Lesson Plan

Primary National Strategy

Guidance Curriculum and Standards

Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2
Professional development materials

Primary teachers and headteachers
Status: Recommended Date of issue: 04-2004 Ref: DfES 0163-2004

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Contents

DVD – extracts from the video Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 (DfES 0628-2003) Introduction Planning meeting Professional development modules 1 Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge 2 Progression in speaking and listening 3 The role of the teacher in developing effective interaction and identifying and developing language features 4 Organising and managing speaking and listening 5 Speaking and listening: drama

Inside front cover 3 5

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35 49 55

This booklet contains suggestions for a planning meeting for embedding speaking and listening across the primary curriculum, and ﬁve professional development modules to support the teaching of speaking and listening in primary schools. The planning meeting will require teachers in preparation and follow-up. The professional development modules require time for teachers to read, plan, try out some teaching, watch others teach and discuss. Each module also has a staff meeting lasting between 60 and 75 minutes. Professional development for speaking and listening in mathematics will be available in 2005.

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DfES 0163-2004

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Introduction

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Introduction

Guidance in speaking and listening
In November 2003, every primary school in England received a box of materials entitled Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 (DfES 0623-2003 G). The materials were devised jointly by QCA and the Primary National Strategy and are a revision and extension of the QCA’s 1999 document Teaching Speaking and Listening in Key Stages 1 and 2 (QCA/99/363). Larger schools may order further copies from DfES Publications (address on the box) or download each component from the website (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary). Copies of the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet (DfES 0627-2003 G) can be obtained for individual teachers. These materials map out a progression of objectives for the direct teaching of speaking and listening using the context of different areas of the curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6. They include exempliﬁcation for each year group, teaching techniques and illustrative video footage. Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (DfEE/QCA/00/587) contains Stepping Stones and Early Learning Goals to support early progression in the teaching of speaking and listening. This booklet is designed to support schools in revisiting their approach to speaking and listening by providing suggestions for explicit professional development. The modules require the use of time in staff meetings, teachers’ time for reading and planning, and, if possible, time for teachers to work together. Schools receive an annual allocation from the Standards Fund to support professional development for teachers.

Whole-school professional development
Whole-school approaches to the curriculum and the processes of teaching and learning are vital to the coherence of children’s experience during their life in school. ‘Speaking and listening’, as deﬁned in the National Curriculum, plays an important role in children’s social, emotional and cognitive development and requires a consistent approach by all members of the teaching and support staff in a school. Planning for speaking and listening across the curriculum is a whole-school enterprise and shared or common professional development for staff serves not only to encourage and support members of staff to undertake new approaches to teaching, but also ensures that consistent strategies are adopted, common terminology is used and progression is understood and agreed throughout the age range. The materials in this booklet are designed to support whole-school professional development. They have been written on the assumption that one member of staff, representing the school leadership team, takes overall responsibility for initiating the professional development process with the whole staff (teaching and support) but that he or she may delegate the running of the staff meetings to colleagues.

Using the materials in this booklet
The section entitled ‘Planning meeting’ (page 5) is guidance to support a staff meeting, lasting about an hour, at which a member of the school leadership team initiates a process to identify appropriate opportunities for embedding the speaking and listening objectives from Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 across the curriculum. The school leadership team may decide to undertake one or more of the professional development modules before embarking on this process or might prefer to get the teaching under way and then dip into the professional development modules at intervals to provide ongoing support to the staff.

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Introduction

Each professional development module has a range of activities for teachers, some for teachers to carry out on their own and some which require collaboration in pairs, small groups or in a whole-staff meeting. Research shows that, for professional development to impact on practice in the classroom, and ultimately on children’s learning, a number of elements should be in place 1: • • • engagement with an appropriate knowledge base (e.g. access to external expertise, research, school data, experiences of other teachers, demonstration); application of learning in practice; access to coaching or mentoring.

Each of the speaking and listening professional development modules combines these elements. Engagement with an appropriate knowledge base could involve reading research, guidance and teaching materials, discussion with a more experienced colleague, watching a teacher on video or a colleague in the school. The modules draw on the ‘expertise’ of the materials in the Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack. However, there may be some aspects of speaking and listening where a school wishes to draw on additional expertise such as Primary National Strategy consultants, EMA teachers, SEN advisory teachers, behaviour support teachers or HEI tutors. Application of learning in practice may take the form of trying out a new teaching technique, perhaps with a group of children in the ﬁrst instance, or trying out some of the units exempliﬁed in the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet. Planning with a colleague who is teaching the same or an adjacent year group and then discussing the teaching afterwards is usually very effective. There may be opportunities for peer observation leading to access to coaching or mentoring which, according to the research review above, can be as effective between peers as it is between a teacher and external coach or mentor. Some activities in the modules are carried out individually and others in pairs, groups or as a whole staff. Because of the constraints of time in staff meetings, these modules are designed so that as much as possible is done individually or in pairs. Time in staff meetings is reserved for essential activities that require full staff involvement such as discussion, exploring new concepts, investigating teaching techniques and decision making.

1 For a recent review of the research into collaborative CPD, see ‘How does collaborative Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers of the 5–16 age range affect teaching and learning?’ at http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/home.aspx

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Planning meeting

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Planning meeting

Objective of the meeting
• To identify appropriate opportunities for embedding across the curriculum the speaking and listening objectives from Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 and the Early Learning Goals from Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.

Resources
• • • School curriculum map Current medium-term plans Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 (DfES 0626-2003 G) and Teaching objectives and classroom activities (DfES 0627-2003 G)

Preparation for the meeting
To make the most of the time in the meeting it would be helpful if all staff could read, in advance, pages 11–18 of Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 Handbook and pages 44–47 of Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.

Outline of the meeting
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes Identifying opportunities for teaching speaking and listening . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 minutes Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 minutes

Introduction (10 minutes)
This meeting focuses on embedding the objectives for speaking and listening into classroom practice by placing speciﬁc objectives into current medium-term plans. It would be useful to spend the ﬁrst 10 minutes of the meeting checking whether anyone has any comments on the contents of the pages they have read from the Handbook. Check that there is a common understanding and agreement on the following. • • • Speaking and listening are essential to learning in all subject areas and are particularly vital for children learning to speak English as an additional language. Signiﬁcant opportunities for speaking and listening need to be identiﬁed, planned for and located across the curriculum. Some objectives, for example adopting roles during group discussion, may need to be taught separately before being applied to a curriculum context.

Identifying opportunities for teaching speaking and listening (45 minutes)
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Encourage colleagues to work with others from the same year group or key stage band (Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, Years 5 and 6). In pairs or groups ask them to cross-check the school curriculum map with current medium-term plans to agree curriculum coverage.

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Planning meeting

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Select the speaking and listening objectives for the current year and term and place these in the relevant medium-term plan. Some objectives suggest speciﬁc links with literacy. Pages 14–16 in the Handbook and pages 44–47 in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage will support links with other curriculum areas. Identify which objectives will be located in subject areas and which will need to be explored in their own right. Encourage the whole staff to discuss their selection of objectives and curriculum areas and any other issues raised during discussion. This could include, for example, the time allocated to speaking and listening and the balance across subject areas over a term, use of ﬁrst language, and the use of resources which reﬂect diversity.

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Summary (5 minutes)
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Reiterate key issues arising from the discussion and decide next steps.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

DfES 0163-2004

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Module 1: Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge

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Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge

Objectives
• • • To develop understanding of the role of speaking and listening in learning To increase familiarity with Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 To identify key issues central to the teaching of speaking and listening

Summary of module
Part 1: Personal reading and reﬂection. Part 2: Staff meeting. Part 3: Trying out some teacher behaviours to encourage effective speaking and listening during whole-class discussion and some group discussion and interaction teaching techniques.

Resources
• • • • • • Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0623-2003 G) Video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’ on DVD Handout 1.1 The importance of speaking and listening and some questions for reﬂection Handout 1.2 Teaching sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking Handout 1.3 Viewing the video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’ Handout 1.4 Teaching sequence: Year 2 term 1 Listening

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Teachers’ personal reading and reﬂection on their teaching of speaking and listening using handouts 1.1 and 1.2

❚❙❘ Part 2 Staff meeting
Outline of the meeting
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes Video: ﬁrst viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes Video: second viewing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Jigsaw technique/discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 minutes

Introduction (10 minutes)
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Teachers raise any issues from handout 1.1 and discuss their answers to the questions.

