10 Non-ICT Instructional Tools Every 21st Century Educator Should Know

1. Thinking Routines

Thinking routines like See Think Wonder or Claim Support Question help students slow down, observe deeply, make connections and articulate reasoning.

Classroom story:
In Grade 6 Social Studies, Ms. Anita shows her class a powerful image of a crowded railway station from the 1947 Partition. Instead of lecturing, she asks students to complete See Think Wonder.
Within minutes, students are drawing emotional inferences, spotting patterns, and asking questions she did not anticipate. The entire room shifts from passive listening to active inquiry.

Project Zero’s Thinking Routines Toolbox

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2. Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice helps students move information from short-term to long-term memory by prompting them to recall without notes. A great instructional tool for prior knowledge activation.

Classroom story:
In Grade 8 Science, the teacher begins the lesson with a simple prompt on the board:
“Write down everything you remember about chemical bonding from last week.”
Two minutes later, students are surprised by how much they can recall and how clear their misunderstandings become. The teacher uses this to guide the day’s teaching.

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3. Entry Ticket 

Entry tickets are quick prompts students complete in the first 3 minutes of class. They activate prior knowledge, reveal readiness levels and help the teacher tune instruction for the period ahead. They are not “busy work.” They are cognitive warm-ups that lower anxiety and switch the brain into learning mode.

Classroom story:
In Grade 7 Geography, Mr. Ravi begins class with one simple question on a slip of paper:
“What factors influence climate in a region? Write down two.”

While students work quietly, he scans their responses.
Half the class mentions latitude and altitude. Only a few bring up ocean currents. He immediately knows where to focus the day’s teaching.
Instead of reteaching everything or guessing what students know, he uses the entry ticket to start exactly where the class is.

Entry tickets make learning more efficient and personalised without adding workload.

This tool is explored in ReThink Education’s Module!

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4. Exit Tickets

Exit tickets give teachers immediate, actionable data about what students understood and what still needs work.

Classroom story:
After a challenging maths lesson, the teacher asks students to answer one prompt:
“What part of today’s lesson would you want explained again tomorrow?”
She sorts their tickets in three piles and redesigns her next lesson in ten minutes. No guesswork.

Click to see how you can implement this in your classroom, online or offline!

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5. Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers convert complex content into visual structures. They support comprehension, summarization, and critical thinking.

Classroom story:
In Grade 5, the teacher uses a Frayer Model for the word ecosystem.
Students define it, draw it, use it in a sentence and list non-examples.
Vocabulary turns into understanding.

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6. Socratic Discussion Structures

Structured conversations help develop reasoning, speaking and listening skills. They teach students how to engage with ideas, not just complete tasks.

Classroom story:
In a circular seating arrangement, the teacher gives the class a question:
“Why do societies create laws?”
Students pull evidence from their notes, challenge each other respectfully and build layered arguments. The teacher hardly says a word.

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7. The Gradual Release Model for Student Ownership

I Do
We Do
You Do

This model shifts responsibility from teacher to learner over a lesson sequence while preventing overwhelm.

Classroom story:
In an art class, the teacher first demonstrates shading. Then the class practices together. Finally, students create independent sketches.
No chaos, no stress, just steady progression.

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8. Cold Call

Cold call is often misunderstood. It is not about catching students off guard. In its true form, it keeps all students attentive, activated, and thinking. Every student knows they could be asked, which increases cognitive participation. A very power instructional tool if used correctly.

Classroom story:
During a Grade 7 English discussion, the teacher says,
“I’m coming to you next, Rahul. Think about how the author builds the mood in this scene.”
Rahul actually has time to prepare. When he answers, the class realises cold call is not punitive. It is structured equity: everyone gets to participate.

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9. Show Call

Show call brings student work into the learning space without shaming. Teachers select examples of work and project them to analyse together. The focus is on reasoning, structure, clarity and improvement, not performance comparison.

Classroom story:
During a maths problem solving class, the teacher projects two student solutions with names removed.
“What do you notice about the approach in Solution B? Where does the reasoning get strong?”
Students evaluate thinking, not each other.

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10. The Eisenhower Matrix for Student Time Management

While this tool comes from productivity literature, it is extremely powerful in classrooms. Students learn to distinguish urgent tasks from important ones. This sharpens their executive functioning. This will save instructional tool time, and you can focus more on keeping students on-task.

Classroom story:
A Grade 9 teacher helps students map their week into four boxes:
Urgent and important
Important but not urgent
Urgent but not important
Neither
For the first time, students truly see why they procrastinate and how to plan for long term projects.

Learn more about Eisenhower Matrix with this step-by-step guide