Hook the Reader

How many times have you looked at your students for responses and only received blank stares or unengaged behavior? The harsh reality, your lesson was probably boring. You needed a hook!

The purpose of a hook is to grab the learners’ attention, frame their thinking, and focus on the new concept. Below are 5 descriptive attention grabbers that can be used to introduce a unit, introduce a concept, or for daily instruction. When implemented correctly, the hook could be the missing piece needed to bring your lesson to life.

Brown Book: Place brown construction paper, butcher paper, or a paper bag around the front and back covers of the book. Explain to the students that sometimes the author does not tell us what the book will be about, who the character are, where the story takes place, or the conflict. Instead, we have to make inferences and draw our own conclusions based on what we read. Read the first few pages of the book and allow students to predict what they think are the title, illustrations, and the big idea of the book. This is also a good strategy in identifying the story elements and topic without the use of a title or illustrations.

Brown Bag: The teacher places objects in a brown bag. Students reach in to make observations about the contents of the bag. This is a great activity for an inference lesson, a sensory language lesson, or a compare and contrast lesson. Students can make observations blindly or by looking at the objects.

Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Do not tell students what to expect. Flash a picture on the screen for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Students have to remember everything about the picture. After 30 seconds, remove the image and ask students to share what they remember. After the first round, students will be ready for the next one! This hook is great for introducing distinguishing between the central idea and supporting details.

Scavenger Hunt: Prepare cards with clues written on them about the objective for the day. After reading the clues, students guess what they think they will be learning for the day, week, or unit. To make it more interactive, hide clues around the room.

Story Time: This method is often used to introduce writing lessons or a read aloud. Tell a quick and engaging story that connects to the learning. An example would be the introduction for brainstorming a narrative writing piece with a story about an important person in your life. After telling the story, the students are expected to use that as a guide to develop ideas around their important person. This is a really engaging and exciting time for students. They love to learn about their teachers. The more you share about your personal life, the more they’ll listen. Building relationships will take your school year to the next level!

Try these out in your classroom and let us know how it goes.