Engagement & Participation Station
AISAAI PD Stations · Station 3

Engagement & Active Participation

Open with a hook that gets every student thinking, then give them a choice board instead of a worksheet. The demo is a Grade 8 science lesson, so you can see it working at secondary level.

2 tools Hook, Choice board~15 min to try bothWhere Classroom › Gemini tab
Before you start
  1. Sign in to Google Classroom with your AISA account.
  2. Pick one lesson you are teaching in the next two weeks. Have the topic and grade ready, and a Doc or slides from that unit in Drive if you have them.
  3. Leave out student names and personal details. Describe the class in general terms, for example mixed-ability, several EAL students.
Open Gemini in Classroom ↗ Hook ↗ Choice board ↗
Tool 1 · Planning

Craft a compelling hook

Describe your lesson and pick how you want students to engage. Gemini gives you six ready-to-run openers, each with materials and instructions. Choose one, adapt it, and the first five minutes of your lesson are sorted.

6 hooks per generationPick engagement styles or write your ownOpen tool ↗
  1. 1

    Open the hook tool

    In Google Classroom, click Gemini in the left menu. Click the Planning filter, then Craft a compelling hook.

    No Gemini tab? Let the AI & Innovation team know so your account can be checked.
  2. 2

    Describe your lesson and class

    • Type the Target grade, for example 8.
    • In Describe your lesson and class, say what students will learn and who is in the room.
    • Under How do you want to engage your students?, click one or more styles.
    Our demo: Grade 8 science lesson introducing chemical reactions and the law of conservation of mass. Mixed-ability class of 22, including several EAL students. The more you say about the class, the better the hooks fit.
  3. 3

    Add your own strategy, then generate

    Click Write custom engagement type and type a strategy you already use, such as Think-Pair-Share, Four Corners or Cold Call. Then click Generate.

    Use your house language. Naming a Teach Like a Champion or Kagan strategy gets you a hook built around a routine your students already know.
  4. 4

    Read the six hooks

    Each card is labelled with its engagement style and lists the materials and instructions. Scroll inside a card to read all of it, and down the page to see all six.

    Use the copy icon at the bottom of a card to paste one hook into your planner or slides.

  5. From our demo: 6 oxygen and 4 hydrogen can't make whole water molecules (H₂O needs two hydrogen for every oxygen).
    5

    Check it before you use it

    Hooks are first drafts. In our demo, the Human Atoms activity gave numbers that don't balance, which is the exact misconception the lesson is meant to fix.

    • Check every fact, number and quantity.
    • Check materials are safe and available in your room.
    • Check timings: a hook should take five minutes, not twenty.
  6. 6

    Not quite right? Regenerate

    Click the arrow at the top right of the Hooks for Gr. 8 class panel. Change the description or engagement styles, then click Regenerate.

    Export first. Regenerating replaces all six hooks, so export the set you like before you try again. Your custom strategy isn't kept, so add it again.
  7. The Doc is named after your grade and saved in your Drive.
    7

    Export to Docs

    Click Export to Docs at the top right. When Hooks exported appears at the bottom left, click View Google Doc.

    Every hook is in one Doc with its style, title and instructions. Delete the ones you won't use and fix anything you found in step 5.

    Hooks are for you, not students. There's no Add to class button for this tool. Paste the hook you chose onto your first slide or into your lesson plan.
Tool 2 · Instruction material

Build a choice board

Give a grade and a topic, agree the learning objectives, and Gemini builds six different activities that all hit the same objectives. Students choose how they show what they know, so the comic artist, the experimenter and the video maker are all working on the same science.

6 activities with time and materialsObjectives come firstAdd to class as a draftOpen tool ↗
  1. 1

    Open Build a choice board

    On the Gemini tab, click the Instruction material filter, then Build a choice board.

  2. 2

    Enter the grade and topic

    Type a Target grade and a Topic. Click Upload from Drive to add your unit planner or slides so the activities match what you teach.

    Then click Generate learning objectives.

  3. 3

    Edit the objectives, then generate

    Gemini suggests objectives in the Suggested learning objectives box. Click into the box and rewrite them in your own words, or paste in the objectives from your unit plan.

    Click Generate.

    This is the step that matters. Every activity on the board is built from these objectives. If they're vague, the board will be too. Use Regenerate learning objectives if they're off.
  4. 4

    Look over the board

    You get six coloured activity cards. In our demo: a comic strip, a closed-system lab, 3D molecule models, a script and video, a simulation task and an Alka-Seltzer investigation.

    Mix of modes. Check the board has written, practical, visual and digital options, so every student has a way in.
  5. 5

    Check time and materials

    Each card ends with Approx time and Materials needed. In our demo these ran from 30 to 60 minutes, so this board covers a lesson or more, not a starter.

    • Cut or swap any activity you can't resource, such as Alka-Seltzer or Play-Doh.
    • Make the times roughly equal so no choice is the "easy" one.
    • Check the science: one demo card mentions carbon atoms in a reaction that makes water.
  6. The Doc keeps the coloured grid, ready to edit or print.
    6

    Export to Docs

    Click Export to Docs. When Exported choice board to Google Docs appears, click View Google Doc. The Doc is named after your grade and topic and saved in your Drive.

    Edit here first. Make your changes from step 5 in the Doc, then attach the Doc to an assignment yourself. That way students only see your checked version.
  7. 7

    Or send it straight to a class

    Click Add to class. Choose your Class, set Classwork type to Assignment, then click Confirm.

    Classroom makes a draft assignment with the board attached as a Google Doc. Nothing reaches students until you click Assign.

    Tell students how to choose. Add instructions to the draft, such as pick one activity, or any three in a row, and how you will assess it.
Your station challenge · 10 minutes

Plan an active lesson for next week

  1. Generate hooks for a lesson you teach next week. Add a strategy you already use as a custom engagement type.
  2. Pick one hook, check it, and paste it onto your first slide.
  3. Build a choice board for the same topic. Rewrite the objectives before you generate.
  4. Cut any activity you can't resource, then use Add to class to save it as a draft. Nothing goes to students yet.
Ways to use it

Make it work in your subject

Arabic & Islamic Studies

Type Think-Pair-Share as a custom engagement type, or pick Thought-provoking question for higher-order thinking. Ask for a choice board option that builds discussion in pairs.

Maths

Choose Problem solving or Gamification for the hook. On the choice board, ask for one option that is a real-world task and one that is pure practice.

Humanities & English

Choose Personal connections or Thought-provoking question. Upload your unit text from Drive so the activities use it.

Before anything reaches students

Check it

Check the content

Gemini can make mistakes. Both tools got some science wrong in our demo. Read every fact, number and quantity.

Check it's doable

Check timings, materials and safety. Swap anything you can't run in your room with your resources.

Keep the thinking

A fun activity should still meet the objective. Ask what students will learn, not only what they will do.

Protect student data

Describe your class in general terms. Don't paste student names, reports or personal details into any tool.

Gemini in Classroomclassroom.google.com/ai Craft a compelling hookclassroom.google.com/ai/hg Build a choice boardclassroom.google.com/ai/chb Google help: Learn about Gemini in Classroomsupport.google.com