A is for Active

During this holiday season, I thought it would be fun to use the word Christmas and apply it to education.

Today’s letter is A and A stands for Active.

Don’t make students sit in desks and listen to you speak for long lengths of time.

Find ways to get movement into your lessons.

Is there a rhythm in some facts they learning? Have them do some jumping jacks, hopping on one foot, or clapping their hands in time to the learning.

Assign different students a specific word and when you or someone is reading a paragraph, the student has to jump up when their word is mentioned and then sit back down. This has them paying attention to what is being said.

Have students throw a sponge toy to the next person who is going to speak. No one can speak unless they have the sponge toy.

If you have a math game, assign each person a number. Sit in a circle and when a problem is solved and their number is called, they have to catch a beach ball. They throw it to the next person who is the answer to the next problem.

There are so many videos that have learning songs and dances for all ages of students. If the students are older, have them find one that they can teach the rest of the class.

Students will remember things if they are active when learning. Passive learning leads to boredom and disruptions. Retention of learning may even be harder.

How do you keep your students active while learning? Please share.

Photo by Evelyn on Unsplash