Teaching Strategies List

Information Gathering and Selection

Technique	How it works
Segment or pie charts	Give the group information about a person and they have to work out on a pie chart how much they were responsible for an event
Study guides for flexible learning	Using guided questions to direct reading and textbook work
Diamond ranking	Give the group 9 facts and they have to sort out the most and least important and then rank them in a diamond
Grids for collecting information	Give out a series of statements which can be true or false – the group has to use the information to explain why it may be true or false
Venn diagrams	Use the diagram to work out what is common or uncommon to a situation
Spider diagrams	Give the spider a certain number of legs which have to have important facts as their feet
Mind maps	Can be used at the start of a piece of work and then referred back to after the work is completed
Bubble diagrams	Use speech bubbles to explain how a character may feel at a certain time
Family photographs	Different members of the family can express their points of view through speech bubbles – the less important members of the family can be drawn to a smaller size
Technique	How it works
Cartoon strips	Choose the 3 most important events in the story and explain why you chose them – miss out one picture and get the group to draw it – leave out the start and end pictures which have then to be drawn – explain the event from the different points of view
Flow charts	Use as a means of explaining eg how to build a Roman villa
Cloze procedures
Living graphs	Give out information about a person and ask the group to graph the information eg was Samuel Pepys a good person
Sequencing exercises	Can be used to get the class moving about eg a human timeline
Line of continuum	Ask the group to imagine an imaginary line going from I agree to I disagree – they have to place themselves on the line and explain why they chose that position – good for movement – can also be done as a paper exercise
Cause and consequence charts	Get the group to join up causes and consequences by drawing a line to join them up – on the line write why they are connected
Highlighting information in colour
Completing pictures	Give groups half a picture and ask them to compete the other half – then compare with the original
Technique	How it works
Pictures from memory	Place a picture at the front of the class – divide the class up into pairs – one person sees the picture for 20 seconds and than has to report back to the second person who then has to draw it
Post it notes	Use for labelling pictures , writing questions which they want answered, at the end of the lesson pinning them on a notice board as they leave
Getting someone to place themselves in a picture by using the senses	Work in pairs – the first person places themselves in the picture – the second person then has to work out where they are by asking questions in relation to what they can see, smell, hear
Before and after pictures	Give out before and after pictures and ask the group to work out the differences and why they are different
Odd one out	Choose ¾ pictures – the class then has to work out which is the odd one out
Displays for learning	The group make up a class display about a topic based upon key ideas and concepts which is then used by the class
Writing How to books	The group are asked to produce a little book explaining to another group how to build a Roman road
Pictionary	The group are asked to design their own pictures relating to a topic – the pictures can be made into playing cards
Historical drawings	Ask the group to join up the dots to make a picture
Technique	How it works
Picture titles	Get the group to think of a title to a topic – they draw relevant shapes from the period to match the shapes of the letters
Dominoes	Give out dominoes with two statements written on them – the group has to play dominoes by making the right connections
Story boarding	Can be used as a sequencing exercise – the group has to explain what is happening in each picture
Posters	Analyse a range of posters to understand the rules of drawing posters – get the group to draw their own based upon these rules Work out the life of Sir Henry Unton by looking at a poster from the National gallery
Designing brochures	Design an estate agent’s leaflet for selling a tudor house
Playing cards	Design a set of playing cards with different images of a period
Visualisation	Listen to a narrative and ask the group to imagine the sights, smells, feelings and sounds – can be done with eyes closed
Bulletin board	To collect ideas during the lesson
Masking pictures	Hide major parts of the picture and slowly reveal
Using fictional writing
Mystery objects
Murder mystery	Mark Pullen exercise
Floor maps	Walk through a battle by creating a floor map

 

Interpretations

Technique	How it works
Selecting pictures which support a particular interpretation	At the end of a topic give out two contrasting pictures – the class has to work out which might be the correct interpretation
Selecting two pictures/sources of information which disagree with each other	Compare the opening scenes from Jude the Obscure with a Victorian painting of a happy agricultural scene
Using a picture from the end of a piece of work to introduce a topic	Begin the topic with a picture from the end of the topic – the class has to work out what is in the picture and why it has been chosen – can begin to think of questions which can then be answered as the topic goes on
Picture interpretation	Give the group a picture with two text boxes around it – in one they write about what the picture shows them, in the other they write about what the picture does not show them

Writing Aids

 

Technique	How it works
Hypothesis testing	Give the group a series of statements – they have to work out whether they are true or false by using appropriate information
Creating and using a glossary
Card sorting exercises	Can be created for any context – gives groups the opportunity to handle and move information around – can classify the information
Writing frameworks
Concept cards
Scaffolding
Modelling answers	Give out wrong answers which then have to be corrected by the group
Sharing success criteria and learning objectives for pieces of writing
Peer assessment using learning objectives	Use one colour for appropriate information, another colour for inappropriate information

 

Using Video

 

Technique	How it works
Use a video extract with the sound off	Get the group to provide their own commentary
Use a video extract with the sound on but no picture	Get the group to work out the tone of the extract and what might be happening
Video capture sheets to collect information from a video	Use these to tell the group what to look out for
Using a selected part of a video rather than the whole part	A 2 minute extract can be used as a starter
Using extracts from feature films	Hope and Glory for the Second World War does the film match up to reality

 Drama

 

Technique	How it works
Three part – interviewer/interviewee/observer
Hot seating	Place a member of the group in character – they have to talk about themselves and answer questions in character
Role plays
Corridor	Get an individual to walk through a line of people explaining how they feel about a certain person
Still scenes

Questioning Techniques

Technique

Open ended questions

Closed questions

Wait time before answering/hands down policy

Ask a friend

Encouraging pupils to ask their own questions

Use a picture or film extract to get a group to ask their own questions

Discussion work

Technique	How it works
Paired work
Group work
Jigsawing	– giving a group responsibility for a section of work and then reporting back
Reporting back

Presentation Exercises

 

Technique

Sugar paper/marker pens

Display work

PowerPoint

Making little books

Research

Technique

The Internet using cut and paste techniques

Study guides for reading books and library use

Testing statements as being true or false