Engagement Strategies

1. Top Ten Engagement Strategies
Cooperative Learning

2. Stand up; Hand up; Pair up
Directions:
1. The teacher asks a question or assigns a
learning task
2. All students stand up; put one hand up; move
around the classroom; and quickly form a pair
by high-fiving another student. Partners put
hands down and stand next to each other once
the partnership is formed.
3. Students work together to answer the
question or complete the learning task.
Stir The Class
Directions:
1. Students get into teams of 4 and number off
within the team (1-4).
2. The teacher asks a questions and teammates
huddle to determine a response.
3. The teacher calls a number (1-4) and sends
students with that number to a different team.
The teammate that moved summarizes what
their old team talked about.
4. Continue this process multiple times, asking new
questions and moving different students.
Turn Toss
Directions:
1. Students get into small groups, sitting in a
circle.
2. Each group has a small ball. One team member
asks a question relating to the instructional
topic, and then tosses the ball to a teammate.
3. That teammate catches the ball and answers
the question. He/she then asks a different
question, and tosses to another teammate.
Repeat until time is called.
A-Z Brainstorming
Directions:
1. The teacher provides a topic (adjectives, cities
in Missouri, U.S. Presidents, etc.).
2. Give each pair one sheet of paper with the
letters A-Z written vertically down the left side.
3. Ask students to work together to brainstorm
words that fit within the topic.

3. Find the Fiction
Directions:
1. Using personal information for team building
or content from your curriculum, each student
writes three statements, two true and one
false.
2. Students take turns reading their statements
and the rest of the class writes down what
they think is fiction
Formations
Directions:
1. The teacher asks the class to use their bodies
collectively to form something (letters,
punctuation marks, etc.)
2. Teams (or the whole class) discuss how they
will use their bodies to create the assigned
formation.
3. Students move to position themselves to
create the formation.
Inside-Outside Circle
Directions:
1. Students stand in one large circle to form
pairs. One student in each pair steps inside
the circle and turns to face their partner,
creating an inside and an outside circle.
2. The teacher asks questions, prompting the
inside circle to answer and then the outside
circle to answer.
3. Once the question is answered, the outside
circle rotates one partner and a new question
is posed.
Memory Map
Directions:
1. Divide the class into groups of 4. Ask a student
from each group to view a picture or a diagram
for 10 seconds.
2. They then return to their group and draw or
write all they can remember. Ask the second
person to repeat the exercise and to build upon
what the first person has contributed. Repeat
until all 4 students have had a go.

4. Freeze Frame
Directions:
1. Ask groups of 5 students to create a living
snapshot of their learning so far.
2. Have the rest of the class guess what the
group is doing.
3. Repeat so every student has an opportunity
to show their learning.
Taboo
Directions:
1. Describe a word, concept, character, event or
calculation to a partner or group, without saying
the taboo words.
2. Once the word is guessed correctly, a new word
is described
3. This game is a great way to review vocabulary