Cover Lessons
Cover lesson ideas that practise literacy and numeracy, linked to the Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF), for a range of subjects.
Improving a Report on the Amazon Rainforest
Literacy: Proofreading, editing and improving
A literacy lesson in Geography on proofreading, editing and improving writing. Pupils use a fact file, a key of proofreading symbols and a checklist to edit an invented Year 7 pupil's first-draft report on the Amazon rainforest, finding and correcting 27 planted mistakes in capital letters, spelling of geographical terms, punctuation, vague and informal words, repetition and facts. They sort the mistakes by type and correct 3 factual slips about the river, the rainfall and the order of the 4 layers. They then plan where paragraphs should start, rewrite the paragraph on the causes of deforestation with precise vocabulary and linking words, add the missing conclusion and check a partner's work against the checklist. Builds towards extended writing in GCSE Geography. No practical work.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Improving a Report on the Amazon Rainforest
- Stimulus: Amazon rainforest fact file, Elin's first-draft report with 27 planted mistakes, proofreading symbols, a report checklist and a linking words bank
- Worked example and answer key: all 27 mistakes with corrections, the mistakes sorted by type, corrected facts, a model paragraph and conclusion, and a model improved report
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Measuring Distances with Map Scale in Cwm Tawelan
Numeracy: Measurement
A numeracy lesson in Geography on measurement, building towards the map skills in GCSE Geography, where pupils measure straight-line and route distances on Ordnance Survey maps. Using an invented map of a Welsh valley with a 1 km grid and a scale bar, so it works at any print size, pupils convert between cm, m and km, count grid squares and use the paper edge method to measure straight-line distances. They measure a winding road and footpath section by section and compare them with the straight line. They then use the ratio scales 1:25 000 and 1:50 000 to change map lengths into real distances and back, correct a common conversion mistake, work out walking times at 4 km per hour and explain why a scale bar still works when a map is printed smaller. No computers are needed.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Measuring Distances with Map Scale in Cwm Tawelan
- Stimulus: Cwm Tawelan distance map (1 km grid, scale bar, key, measuring methods, ratio scales and walking times)
- Worked example and answer key: every distance with tolerances, ratio scale working, walking times and a model explanation
- Strips of scrap paper with a straight edge, one per pupil
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Ruler
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Building a Timeline of Medieval Wales
Numeracy: The number system
Pupils practise number skills in a History context: ordering 4-digit numbers, using place value to work out the century of a date, rounding dates to the nearest 10 and 100 to understand approximate dates, placing events on a scaled timeline and subtracting to find the years between events. They use 12 real events in the history of Wales from 1066 to 1485, from the first Norman castle at Pembroke to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Edward I's castles, Owain Glyndŵr and Henry Tudor. Prepares pupils for the chronology that runs through GCSE History.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Building a Timeline of Medieval Wales
- Worked example and answer key: date order, centuries, rounding, completed timeline and time gaps
- Two coloured pencils per pupil
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Ruler
- Coloured pencils
Software / weblinks
Emailing an Archivist about Owain Glyndŵr
Literacy: Planning and organising for different purposes, audiences and context
Pupils help their class make a display about Owain Glyndŵr's parliament at Machynlleth in 1404 by writing to an invented county record office. They first pick apart 2 badly written pupil emails, looking at the account used, To and Cc, subject line, tone, length, attachments and personal information, and compare them with the archive's Contact us page. They then plan and write a formal email of about 120 to 180 words that asks 3 specific questions in short paragraphs. Finally, they choose the right contact channel for different situations and decide what to do sensibly if no reply arrives. No computers are needed and no email is sent.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Emailing an Archivist about Owain Glyndŵr
- Stimulus: Senedd 1404 project brief, an archive's Contact us page and 2 pupil emails (one between two)
- Worked example and answer key: email critique, model plan, model email, channel answers and follow-up email
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Hot-Seating the Builders of Castell Aberwern
Literacy: Questioning
Pupils practise asking good questions in a History context. After Edward I began building castles in north Wales in 1283, three invented people live beside a new castle: a Welsh woman whose land was taken, an English carpenter sent from Chester and a Welsh boy labouring on the walls. Pupils sort open and closed questions, plan open questions for each character, then work in threes as interviewer, character and note-taker, asking follow-up and clarifying questions in 5-minute hot-seat rounds. They finish by summarising how the castle changed each life and reflecting on which question worked best. Prepares pupils for the enquiry questions that drive source work in GCSE History.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Hot-Seating the Builders of Castell Aberwern
