Links+and+resources

Virtual field trips

Partnership for 21 Century learning - Teacher resources

Readworks.org

Activating strategies for use in the classroom

Teaching Strategies

26 Keys to Student Engagement

Web 2.0 for Exploration

**Traditional Instructional Strategies to Support Student Engagement **


 * Squaring Off **

Place a card in each corner of the room with the following phrases: //Dirt Road, Paved Road, Highway,// //and Yellow Brick Road//. Brainstorm with students the characteristics of each type of road and how each road represents a level of understanding. The dirt road would symbolize the lowest level of understanding where the yellow brick road would indicate an ability to teach others about the topic. Instruct students to go to the corner of the room that matches where they are in the new unit of study. You can use this activity to create cooperative learning groups, assess knowledge, and meet students where they are.


 * Four Corners **

Like Squaring Off, this kinesthetic method of formative assessment allows students to move to a corner of the room labeled as “A, B, C, D,” “Yes/No,” “True/False,” “Agree, Disagree, Neutral,” etc. Students move to the corner that represents their response to a prompt. Teachers use this real-time information to make adjustments to instruction.


 * Think-Pair-Share/Knee Partners/Squaring Up **

Think-Pair-Share is a strategy designed to provide students with time to think about a given topic, enable them to formulate individual ideas, and share these ideas with another student. This strategy encourages student classroom participation. Rather than using a basic recitation method in which a teacher poses a question and one student offers a response, Think-Pair-Share encourages a high degree of pupil response and can help the teacher gauge student understanding of a concept. Students also become imparters of knowledge with this strategy.


 * “Teach” / “Okay” **

“Teach / okay” is one element of the **Power Teaching** movement created by Chris Biffle in the late 1990s. This movement, now referred to as **Whole Brain Teaching**, incorporates the philosophy that students learn best when they have opportunities to be the imparters of knowledge, they incorporate movement into their daily learning, and no more than ten minutes go by without the implementation of formative assessment. In this particular strategy, the teacher asks students to turn to their partners and simultaneously explain to each other what they have just learned in class regarding a specific concept. In its truest form, the teacher has incorporated a variety of demonstrative hand gestures to help demonstrate the concept, and students use these gestures to explain the concept to their partner. When the teacher says, “Teach,” the students respond with “okay,” then they teach each other.


 * Inner/Outer Circle **

This is a review strategy that is great for our kinesthetic learners. Students create an inner circle and an outer circle facing each other. The number of students in each should be the same. Students in the inner circle will hold a two-sided handout. On one side will be a vocabulary term, and on the other side is a definition. The inner circle students hold up the word to the person in the outer circle. On the teacher’s command, the person in the outer circle provides the definition to the person in the inner circle. The teacher can decide whether or not the inner circle person provides the correct definition if the student misses. The students in the outer circle rotate on the teacher’s command until they are back where they began. Then, the teacher can allow inner circle students to switch with outer circle participants. He/She can also ask questions about which words were not missed or missed often to gain information about how to support student mastery.


 * I, We, Two, You **

This strategy focuses on best practice in that the teacher models a new concept, the class then practices together, the teacher then asks partners to practice together, then each student becomes responsible for his/her own work. This strategy provides low-risk for students and also allows teachers multiple opportunities for teachers to troubleshoot potential questions or difficulties students have. Teaching the students this terminology shares your expectation that eventually they will be responsible for the concept eventually.


 * Sort or Sequence **

Providing students the opportunity to sort or sequence events by concept, timeline, or other criteria is not only fun, but it allows our kinesthetic learners an opportunity for hands-on instruction. This strategy can be modified to include cooperative learning groups, time limits, or other criteria that will make the interactive experience more engaging. One variation is to make the activity a competition. This strategy can be used as either a literacy or vocabulary strategy.


 * Who Would Say It? **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">With this strategy, the teacher gives students vocabulary words and has them work individually, with a partner, or in a small group to write a sentence from the point-of-view of someone who might use the term. Teachers can provide the “person” or allow students to choose from one to three different persons who might say the right word. Students share their responses with the class, or the teacher can take up responses at Exit Tickets to inform instruction for the next day’s lesson.


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conversation Game **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a great review strategy for students to use vocabulary words in a different context. Students must process and use vocabulary to create a conversation either individually, in a small group, or in a whole-class situation. Specific emphasis should be placed on the use of context clues to ensure understanding. The Conversation Game is a great strategy to differentiate. A formative assessment strategy, teachers can use what they glean from this activity to focus their instruction and identify misconceptions.


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Game Templates **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Creating an interactive game using programs like Microsoft Excel can require a lot of time. Luckily, there are game templates online that have already been created and shared, allowing you to download and customize the games to suit your purpose. Games patterned after the $100,000 Pyramid and Jeopardy are good resources to create vocabulary/literacy activities. <span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Example templates can be found at []


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Six-Step Partner **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Often, when we ask students to “find a partner,” they gravitate toward the same person each time. With “six-step partners,” teachers allow their students structured movement in the classroom, and students work with students who do not sit in their general vicinity. Often, students will be paired that generally have little personal interaction in the classroom. Once six-step partners have been established, the teacher can use this strategy for a quick method of pairing students.


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Graffiti Write **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In graffiti write, students are provided a concept or topic and asked to write everything they know about a specific topic on chart paper, a white board, or other large sheet of paper. Their responses should look “graffiti-like.” Students should not write in straight lines or be forced to write in complete sentences. This is a brainstorming activity that can be used as a pre-assessment or a review. Teachers may opt to have students rotate through several stations and either add to or review the work of their peers. (See Gallery Walk.)


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gallery Walk **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gallery walks typically take place following a graffiti write or other activity where students produce work to be reviewed by peers. Students visit stations in the room where student work is displayed and then have the opportunity to add to the information provided or to assess the information. Students are given ownership of their learning and an opportunity to review, reflect, and respond. (See Graffiti Write)


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Conga **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Originally a Sheltered Instructional (SIOP) strategy, Conga gives students the opportunity to become experts about a subject, concept, or topic. To begin the Conga, students create two equal lines facing one another. One line becomes the “speaking” line, and the other line becomes the “listening” line. When the teacher poses a question to the class, the speaking line members look at the partner directly across from them and answer the question. The teacher chooses a time to say, “Conga,” and then the speaking line shifts one person to the right. The last person on the end shifts down to the other end of the line. The speaking line students then provide their answer to the same question to the next person in line. This continues until the teacher changes questions. Eventually, the listening line becomes the speaking line so that all students have an opportunity to be the expert and to be the listener. This activity is great for formative assessment as the teacher can monitor student responses. Follow up questions such as, “Which question was most difficult to answer?” or “What did you learn that you didn’t already know?” or “What is still confusing to you?” can make this formative process beneficial to students. Plus, this activity is a structured way to provide student movement in your classroom.


 * <span style="color: #cd0033; font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Inner/Outer Circle **

<span style="font-family: Corbel,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is a review strategy that is great for our kinesthetic learners. Students create an inner circle and an outer circle facing each other. The number of students in each should be the same. Students in the inner circle will hold a two-sided handout. On one side will be a vocabulary term, and on the other side is a definition. The inner circle students hold up the word to the person in the outer circle. On the teacher’s command, the person in the outer circle provides the definition to the person in the inner circle. The teacher can decide whether or not the inner circle person provides the correct definition if the student misses. The students in the outer circle rotate on the teacher’s command until they are back where they began. Then, the teacher can allow inner circle students to switch with outer circle participants. He/She can also ask questions about which words were not missed or missed often to gain information about how to support student mastery.