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Join the CHAMPS! - Mastering the main act in lesson planning

Leveraging effective teaching strategies for impactful lessons

Published 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 Connect and Hook concepts in lessons. We have also looked at the segmentation of lessons into Acts and reviewed strategies for designing the Plenary and Starter parts of great lessons. This article is about the Main part of lessons.

Why start here?

Invest the majority of your time and energy into planning the core of the lesson, which requires and focuses on the outcome of the lesson. Before you begin, consider two key principles of effective teaching strategies: minimize teacher talk and maximize questioning, leveraging wait time and extension. Here is a categorization of possible activities for the main act. This list, though not exhaustive, should simplify planning for the main act.

You want to put the bulk of your time and energy into what will take the most time in a lesson. It needs to integrate differentiation strategies that maximise learning outcomes. You start here as this segment of your lesson must be focussed on the outcome of the lesson, the why that makes up your what.

Bear in mind TWO key principles before you start, minimise teacher talk and maximise questioning (e.g., through appropriate wait time and extension). Below is a list of possible activities that could be used for the main. This is not an exhaustive list, just a suggested categorisation. What you choose depends on the outcome of your lesson, but varying the use of the below should make planning for the main easy and sustainable.

Customise your use of worksheets and textbooks

The quality of worksheets or textbooks can make or break a lesson. I am not one to encourage unnecessary repetition or duplication of effort, see what is available. Speak to colleagues, look online, and search the resource cupboard. Use what is available, but adapt it as much as you see fit.

I’m a big proponent of teachers making their own worksheet. This enables you to be in a better position to review the quality of other worksheets. Making your own may be as simple as editing what you find to customise for your cohort or class.

Making your own worksheets means the worksheet can address the specifics of the context of your class. For example, is there a particular school focus you can link the lesson to? You can also personalise to reflect the student names in your class. This can be done just for fun, and a variety of student and teacher’s names can be added.

This strategy can augment the use of textbooks which tend to have good content but poor or less relevant questions.

Use DARTs sensibly

Directed Activity Related to Text (DART) is a common and useful teaching tool. Many worksheets come DART enabled and facilitate comprehension. The below-suggested actions give you options to make your own DART from an existing worksheet or textbook.

Put in gaps – edit existing text to make a gap fill task. Differentiate here by including a word bank, scaffold (have the starter letter, textbook page reference, number of letters or just a plain gap) to support or challenge students working at various levels.

Sequencing – jumble passages up and get students to put these in the correct order. Differentiate here by including clues, distractors or modifying the length of sections.

Question tasks – get students to make up additional questions and answer them using the text within the worksheet. Differentiate here by having starter stems or asking them to ‘level up’ the challenge of their questions using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide.

Get everyone hands-on

Have students make something. This could be 2D or 3D depending on the lesson focus.

3D models get students to engage with content on a different level. Insist that students have labels and/or a legend and if time permits, get them to present to their peers. Materials from the model or the model themselves could be prepared at home. Modelling clay comes in very handy here too. As often as possible, try to get students to reuse materials or recycle and ensure you have clear guidelines e.g., size expectations.

2D models are quicker and often easier to deploy. Layering works well for 2D models. In Science, it can be used to teach organs and layers of tissue. In history, it can be used to show how homes have changed through the ages.

Canvas allows students to complete group tasks. This can be used in different subjects. In English it could be used to make and decorate a poem for display, in science it could be used to design circuits and in art, for collaborative pieces.

Get the class moving

The aim of these tasks is to get students moving! Relay races, class tours and acting/role play are great ways to get students moving.

With relay races, put students into groups. Assign challenges that require one person to be the focus of a specific task but the team progress is dependent on supporting each individual. For example, have five or more questions assigned randomly or linked to ability per group and see who finishes first.

With class/campus tours, you could have students walk around the room or campus to complete segments of the lesson. You could have designated tasks in particular parts of the room. This works well when students have to experiment, typically in science lessons where a series of related experiments will occupy each station. You must ensure that tidying/resetting time is in place.

If your class is near a hall, playground or open area you can spread out to that area. For example, students can use chalk on the group outdoors to draw and label an assigned object.

Acting / role play gets many students excited. Many students are ‘naturals’ and embrace this particular style of main but endeavour to include all students so you avoid isolating less ‘dramatic’ students. You could assign tasks of director, scriptwriter or judge.

Acting could be reenactment of an event, this can be used for historical events of significance across all subjects. Have props ready or ask students to bring in props to enrich this activity. Acting can also be related to abstract concepts or modelling concepts that can be difficult to grasp. For example, this technique can be used in Science to show the relationship between the sun, earth and moon. Students can vary by adding scenarios (e.g., what happens in a lunar eclipse?).

Start a debate

Debates can be used as a main activity at the end of a topic. They can also be used to teach students key concepts at any stage of a topic. Once the debate motion is decided and teams picked, assign specific roles. You can insert role play within the debate enabling students to present from a particular perspective or expert angle.

By integrating these teaching strategies into your lesson planning, you can enhance student engagement, improve learning outcomes, and create a more effective teaching environment.