I once had a very challenging Y9 group and I constantly had to adapt my planning so that I could keep the students focused and engaged. I used to do short and quick activities so that the students were not able to lose their concentration. I also had to think about clear progression from activity to activity but in a way that it was accesible to them at all times.
I then came with this ‘Pick and Mix’ idea as I thought that all students liked sweets and I wanted to make an activity that was linked to something they really loved.
I also decided to add some differentiation to it so that the students had a choice.
I included four simple tasks:
- Make 2 present tense sentences
- Make 2 past tense sentences
- Link a present and a past sentence
- Include a sentence in the future
I also added a box with key vocabulary for them to choose from. I never asked them to complete all the tasks but instead giving them the choice of 1 or 2 tasks.
