Literacy across the curriculum

Elizabeth Lockwood: the etymology of words

* Each student has this sheet

* We then identify the name the symbol and the explanation of the name E.g. Cobalt : Co : From the German word for Goblin

* We consider the logistics involved in cutting out and resorting all the pieces of paper and all the words and decide that is too tricky

* I introduce the idea of colouring the three matching pieces of info – so that we can track them easily
Goblins being green – means we colour the three cobalt related boxes in green (dark green – because we are going to use a light green for Chlorine as it is a pale green gas)

* Although I could pretend we have a discussion and free choice over the colours used that isn’t strictly true!

* We look through the name explanations for colours and use black for carbon, brown for bromine, purple for iodine and red for Hydrogen (because acids are acidic due to their ability to dissociate Hydrogen ions and strong acids turn pH paper red)

* I use colours on worksheets requiring matching statements from two columns as it is far easier to follow than drawing lines between the matching statements.


Dan Spencer: understanding what exam questions are asking you to do

Task 1: Look at the following exam questions and underline the key command words.


Q1 – Describe the effects of flooding on people and the area
Q2 – Floods can be controlled in a number of ways. Name two of theses and explain how they help to reduce the risk of a flood
Q3 – Compare the trends for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with average global temperatures between 1860 and 2000
Q4 – Suggest a reason for any variations between the two graphs
Q5 – Annotate the diagram to explain how volcanic eruptions occur
Q6 – Study the map and describe how the map indicates that there is a high population density

Match the command word to the definition:

Use this sheet to define key words and support correct use of vocabulary in longer answers:

Sally Newton: inspiring reading through a website

This is an absolutely brilliant website that we as a school subscribe to. It features interesting articles, ideas for activities and ideas for further reading. I thought this might be something we could use for promoting literacy. We could use it in V&E sessions maybe for Friday activities? Teachers might be able to find articles relevant to their subject to use as starter tasks, homework tasks, extension work.

Many thanks to Mrs Sharpling for pointing me in the direction of this website, I think it is a great way of getting young people engaged in the news and what is going on in the world around them.

The Username is Oakgrove
Password: theday

http://www.theday.co.uk/

Charlotte Hawker: students as teachers of new vocabulary

As a starter activity, hand out new key words/difficult terminology for the lesson to each student.

They read each definition and turn it into their own words.

Play music and ask students to move around the room (dancing optional). When the music stops, students turn to the nearest person and teach them the new word verbally and in their own words.

Students take notes from each other and prepare to move off around the room again to music, teaching the next person the 2 definitions they now have...

Great for actively engaging students in learning new vocabulary and also for promoting independence and speaking/listening skills whilst having fun with music.

Jonny Tarrant: 5 strategies for generic literacy approaches

Results from new coaching triads

DSpencer, DSilvey and CHawker triad

Groups at work in Danielle's innovative method for revision...



The students explain the task they've been set...





Here is the plenary - a fantastic example of supporting and structuring reflective thought from the students:




In my Year 7 group, I have started to use song/rap/poetry to support the knowledge and understanding of key pieces of information and themes:




Dan and Danielle have also experimented with how students use planning sheets to structure their ideas:



Here are the students' views about the 'ideal' planning sheet!

Innovative ideas from 17th Jan!

This TELL meeting has been solely focused on sharing ideas in line with our new focus: innovation!

Niamh Bland is using songs and music to secure key pieces of vocabularly in students' minds...this is an idea that I've borrowed and used with my Year 7s this week - creating a song/rap/poem to help memorise key information about Shakespeare.


Danielle Silvey shared her idea to support students in considering both sides of the argument, using visual "hands" to encourage students to separate their thinking with a key issue.
Danielle has laminated copies of these to use in lessons, so students can write ideas on to plan the answer and then rub them off when finished, ready to reuse in another lesson.


John Shepherd has been using "Prezis" with Y9 (instead of websites) and Y12 (as a revision aid for a unit)..
Here is an example of how the website can be used by Sophie Y12…

http://prezi.com/1bus8_uov2vd/ict-415

Emily Smith shared this visual aid to help with planning for an essay - an idea that could be adopted in other subjects, with different key pointers in the white boxes...


Revision & Exam Preparation Tips from Elizabeth Lockwood

For your A level groups in particular, my tip would be to collect a variety of text books, preferably really old ones because:
they will have far more detail than the modern crop of text books that are written to a specific syllabus, so they will enrich your repertoire of background knowledge for when you are teaching groups who like a story
the language used models the answering technique needed for 5 - 25 mark answers: (e.g. PEE and DEAL).
there will be a book for every different type of learner in your group, with a wide variety of books there is no excuse for not doing the background reading.
obsolete books contain primary and secondary sources which can be woven into new analysis activities in lessons.
the diagrams and pictures are in black and white, so much easier to scan.
the images are referenced, which makes checking validity easier than images available via Google.
old books are often used by the people setting the exam questions (they were new books when examiners were training, they are familiar with the content). In Biology, but we have a high score rate for seeing old examples of genetics and photosynthesis turning up in new exam papers.
pick your time and these treasures can be yours for 1p plus postage, less than the cost of a latte.
my precious treasury of examples dates from 1977, it is very old and battered and the best preparation for university ever printed. Faisal reckons the examples from there were harder than anything he was asked to do in his first term Kings.

Dan Spencer is using active carousel activities to make revision more engaging and structured for students. He is also trialling different planning techniques with Danielle Silvey...more to follow on this :)

Jonny Tarrant has used an innovative way of challenging top set thinking skills by asking students to engage in a debate, justifying the rank order of evil...

Jonny has also been stretching the more able through an innovative use of critical thinking puzzles...