Higher Order Thinking Lesson Starters & Activities

Putting a different ‘spin’ on a lesson starter is a great way to introduce younger pupils to higher order thinking skills and stimulate meaningful discussion among pupils. The following activities can be used as lesson starters or as stand-alone activities (although be sure to leave plenty of time for sharing answers and discussion afterwards!)

How would you prove your answer? 5 cm 12 cm 15 cm True or False...? This is a right angled-triangle

Find the Fibs! Sarah completed the following lesson starter. Her final answers are shown in red. She made some silly mistakes! 1. Calculate x Solve the equation 2x - 7 = 15 x = 4 3. Calculate the perimeter of this shape: P = 24cm 2 8cm 3cm Find her mistakes and correct her work.

2x + 5 = 17 Make up as many equations as you can in the next 5 minutes that have the same answer as the one above. Swap equations with a friend and solve them to check their answers.

Using exactly four 4s it is possible to make all the numbers between 1 and 20. For example: 44 ÷ 44 = 1 and (4 x 4) ÷ (4 + 4) = 2 What other numbers can you make using four 4s?

Answers 1 = (4÷4) x (4 ÷ 4) 2 = (4 ÷ 4)+(4 ÷ 4) 3 = ( ) ÷ 4 4 = 4 + 4(4 - 4) 5 = (4 x 4 +4) ÷ 4 6 = 4+((4+4) ÷ 4) 7 = (4+4)-(4 ÷ 4) 8 = (4+4) ÷ (4 ÷ 4) 9 = 4+4+(4 ÷ 4) 10 = (44-4) ÷ 4 11 = 4! / √4 - 4/4 12 = 4 x 4 - √4 - √4 13 = 4! / √4 + 4/4 14 = √4 15 = 4 x 4 - 4/4 16 = 4 x = 4 x 4 + 4/4 18 = 4 x √4 19 = 4! /4 20 = 4 x 4 + √4 + √4 How many did you get?

calculator.html Eric’s Broken Calculator Pyramid Puzzle ay/starter_January4.ASP Justundera Quid day/starter_July5.ASP