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 โPick and Mixโ 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.

They really liked this activity and they felt like they could do it!
In the past two years, I have seen other versions of this activity but this is what I came with in a time where I really needed something new and different and perhaps more entertaining!
I really recommend this activity as it doesn’t take much prep time and it is easy and you can adapt it to any topic you are doing ๐