Retrieval of prior learning and the development of oracy skills

Noticing a remarkable difference (of confidence, structure and poise) between some of our students' presentations skills, I decided to dedicate my end of term lessons on developing our students' speaking and listening skills. Naturally, I couldn't help but add a Literature revision element to their lessons with respect to the number of quotes and set texts that they're expected to know very well. As a result, you'll find below a selection of some of the resources I developed with these objectives in mind.

Please click on the image in order to download the resources for yourselves. I would be grateful if you could tweet how your students have responded to these materials in future lessons (@3dimension1) in the new academic year.

The start of the lesson involved getting students to make a series of random links connected to current affairs.

Then links between characters from the same Literature set text.

 I decided to get our students thinking about links between different set texts so that they could get an  understanding of overlapping themes to help them with their revision.

Students were given the choice to write their speech (with the support of the template below) or to improvise their speech.

All in all, I can see how this strategy can be easily adapted to promote students' higher level thinking skills across all departments with the aim of simultaneously developing their oracy skills.

Please find the link to these resources here.

English Literature Macbeth Revision task

Thinking of the 'Combination drawing' game, I wanted to try and create an equivalent with GCSE English Literature revision in mind. Click on the image below for a copy of this resource. 

Instructions:

Students create their own exam style question for (AQA) Macbeth. They write down their names and fold/glue the AO1 question in order to keep it covered. Students then pass on the folded AO1 section to a different student in the class.

Student B has to write down everything they can remember about Macbeth for AO2 (quotes, events and analysis) and AO3 (context) without looking at the folded mock exam question.

Student C has the joy of revealing what the AO1 mock exam question was (by gently unfolding the AO1 section) and checking if any of the AO2/AO3 information is actually relevant to the essay question.

Purple Pen 
Student C's next task involves using  a copy of Macbeth in order to find relevant quotes for the essay question and relevant contextual information. Student C also has to cross out in purple pen any irrelevant quotes/contextual information. For homework, students have to write up their essay response to the essay question. 

Why did they use this activity?
1. Students understood the importance of using relevant quotes for their chosen exam question.
2. Students considered the importance of using relevant historical, social and political contextual information.
3. Clear formative assessment opportunity for the teacher to gain an insight into their students' knowledge of: the play, quotes and contextual information.
4. It's a kinaesthetic task which involves students moving around and looking forward to discovering what their question was all along.

The way forward? 
Next time, I'll add an extract to the AO1 section as it was quite difficult for them to formulate a question without the extract in front of them. However, for Set 1, not having the extract meant that students could decide (using purple pen) on the best extract for their question.

Book Check

Book Checks are aimed at considering the quality of teacher marking/feedback and the level of progress over time. In particular, we use Purple Pen time to allow students to work on their target areas for improvement.


Some students need to recognise that their books are a representation of their potential target grades and areas of strength. Before Parents' Evening, most students decide to complete their work a little bit neater or to give that extra 10% effort but by then it's usually too late. Students need to consider the quality of their notes and their presentation standards every lesson (and for their homework too).


Thinking in respect of ways to communicate the importance of their Purple Pen work and presentation, I've decided to use the following sticker to award students with a pride number...5 being the best! Let's see if it improves the level of care shown towards their books.

Poetry annotation tracker for poetry anthologies.

I've designed this poetry annotation tracker as I've always wanted to have a quick way of monitoring the quality of my students' anthology annotations! It's like a bookmark. Students need to stick this next to each poem they've annotated in their anthologies. They'll then ask themselves if they've considered the poem's use of each literary term. The question mark option is to be ticked by a student if they don't know the meaning of a specified literary term.


Click on the tracker below to get your copy!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzOKbcWyKF4kNFFhVWVJMEthdHc/view?usp=sharing