Social Studies ConferenceRegion IV ESC
Instructional Strategies that Increase Learner Engagement
Holland Poulsen, [email protected]
(281)498-8110 x6660
Learner Engagement
• Engagement precedes learning!
• An Action Plan
You can put your heart and soul into lesson design, but if students aren’t engaged, learning suffers. Working on the Work by Phillip C. Schlechty, Jossey-Bass.
• Learner engagement highlights characteristics that make classroom work engaging, relevant, and more effective.
What is engagement?
• To obtain and hold the attention of• To be actively committed• To participate• To be engrossed• To involve oneself or become occupied
8 Characteristics of Engaging Student Work
1. Product Focus2. Clear Product Standards3. Protection from Initial Failure4. Affiliation5. Affirmation6. Choice7. Novelty and Variety8. Authenticity
Hook StrategiesActivate Prior Knowledge
• Before Reading
List-Group-Label
List-Group-Label
• Using post-it notes, write down what you think you know about the civil rights movement.
• Use one post-it note for each statement.
• Once you have 1-3 thoughts written down, please come place them on the butcher paper.
Hook StrategiesActivate Prior Knowledge
• Before Reading
List-Group-Label Look & List
Look and List• Get an index card with a vocabulary term
(image) listed on one side.• Place a post-it note on the back.• Ask at least three different people who they
think the person is and what they did to influence the community. Write what they think on the post-it note.
• Meet with the other people in the classroom that have the same term (person) as you. Create a group definition and write it down.
• Be prepared to share with everyone after five minutes.
Line StrategiesThe Content
• During Reading
Character Quotes
Character Quotes
• Read through the list of quotes attached.• Think about the person who might have said
the words quoted.• Write down 2-3 words that describe one of
the characteristics of the person who might have spoken these words.
• Turn and talk to someone near you and share at least one character trait that you listed.
Line StrategiesThe Content
• During Reading
Character Quotes Emotional Timeline
Emotional Timeline
• The idea behind this activity is to chart the main events in the main character’s life as told in the story being read. As you read you record the main events that occur in the character’s life. These should include important or significant things that may be good or bad in the life of the character. When all events have been recorded from the story, you chart them on a line graph according to how good or bad they are in the life of the main character.
• When all events are charted you can see the how the emotions of the main character changed throughout the book. You can discuss the good and bad things that have happened to the character. Were there more good or more bad events?
Sinker StrategiesProcess New Information
• After Reading
Definition Poem
Definition Poem__________________________________________________________
Name it__________________________________________________________
Describe it, Rename it__________________________________________________________
Tell where it would be found__________________________________________________________
Tell more about it__________________________________________________________
Use emotion words to tell how you feel about this__________________________________________________________
Explain why you used the emotion words on line 5
ExampleEagle
Our national birdSoaring near mountains and trees
King of the airAwesome predator
Respected and feared by all
Sinker StrategiesProcess New Information
• After Reading
Definition Poem Bio-Poem
Line 1 First Name Line 2 Title or occupation of the person Line 3 Four words that describe the personLine 4 Lover of (3 things or ideas) Line 5 Who believed (1 or more ideas) Line 6 Who wanted (3 things) Line 7 Who used (3 methods of things) Line 8 Who gave (3 things) Line 9 Who said (a quote) Line 10 Last Name
Bio-Poem
Learner Engagement8 Characteristics of Engaging Student Work
• Product Focus• Clear Product Standards• Protection from Initial Failure• Affiliation• Affirmation• Choice• Novelty and Variety• Authenticity
Thank you!
Instructional Strategies that Increase Learner Engagement
Holland Poulsen, [email protected]
(281)498-8110 x6660