Made by Mike Gershon – If you want to make the slides whizz through really

mikegershon@hotmail.com
quickly and then press escape to choose a plenary
at random do this:
Select all slides, change slide transition to ‘0’
seconds and uncheck the ‘advance on mouse click’
box. Start the slide show and it should work.

Useful summary

Ple
about plenaries -

na
http://www.bright
on-hove.gov.uk/d

ry
ownloads/educati
on/education_onli
ne/key_document
s/key_stage_3/tlf_
plenaries_circle.do
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Ideas from – www.independentthinking.com

The Creative Teaching and Learning Toolkit (and Handbook) – Brin Best and Will
Thomas http://www.bristol-cyps.org.uk/teaching/secondary/science/pdf/el_starters.pd
’35 Ideas for Plenaries’ – Pimlico Academy – Chris Marshall f
http://www.teachit.co.uk/custom_content/newsletters/newsletter_oct06.asp www.teachingthinking.net
http://www.schoolhistory.co.uk/teachers/starters.html http://www.geointeractive.co.uk/contribution/wordfiles/starters%20list.doc
http://www.geographypages.co.uk/start.htm www.psychexchange.co.uk
http://news.reonline.org.uk/rem_art10.php www.teachinglinks.co.uk/Lesson%20Starters%20and%20Plenaries.doc
http://www.teach-ict.com/teacher/plenary/plenaries.htm TES resources site
http://www.kenttrustweb.org.uk/UserFiles/ASK8/File/Secondary_Science/Secondary_ Edward De Bono – How to Have Creative Ideas (Vermilion, Chatham, 2007)
Science_Resources/science-ideas-for-starters.pdf My head
 Plenaries
Show me the answer Questions Questions to ask What’s your opinion? Word Fill
Freeze Frame Hangman Classwork peer assessment Pupil as teacher Instructions
Tell me 3 things… Get Creative Recipe Time Story-Time True/False
Just a Minute What do you know? Taboo Stop!... Mr Postman Bingo Sheets
Inside the Octagon Different Shoes In the Spotlight Home Improvement Get in Character
Design a plenary Blockbusters Controversial Issue Dominoes My word!
Concept Map Pictionary What if? Txt Msg Flow-Chart
Millionaire 5-5-1 Anagrams Helpful Tips Question? Answer.
Cross the Curriculum Self, Peer, Teacher No to no and no to yes As easy as 1,2,3 Quick-fire
Labelling Brainstorm Mind Map Storyboard Comic Strip
Evaluation Tree Which Pic? Hot Seating Draw your brain You’re Bard!
Skills skills skills 5-5-1 Deluxe Art Schmart Sculpture Vulture PLTS
Definition Poster Campaign VAK Beat the Teacher Pyramid
Extra Extra Exam Question Shape and Colour Play Doh Targets
Equation KUI Success! Txt Msg Flow-Chart
Neighbours 60 Seconds Predict it Show and Comment Random Feedback
Mr Wrong The Big Match Live! Open Question Publishing Mogul Probing Questions
Objective Traffic Lights Aide Memoire Question? Answer. 2 Chop and Sort Same…Different?
Classified Information Make me your selection Word Limit Whiteboard How, where, when, why, what Everyday People
Different Writing Styles Missing Sequence Plenary Dice Graph It Material
Knightmare Enter the Box Continuum Odd One Out Maker Pyramid 2
Musical Sentence Stems Video Errors Activity Planning Question Tennis Voice Over
Circle Time Conflict – Tension Timeline Partnering Charades
Football Set your own homework Quiz the group Re-draft What? How?
Mime Rorrim Celebrities Musical Styles Camera, Action
 Answer! Show me the answer!
Using mini-whiteboards, true/false cards, hand
signals, different coloured cards etc. pupils
must show you the answer to a series of
questions

Back to Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Questions
e.g. A series of questions
(perhaps relating to the lesson
objectives)

1) What does fair trade mean?

2) What is not fair trade?
3) Why?
4) Does fair trade work?
5) Does fair trade matter?
 Back to
Plenaries

Questions you would like to ask

e.g.

