Random Lesson Planner

This page should give you a random starter, main and plenary idea for a lesson. Most of the activities require minimal preparation, and whilst the examples I give are usually science related, the majority can be used in all subjects.
  • Starter: Tedious Link

    This is an adaptation of “Dave’s Tedious Link” from the Chris Moyles Show (watch this video if you, like me, don’t actually listen to Radio 1). The idea is for the kids to link together two things in the maximum … Continue reading →

  • Main: Picture From Memory

    This activity is a more interesting way of learning labelled diagrams, like these plant and animal cells: Print out one copy of the diagram and enlarge it to A3. Put students into groups of around four and give each group … Continue reading →

  • Plenary: Continuum

    A nice way to end a lesson dealing with open/opinion based questions like “do aliens exist?” or “should 16-year-olds get the vote?” Write two opposite statements on pieces of paper – e.g. “aliens definitely exist” and “aliens definitely do not … Continue reading →

To get a new set of ideas just refresh the page, or you can browse through all the starters, mains and plenaries individually. I'd be very grateful for more activity suggestions - if you have an idea you'd like to share please email it to random@mrgravell.com and I'll put it in the database.