Practical strategies to help students become engaged, get connected, and make personal meaning of the content they are learning.
What is an eMoment?
eMoments are moments when students become the protagonists: they engage, connect with content, and make it their own. It's not about filling time with activities — it's about tapping into how the brain actually learns, through vision, sound, movement, stories, and collaboration.
Each strategy is designed around one or more of the brain's three learning channels: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. All draw on students' natural intelligences — spatial, linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, interpersonal, and more.
Three dimensions
Every eMoment is calibrated to at least one of the three sensory channels through which the brain processes information.
The strategies activate students' natural intelligences, allowing each learner to connect with content in their own way.
Beyond memorization: many strategies push students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate rather than simply recall facts.
The complete toolkit
Click any strategy to expand its description, a practical example, and teaching tips. Filter by type below.
In pairs: one student gives descriptive clues about a term or concept, the other must guess. The clue-giver cannot say the word itself! Timed event (1–2 minutes), then switch roles.
Students use almanacs or encyclopedias to find connections between what they just learned and entirely unrelated topics. The goal is to build creative cross-disciplinary links.
Students present an idea or process as if it were a weather report: they forecast what will happen, show how things interact, and describe what their latest "Doppler Radar" reveals about the concept.
Students create visual maps (cluster, mindmap, concept map, webbing) that represent the relationships among parts of the content they just learned.
Quick and highly effective: students repeat a key word or phrase aloud in unison. Builds vocabulary, correct pronunciation, attentiveness, and retention through repetition.
Students use color to visually organize written information — notes, texts, diagrams, equations, formulas. Each key element receives a color the student chooses personally.
Before introducing a new concept, pose three questions: What do you know? What do you think you understand? What don't you understand? Students write letters to themselves. The teacher collects them to calibrate the lesson.
Students transform the components of a unit into characters in a story that interact, solve problems, and have dialogue. Content becomes narrative — memorable and creative.
Students represent an idea or process using mathematical symbols to show how content elements relate to one another. They create a visual "equation" of the concept.
In pairs: one student is the news reporter, the other is the expert being interviewed. They simulate a live newscast about the content just learned. Halfway through, roles switch.
Small groups create a sequence of movements or a "dance" representing the information just learned. Each move corresponds to one element of the content — then groups perform and explain the connection.
Information cards are hidden around the classroom (under desks, on the ceiling, behind the door). At a signal, students stand up, find their card, and share the information with the class.
Students represent content as a flowchart or process diagram, highlighting the linear, step-by-step relationships. They then compare their diagram with a partner's and the teacher's version.
Students visually enhance a word, formula, or phrase so its appearance reflects its meaning — like expressive typography or "sculpting without clay." The shape of the word tells its story.
Students create small pictures or icons to represent information, concepts, or steps in a process. Each "hieroglyphic" must be distinguishable from the others and personally meaningful.
Combines mental imagery with a few "practice swings" before performing a skill. Students visualize each step, then simulate without materials, then perform the actual skill.
Jeopardy format: the teacher sets the categories, students write the facts. The host reads a fact card and contestants must supply the question that would elicit that fact.
Students rewrite the lyrics of a familiar song using the key words of the unit, or create an original song from scratch. Music powerfully aids content memorization.
The teacher presents half the content to half the class. Those students become "Little Professors" and teach their partners. Then roles reverse for the second half of the content.
Silence as a learning tool! Students create mime motions for content elements. Classmates guess the concept and explain how the mime helps them understand and remember it.
One question, three phases: 1) Me — think and write individually. 2) You — share with 1–2 classmates. 3) Us — a pair shares with the whole class. Every voice matters.
Students create a sculpture (with paper, clay, or available materials) that represents the model, process, or event just learned. Followed by a silent gallery walk.
Students take a familiar nursery rhyme and rewrite its words using the content just learned. Attaching new information to something familiar builds stronger cognitive schemas.
The teacher associates movements with key words while teaching. Students replicate the movements whenever they encounter those terms. Can be combined with the Choral Response Moment.
After learning a concept, students generate "why" questions about the content. Questions no one can answer right away go on the board for future exploration.
Each student "becomes" a fact, concept, or vocabulary word. A host must figure out each "guest's" identity solely through their words and actions — no other clues allowed.
Students "paint" their understanding of an entire unit in one global image. Broader than the Hieroglyphics Moment, it requires a bird's-eye view of the whole topic. Followed by a silent gallery walk.
A mini-quiz DURING the lesson (not at the end). Students check their own emerging understanding in real time — not for grading, but to clarify comprehension as it develops.
Students choose a piece of music that captures the essence of the unit being studied. The soundtrack plays in class while studying that topic — creating a memorable emotional atmosphere.
Like the Choral Response, but with a twist: students change their VOICE when repeating. A whisper, a shout, a British accent, Darth Vader voice, elongated, punched… Boosts both fun and retention.
From the Workshop · March 23, 2026
The three strategies presented in depth by Dr. Tyson Sorensen and Dr. Lacee Boschetto at the Botanical Garden of Bergamo Alta, with examples drawn from agricultural education.
Three questions before you begin: What do you know? What do you think you understand? What don't you understand? Students write letters to themselves. The teacher collects them and calibrates the lesson to address real knowledge gaps.
In pairs: a reporter and an expert simulate a live newscast. The reporter poses questions about the content, the expert answers. Halfway through, roles switch — the new expert picks up exactly where the other left off.
In pairs or small groups: one student gives descriptive clues about a technical term, the other must guess. The clue-giver can never say the word itself. Timed event (1–2 min), then roles rotate.
Workshop Materials
The three documents shared at the Bergamo workshop. Download them or upload your own copy to replace the placeholders.
The core presentation delivered at the Orto Botanico di Bergamo Alta. It introduces the eMoments framework, explains the theoretical background (modalities, multiple intelligences, Bloom's taxonomy), and walks through three strategies in depth with live classroom examples.
The complete printed guide covering all 30 eMoment strategies. Each page describes one strategy with a brief overview, step-by-step process, variations, and a memorable take-away quote. Includes the full cross-reference matrix mapping each strategy to Bloom's levels, multiple intelligences, and learning modalities.