User Submitted Teacher Tips

"Students often get bored reading text and vocabulary day after day. I counter this challenge by throwing in a little emotion.

Have the students read as if they are furious, confused, afraid or assertive. If they cannot express feelings verbally, have them stand up and try it. If they still don't get it, turn it into a game in which group members give points for the most convincing display of emotion.

I once told a grade seven social studies class that the capital of Canada is Ottawa. By the next day, yes, just 24 hours later, the entire class had forgotten this little fact. I wrote "The capital of Canada is Ottawa." on the board, asked everyone to stand up and walked around the room getting each student to read the sentence conveying a different emotion.
"Read it like you angry!", I insisted.
"Now imagine that you have just won the lottery and read it!"
This may sound strange, but it got their attention, made learning fun and all the students remembered that Ottawa is the capital of Canada."

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