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When beginning a new topic/concept, what's the best way to introduce information? Should I immediately lecture about information, or should I allow some independent exploration? 

Recently I have discovered what a discrepant event is, where it is an unexpected turn of events.  You can search on youtube about it and it will give you a list of videos explaining how to create such activities and for what kind of topics you may use it for.  It is a great way to introduce new topics using hands on activities that will catch your students attention which will be useful for an introduction for your students.

Would you suggest any anchor charts for class discussion? I've seen a lot of techniques to incorporate prior knowledge. Would you suggest this before lecture?

Much does depend on the age of your students and the requirements of the school.  However, I would recommend starting with experience first.  If you can make the experience literally tangible, the thinking is deeper.  As the saying goes, 'Your hands think'  Using phenomenon is another approach to introduce concepts.  Then have them bring out their prior knowledge by discussion 'that reminds me' 'that's like when', etc.  Anchor charts and such are usefyl for building community knowledge, which is also good time to introduce vocabulary

Have fun!

Anne

Hi!  When introducing a new concept to students, I would begin with an activity that will activate the students thinking and also engage them in the new topic.  Once you have their attention and have sparked some questions within them, then you can begin your lecture or lesson.

I think that when beginning a new concept, it is so important to start with the experience or phenomena. When you immediately lecture about the concept, you take all the discovery away from the students. This leads to less engagement with the concept and the students aren’t motivated as much to learn it. Also, the experiences first help students to develop deeper connections to the information that will later be presented about the concept. There may be specific vocabulary that the students need to know before exploring the phenomena that should be introduced at the start of a new concept.  

Hello, I think that it is important to allow for a day or two of independent investigation time. This will allow for the students to begin forming ideas, questions, thoughts, etc. It will also help get your students excited to learn about what they are investigating because now they're curious. It is also a great time for students to have discussions with their peers on what they interpreted. 

I believe that when you are introducing a new concept to students it is important to give them an opportunity to explore the concept with a hands-on activity. I recently taught the concept of magnetic energy with my students. To introduce the concept to my students, I began the unit with a hands-on activity where the students were able to discover what objects a magnet does/does not attract. My students were able to use a magnet in order to attempt to pick up a variety of objects given to them. This activity encourage the students to predict what objects they believed would 'stick' to the magnet, and which ones would not. The students were very engaged in this activity, and allowed for a smooth transition into ideas such as magnetism, magnetic force, and attraction, which are all ideas involved with the concept. I believe that this activity was one of the main reasons my students were so interested in the concept as instruction continued throughout the unit. 

Hello! When introducing a new concept to students it is important to give the students time to explore. This can include hands-on activities that are student driven. By having the discovery process be student driven, the students develop their own inquiry. I have recently seen a lesson taught where the lesson started with a see, think, wonder. The lesson was on the desert habitats and the teacher had an image of sand on the board. This can be done with real sand if you have this material. The purpose of the see, think, wonder is to get the students engaged and developing thoughts. The see represents what the students see (patterns, color, texture, etc.) The think is what the students think it is. The wonder represents what the students wonder about the object. The students can write their observations on the board or in their interactive notebooks.

Hi Gabriella, 

When introducing a new concept to students it is best to give students the opportunity to explore the new concept with a hands-on activity. Through hands-on activities students are able to visually see, think critically and use their curiosity to find answers. I believe that students are able to grasp a concept better when there is a balance between lecture and exploration and more so when the exploration process is done first. You can introduce your lesson by asking a question, demonstrating some pictures or even showing a video to students and then move to the hands-on activity.  

I would slowly introduce it to them and have some time for them to explore the topic with worksheets, videos, and other learning tools. Then I would progress to lectures and experiments.

I am currently learning about this topic in one of my college classes. Children should definitely be able to explore new content first before diving into a lecture. When they are allowed to explore first, it allows them to make better connections to the lecture/reading. Our teacher does this with us as well. We first explore (work out problems with hands on activities) and then we read the chapter afterwards. I can definitely say that I make better connections when I learn new content in this order. 

I love the idea of letting students explore topics and develop their own natural curiosity about a topic. Growing up I struggled to get interested in science except when I had teachers who let the natural curiosity we had develop through exploration. I then appreciated those teachers helping to answer our questions. I hope I can be this type of teacher for my future students.