First slide
You put an interesting first slide on the screen that will raise questions. When the students come into class, they can already start thinking about it.
- Pairs
- Small groups (3-10)
- Large groups (>10)
- <5 minutes
- 5-10 minutes
- Activating prior knowledge
- Discussion
- Apply
- Analyse
When to use it?
- When you want to prompt students to think, activate prior knowledge, and increase their engagement right from the start of the lecture.
Activity instructions
Preparation
- Choose a question or statement that is related to the lecture’s topic.
- Find a picture, or another visual addition, that would be related to the topic.
Activity steps
- Add the slide
Put the picture and the question/statement on the slide. - Present the slide
Present the slide at the start or even before the lecture, so students can already think about it. - Discuss
Ask whether there are volunteers who want to share their thoughts. If there are no volunteers, choose a couple of students yourself. - Connect
Try to connect the content of the lecture with the question and answers from the students.
Tips for implementation & variation
- Online teaching: Students can put their answers in the chat of the video lecture tool or you can create a PresentersWall quiz (e.g. students can vote on the right answer or they can create a wordcloud). This way, everyone will be able to express themselves equally, even those who might feel anxious about talking in class.
- You can also choose to display either a picture or a question. By showing only a picture, you can also stimulate students to think about what is today’s topic. However, with this variation, you need to choose a picture that fits very well with the topic and can stimulate students to think.
Supporting tools