THE WINDOW FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Engagement makes sure every student develops the ability to gain a sense of confidence and mastery of content and skills that make it more meaningful and ever-lasting. It completely matches the IB goal of making lifelong learners. When students are able to see clear connections, and use content to explore new ways to approach it, they see learning as an interactive pathway through which they can build meaning and gain ownership. Through these strategies I personally tested in my Primero B class, you will surely gain that engagement needed in our bilingual environment to make key aspects such as vocabulary development, a more vivid and meaningful part of your daily academic routine.

• Appointment Calendar (see attachment)
  In this strategy, students are told to write down appointments for the day. Once there comes a point to discuss during the lesson, you can simply say "meet with your 3:00 pm appointment and discuss why the character is making this decision". This strategy works well with the bodily-kinesthetic learners, it legitimates movement around the classroom. Gives a purpose for moving around, and alliviates the problem of those complaining because you never call them when it's time to participate. You may find yourself creating a variety of pathways to learning to make curriculum accessible to all students, a clear way to use DI in your everyday class routines.
• Timed-Pair Paraphrase
  Students meet with one of their peers on the calendar. The teacher times the interaction in order to make sure everyone gets the same amount of participation. They hear each other and paraphrase what the partner said. By doing this, you are inviting
  every single student into discussion, you’re opening a path to success specially for those who are shy or not as spontaneous to show what they know or think.
  · Carousel your way through a KWL
  This strategy makes the kwl more interactive. Post 3 chart papers around the room and then have students rotate in order to display what they know about a certain topic. Students will check off things they also knew as they rotate. Encourage students to ignore everything that is or sounds wrong. A reporter will give a summary to the class about the information on the chart they started with. Ask if they have any further questions about the topic. When the topic is over, go back to the posters and check what they’ve learned. By doing this, you keep students moving, listening, speaking, discussing,and listing, thus integrating multiple learning styles into an activity that has become quite a bore in regular classroom. By involving movement you also help those bodily kinesthetic get their share and the interactive nature of the strategy makes it more meaningful than the plain sheet of paper filled out by every single kid! My students love the carousel!!
  · Vocabulary on the Move
  Vocabulary instruction needs student engagement in order to have the words stick to the students' long-term memories.
  In order to use this strategy, Make a list of vocabulary words. Write words on sentence strips and make headbands with them. Ask sts to put on a headband without looking at the word. Create a list of questions on the board the goal will be to guess the word on the headband. After so many clues, ask students to think whar they’ve figured out and share why they think they’re right. This active involvement is a key component of differentiated instruction. By engaging students in learning, you are making sure that they will retain whatever you’re teaching them. An awesome adaptation for math also helps with facts, or key concepts to develop as well!
  · Show, don't Tell
  List vocabulary words and have students draw what they mean on index cards, and come up front to share their drawings and act out the meaning of the words. As sts do this, review the words that were given before, as a warm up next day, you could start by showing the cards and have sts act out the words. You’re providing ways to help sts
  keep these words in their long.term memories.
  Showball Fights
  Have students reflect on what they learned in the session today and ask them to write that on a piece of paper. Have sts bring their papers and ask them to sit on circle.
  Ask them to make a ball with the paper and throw it into the center of the circle. Call students to read the snowballs they've got and assess information contained in the snowballs. With wrong information, review and correct. Collect snowballs for assessment purposes. You may want to conference those students who wrote mistaken statements or those who don't show a clear understanding of the concept of content taught. Through thhis strategy, you have used ongoing assessment to drive the curriculum. Ongoing assessment is a key component of DI.
  
  · That's me
• You will say certain statements, and students will say "that’s me" if those apply to them. For example, “I have a pet cat”.. etc. Later during the
  year, you can link this with content material for example, “ I know the
  difference between fiction and non-fiction”…
  By using this strategy, we are giving the students the opportunity to get to know each other, find commonalities and build a strong learning community, a key aspect
  of DI and our IB-PYP curriculum!
  ·
  Vote with your feet and not with your hands
  A differentiated classroom promotes the development of inquiry and thinking skills, and a safe environment to express views and opinions using arguments. Giving the students the opportunity to apporach learning materials in a more personal way, will provide engagement and meaningful insight. You will promote critical thinking and inquiry through this activity. Make a statements that promote discussion such as “homework is not necessary” Tell students to move
  to a specific side of the class if they disagree or agree with the statement and give them time to elaborate their viewpoints and arguments together, then encourage a grand discussion.