- Stimulus: Building Castell Aberwern, 1285 (background and three role cards)
- Worked example and answer key: open and closed questions, question plan, note-taker's notes and summary
- Stimulus sheet printed, one per group of three
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Measuring the Drovers' Road to London
Numeracy: Measurement
Pupils practise measuring and using a map scale in a History context. They measure the 8 stages of a simplified drovers' road from Tregaron to Barnet near London to the nearest millimetre, use a scale of 1 cm to 20 km to find the real distances and total, and convert kilometres to miles. They then work out how many days the herd needed (rounding up) and how many hours a day the cattle walked at about 3 km an hour, changing decimals of an hour into minutes. Finally, they compare the walk with an invented cattle train speed and use their own numbers to explain why the railways ended long-distance droving.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Measuring the Drovers' Road to London
- Stimulus: The drovers' road from Tregaron to London (background on the porthmyn, useful facts, simplified map with scale bar and 10 cm check line, back-up table of stage lengths)
- Worked example and answer key: stage lengths and real distances, miles conversion, days and hours, train comparison and model history answer
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Ruler
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Auditing a Week of Screen Time and Sleep
Numeracy: Measurement
An invented Year 7 pupil is tired in morning lessons and kept a week's log of her screen sessions, light-out and waking times. Pupils count on to time every session, convert minutes to hours and minutes (25 hours 40 minutes for the week, a mean of 3 hours 40 minutes a day), find sleep across midnight, and compare school nights with the 9 to 12 hours advised for her age. They link the latest screen times to the shortest sleep, then plan a school-night routine that keeps her screen time but ends it an hour before bed, with three specific changes to phone settings and habits. Paper-based; no computers needed.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Auditing a Week of Screen Time and Sleep
- Stimulus: Lowri's invented screen time and sleep log, sleep advice and counting-on examples
- Worked example and answer key: every interval, the weekly total and mean, sleep times and Lowri's plan
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Designing a Fair Survey about App Use
Numeracy: Collecting data
Numeracy in IT: collecting data. Invented Digital Leaders at Ysgol Glan Dyfnant want to find out how long Year 7 pupils spend on homework apps and which app they use most, but their draft survey has a leading question, a vague question, a two-in-one question, unnecessary personal data, overlapping time boxes and missing options. Pupils name each problem and its effect on the data, rewrite the questions so every answer fits exactly one box, design a tally sheet, collect answers from their own group, then test the draft and fixed boxes on 20 backup answers (7 fit two boxes, 1 fits none) before saying what the data shows and how to make it more trustworthy.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Designing a Fair Survey about App Use
- Stimulus: the Digital Leaders' draft survey, with 20 invented backup answers
- Worked example and answer key: the problems explained, rewritten questions, tallies and model conclusions
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Punctuating Instructions for a School Account
Literacy: Punctuation
Literacy in IT: punctuation. An invented IT technician typed the Year 7 help sheet for setting up a school account on a broken keyboard, so it has no punctuation and no capital letters. Pupils mark sentence boundaries, restore capitals, full stops, commas in lists and a colon before a list, add 7 apostrophes and sort them into missing letters and belonging, fix a hyphen and a question mark, and choose between its and it's, your and you're. They then write and peer-check their own 4-step help sheet on keeping a school account safe, using the National Cyber Security Centre's three random words advice.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Punctuating Instructions for a School Account
- Stimulus: Mr Roberts' unpunctuated draft help sheet and punctuation reminders
- Worked example and answer key: the fully punctuated help sheet and a model safety help sheet
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Tracing a Tuck Shop Till Algorithm
Numeracy: Financial literacy
Pupils test the flowchart for an invented school tuck shop till before it goes live. They name the input, process, decision and output boxes, trace three orders in pence through a trace table (including a 25p discount for 3 or more items and a "Not enough money" loop), give change in the fewest coins, and plan five tests at the edges of the rules. Comparing their expected outputs with a buggy Version 2 shows them which two boxes are wrong and why a test away from the boundary missed one. They finish by budgeting a week of break-time snacks on £10. Paper-based; no computers needed.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Tracing a Tuck Shop Till Algorithm
