35 Ways To Introduce Your Lesson Topic

7/8/2019 35 ways to introduce your lesson topic | ELT Planning
ELT Planning
TEFL tips and ideas from a developing teacher
35 ways to introduce your lesson topic
Are you fed up with using the same old methods to introduce your lesson topic? Look no further! Here
are 35 ways to kick off your lesson. How many have you tried?
1. Using an anecdote
Example topic: idioms
You know I play football, right? No? Well I love it. Anyway, I went
into town to buy some new boots the other day. I’m in Sports
Direct, and I see these Nike boots that I really like, they’re the new
model. The assistant comes over and is like
“can I help you?”
And I’m “yeah. Can you tell me how much these are?”
She says “They’re £500”
And I said “£500???? That’s an arm and a leg!”
Here’s some example flashcards I made for teaching idioms. These could also be used for a ‘dingbats’
warmer (see number 22).
2. Cuisenaire Rods creation
Example topic: Tourist a ractions
Give each pair of students a bunch of Cuisenaire rods.
“Work in pairs. Use the rods to create a model of a well-known tourist a raction in
[town/city/country/continent]. You have 2 minutes”
Students then look at each model and guess the a raction.
https://eltplanning.com/2015/06/22/35-ways-to-introduce-your-lesson-topic/ 1/19
3. Cuisenaire Rods model
Create your own model using rods. Elicit what it represents.
(Here is my example of the UK political parties and their share of the vote, for a recent lesson on politics)
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number3.jpg)
4. Musical “Guess the topic”
Example topic: family and relationships
Think of 3 or 4 songs which in some way reference the theme/topic of your lesson
Avril Lavigne – Skater Boi (“he was a boy, she was a girl, can I make it any more obvious?”)
The Hollies – He ain’t heavy (he’s my brother)
Baz Luhman – Everybody’s free to wear sunscreen (“maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t…”)
Ozzy Ozbourne – Mama I’m coming home
Play students a relevant segment of the song (where something about the topic is referenced). Ask them
to write notes on what they hear, compare notes, and guess the topic of the lesson.
5. Family fortunes (my favourite)
Example topic: British customs and culture / stereotypes
Create a fake family fortunes style question:
“We asked 100 people from England, Scotland and Wales – which things make you a typical Brit?”
Board the following
1 ________________ 2 ____________ 3_____________ 4____________ 5____________
Students work in groups to prepare answers. Make it a li le game (they win points for each correct
answer).
Five possible answers for the above: queuing, drinking tea, talking about the weather, eating fish and chips, having
bad teeth.
6. Picture parts
Example topic: animals
Make some extreme close-up pictures of animals. Pass them around and get the students to guess what
they are and hence the topic of the lesson
7. Picture association “Guess the topic”
Example topic: ‘once in a lifetime’
Gather pictures of things that people MIGHT do only once in a lifetime.
Examples: drive a Ferrari, skydive, run a marathon, win the lo ery(?), see a shooting star(?).
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number7a.jpg)
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number7b.jpg)
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number7c.jpg)
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number7d.jpg)
Board the pictures or pass them round, students discuss each one and guess the common theme.
8. Complete the sentence
Topic: Making apologies
Think of a relevant starter sentence and have students complete in their own words
“The most common time to say sorry is….”

nd
Topic: 2 conditionals
“If I looked like David Beckham, I would…”
9. Me/not me
Example topic: Food and drink

(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number9.png)
Get students to create a table with two categories
Read a list of different foods/drinks. Students write each word you dictate
into their table in the correct category depending on their tastes. They then
compare with their partner/group to see if they are similar or different.
10. What are they saying?
Display a picture of someone on the board. Give students a speech bubble in groups, or draw a speech
bubble for each group on the board. Students write what the person is saying
Example topic: World Cup
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/world-cup.jpg)
You could also do a caption competition
11. Me and my partner questions
Example topic: hobbies and interests
Make a series of questions or statements

