Students are filing in, taking their seats, and eagerly waiting for you to begin the lesson. Everyone is silently focused on you and completely engaged. Right? Ok, maybe that isn’t exactly how class is starting, but there are a few things you can do to set the tone for class by getting students engaged right away. We’re sharing five of our favorite ways to use the first five minutes of class to build excitement, boost engagement, and focus students for class.
1. Number Talk
If you’re a math teacher, number talks are definitely a tool you want to have on hand. Not only are they a great way to build engagement to start class, but they can also be used for a brain break anytime!
A number talk is an activity in which you as the teacher post a math problem on the board and students try to solve it without writing anything down. Students can take time to think independently about a solution, and then discuss with a partner, then a small group, and eventually the entire class. With a number talk, every student is engaged, every student is thinking critically, and every student has used their voice—all in the first five minutes of class.
2. Book Chat
If you’re an ELA teacher, the number talk might not be for you, but a book chat certainly is! A book chat allows students to build excitement about independent reading and deepen their connections with peers.
A book chat is an activity in which one student shares about a book they are currently reading or previously read and loved. The student can come to the front of the room and talk about the book or multiple students can share in smaller groups. While you might risk students giving away some spoilers, it's worth it. When students see their peers excited about reading, they are more likely to take the book recommendations seriously. This works especially well with core text-aligned independent reading books like those outlined for every Fishtank ELA unit.
With a book chat, all students are engaged in an exciting discussion about reading, preparing them for a successful ELA lesson.
3. Activate Prior Knowledge
Regardless of the subject you teach, there are benefits of activating students’ prior knowledge before diving into new content. Not only does it prepare students to more effectively participate in the upcoming lesson, but it can offer an opportunity to build engagement and personal connections to the content.
To activate students’ prior knowledge, you can simply ask students to discuss in small groups what they learned during yesterday’s lesson. You can also try out tons of other strategies like showing students a picture or problem and asking them to make connections to previous learning or offering a prompt for students to identify experiences from their own lives that align with the upcoming lesson’s content.
4. Mindful Moment
This next strategy is ideal for the days that your students are coming to class a bit too energized. Whether something happened earlier in the day, or your students are just feeling a bit unsettled, it can be really difficult to dive into content when your students’ minds are elsewhere.
To refocus and recenter students, you can offer them a mindful moment. The easiest way to do this is through a guided 5 minute mindfulness video. There are endless options available on Youtube so you can find one that feels age appropriate for your students and encourage them to really commit to five minutes of mindfulness.
You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the shift in energy. After just five minutes, you and your students will be ready to tackle whatever lesson you’ve planned.
5. Community Builder
Sometimes you can tell that your students just need an opportunity to talk before they can fully focus their attention on a lesson. Rather than fighting against their need to chat, you can create space for it that has a defined end. A quick community building activity allows students to get out some energy and talk with their peers before engaging in a lesson.
Your community builder can vary depending on your individual students, but a favorite in many classrooms is a simple Would You Rather question. You can have a few questions prepared and allow students to discuss each in small groups. Before engaging in any community builder, it's important to set the expectation that, once the five minutes are over, students will be ready to shift their attention to the lesson.
However you decide to start class, you’ll need a strong lesson to follow. Fishtank Learning can help with that! Create an account today to unlock access to thousands of completely free, highly-rated, and incredibly engaging lesson plans for K-12 ELA and Math.