What makes an effective plenary?
Plenaries, whether they happen during the lesson or the end should:
· Occur at a strategic moment in the teaching sequence
· Draw together the learning of the whole group and the individuals
· Summarise and take stock of learning so far
· Consolidate and extend learning
· Direct pupils to the next phase of learning
· Highlight not only what has been learned but also how it has been learned
· Help determine the next step of learning
Plenaries need to be planned as part of the planned learning episodes.
Plenaries should link carefully to the objectives, outcomes and success criteria of the lesson as a whole.
As with starters, active engaging, challenging and well planned/paced learning can be achieved in plenaries through:
· Carefully planned tasks
· Planned management and organisation of the lesson
· Use of appropriate interactive teaching skills
Planning the plenary activity
When planning the plenary activity, first consider its purpose – there are likely to be several in one lesson. Then choose a task that will involve all pupils in actively processing any relevant information from the lesson.
Finally consider the interactive teaching skills you need at your fingertips in order to shape and develop a successful plenary.
They can enable you to:
· Review the lesson objectives
· Be diagnostic-assessing both individual and collective learning as well as progress, in order to plan accordingly
· Recognise and value the achievement of individuals and the class
· Stimulate interest, curiosity and anticipation about the next phase of learning
They can enable your pupils to:
· Reflect on what they cover and assess their own progress
· Remember what has been learned
· Crystallise their thoughts about what has been learned
· Deepen and extend their learning
· See the big picture, putting what has been learned in the context of past and future learning
· Articulate and communicate their learning
· Gain a sense of achievement in the successful completion of a task/s
· Understand the progress made and revise or set new personal targets
· Consider how they learned and the learning strategies they used – in terms of both individual and group thinking processes
· Develop a language for discussing thinking and learning
· Consider how thinking and learning can be transferred to other contexts
· Perceive themselves as learners
55 Ideas for Plenaries
1. List 3 things you found out/learned today
2. List 3 things your neighbour has learned today
3. Summarise the character/scene/chapter in 5 bullet points
4. Summarise topic in 5 sentences – reduce to 5 words- reduce to one word
5. 60 seconds challenge – sum up knowledge of text, or write down all the words you can think of to describe…
6. Identify the key points of the lesson from anagrams
7. Break the code to identify 3 main points from today’s lesson (a+b, b+c)
8. Write 5 top tips/golden rules for…
9. Design your own writing mat to give advice to other students about…
10. Create a poster to illustrate the spelling strategy you have learned
11. Create a mnemonic which reflects the meaning of the new word or item you have learned today
12. Write dictionary definitions for new terms learned today
13. The answer is XYZ – now write the question. NB the question must begin with the words ‘what is.!’
14. Spot missing words in close summary of learning
15. Word search containing key words or information learned during lesson – use clues/definitions to help you
16. Poetry bingo – teacher reads/shows quotations. Pupils must spot the techniques and mark card
17. If the aim of the lesson was sent as a question….pupil answer the question on whiteboard – with word limit for sentence to provide extra challenge
18. Take one minute to compose two statements in your head to explain wjhat we have learned and how we have learned it
19. In pairs, answer the question set at the start on a post it note. Stick on board and review, did class agree?
20. Where can you apply this skill in your HW/other subjects? Give 3 examples
21. Choose from 5 statements on the board. Which 3 best reflect....
22. In pairs, sequence the 5 factors/influences/events-justify your choices
23. Prediction-what will happen next? Why do you think this?
24. Brainstorm the conventions of the next type studies, aim for 5 or more
25. Use the style - in pairs or fours, tell a story in the style/genre being taught
26. Self assessment/target setting – choose from a host of suggestions on OHP
27. Show work to peer – work in pairs to set targets
28. Teacher shows extract from previous pupil’s work – students identify 3 strengths and 3 pieces of advice for redrafting
