A Learning Strategy is a
person’s approach to learning and using information. Students use Learning
Strategies to help them understand information and solve problems. Students who
do not know or use good learning strategies often learn passively and ultimately
fail in school. Learning Strategy instruction focuses on making students more
active learners by teaching them how to learn and how to use what they have
learned to be successful.
Learning strategies are used
by students to help them understand information and solve problems. A learning
strategy is a person's approach to learning and using information. Students who
do not know or use good learning strategies often learn passively and
ultimately fail in school. Learning strategy instruction focuses on making the
students more active learners by teaching them how to learn and how to use what
they have learned to solve problems and be successful.
The Learning Strategies
Curriculum has the necessary breadth and depth to provide a well-designed scope
and sequence of strategy instruction. The curriculum is divided into strands,
or categories of skills.
One strand addresses how
students acquire information. It includes strategies for learning how to
paraphrase critical information, picture information to promote understanding
and remembering, ask questions and make predictions about text information, and
identify unknown words in text.
A second strand helps students
study information once they acquire it. It includes strategies for developing
mnemonics and other devices to aid memorization of facts as well as strategies
for learning new vocabulary. These strategies help prepare students for tests.
A third strand helps students
express themselves. It includes strategies to help students write sentences and
paragraphs, monitor their work for errors, and confidently approach and take
tests.
No single strategy is a
panacea. For example, we have reading strategies that help students figure out
what a word is, comprehend what they're reading, acquire vocabulary, and understand
the structure of text. All of these strategies are essential for a
well-integrated, balanced reading program. Likewise, an array of strategies in
other areas is necessary for student success.
1. Brainstorm ideas. There are many effective ways for
students to create brainstorms of ideas. Working with pairs or in small groups
tends to be effective because students stimulate each other’s thought
processes. Encouraging students to think out of the box and to delve into a
topic using this technique often has unexpectedly positive results.
2. Have students solve mysteries. One-minute mysteries,
simple puzzles, even riddles make learning fun as well as involving students in
active learning pursuits.
3. Have students sit in a circle. To play, one student
begins a story, stops after a few sentences, and then points to another
student, who continues the story. You can adapt this activity to teach
vocabulary, order of events, facts, or other information.
4. Ask students to involve themselves in their learning
by using review strategies such as these:
o Associate body motions with
the material
o Use colored pens to rewrite
the main ideas
o Recite or sing the
information
o Teach the information to a
classmate
o Create a vivid image of the
topic
o Restate information in their
own words
o Create a quiz and give it to
a classmate
5. Play Name That Person. This game is similar to Twenty
Questions in that students try to guess answers with as few clues as possible.
You should make up the clues in advance. On game day, you’ll call them out one
at a time until someone can name the targeted person, battle, city, or other
item.
6. Chain Making is an educational version of the old
alphabet game that small children play. One player begins thinking of an object
relating to the unit of study and beginning with the letter “A.” The next
student has to repeat that clue and add an object with the letter “B.” The game
continues until students are stumped or until they reach the end of the
alphabet.
7. Many teachers use Bingo to review vocabulary words.
Photocopy a game board with sixteen or twenty-five blocks. Give students a list
of words to place in the blanks. They can use bits of paper to cover the words
when you call out definitions.
8. Play Hangman. In the traditional version, students
guess letters in a word or phrase to keep the figure “alive.” In other
versions, students can give correct answers to short-answer questions or define
vocabulary terms.
9. Hold sporting events. Divide your students into teams,
and use the chalkboard to play games of football, soccer, or whatever sport
currently interests to your students. Students advance by correctly answering
questions or completing assigned tasks.
10. Exit tickets have been around for a long time because
their appeal to students and teachers alike is powerful. Try some of these
sentence starters to engage all of your students. You could even post these for
students to refer to during class.
• I’m beginning to wonder…
• Class would be more
interesting if…
• I can be more successful in
this class if I…
11. Give students a general topic and have them form study
groups about it before the formal learning about it begins. They can do
research, find examples, predict the main points, or complete other
free-flowing activities that expose them in a general way to the material and
provide background knowledge in a way that engages students fully. Their
research can be online or with materials that you provide.
12. Have students make Power Point presentations or slide
shows as a review of the material that they are studying in class. When they
present their show to the entire group, everyone benefits.
