Successful Lesson Starters and Plenaries in ICT.

Fresh from the key stage 3 launch, three part lessons every lesson from no on. This should help to limit the amount of time asted at the !eginning of a lesson as pupils ho arrive promptly ill have an activity to complete hilst others arrive. Starters can help to provide a clear, focussed !eginning to any lesson and allo pupils to " arm up" !efore the main !ody of the lesson !egins. So here do I start in gathering together some ideas to make the start of lessons fun and stimulating and get learning off to a head start.

#hat are the features of a good lesson starter activity$

overall emphasis is on active learning and interaction a range of teaching strategies is employed, including alternatives to 'uestioning a range of learning styles is included, so that pupils have the opportunity to ork alone and to learn from(support one another

teaching of ord level o!)ectives includes !oth kno ledge and strategies opportunities are !uilt in for revision and consolidation as ell as ne learning e*pectations for all pupils need to !e high enough to provide sufficient challenge for all a!ilities

content needs to !e at an appropriate level of challenge for all pupils to e*perience success

transfer of learning to pupils+ independent reading and riting is an underlying principle.

Progression
pupils+ current kno ledge !ase is taken into account

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

here a lesson starter does not lead straight into the main part of the lesson that follo s, its content should !e directly linked to pupils+ needs or to ork in another lesson soon after ards

successive lesson starters can take account of progression in pupils+ learning successive lesson starters !uild on hat has !een taught previously and sometimes prepare the ground ork for ne learning in future lessons.

Practice
independent(investigative ork is !alanced ith direct teaching classroom ethos should provide a safe and supportive talk environment to encourage all pupils to participate in the oral ork that is a key feature of lesson starters activities allo pupils to ork as groups, pairs and individuals sessions need to !e fast,paced -though not necessarily delivered at high speed. classroom organisation has to !e considered/ fle*i!le seating arrangements, lines of eye,contact, space for groups to ork resources need to !e planned(prepared in advance to ensure availa!ility.

#hat are the features of a good lesson plenary$ These should take place in the concluding part of the lesson and should !e far more than a logging off, indeed it should !e )ust as dynamic as the starter. & good plenary should help pupils reflect upon the lesson and should !e a chance for the to consider the progress they have made. It should dra out of them and highlight the key learning points0 facts, ideas and voca!ulary. 1et ting pupils to think a!out here they might apply the ne ideas. It should also get pupils to look for ard to the ne*t stage of learning and anticipate hat the ne*t steps might !e. 2ome ork should !e set hich consolidates or applies hat they have leaned or prepare for the ne*t lesson.

Some ideas.
& good lesson starter ill ensure that every pupil is engaged, !e interesting and re'uired the pupils to ork in a variety of roles0 as an independent individual, as a mem!er of a

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

small team and ith the hole class. 3irect teacher intervention should !e kept to a minimum perhaps focusing on an individual or small group of students. &!ove all !elieve that starters should !e fun and set the positive tone for the remainder of the lesson. 4ost of the activities here ill re'uire pupils to move around the lesson and involve some sort of game. &!ove all provide a !oost to motivation, confidence, and get students thinking. Students gain confidence from achieving success early in the lesson, and activities cater for all types of learners/ kinaesthetic, aural or visual. &s the ma)ority of starters are loosely !ased upon games there is the inevita!le element of competition.

The Ideas 56ust ideas at this stage

True / False &ctivity/ 1ive each student a red, yello and green card. &sk 'uestions related to the topic you+re a!out to teach or have already taught. If they agree ith the statement they hold up the 1reen card, if they disagree they hold up the red card and if they+re not sure they hold up the yello card. &im/ To introduce a topic and gauge pupils+ understanding to help inform teaching. To see ho ell pupils have understood a topic. To involve every student in the class. To !e used as a pre, cursor to a discussion !ased topic involving opinions. 7,3 minutes.

Time/

Chat Room &ctivity/ 8se a chat room to ask a 'uestion. 9ou can then clearly identify ho is first to ans er correctly and re ard accordingly. It is !est to use a chat room you have control over, eg schoolmaster.net &im/ To involve every student in the class in providing an ans er and to encourage them to !e +on the !all+ right from the start. Can also !e used as part of teaching students a!out chat rooms.

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

Time/ :,; minutes includes loading up the chat room and logging on etc How Many? &ctivity/ 1ive the students a topic , eg #ord Processor, Input 3evices, Storage 3evices etc. In groups of 7 or 3 students should list as many of . . . . . as possi!le. <g/ List as many storage devices as you can, list as many features of a #ord Processor as you can. &im/ To introduce a topic and gauge pupils+ understanding to help inform teaching. To see ho ell pupils have understood a topic. For students to learn from their peers in their groups. 7,= minutes.

Time/

Missing Words &ctivity/ Provide a set of sentences. Students are e*pected to fill in the missing gaps. 9ou decide hether or not to provide them ith the ords. &im/ To introduce a topic and gauge pupils+ understanding to help inform teaching. To see ho ell pupils have understood a topic. Fits in nicely ith Literacy 7,> minutes.

