Oracy: Exploratory talk (sentence stems)

Exploratory talk is when children are given the opportunity to develop, challenge and build upon their knowledge and understanding through sustained dialogue. They learn through talking. Just like when designing a task, good quality talk can require scaffolding. By using sentence stems to support pupils’ responses, the quality of talk is elevated. Below you will …

Remote ‘teaching’: planning for and the evidence supporting it

In preparing for future remote learning it is important to draw from the evidence and our experiences so far. Below you will find various guides and strategies in order to plan most effectively for remote teaching to maximise engagement and learning. 1) The EEF published guidance in relation to effective remote learning. The full report …

Reciprocal Reading

A strategy that encourages pupils to think about their own thought process during reading. It helps them become actively involved and monitor their comprehension as they read. It teaches students to ask questions during reading and helps make the text more comprehensible. Reciprocal reading reciprocal_teaching_bookmark

ATOS Text Analyser

A great vehicle through which to assess the appropriate level of the text you are asking students to analyse. Click here for Text Analyser Click here for Book Analyser (digital) Click here for Bookfinder Use ATOS Conversion Levels to help you convert ATOS levels to appropriate reading ages to assess suitability of texts

Reading Frameworks: Thinking hard

Use these templates to help students to chunk down the reading process and aid comprehension. It works well to model good practice for students to utilise in their independent study time. Thinking Reading Deconstruction Frame History example 2 History example 1

Scaffolding to support (English)

Use arrows to pose questions to help scaffold analysis of text, the level of challenge is indicated by the colour of the arrow. Scaffolding for pupils who need support

A story of…

Sometimes when a skill might be being assessed, the “answer” does not suffice, the journey a pupil takes is key. Pupils clearly outline each step of their approach to a question or answer they have constructed.This forces them to be concise in their explanations. This can be performed both verbally or in a written format and …

Target language cards/chatty mats

Use these cards to reward children for using target language within MFL lessons or just for subject specific vocabulary. Additionally chatty mats can contain regularly used phrases and sentence starters to help students feel more confident in articulating their learning in class. Target Language cards

Keynnections

Using the analogy of a tube map pupils try to justify and make links between topics, or additionally demonstrate how one thing leads to another. For each station on the journey another point must be made. See below for examples with and without scaffolding. Keynnections Keynnections scaffold