Presentation Boards

Overview

In this lesson, students create presentation boards to accompany their endangered animals reports. They will use simple comprehension strategies to choose key information and then communicate it clearly through visuals and short labels.

Learning intentions

• Students will select the most important facts from their report notes for a presentation board.
• Students will use visualising and summarising to decide what images and labels to include.
• Students will include literal information and one inferred idea (for example, “This animal needs… because…”).
• Students will plan and practise short, clear spoken explanations using topic vocabulary.
• Students will understand that images add meaning to a text.

Success criteria

• I can choose 3–5 key facts to put on my board.
• I can match each fact to a picture (either drawn or from printed resources).
• I can write simple labels and/or sentences that are easy to read.
• I can explain my board clearly, using my labels to help me.

Curriculum links

• Students use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, connecting, summarising, monitoring and questioning to build literal and inferred meaning.
• Students create short informative spoken and multimodal presentations using appropriate structure and topic-specific vocabulary.
• Students create and edit short informative written and/or multimodal texts using simple punctuation and topic-specific vocabulary.
• Students understand that images add to or multiply the meanings of a text.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Starter (model + connect). Teacher shows a sample presentation board (animal picture, 3 fact boxes, simple heading, and short labels) and asks: “What do you notice? What information is most important?” Students do a quick think-pair-share and name one fact they would include.

2. 4–10 min · Direct teaching (comprehension + board planning). Teacher revisits students’ report notes and models a “Pick it, Put it” process: underline key facts, circle evidence, and decide where each fact goes on the board (top/middle/bottom). Students repeat with their own notes, choosing 3–5 facts and one “because” idea (inference) with a sentence starter: “It needs ___ because ___.”

3. 10–20 min · Creating boards (visual communication focus). Teacher demonstrates layout: big heading at the top, one picture per fact box, and short labels (no more than 1–2 lines each). Teacher prompts questioning: “Does this show the fact?” and “Is my writing clear?” Students create their board using pre-cut picture cards or drawings, glue, and writing templates; they add labels and 1 short “because” statement.

4. 20–26 min · Editing check (simple monitoring). Teacher gives a quick checklist and models one improvement: adding a missing label word, swapping an everyday word for a topic word, and checking capital letters/full stops. Students do a peer or teacher check using the checklist and make one change.

5. 26–30 min · Share (short presentation). Teacher conducts lightning sharing: “Use your board to tell us 2 facts and one reason.” Students present to the teacher (or in pairs if ready) using their labels as prompts.

Resources

• Sample completed endangered animal presentation board (teacher-made)
• Students’ report notes and/or fact cards (teacher prepared if needed)
• A3/A4 cardboard or tri-fold board templates
• Pre-printed animal pictures and habitat/food/survival icons (or printed picture sources without links)
• Colour pencils, markers, scissors, glue sticks
• Label sentence starters on a card: “This animal is…”, “It needs…”, “It lives in…”, “It is threatened because…”
• Editing checklist card (3 items max): “I have 3–5 facts”, “My labels match my pictures”, “I can read it clearly”
• Optional: picture-word bank for each animal (topic vocabulary cards)

Assessment

• Teacher observation during selection of key facts (monitoring understanding of literal vs inferred “because” ideas).
• Checklist completion during editing (focus on clarity: picture matches label; readable writing).
• Quick oral assessment during the final share: can the student explain 2 facts and one reason using their board prompts.

Differentiation

• Sentence starters and word bank provided for all students; include fewer choices for lower-ability students (e.g., choose 3 facts only).
• Offer a “match and place” option: students place picture + matching label card instead of writing if writing is a barrier.
• Provide differentiated board templates:
• Support: three large fact boxes with pre-lined writing spaces.
• Extension (for ready students): add an extra box “How we can help” with a simple persuasive line.
• Use chunked instructions and frequent checks: demonstrate one step, then students do one step before moving on.
• For EAL learners: allow oral rehearsal first; provide bilingual picture support if available; focus on single key words in labels.
• Manage time with teacher-prepped materials (pictures and fact cards) so students spend most time building clarity rather than searching.

Suitable lesson adjustments for very low ability

• Keep factual selection teacher-led for students who struggle to identify “main idea”: teacher points to three pre-selected facts and students choose where they go.
• Provide cut-and-paste “because” strips (e.g., “It needs shelter because…”) so inference is supported with language, not just thinking.
• Allow verbal responses instead of written sentences where needed; labels can be single words or short noun groups (e.g., “food: leaves”).