Openers & Closers Guide
OER PROJECT OPENERS AND CLOSERS GUIDEOpeners and closers should be quick, taking approximately 5 to 10 minutes. These activity types are quite standard in lesson design—you may already know openers by names such as do-nows, bell-ringers, or entry tickets, and you might recognize closers as exit tickets, slips, or cards. Naming conventions aside, these serve an important purpose: to signal a clear entry to and exit point from the learning that is done in the lesson, but also to help students connect to prior learning and make conjectures about future learning. In OER Project, some opener and closers are designed specifically for a lesson and will directly connect to the lesson content. In other cases, they will be more content-independent, serving as routines that you can use any day with any lesson. Many openers and closers offer opportunities for informal writing, and they’re also great ways to inject fun into the lesson!Openers: These are quick and fun, activating prior knowledge, revealing student misconceptions, and preparing students for what’s coming in that lesson. These are meant to hook student interest and provide opportunities for informal writing. Closers: These provide you with excellent opportunities to quickly check for understanding and should be used for formative assessment throughout the course. Like openers, closers will often prompt students to engage in informal writing. Finally, closers can be used to preview content for upcoming lessons.Looking for more Teacher Resources? Click the hammer symbol on oerproject.com to find more guides, strategies, and instructional resources!