Just a minute

Starter or plenary task

Students are asked to talk to a partner about this topic for 60 seconds whilst abiding by a set of rules

(subscription only)

3-2-1

Display this on the whiteboard as students are walking through the door. They can work individually or in pairs to come up with the answers.

Good for differentiation as all students should be able to get at least one of the six points.

(subscription only)

Consider All Reasons

Students are given an open ended statement related to the topic.  In pairs, they identify as many reasons as possible in order to provide an answer to the statement

(subscription only)

Teacher Talkabout

Students work in pairs with one student talking about the topic and the other monitoring how many of the displayed key words they mention.

(subscription only)

Three Facts

Students are asked to write down three facts that they can remember off the top of their heads about the topic.

(subscription only)

Turn it Down

This follows the traditional game of writing a statement, folding or turning the paper down to hide what has been written and then passing it to the next student.

(subscription only)

Pass the Buck

An excellent starter or plenary for involving all students and getting them to identify a large number of facts about the current topic

(subscription only)

Lucky dip questions

Every student is given a number at the start of the activity. This is used to help pick who will ask and answer questions about what has been learned during the lesson.

(subscription only)

Lesson Summary

Students are asked to write down three things that they have learned during the lesson.

This plenary gives them an opportunity to evaluate the lesson and their learning and an AFL opportunity for the teacher.

(subscription only)

Corkboard plenary

A great plenary idea both for AFL and for getting feedback from every student

(subscription only)

I predict

This task acts as the plenary from one lesson and the starter for the next lesson

(subscription only)

Theory Notes Task

Students read the theory notes on the mini website and then answer the questions on the task sheet.

(subscription only)

task

What Am I?

Students are given descriptions related to this topic and asked to identify what is being referred to.

Theory task 2

This task provides an attractively laid out sheet for students to store basic notes on this topic.

Students need to identify just the key points and record them in the clearly marked spaces.

(subscription only)

task

Correct the Teacher

Students are given a piece of text written by a ‘teacher’. The text contains a number of mistakes. They are asked to read the text and correct any mistakes they find.

(subscription only)

task

answers

Discussion Statements

Students are given a number of open ended statements related to this topic. In groups, they discuss each statement in order to see if they can come up with a suitable answer.

(subscription only)

task

Fill-in-the-Gaps

Students are given a piece of text with a number of key words removed. The key words appear in a table above the text. They need to replace the words correctly back into the text.

(subscription only)

task

answers

Identify the question

Students are given the answer to a number of questions.  Their task is to identify what the original question might have been.

(subscription only)

task

Mind Map

Students are given the basic structure of a mind map for this topic. They are asked to complete the mind map by adding extra branches.

Mind maps are a useful tool to use as a revision aid.

(subscription only)

task

Prioritise

Students are given a set of terms related to this topic. They are asked to prioritise them in order of importance.

NOTE: there is no one correct answer. The aim is to encourage higher order thinking skills and to get students to think about and justify their decisions with a partner.

(subscription only)

task

Once Upon A Time

Students are given a set of words related to this topic and asked to make up a story incorporating as many of the terms as possible.

(subscription only)

task