Innovative instructional strategies

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, fostering student engagement is a top priority for educators. To meet the needs of today's learners, educators are constantly seeking innovative instructional strategies that not only capture students' attention but also inspire deep, lasting understanding.

In this article, we will explore five instructional strategies that have emerged as powerful tools in the pursuit of enhanced student engagement. Join us as we share 5 different innovative teaching methods, each designed to ignite curiosity, stimulate critical thinking, and ultimately, empower students to become active participants in their own learning. Whether you're an experienced educator or a curious learner, these strategies hold the promise of transforming education into an engaging, dynamic, and unforgettable adventure.

1. Content Driven Instruction: ​

Lead your units/lessons with science, social studies, or history content to drive instruction while pairing reading and writing standards to the content. By doing this you are providing students with the knowledge, vocabulary, and experiences to become proficient learners. Knowledge is power! Let the content engage your students. ​

2. Purposeful Learning Experiences:

These are hands-on investigations/experiences that drive and enhance the content you are delivering to your students. You want to create learning experiences that are purposeful to the content you are teaching. We are not talking about Pinterest room transformations but simple ways to incorporate experiences that students will remember and give them something to ‘stick’ their knowledge to about the content. ​

3. Beyond the Box Hooks:

Grab your students' interest and get them excited about the lesson with a hook!  These could be:
 - Short Video clips: like a venus fly trap, or an octopus escaping a jar 
- Unboxing videos/activities: give them clues of what you will be learning 
- Unusual photograph 
-  Investigation: what a better way for students to get to know what they are learning about than by getting to do a hands-on investigation right off the bat!

4. Multiple Learning Pathway Strategies: ​

You might not think this is out of the box but it needs to be brought back to the classroom. Provide students with the ability to learn with art, music, and movement that is incorporated into your units or lessons. Think about how you learn best as an adult and start there. 

5. Engaging Read Alouds:

You might not be the teacher that is loud and animated everytime you read out loud to your students but think about how you could enhance the life of the story you are ready but adding voice or movement as you read. Your students will love it and the teacher across the hall might get the motivation to try it for themselves.  If you want to take it a step further, there is even an app, Novel Effect, that will add sound effects for you as you read! Bring the books to life for your students! ​

The quest to improve student engagement is an ongoing endeavor. The five innovative instructional strategies we've explored in this article represent just a glimpse into the ever-expanding toolkit available to teachers.

Let's remember that student engagement is not a destination but a continuous exploration. Together, we can cultivate a learning environment where curiosity thrives, critical thinking flourishes, and students emerge as active, enthusiastic participants in their own education. By harnessing the power of innovation, we can pave the way for a brighter and more engaging future for all learners.

We hope you got some value out of our blog today!  Be sure to follow us on our social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, @IntegratEDk12!

For more individualized and in depth learning on more innovative instructional strategies, planning content driven lessons/units, as well as classroom learning experiences, be sure to check out our PD opportunities! Keynotes, workshops, cohorts, coaching, all available and tailored to meet the needs of your team!  

Bring IntegratED to Your School

​Happy Engaging, 
           Megan and Kara