The 4 Most Useful Tips, Tricks and Techniques English Teachers Use To Engage a Class

English lessons can be some of the most important and formative classes in a child’s school life, opening up a world of nuance, inspiration and creativity. English lessons give pupils the chance to discover more about the world through stories, poems, novels and plays, while developing essential transferable skills. Whether you’re teaching primary school literacy or A-level English literature, English teachers maximise their pupils’ learning potentials by capturing their imaginations.

Here are our favourite tips, tricks and techniques for English teachers to make your lessons the highlight of your pupils’ day.

1. Make your lessons more relatable

Pupils need to learn about literature from previous decades and centuries. That’s why finding ways to make them more interesting to a younger audience is key to effective English teaching. Novels and poetry from a previous period may pose some comprehension issues for your pupils that call for some bespoke teaching methods.

You might set pupils the task of writing a modern version of the text that you are teaching. For example, if you’re teaching Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, ask your class to write a short, yet similar, story set in their hometown that touches on the key concepts discussed in class. By setting tasks like this, students will find it easier to relate to the text, and they will get to grips with key themes by working them into their own stories.

2. Incorporate student-chosen texts

Allowing students to choose (some of ) their reading materials can increase engagement and encourage your students to read in their personal time. Provide your students with a wide variety of texts to choose from and ask them to get into small groups to select a book, poem or play that they want to read and analyse.

Students can then break away for some independent reading and return to discuss what they have learned from the text so far. When this strategy is successful, students can delve deeply into a text that suits their interests, develop their analytical skills, and have immersive discussions with their fellow pupils. As well as promoting a positive, inclusive classroom learning environment, this technique might spark some children’s passion for English and for reading.

3. Create an inspirational working environment

Developing a positive and inspirational learning environment is crucial. A great English class might have the students’ work displayed creatively on the walls, homages to some famous authors and much more.

Teachers should encourage their students to discover new genres and authors while also showing praise for their good work throughout the year. A positive learning environment is one where pupils are recognised for their learning efforts and progress. Help to promote this by regularly prompting students to reflect upon what they’ve learned and use this as encouragement for future classes.

4. Be flexible with your lesson plans

Before dynamic lesson planning became popular, English lessons would normally involve a teacher dictating at the front of a class with students diligently taking notes. Although this method may have been effective once upon a time, pupils’ needs have evolved over the years to require a more flexible approach.

Dynamic lesson plans ought to be adaptable, promoting interaction between teachers and students and embracing the different personalities and learning styles within the class.

A top tip is to start your lessons off with some collaborative learning and have your students discuss a text in groups. After some time, introduce some independent thinking by asking pupils to collect their own personal perspectives on what the class learned. Finally, students should report both these viewpoints and conclusions back to the class. This way, you will have incorporated a variety of learning methods into your plan and increased the chances of each student staying engaged throughout the lesson.

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