Discussion starter

Discussion starter helps you open up good classroom conversations. Tell it the subject you teach, the topic you want to discuss and the year or age group, and optionally which curriculum goals the discussion should support. The assistant then writes three to five thought-provoking questions or discussion prompts, each with a short note on context to help you facilitate the conversation.

The prompts are designed to promote critical thinking, reflection and deeper engagement rather than quick right-or-wrong answers. They are adapted to the year group and subject, kept short and clear so students understand them immediately, and where possible linked to real-world situations or current events your students can recognise. That makes them easy to use as a lesson starter, as the core of a structured discussion, or as a reflection task at the end of a unit.

Because the questions can be tied to specific curriculum goals, they also work as a planned part of your teaching rather than an extra. Teachers use them for whole-class talks, think-pair-share, group discussions and written reflections across subjects, from social studies and religion to science, literature and maths. If a question does not fit your class, ask for a simpler, more challenging or more local version.