What is the primary purpose of a warm-up activity in a lesson?

The main purpose of a warm-up activity in a lesson is to engage students and prepare them for learning. This initial activity helps to create a positive and dynamic classroom atmosphere, easing students into the lesson while also focusing their attention. A warm-up can stimulate their interest in the topic, activate their background knowledge, and encourage participation right from the start.

By involving students in a brief, interactive exercise, they have the opportunity to mentally transition into the lesson's subject matter. This engagement can significantly enhance their readiness and motivation to learn new content, making it easier for them to absorb and retain information throughout the lesson.

While introducing new vocabulary or reviewing previous lessons can be important functions in the overarching structure of a lesson, the warm-up specifically focuses on energizing and engaging students to create an effective learning environment tailored to their learning needs. It's also distinct from assessing students' prior knowledge, which serves a different instructional role in understanding what students already know before diving deeper into a subject.