What is dynamic topic starters?

Ask learners in advance to find out one thing relevant to the new topic Each learner shares their item and places it on a wall display Group the contributions logically, with learners justifying their placement Add one unexpected item yourself to provoke "outside the box" thinking

Dynamic Topic Starters | Rainbow Curriculum

How it works

Dynamic topic starters turn the beginning of a new topic into a collaborative event. Before the first lesson, ask every learner to find out one thing relevant to the topic. This could be a fact, an image, a question, an object or a news clipping. The only rule is that it must connect to the topic in some way.

In the lesson, each learner shares their item and places it on a wall display. As the display builds, learners are asked to group the contributions logically, with each learner justifying why their item belongs in a particular position. This naturally activates prior knowledge and reveals what the class already knows about the topic.

The teacher's contribution is the key twist. Bring one item whose connection to the topic is not immediately obvious. This creates cognitive conflict and encourages learners to think beyond the obvious. For a topic on rivers, you might bring a photograph of a factory. Learners must figure out the connection, which opens up thinking about pollution, water usage and industry.

The resulting display stays on the wall throughout the topic, growing and evolving as new learning adds context to the original contributions.

Classroom example

A Year 4 class in a Neath Port Talbot primary school is starting a Humanities topic on the local community. Each learner brings one item: photographs of local landmarks, a bus timetable, a menu from a local cafe, a Welsh rugby programme. The teacher brings a photograph of an empty shop with a "To Let" sign. Learners initially struggle to see the connection, then begin discussing why shops close, what the community needs, and how their area has changed. This single image shapes the direction of the entire unit.

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Curriculum for Wales connection

Dynamic topic starters develop the "Plan" strand (activating prior knowledge) and the "Reflect" strand (linking and lateral thinking). They connect naturally to Cynefin by rooting learning in the local context and support the Four Purposes by developing "enterprising, creative contributors."

Rainbow Curriculum's Thinking Tools lens helps you plan engaging topic openers across your curriculum, ensuring prior knowledge is activated deliberately at the start of every new unit.

Tips

Set the homework a week in advance so every learner has time to find something.
Accept any contribution, no matter how tangential. The discussion about "how does this connect?" is where the thinking happens.
A common pitfall: skipping the grouping stage. Simply collecting items is not enough. Learners must organise and justify.
Keep the display up throughout the topic. Add to it as new learning reveals deeper connections.

Related tools

KWL/KWHL Grids

A simple grid where learners record what they Know, what they Want to find out, How they will find out, and what they have Learned, structuring inquiry from start to finish.

Post-it Challenge 1

A retrieval activity where learners write everything they can remember about a topic on individual Post-it notes, then sort and organise them to reveal the structure of their knowledge.

Snowball Challenge

A collaborative activity where ideas grow progressively as learners work first alone, then in pairs, then in fours, building and refining their thinking at each stage like a snowball gathering mass.

Splat!

A fast-paced whole-class game where learners race to identify the correct answer on a board display by being the first to "splat" it with their hand, combining retrieval practice with physical engagement.