The Lesson Launch:

Much like a movie’s opening scene, the launch of a lesson should grab everybody’s attention, spark curiosity, and get students asking questions.

Also like a movie scene, lesson launches are not a one size fits all concept. They should be thoughtfully designed to fit the needs of the students and the goals of the lesson. That being said, there are a few tried-and-true launch styles that teachers can rely on. In this piece, we focus on “The Wow Factor.”

What is the Wow Factor?

During the launch of one lesson series on hip hop dance techniques and choreography, I decided to start by showing my fourth grade students a video of kids their own age performing a hip hop dance battle on a playground.

Immediately my students started asking questions. “Are those kids professionals?” “Are we going to dance like that too?” As they continued watching, the excitement in the room grew: “I could do that!” “When do we get to start?” Having the kids immediately interested and engaged in the content made it so much easier to get through some more of the technical aspects of dance theory—at any point we could refer back to the video to remind them what they were working towards.

One thing to note about the wow factor is that it doesn’t necessarily require a whole lot of work.  A wow factor could ask students to examine a mystery object, observe a scientific phenomenon, or discuss a thought-provoking question. The point is to ignite a spark of surprise or curiosity, setting the stage for focused learning.

Why does the Wow Factor work?

There is a reason why we remember the most exciting, surprising, and unusual moments in our life—they leave a lasting impression because they disrupt everyday routines and grab our attention with something new. The same is true in the classroom. Launching a lesson with the wow factor instantly shifts students’ mindsets, drawing their attention to the learning at hand. When learners are intrigued, their curiosity kicks in, driving them to ask questions and seek answers—the results all teachers hope for when crafting a lesson. Furthermore, the emotional connection to the wow factor helps students solidify information. When learning can be tied to a strong emotional experience, it is more likely to stick. This type of lesson launch also appeals to a variety of learning styles, and gives students a choice of entry points into the lesson by offering kinesthetic, auditory, or visual modes of learning.

What does the Wow Factor look like in the classroom?

Perhaps your costume box is a little lacking, or your bubbling beakers are all in the dishwasher—that’s okay! Launching a wow factor lesson does not always require elaborate costumes or flashy demonstrations. Here are five examples of wow factor launches that can be easily implemented in any learning space:

1. Place a mystery object on a table at the front of the room and let students discuss what they think it is and its significance to the upcoming lesson. In a history class, this could be a map or a primary source letter, sparking curiosity about the historical period or event you’ll be discussing.
2. Play an interesting video or sound clip that relates to the topic or content of the lesson. Come up with questions to ask your class about the video to get them discussing how they think it relates. In an ELA class, this could be a recording of a dramatic reading of a poem, or a scene from a movie. In a science class this could be a video of an observable phenomena that relates to the scientific concept being covered.
3. Pose a thought-provoking question or dilemma that sparks discussion. In a math class, this could be something like, “How can we divide a cake into eight equal slices with just three cuts?” Open-ended questions like this encourage critical thinking and require students to make valuable connections that pertain to the broader lesson.
4. Open your lesson with storytelling to draw your students into the material using vivid, imaginative narration. In a social studies class, this could look like telling the story of conflicts that led up to the Civil War by introducing important characters, events, and mindsets.
5. Share a surprising statistic or fact that ties into the lesson topic. For example, in a health class, you could open with, “Did you know that humans shed about 40,000 skin cells every hour?” Students will be intrigued and more invested in exploring the topic further.

Bring the Wow into Your Lesson

The best way to connect your lesson launch to the rest of your instruction is to make sure it is directly tied to the learning objectives of the lesson itself. To keep the connection going and maximize the impact of the launch, the next phase of the lesson needs to begin to answer or explore some of the questions raised by the launch.

With our dance instruction launch, kids immediately started asking how to develop dance skills like the ones they saw in the video. This naturally led into a discussion about the different dance techniques and vocabulary terms they would need to know in order to eventually become dancers and choreographers. Because the launch was directly connected to the rest of the lesson, we could continually look back at what the students had seen in the launch video as both a reference and roadmap to where we were headed.