At Dave Burgess's "Teach Like a Pirate" seminar, I learned the importance of hooking the students into a lesson and have been searching for ideas ever since.
My lesson on the Montgomery Bus Boycott provided the perfect opportunity. I took a deck of cards and made sure to have the appropriate number of cards for my class period, ensuring that there was just a small amount of face cards. As students entered the room, each one was given a card. Once everyone was seated, I had everyone to stand up around the room. As I called a card, starting with Ace, the students who held that card were allowed to choose any seat in the room. This continued through the numbered cards. Once all of them were seated, those with face cards were told they could choose any seat they wanted, as long as it was a seat that was already occupied. Those "displaced" students then took the remaining open seats. Some got up quietly, others protested.
We proceeded to have a discussion as I first asked the "displaced" students how they felt, and then those with face cards responded. It was the perfect introduction to the bus boycott and allowed me to mix up the table groups for the day's activity, a DBQ answering the question, "Why did the Montgomery Bus Boycott Succeed?" I will be actively planning more hooks like this for my lessons.
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