How to... engage learners in your topic

How to... engage learners in your topic

Welcome to part six of the Smarter Spaces 'How to' series, bringing you a range of top tips on how you can make simple additions to your learning environment, which can make a huge difference to your learners. In this sixth guide, teacher and blogger Lois Wood shares her top tips on how you can engage learners in your topic.

Radical roleplay

Role play is a great way to engage your learners in a topic because it helps to bring it to life and allows them to enjoy all the great resources you have created to support their learning. Think about your topic and what you would have found fun when you were younger. Try to think about making role play dramatic as this will help your learners to remember the topic.

If your topic is on money then use some toy tills to emphasise the concept of spending. If it's on plants then why not buy some plant pots, soil and seeds to teach your learners about the life cycle, as well taking responsibility for other living things?

Subject specific spaces

Making your learning resources accessible to learners is important because not only does it support your teaching but it also helps your learners understand topics more easily when you have something to hand. An easy way to create a subject specific space is to dedicate an area in your classroom which is clearly labelled and accessible for you and your learners.

If your topic is on maths, why not buy a few small storage jars and put these on each table with simple things like place value cards, counters, cubes, number squares and number lines inside? These are often things you'll need to hand more often than not!

Lois Wood is a primary school teacher at the Forest Academy in Barnsley. She shares her love of classroom displays through her blog Teacher Traumas and is on Twitter.