Exploring Learning

For the past few weeks I have been working on scaffolding my IGCSE Second Language English class. These lessons arose out of the start of year assessment we conducted to determine levels and needs. This is pure assessment for learning. The writing was very weak and in reality, way below the prerequisite for success at this level. However, as I am a big believer in self-fulfilling prophecies, I told them what a great start they had made and proceeding to dig deep to form some solid foundations to allow them the success they deserve. The IGCSE exam requires learners to write two essays of between 100-200 words each, depending on the level of paper they sit. One requires formal register , and one, informal register - normally a letter. AfL dictated that a letter was at present out of reach and so, my little unit on postcards was born. Previously, I have written about the first two weeks of this plan which involved: labelling an image of a beach to provide and expand vocabulary ...

Last week, I wrote about how I broke down informal writing for my second language IGCSE class. This post outlines the second part of the learning - you can read about the first part,  on my post, Scaffolding Beginner ESL . Briefly, the first part involved: using an image of a beach to label and provide vocabulary cloze  sentences using the vocabulary writing their own sentences using the vocabulary scanning  and skimming postcards for language patterns drafting postcards to someone in the room writing responses to these drafts This week, I included some speaking and listening using FOTOBABBLE.  Fotobabble is an easy to use website that allows learners to upload a photograph or image of their choice and then record themselves talking about it. First, we found images of  either places they had been, or places they have always wanted to go to. They also had the opportunity to use Facebook or Instagram to use photos of them...

My Year 11 class are working on informal writing. As part of their IGCSE assessment, they have to to be able to write using appropriate register and style. This involves their being able to interpret the question in order that they are able to identify the correct language to use. It means they also have to have the language ability to choose the correct diction, tone and formality level. Last week, we worked on PAT - Purpose (why), Audience (who) and Text Type (what) and they had a go at identifying these three things in a number of different tasks. This means they have some skills at begin able to unpack a task and make decisions about how to format their answer as well as the kind of language they need to use. Informal letters are a common assessment task in the IGCSE exam. Planning backwards from this final outcome, I designed the following lessons. Build vocabulary: I found an image of a beach with plenty of things going on and asked learners to label it. After a ...