- Stimulus: the Siop Fach price list and till flowchart, with numbered boxes
- Worked example and answer key: trace tables, coins, expected outputs, the two bugs and the budget
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Checking Maths Facts about Wales Found Online
Literacy: Reading strategies
Pupils plan precise searches and use maths to decide which online facts to trust. They improve 3 poor searches with quotation marks, the minus sign and site:, then work from a printed page of invented search results for the height of Yr Wyddfa, the population of Wales and the length of the Wales Coast Path. They skim the results in 2 minutes to sort adverts, blogs, quizzes and official pages, scan for every number, convert feet to metres and miles to kilometres, and round to see which sources agree. Close reading catches an out-of-date census figure and a result about a different coast path. They choose the most reliable source for each fact, explain why and write a referenced fact file. No computers needed.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Checking Maths Facts about Wales Found Online
- Stimulus: Search results for 3 facts about Wales (invented results pages and unit conversions)
- Calculators and highlighters
- Worked example and answer key: improved searches, result types, every conversion, the best sources and a model fact file
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
- Highlighters
Software / weblinks
Measuring Turns at Trwyn Eithin Lighthouse
Numeracy: Angle
A numeracy lesson in Maths on angle as a measure of turn, building towards GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy Section 3.3 (maps and bearings). Pupils follow the beam of an invented lighthouse as it turns clockwise from North: they find where it points after quarter, half, three-quarter and bigger turns, and use a rate of 30 degrees a second to say where it points after a given time. They estimate and then measure the bearings of 4 boats with a protractor, including reflex angles, draw 3 rocks on given bearings and check a partner's drawing to within 2 degrees, then find the angles between the boats and check they add up to 360 degrees. No calculators.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Measuring Turns at Trwyn Eithin Lighthouse
- Stimulus: Trwyn Eithin lighthouse (turns, compass points, bearings, a map of 4 boats and 3 rocks to draw)
- Worked example and answer key: turns, measured bearings, a model drawing and the angles between the boats
- A protractor and a ruler for each pupil
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Protractor
- Ruler
Software / weblinks
Number Machine Flowcharts
Numeracy: Logical reasoning
Pupils run numbers through function machines drawn as flowcharts, work backwards with inverse operations, show that swapping two boxes changes the answer, and find a hidden two-step machine from its inputs and outputs. They then trace a flowchart with decisions and a loop, the halve-or-triple machine, and explain and adapt a mind-reading trick that always gives the same answer.
Resources required
Tools required
- Pen and paper
Software / weblinks
Scaling a Welsh Cake Recipe for a Bake Sale
Numeracy: Calculation
A numeracy lesson in Maths that builds towards GCSE Mathematics and Numeracy Section 1.4 (percentages, ratio and proportion). Pupils scale an invented Year 7 class's Welsh cake recipe from 6 people to 15 and 9 people, first by finding the amount for 1 person and then with a scale factor of 2.5 and 1.5, and check one method against the other. They find which ingredient in the cupboard runs out first, simplify ratios, build 10%, 5% and 15% of shop prices from 10% to cost the ingredients in a sale, and work out the takings and profit of the bake sale. Mostly without a calculator.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Scaling a Welsh Cake Recipe for a Bake Sale
- Stimulus: The Year 7 Welsh cake bake sale pack (recipe, scaling methods, cupboard stock, shop prices and percentage tips)
- Worked example and answer key: scaled recipe, cupboard limits, ratios, sale bill and profit
- Calculators, for checking in Step 5 only
Tools required
- Pen and paper
- Calculator
Software / weblinks
Cracking Spanish Sounds and Spellings
Literacy: Phonological and phonemic awareness
Pupils learn to link Spanish sounds and spellings using a code card: pure vowels, silent h, the throat sound of j and of g before e or i, c and z as th, qu as k, ll as y, ñ as ny, rolled rr and the tapped r. They sort 24 words into 6 sound groups, write sounds-like spellings with the stress marked for 8 words they have never seen, find the odd one out in rows such as gato, gorila, gente, guante, and apply the 3 stress rules, including written accents. In pairs they take a dictation and explain which words cannot be spelled from sound alone. Welsh is used as a bridge: Spanish j sounds like Welsh ch, while Spanish ll does not sound like Welsh ll.
Resources required
- Pupil worksheet: Cracking Spanish Sounds and Spellings
- Stimulus: the Spanish sound and spelling code card, with stress rules, words to sort, dictation lists and tongue twisters
- Worked example and answer key: sound groups, sounds-like spellings, odd ones out, stress, dictation and a reflection
Tools required
- Pen and paper