Lesson Builder

Lesson Builder

Engage

StarterActivities

Plenary

Progress

Good lessons are a blend of effectively planned and delivered elements

Lesson BuilderWe can facilitate consistently good lessons through effective planning

Stimuli for Lesson Builder Intended Use

Inconsistent lesson quality

Lack of planning time

Lack of ideas

Decentralised ideas

The aim of the lesson builder is to provide the framework for the lesson. The

framework precedes the impact of subject knowledge and individual teaching flair.

The hope is that it will reduce planning time whilst ensuring that every lesson has

a collection of high quality elements.

Elements are not subject specific and so may vary in their suitability

Elements should be varied so as not to reduce student engagement

I hope it proves useful

Lesson BuilderWe can facilitate consistently good lessons through effective planning

How to use the Lesson Builder

Select the lesson element you wish to investigate

1Select the individual activity

you are interested in

2Add the activity into your

lesson plan

3

Lesson Builder

Engage Students should have an activity / stimulus to engage with on entry to the classroom

Engage activities should be:

• Planned

• Reflective

• 2 – 5 mins max

• Used to manage staggered arrival

• Used during admin tasks (register)

• Regular so as to establish routine

Thunk

Engage

Picture paints a ….. Anagrams

Brain Storm Question Time What’s the question?

Picture it Brain Teaser Optical Illusions

Controversial Progress SP Human Dictionary

Puzzle Time Fortune Teller Connect 4

Thunk

Thunks are simple

looking questions that

require students to

think deeply and look

at things differently.

What colour is Monday?

When is a car parked?

Is coloured paper blank??Search “Thunks” on the internet for examples

Picture paints a ……

Put an image on the

board for the students

to engage with. The

image should be

relevant and thought-

provoking

Anagrams

Make the key words

of the lesson into

anagrams for the

students to decipher

as they arrive

RISHC

KRBAE

Brain Storm

Provide the students

with a key word or

topic and get them to

brainstorm everything

they currently know

about it

Fractions

Question Time

Place a key word, topic

pic or statement on

the board and get

the students to create

questions to ask you

in order to find out more

? ? ? ? ? ?

What’s the question?

Provide students

with the answer to

a question and get

them to try and guess

what the question

may be

Shakespeare

………………?

Q

Answer

Picture it

Place a key word

on the board and then

get students to draw

a picture to represent

that word

Brain Teaser

Give your students

a brain teaser to

think about and

complete as they

arrive

Search “brain teasers” on the internet for examples

Optical Illusion

Put an optical

illusion in the board

for your students

to engage with as

they arrive

Search “optical illusions” on the internet for examples

Controversial

Put a controversial

statement on the

board for your

students to argue

against or support

shouldbe un-blockedin all schools!

Progress SP

Get students to

self –assess their

understanding / ability

re the lesson topic to

provide a starting point

for showing progress

Photosyn

thesis

Human Dictionary

Place key words on the

board and get the

students to try and

produce dictionary

definitions for them

PowerThe combination

of strengthand speed

=

Puzzle Time

Produce topic- or

lesson-specific

puzzles for your

students to complete

Wordsearch

Crossword

Double Puzzle

Search “Puzzle Generator” on the internet for examples

Fortune Teller

Get the students to

try and guess what

the focus and the

objectives of the lesson

will be based on the

previous lesson

Connect 4

Place 4 pictures on

the board and

challenge the students

to identify the link

between them

Starter Lessons should begin with an engaging activity that either sets the scene or recaps previous learning

Starters should be:

• Planned

• Active

• 5 – 10 mins max

• Provide challenge

• Used to establish pace

• Accessible to all students

• Clearly communicated

Recall Continuum Movie Time

Just a Minute Articulate Odd One Out

True or False Spot the Mistake What am I

Memory Game Hide & Reveal Catch Phrase

Follow On Splat Write Next

Starter

Recall

Pull ten items, words

or images from a bag

one by one. Return

them to the bag

and then students

must remember as

many as possible

?

