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Hi, I am currently a Junior at Penn State Harrisburg and majoring in Elementary Education - PreK-4th. I would like to know how I should engage my students
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Hi Hala, That is a great question and what I think would work best to enage the student is using thing that ar epopular right now or anything hands on because that is what students like most.
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Hi Hala!!
I am a future elementary school teacher, and from what I learned from my professors and classes is that a good way to engage your students can be through their curiosity. For example, you teach math and you randomly bring an object of your choosing that relates to the subject you are teaching. You are captivating their attention because to them it is something new, something they probably have not seen in the classroom before and that piques their interest and curiosity. You therefore then have their attention to further explain the object and its relationship to the lesson you are about to teach. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any more questions and/or would like to know more.
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Hi Hala,
Science is a very important subject for the students to engage in because in this subject the students get to learn better by working on hands-on instruction. In science instead of just reading from the book, it is important to include the students in the lesson and have them work together in groups as they do their science projects, and have them use their creativity and critically think on their own.
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Hello, Science may seem like a difficult subject to teach, especially to elementary students. However, I believe it can be very enjoyable when we know how to engage our students effectively. I have learned that Science is a way of learning about the world that surrounds us. Naturally, we are curious to know about these things. Therefore, I believe the best way to engage elementary students in Science is to allow them to explore these ideas and concepts on their own. We can engage students simply by allowing them to participate in the experiments that come with many of the topics that have to be taught. Children are very curious and will naturally be attracted to learning more about the world that surrounds them.
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Hello Hala,
I believe a good method to engage students, especially at an elementary level is many hands-on activities. I believe the best way to keep students engaged and entertained while learning science is to involve various activities such as outdoor labs, allow students to mix paint and color liquids to see certain reactions, and involve several objects such as magnets, scales, magnifying glasses, etc. With as well involving several experiments that are manageable and can allow them to attempt a trial as well themselves. Thus the students will be easily engaged in the lesson that is being taught as they as enjoy various hands-on activities. However not all activities must be hands-on, you can as well implement fun, educational videos, read scientific stories, ask questions and allow them to get messy as they further explore their curiosity about science. Hope this helps, good luck!
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Hello, I am a future elementary teacher, and all this information sounds great. I can honestly say I think hands-on-activities are th best thing to do with young children. This simply catches their attention more than just reading and writing. Science is one of the harder subjects which I think to get the students engaged and have them active on the activities would be perfect to have them hands-on and entertained. There is many fun videos to show young children and experiments as well for them to learn properly science. This info is great for future teachers.
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Hi Hala,
I believe that the way you can teach science and have the students engaged is by doing hands-on activity. Having the students actually doing what they are learning will catch their attetion. When students get the chance to explore and be creative it will allow the student to enjoy it and want to particapate.
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Hello Hala,
You really hit the nail on the head with this one for me. I too wonder how to engage with students especially when teaching Science. Even though our univeristy courses teach us and research ways to engage with students, I feel that we won't actually know for ourselves until we actually teach Science. However, from what I have learned through out previous and current courses in college, is that children love curiosity and that really gets them going. Plus, they love interaction amongst their peers. Children need stimulation, so build upon that without the organized chaos.
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Hi! The hands on suggestion is excellent - especially if you put it together with the fine motor skills you are also going to want to teach. You can also link your science teaching to reading, writing and arithmetic. Once you pick your science topic (suggestions follow), find a good informational book that covers it. As you read, ask students what they notice in the story and then what they wonder about (have them use 'I notice...', and 'I wonder... statements). Write what they say on the board so they can see the connection between their thoughts and written words. Then - and this is the tricky part - lead the discussion towards the I wonder question that your pre-selected science activity is about. The science activity should help them answer, or begin to answer, the question they wondered about. If possible add some counting, math, or graphing for them to do. After they have done the activity a bit, have them share what they learned with the class. Again, write their words on the board. Have students compare and discuss their answers. Work towards a consensus answer. Use the NGSS to pick a topic (https://my.nsta.org/ngss/AccessStandardsByDCI.aspx). For 1st grade, they are about how external parts of plants and animals help them grow; how behaviors help survival; how young are like, but not exactly, like their parents; behaviors of the sun, moon, and stars; daylight and seasons; vibration and sound; how light illuminates things; different materials and light; and building something that uses light or sound to send a message. You can probably find appropriate activities for all these on the internet.
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I'll just add, the book you choose should be grade appropriate with accurate information and pictures, but it can be a good story as well. ;-)
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Hello! Science is a rather complex subject. Students should be tasked with conducting their observations and experiments and then discussing the results together. Each of them will begin to feel like an honest researcher and expert. This is an effective way to awaken interest in science. I remember being fascinated by chemical experiments in the laboratory and making reports on practical work. This subject utterly enchanted me, but I fell behind in the humanities. To somehow correct this situation and prepare an independent task, for example, an essay review, I used online help. This helped me avoid negative grades and get the best essay review possible. I could calmly devote myself to chemistry. And I am still grateful to my teacher for those lessons and laboratory work.
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Hello Julie! One of the biggest things one of my teachers told me was to teach it the way you want to learn it. For example, instead of giving a lengthy lesson, why not try to make it engaging by having more activities involved? Not all of the students are auditory learners, some are tactile or visual learners, so try to include activities that engage them. Try not to make everything so serious, have fun with your lessons, its your classroom!
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Hi Daphne! I enjoyed reading your take on different learning skills! I believe there are many strategies that can tackle all of the different learning styles. How would we be able to check if our engagement style is appropriate for a class? Maybe you have students who need you to be more stern or they will be distracted the whole lesson. Would we take away the fun? Thank you!
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