Whether we are distance learning or learning in a traditional classroom, we are battling with engaging distractions more than ever before. Nearly all students carry with them a handheld computer that is often far more engaging than our lecture on thesis writing. So, how do we compete? How do we create interest and engagement while still pushing student minds to do the very hard work of learning? This is one of the biggest questions and challenges teachers face today.
Here is what we do know. Students who come from strong academic backgrounds, and students who are driven either intrinsically or extrinsically, can motivate themselves to stay engaged in nearly all learning situations. They can learn from any teacher in nearly any type of lesson. But, what about the other students? Our struggling students, our low-income students, our disengaged students, our 504 plan or IEP students, our distracted students, etc… etc… etc…
Below are some quick suggestions for increasing engagement and interest in learning within your secondary ELA classroom.
Adopt Active Learning Strategies
One way to battle and beat boredom, is to get your students up, moving, and talking. Any interactive learning will be more effective than a lengthly sit and get lecture. Some active learning activities might include:
Small group discussions or activities
project based learning activities
gallery walks
Check out this blog post about using gallery walks to introduce literature.
games
Check out this blog post about using games in the secondary ELA classroom.
debate
mock trials
escape rooms
stations
Check out this blog post about using stations in the ELA classroom.
partner work
think, pair, share
literature circles
Check out this blog post about using literature circles in the ELA classroom.
4 corner discussions
Pose a multiple choice question and ask students to move to the corner of the room to show their answer. (Place A, B, C, D labels in each corner). Students can then discuss their answers with the people in their corner.
Movement
Check out this blog post for incorporating movement in your ELA classroom.
Do you have other suggestions? Leave them in the comments so we can all grow together!
Use Storytelling to Engage Students During Direct Instruction
Often, we hear the message that direct instruction is bad, but that just isn’t the case. There is a strong need for short direct instruction lessons in our classrooms and direct instruction can still be very engaging. I love using storytelling to bring interest and student buy-in to my lessons through an engaging but academically relevant story. Use these stories to make connections both with you as the teacher, and also with the content you are introducing. We all know how important it is to maintain those personal connections with our students. Research shows that students do learn more from teachers they like, or teachers they feel care about them personally.
When I introduce my close reading strategies lesson at the beginning of the year, we complete a personal reading history activity. During this activity, I model for students my own personal reading history, starting with childhood and working towards my experiences in college. I share the good, bad, and ugly. I share my reading struggles (I especially share these) as well as my successes, telling students my personal story. I then ask students to do the same. We share our personal stories with one another. The purpose of this activity is to get students to see that reading is not a skill that you ‘just have’ or ‘don’t have,’ but it is a skill that can grow and change over time. But, a great secondary purpose for this activity is to get students to hear my story, and to share their own.
Another example of using storytelling to create engagement can also be found in my reading strategies unit. As I introduce the close reading/annotation strategies, I share with students a personal experience from my first few months at college. They already know my reading history, and that reading was fairly easy for me in high school. I tell them how confident I was going into college. I ‘had this,’ so to speak. I explained that my history teacher assigned numerous chapters of reading and said the test will be in one month. So, being the ever amazing student that I was, I went back to my dorm room, took out my beautiful set of highlighters, and highlighted everything that was important in each and every chapter. (You probably already see where this is going…) I then hold up a copy of this book (could be any textbook that has been overly highlighted) and explain that a few days before the test, I went back to study, because, of course, I was a great student. I sat down at my desk, opened the book, and realize that I had highlighted EVERYTHING! Needless to say, I failed that test and learned a hard lesson about the text annotation strategies that you will learn today… … … You get the idea. Students are on the edge of their seats, laughing at my mistake all the while realizing that even their ELA teacher is not the perfect reader or student. But, with this story, I have explained the importance for these strategies and gave them a real-world application of why these skills will benefit them.
Create a Dilemma That Will Spark Interest
At the start of my argument unit, I love to share some inflated research that shows how teenagers cannot handle having their cell phones near them without getting distracted. So, I declare that all cell phones are banned from the classroom. They must be placed in student lockers or they become mine for the day. I say this with all the seriousness my acting skills can muster... then, I sit back and watch the arguments unfold. I ask students to reflect first in writing about this decision and make any appeal they see fit. Then, I tell them they can get into small groups to compare notes and create the best argument to change my mind. Students are noticeably upset and genuinely believe that a strong argument is needed to save the life of their cellular devices. It is so hard not to smile as I see them feverishly writing responses and discussing the topic with passion.
Now, you or your district may already have this requirement, but the general idea is there. Find a hot button issue and use this to engage and excite them. Use their innate passion to drive these lessons.
Discussion and Debate
As we know, discussions allow students to learn from one another while keeping them engaged and interested. Whether this is a quick think, pair, share activity or a more formal discussion, socratic seminar, or debate students need to be the ones doing the talking - as often as possible.
Getting students to facilitate great classroom conversations takes a good amount of pre-teaching, norm setting, and community building. Starting the school year with community building activities is something that is likely already in your plan book. This is such an important step in building that feeling of safety in speaking out and sharing thoughts and ideas.
Quick Tips to Getting Students Ready to Host Discussions
Grab your free copy of this reflection by clicking on the image!
Get students talking to each other about non-academic, low stakes, and even non-graded topics as often as possible. Maybe it is just the quick close reading history stories, or quick bell ringer dilemma that students work to solve or argue. Maybe these are think, pair, share activities or table discussions. Ask students to confer and talk to one another on a regular if not daily basis.
Offer safer, smaller discussions before large or whole class discussions. Start by asking pairs to chat, then table groups, etc.
Encourage voices and alternative opinions. Model this with students. Show them how to respectfully disagree or ask prodding questions. I never provide my students with my own opinion on any topic. I facilitate the furthering of the discussion by jumping from side to side. This way, they don’t feel there is a ‘right’ answer or an opportunity to be wrong.
Like the example above, pose debatable questions or scenarios as bell ringers when possible. Get students passionate about these topics using those passion points: video games, cell phones, current events, sports issues, global warming, etc.
Allow informal conversations where possible and as often as possible, but encourage all voices to be heard.
Establish norms as a class for group work and discussions. Post these in the classroom for reference. Provide students opportunity to reflect on their discussions and facilitate discussions to update these norms as needed.
Offer students time to write before they discuss. This will immensely help your shy, introverted, and introspective students.
Consider adding online discussions through Google Classroom, Flipgrid, or Padlet. Click here to read more about using online resources in your ELA classroom. I have found that students who are generally quiet during traditional discussions are actually quite ‘loud’ in these online forums!
Model, model, model! Enough said, right?!
Do you have other suggestions that will help students feel comfortable and be successful with discussions? Share them below in the comments!
Put a focus on 21st Century Skills
Sometimes as ELA teachers, we focus so much on the critical nature of our content and the tests hanging like angry clouds above us - at all times, that we can forget what is really important about what and how we teach. We are not just preparing students to read and write critically, but we are preparing them to be good adults, good members of a community, and good collaborators and leaders in their future profession - whatever that is. As we create our units, we need to also consider the following skills and how we are meeting these areas of need.
Creative problem solving
Critical thinking
Creativity
Communication
Collaboration
Media Literacy - this one sure feels more and more important these days, am I right?
Technology skills
Cross-Curricular skills
etc.
Use Social Media!
I think it is no secret that a vast majority of our students LOVE social media apps. From TicTok to Snapchat, they are constantly distracted by these apps. So, why not use these to our advantage as we work on battling boredom! I recently created a series of activities that use a variety of Social Media inspired units as reading response activities. Click on the image to learn more about these activities. Or, you can read my blog post about these activities here!
