+

Effective Lesson Openers 1.

Three ideas for engaging starters

+Missing Vowels

Taken from the quiz “Only Connect”

Use it with key words and concepts

Examples

T SM PL CFF CR PR MN MBRS

(Autism/ Police officer /Prime numbers)

+Thunks

Little, simple questions that just catch a student’s attention. No wrong or right answer, but a chance to think about things differently.

Have one on the board for students to think about as they come in

Example: If a library lost all of its books, would it still be a library? Further examples…

+ Is certainty the same

as truth?

Do all Polos taste the same?

Is the Hokey Cokey really what it's all about?

Can you photograph a wink?

Is my God your God?

Is there a difference between an 'exit' and a 'way out'?

Could God be an atheist?

Is Monday not Tuesday as much as

Wednesday isn't?

Are two all-you-can-eat breakfasts twice as big as one?

Is it OK to let someone in the queue behind you?

Does having plans help you become the sort of person you used to want to be?

Can you be proud of someone you've never met?

Just because we can, should we?

Should you trust

everyone once?

Is a hole a thing?

Does your house weigh more when the bath is full?

Is saying 'I don't know' better than guessing?

Can a good person choose not to go to heaven (should it exist)?

Is refusing to be weak the same as being strong?

Could a nun disguise herself as a nun?

+Connect the pictures

Choose three images that relate to the previous lesson and/or the lesson to come

Students have to formulate a grammatically correct sentence which connects all three pictures

Example:

+

+

(The dog is found dead at the start by an autistic boy who is really good at maths; however, he is confused by people’s facial expressions. )