← Pedagogy + AI Free tool · Grades 6–12

Retrieval Rhythm

Start every lesson with students answering from memory, mixing last lesson, last month and last term. Keep a simple log of what you teach, paste it into one prompt on Friday, and get next week's starters with answer keys.

What you get back

Lesson 1 · Starter quiz

Starter
1. Name the three countries in the Triple Entente. 2. What did DORA allow the British government to do? 3. In which city was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated? 4. Why did the Schlieffen Plan bring Britain into the war? 5. Name one way women contributed to the war effort at home.
Key
1. Britain, France and Russia. 2. Censor newspapers and letters, and take over land, buildings and industry needed for the war. 3. Sarajevo. 4. The German army marched through neutral Belgium, and Britain had promised to protect Belgium's neutrality. 5. Working in munitions factories (also accept: transport, farming, nursing).

Your weekly rhythm

  1. After each lesson (1 min). Add a row to your log: the date, the topic and two or three key points. Keep notes about students out of it.
  2. On Friday (5 min). Paste the log into the prompt below and copy it into your AI tool.
  3. Before Monday (3 min). Check the answer key, especially anything under CHECK, and put the starters on your slides.

An example log: Grade 9 History

Every example on this page is built from this log. Download an empty log further down.

  • 2026-09-01 Long-term causes of the First World War MAIN: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism
  • 2026-09-08 The alliance system Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia. Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
  • 2026-09-15 The July Crisis 1914 Franz Ferdinand assassinated in Sarajevo, 28 June 1914; Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia; declarations of war
  • 2026-09-22 The Schlieffen Plan Defeat France quickly through Belgium, then turn to Russia; Belgian neutrality brought Britain in
  • 2026-10-06 Trench warfare on the Western Front Stalemate by end of 1914; trenches from the Channel to Switzerland; machine guns and artillery
  • 2026-10-13 The Battle of the Somme Began 1 July 1916; aim to relieve Verdun and break through; very heavy British losses on the first day
  • 2026-10-20 The home front Conscription from 1916; women in munitions factories; rationing from 1918
  • 2026-10-27 Propaganda and censorship DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) 1914; recruitment posters; censored newspapers and letters

Build next week's prompt

Do not include student names or student results. The prompt only needs your subject, grade and topic log.

Not sure? Mix gives a different format each lesson. Read about the five formats further down.
Copy columns A to C from your log and paste them here, or type one lesson per line: date, topic, key points.

Fill in subject and paste your topic log to see your prompt.

Copied

Five starter formats

Each format makes students pull earlier content out of memory in a different way. Choose one for the week, or Mix to vary them.

5 min

Starter quiz

A few short questions answered from memory before anything else happens.

  1. Questions on the board as students come in. No notes, no books.
  2. Three minutes to answer, then students check and correct their own answers.
  3. Ask who got each question right, and re-teach what most missed.
An example from the History log

Lesson 1 · Starter quiz

Starter
1. Name the three countries in the Triple Entente. 2. What did DORA allow the British government to do? 3. In which city was Archduke Franz Ferdinand assassinated? 4. Why did the Schlieffen Plan bring Britain into the war? 5. Name one way women contributed to the war effort at home.
Key
1. Britain, France and Russia. 2. Censor newspapers and letters, and take over land, buildings and industry needed for the war. 3. Sarajevo. 4. The German army marched through neutral Belgium, and Britain had promised to protect Belgium's neutrality. 5. Working in munitions factories (also accept: transport, farming, nursing).
Use this format
5 min

Brain dump

Students write everything they remember about one earlier topic, then compare.

  1. Name the topic. Students write everything they remember for three minutes.
  2. Pairs compare and add one thing they missed in a different colour.
  3. Show the key points. Students tick what they had.
An example from the History log

Lesson 2 · Brain dump

Starter
Write down everything you remember about trench warfare on the Western Front. You have three minutes. Then compare with a partner and add one thing you missed.
Key
Key points to look for: the war of movement ended in stalemate by the end of 1914; a line of trenches ran from the Channel coast to Switzerland; machine guns and artillery made attacks across no man's land very costly; front-line, support and reserve trenches.
Use this format
7 min

Retrieval grid

Nine questions from different weeks, worth more points the further back they go.

  1. Students answer as many questions as they can, in any order.
  2. Older content earns more points, so it is worth trying the hard row.
  3. Go through the key. Note which row the class found hardest.
An example from the History log

Lesson 3 · Retrieval grid

Starter
Newest week (1 point each): What does DORA stand for? | Name one thing DORA allowed the government to censor. | What were recruitment posters meant to do? 1–3 weeks before (2 points each): When did conscription begin in Britain? | What was one aim of the Battle of the Somme? | Why did the Western Front become a stalemate? Older (3 points each): What does MAIN stand for? | Which countries made up the Triple Alliance? | What did Austria-Hungary do after Serbia did not accept all of its ultimatum?
Key
Newest week: Defence of the Realm Act. Newspapers or letters. Persuade men to volunteer for the army. 1–3 weeks before: 1916. To relieve pressure on the French at Verdun (or to break through the German lines). Machine guns and artillery made defending much easier than attacking. Older: militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. It declared war on Serbia (28 July 1914).
Use this format
5 min

Multiple choice with misconceptions

Four options per question, where every wrong option is a common misunderstanding.

