Video Transcript - Lesson Openers That Hook Your Learners in 2 Minutes
You have two minutes to win or lose your learners. That's it. Those first 120 seconds determine whether they're mentally in the room with you or still thinking about lunch. So how do you make them count?
Hi, I'm Jo Gakonga from ELT-Training and today I'm sharing five lesson openers that hook learners immediately: no shuffling papers, no waiting for focus, just engagement from the first moment.
Opener 1: A 'prediction' question
One easy way in is a prediction question. Something connected to your topic, but not requiring any special knowledge. For example, if your lesson is on travel: 'What do you think is the most stressful part of travelling?' Or for a reading lesson: 'Have you ever…?' questions linked to the theme. Nothing complicated. Just a small hook to activate schema and get people talking.
Opener 2: A visual prompt
Here's another quick win. A picture on the board works wonders. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece - even a quick photo from the coursebook, or something you pull up from the internet. Ask: 'What do you notice?', 'Where do you think this is?', 'What might be happening here?' Learners immediately start making meaning… and you're off.
Opener 3: A one-minute task they do before you even speak
If visuals aren't your thing, try this. Give learners something they can start immediately, no explanation needed. Three words on the board from the lesson to come with a question - 'How are these connected?' or a dialogue with open ended sentences to complete. While they work in pairs to do these things, you've got a moment to breathe and settle in yourself.
Opener 4: A 'fix the error' challenge
For classes that love a challenge, this one works brilliantly. Put some sentences on the board with errors- maybe common ones your class often makes or something with target language from previous lessons- and ask them to find the errors and correct them. Adding in one that's correct adds some interest too. It gets them thinking about language immediately and helps to recycle language.
Opener 5: A quick personal question
A simple personal question works wonders: 'What's one good thing that happened this week?' or 'What did you have for dinner last night?' Not therapy-level deep. Just enough to build rapport and wake everyone up gently, especially if it's a morning class.
Great openers share three things: they're short, focused and they get learners doing something immediately. No lengthy instructions, no confusion, just an invitation to engage.
So pick one of these tomorrow and watch how the energy shifts. And if you've got a go-to opener that never fails, drop it in the comments. I'm always learning too.