related to the topic. Have students answer
the questions themselves. Then, they ask
their partner the questions and compare
answers. They could do this with two
different partners to add more speaking.
They could even predict their partners
answers first, and see if they were right.
12. Classic ‘Find someone who…’ mingle
Students walk around asking questions to classmates to find out information. Compare answers with
their partner afterwards, and feedback as a class.
Example topic: fears/phobias
13. Slow reveal…
Start drawing a picture on the board, but only one line of it. Have students guess what it is
‘A snake’, ‘a line’, etc.
Encourage creativity. Add the next line, encourages guesses, keep doing this until eventually a student
guesses the picture/lesson topic
Example topic: Castles in Britain
14. Realia
Example topic: hobbies and interests
Bring in 5 items that represent your own hobbies, can students guess pastimes?
Mine – Bit of wool (kni ing), keyboard (blogging), crossword, binoculars (birdwatching), rubber chicken
(making jokes)
15. what happens next?
Show a relevant video, pause it at a key point and have students predict what might happen.
Example topic: using modal verbs to express probability
Parachutist lands on pitch during game
Pause clip after 7 seconds. Students discuss what might happen. Give some process language (that
player might… it might… maybe… the ball/the player/a fan will… etc). Or give them 3 options for what
might happen. Play clip to see if prediction was correct (note: last 10 seconds of this video has some
swearing).
16. Use authentic listening
Play students a relevant short clip of a movie/TV. Only let them hear the sound. Create a listening task
relevant to the topic.
Example topic: feelings/emotions
Listen to the following clip. Write down any emotions you feel the speakers express.
Or
Listen to the clip. Circle all the emotions that speakers show
Excitement anger patience shock humour etc
Kat and Zoe Slater | "You ain't my mother!" | EastEnders
Now let them watch the clip and write down any extra emotions they ‘see’
17. Make your own audio
Create a short listening text as a topic lead in.
Example topic: giving advice
eltplanning
Giving Advice Share
Cookie policy
18. Matching quiz
This is a good way to introduce target language straight away. Teaching English Grammar (Scrivener)
gives plenty of examples for how to present target language, I recommend taking a look
Example topic: passives
Match the inventions to the inventor…
The light bulb was invented by… Alexander Graham Bell
The telephone was invented by… Tim Berners-Lee
The internet was invented by… Thomas Edison
Etc…
19. Boggle guess the word
Use the le ers from the lesson topic to make a li le game
Example topic: Solar System – the planets
20. Moving true or false
Check what your students know about a topic with quick fire true or false questions. However, make it
more exciting. All students, stand up. If they think the answer is true, they stand on the left of the
classroom. False, on the right. If they get it wrong, they are out (they sit back down). Continue until one
student remains. They are the winner, reward them with… a round of applause.
21. Moving agree/disagree
This just makes warm up discussion questions more fun and mixes up speakers. Make different corners
of the room different opinions – e.g.
Stand near the door if you agree
Stand in the corner over there (point) if you strongly agree
Stand near Pedro’s desk if you disagree
Etc
Read a statement, students move to the relevant corner, then give them 1 or 2 minutes to discuss the
statement with whoever is in the corner. If there is only one person in a particular space then you could
bounce a few ideas from each corner as a class discussion, or send a student with a different opinion
over to debate it.
22. Dingbats
These are fun drawings that represent a word.
Example topic: technology.
Draw a few dingbats on the board. Students guess the words then guess what the theme of the lesson
might be.
(h ps://eltplanning.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/number22a.jpg)
(smart phone)
23. Discussion questions
Example topic: crime and punishment
Q1: Do you agree with the death penalty?
Q2: ‘life means life’. What does this refer to, and do you agree?
Etc.
24. Secret realia
Bring in objects in a ‘santa’s sack’. Put the sack on the table. Allows certain students to feel the objects
through the sack. They work with a partner/team to guess the objects and the common theme between
each object.
25. ‘Coffeepo ing’
This can be done in many ways, but a good one is by providing a short text where the target word is
missing, and has been replaced with the word ‘Coffeepot’. Students guess the correct word
Example topic: television
Coffeepot was invented in the 1920s, but became popular after World War 2. At first, coffeepots were
black and white, but then it changed to colour. Coffeepot is a form of entertainment. These days, almost
every household has a coffeepot. (etc…)
26. Verbal ‘coffeepo ing’
Again the target word has been replaced by the word ‘Coffeepot’. Students ask questions to help guess
what word ‘Coffeepot’ actually is…
Example topic: MacDonalds

