Strategy Tool Kit by

Morning Meeting and Closing Meeting Circles

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 01:24:20 UTC

Students will gather each morning and afternoon at the beginning and end of the day. In the morning, students will great each other and the teacher will preview the day. At the end of the day, students will share something that they learned or enjoyed doing in the day. This activity helps build trust, practicing communication, and daily routine that increases motivation.

Responsive Classroom. (2019, January 2). What Is Morning Meeting? | Responsive Classroom. Responsive Classroom. https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-is-morning-meeting/

Ketchup, Mustard, and Pickles

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 01:34:41 UTC

For grades 3-5 this strategy can be done during literacy or math centers. Students will have three sections posted where ketchup includes work they need to catch up on, mustard includes work that they must do, and pickles includes a range of fun activities related to the learning topic that they can choose to complete. This can create engagement and self-motivation in the classroom because it allows students to have their own choice in their work and feel motivated to get to Pickles because it is something fun that they like to do.

Video Journals

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 01:40:21 UTC

This engaging strategy would be completed at the end of the lesson. Students will use website Seesaw to create a video journal describing what they have learned from the lesson. This promotes self-reflection, encourages students to share their learning in a fun format, and helps teachers adjust instruction.

Boryga, A. (2023, March 17). 10 powerful ways to end your lessons. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/10-powerful-ways-to-end-your-lessons

Classroom Debates

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 15:58:45 UTC

Students will pick a side on a given issue and write about it. After they are finished writing, they will hand in their paper and be separated into two sides. The students from each side will debate while the teacher facilitates. This strategy can increase engagement and motivation by seeing others perspectives in a positive way, working with friends on a team, and can build their confidence when speaking in front of others.

Casebeer, D. (2023, January 5). 5 Discussion Strategies to Deepen Student Engagement. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/strategies-student-discussion-grades-6-12/

Connecting Background Knowledge and Culture to Learning

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 16:08:21 UTC

This strategy involves allowing EL students to express themselves and share about their lives. Teachers should also be familiar with student's background and lives, connect topics to their lives, and encourage students to share about their background in the form that they feel most comfortable with. This increases engagement and motivation because their home culture and background knowledge are being connected to academics, and they will build trust and a relationship with the teacher causing them to feel comfortable and not scared to learn new things.

Innovative Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners. (2022, July 6). UMass Global. https://www.umassglobal.edu/blog-news/innovative-strategies-for-teaching-english-language-learners

Educational Games Through Kahoot

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 16:17:04 UTC

This strategy can be used through multiple different educational websites, but I feel that Kahoot is the simplest and most beneficial. Kahoot involves creating quizzes or games students that students can join through their computers. It can be used for any topic, and will show who is in what place during and after the game. This strategy can increase engagement and motivation because it is enjoyable for students, allows for friendly competition, and allows for students to gather feedback on themselves.

Langreo, L. (2023, August 9). 4 Things Educators Need to Know About Kahoot! Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/technology/4-things-educators-need-to-know-about-kahoot/2023/08

Brain Breaks

bsheak602 — 2025-05-28 16:23:49 UTC

Students will be able to have two brain breaks throughout the day. These brain breaks are usually fun videos, short movement breaks, or mindfulness activities in between a lesson. While this strategy doesn't always focus on an academic topic, it can be very beneficial to students. Brain breaks help students stay focused, get their energy out, and have fun which leads them to be able to learn better for the following lessons. Depending on whether the brain break includes physical movement, or relaxation, they can help students break negative patterns, and reduce stress.

Morin, A. (2022). Behavior Strategy: How to Use Brain Breaks in the Classroom. Www.understood.org. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/evidence-based-behavior-strategy-brain-breaks

Class Bulletin Board

bsheak602 — 2025-05-30 22:45:03 UTC

In the beginning of the year, the teacher will create a classroom bulletin board. This bulletin board will be updated year round and will allow students to put up pictures, printed texts, or writing of their likes, dislikes, how they are feeling, or just something that they would like to share. The teacher would also post on it as well. This can increase engagement and motivation in the classroom as students and the teacher are actively learning deeper about each other, communicating positively, and acknowledging each other's interests.

Evertson, C., Emmer, E., & Poole, I. (2022). BibliU - Reader. Bibliu.com; My App. https://bibliu.com/app/?bibliuMagicToken=cCRs5DugTMPk18zlyveBtt4nYiDyxLbu#/view/books/9780136833666/epub/OPS/xhtml/fileP7001017268000000000000000000023.html#page_iv

Project-Based Learning (PBL)

bsheak602 — 2025-05-30 22:50:35 UTC

Students will explore real-world or academic based problem and create projects as a group to solve them. Students will develop solutions and research unknown problems using collaboration. This strategy can increase engagement and motivation by creating a positive relationship with other students and becoming more independent while having to work with others.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

bsheak602 — 2025-05-30 22:54:22 UTC

Using UDL in the classroom involves providing multiple ways to engage, represent, and express learning for students. It can allow learning to be more accessible to all students and can be done physically or virtually. This strategy engages and motivates EL students by giving them a variety of choices and ways to express their learning and understanding, rather than just being a "one size fits all" classroom.

Morin, A. (2023). Universal Design for Learning (UDL): What You Need to Know. Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/assistive-technology/articles/universal-design-learning-udl-what-you-need-know