Classroom starters and plenaries: creative ideas for use across the curriculum

144 Pages·2009·1.11 MB·English

by  Kate Brown

Classroom Starters and Plenaries
AlsoavailablefromContinuum
HowGreenisYourClass?KateBrown
TheCitizenTeacher’sHandbookKateBrownandStephenFairbrass
Classroom Starters
and Plenaries
Creative ideas for use
across the curriculum
KATE BROWN
To Betty Anderson
and all those who keep learning
ContinuumInternationalPublishingGroup
TheTowerBuilding,11YorkRoad,London,SE17NX
80MaidenLane,Suite704,NewYork,NY10038
www.continuumbooks.com
©KateBrown2009
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmitted
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,
recording,oranyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpriorpermission
inwritingfromthepublishers.
KateBrownhasassertedherrightundertheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct,1988,
tobeidentifiedasAuthorofthiswork.
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ISBN: 9781847065452(paperback)
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Brown,KateJ.
Classroomstartersandplenaries:creativeideasforuseacrosstheclassroom/
KateBrown.
p.cm.
ISBN978-1-84706-545-2(pbk.)
1. Lessonplanning.2. Activityprogramsineducation.3. Motivationineducation.
I.Title.
LB1027.4.B762009
371.3028--dc22
2009004469
DesignedandtypesetbyKennethBurnley,Wirral,Cheshire
PrintedandboundinGreatBritainby
Contents
Aboutthisbook vii
Section1:Inyourownwords(orpictures)
Everythingyouknow 2
Listthreethings 4
Summarize... 6
Visuallyrepresent 8
Annotate 10
Mnemonics 12
Whatdoyousaytothat? 14
Section2:Questioning
Questions...withatwist 18
Questioning:ateamsport 22
Trueorfalse? 26
Whatwouldyouaskme? 28
Peerquestioning 30
Ifthisistheanswer,whatwasthequestion? 32
Any(other)questions? 34
Section3:Keywords
Writeyourowndictionarydefinition 38
Matchthekeywordwithitsdefinition 40
Keywordpelmanism 42
Keywordanagrams 44
Keywordacronyms 46
Crosswords 48
Wordsearches 52
Makeasentencewiththisword 54
WhatkeywordamI? 56
v
CONTENTS
Section4:Gameshow
Bingo 60
Justaminute 64
WhoWantstobeaMillionaire?™ 66
Pictionary™ 70
Rapidough 72
Blockbusters 74
Taboo™ 76
Mallett’sMallet 78
Dominoes 80
Section5:Figureitout
Mysteryobject 86
Sequenceit 88
Clozethis 90
Whathappensnext? 92
Oddwordout 94
Ranking 96
Spotthedifference 100
Sortthese 102
Finishthissentence 106
Analogies 108
Section6:Physical
Standontheline 112
Actthisout 114
Showme 116
Section7:Reflectonyourlearning
Trafficlights 120
Setatarget 122
Self-orpeermark 124
Toptips 128
Linkthelearning 130
vi
About this book
Why starters and plenaries?
Thefirstfewminutesofalessonarehugelyimportant.Inthatfiveortenminutes
studentscanbe‘switchedon’andhookedintothelesson,orglazeoverand‘zone
out’.Theycangetaclearideaofwhattoexpectfromthelessonandtheteacher,
or start the main activity confused. And they quickly get a sense of what you
expectfromthem.
The final few minutes of a lesson are equally crucial. Students can tie together
whattheyhavelearned,andconsiderhowitfitswithwhattheyalreadyknow,
ortheycanbeleftwithideas‘hanging’asthelessonfizzlesout.Theycanreflect
onhowtheydidinthelesson,andwhattheycoulddotoimprove,orleavenone
thewiserabouthowtomoveforwardnextlesson.
As a result, the activities that you plan for the start of the lesson – the starter –
andfortheendofthelesson–theplenary–areasimportantasthemainactiv-
ity of the lesson. Not only that, their contribution to good lesson planning is
recognized by the Department for Education and Skills, promoted through
documents and initiatives such as the Key Stage 3 National Strategy, in Ofsted
feedbackandinteachertrainingcourses.
What makes a good starter or plenary?
Goodstartersandgoodplenarieshavealotincommonwitheachother,andalso
a lot in common with any kind of good teaching activity. They incorporate
several,ifnotall,ofthefollowingfeatures:
• Clearaim.Theteachermustbeclearabouthowtheactivitywillcontributeto
students’ learning, and how this fits with the aims of the unit, scheme of
workand/orexamspecifications.
• Clearinstructions.Whilekeeping‘teachertalk’toaminimum,studentsneed
toknowwhattheywillbedoing.
• Engagement.Studentsareinterestedinandcuriousaboutthematerialorthe
styleoftheactivity.Theyaremotivatedforthecurrent,orfuture,lesson.
• Pace. Students start or finish their learning briskly, giving them (and the
teacher)asenseofthepaceatwhichtheyneedtooperate,asenseofpurpose
andofmovingforward.
• Participation.Theactivitiesshouldinvolveeverystudent,notjustthetwoor
threewhoalwaysputuptheirhandtoansweraquestion.
vii
ABOUT THIS BOOK
• Access. Activities where even the most basic elements or questions are
pitchedatthemoreablemembersofthegroupexcludestudents.Thewhole
classshouldbeabletoaccessthematerialandmaketheirowncontribution.
• Challenge. Students are encouraged to think for themselves and build on
what they know. Each student is challenged and stretched – so the activity
