12 Attention-Grabbing Ways To Begin Your Lesson

Lesson starters. Openers. Attention Grabbers. Hooks. Call them what you will, but we all have our go-to ways to start a lesson in our classroom. 

Well, I rounded up my top 12 ways to get students' attention as you start your lesson. 

Top 12 Ways To Get Students' Attention 

Entry Ticket 

To use this opener, teachers can get students working as soon as they walk into the classroom. As students enter the classroom, they are handed a ticket by their teacher. This ticket gives students an assignment to do as soon as they get to their spot in the classroom. The assignment or activity can be something very simple. 

Consensogram

In this opener, the teacher makes a statement and students can either agree or disagree. Students will write their answer on a sticky note and the teacher quickly polls to see how the class responded to the statement. At the end of the lesson, the teacher can make the same statement and see if the class changes their answers.

Use Music

Music is a fun and easy way to engage your students. Here are two ways you can use music as a hook in your classroom: 

• Find a catchy song that introduces a topic you are learning

• Have a song playing as students walk into the classroom and see if they can guess the topic

Feel Box/Feel Bag

This can be whatever you want it to be. There is nothing more exciting and interesting to students than having to feel something to figure out what it is. Use your box or bag to introduce your topic. Imagine the things you could do for a science class!

Pictionary

Have a list of concepts, ideas, and objects that pertain to the lesson you are about to teach. Begin drawing and have students guess. Once they’ve guessed a word, be sure to write it on the board so kids can start to see the connection. One word of warning, don’t let this game take up too much of your teaching time. 

Solve The Riddle

Write a riddle on the board and have students try to figure out what the lesson is about.

Pictures/Videos

Nothing grabs attention like a picture or video. You can easily find videos that can introduce a concept you are teaching. Or you can find a collection of photos and have your students guess the topic. 

Tell A Story

It could be a story about something you’ve experienced, a tale or fable, really anything. Just make sure it relates to the topic!

Find It!

Elementary-aged students would really like this! Hide a lesson artifact (or more than one) around the classroom and have students find them. Once they find them, talk about how the artifacts connect with the lesson. 

20 Questions

This list wouldn’t be complete without the game of 20 Questions. Decide on a person, event, place, etc. that has to do with the lesson. 

The Answer Is…

In this opener, students will see the answer to a question on the board, potentially with a picture as well. Students have to figure out what the question is based on the answer.

The Ever Reliable - Call Backs

We all have had those mornings when students walk in and we wonder how much sugar they consumed before coming to our classroom. When you need to get your students quiet in a hurry, you can always use callbacks. A call back is any phrase that is started by the teacher and ended by the class. There are too many callbacks to list, but they are easy to find online. A few of my favorites are:

• Flat tire. Shhhhhh!

• Ready to rock? Ready to roll! 

• Chicka Chicka. Boom boom! 

I hope this compilation of ideas is helpful to you! What is your favorite way to get your students' attention?