A sequence from the video will be used as a starting point for exploring both the materials and some important issues in teaching speaking and listening.

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Module 1: Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge

Video: ﬁrst viewing (15 minutes)
Teaching objective: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’: to use and reﬂect on some ground rules for dialogue, e.g. making structured, extended contributions, speaking audibly, making meaning explicit and listening actively. Context: a Year 4 class in which the teacher has linked the objective for speaking within Unit 6A of the QCA history scheme of work for Key Stages 1 and 2 (Why have people invaded and settled in Britain in the past? A Roman Case Study). The children have worked in groups to research speciﬁc aspects of life in Celtic Britain. They have previously discussed and devised some guidelines for dialogue. The two objectives run parallel within the history unit of work. Colleagues will need their copy of handout 1.2, the teaching sequence for this objective.
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As a group, view the video for the ﬁrst time to gain an overview of the sequence and to become familiar with the extract prior to more detailed viewing and discussion later. While viewing the video, track the teaching sequence on the copy provided, noting its development. Note a couple of points of interest from the video and discuss these brieﬂy in pairs afterwards.

Video: second viewing (20 minutes)
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Before viewing a second time, explain that a speciﬁc technique (a variation of the jigsaw technique) is to be used to model a form of classroom organisation. The technique is designed to ensure that all participants make a contribution, have something to say and learn to work with others. (For further information, see the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction – making it work in the classroom (DfES 0624-2003) included in the school pack.) Group colleagues in fours and give each group one of the following areas to focus on during their second viewing (handout 1.3). a. How does the teacher’s behaviour encourage the development of speaking and listening (e.g. demeanour, wait time, body language, use of questioning, etc.)? b. Note the characteristics of the children’s talk in relation to the objective (e.g. making extended contributions, making meaning explicit, listening actively, justifying a point of view, providing evidence, taking turns, using appropriate grammatical forms accurately, using subject-speciﬁc vocabulary, etc.). Pay attention to what the children actually say. This is particularly important for children who are learning English as an additional language. c. How does talk support children’s learning about speaking and listening and about the Celts (rehearsing, re-presenting, evaluating, making connections, adjusting views in the light of the contributions of others)? d. Track the development of the teaching sequence and list or highlight the classroom management and organisational strategies involved in such a sequence (e.g. providing a written version of the ground rules, preparing a schedule for children acting as observers, organising a range of groupings). Consider what else the teacher may need to plan where there are pupils learning English as an additional language (groupings with role models, ﬁrst language, etc., speciﬁc language – appropriate grammatical forms and structures as well as vocabulary – which needs to be pre-taught, pupils’ prior experiences, strategies for activating prior knowledge, scaffolding the task, roles for additional adults).

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After the second viewing, ask colleagues to discuss their observations and agree key points within the group.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

DfES 0163-2004

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Module 1: Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge

Jigsaw technique/discussion (15 minutes)
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Now ask colleagues within each group to number themselves 1 to 4. Regroup, forming new groups according to the numbers they have been given (e.g. all those allocated number 1 form a new group). In turn each group member reports back on the aspect of the video he or she has observed and discussed. The group asks clarifying questions as appropriate. With the whole staff, draw out from the feedback the key implications for the school’s and colleagues’ own practice. (Note: there will be overlap between these areas.)

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Video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’
a. Teacher behaviours Teacher: • models appropriate speaking and listening; • models and encourages sensitive interactions; • establishes that speaking and listening involves ‘working hard’; • makes objectives explicit along with clear and, where appropriate, differentiated criteria for success; • listens carefully and responsively and respects the children’s ideas; • creates time and opportunities for children to sustain talk effectively; • asks open-ended questions and follow-up questions which challenge children’s thinking; • gives visual and linguistic prompts; • lets the children express and discuss their understanding; • avoids rephrasing or repeating the children’s responses (as this is not necessary for this particular class)2; • does not give automatic praise; • expects collaborative talk; • uses ‘teacher in role’ to extend use of language. b. Characteristics of children’s talk Children: • take turns and speak one at a time; • make eye contact3; • speak clearly and audibly; • respond appropriately to other speakers; • sustain contributions; • consider both sides of an argument and accept the possibility of disagreement; • use tentative/exploratory language when thinking something through; • formulate and express opinions; • justify a point of view; • ask questions. c. How talk supports learning about speaking and listening and about ‘Celts and Romans’ Children: • make connections between life in Celtic Britain and their own experience; • summarise views and ideas;

2 Modelling in an expanded or grammatically correct form is an appropriate type of scaffolding for some children, e.g. those learning English as an additional language and those with speech and language difficulties. 3

You may wish to explore and discuss the appropriate use of eye contact within various cultural contexts.

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Module 1: Speaking and listening: concepts, skills and knowledge

• • • • d. • • • • • • •

evaluate the effectiveness of their collaborative talk; reﬂect on their use of talk; reformulate their ideas, giving evidence and exploring alternatives; rehearse historical knowledge and apply it in a new context. Teaching sequence, classroom organisation and management The teaching sequence is coherent and carefully planned over time. The speciﬁc techniques are used to structure interaction. Detailed prompts and schedules are provided. Established routines are in place. A range of groupings is used and roles are assigned within groups. Peer observers support reﬂection on how the group has been working. Priority is given to the talk as well as to the subject content.

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Colleagues read handout 1.4 (the teaching sequence for Year 2 term 1 Listening from the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet, pages 30–31) and: – – – note how the teacher makes the strategies for listening explicit and how the children have opportunities to apply their listening skills; note how the sequence is built up over time and includes opportunities for investigation, application and reﬂection; consider how this lesson might be adapted to meet the needs of children learning English as an additional language.

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Colleagues agree to use two of the ‘teacher behaviours’ (featured on the video of Year 4 term 1 Speaking) during a whole-class session. Afterwards they discuss the effect of these behaviours on the class discussion. Colleagues try out the jigsaw technique in the classroom and other techniques from the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction – making it work in the classroom and compare experiences.

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If timetabling allows, it is effective if colleagues can sometimes work together to try out new techniques, either teaching in pairs or one observing another and then reﬂecting on and discussing the outcomes.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

DfES 0163-2004

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Handout 1.1 The importance of speaking and listening
The importance of speaking and listening for learning, and as a means of communication, is explicitly and implicitly recognised in the National Curriculum and the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) Framework for teaching (DfES 0500/2001). • The Programme of Study for Speaking and Listening makes up one third of the National Curriculum for English. It identiﬁes the knowledge, skills and understanding required for speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction, drama, standard English and language variation. Speaking and listening is explicitly referred to in the National Curriculum orders across subjects: – – – – – • mathematics – use precise mathematical language and explain their reasoning; science – ask questions and decide how these can be investigated; PE – describe performance; art – make thoughtful observations about starting points and ideas; PSHE – resolve differences by looking at alternatives, making decisions and explaining choices.

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Speaking and listening emphases are highlighted in the NLS objectives, medium-term plans and exempliﬁed planning materials. NLS text-level objectives require children to discuss, evaluate, tell, explain, reason, summarise, etc. The importance of the continuing role of ﬁrst language in learning is recognised. The importance of an ethos which values and understands diversity, conﬁdence and safety when speaking, participating, etc. is also recognised. We have known for many years that talk is fundamental to children’s development and learning. Research studies building up a detailed picture of life in primary classrooms tell us that, in spite of this, we have not found it easy to engage children in talk, particularly talk which challenges them to think for themselves.