Today we have been studying elections. Write down the

questions today’s lesson has inspired you to think of.

Or, Write down 3 questions to ask other people in the class

about today’s lesson.
 Back to
Plenaries

What’s your opinion?

Students write/speak/act out their opinion(s) about the topic
covered.

This could be used as a springboard for shared evaluative

discussion of what has been studied.

It could also link back to a

similar activity done at the
start of the lesson/topic.
 Back to
Plenaries

Word Fill
e.g. Fill in the missing words (can include the words
underneath - in the wrong order of course - for
differentiation)

The X _______ is a popular programme on ____.

All of the contestants are extremely________ and
________.
Simon Cowell always says ______ things and
makes the performers feel ______ about
themselves.
 Back to
Plenaries

Pictionary
e.g. Give students concepts/ideas/things to
draw whilst others have to guess what they
are

Alternative – short list of

concepts/ideas and Can divide group into
students have to draw in
books or on mini-whiteboard and teams to make it
then feedback their competitive
thinking/explanation.
 Back to
Plenaries

Freeze Frame

Students have to produce a freeze-frame showing one

aspect of their learning.

This could be developed so they have to dramatise the

learning in the lesson. (“Oh my god! 2x + 3y = 19!)
 Back to

Bingo Sheets
Plenaries

e.g. Pupils get bingo sheets with key

words/phrases and you read out
definitions...

Develop by
choosing able
student to
stand at front
and come up
with the
definitions
 Back to
Plenaries

Hangman
You know what it is!
 Back to
Plenaries

Classwork Peer Assessment

e.g.

Students asked to swap classwork (relies

on it having being done) and peer assess
their neighbour’s on the success criteria
you set.

Can also use two stars and a wish.

 Back to
Plenaries

Pupil as Teacher

e.g. One (or more?) pupil is the teacher.

They have to summarise the lesson (unit) and

question the class on what was studied.
 Back to
Plenaries

Instructions

e.g. Ask students to write intricate

instructions for a specific task related
to the lesson.

For example voting in an election or

staging a protest march.

An alternative would be to write detailed

instructions for the learning they have done
during the lesson/or of the lesson itself
 Back to
Plenaries

What if?

What if we hadn’t done today’s lesson?

What if you weren’t allowed to know what
we’ve learnt today?
What if everything I’ve told you today
was false?
 Back to
Plenaries

Tell me three things...

you have learnt today

you have done well
the group has done well
you would like to find out more about
you know now that you didn’t know 50 minutes ago
 Get Creative

CloakSled Tourist Machine Fuse

- Show how each of these random words might link to today’s lesson.
- Explain the influence or link

- Could do quick-fire point and say, A+B pairs, increasing links (i.e. first
link 1, then 2 etc.)

Adapted Edward De Bono’s ‘How to Have Creative Ideas’. See www.edwarddebono.com

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Taboo
Students have to describe a key word
without using that word (it is taboo!).

(could do it in teams, pairs, whole-class)

 Back to
Plenaries

Recipe Time
Students have to write a recipe
of the lesson (or their learning).

Can be a good way to narrativize

the lesson and so help recall.

Could develop by asking for a

dramatic (or genre-specific) recipe
of the lesson
 Back to
Plenaries

Story-Time
Re-tell today’s lesson as a story.
Ensure you have a beginning, a
middle and an end.

Develop through genres i.e.

Fable
Sci-fi
Thriller etc.
 Back to
Plenaries

True or False

True..................................................or is it false!

Could pre-plan questions or get students to

write their own for the rest of the class
 Back to
Plenaries

Just a Minute
One pupil starts to speak about the topic
covered. At the first repetition, pause or
mistake another takes over - and so on until
the minute is up.
 Back to
Plenaries

What do you know?

(variation – ideas must be pictures instead of words)

 Back to
Plenaries

Inside the Octagon

8 way thinking comes from Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences. The simplified
octet is –

1) Numbers How many...