Student: is coffeepot a noun?
Teacher: yes…
Student: can coffeepot be a verb too?
Teacher: no
Student: is coffeepot an object?
Teacher: well, you can have a coffeepot, yes.
Student: is it a place?
Teacher: is what a place?
Student: sorry, is coffeepot a place?
Etc…
27. Complete the dialogue (similar to ‘what are they saying’!)
Put pictures on the board of random interactions between people. Have students create suitable
dialogues. Choose pictures that will direct to the topic…
Example topic: how and when to apologise
Man: _______________________________
Woman: ____________________________
28. Mnemonic race
If introducing a familiar topic, a way to activate prior knowledge might be for students to create a
Mnemonic from the topic word, using associated words
Example topic: Feelings
F –antastic
E –xcellent
E – lated
L –azy
I – nsecure
N- auseous!
G- u ed
S –tupid
29. Whiteboard race
Divide students into two teams, and divide the whiteboard down the middle. Students line up in two
teams. The first person in each line has a pen. When you say the topic, they run to the board, write a
word related to the topic, pass the pen to the next person then join the back of their line. The next person
then writes another word and passes the pen on. Do this for 2 minutes as a race. If one team writes a
word that the other team already have they get no points. Again, checks prior knowledge.
30. Categorising
Display a set of familiar words related (or less so) to the topic. Ask students to divide the words into at
least 3 different categories. Conduct class feedback/discussion and have students share their categories
and explain why they chose them.
Example topic: health and fitness
Smoking, running, drugs, red wine, football, movies, reading, clubbing, vitamins, snakes, vegetables,
birdwatching
Possible student created categories:
Things that benefit your health Things that damage your health unrelated words
(playing) football clubbing (too much) snakes
Smoking (relieve stress) drugs
Reading (relaxation) etc

With this activity, you’ll be surprised at some of the categories. Also, it leads to instant discussion:
‘Snakes are not unrelated, they could seriously damage your health’
‘Smoking is good for you?! No way!’
Etc
31. What does that mean?
Board the lesson topic. Have learners write a short definition of it. I did this yesterday and this
happened:
Example topic: lookalikes
Definitions…
Group 1: like a look (?)
Group 2: to look like something or someone
Group 3: look and act like something
Group 4: be person not you famous (?)
32. Organise and discuss
Think of a statement related to the topic. Get lots of small

slips of paper. Write one word of the statement on each slip.
Jumble up the words. Hand one set of the words to each
group. The group work together to put the statement in the
correct order, then discuss their opinions on it.
If the topic is particularly familiar or the learners are high

level, get them to think of the statement and create the
organisation task (statement minimum 8 words or
something).
33. odd one out
For general discussion…
Board 4 or 5 common words related to the topic. Have students decide which word is the odd one out
and why. Example topic: jobs/ambitions
Fireman Doctor Teacher Nurse
Student: the odd one out is the teacher as the others save lives
For guessing the topic…
Same thing, but include one word that is not related at all, and see if students mention the topic when
they share their opinion!
Example topic: Endangered animals
T-rex dodo rhino woolly mammoth
Student: rhino is the odd one out as the others are extinct
(leads into a discussion on things like threats rhinos might face and introducing term ‘endangered’.
34. A conundrum
Pose a difficult question to the students which may be a topic of debate.
Topic: giving opinions
Recently, a teacher recommended the ‘do or die’ videos by National Geographic. You’ll find plenty of
these on youtube. Choose one relevant to your topic.. here’s an example of one.
35. Hangman!
I really hope you’ve found 1 new idea here. Please comment and add your own ways to introduce a
topic, let’s get from 35 to 100!
Update: I’ve added some further ideas in this new post. (h ps://eltplanning.com/2016/03/09/18-more-
ways-to-introduce-your-lesson-topic/)
Posted in General, Lesson Ideas, lists, other and tagged British Council, efl, elt, elt games, ESL, introduce
a lesson, lead in, lesson introduction, lesson planning, tefl, warmers on June 22, 2015 by Peter Pun. 40
Comments
40 comments
1. Pingback: 35 WAYS TO INTRODUCE YOUR LESSON TOPIC | Li le delicate world

