Last year I spent a lot of time coming up with starters that focused purely on engagement and were attempts to show English in a way of avoiding writing.
This term, as well as focusing on my questioning, I have also been trying to use more ‘literary’ based engaging starters. Here is a short list of the some of the ones that have worked best for me recently-
Two word sentence stories:
Show the following example-
He lived. She lived. He loved. She loved. He left. She left. He cried. She cried. He died. She died.
Some tasks:
Get pupils to analyse the genre, narrative theory etc
Get pupils to copy the style for a genre of their choice
Get pupils to write an extended story in this style.
50 words without repeating-
I start by displaying the writing below on the board. I ask the students to tell me what is unusual about this piece of writing-
Poisonous- (A story from a fellow tumblr writer)
Pinprick bite just there. Sole of your foot. You trod in something delicate that bit.
Take up embattled velvet from where heel met ground. Smooth each milky petal. Slightly fragrant, heady like musk, dizzying every sense. Brush lips to little palmed flower.
Swelling soft unnoticed. Sting underfoot grows grey; winding ivy veins around one leg. Entranced by this fragile cradled thing, dew it with rapture tears, protect against ice wind spite. All while snaking tendrils climb, trailing pallor along straining chest. Blinded eyes betray life.
Tiniest nip really. Shattered mind can’t believe the venom coiled through such a pretty bloom.
Take up embattled velvet from where heel met ground. Smooth each milky petal. Slightly fragrant, heady like musk, dizzying every sense. Brush lips to little palmed flower.
Swelling soft unnoticed. Sting underfoot grows grey; winding ivy veins around one leg. Entranced by this fragile cradled thing, dew it with rapture tears, protect against ice wind spite. All while snaking tendrils climb, trailing pallor along straining chest. Blinded eyes betray life.
Tiniest nip really. Shattered mind can’t believe the venom coiled through such a pretty bloom.
I have yet to have any student actually pinpoint the answer without some prompting from myself but that’s probably as a result of a poorly phrased question? Not sure.
After revealing the answer (that the writing is 100 words without repeating) I get them to check and then to write about an annoying tap dripping in 50 words without repeating a single one. Give them about 10 mins and some will be able to finish-I also often try to complete the task reading out mine as a prompt as they go.
This is a good exercise in realising the importance of varying your word choices, synonyms and being original with language.
Pun captions.
After teaching the idea of puns, I normally use this as a starter for the following lesson- display funny or controversial pictures and get the class to shout out/write down puns/possible newspaper headlines for the images.
Literary Quotes
I put the following quotes on a 7 second loop via Powerpoint
‘Every love story is a ghost story’
‘Progress is a comfortable disease’
‘As long as you know I am waiting, take your time flowers of spring’
‘After the first death there is no other.’
Pupils must pick a quote and write a PEE/interpretative/evaluative response to it. I then listen to response and build on them. Often I group the quotes by theme but these 4 always provoke interesting discussion.
Specificity
Ask the kids what they know about specificity? Chances are they won’t even be able to say the word (I couldn’t either!) Anyway - tell them that by the end of this starter they will have a better idea.
With that in mind tell them to draw a dragon’s head. There will be lots of questions - refuse to answer them - just say that they have 3 mins to draw a dragon’s head. Meanwhile prepare a dragon’s head to be displayed on the board (don’t show it yet) here is one I normally prepare and use
As students will be ending at different times - go and comment on some of them and I usually choose 4 random examples (it is irrelevant how good they are- in fact the worse they are the better)
Ask them to explain/define what was difficult in that exercise - I try and lead them to comments about not having a distinct frame of reference etc and that a dragon is something subjective and intangible so will always be diverse.
I then tell them to redraw the dragon using the example I reveal on the board. Again I tell them that they have 3 mins. After 3 mins I collect 4 in and then get students to self-critique in front of the class - why is the drawing better this time? What did you not have before? Inevitably the word specific will crop up - lead them back to specificity - and how being specific or using a frame of reference will help them when creating characters or stories (I usually do this in a lesson where they will have to create a detailed character sketch)
I will try to add some more when I can.