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Ofsted 2002: The National Literacy Strategy: the ﬁrst four years acknowledges that teachers recognise that they need to give more attention to speaking, listening and drama but often ﬁnd it more challenging to organise and plan for these aspects of the curriculum. DfES 2003: Excellence and Enjoyment: a strategy for primary schools explicitly recognises the importance of securing the place of speaking and listening both as a key foundation for literacy and also as an essential component of all effective learning. QCA/DfES 2000: Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage: ‘Communication, language and literacy’ includes Stepping Stones and Early Learning Goals to illustrate children’s developing use of speaking and listening. The materials Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 (DfES 0623-2003) have recently been developed to support teachers in planning for children’s development as speakers and listeners. The materials have been devised jointly by QCA and the Primary National Strategy and are a revision and extension of the QCA’s 1999 document Teaching Speaking and Listening in Key Stages 1 and 2 (QCA/99/363). They consist of a boxed school pack containing: – – – – – a handbook with advice on the principles behind the materials and on assessment, organisation and management; teaching objectives to support progress in speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction and drama; detailed teaching sequences for the objectives to encourage the explicit teaching of these areas; guidance on organisation and management; a video illustrating the teaching of speaking and listening linked to eight of the teaching sequences;

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Handout 1.1 cont.
– – detailed commentaries on the video sequences and leaﬂets on the four aspects of speaking and listening, focusing on making it work in the classroom; a poster focusing on progression and assessment across Years 1–6.

Every primary school has a boxed pack and larger schools may order further copies from DfES Publications (address on the box) or download each component from the website (www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/primary). Copies of the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet can be obtained for individual teachers.

Some questions for reﬂection
• • • • • Do I draw a distinction between teaching speaking and listening explicitly and giving children opportunities for practising or applying their speaking and listening skills and knowledge? Do I teach speaking and listening explicitly? If so, how often? Which strand of speaking and listening (speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction, drama) do I ﬁnd easiest to teach? Do I have a sense of children’s progression in each strand of speaking and listening? Do I plan for explicit teaching and language development for children who are learning English as an additional language?

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Handout 1.2 Year 4 term 1 Speaking
Objective 37: to use and reﬂect on some ground rules for dialogue e.g. making structured, extended contributions, speaking audibly, making meaning explicit and listening actively. Celts and Romans Overview: Children discuss the relative importance of different ground rules for dialogue, before applying them to their own group discussions. They: • rehearse in groups what they know about some aspect of the life of the Celts; • discuss Celtic life in an new group, as though they were Romans ﬁnding out about Britain before an invasion; • give advice to the ‘Roman Emperor’ as to whether Britain was worth invading; • reﬂect on how well they applied the ground rules for dialogue in their group discussions. Language features: Children learn to make more extensive contributions to group discussion, adding detail and examples, and to listen more effectively to each other, building on others’ ideas. They also begin to adopt the language of role. Previous experience: During Year 3 children have explained processes, developed and sustained conversations. They have done independent research on different aspects of Celtic civilisation. Resources: A simple checklist for observers; textbooks and source material; an artefact, e.g. material to suggest a cloak (not essential); A set of ground rules for each group to order: What are the ground rules for dialogue? • Making eye contact with the speaker • Everybody having a turn in speaking • One person speaking at a time • Always agreeing with other people • Speaking in a clear voice • Using good vocabulary • Being clear about what you mean • Responding to the other speaker • Making a longer contribution than just one or two words • Using facial expressions and gestures

Curriculum link: History scheme of work for Key Stages 1 and 2, Unit 6A, ‘Why have people invaded and settled in Britain in the past?’ Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Discuss the sorts of behaviours which support a group discussion or dialogue. Introduce the ground rules for dialogue. Explain that these are rules which (mostly) describe effective ways of speaking and listening in groups. Working in groups, ask them to order the ‘rules’ by importance or relevance, e.g. using a ‘power triangle’. Allow 10 minutes. Discuss the rules with the class. Ask: Which came at the top of your triangle? Highlight some rules, e.g. ‘making extended contributions’ and ‘responding to what others say’ as being more important than others, e.g. ‘speaking in a loud voice’.

Language features

Listen for contributions which indicate an understanding of dialogue as being different from one or more people ‘presenting’ ideas to the rest and from short questions and answers. Listen for groups discussing the meaning of the statements, giving concrete examples and debating their order in the triangle. Listen for reasoning and opinion backed up by example.

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Handout 1.2 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 2 (15 minutes, group discussion, additional time if necessary to ﬁnd out more about the topic) Remind the class of their work in history about the Romans. Explain that they are going to investigate and discuss the impact of Roman invasions on native people, in this case the Celts. Place the class into ‘home’ groups of ﬁve or six, based on speciﬁc topics of research, e.g. Celtic farming/ housing/jewellery and clothing/warfare/religion. They are to agree three important points or facts about their topic, e.g. Agree one aspect of Celtic life which is better/worse/the same as today. Remind them of the most important of the ground rules for dialogue as they share their ﬁndings. Attach an observer to each group to make notes on the spoken interactions. Part 3 (15 minutes) Ask the observers to feed back about the talk in groups. Could they identify examples of the use of the ground rules for dialogue? Ask individual children if they spoke for longer, listened more carefully or were able to support one another. Ask: What helped you talk more effectively in your groups? Listen for examples of historical terms speciﬁc to the period, e.g. torc, druid, sacriﬁce, used appropriately and explained where necessary. Listen for productive talk behaviours, e.g. children working together to formulate and extend ideas, one child providing examples to support another child’s ideas, rephrasing of points, questioning. Look for examples of groups fulﬁlling some of the ground rules.

Language features

Part 4 (30–40 minutes) Reorganise the class into new ‘expert’ groups of ﬁve, each new group including one from each home group. Appoint any additional children as observers to focus on how effectively the groups talk, e.g. Did individuals speak for longer, listen carefully, build on each other’s ideas, and so on? Brieﬂy place the class into role as Romans who have been sent on a fact-ﬁnding mission to Britain. Their information will be used to work out the advantages and disadvantages of invading Britain. Allow 15 minutes for the group discussion. Ask them to answer the following questions: • • • • What kind of people are the Celts? What is their culture or way of life like? How do they dress and are there riches in the country? Would it be easy to conquer the Celts in battle? Would we Romans be able to live comfortably in the houses and farms of the Celts? Do they have enough to eat? Do they have a religion? Are the religious leaders powerful? Listen for the language of reasoning: I think, because, if, so, then, but. Listen for questions to clarify: What if…? Why? Look for examples of children using language to signal a modiﬁcation in their ideas, e.g. maybe, perhaps. Expect to see examples of extended turns with children contributing detail, speciﬁc illustration, supporting evidence. Monitor to ensure that disagreement is handled appropriately.

•

Part 5 (20 minutes) Adopt a simple role, e.g. as the Emperor or other commanding ﬁgure, by speaking more formally or donning an artefact like a cloak to represent your authority. Say: I’m thinking of ordering an invasion, what can you tell me about Britain? Give time for group discussion then take ideas from the class, ensuring each group contributes. Then ask: Would there be any difficulties with invading Britain? Again give discussion time, then take ideas. Ask ﬁnally: Would you advise me to go ahead with the invasion? Take suggestions, having given groups the opportunity to prepare a formal piece of advice about the invasion. Recap on the importance of the ground rules for dialogue. Expect contributions to be historically appropriate, recognising that the well-established agriculture, skills like metalworking and the bravery of the people made the Celts a prize for the Romans. Difficulties would include the climate, the power of the druids and the likely resistance to change. Listen for children making extended contributions, e.g. supporting their points with historically accurate examples. Expect contributions from other ‘experts’ to reinforce speakers’ ideas and questioning or requests for clariﬁcation. Listen for children speaking in role, e.g. recognising the deference due to the Emperor. Prompt children to reﬂect on what they have learned about talk and through talk.

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Handout 1.3 Viewing the video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’
a. How does the teacher’s behaviour encourage the development of speaking and listening (e.g. demeanour, wait time, body language, use of questioning, etc.)? b. Note the characteristics of the children’s talk in relation to the objective (e.g. making extended contributions, making meaning explicit, listening actively, justifying a point of view, providing evidence, taking turns, using appropriate grammatical forms accurately, using subject-speciﬁc vocabulary, etc.). Pay attention to what the children actually say. This is particularly important for children who are learning English as an additional language. c. How does talk support children’s learning about speaking and listening and about the Celts (rehearsing, re-presenting, evaluating, making connections, adjusting views in the light of the contributions of others)? d. Track the development of the teaching sequence and list or highlight the classroom management and organisational strategies involved in such a sequence (e.g. providing a written version of the ground rules, preparing a schedule for children acting as observers, organising a range of groupings, planning, etc.)

