Uses Strategies Designed to Engage Students

Description: An effective curriculum includes instructional strategies and learning experiences that are student centered, interactive, and experiential. Such strategies may include small-group discussions, cooperative learning, problem-solving, role-playing, simulations, and peer-led activities. Teachers can examine existing lessons to determine strategies that are teacher driven (or led), and teachers can identify ways to adapt strategies to be more student centered. Ensuring that new or existing lessons include frequent opportunities for students to think critically and be actively engaged may help to improve interest, passion, and motivation for learning. Lessons should encourage maximum participation, for the maximum number of students, for the maximum amount of time.¹

Example 1

For this example, the unit that is being taught is Promoting Personal Health and Wellness, and the HBO for the lesson is PHW-2: Get an appropriate amount of sleep and rest (HECAT Appendix 3).

1. The teacher begins the lesson by informing students that the lesson is about getting an appropriate amount of sleep every day. The teacher asks the students to write down how many hours of sleep they usually get each night. The teacher then explains to students they should have 9 to 12 hours of sleep every night.1 The teacher asks the students to compare their usual amount of sleep with the guideline and asks the students to share their findings with a partner.
2. The teacher creates small groups (three to four students) and distributes chart paper and markers to each group. One half of the chart papers have the words “benefits of sleep” written at the top of the paper, and the other half of the chart papers have the words “rules for sleeping” at the top of the paper. The small groups work together to complete their assigned chart paper (benefits of sleep or rules for sleeping). Throughout this activity, the teacher is working with the students to keep them on task and support the completion of their assigned topic.
3. Once the small groups have completed their assignments, the groups with the charts about the benefits of sleeping trade their chart papers with the groups with the charts about the rules for sleeping. Students review the new charts and add new content.
4. The teacher leads an activity debrief by having the groups with the charts about the benefits of sleep present and compare their lists, followed by the groups with the charts about the rules for sleeping.

The teacher concludes the lesson by using an around- the-room technique and asking each student one piece of new information they learned about the amount of sleep they should get each night, the benefits of sleep, or rules for sleeping.

Example 2

For this example, the unit that is being taught is Promoting Mental and Emotional Health, and the HBO for the lesson is MEH-3: Prevent and manage emotional stress and anxiety in healthy ways (HECAT Appendix 3).

The specific focus of this lesson is preventing and managing emotional stress.

1. The teacher begins the lesson by informing students they will engage in various activities to help them learn about health-enhancing strategies to manage emotional stress and anxiety.
2. The teacher then guides the class through a series of stress management activities, including the following:
   1. Deep breathing
   2. Progressive muscle relaxation
   3. Walking 
   4. Guided meditation
3. At the end of the lesson, the teacher has the students do a “think-pair-share” with a partner to identify the stress management strategy that they think they will use in the future. (A think-pair-share activity is when the students are asked to think about the answer, then compare their answer with a partner, and then share their answers with the entire class.)

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