2) Words Where does the word come from..
3) People Who...
4) Feelings What emotions...
5) Nature How does the environment affect...
6) Actions What do people do...
7) Sounds What songs have been written about it...
8) Sights What images represent...
(from http://www.independentthinking.co.uk/Cool+Stuff/8Way+Thinking/default.aspx)

Two ideas – i) Who is affected by what we have studied today?

ii) What sounds could convey today’s lesson?
iii) What emotions have helped/hindered your learning today?
 Back to
Plenaries

Different Shoes
If…

Gordon Brown/an LEDC farmer/dolphins

…had taught today’s lesson, how might it have

been different and why?
 Back to
Plenaries

In the spotlight

A volunteer (or group) is asked five

questions based around the lesson.
The rest of the class mark down
whether they agree or disagree
with the answers so that the whole
class is tested. Could use whiteboards
or voting cards.
 Home Improvement

How can _______________ be improved?

Why would your changes be an improvement?
Who for?
How long would they last?

(could be used for a specific area covered in the lesson, or about the lesson itself, or about the
learning that went on in the lesson etc.)

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Get In Character
Hand out character cards of people or groups related to the lesson.

Students then have to answer questions in character, come up with

questions for other characters (still in role) or discuss how their
character may have felt had they been in the lesson.

Could have 3-4 characters and then put students into mixed groups.
 Back to
Plenaries

Design a Plenary
• Ask students to design a plenary activity to
use next lesson. Set success criteria.
 Back to

Blockbusters
Plenaries

Set up a Blockbusters
style grid using
appropriate
key terms/names/places
etc. from the
lesson or No
unit

Can I have a
‘P’ please Bob
http://www.teachers-
direct.co.uk/resources
/quiz-busters/subjects
/ks2.aspx
 Back to

Controversial Issue Plenaries

Make a deliberately controversial statement relating to the

lesson as an incitement to reflective discussion

e.g. after a lesson on sustainable development, the teacher

could proclaim:

“So why don’t we just not bother with sustainable

development? What would happen then?”
 Dominoes

Create enough cards for one each.

Students have to join them up a la the great pub/lounge/caravan

game ‘dominoes’!

Many uses – i.e. could spell out the lesson objectives, a question
to reflect on, key words/concepts from the lesson that link

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

My Word!

Students are given (or choose) a word related to

the lesson. They must stand up and point to
someone in the class who must then give the
meaning. That person then chooses the next
person to pose a word.
 Back to
Plenaries

Concept Map

Give students a list of words related to the lesson.

This can either be on cards or on the board.
They must then turn these into a ‘map’, where each
connection can be explained and justified.

e.g. Democracy Voting

Safety Freedom
 Back to

Who Wants To Be A Plenaries

Millionaire?
Google ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
template’ and off you go!
 5–5–1
Summarise today’s topic in 5 sentences.

Reduce to 5 words.

Now to 1 word.

(with as many variations as there are numbers!)

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Anagrams
Students unravel anagrams to reveal the key
words/phrases/ideas from the lesson

Develop by getting students to come up with

their own mana rags
 Helpful Tips

Write 5 top tips or golden rules about the topic

for students taking the lesson next year.

Develop with snowballing, group answers or

posters etc.

Back to
Plenaries
 Question? Answer.

Set a question at the beginning of the lesson – as the aim, lesson

objective etc.

Return to this and ask students to now produce an answer. This

could be in lots of different forms – written, verbal, still
image, poster, storyboard

Develop with word limits, producing for specific audiences.

AfL with mini-whiteboards, thumbs/colours agreement when

answers read out. Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Stop!...wait a minute Mr Postman

Use post-it notes to share reflection, recall and

evaluation.

Could be done in groups of 3/4 on sugar paper and then presented.

Could use pictures relating to parts of the lesson or people/characters related to it.
Could have a number of A3 sheets with different questions/areas on.
 Back to

Cross the Curriculum

Plenaries

How does today’s learning link to three other subjects?

How can you use what you have learnt today in other subjects?

What skills can you take from today and use elsewhere in school?

How would you encounter the same topic differently in other subjects? (e.g.
environment)

What links today’s topic to _______________ (insert subject here)

 Self Peer Teacher
Use a self-, peer-, or teacher- assessment to achieve
excellent AfL and Student Voice practice.

e.g.

