Ready to take your teaching to the next level? It all starts with student engagement—the cornerstone of every successful classroom. I’m here to help you gather some more student engagement tools for your toolbox. These are some fun, easy ways you can implement TOMORROW in your classroom! We’ll delve into 5 game-changing tactics guaranteed to energize your teaching, captivate your students, and make learning an adventure they’ll never forget. So let’s dive in.
#1 – The 30 Second Rule
When it comes to student engagement, I’m all about quick and easy ways. One of my super simple ways is to use the 30 second rule. Whenever I pose a question to students, no matter what it is, I give my students wait time of AT LEAST 30 seconds to use as think time. Initially, it might feel like a long time or a bit awkward, but it’s to give every student the space for think time. Even if they know the answer right away, students get to work on patient, thinking deeper about their answer, or simply get more processing time if they need it. It’s a great tool that is extremely easy to implement and can work at any time during your school day.
Check out THESE editable slides you can use in your classroom that has built in timers so you don’t even have to think about it!
Editable Daily Classroom Slides with Timers and Movable Pieces
#2 – No More Raised Hands
You might be asking- how do you have student engagement without having students raise their hands? My answer will probably surprise you! Let’s paint the real scenario- what actually happens when you ask for students to raise their hands to answer a question? More often than not, it’s the same few students raising their hands to answer. So what about students who were a bit nervous? Or the students who have figured out if they don’t raise their hand, they don’t have to participate? Well, I’ve got some awesome hand raising alternatives for that is great for boosting student engagement.
When it comes to answering questions, the goal is to put the cognitive load on the class, rather than on you. You want students truly thinking and talking about the topics at hand, rather than you giving all the information. One way to ensure everyone is sharing an answer is by using personal white boards or iPads. Each student can write their answer down during their think time and they are both a great way to have everyone participating.
Giving students choices in their response is another great way to move away from raising hands and boosting engagement. You can use thumbs up or thumbs down depending on their answer choice. It’s also super easy to add in some movement with this strategy. For example, I could pose a question and then prompt my students with a simple ‘If you think the answer is _____ sit down and if you think the answer is ______ stand up’. Want to take it a step further? Try the prompt ‘find someone who think it’s this answer’ or ‘find someone who has the opposite answer of you’ and get them to talk about why. This is such an amazing way to engage student in thinking, sharing, moving, and talking about their thinking.
Some other great hand raising alternatives include using interactive anchor charts, creating opportunities for students engage gallery walks or giving students post it notes to write down answers. Sometimes the smallest things can create instant engagement. Playing four corners to answer questions gives more time to move their little bodies around the room. Another super simple way to get students engaged when answering questions is allowing them to give you the answer using a silly voice, a whisper voice, or a robot voice. These strategies are a little less about sharing right answers, but really teaching students that their voice and their thinking matters and we want to hear from everyone.
Editable Four Corners Activity
#3 – Partner Pairing
Pairing up with a partner is the ultimate student engagement hack. After all, they want to hang out, talk, and learn with each other anyway. So let’s work WITH that. When it comes to partner pairing, I like to group students with like ability, but with those who can support each other. I want them to be at a certain level of depth when it comes to conversation so strategic pairing is important here. Most times I’m grouping by ability, it’s intentionally based on the assignment.
If you just need students to converse or finish a simple task together, random pairing is an option. Using popsicle sticks or using a name randomizer displayed on your board are two very easy ways to do this. However, my favorite is using THESE random partner pairing cards. If someone pulls “macaroni” they have to find their partner “cheese” and if someone pulls “peanut butter”, naturally they have to find their “jelly”. It’s a really cute, engaging way to partner students. Another way to pair kids is to give students the autonomy. Let them pick their partner. Sometimes they truly do know who they’ll work with best.
Partner Cards for Pairing and Grouping Students
When it comes to trusting your pairs and groups to actually stay on topic during discussions, that takes some upfront work. It takes times to teach and practice students what these deep conversations should sound and look like. We must explicitly teach active listening. I like to start with easy topics, practice often, and use sentence stems. An example might be pairing students up, giving the topic of favorite animals, and teach them how to have a discussion. A sentence stem might say “my favorite animal is _____ because _____”. Then students will repeat back what their partner said, they’ll share theirs, and they have a discussion. Simply put, you have to guide them, especially primary students, but when you practice in simple terms, they’ll know how to do it when it comes to the more in depth topics.
Looking for a simple way to boost student engagement without adding extra prep to your day?
Secret Student turns expectations into a game that students are excited to play. At the start of the day (or lesson), secretly choose one student. If they stay focused, follow directions, and participate, they reveal themselves at the end and earn the reward.
The magic?
Everyone leans in because it could be them.
Teachers love it because:
✨ Attention and participation instantly increase
✨ Students stay motivated the entire time
✨ Peers encourage one another
✨ You get more teaching done with fewer interruptions
It’s quick, fun, and incredibly effective for bringing fresh energy back into your classroom.
You can grab the Secret Student FREE by subscribing below!
#4 – Think Pair Share
This is a game changer for student engagement. I LOVE using this strategy whenever I can for a few reasons:
- It helps students to think individually about a topic or an answer to a question.
- It teaches students to share ideas with classmates and builds oral communication skills.
- It helps focus attention and engage students in comprehending the presented material.
During lessons, I like to pre-plan WHEN students will share. If you prep and give space for when student will interact, it makes things so much smoother. It’s a very easy strategy to use.
- Think: Teachers pose a question and students “think” about what they know or have learned about the topic.
- Pair: Each student is then paired with another student or a small group.
- Share: Students share their thinking with their partner and teachers can expand it into a whole-class discussion.
Using this is an amazing way to boost student engagement, build oral communication skills, and get students very comfortable sharing in a group setting. It’s a win all around!
#5 – Build a Student-Centered Classroom with Strong Systems
Ever dream of a classroom where students take ownership, stay engaged, and know exactly what to do without constant reminders?
It’s not just wishful thinking; it happens when clear routines, procedures, and expectations are in place.
When students understand how the classroom runs, they participate more, transitions are smoother, and you get more time to actually teach.
If you want ready-to-use tools that help make this happen, my Classroom Management Ultimate Bundle was created for exactly that.
Inside, you’ll find resources teachers use every day to:
✨ build independence
✨ increase engagement
✨ create consistent routines
✨ strengthen classroom community
From procedure posters and daily schedule supports to partner systems, behavior tools, and expectation visuals, everything works together to help your classroom practically run itself.
If you’re ready for less chaos and more confident, capable students, you can check out the bundle HERE.
The Classroom Management System
I really hope you enjoyed learning more about some awesome ways to increase student engagement in your classroom! Stuck on planning and want help? Drop them in the comments below and we’ll be glad to help answer them! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course more fun FREEBIES including the Mystery Student FREEBIE! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how-to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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