In the spotlight
A volunteer is asked five questions.
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.
What’s Your Reply?
Use a controversial statement and
ask students in pairs to come up
with a reply.
e.g.
“All teachers should be allowed to
teach whatever they want”
Connections
Ask a student to suggest a word.
You say a word that is related.
(E.g. If the word is “football” you
might say “goal”.) The next student
says a word connected with the
previous word. (E.g. “goal”, “net”
and so on.)
Players take turns.
They are allowed thinking time, but
can be challenged by any other
player to explain the connection
between their word and the
previous word.
Draw me the answer
Like ‘show me the answer’… expect
with drawing only!
e.g.
A) Show me what democracy
looks like
B) Draw fairness
C) What does change look like?
Get In Character
Set a few questions ready on the
board. As students come in, hand
them character cards
(could be generic e.g. Businessman,
teacher, student
specific e.g. Gordon Brown, George
Bush, Boris Johnson
emotional e.g. An angry, impatient,
happy person
Or whatever you want!)
and ask them to answer the
questions in character.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Google ‘Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire template’ and off you
go!
Design a starter
Ask students to design a starter
activity to use next lesson. Set
success criteria.
Play Doh
Hand out pots of Play Doh and ask
students to make a concept, idea,
event etc.
Could develop by handing out the
concepts secretly. Students work in
groups and have a limited amount
of time. They must then go around
the room and try to work out what
each group’s concept is.
My Word!
Students are given (or choose) a
word related to the topic. 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.
Find the definition
Liven up definitions of key words by
printing them off and sticking them
up round the room for students to
find and copy down.
(tip – print the definition in a large
font and the key word underneath
in a tiny font so they have to move
around. Also, can supplement it
with the key words on the board so
they know how many they have to
get)
 Noun Play
________ is like (a) ________
because…
First blank is for the topic, concept
etc.
Second blank is for the random
noun.
e.g. Photosynthesis is like a road
because…
Post it
Put up a number of different
questions around the room and
give each student 1-2 post-it notes.
They have 5 minutes to look at the
questions and discuss them with
others. They must then vote for
which they would like to focus on
during the lesson. This is done by
sticking their post-it note by the
question. The question with the
most post-its becomes the focus of
the lesson.
Silent Instructions
Students are in pairs. One receives
an instruction and must convey this
to their partner without speaking
(or writing).
Develop by allowing students to say
1 or 2 words only (you could
specify or they could choose).
Noises
Play a noise and ask students to
respond to it or work out its
relevance to the lesson / unit.
http://www.grsites.com/sounds/
http://sounds.bl.uk/
Mystery Guest
One student receives a card with a
famous figure and some
biographical details on it. The rest
of the class question them
(to strictly ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘don’t
know’ responses) so as to ascertain
who they are.
Think – Pair - Share
Give students a problem or
question and then allow think time
in which they can engage with it.
Following this, students turn to
their ‘Learning Partner’ and
discuss, clarify, challenge etc.
The pair then share with another
pair or the whole class (students
should share their partner’s idea as
well as their own)
Summary
Ask students to provide a summary
of what they learnt last lesson or
across the unit.
Develop by asking for different
styles,
i.e. a newspaper report, 60-second
news-flash, mime
Song-Writer
Ask students to write a song
explaining what they already know
about a topic, what they have
learnt etc.
Develop by setting the genre – rap,
country, pop etc.
Sentences
Cut up a sentence (or two) related
to the topic and hand out the parts
to students. They then have to
arrange themselves so as to spell
out the sentence correctly.
Develop by using texts related to
the topic and asking them to
compose a paragraph.
Interview
Students are in pairs. One receives
a sheet with information about the
topic on. The other must interview
them in order to discover what
they will be studying or to elicit as
much of the information as
possible.
Develop by putting conditions on
questions and responses.
 Press Conference
Begin the lesson by calling a press
conference - you have an
announcement to make and
students must take notes and then
question you on what has been
said. Could be announcing what
the lesson is about, or a
provocative statement related to
the content etc.
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.
Freeze Frame Splat
Students have to produce a freeze- Write some possible answers on
frame showing one aspect of their the board. Students come up in
learning. pairs. Ask a question. The winner is
the first to splat the right answer
This could be developed so they on the board.
have to dramatize the learning in
the lesson.
(e.g. 2x + 3y = 19!)
5–5-1 Stop! Wait a minute Mr. Postman
Summarize today’s topic in 5 Use post-it notes to share
sentences. reflection, recall and evaluation.
Could be done in groups of 3 / 4 on
Reduce to 5 words. sugar paper and then presented.
Now to 1 word. 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.
Design a Plenary
Ask students to design a plenary
activity to use next lesson.
Set success criteria.
As easy as 1 2 3
Place students in group 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.
Question Tennis
Arrange the class in tow rows facing
each other. The first student asks
the students 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.
Storyboard
Make a storyboard of today’s
lesson / your learning / a key
concept / the topic studied…
 Txt Msg Mr. Wrong Missing Sequence Use these cards Enter the Box
       
