The end of a lesson can creep up on you like the rain in Scarborough (those of you familiar with the sunny seaside town will know that however well prepared you are the rain always catches you off guard.) I find plenaries exactly the same. However well I plan, however much I closely monitor the length of tasks, I just never seem to get round to my plenary (probably why I have so many starters – as my plenaries often become my starter activity for the next lesson. See post: Starters that Never Fail!)
But on those occasions when your lesson is rounding off nicely, you have five minutes left to fill (while you desperately wait for your next caffeine fix) these plenaries I have found work a treat (by ‘treat’ I mean put students on the spot to test their learning from that lesson):
Give them a try!
For further ideas why not try: