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SLANT

Description

The class participation strategy known as SLANT is a simple, easy-to-remember technique for helping students increase their contributions to -- and benefits from -- group instruction and class discussion. Developed at the University of Kansas School of Education as a technique for helping college athletes, SLANT has proven to be an effective method for keeping students at all academic levels actively engaged in group activities.

The mnemonic SLANT reminds students to:

  • S = Sit up straight.
  • L = Lean forward.
  • A = Activate your thinking.
  • N = Note key information.
  • T = Track the speaker.

Learn More About SLANT

To learn how one teacher introduces SLANT to her middle school students, and how she uses the technique to maintain her own focus at "boring" meetings, read the following Education World Teacher Feature.

Starring Nancy Garland
Middle school teacher Nancy Garland believes in the power of SLANT to help students gain control of their behavior, and keep in mind what's expected of them. She even uses SLANT herself when she gets bored in a meeting! SLANT is a strategy students can use to stay on task their entire lives, Garland says.

More Online Resources

The following Web sites provide additional information about the SLANT strategy.