Starter for 10! - Great Lesson Starters

As any experienced teacher will tell you, the start of a lesson determines the outcome of the next hour. A poor start will spill onto a poor lesson. But… “How can the start of the lesson be made more interesting / engaging?!” I hear you cry. Have no fear - HexisPlus is here! This blog will compile ten of the most successful starter activities which engage students from the off. This will surely help you deliver and maintain outstanding lessons!

1. Thunks - a 'Thunk' is an interestingly simple-looking question about everyday things that stops you in your tracks and helps you start to look at the world in a whole new light.
e.g. If you lose your job at the Job Centre, where do you go to look for a job?
If everyone is unique, then aren't we all the same?
What does the wind smell like?
Do trees have feelings?
If I borrow a million pounds, am I a millionaire?

2. Who Am I? - this could be a picture, part of a picture or a person. Extension questions could be asked.
e.g. Why am I important?
What are we learning about today?

3. Twenty Questions - the teacher or pupil picks a relevant person / place / topic and the class have 20 yes or no questions to ask in order discover who or what it is. 

4. Just A Minute - one pupil starts to speak about a chosen topic. At the first repetition, pause or mistake another takes over - and so on until the minute is up. Interactive board timers work well with this task.

5. Role Reversal - one or more pupils are the teacher. They have to summarise the last lesson's topics and question the class on what was studied.

6. Freeze Frame - give students a situation and they have to individually / pair / group produce a freeze frame showing the scene. You Could adapt to all manner of scenes, or give pupils the topic area and ask them to produce an appropriate freeze frame that other students must then try and decipher.

7. Ridiculous Arguments - always a fun task; get students to justify absolutely ridiculous arguments.
e.g. "Five year olds should be allowed to drive a car!"
Can be done in teams.

8. Taboo - students have to describe key words without using a specific list of words which is pre-determined by the teacher.

9. Fact Or Opinion - hand out a relevant newspaper article to students and ask them to highlight facts in one colour and opinions in another colour. 

10. For even more lesson starters and other great tips from Hexis Plus, click here!