Teachers are always on the lookout for engagement activities for students as we all know that being bored and disengaged may result in many behavior problems and classroom disasters.
Why is student engagement important in the classroom?
Students who are engaged participants in the lessons and activities can result in a much deeper understanding and better memory retention.
Furthermore, when students are happier and take ownership of their education, they are on-task which makes it much easier for you.
Parents will be happy to hear that students enjoy learning with you. It also reflects well on you as a professional when your colleagues and superiors see how engaged students are in your class.
Hence, learning how to keep students engaged in class can make the overall learning process better for students, teachers, and parents.
This blog post will share 10 activities to engage students in learning. You can try the activities using the recommended resources to maximize student learning and fully engage them.
5 STRATEGIES FOR KEEPING STUDENTS ENGAGED
Here are the 5 key points to keep in mind when selecting the resources to increase student engagement.
- Cater to students’ desire
- Spark interest
- Increase movement
- Increase interaction
- Add variety
10 Engagement Activities
1) Meet The Teacher
This is simply a chance to give individual attention to students.
Giving personal attention will make students more attentive and motivated. When you show that you are invested in them, they will also be more invested in the task.
Moreover, by connecting with students on a more personal level, you get to know more about them and be able to customize lesson plans or choose resources that suit them.
Students can sit together with you and ask you 1 math question or share with you something. You will need to set the rules on whether they can ask you non-math related questions or personal questions etc.
For shy students, you can prepare some prompts to ask them if they have nothing to ask you or don’t know what to share. For example, which fraction math skills do you think are the hardest to learn?
If you can’t slot in time for this activity, you can still give some attention to each individual during small groups or math centers. Make them feel that they are seen and are part of the community.
Related read: The Top 3 Strategies For Teaching Math In Small Groups Or Classes
2) Talking Partners
Give students time to talk with their best friends or classmates. Pairing students can help to keep the discussion in control.
If you plan to give more direct instructions, you can assign each student a number or character’s name in the partnership. For example, you can instruct students, “Ones share with the twos your solution to this problem.”
3) Group discussion
This can be a small group discussion whereby they need to come to an agreement on an answer. Or it can even be a whole class discussion.
You need to have a plan so that the soft-spoken ones also have a say during the discussion.
To cater to shy students, and to prevent students from screaming across the classroom, ask for hand signal responses.
For example, “Show me a five if you agree or a fist if you disagree.” Students’ attention will be on you cause they know everyone is expected to participate.
4) Mystery Puzzles
These series include rigorous practice + a mystery (a fun element) + differentiated worksheets!
When students are doing worksheets differentiated to meet their standards, students tend to be more engaged in learning.
Students of similar standards can work together to solve a mystery. Teamwork + Fun + Differentiated Instruction = Engaged!
5) Hands-On Activities
Students like to get busy with their hands. You can use manipulatives or let them do some crafts. When they get to do something it helps them to focus and hopefully retain more information.
You can also research to see how you can teach the concept in a discover-based manner. I’m sure you get to hook some students!
Related Read: 5 Hooks For Math Lessons That Will Engage Your Students Easily & Quickly
6) Independent Games
This doesn’t come as a surprise to any teacher. Everyone enjoys playing games. But it is up to the teacher to make this as educational as possible.
Independent games can help teacher track students’ progress as well as engage students when other students are not ready to play.
This money-saving bundle includes 4 decks that review measurements as students play.
Students get to play Spot The Same after completing 2 digital task cards. The self-checking function makes it great for early finishers’ games.
7) Group Games
Students love to interact and compete with other students.
This resource has 30 games that are great for pairs or up to 4 players. Students will get excited as they revise fractions!
If you prefer non-competitive whole-class games, consider my Treasure Hunt series. Students get to split into 4 groups and answer the question. Usually, I ask every student to solve the question.
When the majority of the students in the group answered correctly, they get to dig a spot. There can be a whole discussion about the stuff that they dig up.
As the value of the items is debatable, there is no sure-win scenario. This way, no feelings are hurt and everyone is a winner.
8) Movement Activities
Add some movement in your lesson so that students can wear off that excessive energy.
You can do a gallery walk or use movement to answer questions. For example, during the whole class discussion, ask students to stand on one leg if they think the answer is correct.
Popular movement activities are the Scavenger hunt and Scoot game.
A scavenger hunt requires students to move around the classroom finding task cards to solve.
The scoot game requires students to shift to the next table to answer the questions when the time is up.
9) Escape Room Game
I’m not talking about the usual paper type of escape room activity, I’m talking about a real escape room. This will be troublesome and take a very long to set up but will make a great end-of-year activity.
This combination of mystery, movement, games, puzzles, and math will make it a potent engagement activity.
10) Presentation
Asking students to present their work will make them focus and be on task. They will be encouraged to take pride in their work.
Final Thoughts
If we were to go into details, there are many engagement activities for students. Hopefully, these broad categories and recommended resources inspired you to make math lessons more engaging.
Here’s a bonus tip. Give your student a choice. Student engagement deepens when they are the ones making learning decisions for themselves.
Here are some pins that you can save to bookmark this post. Save them to your Pinterest Board now! ↓
