Presentation task

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.

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10 questions

A lesson starter

A volunteer (either a student or class teacher) is given a slip of paper so they know 'what they are'.

The rest of the class can ask up to a maximum of 10 questions to guess what they are. The volunteer can only answer 'yes' or 'no'

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topics

intro.

Sort a sentence task

Lesson starter

Students work in pairs to reconstruct a cut up sentence about this topic.

Requires preparation before the lesson.

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Acting up

A fun starter activity.

Students are given a character card. They then have to explain a term related to this topic whilst staying in character.

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topics

character cards

30 seconds

Lesson starter

Students are shown a number of terms for exactly 30 seconds. They need to memorise as many as possible. After 30 seconds, the terms are hidden and they need to write down as many terms as they can remember along with at least one fact about that term.

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Scrabble

Starter task

Students are given a blank scrabble type sheet and take it in turns to write down key words related to this topic

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Teach me about

Lesson starter

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Give me ten

A starter or plenary task

Students work in pairs to come up with ten words related to this project before joining up with another pair to expand their list.

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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

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Draw me a picture

Students are given a selection of key terms and are asked to illustrate one of them in a diagram.

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Lucky dip questions

Starter or plenary task

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.

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Running

Starter or plenary

A set of terms or statements are shown on the screen. Students have to decide whether they are related to hardware or software and run to the correct side of the room. Any students which get it wrong are 'out'

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wall cards

One, Two, Three

Can be used either as a starter or a plenary task.

Students are given a sheet to complete firstly on their own, then with a partner and then joining up with another pair

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Three facts

Starter or plenary

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

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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

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Teacher talkabout

Starter or plenary task

The class 'test' the teacher on their knowledge of key words related to this topic

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What if ...?

A starter or plenary task.

Students are asked to write down all of the words they associate with this topic. They then work with a partner to categorise them.

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Word association

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

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Taboo

This plenary follows the theme of the traditional Taboo game. Students work in teams with one student from each team having their back to the board. A word is displayed on the board and teams take it in turns to describe the word to the student without actually mentioning the word itself.

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4-4-2

A plenary activity where students are asked to summarise the lesson and pick out the main key words related to the topic.

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Corkboard

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

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I predict

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

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Lesson summary

This plenary provides students with an opportunity to evaluate the lesson and their learning and an AFL opportunity for the teacher.

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Pyramid

A plenary activity.

Students are asked to complete a self assessment sheet to indicate what they have learned during this lesson

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Text me

A plenary activity where students are asked to write a text message to explain what they have learned during the lesson

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Mastermind

A plenary activity which is loosely based on the game show 'Mastermind'

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Theory Notes Task

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

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answers

In the style of ....

A fantastic kinaesthetic activity which is bound to produce some amusing results whilst at the same time reinforcing the main concepts of this topic.

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Construct an answer

Students are given an exam style question to answer. They are also given a set of key words to incorporate into their answer.

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Crossword clues

Students are given a completed crossword and asked to write the clues.  This task is an excellent way to help students really understand the meaning of each term.
Differentiation is achieved through the complexity of the clues written.

Students can swap clues and provide feedback on their clarity.

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100 words

Students have exactly 100 words to summarise the key points about this topic

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Identify the question

Students are shown the answer to a set of questions. They have to identify what the question might have been in order to arrive at the given answer.

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Key terms

Students are asked to provide a definition and example for key terms related to this topic

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Matching statements

On the left-hand side is a set of terms.  On the right-hand side is a set of statements or definitions.  Students are asked to draw a line to matchup the correct term and statement.

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answers

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.

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Mnemonic

Students often find it hard to remember long lists of items. A mnemonic is a rhyme or acronym that they can create to help them recall such a list.

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Presentation task

Students can take forever to set up a presentation often wasting valuable lesson time choosing their background colours and font styles.

This resource provides students with a template for this topic with the aim on them spending time on the content rather than the 'pretty stuff'.

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Identify which is hardware or software

Students are given a list of items and have to decide which of the items are hardware and which are software

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answers

Fill-in-the-gaps task

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.

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answers

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.

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answers

Exam style questions

Students are given a set of questions which are similar to those they might expect to see in their GCSE written examination.

A good opportunity to give students practice on question answering technique.

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answers

Podcast

Students are given instructions about creating a revision podcast based on this topic

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Word cloud

Students write a set of notes about this topic and then use them as the basis to create a word cloud. Their work can be used to create a classroom display.

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You are the teacher

Students work in small groups to prepare a lesson on this topic. They are provided with information and tips about the tasks they need to prepare.

Because all students will be working on this task there is no real need for them to actually teach it the following lesson

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