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Viewing the video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’
a. How does the teacher’s behaviour encourage the development of speaking and listening (e.g. demeanour, wait time, body language, use of questioning, etc.)? b. Note the characteristics of the children’s talk in relation to the objective (e.g. making extended contributions, making meaning explicit, listening actively, justifying a point of view, providing evidence, taking turns, using appropriate grammatical forms accurately, using subject-speciﬁc vocabulary, etc.). Pay attention to what the children actually say. This is particularly important for children who are learning English as an additional language. c. How does talk support children’s learning about speaking and listening and about the Celts (rehearsing, re-presenting, evaluating, making connections, adjusting views in the light of the contributions of others)? d. Track the development of the teaching sequence and list or highlight the classroom management and organisational strategies involved in such a sequence (e.g. providing a written version of the ground rules, preparing a schedule for children acting as observers, organising a range of groupings, planning, etc.)

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Handout 1.4 Year 2 term 1 Listening
Objective 14: to listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions e.g. listening to and questioning instructions for devising a game. Listen and play Overview: Children invent a game in PE, using simple equipment and then explain it to the rest of the class. They: • plan their explanation; • listen to another group’s explanation and then play their game; • reﬂect on successful explanations and good listening behaviours. Language features: Children learn how to use language to give instructions. When listening, they use questions to check or clarify their understanding, repeat or rephrase instructions in their own words and ask for repetition or advice when they don’t understand. Previous experience: In Year 1 term 2, children have worked on following instructions. The quality of work in this unit will be improved if the class are experienced at working in groups in PE and are used to talking about their activities. Resources: A variety of small games equipment and sufficient space for the games to be played. Curriculum link: PE scheme of work for Key Stages 1 and 2, ‘Games activities’ Unit 2.

Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Put children into groups of three or four. Give each group one or two pieces of PE equipment, e.g. small balls, hoops and bean bags, which they have used in recent lessons. Model the vocabulary of the topic: game, instructions, rules, points, score and the names of the pieces of equipment required. Allow 10 minutes for the groups to plan a game, think of its rules and practise playing it. Give time warnings throughout the 20 minutes, reminding them of the tasks which have to be achieved. Choose some groups to demonstrate their game to the class and talk about whether the game worked successfully.

Language features

Look for examples of children listening actively, e.g. asking for further information or clariﬁcation.

Part 2 (20–30 minutes) If this is a separate lesson, allow children to play the game again. Explain that in this session they are going to learn how to play some of the games invented by other groups. Discuss what everyone will need to know before they can play, e.g. the point of the game, equipment, starting point, sequence of actions, how it is scored and ﬁnished, etc. List some prompts to support the groups’ independent work, e.g. Agree a starting point. Give time for groups to plan their instructions. Encourage them to rehearse their explanations within their groups. Listen for use of speciﬁc vocabulary related to the topic. Listen for the language of instruction and order, e.g. First you..., Next…, The game ends when… Monitor groups’ ability to work constructively together. Listen for questioning about possible techniques and strategies: What happens if…? Can we…?

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Handout 1.4 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 3 (30 minutes) Bring the class together to emphasise the importance of listening to instructions. Discuss good listening strategies, e.g. asking questions, recapping or reviewing what has been said, expressing uncertainty, forming a mental picture of the activity. Ask one group to present their game instructions to the class. Model some of the good listening strategies by asking questions. Prompt the rest of the class to clarify their understanding, e.g. ask: Does anyone not understand any part of the instruction? Do you have any questions for the game inventors? List helpful questions, and so on. Allow the class to gather the necessary equipment and begin to play the game. Ask the inventors to circulate to help the groups play the game successfully, by answering any further questions, demonstrating. Give adequate time for the game to be played. Check for good listening strategies: • questions to conﬁrm understanding: Do you mean that? But what if…? • recap or review: So we have to throw the ball ﬁrst… • asking for repetition or further advice: I don’t understand how… Stop the game and ask each group to reﬂect on how well they played the game and to identify one instruction that was easy or difficult to follow. Take feedback from the class, e.g. ask: What advice would you give to the next group who will teach you to play a game? Look for examples of groups following the instructions and playing the game successfully. Look for groups where they follow the instructions accurately but still have difficulties. Monitor the interaction between the inventors and the groups, listen for examples of questioning and further explanations. Listen for the language of evaluation, e.g. It is better if the instructions are quite short…

Language features

Part 4 and subsequent sessions (30 minutes depending on the number of groups) Repeat the sequence of Part 3, giving time if necessary for the groups to recall and replay their games before explaining them. Remind the game-inventors of the information they need to give and how to give it. Remind the class of how to listen. Draw on the ideas expressed previously to provide examples of what needs to be done. Ensure that after each game is played children are given the opportunity to reﬂect on the instructions given. Vary the feedback that is taken, e.g. asking the class to identify what was successful about an aspect of the instruction giving. List valuable behaviours, e.g. rephrasing an instruction, which helps good listening.

Listen for better explanations as the class become more familiar with the task and how talk supports it, e.g. fewer and briefer instructions, instructions more focused on the task, more use of demonstration, asking listeners if they understand. Look for good listening behaviours, e.g. asking relevant questions, using who, where, what and how question stems.

Expect listeners to draw increasingly on their experience of explaining and playing the games, e.g. making suggestions for improvement of the game and for the way it was explained.

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18

Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

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Module 2: Progression in speaking and listening

❚❙❘

Progression in speaking and listening

Objectives
• • To become familiar with the objectives for teaching speaking and listening in Key Stages 1 and 2 To identify progression within the strands of speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction, and drama

Summary of module
Part 1: Personal reading and reﬂection. Part 2: Staff meeting. Part 3: Planning for progression.

Resources
• • • • • • • • • Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0623-2003 G) Handout 2.1 Suggestions for reading Handout 2.2 Teaching sequence: Year 1 term 1 Speaking Handout 2.3 Teaching sequence: Year 6 term 1 Speaking Handout 2.4 Progression in speaking and listening in the Foundation Stage, Key Stages 1 and 2 Envelope 1 containing objectives for group discussion and interaction in year groups (make up from handout 2.5) Envelope 2 containing objectives for drama in year groups (make up from handout 2.6) Video sequence: Year 1 term 1 Speaking: ‘Tell me a story’ on DVD Video sequence: Year 6 term 1 Speaking: ‘Take our advice’ on DVD

❚❙❘ Part 1
Teachers’ personal reading and reﬂection on their teaching of speaking and listening using handouts 2.1–2.4.

❚❙❘ Part 2 Staff meeting
Outline of the meeting
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes Progression in listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Progression in group discussion and interaction and drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes Progression in speaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 minutes Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 minutes

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Module 2: Progression in speaking and listening

Introduction (5 minutes)
Take any comments about the objectives and discuss how colleagues consider the relationship of the objectives against what they know the children in their classes are able to do.

Progression in listening (20 minutes)
Progression in listening is difficult to capture because listening is invisible. To help to make the progression more apparent, it is useful to consider what conditions and strategies support our own listening.
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Ask colleagues, in pairs, to identify each other A or B. Explain that you will read the explanation of the rainbow technique from the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction – making it work in the classroom DfES 0624-2003 (from the school pack) and that they will be asked to recall what they have heard. Ask A to listen particularly to ﬁnd out how to organise the rainbow technique in the classroom. Ask B to listen speciﬁcally to ﬁnd out the potential beneﬁts for the learner. When you have ﬁnished reading the explanation from the leaﬂet, ask the As to tell the Bs about how to organise for the use of this technique and the Bs to outline the potential beneﬁts for the learner. They each have 1 minute.

