5 Simple Ways to Make Lessons More Engaging

The lessons students remember most aren’t always the most elaborate. They’re often the ones that make students stop, wonder, laugh, move, or think, “Wait…what?”

As an elementary teacher, I found that small shifts in how I introduced a concept could make an ordinary lesson more memorable. When students have a memorable way into a topic, they’re more likely to make connections and develop a deeper understanding of what they’re learning.

A surprising question, a mystery, a mistake to investigate, or an unexpected challenge could give students a reason to lean into the learning.

Bringing an Element of Fun Into Lessons

The following strategies can be layered onto lessons you’re already teaching, using curiosity, surprise, and play to give students a more memorable way into the content.

1. Start with a mystery. Rather than introducing a concept by telling students what they’re about to learn, give them something to figure out.

When I introduced erosion and weathering to my fifth graders, I showed them a photograph of a hoodoo and asked, “How did a gigantic, solid rock end up looking like this?”

Students studied the image, shared theories, and generated questions before we ever introduced the science behind the formation. They were curious about the answer before they had the vocabulary to explain it.

You can create a similar mystery with a strange historical object, an unusual animal photograph, a puzzling data set, or even a mystery sound.

Instead of starting with information, start with something students want to understand. From there, students can move into the meat of the lesson with genuine questions and interest around the topic that helps the new information stick.

2. Ask an unexpected question. Sometimes, making learning fun starts with asking a question that students aren’t expecting.

When introducing animal adaptations, instead of asking, “How do animals survive?” I might ask, “If you had to survive winter without a coat, a house, or a heater, what would you need?”

Students immediately begin thinking about warmth, shelter, food, and protection. Their ideas become a natural entry point for exploring how animals are adapted to survive in their environments.

This approach works across subjects. Before a science lesson, you might ask, “What would happen if gravity disappeared?” For a math lesson, try, “What could you use to measure something if you didn’t have a ruler?”

The question doesn’t need to be clever. It just needs to make students pause and approach a familiar topic from an unexpected direction. This shift in their thinking helps students make stronger connections to the content.

3. Turn students into detectives. Give students something to investigate instead of simply giving them the answer.

In math, I liked giving my upper elementary students a worked-out problem with an incorrect answer and asking them to find the mistake. Their job wasn’t simply to identify that the answer was wrong. They had to figure out where the thinking went off track and how they would fix it.

I used the same idea in other subjects by turning students into editors, investigators, and problem-solvers. In writing, students could search for what went wrong in a piece of writing. In science, they could examine evidence and develop a theory about what happened. In social studies, they could piece together clues to explain a historical event.

When students have to discover information on their own, they are more likely to understand it and remember it.

4. Build movement into the learning. Movement doesn’t have to be a break from learning. Sometimes, movement can be the learning.

My upper elementary students got a kick out of physically re-creating processes like the water cycle and digestive system. Instead of simply reading about what happened, they became part of the process, moving through the different stages and acting out what was happening.

Students could also arrange themselves into a historical timeline, move to different parts of the room to show their thinking, or physically model a process they were studying.

When students use their bodies to represent an idea, an abstract concept can become something they can see and experience. It also gives students another way to participate in learning beyond sitting and listening.

By using their bodies, students engage more of their senses, which helps them better commit new information to memory.

5. Add a little productive weirdness. Give students an unexpected scenario that connects directly to their learning.

During a measurement lesson, for example, I would ask, “Could a giraffe fit through our classroom door?” Now students have a reason to estimate, measure, compare dimensions, and defend their thinking.

When studying ancient civilizations, I might ask, “What would you take with you if you had to leave your home tomorrow and could carry only five things?” Students have to make choices and explain them before exploring what people actually need to survive and build communities.

The scenario can be silly, surprising, or even a little ridiculous. It just needs to lead somewhere meaningful.

The goal isn’t to make every lesson silly. It’s to give students a reason to lean in and make learning fun in a way that still serves the lesson.