You are teaching a topic that you believe is important for your students to understand, but the students are not initially interested in it. Of the following, which is most effective for increasing your students' situational interest in the topic?
A) Model your interest in the topic by explaining why the topic is so interesting and important to you.
Chris Floyd defines different types of figurative language for students and then reads them a passage from their textbook in which several examples of figurative language are embedded. She has students follow along in their textbooks as she reads. When an example appears in the story, she stops, identifies the example, and explains why it is an example of figurative language. She then writes a series of examples on the board and has the students identify them as hyperbole, metaphor, simile, and so on.
B) Explain that the topic is very important for their development, and encourage them to take the topic seriously.
C) Put the students in groups, and have the groups each identify two reasons why studying the topic might be important.
D) Offer your students a series of rewards for studying the topic.