Strategies for Student Engagement

Ways to Pick Partners or Groups

Touch 3 walls, 3 desks, 3 things made of plastic,

etc. then turn to the person nearest you and

become partners.

Pick a color – all like colors join as a group.

Take 7 big steps and become partners with the

person closest to you.

New partners: stand back to back with your

current partner and take 5 steps. The person

closes to you will be your new partner.

Social Prompts: Turn to your neighbor…

And say, “Glad you’re here!”

Check if their name is on their paper.

Check if they have (supply) ready.

And say, “Have a great evening.”

And say, “You worked hard today.”

Check if they are following directions. If so, tell them

great job. If not, wake them up!

Say, “Are you ready?”

Say, “Let’s go!”

Say, “I’m ready. ”

Say, “I’m on a roll!”

How to Build Working Memory

o Pause to allow processing time. o Use physical activity to activate the frontal

lobe of the brain. o Take brain breaks with games like Simon Says,

etc. o Use music/songs. o Use clapping rhythm repeats. o Have students repeat directions given to you

or to a partner. o Have one partner speak and one write. o Chunk content into smaller sections to aid in

understanding, then review.

Nudges and Prompts to Get Student Attention:

Say, “Write this down, even if it’s the only thing you

write down all day.”

Say, “Listen closely, even if it’s the only time you’ve

listened closely all day.”

Change the way you typically do things; shake things up a

bit.

Rearrange the order of the daily activities.

Social Prompts to Discover, Identify with, or Affirm Others (Pointing increases brain activity)

Identify the one…. Who has laughed the most today. Who is sitting closest to the door/window/etc. Who has the longest hair. Who has the most blue on. Who has worked the hardest. Who is the most organized. Who has the shortest/longest name. Who has talked the most/least. Who was born in the month of…

Relationship and status builders

Call students by last name: “Mr.

Jefferson”

Rotate classroom jobs so everyone can

get status roles.

Create a “directory” of all students

that lists positive skills and/or

qualities.

Honor and appreciate differences.

Encourage activities that help students

feel special.

Showcase talents.

Give students opportunities to practice

leadership.

Encourage responsibility.

Social Affirmations: Turn to

your neighbor and say…

You/we rock!

You/we are working

hard!

Great work today!

You/we can do this!

You’re/we’re awesome!

Let’s do this!

Great job!

Magic Steps for Successful Direction-Giving

1. Set up or frame the directions.

2. Check for student readiness.

3. Use a consistent trigger word or activity

right before directions (ex: Have a ritual that

you do before giving directions to draw

student’s attention, such as clap 1, 2, 3

then have students make a whoosh sound

while pushing their hands forward. Give the

directions right after the whoosh.)

4. Give directions one at a time.

5. Have students repeat directions back to you, or to a partner.

TEACH

How to Pay Attention

(using the SLANT approach)

S – Sit Up

L – Listen

A – Ask and Answer

Questions

N – Nod for Understanding

T – Track the Speaker

Boost Student Responses

Use questions that are inclusive (nearly everyone can

respond).

Use questions that are compelling (nearly everyone

WANTS to respond).

Respond to students positively.

Whether students answer correctly or incorrectly, thank

them for their participation and effort.

No judging – respond to answers with: “Thank you,

love the effort, thanks for jumping in, good enthusiasm,

etc.”

Boost Student Responses

Include more students: use a fair jar to call on all students

equally.

When calling on students, have others write down the

answers, evaluate the answers, choose the best answer,

etc. to keep them engaged.

Problem solve: have students work together to critique,

sort, or analyze a question/answer.

Respond to students nonverbally (nod, smile, etc.) as well

as verbally.

Model responses (say, “Raise your hand” with yours

raised).

BRAIN BREAKS Heads Up, 7-Up – A quick round of the

classic game can perk up droopy students.

Pantomime – Choose a student to act out an activity WITHOUT talking. The class must mimic the leader and then guess what the activity is (swimming, flying, sleeping, laughing, jogging, singing, etc.)

Mirror-Mirror –Have students pair up and mirror the actions of their partner.

Easy Ideas!

Use more movement in your classroom. Instead of handing out papers, have students come get them. Use stretch breaks. Ask Students to lead a brain break. Turn any content into an engaging activity (use formative

strategies to answer multiple choice questions, check for frequent understanding, etc.

Have students turn to their partner and discuss things. Use props and special objects of interest. Use your hands to teach with gestures and have students repeat. Use “hooks” to create a promotion or sales pitch for upcoming

content. Use prediction to fuel curiosity and engagement. Use connections, similes, metaphors, and analogies to draw

links.

Build Positive Classroom Culture Discover students’ areas of interest and

expertise. Connect with students daily. Use corrective positive feedback. Celebrate positives. Share personal stories to make yourself

seem more “Real.”

Boost Student Responses

Use wait time for better thinking and student responses.

Use comments to help extend answers (Could you say

more? Tell me how you got that answer.)

Make class rules about answering, such as, “If you have no

clue, just say, ‘I don’t know, but I would like to know.’”

Ensure classroom support and acceptance.