Continuum

Place a statement on

the board and get

students to arrange

themselves on a

continuum

according to their

point of view

Agree

Disagr

ee

Movie Time

Use a video clip to

either recap on the

previous lesson or

to introduce the

current lesson

Just a Minute

Challenge your

students to speak

for a minute on a

previous / current

topic without

pausing or hesitating

Articulate

Provide students with

key words / vocab. In

groups they must

describe the word

without actually

saying it

Picasso

Odd One Out

Show the students a

list of items / words

and get them to

identify the odd one

out and explain why

VertRougeAzul

True or False

Show the students

a series of statements

and get them to guess

whether they are

true or false

Spot the Mistake

Show the students

a passage of text or

an image and get them

to identify the

deliberate mistakes

What am I?

Students are given

post-it notes with a

person / object on it.

Students stick the

note on their head and

must ask questions to

find out what they are

?

Memory Game

Students are

challenged to write

down / remember

as many things from

the previous lesson

as possible

1.2.3.4.

Hide & Reveal

Show the students

part of an image or

piece of text. Get them

to anticipate what

is coming next as you

slowly reveal more

Catch Phrase

Create or draw

catchphrase-

style images that

describe words / topics

Follow On

Start the students

off with a explanation

or statement. Each

student must then add

something before

passing it on

Hitler was German …..

He was born 1889…….

And was the leader of The Nazi party …..

Splat

Write the answers to

questions on the board.

In pairs students stand

at the board and ‘splat’

the correct answer with

their hands as each

question is asked

?

Write Next

Start writing a

sentence on the board.

Students must guess

what you are going to

write next as soon as

possible

Assessment should occur regularly during a lesson with clear purpose and impact

Assessments should be:

• Planned

• Regular

• Formative & summative

• Engaging

• Purposeful

• Used to impact future learning

Questions Beat the Teacher Peer Question

Pictionary Freeze Frame Bingo

Swap it Student Teacher What if

Three Things Twitter Just a Minute

Police Interview Dominoes Word Bounce

1 2 3

Knowledge Web Summarise Cross - Curricular

Question Box 2 minds ….. Storyboard

Which Pic Hot Seat Brain Fill

X Factor VAK Word Fill

Alien vs Baby Headlines Text Message

1 2 3

Message in a bottle Neighbours Time Travel

Wrong Answer Multiple Choice The Real World

Continuum Acrostic Poem Voice Over

Silent Partner Student HW Answer Wall

Road Blocks Awards Diner Postcard Home

1 2 3

Questions

Ask questions about

the lesson content

so far. Use Bloom’s

question stems to

facilitate higher

order thinking

?

Beat the Teacher

Get the students

to produce questions

to try and catch you

out

??

??

?

Peer Question

Get students to

produce questions

to try and catch

each other out

??

? ??

?

Pictionary

Get students to

draw images on the

board to describe

a key word, topic

or concept. The rest

of the class must guess

what it is

Freeze Frame

Freeze the lesson

and get individual

students to describe

what they are learning

or what they have

learnt in the past 5 mins

Bingo

Create bingo cards

using key words.

Provide the

corresponding

descriptions with the

winner being the first to

a full house

Swap It

Get students to

swap pieces of work

and carry out some

peer assessment

Student Teacher

Request a volunteer

student to come to

the front of the class

and recap the previous

section of the lesson

to the rest of the

students

What if…

Challenge the students

to answer what if

questions:

What if you had never learned this today?

What if everything you learned today was false?

What if ……………..?

?

Three Things

Get your students

to provide 3 things:

-they found easy

-they found difficult

-they learned

-they want to know

more about

333

Twitter

Get the students to

see if they can

summarise their

learning in twitter

-style chunks -

140 Characters

Just a Minute

Challenge your

students to speak

for a minute on a

previous / current

topic for 1 min without

pausing or hesitating

Police Interview

Get the students to

work in pairs with one

pretending to be a

police interviewer.

