Category Archives: Plenary
Plenary Dice
Or, more accurately, Plenary Die (there’s only one). Write a list of six questions/tasks like: Say one thing you have learned today. What would you like to know more about in this topic? Ask a student a question about today’s … Continue reading
Charades
Another simple activity – prepare a list of cards with key words on. Students come up one at a time and try to act them out without talking. The first student to guess correctly comes up to do the next … Continue reading
Pictionary
Very little explanation needed – just make a stack of cards with key words on, and get students to come up to the front and try to draw them on the board. The first student to guess correctly then comes … Continue reading
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
Quiz
Very simple way to start or end a lesson. Prepare five to ten quiz questions (or just make them up on the spot) and read them out for the students to answer, either on rough paper or in the backs … Continue reading
The Hotseat
A simple plenary with no preparation required. Give students a few minutes to think up questions based on what they have learned – they can write these down if they like (otherwise they’re liable to forget them). Then get one … Continue reading
Taboo
This requires a bit of prep, but it shouldn’t take long. Taboo belongs in the family of games that includes Pictionary and Charades – where the class has to guess what a student is trying to get across. With Taboo … Continue reading
Splat!
This is a really simple plenary that takes no time to prepare – just write a load of keywords on a big whiteboard at the end of the lesson. Two students come up and stand in front of the board … Continue reading
Blockbusters
This activity requires a small amount of advance preparation but it’s worth it. It’s based on the old TV game show with the same name. Split the class into two teams and choose one member of each team to come … Continue reading
Plenary Circle
This is a simple way to finish off a lesson. Arrange lots of keywords around a circle on the board, and ask students to try to create sentences that link those keywords together. If you have an interactive whiteboard you … Continue reading
Mini Whiteboards
Mini whiteboards are pretty useful at any point in a lesson to check what the kids have learned. In case you haven’t heard of them, they’re small whiteboards that come with a whiteboard pen and an eraser, usually in a … Continue reading