How Do We Encourage Kids to be Active Learners?

Remember when we taught like this? Standing at the front of the classroom, delivering what we believe is a clear, concise, and incredibly important lesson. We see nods, maybe a few diligent note-takers, and a couple kids raising their hands. But were all students truly engaged? Were they involved in their own learning, or were they simply passive recipients of information?

This is the fundamental difference between a lecture-style, teacher-centered approach and one where the teacher facilitates learning. Understanding when and how to shift from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side" can positively shift student engagement and learning outcomes.

In a lecture-style classroom, the teacher is primarily the knowledge “dispenser”. The flow of information is largely one-way, from teacher to student. Students are expected to absorb, remember, and recall what they've been taught.

Here’s a coaching scenario from Ms. G’s 3rd grade class when she taught an ELA lesson on finding the main idea and details:

The first “go ‘round” is a lecture style. Great content, little engagement.

Ms. G stood at the front of the class, holding up an article about a new discovery of an ancient dinosaur.

She told her students that they were going to learn about the main idea and details. She defined the main idea as the most important thing an author wants you to know about a topic. Ms. G shared other relevant information like, “It's like the big umbrella that covers everything else.”, “The details are the smaller pieces of information that support the main idea.”, and “They tell you more about it”.

She pointed to a paragraph and gave an example of the main idea and a couple of key details, like how big the dinosaur was and where it was found. She read the first paragraph and asked students to listen carefully for the main idea.

Ms. G read the article aloud, pausing occasionally to ask questions like, "What was the main idea of that paragraph?" or "Can someone tell me a detail about the dinosaur?" She called on a few students, provided the correct answers, and then moved on to the next paragraph. The students primarily listened, a few raised their hands when called upon, and copied down the main ideas and details as Ms. G identified them.

While this approach “delivered” content, how did Ms. G know that her students were retaining information? We had to make some adjustments to make sure that students were truly learning and that no students were left on the sidelines, waiting for the "right" answer rather than actively constructing their own understanding. 

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This idea of active engagement is especially important

for neurodivergent kids or kids that struggle with confidence,

executive functioning, or auditory processing.

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Ms. G and I had to make the shift toward more active participation and facilitating, but first, she had to understand its value.

Facilitating learning shifts the focus from the teacher as the sole source of knowledge to the students as active participants in their own discovery. Ms. G’s role had to evolve into one of creating experiences, posing questions, providing resources, and guiding students as they explored and made sense of meaning.

Here’s what her teaching, or facilitated learning, looked like when we made some adjustments and the lesson was re-taught the following day.

Ms. G had her third graders work in small groups. Each group has a copy of the same article about the new dinosaur discovery, along with highlighters and sticky notes.

Her students became 'main idea detectives’ and worked in groups to figure out what the most important message was in this article, and then found the clues that helped prove it.

She then shared a simple visual: a picture of a large tree with several smaller branches. She told students: The main idea is like the strong trunk of a tree. It holds everything up. And the details are like the branches and leaves because they grow out from the trunk and give us more information.

Ms. G then gave them specific instructions:

1. Read through the article together as a group.

2. Using your highlighters, underline sentences you think are really important.

3. On sticky notes, write down one sentence that you think tells the most important thing the author wants you to know about the entire article. This is your group's main idea.

4. Then, find at least three other sticky notes where you write down details from the article that support or explain your main idea.

   
   

As the groups began to work, Ms. G monitored and listened to their discussions. She asked open-ended questions: "What makes you think that sentence is the main idea?" or "How do those details connect back to your main idea?" To struggling groups, she offered guiding questions rather than direct answers, prompting them to reread or discuss further.

After about 15 minutes, she brought the class back together for a whole-group share. Each group presented their main idea and supporting details, and the class discussed similarities and differences in their findings, justifying their choices with evidence from the text. Ms. G guided the discussion to make sure that all voices were heard.

Our coaching discussions in the few weeks after this adjustment, included these key concepts:

• Students are actively doing: Reading, discussing, highlighting, writing, and justifying their thinking.

• Critical thinking is fostered: Students are not just memorizing, but making sense of new information.

• Collaboration is key: Students learn from each other and practice communication skills.

• Ownership of learning increases: When students discover answers themselves, the learning is more meaningful and memorable.

• Differentiation is organic: Students can work at their own pace and contribute in ways that suit their strengths. We love this for kids!

• Ms. G gains deeper insights: By observing student interactions, Ms. G was able to identify misconceptions and areas where students need more support and re-teach and review when needed.

  
  

We want teachers to be able to facilitate the growth and learning of their students. In the shift from teaching in a lecture-style to facilitated learning, we can help students become active, engaged, and independent learners. 

Inclusiveology helps teachers make the shift to facilitated learning so every child can be included with supports, engagement, and learning tools that work.