Lesson openings in Norwegian language arts: a study of how teachers start reading lessons in 8th grade classrooms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although several studies underline the importance of a successful opening of a school lesson to spur students’ interest and facilitate learning, we have limited knowledge about how openings are enacted in classrooms. This study contributes to the sparse research by asking: What characterizes the openings of 58 reading lessons in Norwegian language arts 8th grade classrooms? A key finding is that in most openings, the teachers make academic cognitive moves which help create an academic frame around students’ learning. This mostly entails consolidation moves, where the lesson content is connected to prior knowledge, while explicit learning goals and agendas are provided to a limited degree. Second, few openings contain academic affective moves, where teachers use appetizers to facilitate engagement for the topic. Third, the teachers often engage in formal general pedagogical moves relevant for classroom management and organizational and emotional support. We discuss these findings and their implications for researchers and practitioners.