Teaching Strategies
Quick Attention Getters to Boost K-3 Classrooms
It’s the first day back from a long weekend, or maybe it’s right before a big holiday break, and your class just won’t focus. Sometimes, it’s hard to keep those curious minds focused on a task or project. Our team of former teachers and admins, otherwise known as BrainPOPers, understand and have been just like you sitting in that energetic classroom. Read on to learn about some unique classroom attention getters to boost learning all day.
Classroom Attention Getter Ideas for Younger Students
Kids are often thinking of everything all at once, eager about the world around them. So, how do you capture and redirect that energy without losing momentum and wonder?
Sometimes, it starts with something simple–connection.
“I made a habit of greeting students at the door daily. Greeting students allowed me to do a quick check-in to see how they were feeling that day and set a positive tone for the day. Students could give me a high five, fist bump, secret handshake, or smile.” – Becky Stand, BrainPOP, Account Manager
Here are some ideas to help get you started.
Call and response
Students love to use relevant phrases in the classroom as a call and response. These can be our tried-and-true phrases, song lyrics, or phrases found in social media or current pop culture. As a teacher, you can test your choices at the beginning of each year or semester to see what most of your students know and respond to best.
1. Teacher: Hocus pocus!
Students: Everybody focus!
2. Teacher: Stop!
Students: Collaborate and listen!
3. Teacher: Peanut butter
Students: Jelly time!
4. Teacher: Can I get a
Students: Whoop Whoop!
Dance party
Who doesn’t love a good song with a dance party?! Students want to move and get their wiggles out. Even for students who have limited mobility, music is a great way to activate the brain and prepare for learning. Ask students what their favorite songs are so you can incorporate them into a teacher/classroom playlist. Rotate your students’ chosen songs so everyone gets to hear their choice.
Play a quick game
Consider working on sight words or that week’s vocabulary using the Wordle format from the New York Times. This helps students visualize words while capturing their attention for future learning and mastery. There’s also Simon Says, Charades, Pop a Joke through BrainPOP Jr.,and the Mirror Game, just to name a few.
Make sure to set expectations and be transparent
“Often explicitly stating the objective will help learners thrive. When they know what tasks, activities, or goals are expected of them, students–especially early learners–will want to show you what they know and learned.” – Melissa Prescott, BrainPOP Regional Sales Manager
Encourage movement with play
“Younger students are busy! They have a lot of energy, so they shouldn’t be sitting for too long. Incorporating movement into your attention getters is a great idea! I’ve also seen a lot of song lyrics for call/responses.”- Nicolina Abruzzese, BrainPOP, Regional Sales Manager
Let’s continue to look at the strategic ways you can capture young minds with attention getters throughout the day and how that may look different, depending on your goal. For example, you may want to engage your class in a classroom project, learn a new skill, or boost classroom engagement in general.
How can capturing your classroom’s attention in the beginning of the day boost…
Classroom engagement
“When a day starts out focused with students ready to learn, your students will be active and engaged. Capturing students’ attention provides an opening to focused and active learning time.” – Melissa Prescott
“If you find an attention getter that students are invested in and like calling/responding to, they are more likely to participate and engage with the content. Also, the first things said after an attention getter are usually the things that students remember!” – Nicolina Abruzzese
Want your classroom to learn a new topic? Consider making “did you know facts” part of your opening classroom activity. It’s the first thing they’ll learn at the beginning of the day, and it will prepare their minds for more active learning.
An active learning environment
“Students need to move around. They’re growing. They’re curious. They want to be social. So when teachers provide attention-grabbing moments that include movement, students are able to reset from sitting and learning. It’s also important to remember that young learners typically have a shorter attention span, so having moments to move around will help them settle and focus when it’s time for morning circle time or reading practice.” – Melissa Prescott
“Sometimes, I think it’s more of what is happening prior to the attention getter: collaboration, discussion, talking amongst peers, concluding, working together, analyzing. These are all the ingredients for a strong, active classroom where students build strong academic and engagement skills and social and conversational skills. This gives students time to discuss and bring ideas to the whole class.” – Nicolina Abruzzese
Active learning activates and inspires connections between subjects and topics and classroom engagement. For more, check out Give active learning a boost with background knowledge.
Student collaboration and teamwork
“When teachers take a moment to implement intentional ways to get students’ attention, collaboration and teamwork become a bit easier to navigate. Using low-stakes paired and team-building games and activities throughout the day will help strengthen relationships among students. That will often spill over into higher-stakes activities when students are working together on inquiry-based projects or other paired work time.” – Melissa Prescott
For more on classroom teamwork, check out how to motivate students to work in collaborative teams.
A positive classroom culture
“I built a positive classroom culture by having students sign a classroom pledge. We brainstormed a list of things we needed to do to be successful, such as taking care of the classroom and listening to others, and then created a pledge. This helped my students take ownership of our classroom and the place where they belonged. We said our classroom pledge once a week, and anytime we needed a reminder of what we were working towards and why.” – Becky Stand
“A positive classroom culture is one of the top ways to have a successful classroom. The positive classroom culture grows when teachers provide fun and engaging ways to capture students’ attention. As students realize they’re in a positive, safe, engaging environment, they are more apt to dig into learning when the concepts are more difficult. Students want to feel safe in the classroom to ask questions.” – Melissa Prescott
“By using attention getters, students have opportunities to talk to each other, work independently, or rest their brains. All of these contribute to a positive classroom culture because students are allowed to be themselves with developmentally appropriate talk time and wait time.” – Nicolina Abruzzese
Check out this article for more on how teachers help shape their classrooms.
Why are classroom attention getters in younger classrooms, like K-3, important?
Teaching in itself can be one big game ‘capturing a kid’s attention,’ but when the right moment sparks, it can connect the dots in learning. For example, start with something small. It really can help impact how and when your student’s learn.
“Capturing early learners’ attention in the classroom taps into the art and science of teaching. Not only do educators need to pursue research-based strategies for learning, but they also have to be creative and engaging in meeting each learner’s needs. By capturing the classroom’s attention, students are ready to engage, learn, and share when tasks and activities become more difficult. Also, students are learning how to regulate emotions, so having specific, positive strategies to capture attention can help de-escalate situations in the moment.” – Melissa Prescott
Classroom attention getters can help boost learning all day long
Whether you want to jumpstart your morning routines, inspire additional collaboration, or re-engage curious minds, classroom attention getters can help boost learning and inspire creativity.
For more on teaching strategies, check out 6 unique ways to capture student’s attention.
Kelli Rascoe is a Sr. Content Strategy Manager at BrainPOP. She has nine years of experience in writing, content marketing, and strategy for tech and Fortune 500 brands. She is also the momma to a princess scientist and a pack of rescue pups.
