Passive Replace sits at the Passive row and the Replace column of the PICRAT grid. Students are passive; the technology is replacing something analogue.
Computing
Scratch loops tutorial video before next-lesson paired build
Year 7 are at the start of their introduction to Scratch. Today is a 20-minute introduction to the loops construct before they build their own programs in next lesson's paired session. The teacher has chosen a ten-minute Scratch tutorial video that walks through building a draw-a-square program from scratch using the repeat block.
Students watch on their iPads with headphones. They keep their books open and jot down the four steps the video covers: position the sprite, use the pen-down block, repeat four times, turn 90 degrees and move forward. The teacher pauses the projector after the video and asks the class to predict what would change if the repeat block was set to three instead of four; the discussion runs for the last five minutes.
Tools: YouTube
Networking vocabulary Quizizz before hands-on lesson
Year 8 met the basics of networks last lesson. Today is a 15-minute vocabulary recap before next lesson's hands-on activity, where they will build a paired network model with cables and a switch. The teacher has built a Quizizz of 12 networking vocabulary terms covering devices (router, switch, server) and concepts (LAN, WAN, IP address, packet, protocol, bandwidth).
Students self-pace through the questions on their iPads. The class scoreboard appears for ten seconds at the end with no individual call-out. The teacher reviews the question-level analytics on the staff dashboard and re-explains any term that scored under 70%, before the lesson moves to the hands-on activity in the second half.
Tools: Quizizz
Binary number system chapter on iPad with short-answer quiz
Year 9 are revising binary number representation before the GCSE-prep assessment in two weeks. Today is a 30-minute reading lesson on a four-page chapter the teacher has shared as a Google Doc. The chapter covers binary-to-denary conversion, denary-to-binary conversion, hexadecimal as a shorthand, and a worked example of converting a denary number to two-byte binary.
Students read at their own pace on iPads. They keep their books open and copy worked examples as they go. After 25 minutes the teacher closes the doc on the projector and the class completes a five-question Microsoft Form on conversion. Live class results are shared anonymously and any question with under 70% correct is re-explained on the board.
Tools: Google Docs, Microsoft Forms
English
Coraline opening clip with comprehension Form
The unit is on writing to describe. Year 7 will write their own atmospheric story openings next lesson, but first they need a strong example to anchor the work. The teacher has cued up the first four minutes of the animated Coraline as a class viewing, then released it on the LMS so each student can watch on their own iPad.
Students watch the clip once at their own pace, headphones on. Then they answer eight comprehension questions on a Microsoft Form: four on setting (what makes the house feel old, the colour palette, the camera angles), two on atmosphere (the role of weather and silence) and two on the writer's craft (why the parents are introduced last, why the cat speaks first).
Tools: YouTube, Microsoft Forms
Rhetorical devices slide-deck recap before persuasive writing
The unit on persuasive writing started two lessons ago with a teacher-led introduction to rhetorical devices. Today is a 30-minute recap before students start their own writing next lesson. The teacher walks through a five-slide PowerPoint: one slide each on ethos, pathos and logos, plus two slides showing how a single sentence shifts when each device is added. Students follow on their iPads, with the slides shared via the LMS so they can scroll back as needed.
The lesson ends with a six-question Microsoft Forms quiz. Each question shows a short sentence and asks students to identify which device is doing the heavy lifting. The teacher reviews the live class results in the last three minutes and re-explains anything that produced under 60% correct.
Tools: PowerPoint, Microsoft Forms
Quizizz vocabulary recap for An Inspector Calls
Year 9 are halfway through their An Inspector Calls unit. Today's starter is a 20-minute vocabulary recap on Quizizz. The teacher has built a 15-question quiz drawing on the key terms the unit has covered so far: sociological vocabulary (capitalist, collective, philanthropy), Edwardian setting words (drawing-room, parlour, suffragette) and stagecraft terms (lighting cue, dramatic irony, climax).
Students self-pace through the questions on their iPads. Each question shows the word and four definition options. At the end the class scoreboard appears for ten seconds; the teacher does not call out individual scores. The recap exists to fix the vocabulary in working memory before the source-analysis lesson that follows.
Tools: Quizizz
Geography
Listening to a podcast on a country
Class listens to a 12-minute podcast on a country (e.g. life in modern Iceland, megacity development in Lagos). Students take notes in books.
Tools: Spotify
Reading a Bitesize geography textbook page on iPad
Students read a Bitesize page on population distribution patterns on their iPad. The teacher highlights three key terms at the start. Students take notes in their books.
Watching a Bitesize geography video clip
The class watches a 10-minute Bitesize video on river formations. Students take notes in books.
Tools: YouTube
History
BBC Black Death clip with Forms comprehension check
Year 7 are towards the end of their medieval England unit. Today is a 25-minute recap on the Black Death. The next lesson asks them to argue whether it was the most significant event of the medieval period. The teacher has chosen an eight-minute BBC documentary clip that covers symptoms, transmission and the social effects.
Students watch the clip on their iPads with headphones. The teacher pauses the projector at the end of the clip for a 90-second whole-class clarification (the difference between bubonic and pneumonic plague, the rough death toll). Students then answer ten MCQs on a Microsoft Form. The class results are reviewed in the last three minutes.
Tools: YouTube, Microsoft Forms
Tudor monarchs knowledge organiser self-quizzing
The Year 8 unit on the Tudors covers the six monarchs: Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth I, with Lady Jane Grey as a footnote. The class needs to know each monarch's dates and three key events before the timeline assessment next week. Today's 20-minute lesson is self-quizzing on the unit knowledge organiser.