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Now ask colleagues to: – – – list the strategies they used to support or structure their listening and, in retrospect, consider what might have been more helpful; consider how the way the activity was set up helped them to listen; consider the implications of this task if they had been listening in a language that was not their ﬁrst language.

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Take feedback from groups and encourage extension of the discussion, considering what other features enable listening and how making these strategies explicit is particularly essential for some children who ﬁnd listening difficult, for example, because of language differences or difficulty in concentrating. The following points will support discussion and supplement those on the leaﬂet Listening – making it work in the classroom (DfES 0624-2003).

Strategies to support or enable listening These include: • linking back to previous experience of the topic; • listening for and noting: – language signalling a change in focus; – key words (content); – key words (order); • • • • • • • • • • picturing the activity/event; making a physical response – counting on ﬁngers; putting the event into their own words; listening to changes in intonation; drawing on non-verbal cues; seeking further clariﬁcation; asking for repetition; taking notes; jotting down key words or highlighting what has been heard on a list prepared in advance; drawing a diagram, e.g. a spidergram.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

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Module 2: Progression in speaking and listening

How • • • • • •

the activity was designed to encourage listening Children were given the purpose in advance of the activity. The material was relevant. The material was clearly presented. The material was within the listener’s experience and could be related to prior knowledge and experience. There was an opportunity to be tentative and seek clariﬁcation or support from a partner. Each partner had something to say and someone who was interested in what he or she had to say.

Progression in group discussion and interaction and drama (15 minutes)
■

Use envelopes 1 and 2. These contain the objectives for Group discussion and interaction (envelope 1) and Drama (envelope 2). Working in groups of four, ask one pair of colleagues to focus on group discussion and interaction, and the other on Drama. Ask colleagues, in pairs, to place the Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6 together and decide the key developments within each two-year period from Year 1 through to Year 6. After ﬁve minutes, ask pairs to share their ﬁndings with the group of four. Ask groups to identify key points to feed back.

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Refer to the poster and Handbook (pages 26–27) to support feedback and discussion.

Progression in Speaking (30 minutes)
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View the video extract Year 1 term 1 Speaking – teaching objective: to describe incidents or tell stories from their own experience in an audible voice, e.g. recounting events using detail, following teacher modelling. Colleagues work in pairs. While viewing, they note what the children know and can do in relation to the objective. After viewing, ask colleagues to look at the objectives for the development of speaking in Years 1 and 2. They should notice that audibility, clarity, order, awareness of listener, supporting gesture, story language and explanation feature across the objectives for speaking within this band. Now view the video extract Year 6 term 1 Speaking – teaching objective: to use a range of oral techniques to present persuasive argument, e.g. attracting and holding listeners’ attention through what is said and how it is delivered. In pairs, colleagues focus on what the children know and can do. They look back to the objectives for Years 5 and 6 and identify the key developments. (Note to presenter/facilitator: prompt for the range of oral techniques, use of questions, repetition, formal and informal language and the importance of an ethos which encourages and values talk from all. Use page 24 in the Handbook to support discussion.) Ask colleagues, in fours, to discuss the following: given the development between Year 1 and Year 6, what would they expect the focus of the objectives for Years 3 and 4 to include. In the general feedback refer to the Speaking, Listening, Learning poster and points below. Progression in speaking in Years 3 and 4 includes: • • • • • • • extending the range of talk beyond stories and personal experience; developing presentational skills (expression, tone, volume, voice); acknowledging ground rules for dialogue; responding to the contributions of others, taking account of what they say; gaining greater awareness of the inﬂuence of context on talk; choosing material relevant to the topic and the audience; shaping and organising material.

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Module 2: Progression in speaking and listening

Summary (5 minutes)
Reinforce some key points about progression. • • Objectives are structured to secure progression. Progression is tracked through broad bands in Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, Years 5 and 6 and secured over time.

❚❙❘ Part 3
When planning work around teaching their next speaking and listening objective, colleagues decide the criteria by which the children’s success in reaching the objective will be judged. Colleagues take into consideration the children’s previous experience in the aspect of speaking and listening, which they are addressing by referring to the poster and Handbook, to get a sense of the progression. Children who start school as beginner learners of English may progress at different rates but should be supported to move towards expected levels.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

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Handout 2.1 ❚❙❘ Suggestions for reading
• • ‘What is distinctive about speaking and listening?’ (Handbook, pages 7–10) The teaching objectives for the year group(s) you teach and those for the year groups above and below yours. How do these objectives relate to what the children in your class are able to do? • • Handout 2.2 Teaching sequence: Year 1 term 1 Speaking (Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet, pages 22–23) Handout 2.3 Teaching sequence: Year 6 term 1 Speaking (Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet, pages 58–59)

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Handout 2.2 Year 1 term 1 Speaking
Objective 1: to describe incidents or tell stories from their own experience, in an audible voice e.g. recounting events using detail, following teacher modelling. Tell me a story Overview: Children listen to a story or recount and comment on the way it is told. They then tell their own story or recount. They: • • • • discuss why one recount is more effective than another; tell a short story or incident to a partner; answer questions about their story; act as a listener to their partner’s story, ask questions and identify parts they like.

Language features: Children develop their understanding of effective retelling and learn to use language to explain, compare and sequence events. They add detail to their recounts and speak audibly to communicate more effectively. Previous experience: As part of the Foundation Stage curriculum, children have listened and responded to stories and made up their own stories. Resources: A method of measuring a short time, e.g. a sand timer or a storyboard separated into three sections, helps deﬁne a sensible length of speaking turns. Curriculum link: NLS Year 1, term 1, text objectives 5 and 9. Teaching sequence
Part 1 (15 minutes) Model a poor retelling of an incident from your personal experience, e.g. a family outing. Keep the recount brief with only the bare skeleton of the event. At times, make the recount inaudible or difficult to follow. Ask: Did I tell this story in an interesting way? Organise children into pairs to discuss brieﬂy why the retelling was dull, uninteresting and difficult to hear. Ask the whole group: What advice would you give me to make my story (or recount) more interesting and easier to listen to? Take suggestions. Monitor paired discussion, checking that partners are identifying problems with the retelling. Listen for: • reasoning or explanations of opinions, e.g. I didn’t like that story because I couldn’t hear parts of it; • relevant suggestions for improvement, e.g. You could make it better if you didn’t speak so quickly.

Language features

Part 2 (15 minutes) Retell the same story, making use of children’s suggestions for improvement. Make this retelling more lively and detailed as well as clear and audible. Ask: Was this a better retelling? Can you think of three reasons why it was an improvement? Put children into pairs to discuss. Take feedback and list three points which led to improvement. Listen for comparisons and reasons, e.g. This was a better story than last time because he told us more about how he lost his ice cream.

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Handout 2.2 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 3 (15 minutes) Explain: You are going to tell each other a story from your own experience, something which happened to you and which you remember well. Remind children of the need for audibility and how detail adds interest. Give thinking time or support to planning, e.g. a blank storyboard to note the main details. Ask children to tell the story to their partner, giving about 2–3 minutes for the activity. Stop the activity at the time limit and ask the listening partner to identify two things they liked about the recount. Then suggest they ask a question to ﬁnd out more.

Language features

Monitor to see that the planning focuses on the main points of the story.

Look and listen for interactive talk, e.g. speakers maintaining eye contact, showing awareness of listener, repetition for emphasis or clariﬁcation, maintaining an appropriate pace, use of gestures to support communication, audibility. Check turn-taking and look for evidence of listening, e.g. listeners able to identify a part of the recount which appealed to them, questions which ask for more information (who, what, how) or explanation (why). Listen for: • time connectives used to organise the recount: when, then, after, next, ﬁrst, e.g. When I was at the zoo, I saw some lions. Next we visited the monkeys. They were… • elaboration to add detail, e.g. The monkeys were swinging across the cage on the branches and ropes…

Select a few listeners to explain to the whole class what made their partner’s recount effective. Check with them that the retelling had been audible. Ask them about their question. Comment positively on questions which asked for clariﬁcation or greater detail.

