Manal Imtiaz

O levels’ Biology teacher

November 23, 2017

Starter activities:
1. Pictionary

 Prepare a list of concepts, ideas or objects that relate to the lesson you are about to teach.
 Divide the class into four teams
 Each team has a designated ‘artist’ who has up to one minute to draw the object etc
whilst his/her team mates guess what the object is.
 The team who guesses correctly first wins a point.
 The first team to three points wins.
 Variation: You can have one student draw on the whiteboard whilst the whole class
guesses if you prefer or have a difficult to control class
2. List –> Definition

 Ask students to list all the words they associate with the topic they will be learning about
in today’s lesson e.g. Global Warming
 Then ask them to join these words together to form a definition
 Variation: This can be done either individually, in teams or as a class activity
3. Pupil as teacher

 One student is appointed as the teacher.

 They are responsible for summarizing what was covered in the last lesson / homework.
 They then ask the rest of the class questions about what was studied
 Variation: In order to ensure less confident students are involved, you could appoint a
pair of students as teacher. If you use this starter regularly, you can ensure everyone gets
a turn to be teacher at some point. If students know it is their turn next time they can
prepare.
4. Mystery bag

 Take a bag into the classroom that contains an object which has a connection to the
lesson
 Pass it around and let the students feel the object inside the bag
  The first person to guess what it is, is the winner
 Variation: Allow the students ’20 Questions’ with only yes or no answers to guess what
is inside the bag

5. Just a minute

 One student is asked to talk about the topic that was covered in the last lesson / for
homework.
 At the first repetition, pause or mistake another student takes over and so on until the
minute is up.
 Variation: This can be played as a whole class or in teams
If you regularly use starters that work well with teams it is worth establishing regular teams
which are used every time. This way you can keep an ongoing score. Younger students will be
very excited to win a trophy which can be awarded to the winning team at the end of each half
term.
6. A few words of warning
It is worth bearing in mind the following during lesson starters:
 Starters should be relevant to the topic you are covering where possible, otherwise they
can be seen as simply eating into lesson time.
 Decide how long you will spend on a starter beforehand, it is easy to get carried away and
find that half the lesson is gone.
 If you have a class that tends to get over excited, think carefully about the best starters,
and whether they should be done as a whole class, individuals or in teams. You want to
motivate the students, but not start a riot!
7. Guess who?
Put students into pairs and hand out a wad of sticky notes to each pair. They write a word or
statement relating to the lesson and put it on their partner’s head. Their partner then has to
guess what or who they are!

8. Nine box squares.

Write nine key words, used the previous lesson, in boxes on the board.
Challenge students to make a (historically accurate) sentence of at least
three words, or a short paragraph using them all.
 9. Analyze objects.
Bring in an object relating to what you’re studying and ask the students to
discuss what they think the object represents. Example: human skeleton for
locomotion

10. Question time.

Ask students a series of questions. They have to answer without saying
‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Wrap up activities :

1. High-Five Hustle
Ask students to stand up, raise their hands and high-five a peer -- their short-term
hustle buddy. When there are no hands left, ask a question for them to discuss.
Solicit answers. Then play "Do the Hustle" as a signal for them to raise their hands
and high-five a different partner for the next question

2. Gallery Walk
On chart paper, small groups of students write and draw what they learned. After the completed
works are attached to the classroom walls, others students affix Stickiest to the posters to extend
on the ideas, add questions, or offer praise.
3. Sequence It
Students can quickly create timelines with Time toast to represent the sequence of a plot or
historical events.
4. Question Stems
Have students write questions about the lesson on cards, using question stems framed around
Bloom's Taxonomy. Have students exchange cards and answer the question they have acquired.
5. So What?
Kids answer the following prompts:
What takeaways from the lesson will be important to know three years from now?
Why?
6. Beat the Clock
Ask a question. Give students ten seconds to confer with peers before you call on
a random student to answer. Repeat.
7. Review It
Direct kids to raise their hands if they can answer your questions. Classmates agree (thumbs up)
or disagree (thumbs down) with the response.
8. Whip Around
 Students quickly and verbally share one thing they learned in the class today. You can have
them toss a ball from one to another or just have volunteers.
9. 3-2-1
3 things they learned, 2 things they have a question about, 1 thing they want the instructor to
know – post-its, index cards
10. Three W’s
Students discuss or write
• What did we learn today? • So What? (Relevancy, importance, usefulness) • Now What? (How does
this fit into what we are learning, does it affect our thinking, can we predict where we are going)

Brain breaks:
1: Acupressure Point
Stand up straight behind your desk
Find the acupressure point between your thumb and index finger. It is located just where the
thumb and forefinger meet, behind the webbing.
Firmly press and massage this point for 30 seconds on one hand and then 30 seconds on the
either. This pressure point helps relieve headaches, calms and revitalizes you.
2: Chair Yoga
Sit up straight in your chair, feet flat on the floor.
Cross your right ankle over your left knee.
Place your right hand flat on the small of your back and your left hand on your right knee.
Looking over your right shoulder, twist to the right as far as is comfortable. Hold for 10 seconds.
Place your left hand on the small of your back and your right hand your left thigh.
Looking over your left shoulder, twist to the left as far as is comfortable. Hold for 10 seconds.
Completely unravel yourself and shake it all out.
Repeat the process this time with your right foot flat on the floor and your left ankle across your
right knee.
3: Deep Breathing
Remain seated, but arrange yourself and your belongings so you are touching nothing but the
floor and your chair.
Sit up straight, place your feet flat on the floor and your hands in your lap.
Close your eyes, and breathe in slowly for a count of four.
Hold your breath for a count a four, then breathe out slowly for a count of four.
Continue for a minute or more. This works great with relaxing music playing.
4: Simon Says:
An oldie but a goody
5: Physical Challenges:
Challenge students to do something physically difficult, such as standing on one foot with arms
extended, or this one: Grab your nose with left hand, and grab your left earlobe with your right
hand, and then quickly switch so that your right hand is on your nose and your left hand is
grabbing your right earlobe. Yoga poses could also be a good variation.