Ep 44: Engaging Ways to Start a Lesson was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the latest audio-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors. Sonix is the best audio automated transcription service in 2020. Our automated transcription algorithms works with many of the popular audio file formats.
Hey, teachers, if you have a classroom and a commute, you're in the right place. I'm your host, Rachael, and I want to ride along with you each week on your ride into school. This podcast is the place for busy teachers who want actionable tips, simple strategies, and just want to enjoy their job more. Let's go.
We've all been there staring out at a sea of glazed over eyes as we begin a new lesson with our students. Now if you're teaching over a screen virtually, it probably happens even more. Are they even listening to you or did they start thinking about what they're going to eat for lunch? Don't feel bad. It happens to every teacher. Hey, guys, it's Rachael, and in this episode of The Classroom Commute Podcast, we are going to talk about some surefire ways to grab your students attention and keep it right from the beginning of your lesson. I'm going to give you 13 quick, engaging ways that you can start your lesson, whether you're in person or virtual. Listen up. I'm going to whip right through these and then send you on your way. I'm calling these lesson igniters.
Lesson ignitor #1 is mystery object or picture. Display an object or picture that represents your topic without telling them what it is and try to have your students guess the topic.
Ignitor #2, listen to a song that helps set the mood for your lesson. Think about marching drums when you're introducing the Civil War, or guitars and banjo sounds of the westward expansion movement. Oh, and if you like the idea of using music in your classroom, make sure you check out my episodeAll About Nine Uses for Music in the Elementary Classroom. I will link to it in the show notes at classroomnook.com/podcast/44.
Lesson ignitor #3, this one's more for an in-person teaching environment. Take a gallery walk. Place posters, pictures, artifacts and other objects around your room that are related to your lesson. Then invite students to walk around the room and observe. You might even place a large poster paper and markers at each gallery walk station around your room and have them create a graffiti board where they draw or write their thoughts about what they see. This gallery walk sparks great discussion at the start of your lesson.
Lesson ignitor #4, read a poem related to your topic. If you want to have them read along with you, you'll sneak in a little fluency practice while you're at it.
Lesson ignitor #5, give your students a challenge before you tell your students the information about a topic. Have them try it for themselves. For example, you might have them solve a math riddle or give students a list of content related words and have them guess the topic or give students several words related to your topic to soar into categories or give them a sentence to finish with their own thoughts. For example, if you're teaching westward expansion, you might have a sentence that starts with 'if I had to leave everything behind, I would.." and then have students finish it.
Lesson ignitor #6, play a game. A simple game like stand up or sit down requires no prep at all. Ask students a series of yes/no questions related to your topic. Have them stand up for yes and sit down for no based on their answer. This also makes a great review of the previous lesson or can help you quickly assess prior knowledge before introducing new content.
Lesson Ignitor #7, start a debate. I give you this suggestion with caution. You have to read the room with your students and decide if it's something that they can handle or if it's something you might need to hold off on. If your topic lends itself to an opinion, pose a question and let students debate the topic. Be sure to set some ground rules for disagreeing appropriately.
Lesson ignitor #8, tell a story. Whether it's a picture book or even just an oral story. Grab students attention with a related story.
Lesson ignitor 9, reader's theater. This is one of my favorite ways to teach new content. I have an entire library of readers theater scripts that you can access if you check out the link in my show notes at classroomnook.com/podcast/44. Even with a little prep, you can easily create your own reader's theater to go along with your lesson. I even have a blog post over at the website that I will link to in the show notes to guide you.
Lesson ignitor 10, watch a video clip. YouTube is a teacher's best friend. With so many options, you can find short video clips for just about anything. Think outside the box on this one. For example, if you're talking about the Grand Canyon in your unit on landforms, find a YouTube video of somebody flying over the Grand Canyon so students can really see what it's like. They don't always have to be education specific videos, but if you are looking for a library of several videos that are designed to teach specific skills and topics, I've started trying my hand a little bit at creating animated videos and I will link to my video library in the show notes.
Lesson Ignitor, #11, play give me five, or ten, or fifteen. It's simple. Give students your topic title, for example, animals or plants. Have them jot down the first five, ten, fifteen or however many you want, words or phrases that come to mind. Then you can even have them jot each thought down on a Post-it note and create a chart to see if there are any overlaps between them and their classmates.
Lesson ignitor #12, act it out. Place several different words or phrases related to your topic on slips of paper, then have students act out while their peers guess. Once you've gone through all the slips of paper, review the words and phrases and use the words and phrases to introduce your topic and lesson.
Ignitor #13, my personal favorite and the ultimate motivator for learning...food. If there is some way to incorporate a tasty tree into your lesson, do it. If you're teaching a raise, for example, have them create them with M&Ms. Learning about a specific culture? Try some authentic food from that culture. The options are endless.
All right, there you have it. 13 surefire ways to grab your students attention. Let's run through them one more time. Use a mystery object or picture. Listen to a song that sets the mood for your lesson. Take a gallery walk. Read a poem related to your topic. Start off with the challenge. Play a game. Start a debate. Tell a story. Use readers theater. Watch a short video clip. Play give me five or ten or fifteen. Act it out. And food. I hope you got at least one idea in there that you can use in your next lesson starter to make sure that you've got your students attention and you'll keep it. And of course, be sure to mix it up. You don't want to use one type too often because then it'll just become, like everything else, boring and bland. So mix it up and keep it interesting.
All right. I hope your commute was short today because that was a short episode. Don't worry, I will be back again next week with another episode from The Classroom Commute. Have a great rest of your week and I will talk to you again soon. Bye for now.
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