Nifty Mnemonics helps to build a great general knowledge using tips and hints to aid your memory. This is an eclectic set of lists that will enhance pupils’ general knowledge. Most lists have mnemonics to aid memorisation. Examples include: British Prime Ministers, The Twelve Apostles, The Wives of King Henry VIII, The Greek Alphabet, NATO Phonetic Alphabet, 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, the countries formed from the breakup of the USSR, The Old and New Testament, Chinese Animal Zodiac, Parts of Speech, US Presidents etc. Each week, as part of their homework, I challenge my pupils to learn one specified list and at the end of the week we check to see how many have met the challenge. Some use the mnemonics - some simply learn the lists. They thrive on these challenges and are proud of their new-found knowledge. In addition, I receive excellent feedback from parents. This has been a labour of love building as many useful lists as I could find.

This is a very enjoyable talking and listening activity. It's perfect for the last 5 minutes of the day. Pupils get very enthusiastic about this fun-filled thinking game! It runs with a timer and has 220 slides. The aim is to name 5 items in a category within 10 seconds. Press F5 and once you, or the student, reads the category, press the right hand cursor arrow to start the timer. Their time is up when the alarm clock bounces onto the slide. It is really easy to use and adaptable for any age group. I previously hosted 'Thinking on Your Feet Game' on TES and had over 60000 downloads. Some (genuine) endorsements: Thank you for a brilliant idea. As a supply teacher I am looking forward to trying out the ideas when there are spare minutes to fill. The variety of topics makes them adaptable to any age group. Great resource! boltonjane, 19 September 2011 Oh my goodness, you have saved me a lifetime's work and a nervous breakdown! Thank you so much for sharing your talent and expertise. This is SO useful for tutorial and reflection time with some very challenging children. I am truly grateful. from Sarah Kingdon-Ward, 25 September 2011 This is brilliant for tutor time. Thank you for coming up with a brilliant resource. I love the ten second animation, I'll be using that idea again! GREAT. from Skegbylady, 19 September 2011 I love this resource, thanks a lot for creating it! from brownr11, 11 September 2011 Fantastic for quick response answers or to develop thinking skills. from Lara mfl 05, 29 August 2011 Thank you so much - this must have taken ages to produce and think of the ideas. :-) from sh159, 17 August 2011 Absolutely wonderful, thank you! I love playing these types of games with kids, but I can never seem to think of so many categories off the top of my head, and it slows the pace down. I have more than 350 similarly positive comments that were given on feedback.

When watching the names of contestants run at the start of 'Deal or No Deal', I thought I could do with something similar for my class. This is a high-tech alternative to names on lollipop sticks! Just type your own pupils' names - often better if the names are not in alphabetical order so it's much more down to chance. Press F5 - the UP cursor key stops slides and the DOWN cursor key restarts.