Starter/ Plenary Activity - Pass the Buck

This is an excellent starter/ plenary activity that adds pace and competition to any Geography lesson. It’s also excellent for whole class involvement and differentiation. Its very simple and can be carried out in two different ways.I split the class down the middle into two teams. I then give 1 person a blank sheet of paper. I tell the class that I want them to write one thing about the topic on the piece of paper, and then pass it to the next person in the team. The next person then has to write something else about the topic. The further this gets round the room, the harder it gets, forcing the kids to think. I always start with the weaker students so that by the time it has got to my more able students, most of the key points have been covered thus forcing my more able students to think.Another way of doing this is to ask the students to simply write one thing about the topic on the paper, then fold over what they have written and then pass it to the next person to write something else. I tell the teams that the group with the most different issues considered wins. This is less taxing than the previous method but the students like hearing what the other students have written at the end and it is also less threatening for those who have the ‘buck passed last’.Enjoy