Part 4 (15 minutes) Rerun Part 3 (but without planning time), with partners swapping roles as teller and listener. As Part 3

Part 5 (10 minutes) Remind the class of their work on telling stories and recounts. Ask: How have you got better at telling stories? Let children rehearse answers in pairs before taking contributions as a whole class. Encourage them to focus on audibility and detail. Listen for responses which highlight speciﬁc examples of effective retelling.

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Handout 2.3 Year 6 term 1 Speaking
Objective 58: to use a range of oral techniques to present persuasive argument e.g. attracting and holding listeners’ attention through what is said and how it is delivered. Take our advice Overview: Children are reminded of the features of effective persuasive talk before they create and present their own talk to an audience. They: • listen to an example of persuasive talk and identify the rhetorical devices used; • plan and rehearse a talk about a topic which is important to them; • listen to some examples of talk created by the class before reﬁning their ideas further; • present their talks in pairs and receive comments. Later, some talks are presented to the intended audience. Language features: Children learn to use rhetorical devices including the use of appropriate vocabulary, emotionally charged language with points linked logically, and the anticipation of conﬂicting views. They also consider how to present the talk persuasively, considering body language, the use of gesture, eye contact. Previous experience: Children have worked on persuasive language, learning how to sequence and support an argument in Year 5 term 3. Resources: Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech is available from www.webcorp.com/civilrights/mlkfr.htm Curriculum link: NLS Year 6, term 2, text objectives 18, 19 and 20. Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Recall work done in Year 5 on persuasive talk. Give pairs 2 minutes to discuss what features made the talk more persuasive. Take feedback and collect ideas. Provide children with a model of persuasive talk, e.g. Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech. Discuss and list the features which make the speech effective. Discuss effective persuasive phrases, e.g. You must realise that…, It is obvious that…, Without doubt…, How can you…? Add some to the developing list.

Language features
Highlight the impact of stressing particular vocabulary, repetition, emotive language, the anticipation of alternative points of view. Draw out persuasive body language, e.g. hand gestures, voice level, intonation, eye contact. Listen for examples of comparison: My favourite part was… and justiﬁcation: I think he spoke in that way because… Focus on the the need for logic in the argument, the persuasiveness of the language used and the way that the speaker used gestures to support the argument.

Part 2 (20 minutes) Introduce a problem, e.g. the headteacher is considering cancelling next year’s residential educational visit, and give some reasons, e.g. the cost, safety risks. Explain that the task is to persuade the headteacher to change his/her mind. Remind the class, if appropriate, of their experience when on the visit, e.g. by using photographs or diaries. Otherwise discuss in general terms the advantages of such trips. Use the discussion to generate some positive arguments for the value of educational trips. Discuss the audience for this persuasive talk, i.e. the headteacher. Ask the class to anticipate some of the objections he/she might have to the trip. Brieﬂy encourage them to think of arguments to counter the objections. Identify relevant vocabulary in order to discuss educational trips in general as well as speciﬁc visits the children have made.

Look for contributions to pair or whole-class discussions. Praise examples of attentive listening, children responding to the ideas of others and offering suggestions.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

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Handout 2.3 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 2 (continued) Set out the parameters for the talk, e.g. the presentation: • should be about 1 minute long; • will be spoken not read; • should include three main points with one anticipation of an objection; • will be done in pairs with both partners having to speak.

Language features

Part 3 (35 minutes) Give pairs 15 minutes to discuss, plan, make notes and rehearse their speech, reminding them before they start of the different persuasive techniques they had previously discussed. After 15 minutes ask one or two conﬁdent pairs to present their ideas so far. Encourage the rest of the class to listen actively, e.g. by looking for use of different persuasive techniques. Take comments from the class about the presentation, asking them to identify elements that work well and parts that need to be improved. Discuss with the whole class the importance of an effective introduction and conclusion of the talk, e.g. highlighting how a clever opening can quickly win an audience over to the speaker’s point of view. Give the whole class a further 5–10 minutes’ rehearsal time to take account of what they have learned. Listen for examples of interactive talk used to manage the group task, e.g. I think it would be best if…, If you could begin like this then I… Monitor planning talk in groups, checking that both partners contribute ideas. Listen for logical points and the use of rhetorical argument used to persuade, e.g. No one would doubt that…, Is it right to…? We already know that you… Check also the use of vocabulary appropriate for the topic, and the use of gesture or body language to support the points made. Look for evidence that pairs have listened to earlier discussion and are adapting their presentation accordingly.

Part 4 (30 minutes) Split the class in half (or quarters) to enable all pairs to present their talk to an audience. Allow brief feedback after each talk. Choose some pairs to make their presentation to the headteacher. Encourage reﬂection on the unit of work through a ﬁnal plenary. Ask children to consider how listening to examples of persuasive talk, recalling previous work, planning and rehearsing, and opportunities to present helped improve the quality of the work. Consolidate the learning and identify areas for further development. Listen for examples of relatively polished presentations, including the features identiﬁed above. Listen for focused and constructive criticisms, with ideas logically expressed, e.g. The interview was a good idea, but it didn’t really work because…’ Listen for children giving and supporting their opinions and offering suggestions for future work and improvement.

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Handout 2.4 Progression in speaking and listening in the Foundation Stage, Key Stages 1 and 2
(summarised from Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA/00/587) and towards National Curriculum for English DfES 0517/2002) Children are expected to make progress in: • • • • • sustaining speaking and listening; contributing in a range of ways; using formal English appropriately; adapting to different circumstances and contexts with independence and conﬁdence; talking explicitly about speaking and listening.

Foundation Stage: some Early Learning Goals
Communication, language and literacy • • • • • • • • • • Enjoy listening to and using spoken and written language, and readily turn to it in their play and learning. Explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts. Listen with enjoyment and respond to stories, songs and other music, rhymes and poems and make up their own stories, songs, rhymes and poems. Use language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences. Use talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events. Sustain attentive listening, responding to what they have heard by relevant comments, questions or actions. Interact with others, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns in conversation. Extend their vocabulary, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words. Retell narratives in the correct sequence, drawing on the language patterns of stories. Speak clearly and audibly with conﬁdence and control and show awareness of the listener, for example by their use of conventions such as greetings, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’.

Mathematical development • • • • • • …begin to use the vocabulary involved in adding and subtracting. Use language such as ‘more’ or ‘less’ to compare two numbers. Use language such as ‘greater’, ‘smaller’, ‘heavier’ or ‘lighter’ to compare quantities. Talk about, recognise and recreate simple patterns. Use language such as ‘circle’ or ‘bigger’ to describe the shapes and size of solids and ﬂat shapes. Use everyday words to describe position.

Knowledge and understanding of the world • Ask questions about why things happen and how things work.

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Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2

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Handout 2.4 cont. During Key Stage 1
Children learn to speak clearly, thinking about the needs of their listeners. They work in small groups and as a class, joining in discussions and making relevant points. They also learn how to listen carefully to what other people are saying, so that they can remember the main points. They learn to use language in imaginative ways and express their ideas and feelings when working in role and in drama activities.

During Key Stage 2
Children learn how to speak in a range of contexts, adapting what they say and how they say it to the intended purpose and audience. Taking varied roles in groups gives them opportunities to contribute to situations with different demands. They also learn to respond appropriately to others, thinking about what has been said and the language used.

The Foundation Stage Stepping Stones and Early Learning Goals and the four strands in the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet of the Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0626-2003 G) are structured to enable children to make this progress. The section on speaking and listening at the P levels (Accessing the National Curriculum, examples of what pupils with special educational needs should be able to do at each P Level DfES 0292/2002) provides additional guidance on progression for children with special educational needs. To track progression in each of the four strands of speaking, listening, group discussion and interaction, and drama in Key Stages 1 and 2, the objectives need to be looked at in three broad bands: Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and ﬁnally Years 5 and 6. Progression is explained in the Handbook on pages 23–27 and on the poster. Capturing progression in speaking and listening is not a straightforward task. To make progress, children need to experience a variety of social contexts in which talk takes place so that they have the opportunity to talk to a range of different audiences. Children also need encouragement and opportunities to overcome any potential barriers to learning, extend and sustain their talk, and take part in group and whole-class discussion. Their progress will be supported by making clear what is expected of them in talk and by having effective speaking and listening modelled and demonstrated to them. Children also need planned opportunities to rehearse and to reﬂect on their own speaking and listening, helping them to be explicit about the language they use. We also need to value and build on the children’s ﬁrst languages where children are learning English as an additional language.

