Introductions to Lessons:
The cherry on the Top
This month in Pontian Bandar cluster, we have focused on introductions to lessons. Teachers often go into lessons without an introduction.
We are focusing on why introductions are so important, and fun ideas to help improve
them.
What should be included in an introduction?
Breaking
the ice – students often seem bored and unenthusiastic when the teacher walks in. Starting with a fun & simple warmer / ice-breaker in each lesson is a
good way to make sure children will look forward to English lessons. It wakes
them up, grabs their attention & motivates them to enjoy their learning. A
fun lesson imprints on their mind that English is always a fun lesson.
Reminder
of rules – every introduction reminds children of classroom rules.
Fun ideas:
1.
Behaviour charts
2.
Behaviour competitions
3.
Hand signals
4.
Freeze! Teacher shouts freeze and demonstrates
freezing in a silly position. Children must all freeze when the teacher shouts
“Freeze!”.
 |
| Teacher reminding students not to shout out. |
· Reminder
of teams – Children need to be reminded of who is in whose team, and
feel part of their team. For example, the teacher could ask Team 1 to put their
hands up, and go around asking different teams to do different things: stand
up, hands up, sleep etc.
 |
| 7 Team competition chart chalked onto the board. |
· Levelling
children – often some children are alert, while others are sleeping. An
introduction should level out these differences.
v
Fun Ideas:
1.
Brain gym
2.
Repetition of similar sequence in introduction
every lesson.
3.
Assigning jobs to particular children.
 |
| Brain gym activity. |
Mental preparation
for learning ahead: People are conditioned by routine. Routines &
lesson sequencing can really be useful therefore. By starting every lesson in a
fun way, or with a recognizable introduction that follows a similar sequence,
children unconsciously & mentally prepare themselves for effective learning
ahead.
 |
| Teacher starts every lesson routine with the days of the week. |
· Revision
–include a section in the introduction which revises work already achieved. This revision can be made into a
fun game, a quiz, or a fun flashcard set. Reminding children of things they
already know, enables them to:
1. Feel safe in the learning environment
2. Be
motivated that they already know something.
3. Helps
to solidify knowledge into their long term memory.
 |
| Teacher revising. |
· For
fun – introductions first and foremost should be fun! They should pave the
way for the rest of the lesson, and lead on from lessons before. Happy students learn more!
 |
| A fun revision game. |
Introduce lesson
topic & objectives: Most importantly, every lesson should have
learning objectives. The introduction section of each lesson should outline
for students clear learning objectives to achieve by the end of each lesson.
 |
| Students receive rewards to add to their reward plates for their achievements. |
Happy teaching everyone! And, happy learning too!
