Teach17

A good PowerPoint should make learning easier, not simply make a lesson look polished. The best adaptations are often small: less clutter, clearer instructions, better sequencing and more support built into the slides from the start. These changes can help pupils with SEND, weaker literacy, attention difficulties and gaps in knowledge, while still keeping the lesson challenging for everyone else.

1. Start with a very clear lesson question or goal so pupils know what they are trying to understand, not just what topic they are covering.
2. Strip out anything that does not help learning. Decorative pictures, unnecessary animations and extra text can make it harder for some pupils to identify what matters.
3. Keep the layout consistent from slide to slide. Put titles, questions, key words and instructions in predictable places so pupils do not have to keep working out how to read the screen.
4. Show less information at once. Reveal explanations, diagrams or stages of a calculation gradually rather than presenting the finished slide immediately.
5. Turn long paragraphs into short teacher prompts. The slide should support your explanation rather than replace it.
6. Pre-teach difficult vocabulary before pupils need to use it. Give a simple definition, an example and, where useful, a picture or diagram.
7. Make important words visually obvious. Highlight the command word, key value, equation or piece of information pupils need to focus on.
8. Break tasks into visible steps. Instead of saying “Answer the question”, show pupils exactly what to do first, second and third.
9. Include worked examples that show the thinking, not just the final answer. Annotate each stage so pupils can see why each step has been taken.
10. Move from “I do” to “we do” to “you do”. Model one example, complete one together and then give pupils a similar question to attempt independently.
11. Build hints into the slide rather than waiting for pupils to get stuck. A key word, sentence starter, equation or first step can be enough to get someone moving again.
12. Make support optional rather than automatic. Put hints, scaffolds or sentence starters in a separate box so pupils who need them can use them without limiting everyone else.
13. Add challenge by increasing thinking rather than simply adding more questions. Ask pupils to explain, compare, justify, predict or spot an error.
14. Pause regularly for a check for understanding. One multiple-choice question, mini-whiteboard question or “which answer is correct and why?” slide can expose misunderstandings quickly.
15. Give pupils thinking time before revealing answers. A PowerPoint can accidentally make lessons too fast if the next answer appears before everyone has had time to process the question.
16. Use diagrams carefully. Label only what pupils need, build complex diagrams in stages and avoid assuming that everyone automatically knows how to interpret them.
17. Finish by returning to the lesson goal. Ask pupils to answer the original question, explain the key idea in one sentence or complete a short exit question so both you and they can see what has actually been learned.

The key is not to create a separate PowerPoint for every type of learner. It is to design the original one more carefully so that explanations are clearer, tasks are easier to enter, support is available when needed and challenge remains for pupils who are ready to go further.