4 Great Active Learning Strategies for All Content Areas

Are you using active learning strategies in your classroom? It is no great secret that students who are actively engaged in learning learn more and create fewer behavior management problems.

We love active learning strategies that can be used in any curriculum area and across different grade levels.  Here are four of our favorite active learning strategies. Each strategy can be completed in 10-15 minutes.

Walk the Walls 

This strategy works as a strategy to get students ready to learn new content or as a way to review what they have read or discussed.  It is a good warm-up and generally takes 10-15 minutes.

Determine a set of 6-8 questions related to the day’s lesson.  For example:

Which mammals have you seen in person? (3^rd grade science)

Why do you think slaves joined the confederate army? (9^th grade US History)

How do you think you would have reacted to finding an abused dog? (5^th grade reading)

What are some different ways to great someone in Spanish (1^st year Spanish)

Gather 6-8 large pieces of paper. Place one question on each sheet.  Place the sheets on the walls around the room.

Instruct students to take a marker or pen and walk around the room quietly writing their answers on each sheet. When time is up, discuss their answers.

Speed Dating (or for elementary students “Line Learning”)

Prepare a list of questions for discussion. The questions can help to introduce new content or review previously learned content.

Have students stand in two lines, facing each other.

Set a time limit, such as one minute.  Determine which line will talk first and which line will listen. Ask a question.  Students have one minute to talk about the answer with the person facing them.  Then reverse speakers.  For the next question, have one row move one place to the right so that each person is facing a new partner. The person on the end goes to the other end of the line. Repeat.

So What, Who Cares? What Does This Have to Do with Me?   

Students like the cheekiness of this title.  In reality, it is a discussion tool that allows students to process new information and create relevancy.  When students see the relevance of information, they are more likely to pay attention to it and to remember it.

After reading or discussing new content, have students divide into pairs or small groups. Given the topic, have students determine why the topic is important, who is impacted by it, and how the topic connects to their everyday life. Choose several groups to share their insight.

Four Corners

This is an active learning strategy that gets students up and out of their desks or chairs.  Create a list of 5 or 6 questions based on your content. Each question should have four possible answers. This activity works best when answers can be personal reactions or responses to the content.

Here is an example from a unit on biomes;

What is your personal experience with deserts?

1. I have lived in a desert.
2. I have been on vacation to a desert.
3. I have read a book about a desert.
4. I don’t have any personal experiences with a desert.

Read the questions and assign one corner of the room for each answer.  Students physically move to the corner of the room that corresponds to their answer. Once students have landed in place, briefly discuss their responses before moving on to the next question.

These active learning strategies are a fun way to get ready to build background knowledge or to process what they have recently learned.  We hope you will give them a try!

Happy active learning,