A lesson hook is a short opening to a lesson. It should grab your students’ attention and leave them wanting to learn more. Hooks can prepare your students for the content they will be learning.
A good lesson hook strategy can make all the difference when it comes to engaging students and maximizing their learning. You can use your lesson hook to establish connections between existing knowledge and the new content.
Any break from the ordinary can be exciting. Change your learning setting to get students engaged and excited for what’s to come.
There are tons of lesson hooks that you can use and find online. Here are some ideas:
Theme your classroom for the lesson (posters, learning centers, bulletin boards, etc.)
Use “feely” boxes or bags
Create a survey and graph the results
Use music
Guest speaker
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I like anticipation sets where you give a series of statements where students predict true/false. Then revisit at end of lesson.
For lessons where students have some background knowledge, I like gallery walks or sort cards.
Short background videos from YouTube where you have guiding questions, ask them to write 3 new facts, or identify what a new means used in the video.
Sometimes a good old fashion KWL chart … or something similar is a great way to start.
I've used a variety of learning hooks to engage my students, including starting a lesson with a thought-provoking question, using multimedia such as videos or images related to the topic, incorporating hands-on activities or demonstrations, and using storytelling to make the content more relatable and engaging. I also like to connect the lesson to real-life examples or current events to show the relevance of the topic.
I have used AI to create pictures of different ideas about the lesson that will give the students the opportunity to view the pictures and respond. I have also used short videos and other visuals to help spark prior knowledge. I have also created scenarios (kind of like a "would you rather" that go along with the weekly lesson) to hook the students.
