The first 5 minutes of a lesson are the most important

As a teacher I am obsessed with the first 5 minutes of any lesson. This is where you get to hook your students into what they are going to learn. It’s your time to sell them how great this lesson is going to be, to set the tone, and to spark curiosity. How do I get them to be as excited as I am about what we are going to work on?

In many cases, it can be make or break for the rest of the lesson. Without direction, those opening minutes can drift — and with them, your whole lesson. That’s where lesson primers come in.

A good primer gets students mentally and emotionally ready to learn. It activates prior knowledge, builds a sense of purpose, and connects to the previous lesson so students can see how the learning fits together.

Sometimes we skip a good lesson primer because we are under pressure. We dive into content before students have switched on. And then we wonder why they’re distracted or behind.

What makes a good lesson primer? It’s purposeful, not filler. It’s consistent enough to build routine but flexible enough to suit the content. It gets everyone on the same page — and gives them a reason to care about what’s next.

Here are five practical, research-backed primer ideas you can start using tomorrow — in any subject, at any year level.

1. Quick Retrieval
Ask 2–3 short questions reviewing key points from the previous lesson. No marking — use mini whiteboards, exit slips, or a class chat.

• Reinforces memory (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006)

• Makes the connection to prior learning clear

• Shifts students into learning mode

2. Think–Pair–Share
Pose a question that previews the new topic or links to what came before. Give students 30 seconds to think, then pair up and share.

• Builds confidence through talk (Lyman, 1981)

• Helps students connect old and new knowledge

• Engages all learners from the start

3. Image or Object Prompt
Put up a related image, diagram, or object and ask: What do you notice? What do you wonder?

• Activates curiosity

• Encourages inference and prior knowledge recall

• Works well in visual and inquiry-rich subjects

4. KWL or “What Do You Already Know?”
Ask students what they remember from the last lesson and what they want to find out today.

• Activates schema (Ogle, 1986)

• Builds links across lessons

• Encourages student agency

5. Fast Finish Revisit
Use a leftover or fast finisher from the previous lesson — like a quick quiz, reflection, or card sort — as today’s starting point.

• Reinforces previous learning

• Maintains continuity

• Reduces planning load

Bonus: Low-Prep, High-Impact Primers

• “Last lesson in 6 words”

• Whiteboard brainstorm: What do you remember?

• One big idea from last time — true or false?

• A quote or question on the board as students walk in

In many cases, you will be amazed at how much a good primer can improve a lesson.

We’ve made them easy to include in your planning with Planuva. You can embed primers into each lesson — or build a shared bank with your faculty so no one’s reinventing the wheel.

Join our movement at https://planuva.com