Two stars and a wish

3 good things, one to improve
What I found interesting/learnt/struggled with

Back to
Plenaries
 No to no and no to yes
Students are not allowed to use the words ‘no’
or ‘yes’ when answering questions.

Questions can be posed by the teacher, in pairs

or groups.

Back to
Plenaries
 As easy as 1 2 3

Place students in groups of 3 and number them 1-3.

3 statements on the board which the corresponding

individual must explain to the rest of the group.

Develop by ‘phone-a-friend’ where if one student can’t

explain they find another student with their number in
the group and learn from them.
Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Quick-fire

Quick-fire questions on the topic to individuals

in the class.

Develop by getting students to write the

questions and put them in a box which you
then draw from.
 Labelling

Label a diagram, picture or illustration.

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Brainstorm

Today’s lesson/what
you have learnt
 Back to
Plenaries

Mind Map
Ask students to produce a mind map of their
learning. This could be done using concept
branches, key words, 3 things they have learnt
etc.
 Back to
Plenaries

Storyboard
Make a storyboard of today’s lesson/your
learning/a key concept/the topic studied…
 Back to
Plenaries

Comic Strip

Produce a comic strip showing what you have

learnt today/explaining the lesson.

Could be developed by having a PowerPoint

slide with specific speech bubbles they have
to put in their strip (i.e. Wow! Proportional
representation really is a potential alternative
to first-past-the-post)
 Back to
Plenaries
Evaluation
Tree

Ask students where they feel they

are on the tree in relation to the
lesson or topic.

Can be used repeatedly to

articulate progress/problems.
Could print out on A3/A2 and get
students to put post-it notes on
with their name. Could then pair
up strong and weaker students
etc.
http://www.evaluationsupportsco
tland.org.uk/article.asp?id=13
 Back to
Plenaries

Which Pic?

Which picture matches your learning today? Explain why?

(pictures = new ideas, problem solving, discussion, experimenting, team/group work, creativity)
 Back to
Plenaries

Hot Seating
Students (or the teacher) take the ‘hot-seat’ and answer
questions in-role that the class have come up with.

This could be as an expert on the topic just covered, or as an

individual linked to the topic.

(e.g. a specific individual such as the head of the Bank of England

or a representative of a group affected such as a working-class
factory hand in 19th century Britain)

Have fun by dressing up – use props etc. to get into the role; e.g. bowler hat for a banker of flat cap for a w/c man
 Back to
Plenaries

Draw your brain

Either hand out outlines of a brain/head or pupils draw it
themselves. Then, get them to fill it with everything they have
learnt (knowledge and skills) during the lesson.

Could develop by having them draw the brain at the start of the
lesson so as to signpost that they will be able to fill it up by
the end.
 Back to
Plenaries

You’re Bard!

Write a poem, 5 lines long and that rhymes, summing up what

you have learnt today.

e.g. (after a lesson on JFK and Vietnam)

This is a poem for plenary,

About the policies of J.F. Kennedy,
He tried to contain,
The red, Russian stain,
Before ending up in the cemetery. Develop by using different poetry styles, i.e. Haiku, sonnet,
limerick (as seen above), non-rhyming, acrostic, tongue
twister
 Skills skills skills
What skills have you developed today? Choose one and
explain how you have developed it….

Develop by linking to PLTS (

and perhaps
http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/skills/plts/index.aspx)

focussing on a different skill week by week.

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries
Now reduce that to 5 key words…
5-5-1 Deluxe!
Write 5 sentences summarising today’s
topic…

And finally to one word….

Use shapes and pictures to

deluxe-ify 5-5-1
 Back to
Plenaries

Art Schmart

Draw the most important thing you have learnt

today.

Could develop by then asking students to stand

in two lines facing each other and explain
their drawings. One line then moves along and
the ‘pairings’ change.
 Back to
Plenaries

Sculpture Vulture

Bring in a random bag of packaging, newspapers, fabrics,

materials etc. (I keep a few bags in my room and chuck in
anything that might be useful as I go along) and get students
to make a sculpture of the lesson/their learning/a key topic.

