Keeping it Interesting

​With spring starting and the end of the school year on the horizon, many students’ focus may be less consistent.  In our minds there is still over a month to go and plenty that can be accomplished, so what are ways that we can continue to hold students’ interest?  See below for some suggested ways to keep your student engaged through the end of the year.  Our staff use these regularly and we’ve found them successful, so we wanted to pass them along to you!

​Get Outside: Some of the challenge with focus comes with the spring weather, so when it’s nice out let’s use that weather as a motivator. Get outside for one of the activities in your tutoring lesson plan.

• Read on the grass or borrow cushions to sit on.
• Bring a notebook and write poetry, record your 5 senses, or play a writing game.
• Request an outdoor scavenger hunt you can do right outside TLC.
• Ask your tutor coach for chalk and chalking activity ideas!

 
Wrap up this year and look ahead to next: Use this transition time to help students close out this year and get excited for next year. Have this be a short writing activity in your tutoring lesson plan.

• Ask students to reflect on this school year: what was their favorite thing they learned in school and why?  What was most difficult for them?  What did they like about their grade this year?
• Support students in writing advice for students going into their grade next year.  The advice can be short, and students will enjoy being knowledgeable and helpful as they reflect on their year.
• Encourage your student to think of questions for next year’s grade and help them record their questions, as well as what they’re excited about and anything they’re nervous about.
• Wrap-up your own time with your student by discussing what you appreciate about one another. Model this by appreciating something like: how hard he worked on his comprehension or how enthusiastic he was about word games this school year.

 
Request more student interest activities: Draw on your student’s interests to request or suggest hands-on projects you can help them dive into!  Many of these activities are informal, fun ways to practice their literacy skills and tutor coaches are happy to include them as one of the activities. The right type of student interest activity can really increase student engagement this time of year. Tutor coaches are happy to walk you through this process.

• Ask for a science experiment
• Ask for a how-to-draw instructions for animals, and use these to make your own comic.
• Suggest researching a topic the student is especially interested in
• Dive into a career the student has expressed interest in

 
Look ahead to summer: Channel your student’s enthusiasm for summer into a short discussion and writing activity.  Remember that some students are definitely excited about summer, while others may actually not be.

• Make a summer bucket list
• Compare and contrast last summer to this coming summer
• Write a story about a summer experience
• Make a list of their favorite 12 things about summer
• Make a chart: what do they like about summer? What don’t they like about summer?

 
Do you have ideas to add? How do you keep it interesting for your student?  Tell your tutor coach and email krista@tetonliteracy.org.  We’d love to hear from you!