Key Stage 3 National Strategy Foundation Subjects MFL: optional module 5

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.1 Objectives for module 5 To understand why effective practice activities are an essential part of the language learning process To identify the features and impact of effective practice To understand the importance of checking for progress during the practice stage To identify the features and impact of effective checking for progress To encourage active follow-up by participants

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.2 The importance of practice Pupils need opportunities to practise new language in a secure way before moving on to apply their learning in new contexts. The quality and range of practice opportunities and the success they provide will have an important influence on engagement, motivation and progress.

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.3 Types of practice activity Pupils can practise in many ways, for example with: a drill pair work (possibly followed by demonstration to the class) a carefully structured game

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.4 Making practice effective For practice activities to be effective teachers need to: ensure that activities are planned to bring about improvement, for example working faster / with greater accuracy / with less support initially break activities down into small, achievable steps focusing on one point of language at a time skilfully explain and model each practice activity so that all pupils can start work quickly and purposefully be sure that pupils have essential prior knowledge: for example, an activity practising present tense verb endings will not be engaging for pupils who do not know the meanings of all the verbs

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.5 Making practice effective For practice activities to be effective teachers need to: be sure that pupils involved in pair work know that they are expected to work collaboratively, with one helping the other if the need arises respond to error in an appropriate way, for example by making a non-judgemental correction, by encouraging self-correction or by responding positively to a response that is almost correct challenge inadequate responses, as accepting them will hinder rather than enable progress spend much of the time monitoring the work of the whole class, from the front, the back or the side of the room focus individual attention on improvement and refinement, not on explaining the activity, cajoling or undertaking repair work

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.6 The impact of effective practice Effective practice activities enable pupils to: take an active part in the lesson take a major step towards independent application of new language experiment with language away from the focus of the whole class learn from each other identify any problems they will need to address either independently or with support

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National StrategySlide 5.7 Making practice challenging To make practice work more challenging for the class, the teacher might: help the pupils to speak with increasingly authentic pronunciation, especially pronunciation of vowels gradually reduce the amount of support (e.g. through gesture and repetition) provided in her explanations continue to ensure that the competitive element does not reduce the accuracy and clarity of the language

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy Checking for progress effectively For checking for progress to be effective teachers need to: make pupils aware of the aspect of performance that is being looked for, for example: – accuracy – fluency – range of vocabulary – complexity of structure make pupils feel secure, so that they know that their best efforts will not be criticised or dismissed Slide of 2

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy Checking for progress effectively For checking for progress to be effective teachers need to: identify misconceptions or gaps in knowledge identify opportunities for: – informal assessment of the progress of the class or of individuals – evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching Slide of 2

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy The impact of effective checking for progress Effective checking for progress enables pupils to: know if they are meeting the standard expected by the teacher receive additional support if they are found to be struggling help the teacher evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching and, if necessary, make adjustments remain on task because they know that their progress is being monitored look forward to the next part of the lesson with confidence Slide 5.9

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy Making peer assessment challenging To make peer assessment more challenging for the class, the teacher might: help pupils to learn and practise the vocabulary that enables checking for progress to take place in the target language give pupils a sharper view of what is meant by such terms as ‘accuracy’, ‘fluency’, ‘expression’ and ‘intonation’ ensure that such features as accuracy, fluency and expression are expertly modelled so that all pupils are clear about what is expected of them get pupils to practise their dialogues, focusing firstly on accuracy only, then on fluency, then on intonation Slide 5.10

© Crown copyright 2003 Key Stage 3 National Strategy Making peer assessment challenging To make peer assessment more challenging for the class, the teacher might: as a teacher in an upper school receiving pupils in Year 9, support liaison with feeder middle schools to ensure that Framework objectives addressing evaluation and improvement of work are addressed prior to transition to the upper school – for example: 7L6: Pupils should be taught how to evaluate and improve the quality and fluency of what they say. 8W3: Pupils should be taught to understand and use words found in comments or advice about their work. Slide 5.11