29. Answer teacher questions without saying yes or no
30. Fist of five – pupils assess effectiveness of an image or techniques by holding up appropriate number of fingers
31. True or false – hold up card/whiteboard to show whether statement is true or false
32. Write the epitaph for a character you have been studying
33. Write a short blurb for a new book jacket
34. Jigsaw feedback – groups work on different parts of task, then reform to share findings
35. Envoying – representative travel to other groups to share findings, then report back to “base”
36. Groups show and comment on what was learned
37. Feedback to whole class by one or two groups only according to rota roll of dice
38. Change role-student as teacher. What questions would you ask the class and why?
39. Groups of 3, numbered 1-3. Put up 3 statements on OHP which individuals must explain to group
40. Set ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ questions for your neighbour or other groups
41. Quick fire oral quiz to review/revisit learning
42. Label a diagram or illustration – one word in each box
43. Brainstorm or mind map of what has been learned during lesson
44. Graphic summary of lesson – steps, flowchart
45. Pictures/cartoons – which would you put with the day’s learning and why
46. ‘Pictionary’ – draw the word without speaking or writing
47. Tension chart - give score out of 5 for tension at various points of text. Jot on graph and review findings
48. Simple timetable of event in chapter/case study or scenario
49. Drama activity – freeze frame summary
50. In role answering – hot seating activity
51. Where is the mistake
52. Spot the odd one
53. What am I?
54. Catch and match
55. Mix and fix
Examples of plenaries for different purposes
To help pupils to understand and remember what has been learned
Key words Use flash cards or whiteboards
Splat Put key words on the board. Two pupils stand facing eachother either side of the words. Members of the class describe a key word and their pupils cover the word with their hand. Winner stays on; the pupil who asked the question becomes the contender of nominates someone else.
Top 10 In pairs agree on the top ten key words for the lesson.
Gimme 5 In pairs. Pupils agree on 5 things they have learned during the lesson. Alternatively they generate 5 questions they now want answering or 5 questions that would test their understanding.
Hot Seat A pupil acts in role as an expert or character from the lesson and invites the class to ask questions.
Plenary cards Warn two pupils at the start of the lesson that you intend to ask them to report back to the lesson class at the end pf the lesson, what they have learned that is new. Give pupils plenary cards to record their thoughts. Then ask for agreement from the rest of the class and other contributes.
‘Post-Its’ To involve everyone ask pupils to write on ‘Post-Its’ one thing they have learned, one thing they understand better and one skill they have used. Pupils stick their ‘Post-Its’ to a large sheet of paper at the front of the class. Use this sheet to start the next lesson.
Snowball Ask pupils to agree in buzz pair (eg true/false quiz) then combine with another pair to make four, come to agreement again, then two fours to eight and agree again.
Freeze frame Give pupils ‘roles to act out’. Call ‘freeze frame’ and the pupils do their pose while you ask the class what each pupil is thinking and feeling.
To create a sense of achievement
Just a minute A spokesman from each group to present their findings. The challenge is to talk for a minute without pausing or repeating themselves – encourages the rest of the class to listen carefully, you may like to start off with just 30 seconds; a minute can be a long time.
Drama Ask groups of three to produce a one minute drama based on the main activity.
Targets Tick off each target or learning objectives from the start of the lesson asking pupils to explain how they have achieved them.
To take learning further and deeper
Challenging questions Plan a sequence of questions that demand progressively higher order thinking based on Bloom’s Taxonomy. Working in pairs, give pupils time to come up with answers to these challenging questions that apply what they have learned.
What if………? Ideally pupils work in groups of three. Give pupils two minutes to come up with immediate and ling term consequences g, what would happen if interest rate goes up?
To allow the teacher and pupils the opportunity to assess and to plan accordingly
Traffic light Ask pupils to traffic light their understanding of the key vocabulary processes or learning outcomes
Self and peer assess eachother’s work Give pupils’ opportunities to talk about ewhat they have learned as what they have found difficult, using the objective as a focus
Mind maps Write the main theme of the lesson in the centre of a large sheet of paper. In pairs pupils show what they have learned by classifying the information from the lesson with subcategories branching out form the centre. This is easier if you give pupils a suggested list of words to use.
Concept maps Give pupils a small number of key words or images on cards to arrange in a mind map as above. Now ask pupils to write along each connecting line the reason for the link. This technique quickly identifies misconception.
Flash cards Pupils hold up vocabulary cards in response to questions
Sequence statements Arrange cards in order to describe a process, sequence of events, practical instructions etc
Whole class questioning Ask open questions and prompt pupils to extend their answers so you can assess their understanding
Get pupils into the habit of thinking about their learning
Golden rules Having completed the task, ask pupils to create ‘golden rules’ or tips for others who will carry out the same activity at some point in the future.
Bridging Pupils discuss in pairs then list three ways the ideas in the lesson could be used in other subjects or outside school.
Thinking words Identify thinking words for your subject, which are appropriate for your pupils. Display some thinking words and after a suitable activity ask pupils to choose which words match their thinking.
Learning logs Give pupils a separate book or back of their book where they periodically record their thoughts on what and how they have learned.