Are students’ attention spans shrinking? That’s what a new study suggests. Teachers have always been able to use chronological age +1 as a guide for the length of a student’s attention span for learning.

This means an 8-year-old typically can hold their attention for about 9 minutes. That would also mean that a 14-year-old should be able to hold their attention for about 15 minutes. Interestingly, the research is now leaning toward 10-minute attention spans.

Does this mean you can’t use chronological age +1 as a guide any more? No. You can engage students in a way that helps increase their attention span. 

The Problem

I’ve made the mistake more than once of expecting students to focus their attention for extended periods of time without giving them any time or strategies to process new information and integrate it into what they already knew. That never served my students well.  I think we’ve all made this mistake at one time or another when we were trying to get through the content, finish up a unit, or squeeze in a test before a holiday.

The school year never provides ample time to get through the content, so at times we feel rushed and end up defaulting to lecture-based teaching. Don’t get me wrong. Lecture, as an instructional strategy, has its place. We just may need to tweak what we are doing to make sure students are learning.

The Solution

For every 10-15 minutes of direct instruction or focused listening, give students 3-5 minutes and a strategy to process the information. This is critical to student engagement and learning.  Students learn best when they regularly can process information delivered in bite-sized chunks.

How can you do this effectively without creating additional work for yourself?

Incorporate the 5 methods below by weaving the corresponding strategies for processing information into your instruction.  You will have more engaged students with better understanding.

Hit the Bullseye Using D.A.R.T.S.

Below are five research-based methods to engage students in processing and integrating small chunks of new information. D.A.R.T.S. stands for Discuss, Apply, Reflect, Teach, and Summarize. Listed under each method, are several easy-to-use strategies you can incorporate quickly with little to no preparation. Students can record the information in a notebook or even on an exit ticket.  The key is to use a variety of methods and a variety of strategies on a regular basis.

DISCUSS

Give students the opportunity to discuss information with other students.  Use the following strategies:  Think-Pair-Share, Think-Pair-Share-Write, or Give 1-Get 1.

Think-Pair-Share

In response to a question posed by the teacher, students think independently, discuss the question with a partner, and share with a larger group or whole class.

Think-Pair-Write

This is similar to Think-Pair-Share, except after students think independently and discuss with a partner, individually they write down their answer to the question.

Give 1-Get 1

Students number their paper from 1-5.  Independently, students write down 3 ideas.  Then they talk to at least 2 other students to get 2 additional ideas and to give 2 ideas away.

APPLY

Students are more likely to integrate information if given the opportunity immediately to apply what they have learned.  Use the following strategies:  a Venn diagram or Analogy.

Venn diagram

Students independently compare and contrast the new information with previous but comparable information.

Analogy

When students create their own analogies for new concepts they demonstrate their ability to incorporate information and make meaning. Provide students an analogy structure such as

 ______________ is like ______________ because ______________.

REFLECT

Students benefit from time to simply reflect on what they are learning. Use the following strategies:  Aha! Huh?, 3-Minute Pause, Muddy & Clear, or Plus/Minus/Interesting.

Aha! Huh?

Students write down 1-2 things they learned (Aha!) and 1-2 questions they have (Huh?).

3-Minute Pause

Students think about the information presented and independently write down their thoughts. Use a sentence starter such as:

I was surprised . . .
I did not know . . .
I understand more about . . .
I changed my mind about . . .
I can relate to . . .

Muddy & Clear

Students write down anything that is still unclear, or “muddy,” about the information.  In addition, they write down what is clear to them about the information.

Plus/Minus/Interesting

Students make a list of things they agree with (plus), a list of things they disagree with (minus), and one thing they find interesting.

TEACH

Students solidify their understanding of information if they can teach the information to someone else. Use the following strategies:  Think-Pair-Teach or Pair Up-Prepare-Present.

Think-Pair-Teach

Students independently think about the main ideas of the lesson, pair with a shoulder partner, and take turns teaching each other the main ideas.

Pair Up-Prepare-Present

Students pair with a shoulder partner, prepare the main ideas of the lesson on two slides (on two sheets of loose leaf turned to landscape mode), and then take turns presenting their “slides” to at least 2 other pairs of students.

SUMMARIZE

One of the most challenging but beneficial skills students need is the ability to summarize information. Use the following strategies:  The Most Important Thing, Text Message, 1 Sentence Summary, and 3-2-1 to help students practice this skill.

The Most Important Thing

Use the following structure:  3 important ideas I learned are ________________, ________________, and ________________, but the most important thing I learned is ________________.

Text Message

Students summarize the key points of the information by writing in a text message format.

1 Sentence Summary

Students summarize the lesson in one sentence.

3-2-1

Use any of the following structures or make up your own:

3 things I found out
2 things I found interesting
1 question I still have

3 main points
2 new ideas
1 insight

Make your lessons more engaging and effective by integrating effective strategies for processing information into your daily instruction. Who knows? Students might even come to enjoy what they are learning.  Just remember to use D.A.R.T.S.!

What strategies have you used that help to increase your students’ attention spans?  Leave a comment below.