Ten command-word starter activities (5 minutes each)

Each starter targets one command word. Run them on the board with no printing; the point is repetition until the answer shape becomes automatic.

1. 1.Describe or explain? Show six exam stems; students sort them and justify one choice aloud.
2. 2.Strip the reasons: give an explain-style model answer and ask students to reduce it to a describe answer, then swap back.
3. 3.Figures please: show a graph and reject any description that contains no numbers or units.
4. 4.Linked comparison relay: one student states a feature of structure A, the next must complete the comparison with structure B in the same sentence.
5. 5.Mark-scheme hunt: hand out a real answer and a mark scheme; students highlight where each point is earned.
6. 6.Suggest from scratch: give unfamiliar data and ban all recall — answers must reference only the stem.
7. 7.One-mark discipline: 60 seconds to write six 'state' answers; deduct for any explanation added.
8. 8.Plan only: a 6-mark question where students write only the keyword plan, in order, then compare plans.
9. 9.Sentence surgery: rewrite four vague sentences using precise terminology.
10. 10.Command-word bingo: students predict which command words appear in the next past paper section, then check.

Assessment tip: keep a wall list of the exact mark-scheme phrases the class keeps missing. It becomes the class's shared vocabulary target for the term.