Develop by having a plinth or shelf in your room where the best

sculpture plenaries get displayed.
 Back to
Plenaries

PLTS
1) Pick one of the skills and explain
how you have used it today…
2) Pick one of the skills and explain
Independent Enquirer how you have improved it today…
3) Pick one of the skills and explain
how you will aim to use it or
improve it next time… Creative Thinker

Team Worker

Reflective Learner Self Manager

Effective Participator
 Back to
Plenaries

Definition
Choose three new words you have learnt today or in the last few
lessons and write dictionary definitions.

Develop by then asking students to write a paragraph for each of

the words (or one using all three at once).
 Back to
Plenaries

Poster Campaign
Design a poster advertising the lesson/your
learning.

Develop by setting word limits i.e. no more than 7 words

or target audiences i.e. a Year 6 student
 Back to
Plenaries

VAK
Visual, auditory, kinesthetic.

What have you learnt with your eyes this lesson?

What have you learnt with your ears?

What have you learnt with your body?

 Beat the Teacher
Your task is to try and beat the teacher!

Come up with questions based around your learning today and

see if the teacher can answer them.

Develop by: - snowballing

- writing questions on pieces of paper and placing
in a box. One student (sensible - able to vet) then
sits opposite the teacher at the front of the class
and pulls out questions to ask a la Mastermind.
Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries
Question you have
about the lesson

Pyramid

Things you
have been
reminded of
today

Things you
have learned
today
 Back to
Plenaries

Write a newspaper headline

about today’s lesson…

Develop by: - asking for a plan of the article to go with the headline
- asking for a series of different headlines (i.e.
sensational, serious, tabloid etc.)
- asking for a headline with picture
 Exam Question

Write an exam question based on your learning today. Then,

swap books and answer someone else’s question.

Develop by writing a mark scheme for the question as well, using

peer/self assessment or using different types of exam
questions – multiple choice, short answer, essay etc.

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Shape and Colour

Use only shape and colour to create

an image of your learning.
Then, show it to a partner and see if
they can guess what the learning is.
 Back to
Plenaries

Play Doh
Use Play Doh to make a sculpture showing what
you have learnt this lesson or what skills you
have used/improved or a key concept etc.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3495454/Trail/searchtext>PLAY-DOH+.htm
 Back to
Plenaries

Targets

What three things have you done well this lesson?

What can you improve next lesson?

How will you do this?

Develop by signposting with exemplar, ideas of targets or oral Q+A

 Back to
Plenaries

Equation
Write an equation showing your learning…

For example –

Eggs + flour + milk + sugar X oven = cake

 Back to
Plenaries

KUI
As a result of the lesson today I:

Know…

Understand…

Can use the information in the following other situations….

 Back to
Plenaries

Success!

I have been successful in the following three ways…

I could make this better next time if I…

If I were starting again and designing this for myself I would do this
instead…
 Back to

Txt Msg Plenaries

Write a txt msg explaining

your learning
 Back to
Plenaries

Flow-Chart

Draw a flow-chart
showing the lesson
 Back to
Plenaries

Neighbours
Ask students to review the lesson through their
neighbour. For example:

What three things has your neighbour learnt today?

What would your neighbour like to find out more about?
What does your neighbour think about….
What answer to the overall question can your neighbour give?
Set targets with your neighbour by sharing your work

(Develop by sitting different abilities together, snowballing so that a pair of neighbours then become the neighbours of another
pair,)
 60 Seconds

Timer on board –
http://classtools.net/main_area/template_loader.php/?timer

Set students the challenge of summing up the lesson in

sixty seconds.

Students then read out their summations until a really full

picture is presented to the class.

(Develop by setting paired work – one speaker, one scribe; giving certain words/phrases to include; adjusting the time
for more quick-fire/in-depth answers)
Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Predict it

Ask students to make a prediction based on the knowledge

gained in the lesson. For example:

What do you think we will study next lesson?

What would happen if a catalyst were brought into the reaction?
Predict the changes if welfare benefits were removed
 Show and Comment
Students show their work and others give AfL-style feedback (2
stars and a wish etc.)