Find out what the other

has learnt as soon as

possible

Dominoes

Create a set of

of dominoes related

to a topic. Get students

to connect the

dominoes by finding

the matching terms

Word Bounce

In two teams students

name key words for

the opposing team

to guess the definition

of or provide info on

Simile

Knowledge Web

Write key words or

topics on the board.

Get the students to

draw connecting

arrows and explain

why the connection

exists

Radius

BoneBicep

Skull

Summarise

Get students to

summarise their

learning in smaller

and smaller sections

Paragraph – Sentence – Key word

Cross - Curricular

Ask your students

to think of ways in

which what you

have been learning

could be used in a

different subject area

Question Box

Get your students

to think of questions

they currently have

about a topic and

place them in a box.

Students then pick one out

and see if they can help

?

2 minds …..

Get the students to

create mind maps

of their learning.

Get them to swap with

another student and

add any extra info they

can think of

Storyboard

Get the students to

create a comic strip

storyboard describing

their learning so far

Which Pic

Present the students

with a series of

pictures and ask them

which one best

describes their

feelings / learning / progress

and why!

Hot Seat

Request a volunteer

to come to the front

of the class and sit in

the HOT seat. The rest

of the class then get to

ask them questions about

the lesson

Brain fill

Give the students

outlines of the brain

and ask them to fill

it with pictures & words

to describe what they

learnt

X Factor

Get the students to

create a song about

the topic / lesson

which describes the

key points. Get the

brave students to perform

VAK

Get the students to

describe what they

have learnt during the

lesson through their

-eyes-ears-body

Word Fill

Create a passage of

text with key words

missing. The students

must guess the words

and complete the text

as soon as possible

The femur is also known As the ______ bone.

The knee cap or _______Is joined by the tibia

And _______ to make up the lower leg.

Alien vs Baby

Challenge your students

to explain a topic

or keyword to a either

a baby or an alien.

They will need to

adapt their description

to suit the audience

Headlines

Get the students to

pretend they are

working for a

newspaper. Ask them

to decide what the

headlines of the lesson

would be

Text Message

Get the students to

mock up a text message

that they would send to

a friend summarising

their learning in the

lesson.Insist on text speak

Message in a bottle

Get the students to

write a letter to a

future student

explaining a topic or

keyword

Neighbours

Get the students

to turn to their

neighbours and tell

them 3 things they

have learned in the

lesson. If time permits

share again or with class

Time Travel

Get students to predict

what is going to

happen:-in the next activity

-in the next lesson

-in the next term

due to the previous learning

Wrong Answer

Provide the students

with a question and

a series of answers one

of which is wrong.

Students must identify

the wrong answer

and explain why

Answer 1

Answer 2

Answer 3

Multiple Choice

Get students to create

multiple choice

questions related to

the lesson. Get them

to swap their Qs with

another student

The Real World

Ask the students to

explain how

what they have

learned could have

an impact in the

“Real World”

Continuum

Put a statement on the

board and ask students

to arrange themselves

along a continuum

according to their

opinion. Get them to

justify their position

Agree

Disagr

ee

Acrostic poem

Challenge the students

to create an acrostic

poem summarising

the lesson’s learning

or its key words

Voice Over

Show a video

Draw a diagram

Do a demonstration

And get a student to

provide the voice over

Silent Partner

Provide students with

questions and answers

on paper / post-it notes.

Students must silently

find the student with

the corresponding

question or answer

Student HW

Get the students to

create their own

homework. It may be

catch up or extension

work. Select students

to share with the class.

Answer Wall

Put question

answers on the walls

in your classroom.

