English teachers and literacy coordinators
Planning a unit on Shakespeare for mixed-ability classes
Use cases
About
The Great Ideas mind map template, designed for K-12 educators and language specialists, organizes 107 teaching strategies across 18 categories such as 'Bilingual dictionaries', 'Scaffolding', and 'Collaborative activities'. It provides concrete classroom examples like 'A Christmas Carol part 1' for bilingual dictionary use and 'Romeo and Juliet Connect 4' for collaborative learning. This template serves as a practical cheat sheet for enhancing language learning and classroom engagement through methods like DARTs, drama, and graphic organisers.
Terms and ConditionsWhen to use this template
EAL specialists and language support staff
Designing speaking activities for EAL students
Science teachers and curriculum developers
Integrating cross-curricular vocabulary building in science lessons
How to use this template
Step 1
Open and Explore Teaching Categories
Launch the .xmind file to browse the 18 top-level branches containing 107 diverse teaching strategies.
Step 2
Review Examples and Personalize Content
Examine specific classroom examples like Romeo and Juliet and customize the nodes with your own lesson plans.
Step 3
Export and Share Educational Resources
Save your modified mind map as a PDF or image to share these engagement strategies with your colleagues.
Frequently asked questions
The template includes 18 teaching strategy categories like 'Building vocabulary', 'Drama and role play', and 'Reading for meaning', each with specific classroom examples such as 'War Photographer by Carol Ann Duffy' and 'Macbeth character activity'.
Open the .xmind file in Xmind, browse the 18 branches, and select strategies relevant to your lesson. For instance, use 'Information gap activities' with 'Barrier games' for speaking practice, or 'Graphic organisers' for history topics like 'Six wives of Henry VIII'.
Yes, the template is fully editable in Xmind. You can add, remove, or modify nodes, and export as PDF or image for printing.
DARTs (Directed Activities Related to Texts) includes activities like 'Hamlet Acts 1-5' and 'Holes by Louis Sachar: DARTs' to develop reading comprehension and critical thinking.
Absolutely. The 'Translanguaging' branch includes examples like 'My diary' and 'The Periodic Table', which you can adapt for any bilingual or multilingual classroom context.
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