Connections: Warm-Up Activities
What Is a Warm-Up?
A Warm-Up is a pre-training activity that learners do a week or so before the actual training program begins. Also called pre-exposure, a Warm-Up is a way of exposing learners to, and creating interest in, the topic and concepts they will be learning about. A Warm-Up creates a common language of topic-related words and phrases that learners will use when attending the training. A Warm-Up can also be a pre- and post-assessment tool, in that learners compare what they know before the training with what they know after the training is over. In effect, a Warm-Up is a wake up call to the brain, that is, a way of alerting the brain to get ready to learn.
What Does a Warm-Up Do?
By doing one or more Warm-Up activities, learners will
• Begin to gather information relevant to the training topic.
• Add to what they already know about the topic.
• Correct any beginning misconceptions they have about the topic.
• List their own experiences and learning goals related to the topic.
• Familiarize themselves with terms, language, and concepts of the training.
• Become curious about the topic and motivated to learn more.
• Teach others in the training what they have learned from the Warm-Up.
• Assess and compare what they know before and after the training.
Here are the important components of a successful Warm-Up activity:
• Choices. Warm-Ups work best when learners are able to choose from a list of pre-training activities. With choices, learners have a say in the kinds of activities they will do and will usually choose ones that are most interesting to them. Being able to choose motivates learners to do more than they might have done if they had only one required Warm-Up to do.
• Individual accountability. Learners need to know they will be expected to complete at least one Warm-Up activity. In order to build in this accountability, you must alert learners to how they will report what they have learned from the Warm-Up. Here are three examples:
• Before the training, each learner sends an email to the trainer, or to all participants, with a short summary of what he has learned from the Warm-Up.
• During training, learners present short Warm-Up summaries to partners.
• After training, learners write short reports, comparing the Warm-Up information with facts learned during the training.
• Timing. Learners usually do Warm-Ups about one or two weeks prior to the training. If too long a time passes between the Warm-Ups and the actual training, the connections may be forgotten. If the Warm-Ups are too close to the training date, learners may not have the time to do them. In order for training participants to receive the Warm-Up choices in a timely fashion, send the activity instructions to them via email, blog, or intranet site.
Getting Ready
• Materials: No extra materials are necessary.
• Setup: No setup is necessary.
• Group Size: These activities can be done with one-on-one training as well as large groups.
• Time: Whatever time it takes for you to create the Warm-Up and for learners to do it.
Five Warm-Up Activities
1. Interview an Expert
Send out a Warm-Up that reads: “During the two weeks prior to the training, find a person who knows a lot about this topic. Conduct a short interview in which you ask this person what he/she knows, what is important to learn, and some questions that you need to ask during the training. Write a short summary of your interview and be ready to present your summary during the training.”
2. Web Hunt
The printed instructions read: “Before the training, look over the topic-related list of concepts, phrases, and words below. Choose two or three phrases from the list and do a Web Hunt (Internet search) with these key words. Jot down what you learn from the Web Hunt and be ready to share this information with other training participants.” Include a list of topic-related words, phrases, or concepts after the printed instructions.
3. Scavenger Hunt
Do the following:
• Create a list of from five to ten unusual, topic-related items, such as facts, objects, concepts, questions, books, articles, and so forth.
• Send out printed instructions that read: “How many Scavenger Hunt items can you find? Find as many you can before the training. Record the date you find the item or the results asked for. There will be prizes at the training for those who find them all.”
• Learners write the information discovered or the date of completion. During the training, have small prizes available for the learners who found all the items.
Scavenger Hunt examples:
• Find a topic-related article and write the title, source, and article date here.
• Find another employee who has taken this training and write his/her name here.
• Find out what you will be able to do once you have taken this training and write it here.
• Look up one the following authors [include the names of some authors] and write the titles of their topic-related books here.
• Find an object that can be a metaphor (a representation) of the training topic. Bring the object to the training, and be ready to explain how the training topic is like this object. Write down the name of the object you are bringing. (Examples: For a team-building training, a branch with leaves can represent the company and its many employees. For a customer service class, a spoon can represent ladling out dollops of positive service, one “bite”—customer—at a time. For a new-hire orientation, a light bulb can represent each employee who will bring new light and energy to the company.)
• Find a worksheet, handout, newspaper article, or other printed material that is topic-related and bring it to the training. Write the title of what you are bringing.
• Ask another employee a topic-related question he has. Write down his name and question.
• Look up the training topic and write down the URLs of three topic-related websites.
• Write a topic-related question you want an answer for during the training.
• Find an object related to the topic and bring it to the training. Write what it is here. (Examples: A real estate training participant brings a new flyer layout. A call center employee brings a job aid that lists the questions he wants to ask. A management training attendee brings a positive note card she sends to outstanding employees.)
• Find out what your supervisor, manager, or administrator thinks is important to know about this topic. Record his/her name and responses here.
4. People and Personal Surveys
A People Survey is a list of questions that participants will ask others and then bring the results to the training for discussion. The printed instructions read: “Create a short list of topic-related survey questions and another list of colleagues who may know something about the topic. Ask these people the survey questions and record their names and responses. Be ready to repot to the training group the results of your survey.”
People Survey examples:
• What is the most important fact you know about the topic?
• What is something topic-related that you were taught but that you didn’t really need to know?
• What is your next step in learning more about this topic?
• What do you wish you had known in the beginning that you know now?
• What is some advice you can give me that is related to this training topic?
A Personal Survey is one that participants will fill in and email back to you. For the Personal Survey, the printed instructions read: “So that we can better customize the upcoming training to meet your learning needs, please write your responses to some or all of the following questions. Then email or fax your completed responses to the trainer. Thank you.”
Personal Survey examples:
• What are three facts you already know about this topic?
• What is a topic-related area that you wish to explore in more depth?
• What do you want to take away from this training experience?
• What is one question pertaining to this topic that you want an answer for during the training?
• What do you plan to do with what you learn?
• What do you want the trainer to know about you?
5. Pop Quiz
Create a list of topic-related quiz questions to send to learners. The questions should be challenging enough that learners won’t know the answers to all of them until they attend the training (the more curious learners will probably do an Internet search for some of the concepts).
The printed instructions read:“Write your answers to the quiz questions below. Once you have attended the training, come back to this quiz and change any answers you feel are incorrect. Or add details to your pre-training answers. Compare what you know now with what you will learn. Be ready to talk about this comparison at the end of the training.”
Below are train-the-trainer examples:
• What is one opening activity that is both topic-related and learner-focused?
• What is the longest length of time most learners can simply sit and listen, without their learning diminishing?
• List the five important elements of brain-friendly training.
• Explain the difference between a connection and an icebreaker.
• List the 4 Cs of effective instructional design and delivery.
Your Turn
In the space below, make a Concept Map of your own Warm-Up activities. On the next page I’ve done a Concept Map example of the activities in this section for you.
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