Time/

White Board Lists &ctivity/ Put 3 or = titles across the top of the #hite!oard. Provide students each ith a different picture or ord and ask them to put the picture ( ord under the appropriate category using !lue,tac. For e*ample, put Input 3evices, ?utput 3evices and Storage 3evices on the !oard and give the students pictures of different devices. &im/ To involve every student in the class. This can !e used to help inform teaching or as an introduction to or plenary for a topic. 7,= minutes.

Time/

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

Computerised Quiz &ctivity/ Provide the students ith an on,line 'ui@. There are lots of pre, ritten 'ui@@es out there like the 1CS< ICT Companion from .cedar.u,net.com or you can make 'ui@@es using free soft are like %uestion Tools from http/(( .'uestiontools.com( &im/ To introduce a topic and gauge pupils+ understanding to help inform teaching. To see ho ell pupils have understood a topic. To test students. 7,AB minutes.

Time/

ppropriate Clipart &ctivity/ Cead out a setting -eg 1ardener+s De sletter.. Students should find an appropriate piece of clipart for that situation. &im/ To develop students+ thinking a!out ho to present information appropriately for an audience. :,; minutes.

Time/

Today we ha!e learned " " " &ctivity/ Start the class ith a sentence "Today e have learned . . .". <ach student has to come up ith one ord at a time. &im/ To involve every student in the activity. To check pupils have understood a topic. For students to ork together. 7,= minutes.

Time/

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

Hot #eat &ctivity/ <ither a student or the teacher or a panel of students is placed in the +hot seat+. <veryone has to ask a 'uestion to the person in the hot seat a!out the topic they have )ust learned. &im/ For students to think a!out hat they have learned !y challenging someone else. For students to try and +catch out+ the teacher !y asking complicated 'uestions and at the same time developing their thinking skills. 3,> minutes.

Time/

$ominoes &ctivity/ 8se pieces of card split into 7 halves. The first half has a +solution+ and the second half has a +'uestion+/

&DS#<C

%8<STI?D

Start ith any student in the class ho ill read out their 'uestion. The person ith the ans er should read out the ans er and then ask the ne*t 'uestion and so on. For e*ample/

Cecord

#hat is a set of information a!out a single person, thing, place or event called$

This can !e modified to have pictures as either the 'uestion or the solution. &im/ To involve every student in paying attention to every 'uestion in case they have the ans er. To see ho ell students have understood a topic. To re,cap on a topic taught previously. :,; minutes.

Time/

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

%$& White'oards &ctivity/ <ach student should use their monitor as a + hite!oard+ to ans er a 'uestion. The teacher ill ask a 'uestion and every student should use a large font si@e to ans er the 'uestion on their screen. This is only useful if the teacher can see every screen. It also saves on handing out hite!oards and pens to every student. &im/ To involve every single student in ans ering the 'uestion. For the teacher to identify ho ell the class or individual students have understood the ork.

Time/ 7,: minutes. Typing test daft and short !ut ok for a one off http/(( .alsagerschool.co.uk(typingtest.htm

Colle(t a )amily o) (ards &ctivity/ <ach student is given a set of cards 5 any amount. They then have to collect according to a given set of criteria such as collect > cards hich sho all the parts of a computer. They do this !y passing one card onto their neigh!our and receiving one from the neigh!our on the other side. The inner is the first one to collect the correct hand. &im/ To involve every single student in the activity and to familiarise pupils ith appropriate terms and concepts

Time/ :,AB minutes. Colle(t an (ronym

Same game !ut it is the first pupil to collect a ell kno n computing acronym and then e*plain hat each of the letters mean(stands for.

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

&im/ To involve every single student in the activity and to familiarise pupils ith appropriate terms and concepts. Place key ICT historical event s in order. This can !e done as document on the computer of ith cards ord

Euild the highest spec machine you can. Pupils pass cards hoping to o!tain the highest spec monitor, C&4, 2ard disk space possi!le etc. Trading each card one at a time. The inners are the group ith the !est spec in each category. 7B 'uestions. Pupils take their turn in asking me hat computing term I am thinking of. The inner is the one ho guesses the ord. 9ou can make this easier !y telling them it is a ord from your ord all of related to the topic you are studying. 2angman 5 speaks for itself 3ivide up the class games e.g. Pupils are allocated a card ith a piece of hard are ?C soft are they have to move to the !ack of the room if hard are frond of the room if soft are. Pick a pair game , class childrenFs game here each pupils has to match up a pair of any description !y lifting )ust 7 cards at a time. This could !e played as a hole class ith very large cards and !lue tack(grid on the !oard ?C in small groups. 9ou can make it easy !y matching up sym!ols ith sym!ols or much harder matching up definition. Computer Eingo. <ach pupil is given a !ingo card containing AB marginally different key ords relating to the topic they are studying. The teacher uses a rnd e*cel command and a look up ta!le to generate a ord. #hich is then marked off A= of the cards. ?ne pairs card ill not contain each of the ords. #ell you kno ho the inner isG Teacher plans 7 Po erPoint presentation, hich are displayed to the pupils on the hite !oard. ?ne of these presentations contains a definition and the other contains a picture or key ord. &ll the slides are num!ered the pupils need to atch the slides intently and decide hich num!ered slides go ith hich definition as the t o presentations ork randomly through each of the slides.

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

http://www.ictgcse.org.uk/ &damFs animations for email, net orks, control technology, data,logging.

2appy startingG

taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

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taken from : http://www.swanshurst.org/

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