  1. Everyone answers at once: fingers, cards or mini whiteboards.
  2. Look at which wrong options are popular. Each one shows a misunderstanding.
  3. Re-teach the most common misunderstanding before moving on.
An example from the History log

Lesson 4 · Multiple choice with misconceptions

Starter
1. Why did Britain declare war on Germany in August 1914? A Germany attacked Britain B Germany invaded neutral Belgium C Britain was in the Triple Alliance D Franz Ferdinand was British 2. What was the Schlieffen Plan? A A plan to defend Germany's borders B A plan to defeat Russia first, then France C A plan to defeat France quickly through Belgium, then turn to Russia D A peace plan to end the war by Christmas
Key
1. B. A: Germany had not attacked Britain when Britain declared war; Britain joined because of Belgium. C mixes up the two alliances: Britain was in the Triple Entente. D confuses the trigger of the war with Britain's reason for joining. 2. C. A misses that it was an attack plan. B reverses the order. D confuses the plan with the hope that the war would be over by Christmas.
Use this format
3 min

Two things I remember

Students name two things from one earlier lesson and one question they still have.

  1. Name the lesson. Students write two things they remember.
  2. They add one question they still have about it.
  3. Read the questions. They show you what to recap.
An example from the History log

Lesson 5 · Two things I remember

Starter
Think back to our lesson on 20 October about the home front. Write two things you remember from it, and one question you still have.
Key
A full answer could mention: conscription in Britain from 1916; women working in munitions factories; food rationing from 1918. Use the students' questions to plan a short recap.
Use this format

Why it works

Retrieval practice Strong

Practice testing is one of two strategies rated high utility in the best-known review of study techniques (Dunlosky et al. 2013). Meta-analyses of classroom studies confirm it improves learning in school (Yang et al. 2021; Ruitenburg et al. 2026), across ages and subjects (Agarwal, Nunes & Blunt 2021).

Source: Dunlosky et al. 2013, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Yang et al. 2021, Psychological Bulletin, Ruitenburg et al. 2026, Educational Psychology Review, Agarwal, Nunes & Blunt 2021, Educational Psychology Review

Spacing Strong

Distributed practice is the other strategy rated high utility by Dunlosky et al. 2013. A 2026 meta-analysis of studies in real school classrooms finds a small but reliable benefit from spacing practice out (Ruitenburg et al. 2026), and a 2022 review finds that spacing and retrieval together give the most durable learning (Carpenter, Pan & Butler 2022).

Source: Dunlosky et al. 2013, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, Ruitenburg et al. 2026, Educational Psychology Review, Carpenter, Pan & Butler 2022, Nature Reviews Psychology

Interleaving Promising

A meta-analysis finds a moderate overall benefit from mixing categories during practice. The benefit is strongest for paintings and other visual material, small for maths and unclear for texts, and blocking actually worked better for learning words (Brunmair & Richter 2019). A 2026 meta-analysis of school classroom studies finds a similar average benefit (Ruitenburg et al. 2026). Mixing helps most when students must tell similar things apart.

Source: Brunmair & Richter 2019, Psychological Bulletin, Ruitenburg et al. 2026, Educational Psychology Review

Misconception-based options Promising

Multiple-choice questions with plausible wrong options work as retrieval practice, not just as a test (Little et al. 2012). When the wrong options are built on common misconceptions, the answers also show the teacher what to re-teach, which is the idea behind hinge questions in formative assessment.

Source: Little et al. 2012, Psychological Science

The quiz feels harder than a recap, and that effort is what makes it stick. For research on many other teaching strategies, see the Evidence Toolkit on this site.

AI tools and age rules

You use AI to write the starters. Your students do not need to. If students use AI themselves, these rules apply (October 2026):

  • Copilot Chat: Students aged 13 and over, through the school's own Microsoft 365 account. The school's administrator must set each student's age group and consent.
  • Gemini for Education: Open to education users of all ages, with a stricter experience for under-18s. The school's administrator must turn it on.
  • ChatGPT: Ages 13 and over on personal accounts, with a parent's or guardian's permission under 18. ChatGPT for Teachers is for school staff only.
  • Claude: Ages 18 and over. In a school, for teachers only.

Rules differ between countries and change often. Check your own national rules and your school policy before students use any AI tool.

Downloads

An empty topic log to keep after each lesson, and a printable pack with the five formats, a page for students and parents, and a fill-in prompt for when you are offline.

Download the topic log (Excel) Download the printable pack (PDF)

The log opens in Excel. In Google Sheets, choose File → Import and upload it.