Write a txt msg explaining your Give students the wrong answer Students receive a process (or the Give this pack of cards to the Student come up to the front of the
learning. and ask them to explain why it is lesson itself) cut up of distributed students. Get them to design their class and steps in an imaginary (or
wrong. between cars which they must then own starter and plenary. real!) box. They are not allowed to
put into the right sequence. leave until they have answered a
e.g. However, one (or more) of the bits question correctly.
Potassium is an un-reactive is missing and they must work out
element what should go there.
3 + 8 = 12

Picture Story
Tell students a story and they make
notes but only using pictures.
Kung Fu Keywords / Punctuation
Write phrase on board and then
replace / use action where key
word is.
Design a question Connections 2
Person next to them answers the Write up words from a topic on the
question. board. Students make connections.
Not a right answer necessarily, can
be creative thinking.
Speed Dating
Students read up about a given
topic and become experts in that
topic. Students then sit in pairs
‘dating’ for 5 minutes finding out as
much as they can about their
partner / partners before moving
on.
 Poker
Show the class a picture that has
several hidden items
(e.g. key words / objects /
processes) and ask them to make a
‘bid’ for the highest number of
‘items’ they can spot. The students
that makes the highest bid has to
state all of the items that they have
identified.
Thunks
e.g.
- What does the wind smell like?
- Do trees have feelings?
- If I borrow a million pound,
am I a millionaire?
www.thunks.co.uk
Who am I?
e.g. Could be a picture
Or part of a picture
Or clues – I am an important
Londoner
I am a politician
I am noted for frequent buffoonery
Questions you would like to ask
e.g.
Today we will begin studying local
government. Write down the
questions you would like answered.
Odd One Out
e.g.
Which is the odd one out; Tourist,
IDP, Refugee, Asylum Seeker?
(clue – there may be more than
one)
What’s your opinion?
Ask students to write / speak in
pairs a short explanation of their
opinion about the topic you are
starting to study. This can then be
revisited at the end of the lesson /
unit.
Show me the answer! What’s The Question?
Using mini-whiteboards, true / e.g. If this is the answer, then
false cards, hand signals, different what’s the question.
coloured cards etc. pupils must
show you the answer to a series of
questions (note – Dan Brown has
some mini – whiteboards)
List to Definition Bingo Sheets
e.g. e.g.
- List all the words you associate Pupils get bingo sheets with key
with Global Warming words / phrases and you read out
- Now join these words together definitions…
to make a definition for Global
Warming
 Dingbats / Say what you see
 
Name that tune!
Play students a themed song and
they have to transcribe the lyrics.
Can then use this for discussion of
media, expression, identify, politics,
language etc.
Homework Peer Assessment
 
e.g.
Students asked to swap homework
(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.
Instructions
e.g.
Ask students to write intricate
instructions for a specific task.
Pupil as Teacher A-Z
 
e.g. e.g.
One (or more?) pupil is the teacher. Write down a key / related word for
our topic area for as many letters of
They have to summarize the last the alphabet as you can.
lesson(s) and question the class on
what was studied.
Ridiculous Arguments What If?
Teach the language of argument by - What if no one was
getting students to justify the responsible?
ridiculous, such as ‘Five year olds - What if there was no laws?
should be allowed to drive a car’ - What if everyone stopped
paying taxes?
- What if all journalists were
anonymous?
- What if citizenship didn’t exist?
- What if school only opened at
night?
- What if you were invisible for a
day?
What’s being said?
Or What’s being thought?
 
e.g.
Choose a picture and ask students
what might be being said or
thought.
Scenario
Set students a scenario (perhaps
covering similar group to the
lesson) and ask them to respond in
some way…
e.g. Human rights have been
suspended by the British
Government. Politicians have given
party members license to judge
what is right and what is wrong.
How would this make you feel?
What would you do?
 Get Creative
Cloak, Sled, Tourist, Machine, Fuse
- Show how each of these
random words might influence
the other words in some way.
- Explain the influence
From Edward De Bono’s ‘How to
Have Creative Ideas’.
www.edwarddebono.com
Uptown Top Ranking Taboo Have I Got News For You Mystery Bag
- Family Students have to describe a key Pound ‘buying less than a ______’. Take a bag into the classroom that
- Life word without using that word contains an object which has a
- Safety (it is taboo!). No ________ for TV Strictly voters. connection to the lesson.
- Movement
- Religion ______thrown at Bush on Iraq trip. Pass it around and let the students
feel the object inside the bag.
Rank these human right in order of
importance. Be prepared to justify
your answer. (Adaptable to all
sorts)

True or False
 
True ……………………...... or is it False!
Could do with material students
have already covered, or with
material they are about to cover.
Just a Minute
One pupil starts to speak about a
topic. At the first repetition, pause
or mistake another takes over –
and so on until the minute is up.
What’s the Story?
 
Give pupils cards with words or
pictures on and ask them to
sequence this to tell a story (or
could put words / pictures on
board).
Continuum
 
Make a continuum in the room
with strongly for and strongly
against at either end. As students
come in tell them the proposition
and that they must justify the
position on the continuum they
choose.
Have I seen you somewhere
before?
 
Give students key word card sort
and ask them to place in piles of
- I know you
- I think I’ve seen you somewhere
before
- We’ve never met!