I have found the best way to engage learners is to make it real for them. The five teaching strategies listed below offer varying levels of independence and exploration for kids. And really, it makes teaching so much more fun to see kids fired up as they make connections in their learning.
1. Cooperative Learning/Group Investigations
Characteristics
A teaching activity in which the teacher purposefully uses small group interaction to forward new learning and accomplish academic and social skills.My Recommendations
Groups should be flexible, ideally, 3-5 students, created by a teacher, students, or needs-based. It's important to set group standards and have students self-reflect on their participation and the group's function.
Benefits: Collaboration among students; deeper thinking and understanding; enhanced feelings of empathy for others.
How I use Cooperative Learning/Group Investigations
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| Geometry - Escape the Time Machine - Perfect to review skills. |
Escapes are an engaging way to use cooperative learning groups. Students work as a group to escape whatever situation the escape dictates, all the while practicing embedded skills to solve a series of problems.
Group problem-solving investigations like FDP Number Line serve double duty both as a group investigation and differentiated instruction. As noted by the teacher feedback below, "The conversations that were had were invaluable."
2. Differentiated Instruction
Characteristics
Student-centered, whereby teachers provide appropriately challenging learning experiences for all students. Provides multiple approaches to content, process, and product. Assessment is ongoing to develop the next steps. Purposeful student movement/talking. Flexible grouping.My Recommendations
Students become engaged learners when they are appropriately challenged with meaningful lessons. This method creates a reasonable range of approaches to learning much of the time so that most of the students find learning a fit most of the time.
Benefits: Students take responsibility for their own growth/needs. Collaboration between teacher/students ongoing to develop appropriate lessons. Builds on what students already know.
How I use Differentiation
Differentiation is built into practically everything I do. I plan for the highest level of understanding/challenge and differentiate access for everyone in class to succeed at their level. Math games such as 36 BINGO, a PEMDAS order of operations game, or Capture the Polygon - Ordered Pairs Game, include modifications and suggestions for multiple levels of understanding.
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| Capture the Polygon - Ordered Pairs Game |
Project RAFTs (Role - Audience – Format – Topic) are another of my favorite ways to differentiate, allowing for students to show their understanding based on the final product they choose. They generally have four to five choices I outline and then the last choice called, "Hey, Teacher, I've got an idea!" I frequently include the “Hey, Teacher” choice for my creative thinkers. Below is the Series RAFT for novels.
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| Series RAFT - A Novel Approach to Book Reports |
3. Simulation / Role Playing
Characteristics
Simulation: An inductive teaching method in which students assume the roles of people engaged in complex, real-life situations.
Role Play: The involvement of students as participants and observers in a simulation of a real-world situation.
My Recommendations
Students learning best by emulating real life. Simulation is an effective method for making real-world situations, past or present, come to life for students as they become part of the event. Role-playing is fairly easy to employ and can be used across multiple subject areas with a fairly quick preparation time, depending on the complexity of the task.
Simulation Benefits: The increased likelihood that concepts and principles induced from the simulation will be transferred and applied to the real world.
Role-Playing Benefits: Growth and understanding related to content; students' understanding of others' beliefs and values; problem-solving skills.
How I Use Simulations / Role Playing
I love using simulations because kids never get tired of pretending they are grown up. Case in point, my Personal Finance PBL Simulation asks kids to take on their adult selves as they manage their salary for a month – choosing a job, finding a place to work, transportation, finding a place to live, paying bills, and more. And they LOVE it, frequently asking if we can do it all year. When we make it real for kids, they engage in the learning.
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| Personal Finance - Project-Based Learning Simulation |
RAFTs make an appearance again in role playing. By making their choices, they take on a particular role to convey their messages. It could be a live news broadcast or assuming the role of a notable figure in a wax museum. That's the beauty of a RAFT - so many opportunities for kids to show what they know through different roles.
4. Inquiry-Based Learning
Characteristics
An inductive teaching strategy in which the teacher poses a task, problem, or intriguing situation, while students explore the situation across small changes in the data set and generate insights about the problem and/or solution.My Recommendations
Inquiry-based learning uses real-life issues with real-life data to solve problems. Closed inquiry gives the teacher control of the question. Open inquiry gives control of the question to the students.
Benefits: Increased self-awareness; awareness of different points of view; enhanced curiosity; increased understanding of concepts and principles; enhanced ability to solve problems.
How I use Inquiry-Based Learning
I connect Inquiry-Based Learning to research and project-based learning units. Pick the topic, do the research and students figure out how to present the information in a way that makes it meaningful to them. Life on the North Forty accomplishes this while students explore major cultures around the world.
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| Exploring 5 Major Cities - Madrid, Naples, Ankara, Beijing, Boulder, CO |
5. Creative Problem Solving & Problem-Based Learning
Characteristics
An inductive teaching method in which the teacher presents an ill-structured, novel, and complex problem for students to investigate and solve collaboratively with teacher guidance and coaching.My Recommendations
This would be the most ambitious method but allows for the most autonomy for the students. Because of the problem's ill-structured nature, data and resources may not be readily available, creating additional challenges. The teacher is truly a mentor or consultant, as students follow a scientific method approach to problem-solving.
Benefits: Acquisition of new knowledge, concepts, and principles; enhanced problem-solving ability.
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| Teacher Freebie |
I've created a copy of the 5 Classroom Teaching Strategies as a handy teacher reference sheet, which you can get right here.
I'd love to hear how you use these strategies in your classroom!
"No practice is truly a best practice unless it works for the individual learner."
Carol Ann Tomlinson
