If you have, you’ll know one of the reasons that Fight Club is great is because of the ending. Ed Norton and Helena Bonham Carter look out over a sea of destruction while Black Francis croons and creams an apocalyptic tribute to mental illness. Brilliant.

Ending in ESL classes

But why am I talking about Brad Pitt’s great decent film? What do multi-million dollar movies and English lessons have in common? They both need good endings. Research by psychologists has shown that students remember more about the first and last five minutes of a class than they do about the rest. IMDB has shown that almost nobody liked “No Country for Old Men” because the ending sucked. Every TEFL teacher has heard of warmers, but what about wrap ups? Here are three ways to make sure your next lesson is more “Sixth Sense” than “Return of the King”.

3 ways to wrap up your next lesson

1. Back to the board (A.K.A. hot seat)

Two students sit at the front of the room facing the rest of the class. You write key phrases from the lesson on the board while the rest of the class describes these to the students at the front. You’ll hear your class paraphrasing like crazy and having a lot of fun at the same time.

2. One minute story

“We learned ten new words today. You have one minute to write a story using at least seven of them. The funniest wins.” You’d never have known your students could be this creative.

3. Clean the board

Students come to front of class one by one, erase a word and make a sentence with this. Continue until all your students have spoken or the board is bare.

Ending your lessons ‘with a bang’ won’t just encourage your students to come back to class; it will also ensure they remember more of what they learned.