Movies are associated with entertainment and they are things which people interact with on their own. Choose a movie that demonstrates the lesson and ask the students to watch it actively, by thinking about what is happening and to keep in mind questions they want to ask at the end of the class, which leads into a discussion session. For example, if you are doing a unit on Shakespeare, show the movie versions of plays like Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet.
Brainstorming is the method where students gather in a group and express their own ideas. Write a goal or a problem on the board and ask for students to come up and add solutions or ideas around it. Asking the students to come up and write on the board and having a record of what they wrote adds a tangible aspect to your discussion. You may also break your students up into small groups and have them brainstorm together, which benefits shyer students.
Active learning does very well when the students are asked to create their own solutions to problems. The action of doing something sticks in their head, as does the result. For example, when you are planning a science lesson on buoyancy and mass, give each student a piece of tin foil. Ask them to create a boat out of the tin foil, one that can hold paper clips. One by one, each boat is floated in water and 1 paper clip at a time is added to it, with the boat which can hold the most paper clips winning the competition.
Role-playing involves taking on the personality and interests of someone other than yourself, and it is a tool for active learning in many arenas. For example, in a foreign language class, ask the students to take on conflicting personas and to debate with each other in the foreign language. In a civics class, reenact a famous trial, assigning different parts to different students, and see how the trial plays out with your students in charge.