The activation of the cognitive activity of students is one of the urgent problems at the present level of development of pedagogical theory and practice. In the process of cognition, such forms of mental activity as foresight, imagination, intuition are involved. They are based on accumulated knowledge and make it possible to predict the further development of objects and phenomena of the surrounding reality. It is necessary to activate the cognitive activity of students and increase interest in learning at every stage of any lesson, using various methods, forms, and types of work for this: a differentiated approach to children, individual work in the lesson, various didactic, illustrative handouts, technical teaching aids, and others. Key words: modern pedagogy, cognition, lesson, cognitive activity, psychology