have to be an elementary school teacher to make the learning stations work. Take your unit and come up with five or six different reading or activity stations for students to complete. Write the instructions for each station and glue the page to the construction paper. We laminate ours to make them last. Then write a checklist for students to use when traveling to each station. This will help them know what to complete in each one. To set up, simply place instructions and materials on a group of desks or a table for each “station.” When you are finished, place the laminated instructions in a manila folder and label them. Then put it away in your binder for next year. In fact, I laminate reading passages, checklists, etc. so you can use them over and over again every year. This type of activity is also a great way to integrate other concepts and skills from the subject area into your lesson/unit.

With all of these activities, it is important that you are monitoring at all times to keep students on track. Ask guiding questions to help students complete the task and get the most out of the activity. You should also take the time to review your expectations for behavior and academic results before each activity. This reminder, along with constant monitoring, helps keep student misbehavior to a minimum. It is also very important that you take the time to discuss or “debrief” with the students about the activity. This type of discussion makes connections between the activity, the overall goal, and the lesson objective for your curriculum. Don’t settle for time fillers. With just a little preparation and inspiration, you can get your students up and running, engaged in their learning, and enjoying every minute!

Copyright 2007 Emma McDonald