Harness the Power of Interest through Multiple Entry Points

MEP 1: Take a moment to describe "interest" and what it means to you.

MEP 2: “Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.” - Stanley Kubrick

MEP 3:

Interest: The relation of being objectively concerned in something, by having a right or title to, a claim upon, or a share in (OED).


Engaging students in effective instruction requires grabbing their attention and harnessing their interest. We’ve all suffered under the imposition of what we should or must learn. And, those lessons are often the ones that fall out of our over-stressed and overly standardized minds. When teachers design and construct lessons and units that actively pursue and capture the interest of a diverse class, that class has the chance to exhibit an interactive learning space where attention is actively paid. But, to get there, entry into the lesson is crucial.

Many teachers employ “do nows” or “motivations” intended to get students rolling in the lesson from the time they sit down in class. But, often, these entry points are well meaning but flaccid because they only speak to a few students in the class. As new media and social media have shown, our students are highly diversified specialists with various interests. We, as teachers, must design multiple entry points to access the interest of as many students as possible from the moment we start a lesson or unit. We have to facilitate deep engagement and the active payment of attention through meticulously designed, accessible avenues into the content.

Multiple entry points show consideration to our diverse student population while setting expectations for hard work in thought. But, we shouldn’t have to start from scratch every time we painstakingly craft a new lesson plan. In this age ample apps, we have access to software that enables efficient and effective lesson planning. One great program is Shared Space Planning, which among its many features includes Multiple Entry Points that foster leveled yet integrative access to lessons. The program suggests “creating MEPs to provide access to students on three different levels of thinking: gathering, processing, and applying.” Gathering prompts students at to consider what they know about a topic on a foundational level; processing may utilize a provocative quote to stimulate further thought; and applying often uses an image or video for analysis of lesson content. Students choose the entry point that speaks to them and work independently for a few minutes. Then, the teacher works with the students through the multiple entry points and deftly weaves responses together and elicits interactive engagement through focused and targeted discussion.

Teachers can create innumerable ways of engaging students at the onset of a lesson. But we should strive to set the example for our students by working smarter and harder to activate their interest and use it as a dynamic tool for effective learning.