Pose the question and

challenge a student

to identify or retrieve

the correct answer

Road Blocks

Get the students to

describe the things

that have blocked their

learning and how

they have overcome

them and how they will

avoid them in the future

Awards Dinner

Get a student to

nominate another

student for an award

and explain whyBest learner

Most progress

Most helpful

Most creative

Postcard Home

Provide students with

a postcard template

and ask them to write

a postcard home

explaining what they

have learned

Lesson activities and tasks should be used to bring content to life and enable students to fully engage in the lesson

Lesson activities should be:

• Planned

• Challenging

• Productive

• Engaging

• Impactful

Engagement Pyramid

News Report Bits & Pieces Mind Map

Chinese Whispers Puzzling Storyboard

Celebrities Spot the Difference Card Sort

Missing Word Spot the Mistake Debate

Info Hunt Role Play Articulate

1 2 32

Teleprompter Components Role Reversal

Jeopardy Sequence Share Recreate

Odd one Out Pictionary Envoying

Memory Game Question Evolution Carousel

Silent Review Key Word Hunt Dominoes

1 2 31

Bingo Argument Line up Back and forth

Art Attack Coaching Snowball Fight

Decision Alley

1 2 31

News Report

Get the students to

create and perform

a news report on a

specific topic. They will

need to find the headlines

to share with the class

Bits & Pieces

Drip feed bits

of information to the

students and challenge

them to guess the

meaning as soon as

possible

Mind Map

Get the students to

create a colourful

image rich mind map

to summarise a topic.

Great for revision or

collaboration

Chinese Whispers

Give students key

statements and ask

them to pass them on.

Challenge them to keep

the message as original

as possible

Puzzling

Google “puzzle maker”

and use the website

to create a wide

variety of puzzles.

It is also great to get students

to create their own

Storyboard

Get the students to

create a storyboard

and tell a story about

a topic. Great for

sequences, processes, etc.

Celebrities

Get the students to

present information

about a topic like

a well know celebrity.

Encourage them to use

their mannerisms,

catchphrases etc.

Spot the Difference

Give the students

two images, pieces

of text etc. with key

differences and

get them to spot

them

Card Sort

Get the students to

organise information

into categories and

key groups using

pre-prepared cards

Missing Word

Give the students

passages of text with

missing words which

must be replaced.

You can add support by

providing possible words

Spot the Mistake

Give the students

a passage of text, image

with a pre-determined

mistake (S) which they

have to find

Your the

best

Debate

Get the students

to have a debate

about a topic,

statement etc.

Info Hunt

Distribute pieces of

information around

the room, school and

get students to hunt

for them in order to

complete a task

Role Play

Get the students to

create a short play,

piece of drama to

summarise a topic

Articulate

Get students to

describe a key word

without using the

actual word itself

Blood Cell

Teleprompter

Get students to

create a script that

they could use to

explain a topic.

Google “cueprompter”

and get students to use

the tool to present their speech

Components

Give groups of students

small pieces of

information linked to

a task. Challenge them

to work together to

put the components

together and complete the task

Role Reversal

Give students or

groups a topic

and then give them time

to research / prepare.

Then get them to teach

the rest of the class

Jeopardy

Flip the traditional

questioning model

by providing the

answer and then get

them to guess what the

question could be

Sequence Share

Split the steps of a

sequence or passage

of text into pieces

and challenge

the students to

work together to put it

back in the correct order

Recreate

Provide students

with an exemplar

and then get them

to recreate it. Stretch

them by asking them to

make improvements

Odd one out

Provide students

with a group of

items and ask them to

identify the odd

one(s) out.

Images, keywords

Pictionary

Challenge students

to describe

key words by drawing

images

Envoying

Create group tasks

and at key points

ask groups to send

an envoy out to the

other groups to gather

/ share additional info

Memory Game

Show students a

collection of words

images, artifacts linked

to a topic. Hide them

and challenge them

to remember as many

as possible

Question Evolution

Start a student off

with a simple topic

related question.

Challenge them to

create a more difficult

question and pass it onto

another student

Carousel

Set up stations of

information around

your classroom. Get

students to rotate

gathering more information

or completing tasks

Silent Review

Challenge students to

review a piece of work

in pairs without

speaking. Students

may only write

comments or questions

?