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Handout 2.5 Group discussion and interaction Years 1–6
To ask and answer questions, make relevant contributions, offer suggestions and take turns e.g. when devising ways of sorting items in the classroom.

To take turns to speak, listen to others’ suggestions and talk about what they are going to do e.g. devising simple rules for turn-taking and contributing in groups.

To explain their views to others in a small group, and decide how to report the group’s views to the class e.g. devising and sharing criteria for choosing a new book for the class library.

✁
To listen to each other’s views and preferences, agree the next steps to take and identify contributions by each group member e.g. learning how to pool views, make decisions and allocate tasks.

To ensure everyone contributes, allocate tasks, consider alternatives and reach agreement e.g. working collaboratively in planning, predicting and carrying out an investigative task.

To work effectively in groups by ensuring each group member takes a turn, challenging, supporting and moving on e.g. comparing books by the same author and deciding whether themes are the same or different. Link with NLS text objectives 4 and 7.

✁
To use talk to organise roles and action e.g. agreeing a plan for carrying out an investigation in science, organising jobs and meeting deadlines.

To actively include and respond to all members of the group e.g. encouraging contributions by use of questions, eye contact and people’s names when discussing an issue. To use the language of possibility to investigate and reﬂect on feelings, behaviour or relationships e.g. investigating and reﬂecting on the interactions between characters when reading a story. Link with NLS text objective 5.

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Handout 2.5 cont.

To take different roles in groups and use language appropriate to them, including roles of leader, reporter, scribe, mentor e.g. sustaining different roles when carrying out a decision-making task. To use time, resources and group members efficiently by distributing tasks, checking progress, making backup plans e.g. carrying out an ICT task effectively by organising both electronic and paper resources. To identify the main points of each speaker, compare their arguments and how they are presented e.g. developing an oral presentation from previous written work and identifying some presentational differences. Link with NLS text objective 21.

✁
To plan and manage a group task over time by using different levels of planning e.g. using knowledge of group roles to organise and accomplish a collaborative activity. To understand and use the processes and language of decision making e.g. considering consequences and alternatives, achieving compromise where necessary, using language to seek agreement. Link with NLS text objective 7. To understand different ways to take the lead and support others in groups e.g. identifying how to organise, chair, report, listen constructively and draw others in.

✁
To understand and use a variety of ways to criticise constructively and respond to criticism e.g. seeking clariﬁcation, offering additional information, adjusting ideas about content and style of presentations. To consider examples of conﬂict and resolution, exploring language used e.g. identifying ways of coping with disagreement so that the discussion proceeds. To identify the ways spoken language varies according to differences in context and purpose of use e.g. discussing and explaining differences noted in the use of standard English and dialects. Link with NLS text objectives 16 and 20.

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Handout 2.6 Drama Years 1–6
To explore familiar themes and characters through improvisation and role-play e.g. using story boxes and bags of props to create characters. Link with NLS text objective 7.

To act out own and well-known stories, using different voices for characters e.g. using drama techniques to portray characters and motives. Link with NLS text objectives 9 and 15. To discuss why they like a performance e.g. talking about effective features of dramatic performance such as voice, gesture, movement.

✁
To adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action e.g. developing a plot and characters from a text, image or artefact.

To consider how mood and atmosphere are created in a live or recorded performance e.g. comparing two short video extracts, choosing words to describe effects of costumes, set, lighting and music.

To present parts of traditional stories, own stories or work from different parts of the curriculum for members of their class e.g. deciding which parts of a story to dramatise and developing a polished presentation of a key moment.

✁
To present events and characters through dialogue to engage the interest of an audience e.g. acting out a dialogue between two characters, bringing out the differences between them. Link with NLS text objectives 2 and 3.

To identify and discuss qualities of others’ performances, including gesture, action, costume e.g. responding to a live or recorded performance by selecting dramatic features for comment.

To use some drama strategies to explore stories or issues e.g. working with different techniques to explore key aspects of relationships or situations.

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Handout 2.6 cont.

To comment constructively on plays and performance, discussing effects and how they are achieved e.g. watching plays written in class and comparing effects achieved by different groups. Link with NLS text objectives 5, 6 and 13.

To develop scripts based on improvisation e.g. ﬁlling out brief notes, expanding on key words as the basis for script writing. Link with NLS text objectives 21 and 22.

To create roles showing how behaviour can be interpreted from different viewpoints e.g. presenting characters as they might see themselves, then as others see them.

✁
To perform a scripted scene making use of dramatic conventions e.g. using and interpreting stage directions to enhance performance. Link with NLS text objectives 5 and 18.

To reﬂect on how working in role helps to explore complex issues e.g. sustaining work in role to explore issues from different social, cultural or historical perspectives.

To use and recognise the impact of theatrical effects in drama e.g. describing and reﬂecting on style and genre in performances.

✁
To consider the overall impact of a live or recorded performance, identifying dramatic ways of conveying characters’ ideas and building tension e.g. evaluating different performances of an adaptation of a classic text. Link with NLS text objectives 1 and 9.

To improvise using a range of drama strategies and conventions to explore themes such as hopes, fears, desires e.g. drawing on shared text to explore emotional tension at key moments in a story.

To devise a performance considering how to adapt the performance for a speciﬁc audience e.g. scripting and performing a drama to present to a community audience or other year groups.

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Module 3: The role of the teacher in developing effective interaction

❚❙❘

The role of the teacher in developing effective interaction and identifying and developing language features

Objectives
• • To identify the language features associated with an objective To consider the role of the teacher in scaffolding and developing children’s competence in speaking and listening

Summary of module
Part 1: Personal reading and reﬂection. Part 2: Staff meeting. Part 3: Trying out speciﬁc teaching behaviours in the classroom.

Resources
• • • • • • • • • • • Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0623-2003 G) Handout 3.1 Teachers’ personal reading and reﬂection on their teaching of speaking and listening Handout 3.2 Taking account of the distinctive features of spoken language in planning Handout 3.3 Teaching sequence: Year 5 term 2 Listening and speaking Handout 3.4 Teaching sequence: Year 2 term 1 Listening Handout 3.5 Complete teaching sequence for Year 2 term 1 Listening Handout 3.6 The role of the teacher Handout 3.7 Teacher talk/Talk about talk Handout 3.8 How the teacher might scaffold listening Video sequence: Year 2 term 1 Listening on DVD Video sequence of positive teacher behaviours DVD

❚❙❘ Part 1
Colleagues carry out activities on handout 3.1, which include reading handouts 3.2 and 3.3, and teaching a speaking and listening sequence of activities.

❚❙❘ Part 2 Staff meeting
Outline of the meeting
Language features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Exploring techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 minutes The role of the teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 minutes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 minutes

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Module 3: The role of the teacher in developing effective interaction

Language features (20 minutes)
■

Ask colleagues to read through the teaching sequence on handout 3.4, and discuss what they would include as language features for this objective. As colleagues watch the video sequence (Year 2 term 1 Listening on DVD) ask them to write down, in the right hand column of handout 3.4, the language that the children use to indicate effective listening. After viewing the video, ask colleagues to work in groups to discuss observations and to identify those aspects of talk speciﬁcally related to the objective. Note that the language features for this sequence should focus on listening. The children have used the language of instruction in related work during literacy. Ask colleagues to compare ﬁndings with handout 3.5 (the completed teaching sequence for Year 2 term 1 from the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet).

■

■

■

It is worth noting that the teachers involved in writing the sequences for Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 found the task of focusing on language features very challenging. Teachers of English as an additional language can be a source of expertise for others.

