Engagement is one of those workhorse instructional strategies that parents can easily work with. Gurukul World School, one of the best CBSE schools in Mohali shares some of the pointers for parents on how to encourage students to participate more in the study/homework sessions as well as other learning environments.
- Collaborating with your ward
There can be well-timed opportunities for the students to work together or even discuss a concept mid-lesson. All of this can be great for engagements. Turn and talk is a great strategy where the students are given a discussion topic and also the time to turn quickly and discuss with a partner (sibling or you)
The content needs to be reviewed. This works best for the material that requires a lot of reviews. So, the level of knowledge in the content needs to be higher. For this strategy, you have to name the concept to be reviewed (for example, the definition of a vocabulary word) and after counting 123, the students turn and also review the concept with a partner, as many times as they can until you call time.
- Utilize the jigsaw strategy
When working on a large amount of content, you should allow your ward to become “experts” on a small section of knowledge and then have them teach the content to you.
The above allows the students to work together and helps them process difficult content in smaller and more manageable chunks.
- Give your child a task during lessons
Try giving the students a keyword to listen for throughout the entire session– you could also link all of this to a movement or a chant. For example, during a lesson about area and perimeter, you can cue the students to chant the formula for area every time you say area throughout the lesson.
Not only does this repetition build memory, but it also keeps the students engaged throughout the lessons.
- Assess their prior knowledge
This can be simple. As simple as asking your child, “What do you know about the topic?”
The goal is to find out what they already know (or think they know) and also tailor your lesson all around it.
Participation can be straightforward, expected, and often quite successful at accomplishing several learning goals. It is great to remind ourselves of the many different uses, especially on those days when getting the students to participate feels impossible.
Gurukul World School, the best school in Mohali always motivates its students to participate because participation adds more and more interest. It is hard to maintain the focus of the students and also the attention when all they hear is the professor talking. It always helps to hear another voice as well as an answer or another point of view.
Participation also engages the students completely. A great question can pique their interest, make them wonder why, get them to think, and also motivate them to make connections with the study material.
