The ability to motivate students is an essential quality to be a good teacher. A proper lesson plan, good content and passion for teaching go a long way in making a class interesting. But sometimes it is necessary to start the class in a different way so that students stay motivated, engaged and energized. Starters, also known as hooks, should be be an important part of any lesson plan if they are not already.
Here are 5 amazing starters you can try including in your lesson plan, course content or you can also use them to stimulate your students.
1. Fizz & Buzz Game
Time: 5 minutes
This might not integrate well with your lesson but will certainly stimulate your students.
Instruction: This is a counting game. The student to start counting can start with any number and the student next to him/her shall continue and the counting moves on but the trick would be, students landing on multiple of 5 will have to say Fizz and students landing on multiple of 7 will have to say Buzz. Those taking time or calling out number instead of Fizz and Buzz shall be out of the game and the other student again starts with number of his/her choice.
2. Popcorn Reading
Time: 5 minutes or more
This will help students in listening as well as reading. Also, you will be able to grab student’s attention.
Instruction: You can ask a random student to start reading the text you are teaching. Ask all other students to point where the reader reaches and be listening carefully as you can stop the reader at any point of time and can ask any other student to continue from the point the reader has stopped. You can use a soft ball or any other tools like pen, pencil to pass to the student to ask him continue reading.
3. Pass The Ball
Time: 5 minutes or more
This is more useful in checking the learning but can also be used as hook. It can help you in revision of previous lessons.
Instruction: Ask a question and pass the ball to a random student who you want to answer the question. You will have to be careful with some things though. Don’t give any hint to show which student you shall choose. Always ask the question first and then only pass the ball. Continue in similar ways with other students too. The excitement of watching the ball being passed to their peers will keep the students on their toes.
4. Hangman
Time: 10 minutes
This is a very popular game and could be helpful in any subject when it comes to finding out related words. You can use in English for vocabularies while you can also play hangman with students using related words for other subjects.
Instruction: Just draw spaces for letters and ask the student to guess the word. You can give hint to the student what it is related to. For every mistake students commit, you start drawing the different parts of man and ultimately hang him. Students win if they guess the right word before the man hangs.
5. Bingo
Time: 10 minutes
This is another popular game. This is really popular among students and they will be willing to play it again and again.
Instruction: Distribute bingo sheets among students. You can prepare bingo sheets based on what you want to check. Bingo sheets usually contain one word answers for different questions. You start reading random questions and students circle the answers of the questions you read. The first student to get all the answers circles wins and calls for bingo.
The starters above are good stimulators and also effective tools for checking if learning has been effective. Try them and you shall find students learning with fun and turning interactive in your class. They will be fond of you and enjoy attending your classes as it gives them a story to tell to their parents when they get home as well.