Developing students’ language Time Activity 5 minutes Set the tone and share aims of the session 10 minutes Wider reading task Debate on different ideas from the key educational thinkers Introduce specific strategies 15 minutes Coaching session on specific strategies for own class context Practice task focusing on applying these strategies Reflection and evaluation of the session

Developing students’ language Aims of the session To engage with the ideas of Robert Marzano and Doug Lemov on how to stretch students. To share effective strategies based on research about how to develop students’ language. To reflect on how to implement these strategies with our own classes. To modify existing practice to improve the outcomes of a particular class or a targeted group of students.

Why is language critical for success? Developing students’ language Why is language critical for success? How would you identify if a student has good language skills? What impact does having good language skills have on a student’s chance of success across the curriculum? Take a couple of minutes to discuss these questions with the person sitting next to you.

Developing students’ language Wider reading task What are the key ideas that Robert Marzano and Doug Lemov have with regards to increasing the level of challenge for students? Each of you in your pairs will be given a different handout. Read the handout and be prepared to share what each educational thinker says about ensuring students are challenged in class.

Debating these ideas Developing students’ language How might Robert Marzano’s ideas help students to develop their academic language? How might Doug Lemov’s ideas help teachers to make language central to students’ learning? What are the possible issues with implementing Robert Marzano’s and Doug Lemov’s ideas? Thinking about your own students, who might struggle to adapt to these methods of developing language?

Implementing Marzano’s ideas Developing students’ language Implementing Marzano’s ideas Practical strategy: Vocabulary notebooks to support vocabulary upgrades Give each student a vocabulary notebook with one page for each word. Divide the page into: the word; an example; a sentence using the word; a visual representation; synonyms; antonyms. Give students a passage of text with easy words highlighted. Ask students to replace these words with more academic (tier 2) choices or technical (tier 3) choices. Students share their new versions of the text with their peers. You can then select a few examples and use them as a stimulus for whole class discussion.

Implementing Lemov’s ideas Developing students’ language Implementing Lemov’s ideas Practical strategy: Right is right – Oral rehearsal To increase the quality of students’ responses, give them some time to work out how they will respond to your question and practise an oral rehearsal. Randomly select a handful of students to stand up and verbalise their response. The class have to decide which answer or answers are 100% correct commenting on the content and the vocabulary used. The teacher’s role is to draw out some of the subtleties in the students’ responses rather than to say straight away which answers are best.

Developing students’ language Our students Take a minute to think about a student, a group of students or a class you teach who might benefit from this strategy. Why have you chosen these particular students? Be ready to share your selected students with the rest of the group.

Coaching to develop our practice Developing students’ language Coaching to develop our practice We will now work in pairs where each person in the pair will be coached about how they may implement a particular strategy from Marzano or Lemov. At the end of the conversation, each person will need to commit to an action going forward that will help students to develop their use of language.

The GROW model GOAL What do they want to achieve? Developing students’ language The GROW model GOAL What do they want to achieve? Why do they want to achieve this? REALITY What are the issues they are facing that are hindering their goals? What have they tried already? OPTIONS What have they thought about that they could try? What do they think are the pros and cons of each option? WAY FORWARD What are they going to commit to trying? What do they hope will be the impact?

The GROW model – developing students’ language GOAL Which strategy do you want to try out? Which students might benefit? How might these students benefit from this strategy? REALITY What barriers to learning are you encountering from these students? How are these barriers affecting their ability to think deeply about ideas discussed in your class? OPTIONS What have you tried already? What were the pros and cons to what you’ve tried? How might this strategy be better? WAY FORWARD What actions are you going to commit to moving forward? What support will you need to make it happen? How will you know if it has had successful impact?

Practice tasks Right is right – oral rehearsal Developing students’ language Practice tasks Vocabulary notebooks and vocabulary upgrades Right is right – oral rehearsal Think about something you are going to teach where you will be introducing a lot of new terminology. Decide on the key words you are going to teach and design a page template for the notebook. Then practise writing passages linked to the content you will be teaching where students can upgrade certain words using their notebook. Think about something you are going to teach where you could set up a class discussion. Decide on the questions you want students to respond to during the discussion. Create a resource to support students in using the correct language when responding to these questions.

Reflection and evaluation Developing students’ language Reflection and evaluation Question Response What strategies do you already routinely use with students to develop students’ use of language? What did you want to get out of today’s session? How has today’s session developed your understanding of how to improve students’ academic language? What specific changes are you going to commit to making after today’s session? What further information or training would you like the lead learner to offer to support you in achieving these changes?