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Volume 11  |  Issue 2  |  September 24, 2015

How to Begin and End Lessons

"Call me Ishmael." "You better not never tell nobody but God." "Here is a weird one for you." These first lines from Melville, Walker, and Foster Wallace pull in the reader and point to what to watch for in the coming pages. As teachers, you want lessons that hook students like a book they can't put down, but you also want them to walk away from class able to clarify and organize what they just learned. From engagement to enlightenment, here's how to open and close lessons.


Features

Taking Back Transitions

Jennifer LaDuke

How can you help students take a moment to switch gears, while maximizing instructional time?

Capturing Students' Attention with Compelling Hooks

Craig Simmons

Tips for designing creative introductions that instantly engage students in an intriguing topic or problem.


Columns

Watch: How to Frame and Anchor a Lesson

Ashley Ireland Dann

Watch a 1st grade teacher frame a lesson by communicating the learning goals, engaging students in the essential question, connecting learning to the big ideas of the unit, reviewing the agenda, and activating students' prior knowledge. He closes by revisiting the objective and essential question, and guiding students to reflect on their learning.

Field Notes: It's Not About the Bells

Joshua Curnett

A veteran teacher finds that a respectful and appreciative class culture helps teachers develop great beginnings and cohesive closings for their lessons.

Copyright © 2015 by ASCD

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