A great lesson plan is more than preparation and delivery. It needs to grab the attention of the listeners and actively engage their minds in order to be effective. Students have many distractions pulling at them all the time: technology, relationship dilemmas, hunger, tiredness, on and on and on. As teachers, we have to break through that noise and grab the attention of our listeners. One of the easiest and most effective ways to make sure your students are with you is to involve them in the lesson. Read on for 4 easy ways to involve students in your lessons.
Make up easy motions.
You can do this with almost any lesson, and it really can be simple motions such as pointing, waving, signing simple words. Here are some examples:
- Math-Clap on odd numbers. Thumbs up on even numbers.
- Phonics-Draw a smile in the air if the vowel is short. Draw a straight horizontal line in the air if the vowel is long. Snap if two words are rhyming words.
- Vocabulary-Come up with a sign or hand motion students give when they come across the word you are studying.
- Science-(Life Cycle) Start out with a fist representing a seed. Motion with your fingers like a sprinkle of water. Spread out your hand while moving your arm upward to represent a flower growing.
Allow them to act out the lesson or concept.
Allow them to partner up and take 5 minutes to plan how they will act out the lesson or demonstrate the concept being taught.
This works especially well for Bible lessons as a review of the lesson. See how much they remember by letting them retell the story in their own words.
Acting out (modeling) concepts is also helpful when explaining class rules and procedures at the beginning of the school year. My class morale improved so much when we started practicing the proper way to treat each other before difficult situations arose. If you’re looking for more classroom management ideas check out this article Three Tools for Classroom Management.
Give them opportunities to demonstrate the concepts.
- Allow students to come to the board and demonstrate a math problem.
- Take it outside and draw chalk pictures of vocabulary words or math fact families.
- Allow them to draw pictures or create a poster applying the information.
- Repeat math facts, Bible verses, etc. as a class or with their partners in different silly voices-giant/frog/mouse/horse/etc.
- Do fun worksheets to reinforce the concepts being taught. You may be interested in the fun worksheet packet below-15 worksheets full of fun skill builders for practicing compound words, alphabetical order, and following directions with a Spring theme!
Reinforce the lesson through games.
Games are always a hit and can be competitive or just for fun (depending on the age and maturity level of your listeners.)
Check out the super fun FREE games below to use in your classroom!
Making up motions, acting out the lesson, demonstrating the lesson, and playing games are 4 easy ways to involve students in your lessons! I would love to hear your favorite ways to implement these strategies in your classroom! Leave a comment below.