Find the missing values in the coordinates given the equation. The joke is a classic but will make the students groan. These are ideal for class or homework tasks as the students will know whether they are going correctly because the words will begin to form; they also like the competitive nature of getting to the answer first.

Ten statements regarding a comparative bar chart; students decide whether the statements are true or false. Designed to create discussion and for use in online lessons.

Trying to expand my A Level codebreaker portfolio and this is next on the rank; differentiate using the chain rule to find the punchline to a cheesy joke. It’s something different to a text book exercise anyway…

Differentiate the algebraic expressions to find the punchline to a cheesy joke; something different from going through exercises in the book!

Convert the trigonometric expressions to the appropriate double angle formula to reveal the anagram of a cheesy joke. I would use this as a starter but obviously use it (if at all) how you wish.

Fill in the blanks to reveal the punchline to the cheesy joke. These seem popular with students and can be used as a main task, starter or plenary but you have a brain and don’t need me to tell you how to structure your lessons!

The usual: complete the questions correctly to reveal the punchline to a joke. This involves chain rule, product rule and quotient rule.

Using the (in)famous Smiths Crisps advert from the mid-Eighties there are some questions based around units of measurement. Designed as a plenary.

This is probably more aimed at Further Maths Level 2 Certificate or early A Level but could be a challenge task for GCSE students too. It’s the usual “answer the questions and reveal the punchline”.

I needed something for the lockdown on sets so here it is; the usual cheesy joke having answered some Maths questions on set notation.

Use one calculation and place value to answer the other questions; these sheets contain 10 answers for 8 questions so that guesses are avoided but students know that if their answers are in the table then they are likely to be heading in the right direction.

Four questions that Erica has got wrong but have no fear because your classes can correct and explain where she went wrong… these are useful for class discussion in my experience and a change from ploughing through the text book.

Three sheets of increasingly difficult questions regarding parallel lines and their angle properties. On a couple of questions the students have to draw a diagram given the answer.

This asks about median, range, upper and lower quartiles from a list of data. The usual cheesy gag to discover (an anagram this time).

Three codebreakers covering area using trig, the sine rule and cosine rule respectively. Make sure that students do not round any answers until right at the end (it does state on each to round you “final answer”) and reveal the three cheesy jokes. These work well in my classes as starters, plenaries or main tasks. Each one is an anagram so that students are not tempted to guess letters. The final question on each is more of a problem solving question.

These are terrible cheese jokes discovered by answering maths questions. There are 15 more if you like these. The students like the challenge of finding the punchline in my experience.

These are an attempt to break from the monotony of past papers in the run up to exam season. I have taken 2 or 4 (depending on whether they will fit on a page!) questions from past papers and put them on one sheet; I will photocopy onto A3 for students to have a go in groups and discuss. The aims/rules etc are all listed if you wish to follow them and hopefully they all make sense. I have also provided answers.

Just the one Crack The Safe activity on functions, including substitution, inverses and composite functions. There are six question each with three possbile answers so students can self-check whilst the teacher help those who require it. The incorrect answers might create discussion as to how they came about too. I use these as starters and plenaries but use them how you like.

Read the box plots carefully and discover the punchline to a cheesy gag… Errors corrected…

Clive has a homework on function notation involving domains, ranges, inverses and composite functions. He has, as per usual, made errors that your class can find, correct and explain so that Clive learns from his mistakes. These are designed to create discussion in class and this one could be used as a transitional activity between GCSE/IGCSE and A level.