For those who have used these before it is the usual format where students answer questions to reveal a punchline to a cheesy joke. Student seem to like them as they offer a competitive edge and are different from answering questions out of a text book. I use these as starters/plenaries but occasionally as a main task. Topics here include inequalities, linear and quadratic graphs, simultaneous equations, transformations, expanding brackets, factorising expressions (including quadratics), rearranging formulae amongst others. Some of these are already available for free on TES.

Around 25 codebreakers (answer the questions, reveal the punchline to a joke) in this bundle. There are a number aimed at covering parts of the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate but also ones covering topics on the GCSE curriculum too. Each of these is individually available for free but if you want all of them they are available here.

Some of the first four terms, the nth term, the term-to-term rule, the 20th term and the 50th term are missing and you have to fill in the blanks (it does what it says on the tin). Should get them thinking…

This does what it says on the tin; some using coordinates, some using sketches, some working forwards, some backwards. Hopefully it will get students thinking carefully about transforming functions.

Answer the Maths questions and reveal the punchline to a fish-related joke. These ahve gone down really well in online lessons but went down well in “normal” lessons before. Topics include angles, area, bearings, simultaneous equation, Venn diagrams, quadratic equations, Pythagoras, trigonometry and many many more on the 45+ tasks, each with answers.

This looks at basic statistical diagrams: pictograms, bar charts and pie charts. There are four pages, one for each of the above and the final one being the same data represented by all three charts mentioned, but with bits missing on each. For each there are blanks to be filled, plus a question on the data. The idea is to get the students working forwards and backwards, not just getting stuck in a rut of doing the same thing repeatedly.

Looking at shapes like rectangles, squares, triangles, cuboids and cylinders, fill in the missing parts of the table. This is designed to get students thinking rather than going into algorithm mode. I plan to make a second one with more complex shapes eventually.

I wrote this for IGCSE Maths but it could be used at A Level as it involved summing arithmetic series as well as finding/using the nth term.

This was designed with a particular class in mind so covers calculating a gradient from a given line, drawing a line of a given gradient and then applying that to lines on coordinate grids using y=mx+c. There is an extension where the equations are not in the form y=mx+c.

Linking coordinates and equations of lines/gradients; this, I would say, is the next step on from the other “Gradients and Equations of Lines - Fill In The Blanks”.

Given two points, find the gradient of the line between them and reveal the punchline to a cheesy joke (that is cross-curricular as it involves the German language too).

Find the coordinates described on each function, discover the cheesy joke (given to me by a Year 8 student I teach).

This was designed to lead students into working out how the equation of a line is found, but ultimately it is a fill in the blanks thing.

This is designed as part of an introduction to gradient, essentially involving counting squares, but with one question (at the end) where two coordinates are used.

Eight situations where forming and solving an equation could be required; topics include Perimeter, angles, averages, percentages, fractions, compound measures, probability and ratio (the final two involve quadratics). Read the instructions and from that form and solve. I have done solutions should you need them.

This does what it says on the tin: nets of 3D shapes, choose the right one. Answer the questions, reveal the punchline.

I needed something for a class just being introduced to manipulating formulae/algebra so I produced this… The usual: do the maths, reveal the punchline.

This is an attempt to get students to fill out every stage of their rearranging process. There are six relatively basic questions then three more challenge on the reverse of the page (I did this so that I could decide whether they were suitable for certain classes).

Two sections, one for direct and one for inverse proportion; four calculations (one example) to complete the blanks in. This aims to get students thinking forwards and backwards.

Problems involving fractions basically; unjumble the letters to discover the cheesy joke.