Key Word Hunt

Provide students

with a passage of

text and ask them

to highlight the key

words

Dominoes

Get students to link

knowledge by playing

bespoke sets of

dominoes. Stretch them

getting them to create

the domino sets

Bingo

Create bingo cards

using answers as

numbers. Ask a variety

of questions and students

must match the answer and

cross them off. First to a

full house wins

Argument Line up

Provide students with

a statement and ask

them to form a

continuum from agree

to disagree. Get opposites

to explain their reasons

Back and Forth

Give students info

relating to a topic and

then group them in pairs.

Students take it in turns

to recall a key piece of

information. The student

who recalls the most wins

Art Attack

Get students to

create a piece of art

to describe a

specific piece of

knowledge

Coaching

Pair students and make

one a coach. The coach

must provide

instructions for the

completion of a task.

The other student can not

communicate in any way

Snowball Fight

Get students to write a topic

related question on paper

and screw up into a snowball.

Allow students to have

a snowball fight. Get students

to pick up a snowball. Select students

to answer their questions

Decision Alley

Arrange students into

two lines facing each other.

One student is presented

with a problem and then

walks through the “alley”

whilst receiving advice from

the other students. At the end the

student must make a decision

Progress

Progress strategies should be:

• Planned

• Regular

• Low input – High impact

• Student Friendly

• Used to guide teaching / learning

Every student should leave the lesson knowing / understanding / being able to do more than they could before

Knowledge

Understanding

Skills

To Do List Mind Map Progress Wall

Progress Zone Post it Progress RAG Objectives

Progress Boxes Pair - Share Snap Shot

Objective line Question Board Progress Cards

Poll It Graph It Test - Retest

Progress

To Do List

Get the students to

create a To Do list

for the lesson. They

can then tick the tasks

off as they complete

them and show progress

1.2.3.4.5.

Mind Map

Get the students to

create a mind map

at the beginning of

the lesson.

Get them to add to it

at the end in a different

colour showing progress

Progress Wall

Create a progress

wall in your room.

Students place their

names on the wall

at the start of the

lesson and move them

to show progress

Progress Wall

Progress Zone

Create zones in your

classroom (Red, Amber, Green, Blooms, S.O.L.O)

Students move

between zones to

show progress

Post-it Progress

Students use post it

notes to record the

topics, tasks, words

that they are unsure of.

They cross them off during

the lesson to show progress

SumIf functionCount ifBorders

RAG Objectives

Get students to

rate themselves

against the objectives

or outcomes at the

beginning and

end of the lesson

to show progress

Progress Boxes

Create boxes

of varying levels(Red, Amber, Green, Blooms, S.O.L.O)

Students to assess

themselves by placing

their names in a box.

Students move their

names to show progress

JohnJohn

Pair - Share

Get students to tell

a partner what they

know about a topic.

Repeat it at the end of

the lesson to

show progress

Snap Shot

At various points

in the lesson

select students to

describe the amount

of progress they have

made and what

evidence they have

Objective Line

Place your objectives

or outcomes

on a line and get the

students to move

their names along as

they progress

To kn

ow th

e ord

er of

the p

lanet

s

Question Board

Get students to add

questions about a

topic to the board at

the start of the lesson.

Get them to take them

down / rub out

as they progress

QQ

QQ

Progress Cards

Give the students

cards of varying levels

(Red, Amber, Green, Blooms, S.O.L.O)

Get the students to

show the appropriate

card at key points in

the lesson to show progress

Poll It

Create and carry out

an online poll on

student knowledge

using sites such as

Polldaddy / Poll anywhere.

Repeat the poll to

show progress

Graph It

Get students to create

a blank graph of

Ability vs Time.

They then complete

the graph during the

lesson to show progress

Abili

ty

Time

Test - Retest

Give the students

a test or exam at

the start of the lesson

and then repeat the

same test / exam

at the end to

show progress