2. krishnabohora says:
June 23, 2015 at 7:36 am
Reblogged this on अनुभव र अनुभूित (Experience and PERCEPTION) and commented:
Really useful one
REPLY
3. meganharcourtefl says:
June 23, 2015 at 3:35 pm
Reblogged this on Class Website and commented:
This is really useful – thank you!
REPLY
4. su mon says:
June 24, 2015 at 3:43 am
Thank you very much!That’s what i need.It is very useful
REPLY
5. Shocked Guest says:
June 24, 2015 at 12:44 pm
Is the teacher saying “… and is like…”? Really?! I guess that explains it
REPLY
1. punster30 says:
June 24, 2015 at 4:46 pm
Yep, I’m like, saying it
REPLY
6. Pingback: Увод у лекцију 1. део | Био-блог
8. Pingback: Dialogues on the Day: Typing Live in PowerPoint | tekhnologic
10. TEFL Training College says:
June 29, 2015 at 8:34 am
Reblogged this on TEFL Training College and commented:
We like this post! Very handy.
REPLY
13. annforeman says:
July 6, 2015 at 6:58 am
Hi Peter,
Just to let you know that we’ve shortlisted this blog post for this month’s TeachingEnglish blog
award and I’ll be pu ing up a post about it on today’s TeachingEnglish Facebook page
h p://www.facebook.com/TeachingEnglish.BritishCouncil, if you’d like to check there for likes and
comments.
Best,
Ann
REPLY
1. punster30 says:
July 6, 2015 at 7:12 am
Wow, thanks so much Ann! I think Svetlana’s post has been the best of the bunch over the last
few months for sure though. I always find her posts useful.
REPLY
14. Tanya says:
July 6, 2015 at 8:34 pm
Awesome tips! Thank you so much! GREAT!!!!!!!!
REPLY
15. Pingback: Methoden für den Englischunterricht, die ich zukünftig einse en möchte | Informaticana
16. Natalie Murray says:
July 13, 2015 at 6:02 am
Reblogged this on English in Andalucia and commented:
Teaching summer school? Out with the old!
REPLY
17. Kevin Nightingale says:
July 13, 2015 at 7:51 pm
These are fantastic. I will be using some of these this week
REPLY
18. Dewi Natalia says:
July 16, 2015 at 11:22 am
Wow. These ideas are really awesome. I’ll try these in my EFL classes. Thank you very much!!!
REPLY
19. David McFetridge says:
August 17, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Very useful, thanks!
REPLY
20. lessonplansdigger says:

