The beginning of a new year is upon us. Course outlines are printed, textbooks are waiting to be checked out, and you may find yourself wondering, “How will I hook them this year?” Getting our students to connect with the content, and find relevance in what we teach, is a constant challenge. Depending on the subject you teach, this may be a minor or a major hurdle to pass. Whether you teach auto-shop or biology, agriculture science or home economics, or any other subject for that matter - this beginning of the year activity can help you connect your content to students’ natural curiosities.

The Scavenger Hunt: Give each student a copy of your syllabus, course outline, or a list of the chapters (and titles) you will cover in your text. Students are to scavenger through the newspaper, magazines, and even internet to find an article that specifically relates to one of the concepts you will cover in your course. Encourage students to find articles about subjects they are interested in, such as car racing, music, dance, sports, or movies. Then they can work backward to connect the area of interest to your class. Each student should bring in a hard copy of their article, with the concept or chapter connection clearly written on the top.

The Outcome: This activity comes with countless benefits. First, without realizing it students are previewing the course. Students should have a pretty good idea of what’s to come in your class after this activity. Second, you get to find out what students are interested in. If you end up with a ton of articles on sports, you may want to make some quick sports illustrations to play to your students’ interest. Finally, you end up with wonderful real-life resources that connect the concepts you are teaching, to what is going on in the world.

Try it out early this year, and you may be surprised at the great connections your students will make!