Teacher guide · Think Lab · Easier · about 35 min
🥋 Spelling Cats Dojo
Pupils practise problem solving and creativity through "Spelling Cats Dojo": Help the cats earn their belts by beating rounds of spelling and grammar.
Lesson guide
1. Hook · 5 min
Show the 🥋 mission title and read the opening: "White belt. Which word is spelled correctly?". Take three quick guesses.
2. Model · 5 min
Think aloud through the first step together. Use Cog the Owl's line as your prompt: "Good thinking. Show me the why."
3. Do · 10 min
Pairs work through the 7 steps on screen or on the printed sheet. Circulate and ask "why?"
4. Discuss · 10 min
Use two or three of the discussion questions. Ask pairs to share different answers, not just correct ones.
5. Reflect · 5 min
Exit ticket: one sentence on how they used problem solving today.
Discussion questions
- What was the hardest choice in "Spelling Cats Dojo", and why?
- White belt. Which word is spelled correctly — explain your reasoning to a partner.
- Yellow belt. Pick the sentence with the right punctuation — explain your reasoning to a partner.
- Blue belt. Which plural is correct — explain your reasoning to a partner.
- Where could you use problem solving outside school this week?
- If you did this again, what would you change?
Adapting it
Support: Read prompts aloud, pair with a confident partner, and accept spoken or drawn answers for writing steps.
Stretch: Set the Challenge tier (1 extra steps) and ask pupils to justify every answer in writing.
Curriculum links
- National Curriculum: Maths: reasoning mathematically and problem solving
- National Curriculum: Computing: logical reasoning and algorithms
- PSHE: Living in the wider world: making decisions and evaluating choices
Pupil sheet
🥋 Spelling Cats Dojo
Name: ____________________ Date: __________
1. White belt. Which word is spelled correctly?
☐ freind
☐ friend
☐ frend
2. Yellow belt. Pick the sentence with the right punctuation.
☐ where is my cat
☐ Where is my cat?
☐ where is my cat?
3. Green belt. Match each word to its job in a sentence.
cat → ________________
pounced → ________________
fluffy → ________________
quickly → ________________
4. Blue belt. Which plural is correct?
☐ boxs
☐ boxes
☐ boxies
5. Brown belt. Put these words in alphabetical order.
___ claw
___ cushion
___ kitten
___ whisker
6. Black belt. Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?
☐ The cats bowl is empty.
☐ The cat's bowl is empty.
☐ The cats' bowl's empty's.
7. Write one sentence about the dojo using an adjective and an adverb.