mustallowdifferentiatedoutcomes.
• Creativity. These short activities are a chance to try new things, explore a
topicinanunexpectedway,andtobeimaginativeandsometimesplayful.
• Variety. Activities do not follow a set, repetitive, pattern. They vary from
lesson to lesson, based on different stimuli, requiring different types of
responses, developing different skills, and using different teaching styles:
visual,auditory,kinaesthetic.
• Assessment for learning. Whether in the form of informal comments on stu-
dents’oralcontributions,answeringstudents’questionsorpeermarkingof
ashorttest,startersandplenariesoftenincludeopportunitiesfortheteacher
toassessthelearningoftheclassasawhole,orofindividualstudents.The
information gained by the teacher about student progress can help inform
thestyle,paceandcontentofsubsequentteaching;andstudentscandevelop
theirunderstandingthroughthefeedbacktheyreceive.
• Reflection.Studentshavetimetoconsiderhowtheirlearningfitsintoatopic,
how the topic is relevant to other subjects and their broader lives, and the
progresstheyhavemadeandcanmakeinthefuture.
The aim of this book
Of course, there is a lot more than effective starters and plenaries for the time-
pressedteachertoconsiderintheplanningofagoodlesson.Whatcanyoudoto
ensure smooth transitions between activities? What are the learning objectives
forthelesson?Howlongwilleachactivity/elementofthelessontake?Doyou
have all the resources and equipment that you need? Are there any behaviour
issuesyouneedtoconsider?
Inthemidstofallthat,itiseasytooverlookstartersandplenaries.Theycanbe
forgotten altogether in a flurry of uniform checks, register-taking, collecting
homework,settinghomework,packingawayandtidyingtheclassroom.Oryou
can easily get ‘stuck in a rut’, using the same few ideas repeatedly, and falling
backtoooftenonthequestion,‘So,whocantellmewhatwelearnedlastlesson?’
Therearetimeswhenastarterorplenaryactivityspecifictoasubjectandtailored
foraparticulartopiccomeseasilytohandandworksextremelywell.Thatmight
begettingstudentstophysicallyrepresentatomsinsolids,liquidsandgasesina
chemistry lesson, watching a news clip on the day of an earthquake in geog-
raphy,oranalysingasourceinhistory.Therearemanypre-constructedsubject-
specificstarterandplenaryactivitiestobuyorfindontheinternet.
viii
ABOUT THIS BOOK
However,itcanoftenbedifficulttofindanactivitythatexactlyfitsthestageofa
topic you have reached, the angle you have approached the material from, the
size of your group or the ability of your students. Simply ‘cutting and pasting’
such activities into your lesson can lead to unclear progression from previous
learning or to the main activity of the lesson, and confused students. You can
adaptsuchactivitiestofityourlesson,butsometimes,bythetimeyouhavedone
so,youmightaswellhavestartedfromscratch.
Thisbookoffersadifferentapproachtostartersandplenaries.Itoutlines50ideas
which can be used flexibly and easily by teachers to keep the start and end of
their lessons fresh, pacey and engaging. Rather than being content driven, they
areactivitybased:thedescriptionsprovidedonthesepagesfocusontheformat
andstyleoftheactivitiesthemselves.Theresultis50activity‘shells’,whichcan
be easily and quickly adapted for any lesson by ‘slotting in’ relevant subject-
specificcontent.Takenasawhole,thisbookaimstoprovideatoolkitforteach-
ers,asuiteoftoolswhichtheycanselectfromtostartandendanylesson,ordip
intowhentheyareinneedofinspiration.
How to use this book
Each double-page spread of this book outlines an activity that you can use for
a starter or plenary. The double-page layout overleaf guides you through the
format of each activity, and explains the key features and purpose of each
elementonthepage.
To help you navigate, the activities have been categorized into different groups
dependingontheirfocusorstyle,eachrepresentingadifferentsectionofthebook:
1 Inyourownwords(orpictures).Theseareactivitieswhichencouragestudents
to summarize, order, manipulate or illustrate their learning in their own
wordsorimages.
2 Questioning. Questioning is a hugely powerful and important tool in teach-
ing,andtheseactivitiesofferarangeofdifferentapproachestotheuseofthe
question.
3 Key words. This section contains activities which support students in defin-
ing,learningandusingkeywords.
4 Game show. Based on well-known television, radio or board games, these
activities use a familiar format and sense of competitiveness to engage
students.
5 Figureitout.Theseareactivitieswhichincludeamystery,puzzleorchallenge
thatstudentshavetounravelorcomplete.
6 Physical. Activities which incorporate movement – great activities for after
lunch,Fridayafternoonsandforkinaestheticlearners.
7 Reflectonyourlearning.Thisfinalsectioncontainsactivitieswhichencourage
students to reflect on the way in which they learn: what have they under-
stood,whathavetheydonewell,andhowcantheyimprove?
ix