Teaching & learning

secondary

(educ 277)
Activating strategies
 ACTIVATING STRATEGIES
Activating strategies are necessary
predecessors to implementing or executing a
new strategy1. They are the art and science of
persuading people to align around, engage with,
and adopt new ways of working in order to
achieve a shared vision1.
In the context of education, activating
strategies are used to get students actively
thinking or making a connection with the
material being presented that day2. They can
be used to make a connection to the content or
to the outside world to see how much the
students already know or remember
ACTIVATING STRATEGIES

• An activating strategy is
something that gets students
actively thinking or making a
connection with the material
being presented that day. Make
a connection to the content or
to the outside world to see how
much the students already
know or remember.
 PURPOSE
ACTIVATING
STRATEGIES
 Purpose of
Activating
Strategies: To
activate students’
prior knowledge
through the use of
engaging strategies
designed to focus
learning.
 Discusses how to hook the
learner. Shepherd suggests hooking
them with emotion creates attentive,
curious, and excited learners. Whether
using humor or drama, something
visual or creating a mood with
storytelling, emotional engagement is
key to getting students attention from Clive Shepherd’s
the start. Universal Design
Principles
The activating strategy is
what inspires the learner
and is key to instructional
design. The hook should
motivate the students
and link to prior
knowledge of the student
or created by the teacher.
 “Prior knowledge is the
knowledge the learner
already has before they meet
new information. A learner’s
understanding of a text can
be improved by activating
their prior knowledge before
dealing with the text, and
developing this habit is good
learner training for them.” It is
important to

activate students’ prior knowledge. Teachers do this to help them

assess what students may or may not already know about the content.
ACTIVATING

STRATEGIES
 ACTIVATING

STRATEGIES
CAROUSEL TWO-
BRAINS- MINUTES
TORMING TALK
 ACTIVATING

STRATEGIES
THINK- TALKING POSSIBLE
PAIR- DRAWING SENTENCES
SHARE
It is a great strategy for this. Students will rotate around the
classroom in small groups, stopping at various stations for a
designated amount of time. While at each station, students will
activate their prior knowledge of different topics or different
aspects of a single topic through conversation with peers. Ideas
shared will be posted at each station for all
groups to read. Through movement
CAROUSEL and conversation, prior knowledge
will be activated, providing
BRAINS- scaffolding for new information to
be learned in the proceeding lesson
TORMING activity.
 Carousel Brainstorming
On chart paper around the room (or on
paper that is passed around groups), ask small
groups of students (3-4) to respond to a
question or statement posed at the top of the
paper. (These questions/statements should
represent components of their upcoming
learning.) After a short period of time, student
groups move on to another piece of chart
paper/topic, and read what has been written
about that topic and add to or respond to it.
CAROUSEL
BRAINS-
TORMING
 Key reminder
Ahead of time prepare the
chart paper and the
different topics, insuring
that you have enough
“stations” so that every
group is at one station
during each rotation. These
CAROUSEL charts and responses can
be used as the lesson
BRAINS- activator, representing the
prior knowledge and current
TORMING understandings of the
group.
 This works well for engaging students in meaningful (yet


brief) discussions about the content being learned. For this
strategy, organize students in groups of 2. One student is
“student A” the other is


“student B” I find it is best if they are in close proximity, so I
plan my seating chart with A-B partnerships in mind.

TWO-
MINUTES
TALK
"Think-pair-share (TPS)" is an instructional method where learners work together and
attempt to answer questions or solve problems on a given text. This strategy requires
students to:
(1) think independently about a subject or answer a question; and
(2) share their thoughts with classmates. Guidelines for discussions will be given.
It is based on the premise that discussing problems or challenges with a partner promotes
involvement, collects attention and improves their comprehension of the reading material.
It is also known as the ‘turn and talk’. TPS is one way that teachers use to slow down the
talking and give the students an opportunity to process their ideas before verbally
responding.

THINK- Think-Pair-Share (TPS) is a cooperative learning activity that can

PAIR- work in varied size classrooms and in any subject. Instructors

pose a question, students first THINK to themselves prior to being

SHARE instructed to discuss their response with a person sitting near

them (PAIR).
 Pose a question related to the upcoming
lesson to the group. Allow time for students to
individually process their thinking in response
to the question. Then ask them to discuss with
their collaborative partners (pairs) and then
share with the group or with another pair

THINK-PAIR-SHARE
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
THINK-PAIR-SHARE
The Talking Drawings strategy begins by inviting children to create pre-learning
drawings. These initial drawings are a way of taking inventory of a child's current
content knowledge about a particular topic.

In this activity, students will activate prior knowledge by creating a graphic

representation of a topic before the lesson. After the lesson is over, students will re
-evaluate their prior knowledge by drawing a second depiction of their topic. They
will then summarize what the two different drawings say to them about what they
learned.

TALKING
DRAWING
TALKING
DRAWING
 Possible Sentences is a pre-reading strategy that is appropriate
for preparing students to read either narrative or expository
material. Students are given several words from the material and
are asked to create plausible sentences with them, which they then
share and discuss with one another. The sentences are their
predictions about how the words will be used in the selection they
are about to read, predictions that they confirm or refute by reading.
After
reading, students think critically about
the accuracy of their sentences in POSSIBLE
light of the material they read.
SENTENCE
S
 Possible Sentences helps students set a purpose for reading,
motivates them by arousing their curiosity about the content of the
reading material, and encourages them to think about the way the
words might relate to each other. Students must draw upon their
background of experience, their vocabulary, and their linguistic
knowledge to generate sentences. Stahl and Kapinus (1991) found
that this strategy improved students’ vocabulary and
comprehension of the material from which the words were
selected. They noted
that it was the discussion that made
this strategy more effective than other POSSIBLE
vocabulary strategies, including SENTENCE
semantic mapping.
S
 The teacher generates about ten
words related to the lesson. Students
create 5 possible sentences by using
two words or more in each sentence
until all words are gone.


POSSIBLE
SENTENCE
S
POSSIBLE
SENTENCE
S
“If you want students to learn you must
first get their attention.”
~Judith Willis, M.D., M.Ed
 Thank you

for listening!!!