Could be done with groups showing work to the whole class.

In groups of 3 or 4 with each individual showing to the rest of

the group.

With individuals who have done good exemplar work/would

benefit from public praise or encouragement showing to the
whole class Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Random Feedback

Use dice, short straws, roulette wheel, tombola, guess the

number of sweets in the jar, to pick a group (or two) at
random to feedback to the whole class on the lesson.

Develop by rotating group to group if doing extended

project work or coursework.
Could be used as a nice modelling tool for coursework –
start with students/groups who are further on and they
can model for the others.
 Back to
Plenaries

Mr Wrong

Give students the wrong answer and ask them to explain why it is
wrong.

e.g. Parliamentary democracy has no safeguards for the

individual against the state.
Potassium is an un-reactive element
3+8 = 12
 Back to
Plenaries

The Big Match Live!

Use a matching activity to consolidate learning.

For example: - Match the concepts to the pictures

- Match the word with the definition
- Match the verb with the action

Some potential concept images - http://www.acclaimimages.com/search_terms/concept.html

 Back to
Plenaries

Open Question
Pose an open question that can lead to generalisation of key
ideas from the lesson (accessible to all)

e.g. (after a lesson on media bias)

Why do we read newspapers?
Why do newspapers get made?
How can we see power through newspapers and Television?
 Back to
Plenaries
Publishing Mogul

You are to become a publishing mogul. In order to start your

empire you need a first book for publication. Make a mini-
book on the topic we have been studying (end of lesson or
more likely end of unit)

Develop by branching out into different media – i.e. a blog,

webpage, encyclopaedia entry, radio programme, webcast
etc.
 Objective Traffic Lights

How do you feel about the lesson objectives?

Red = don’t think I have grasped this

Amber = feeling OK about this, have just about got there
Green = Confident I have achieved this

Develop through AfL tools i.e. hand out traffic light cards that students show visibly, use coloured pens
for students to indicate on their work how they have assessed themselves, have a class count of
red/amber/green and then pair up greens with reds and ambers to try and improve the spread

Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Probing Questions
Prior to the lesson come up with a list of probing questions
about the topic which you can then use to test understanding.

Develop by asking G+T students to come up with the questions as an extension activity. Also,
why not print a question list off and ask students to work in groups with one being the
question-master (be good to model how they should probe and follow-up questions)

A probe Also a probe A…probe!

 Back to
Plenaries

Aide Memoire

Students have to come up with something to help them

remember what has been studied. This could be a mnemonic,
visual aids, a story, a song etc. Allows differentiation for
learning styles.

Develop by asking students to share their aide memoires and

producing a pool of the most helpful ones.
 Back to
Plenaries

Question? Answer. 2

Put a question on the board and have different answers around

the room. Students go to the one they think is right and justify
their decision.

Make this easier by having A,B,C,D points or posters in your room.

Then you can have the answers on the board as well to save
faffing.

Develop by getting one member from each answer area to try and convince the others that their
answer is right (good for encourage use of reason and uncovering of fallacy, misconceived
reasoning etc.)
 Chop and Sort

Produce three different solutions to a problem related to the

lesson. Distribute these among groups who then have to cut them
up. They then swap with a group who has an alternative solution
and have to sort it into order, then explain it.

Develop by using different media – i.e. images, poems, newspaper articles etc. the task could be not
to explain the solution but explain how the re-sorted item links to the learning/lesson objective.

Sorted, respect
due. Back to
Plenaries
 Back to
Plenaries

Same…Different?

Give group of shapes/expressions/graphs and students identify

what is the same and what is different about them.
 Back to
Plenaries

Classified Information

Ask students to classify information related to the lesson.

e.g. fact/opinion, masculine/feminine words, studies using
according to different kinds of methodologies used.

Develop by asking students to come up with their own

classification systems and a rationale behind it.
 Back to
Plenaries

Make me
Set students a problem to solve. This
your selection could be the original lesson objectives,
something signposted in the lesson or an
holistic question. They then have to select
information/learning from the lesson that
will enable them to solve the problem.

