Prepare | Teach | Facilitate

Join the CHAMPS!—the art of connecting concepts in lessons

Using connections to craft exceptional learning experiences

Updated July 2023

Joining the CHAMPS means implementing one of the most effective teaching strategies for planning effective lessons. The CHAMPS acronym stands for “Connection, Hook, Acts, Main, Plenary, Starter”. This method helps to create engaging learning experiences, driving student success and fostering an interactive learning environment.

We have discussed how to Hook concepts in lessons. We have also looked at the segmentation of lessons into Acts and reviewed strategies for designing the Main , Plenary and Starter parts of a great lesson. This article is about Connections and how to use them in lessons.

Planning and preparing lessons are an awesome part of being a teacher that is too often made heavy. The more effort and thought one puts into planning and preparation, the smoother and richer the delivery.

The first step in lesson planning is establishing a connection between your teaching objectives and the following points. A connection helps establish the value of what you are teaching, creating an engaging pathway for student learning.

Aim for a measurable outcome to track your connection. Lessons should enable students to demonstrate their understanding through action verbs. Knowing what this looks like in practice aids in lesson planning. For instance, if students need to 'model', provide examples involving drawing or reviewing models. Understanding these verbs will provide a clear path for student engagement.

Why connect?

The process of planning starts with making a connection between what you are trying to teach/deliver and the connection points below. A connection is a tangible link that reinforces why and how what you are teaching has value. A mutual pathway that requires engagement at both ends and checkpoints to monitor and maintain integrity. It fosters student engagement and makes the content more relatable.

Connect with the output

Focus on a measurable output to define and track your connection. Lessons are often related to students being able to demonstrate a verb related to their understanding.

Make sure you understand what that looks like, ensure you can do this yourself and then have it in mind when planning the lesson. This will give students the opportunity to apply that verb.

For example, if students are required to ‘model’, give them examples involving drawing or reviewing models. If students are required to be able to analyse, take the time to explain what that means. Have samples that you have reviewed for them to work towards and critique.

Connect using the syllabus

Guidelines exist as teachers often deliver linked to outcomes, either external based standards, examinations, or selected criteria. Make every lesson count, do not lose an opportunity to connect with these.

You don’t want to "teach to the test" but you do want to empower your students to achieve.

An easy way to do this is to have the syllabus or exam-based outcome that is the focus of the lesson repeated on each slide or worksheet. Refer to these regularly throughout the lesson.

You may even want students to annotate this as they go through the lesson giving them ownership of this connection.

Connect with your cohort

Seeking to connect with your cohort through each lesson ensures that there is some customisation of your delivery.

What you are teaching can be given greater meaning by seeking to make it relatable to a particular cohort. This connection requires engagement with the cohort, so you need to know your audience!

An efficient way to do this is to have the topic list for the year/semester or term ready and then ask students to make comments on how this may relate to themselves. This can be done online, so gathering and analysing the feedback is not too onerous.

Occasionally, you may even pivot and change the direction of your lesson if you discover something that links to this connection during your lesson.

A student with a passion for swimming once spoke to me enthusiastically about how the teacher directing them to design a diet for an aspiring athlete of their choice (she chose a swimmer) really made the content ‘stick’.

Connect with the community

There may be a ceremony, celebration or sporting festival that is prominent in the community in which you teach. Structure some of your lessons, so they can navigate the content through that ‘lens’.

Good teachers learn phrases in languages spoken by the community they teach in even if they don't speak that language. That adds to their connection with the wider community.

Connect with yourself

One of the most effective teaching strategies is to bring your authentic self to your teaching. Bringing your authentic self to the content or skills you are delivering connects you to all the above in a way that enhances the lesson. This means your lessons will always be unique. Often, if we are really enthused about what we are teaching, this comes naturally.

We can easily convey what the content or skills mean personally, how it makes a difference in our lives and why we value it.

For example, some of us have specialist degrees and when what we are teaching is linked to that specialism, we feel the change in energy in delivery. We should aim to reach this higher level as often as possible.

Struggling to connect?

Sometimes, when we are preparing to teach, we come across topics we do not find particularly interesting or relevant to ourselves or others. In such cases, we can make a connection by acknowledging our lack of enthusiastic interest and then exploring reasons why.

We can also convey the challenges we have related to it by inviting others to try to find that connection for us. Preferably, students or colleagues who have an interest in that area as their interest can be infectious, engaging and provide valuable teaching resources. YouTube is such a valuable resource in this area as through it, you can find a leader in any field!

Incorporating these methods into your lesson planning will help foster a rich and engaging learning environment, ensuring your teaching never falls flat.