September 22, 2015 at 5:51 pm
This list is great, interesting to see so many new ideas.
One of my favourite ways of introducing and creating interest in the topic is presenting some facts
and figures. When I teach about TV (or choose this topic for conversation classes) I sometimes start
by drawing a TV set on the board and writing numbers next to it: 4h40mins (has to do with time
children spend watching TV every day), 80% (this % of all married couples have a TV set in their
bedroom), 2.4 (this many TV sets there are per household in the US). My students need to figure out
how these figures relate to the topic. I ask less advanced students to match numbers with their
meaning.
This idea is super versatile and might be used with a lot of different topics/age groups/levels. It’s also
a pre y good way to get students talking early in the lesson (checking whether they are surprised
with the data etc.)
REPLY
1. punster30 says:
September 23, 2015 at 1:40 am
Great stuff! I use that as an intro for new classes where I write a few numbers/words on the board
about me – ’30’, ‘Tortoise’, ‘Scorpio’, whatever. I tell students these are the answers, but what are
the questions – they guess. I never thought to use it in other contexts, thanks for the idea! By the
way, your blog is great. So many good ideas – thought I was already following but I am now!
REPLY
21. kristina stella says:
September 23, 2015 at 4:10 pm
Awesome tips! Thank you for sharing! I’ll be following you!
REPLY
22. Pingback: 30 activities inspired by game shows | elt planning
23. Pingback: 18 more ways to introduce your lesson topic | elt planning
24. Pingback: CELTA Lesson Frameworks | elt planning
25. Pingback: ИДЕЈЕ ЗА ДОБАР ПОЧЕТАК ЧАСА | Финансије
26. Pingback: Идеје за добар почетак часа | Najlepše godine
27. Jamie C says:
October 7, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Reblogged this on Jamie Clayton : thinking, teaching and learning ELT.
REPLY
28. Jamie C says:
December 7, 2016 at 8:35 am
Keep coming back to this one when ideas run thin. Absolute netbuster of a post.
REPLY
1. Peter Pun says:
December 7, 2016 at 9:26 am
Ha, glad it’s useful!
REPLY
29. FATIMA says:
March 31, 2017 at 10:01 am

Reblogged this on English Plus Blog.
REPLY
30. Cordula Rohrmoser says:
August 6, 2017 at 1:20 pm
This is a platinum mine of fantastic ideas! THANK YOU!!!
REPLY
1. Peter Pun says:
August 7, 2017 at 9:33 am
Pleasure! Hope you find them useful!
REPLY
31. Lila Publishing Consultancy says:
March 23, 2018 at 5:57 pm
Reblogged this on eltconsultancy.
REPLY
32. Sapna says:
May 31, 2018 at 2:49 am
Interesting ideas!
REPLY
33. krishnabohora says:
October 5, 2018 at 8:40 am
Great!
REPLY
34. Pingback: PME 811: Blog Post #6 – Exciting Classroom Hooks – jcmasters
35. Pingback: Top Ten Tips For Observing Teachers - ELT Experiences
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7/8/2019 35 ways to introduce your lesson topic | ELT Planning

TEFL tips and ideas from a developing teacher

35 ways to introduce your lesson topic

Example topic: idioms

“can I help you?”

She says “They’re £500”

And I said “£500???? That’s an arm and a leg!”

2. Cuisenaire Rods creation

Example topic: Tourist a ractions

Give each pair of students a bunch of Cuisenaire rods.

Students then look at each model and guess the a raction.

3. Cuisenaire Rods model

Create your own model using rods. Elicit what it represents.

4. Musical “Guess the topic”

Example topic: family and relationships

The Hollies – He ain’t heavy (he’s my brother)

Ozzy Ozbourne – Mama I’m coming home

5. Family fortunes (my favourite)

Example topic: British customs and culture / stereotypes

Create a fake family fortunes style question:

Board the following

1 ________________ 2 ____________ 3_____________ 4____________ 5____________

Example topic: animals

7. Picture association “Guess the topic”

Example topic: ‘once in a lifetime’

Gather pictures of things that people MIGHT do only once in a lifetime.

8. Complete the sentence

Topic: Making apologies

“The most common time to say sorry is….”

“If I looked like David Beckham, I would…”

Example topic: Food and drink

Get students to create a table with two categories

10. What are they saying?

Example topic: World Cup

You could also do a caption competition

11. Me and my partner questions

Example topic: hobbies and interests

Make a series of questions or statements

12. Classic ‘Find someone who…’ mingle

Example topic: fears/phobias

13. Slow reveal…

‘A snake’, ‘a line’, etc.

Example topic: Castles in Britain

Example topic: hobbies and interests

15. what happens next?

Example topic: using modal verbs to express probability

Parachutist lands on pitch during game

16. Use authentic listening

Example topic: feelings/emotions

Excitement anger patience shock humour etc

Kat and Zoe Slater | "You ain't my mother!" | EastEnders

17. Make your own audio

Create a short listening text as a topic lead in.

Example topic: giving advice

Giving Advice Share

18. Matching quiz

Example topic: passives

1 __________ 2 3_ 4 5______