Students Learn by DOING

Want students to learn better? Reduce the amount of stuff you give

kids to learn before asking them to do something with it, then have

them do something with the new material immediately before they

have time to forget.

You explain what to do next. You model what to do next. Then you

have students do that step while you watch like a hawk. If there is

error, you fix it immediately before it becomes a bad habit. When

you are satisfied with the performance you proceed to the next step.

Lessons that are packaged in this fashion, problems of brain overload

and forgetting are nearly eliminated, while student engagement is

maximized. Additionally, formative assessment is continuous, not

something that is separated from performance and delayed.

Use Framing to engage students

Framing changes how we hear or view things. It is a tool used to create an intentional bias, causing students

to pay attention.

Framing examples: “Here’s a good one….” “You know what I found interesting/curious/weird, etc….” “Hey, can you keep a secret?”

Why Can’t We Remember??

All of us, adults and students alike, have very little long

term memory and very little auditory modality.

So….what’s the primary modality used for instruction?

Oops! We have a problem! We expect students to

LISTEN to us talk about something and use that modality

to put something in LONG TERM MEMORY! How do we

fix this?

Less teacher talking.

Less sit and get for students.

More DOING.

Use Classroom Rituals to Make Your Job Easier!

Rituals help make things in your classroom seem reliable and safe. They are 100% predictable, simple to do, engaging, help to solve a problem or transition to something different, and end in a positive state. Examples of Rituals:

Teacher claps 3 times to get attention. Teacher says “Class” and Students say “Yes.” Teacher starts the week by saying, “Turn to your

neighbor and say, ‘Happy Monday – It’s a great day to learn!’”

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

Desk Switch: Students have 10 seconds (count down from

10) to find another desk to sit in that is in a different part

of the room than his/her normal desk. Students stay in that

desk for the rest of the lesson. Why?

o Switching desks gets them up and moving.

o Sitting in a different place in the classroom

will give them a different perspective and wake

up their brains a bit.

BRAIN BREAK ACTIVITIES 1. BRAIN CROSSOVERS:

o Touch opposite elbows.

o Spell your name with your finger while circling

your foot.

o Putt one hand on your nose and then the other,

etc. (so one hand follows what the other did).

o Stomp your feet and clap your hands.

o Push down on your knees to stand up.

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

Position Switch: Have students turn their chairs around

and sit straddling the chair with their hands resting on the

back (girls in dresses can set side-saddle). While good sitting

is important, a few minutes of sitting differently can keep

kids alert. Another idea is to let kids sit on their desks with

their feet on their chairs (which they will love!)

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

Wander about the Room: Roam about as you

teach, rather than staying glued to the front of the room.

Most kids will track you, which will keep them alert, and if

you see someone having trouble focusing, you can stand right

next to him/her for a quick perk-up.

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

o Throw students a foam ball when

calling on them to answer a question.

o Randomly and frequently ask students to repeat what

you just said.

o Choose a fun word, such as “Shazam!” or “Bazinga!”

Every time you say the word, students must use both

hands to hit the tops of their desks two times and then

clap two times. Say the words several times throughout

the lesson. It will wake everyone up!

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

o Use white boards, response cards, sign

language, thumbs and fingers, etc. to make

everyone respond, rather than calling on one student

at a time.

o Have students turn often and explain something they

just learned to their partners.

o Go outside, or to a different room. Change the

atmosphere.

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

o Teach with a puppet of give a voice to a stuffed animal.

o Teach a small portion of the lesson in an accent or

with a funny voice.

o Throw in a joke every now and then.

o Wear bright colored clothing. You can keep their

attention by being the most interesting thing in the

room!

KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES!

If students look sleepy, stop talking and write a simple

command on the board such as “Put both hands on

your head.” The silence should alert day dreamers that

something is going on. Follow up with two more

written commands. Make the last one something with

a sound just in case a few kids haven’t caught on,

such as, “Clap 3 times.” Continue with the

lesson.

BRAIN BREAKS Simon Says: It’s a classic and students love it. Crab Walk around the room: Put on a song and

have students walk in the crab position around the room. At some points, have students go in reverse.

Macarena: Teach students the hand movements for this song.

Ants Go Marching: Play the song and let the kids march around the room at different speeds…slow motion, fast march, etc.

BRAIN BREAKS Cupid Shuffle, Cotton Eyed Joe, (or other dance):

Find the dance on YouTube, and teach them how to boogie. Gives them a brain break and helps them at the next wedding rehearsal they attend!

Doodle Time: Give students some blank paper and markers and let them doodle and talk for 5 minutes.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Give students blank paper to play with a friend.

Jumping Jacks: Get their heart rates up with 50 jumping jacks.

BRAIN BREAKS Dance Party –Turn on music and let students dance

until the song ends.

Cha-Cha Slide – Find lyrics and dance moves on YouTube.

Congo Line- Turn on music and form a Congo line around the room until the song is over.

Push-Ups/Sit-Ups- Have students pick a partner and let them count out each other’s push-ups or sit-ups.

Bingo – Depending on time….the song OR the game!

GIVE ME 5

1. Eyes are Watching.

2. Mouth is Quiet.

3. Body is Upright.

4. Hands are Empty.

5. Ears are Listening.