Topic 4 Explaining subject content: using knowledge structures, graphics & language

Activity 1 past tense Vs future tense; time words  previous knowledge  learning objective Now… class, last time we talked about the structure of the heart, and today we will look at the action of heartbeat. …… You can feel the action, but how is the action produced? And why is it important to us? Content gap: heart structure  heartbeat Something important to you but you don’t know the different parts in the heart how these different parts work to make the heart beat

Activity 1 Gap for learning: last lesson (structure of heart)  this lesson (heartbeat) Daily life experience (hand on heart  how the heart beats): real to students Visual aids: demonstration / graphic / analogy (bulb  heart; tube  blood vessels; red ink  blood) gestures (hand on heart; squeeze bulb  heart muscles contract; liquid goes up  blood flows out; contract Vs relax) key language on BB

Activity 1 Key relationship: process (cause-effect; sequence) Not solely use of English Activity 1 Key relationship: process (cause-effect; sequence) Graphic: arrows (systole: heart muscle contracts  size of chamber becomes smaller  blood flows out of heart) Students’ use of CoL: systole  diastole; parallel writing on BB Signposting: Repetitions: Correcting students’ language: (muscle expands  relaxes) Focus on language: plan the language write key language with graphic on board ask students to use the language correct students’ key language

Activity 1 Areas for improvement: not write ‘rubber bulb’ on BB (not CoL) write key language on BB: When heart muscles contract, the size of the chamber becomes smaller and the blood flows out of the heart. [the language of cause-effect] expand Vs relax more (metal vs heart) pronunciation of systole and diastole

Activity 1 Students should be able to: Content objective: explain how our heart beats and bumps blood to and fro the body Language objective: use the when clause to explain how the heart beats

Writing a script Identify a concept; Write down the key knowledge relationships (at most 2); Write down the content obligatory language (to be written on the BB for students); Plan the stages of the explanation; Identify a graphic for the key knowledge relationship(s); Use the graphic as the key scaffold / skeleton to lead through the explanation  organise the talk/script with the graphic as the guide; Use as many scaffolds as needed to support students’ understanding

Explaining subject content Do not solely use English  visuals  scaffolds Knowledge structures  graphics  visuals Scaffold students’ learning: overview, staging an explanation, signposting, repetition, questioning, giving instructions Plan the language use  language objective

1. Use visuals as scaffolds Labeled images enhance understanding of keywords: reservoir, sluice gates, powerhouse, powerlines, generator, turbine, river [Use Google images]

2. Knowledge structures  graphics Flow chart Table Tree diagram Cause-effect, sequence Comparison-contrast, cause-effect, problem-solution Classification http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/

3. Scaffold students’ learning: Overview & Staging Naming / defining the concept to explain^ (i.e., tell students what you are going to explain) Explanation focusing on key relationships^ (with graphic support) (i.e., use a graphic to show the key thinking skill and talk as you go through / fill up the graphic) Summarising the key concept

3. Scaffold students’ learning: Signposting Review  Yesterday we learned how to / about…; you’ve learnt that…  Let’s have a revision on… Advance organiser Today we’re going to explain / learn about… Then we’ll explain… Today we’re going to learn 3 new things: 1. xxx; 2. yyy; 3. zzz Transition Ok we have now finished the first part. Let’s now move to the second part. Focusing on language Now let’s have a look at this word / sentence more closely. Results As you can see from the table, the greatest effect was produced when… Closing So, now, let’s review what we learned today.

3. Scaffold students’ learning: Repetition Neutralisation Why are your teeth dirty? We can brush our teeth after every meal. Some people have this habit. After lunch, they brush their teeth. After dinner, they brush their teeth. What happens when we have eaten something? When we have eaten something, what happens to our teeth? The food in our mouth will produce some kinds of acid. Repetition / paraphrasing gives students time to process the L2

3. Scaffold students’ learning: Questioning Check questions Yes-no: Do you understand? Are you following? Are there any questions? Wh-: What did I say about…? What is…? Display questions Short / one-word answers: What is the pH of acids / alkalis? Double questions   Do you know what the pH value of water is?  Do you know what is the pH value of water? Higher order questions One HO question  a series of shorter/easier questions  back to the HO question: How does blood flow in and out of the heart? What can the heart muscles do? (contract, relax) When the heart contracts, what happens to the heart chamber? (becomes smaller) When the chamber becomes smaller, what happens to the blood? (flows out of the heart) So how does blood flow out of the heart? When the heart muscles…

3. Scaffold students’ learning: Giving instructions Start the instruction with a sentence or two describing the context of the activity to prepare students for the activity (e.g. I’m going to tell you how to do this experiment / this worksheet); Give instructions in the same order in which students are required to act (e.g., There are 5 steps. First, do [imperative]… Second, do…); Give one instruction in one sentence; Use the imperative to start each instruction (i.e. telling students what to do); Number each instruction to give students an idea of the number of actions/steps they have to take; and Use as simple and clear English as possible (easy verbs+wh-words); use numbers (e.g. 1, 2, 3) wherever possible.

4. Plan for language use  language objective When heart muscles contract, the size of the chamber becomes smaller and the blood flows out of the heart. When heart muscles relax, the size of the chamber becomes larger and the blood flows into the heart. The language of cause-effect: When-clause, verb+preposition phrases

Resources Teaching ideas: http://www.khanacademy.org/ Graphics: http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/ http://my.hrw.com/nsmedia/intgos/html/igo.htm http://www.enchantedlearning.com/graphicorganizers/ Classroom language: https://www.eslbuzz.com/classroom-language-for-teachers-and-students-of-english/ http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/training/ Dictionaries with pronunciation: http://science.yourdictionary.com/ http://www.howjsay.com/ Google images

Submission date: 1 December 2018 email: stella@eduhk.hk Drafts for comments Ms Sara Lee will send email on date of lesson observation in September