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: What’s the Question?

    Write a selection of answers on the board – students then think of questions which lead to those answers. There can be many different questions that lead to each answer. Example Answers: 1. Fossil Fuel 2. The Sun 3. Coal … Continue reading →

  • Main: Debate

    Debates always sound like a good idea but it’s a real challenge to run a debate successfully. I haven’t cracked it yet, so if anyone has any top tips for a debating framework or set of rules they use, add … 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.