Develop by giving a review list of

information from the lesson that students
choose from.
Or, ask students to come up with a
problem that they then ask others to solve
by selecting from the lesson/learning
 Back to
Plenaries

Word Limit Whiteboard

Set a question at the start of the lesson, or frame the objectives as

a question, and then return at the end of the lesson. Students
must produce an answer on mini-whiteboards to share with
you/the class. Set a word limit to increase challenge.

Develop by asking for a word limit and a picture; asking them to answer the question with another question; asking
them to walk around the room holding the whiteboard and find people with the same answers.
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Plenaries

How, where, when, why, what

e.g. …does democracy work?
…is the economy?
…do human rights affect people?
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Different Writing Styles

Write up what you have learnt in the lesson as an article for a

‘broadsheet’ newspaper, as a spy report for MI5, as 1-2 pages in a
Ladybird book for 10 year-olds etc.
 Everyday People

How can you link today’s lesson to your everyday life?

In what contexts would you encounter what we have learned

about today in your day-to-day life?

How can you use what we have learned to day in your life inside
and outside of school?
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Missing Sequence
Students receive a process (or the lesson itself) cut up or
distributed between cards which they must then put into the
right sequence. However, one (or more) of the bits is missing
and they must work out what should go there.
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Plenary Dice
http://www.ldalearning.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet
/Product_95_10451_-1_197020_
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Graph It Plenaries

Draw a graph showing your learning during the lesson.

Learning

50

40

Amount Learned
30
Learning
20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Or; Time Through Lesson

Ask students to draw a graph showing a certain aspect or topic

from the lesson
9
During 'Swine Flu Week'

8
Politician Popularity

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time
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Material

What material is today’s lesson most like and why?

Example materials -

Wood, stone, wool, felt, linen, silk, charcoal

Develop by providing pictures of a series of materials; by providing students with some physical
items or materials they must link to the lesson/use to explain aspects etc.
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Knightmare
Make a grid 4 by 5 on the floor at the front of the classroom (or
have five ‘stages’). Sort class into four teams. Each team sends a
student up. They stand on the first square of the grid. They can only
move on if their team gets a question right. Ask the teams in turn
and the first student to the end of the grid/last stage is the winner.

(it’s a bit like the old TV show Knightmare)

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Enter the Box Plenaries

Student comes up to the front of the class and steps in an

imaginary (or real!) box. They are not allowed to leave until
they have answered a question correctly.

Could develop by student having to pick others in the class to answer correctly and ‘release’ them
 Continuum
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Use continuum to allow students to identify themselves with a

position or stance related to the issue or topic looked at.
Particularly appropriate if the lesson has centred around making
an informed judgement.

Develop by questioning students on their position on the continuum; only allowing reasons based on evidence from the lesson; asking students to
decide the continuum question or statement
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Odd One Out Maker

Make an odd-one-out activity based on today’s lesson

Could be key words, pictures, diagrams, concepts etc.

Students then try them out on each other.
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Pyramid 2

One thing you will

do to follow up, or
question you want
to ask

Two words that have made

an impression

Three key words that are important

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Musical Sentence Stems

Fill a hat with sentence stems about the lesson. Play music as the
hat is passed around the room. Stop the music and student has
to pull one out and either answer it or choose someone they
think can answer it.
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Plenaries
Video Errors
Make a film of yourself (or another teacher or student if you are
camera shy!) explaining the topic covered in the lesson. Insert
a number of deliberate mistakes/common misconceptions
that students have to identify.

Develop by asking students how they would have presented the material better; why they think
common misconceptions are commonly misconceived (thinking about thinking)
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Activity Planning
Plan an activity that Year 7 students could do to learn what we
have learnt today.

Develop by changing the audience; asking for a rationale; asking for an identification of
the strengths and weaknesses of their activity in relation to the learning.
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Question Tennis

Arrange the class in two rows facing each other. The first
student asks the student opposite a question about the
lesson. If they get it right the person sat next to them gets to
ask a question of the student opposite. If they get it wrong,
the first team continue asking the questions.