The organiser is a six-row Google Doc table, shared as view-only. Students cover the right two columns with a paper bookmark and work through the monarchs trying to recall each one's dates and events before revealing. They mark their own progress with a tick or cross next to each row in their books.
Tools: Google Docs
Causes of WW1 slide-deck recap before source work
Year 9 have been studying the causes of the First World War for three lessons. Today is a 25-minute recap before next lesson, when they will analyse a German political cartoon as a source. The teacher walks through a six-slide PowerPoint covering the four MAIN causes (Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism) plus the assassination as the trigger.
The deck is shared on the LMS. Each slide includes one date, one statistic and one image. Students follow on their iPads and copy a one-line summary of each cause into their exercise books. The teacher checks summaries by walking the room in the last five minutes.
Tools: PowerPoint
Maths
Walkthrough of multiplying fractions on PowerPoint
The class is at the start of a fractions unit. Today is a 35-minute teacher-led demonstration before next lesson's independent practice. The teacher has built a 12-slide PowerPoint with five worked examples of fraction multiplication, each one slightly more complex than the last (proper times proper, proper times improper, mixed times proper, simplifying first, then a word problem).
The deck is shared on the LMS. Students follow on their iPads while the teacher narrates each step. After each worked example, the next slide shows a similar question with the workings hidden; students attempt it in their books before the teacher reveals the answer. The lesson is essentially a guided demonstration the students can scroll back through later.
Tools: PowerPoint
Quizizz times-tables fluency starter
Year 8 maintain times-tables fluency throughout KS3. Today's 10-minute starter is a Quizizz of 30 mixed times-tables questions, drawn from the four-times-table through to the twelves. The teacher built the quiz at the start of the year and reuses it as a low-stakes fluency check fortnightly.
Students log in, work through at their own pace and compete against themselves to beat a personal best. The class scoreboard shows for ten seconds at the end. The teacher uses the question-level analytics on the staff dashboard to spot which times-table needs more rehearsal, but the dashboard stays on the staff side. Individual scores are not shared with the class.
Tools: Quizizz
Pythagoras worked-solutions video with comprehension check
Year 9 met Pythagoras' theorem last lesson. Today is a recap before independent practice. The teacher has chosen a 12-minute video from a curriculum-aligned channel that walks through three worked solutions: a simple right-triangle, a triangle with a calculator answer needing rounding, and a real-world problem (a ladder leaning against a wall).
Students watch on their iPads. Pausing and rewinding is encouraged. The video ends with a five-question Microsoft Form: identify the hypotenuse from a sketch, choose the correct equation for a given triangle, and round a final answer to one decimal place. The teacher reviews the live class results in the last two minutes and re-explains the rounding question if needed.
Tools: YouTube, Microsoft Forms
Mfl
Listening to a target-language podcast with comprehension form
Students listen to a five-minute podcast clip in the target language. The teacher plays it twice. Students answer six comprehension questions on a Microsoft Form.
Tools: Spotify, Microsoft Forms
Reading a target-language text on iPad with end-of-lesson quiz
Students read a 250-word text in the target language on their iPad about a teenager's daily routine. The teacher pre-teaches three new vocabulary items at the start. After 25 minutes of reading, students complete a five-question multiple-choice comprehension Form.
Tools: Microsoft Forms
Watching a target-language vlog with comprehension worksheet
The class watches a vlog from a teenager in a target-language country (e.g. Spanish from Madrid, French from Quebec, Mandarin from Taipei). The vlog is 5 minutes long. Students complete a paper comprehension worksheet afterwards with eight questions in the target language.
Tools: YouTube
Science
Combustion safety video and Forms check before practical
Year 7 are about to do a combustion practical involving a Bunsen burner, a splint and three different fuels. Department policy is that every pupil watches the safety briefing and passes a check before lighting any flame. The 15-minute lesson opens with a five-minute video produced by the science technician walking through the safety steps: tying back hair, eye protection, the position of the gas tap, what to do if a sleeve catches.
Students watch the video at their desks on iPads, then complete an eight-question Microsoft Form. The Form is set to require 100% before submission. Anyone who scores below 8/8 watches the video again and re-takes the quiz. The teacher only allows the practical to start when every name is on the green-tick list.
Tools: YouTube, Microsoft Forms
Cells and microscopy knowledge organiser self-quizzing
The unit on cells and microscopy is half-finished. The class needs to fix the keywords in long-term memory before the assessment in two weeks. Today's 20-minute lesson is structured self-quizzing using the unit's knowledge organiser, which the teacher has shared as a Google Doc.
Each student opens the doc on their iPad, covers the right-hand definitions column with a paper bookmark, and works through the 15 keywords trying to write the definition before revealing it. They mark themselves as they go. The exit ticket asks them to write five definitions in their books from memory; the teacher collects to spot patterns of misconception.
Tools: Google Docs
Atomic structure chapter on iPad with short-answer questions
Year 9 are revising for the end-of-unit chemistry assessment. Today is a 30-minute reading lesson on atomic structure: protons, neutrons, electrons, atomic number, mass number, isotopes. The chapter is four pages long and lives as a Google Doc on the LMS.
Students read at their own pace on their iPads, with no annotation tools. They make their own notes in their exercise books as they go. After 25 minutes the teacher closes the doc on the projector and asks six short-answer questions on the board for students to answer in their books. The questions cover the same six concepts the chapter introduced.
Tools: Google Docs
Lessons that look PR but are not
Useful counter-examples when you are checking your own lesson placement on the PICRAT grid.
This page is one of a growing set of PICRAT examples by cell, subject and key stage. Page maintained by Andy Perryer.