Hunt the clues
At the start of the lesson, give pupils three ‘items’ to look for in and around the classroom. (the subtler the better) Ask them at the end of the lesson to identify how they were relevant to their learning today.
‘Live’ lesson objectives
Display a picture or word related to the focus of the lesson and get pupils to ask as many questions as they can on that particular topic. Identify a ‘thread’ amongst the questions and set ‘live learning objectives.’ Pupils work together to then spend the lesson finding answers to their queries.
Topic meets…
Ask students to create a revision resource to share with their classmates but they ‘cross it over’ or ‘mix it up’ with a topic that interests them. E.g. Mr Men meets punctuation, punctuation meets Disney princesses.
In the news
Introduce current affairs into your lessons. Provide articles, videos or documentaries for pupils to read and discuss, or ask pupils to find these themselves. Then encourage pupils to pose their thoughts collectively to discuss and debate the issue further. Pupils can to upload their thoughts using padlet or pearltrees for the class to easily access. Click here for …
The big question debate
Encourage and facilitate open debates with pupils. This gets them thinking and encourages them to apply their knowledge and make links to the wider world. It can also encourage pupils to develop their reasoning skills, and equips them to better cope with unforeseen questions. Click here for some examples Big question debate
Passion projects
Whet pupils’ appetite for a topic or subject area by allowing them time and choice over independently studying an area of interest. It could be not something covered by the curriculum or specification, but something they care about or are interested in. Then let them teach the class! Click here for some ideas Passion projects
WOW starters
Create curiosity and awe for your subject areas at the beginning of lessons using WOW starters. Posing open and thought provoking questions to get pupils thinking or drawing links between topics. Wow starters
Curious questions
Make the start of your lesson or form time exciting by posing thought provoking questions to the students to discuss and consider. Curiosity form ppt examples HED_questions