A1 asks B1.
If B1 gets it right, then B2 asks A2.
If B1 gets it wrong, then A2 asks B2.

Etc.
 Voice Over
Students work in groups of four.

2 students sit facing each other and have a silent conversation,

moving their mouths whilst the other two stand behind them and
provide the voice-over. Have the beginnings of a conversation about
the lesson on the board to start them off.

Sitters must sound the alarm if speakers go ‘off-topic’ or fail to

synchronize their speech with the sitter’s mouth movements.

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Circle Time

Use circle time to:

-Review
-Reflect
-Explore the learning
-Explore questions
-Relate feelings to the lesson/learning

http://www.circle-time.co.uk/
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Plenaries

Conflict - Tension

Where has conflict or tension arisen in today’s lesson?

(then explore this)

-Note, this can either be used as a behaviour tool to speak about relationships within
the classroom or in relation to the learning.
e.g. (learning)
‘There was tension between different interpretations of The Human Rights Act by
people’
‘There is conflict between mammals and birds trying to use the same drinking water.’
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Plenaries

Timeline
Draw a timeline of the events we have covered so far.
Sketch a timeline of the lesson
Draw a timeline of what you learnt and when in the lesson
Draft a timeline of what skills you used and when in the lesson
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Plenaries

Partnering
Hand out half question cards and half answer cards. Students
must then match themselves up in silence.

Develop by having a third questions and two thirds answers, with two answers being correct for every one question; sticking
questions and answers on students’ backs; questions find questions that lead to the same answer and answers find answers
that could be from the same question
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Charades
Act out a key word, concept, idea from the lesson. (teacher or
students could do it, others guess)

Develop by having the ‘charade-doer’ then questioning the class about their choice once it has been guessed;
others explaining how they might have done it differently (makes mental concepts explicit); students
doing it in small groups so everyone can have a turn
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Plenaries
Football
Draw up a pitch with 5 lines running
across it for marking draw goals, put the
'ball' in the middle and put the children
in 2 groups or teams. They can either
work as a team to answer questions or
you can pick some out individually from
each team if they get a question right
they get to move a line across and if
they get 3 in a row they get to shoot to
save the other team must get their
question right. This is a fun and
interactive lesson and you can gauge
the questions to ability if they have
individual questions.

From TES Resources website

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Plenaries

Set your own homework

What homework would you set yourself on what you have learnt
today? How would this help you to build on what you have done?
(students can then do the homework, or the class can vote for the
best one and all do that)
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Quiz the group

One group come to the front and are quizzed by the rest of the
class on what they have learnt, how they have learnt and what
skills they have used/developed
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Re-draft
Get your work peer-assessed and then re-draft it according to
the feedback. (can probe understanding by questioning students
as to why they have assessed as such and why they have
changed it as they have)
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What? How?
Explain what you have learnt today and how you have learnt it

?
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Mime
Students get into pairs and mime key learning/ideas/concepts whilst
the other has to guess what it is.
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Rorrim
Write what you have learn backwards. Swap books and decode!
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Celebrities

How would a famous celebrity summarize today’s learning? Choose a

celebrity and make your summary
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Musical Styles
Choose a music style, sum up the learning and then recite it in
your chosen style.

e.g. could write a rap about the lesson, do a group monastic

chant, sing a country style song etc.
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Plenaries

Camera, Action
Make a 30/60 second news bulletin about the lesson/learning
and capture on a webcam or student mobile phone. Upload if
you can and play back to the class.
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Forecast
If what you have learnt today is true, what will the future be
like?

If what you have learnt today were false, what would the future
be like?
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Points of view
Ask students to imagine the different points of view people would
have on today’s learning. This can be people in the media, people
they know, types of people, groups and so on.
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Chinese Whispers
In groups or a whole class, send whispers round summarising the
learning. Compare the end result with the summary and then
explore the learning, maybe referencing communication, memory
and listening.
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Animal Magic
Summarize your learning in the character of an animal of your
choosing
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Plenaries

Change the world

How could what you have learnt today change the world? In a
small, medium or large way? On a local, national, global scale?