Exploring techniques (10 minutes)
■

In groups of four, take an objective, e.g. Year 2 term 2 Speaking (to tell real and imagined stories using the conventions of familiar story language) and consider the language features you would expect to be associated with this objective. In pairs, colleagues tell an anecdote using the conventions of familiar story language (e.g. a real event, told quickly) lasting for about a minute. Analyse the language features together (for example, language used to draw the listener in, oral hooks, use of superlatives, exclamation, eye contact, facial expression, volume).4

■

The role of the teacher (30 minutes)
■

Remind colleagues that the role of the teacher is crucial in providing time and opportunities for children to develop language features that contribute to successful interaction. Use the snowball technique5 to encourage colleagues to discuss how they already promote speaking and listening. 1. In pairs, colleagues think about three aspects of their teaching behaviours that promote speaking and listening. 2. They join with another pair, share ideas and select ﬁve key ideas. 3. They join with another group of four, share ideas and select seven key ideas. 4. Ask them to consider what else a teacher of children learning English as an additional language would need to plan.

■

In the following general discussion, refer to handout 3.6. This is a list of behaviours the teacher exhibits in the Year 4 term 1 lesson on Celts and Romans seen on video in Module 1.

4 Learners of English as an additional language may need to be explicitly taught and given opportunities to rehearse speciﬁc aspects of the language features, such as tenses, pronouns, verb–noun agreements. 5

from the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction: making it work in the classroom

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Module 3: The role of the teacher in developing effective interaction

■

In groups of four, colleagues review and discuss the items in the ‘Do and Don’t’ table on handout 3.7 (taken from the Handbook, page 22) and consider whether there are any ‘Dos’ they regularly use in their classrooms and which is their most widely used ‘Don’t’. View and discuss the video sequence ‘Teacher behaviours’, demonstrating positive teacher behaviours. Although this video does not raise these issues, it would also be useful to discuss the role of the teacher in classes where children are learning English as an additional language. The following points may come from the discussion: • • • • • • • the importance of the continuing role of ﬁrst language in learning; grouping the children with role models or by ﬁrst language, etc.; speciﬁc language (appropriate grammatical forms and structures as well as vocabulary) which needs to be pre-taught; the use of pupils’ prior experiences and strategies for activating prior knowledge; the way the task is scaffolded; the roles for additional adults; the importance of an ethos which values and understands diversity – conﬁdence and safety with regard to speaking, participating, etc.

■ ■

■

Provide handout 3.8 – some points for teachers to consider for scaffolding the listening for some groups of children.

❚❙❘ Part 3
Colleagues select an item from the ‘Do’ column on handout 3.7 to adopt in their classrooms and a ‘Don’t’ item to avoid. If possible, they could observe one another and then discuss their observations.

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Handout 3.1 Teachers’ personal reading and reﬂection on their teaching of speaking and listening
• Colleagues select a sequence or part of a sequence for their year group from the Speaking or listening or Group discussion and interaction strand and try it out with their class, noting: – – – • • some examples of the children’s language; how they needed to scaffold the activities to meet the language needs of particular individuals or groups within the class; the sequences taught for each objective and their impressions of what the children said. Ask them to discuss their ﬁndings and whether these were as colleagues expected, given the objective.

Colleagues read handout 3.2 (copied from page 9 of the Handbook) which reviews the factors contributing to variation in talk. Colleagues read handout 3.3 (the teaching sequence for Year 5 term 2 Listening and speaking, copied from the Teaching objectives and classroom activities booklet) and plot the relationship between the stages in the teaching sequence and the language features. The language features here focus speciﬁcally on question types and their impact in an interview. (The italicised quotations from children are examples of the things they said during completion of this work with their teacher. They are not phrases for teaching, nor are they intended to close down the range of options within a session.)

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Handout 3.2

What is distinctive about speaking and listening?

Taking account of the distinctive features of spoken language in planning
Whether spoken or written, all languages vary according to the functions they serve. It is helpful to think of three main factors contributing to this variation in talk.

What is being talked about? activity/subject content

Who is talking? social interaction/ roles and relationships

What kind of talk? conversation/story/ commentary on actions

What is being talked about?
Emphasis on subject content or topic means developing necessary knowledge including speciﬁc vocabulary and expressions. For example, in a science lesson on testing forces, children need to understand the concept of fair test, use words like speed and distance, and be able to make comparisons between length, height and weight. When talking about drama, children need some technical vocabulary to describe the effects of characterisation, costume and vocal expression.

Who is talking?
To carry out the different roles in effective group work, children need to learn the language associated with them. For example, how to support others in the group by building on or clarifying contributions, ways of taking the lead and ensuring everyone has a turn to speak, how to introduce a new idea or change the topic and how to make relevant written notes of the outcome of the discussion. As children move between pairs, groups and the class as a whole, they need to adapt their language from lesser to greater formality.

What kind of talk?
Sometimes the aim of the lesson will be for children to create spoken texts of particular kinds, such as oral stories, spoken arguments, dramatic dialogue or extended contributions in whole-class discussion. The language needed here is more explicit, and contains more formal types of structuring conventions than language used in accompanying action or in a conversation with a group of friends. Children need to understand how to develop these more sustained forms of talk through hearing them demonstrated, paying attention, for example, to the ways speakers connect longer utterances, sequencing and emphasising their ideas.

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Handout 3.3 Year 5 term 2 Listening and speaking
Objective 52: to identify different question types and evaluate impact on audience e.g. distinguishing open, closed, leading, negative and rhetorical questions. to use and explore different question types e.g. how to vary and sequence questions. The interview Overview: Children: • watch and listen to an interview containing a range of questions types; • listen for questions asked, categorise into types; • generate own questions for particular purposes and try these out; • devise questions to use when interviewing a visitor; • carry out interview; • reﬂect on the effectiveness of their questioning. Language features: Children learn to distinguish different kinds of questions, e.g. open, closed, leading, negative and rhetorical, and to use them in an interview. Previous experience: Children have had experience of observing and participating in different forms of question and answer exchanges at contrasting levels of formality. Resources: Rough books. Prepare for this unit by planning a short interview in which you ask another adult in school a range of different question types, and by arranging for a series of visitors (one for each group) to answer the children’s questions about the same topic, e.g. their school days.

Teaching sequence
Part 1 (30 minutes) Carry out the interview, telling children to listen to the questions you ask and to how the interviewee answers them. Prompt comments. Ask questions that highlight key points, and introduce and record terminology for question types, e.g. Can you remember how that question began? That kind of question is called a closed question because… What kind of answer did it get? Which question got the fullest answer? Why? What’s the difference between this kind of question and…? What kind of question was good for…? Draw up a chart of the different question types.

Language features

Look for evidence that children can distinguish different kinds of questions and responses. Listen for comments that show understanding of how different questions work and the effects they have on the interviewee, e.g. A question beginning with ‘Why’ or ‘How’ usually gets a long answer because you have to explain something. You can’t answer that kind of question with just one word. The person asking the question is giving you the answer he wants. A ‘What do you think about…?’ question is asking for someone’s opinion.

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Handout 3.3 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 2 (40 minutes) Recap the terms for different question types and display them as headings in a chart. Organise children in pairs. Introduce a topic of current interest and give pairs 10 minutes to frame and write down different kinds of questions about it. Then combine pairs into fours to ask and answer each other’s questions. Draw the class together and ask fours to contribute questions, taking each type in turn. Conﬁrm that questions are of a particular type, and record them under the relevant heading on the chart. Is this really an open question? How can we tell? How could we change that question to make it more open? Focus children on the effects of different kinds of questions, e.g. Which questions were hard to answer? Which questions let you say what you want to? What do you need to do to answer this kind of question? Monitor pairs. Check that children are generating different kinds of questions and understand their features, and that children can describe the questions they are using. Monitor fours. Look for evidence that children are listening attentively to questions and giving appropriate answers. Listen for clearly formulated questions of a deﬁnite type. Look for evidence that children can categorise questions by type. Look for comments that show understanding of the features and effects of different question types: open, closed, rhetorical, leading, e.g. That’s such a big question, it’s hard to know what to say. I didn’t like being asked that. The questioner is trying to make you agree. Questions like that make you feel like you are in a quiz.

Language features

Part 3 (40 minutes) Organise the class in groups. Tell the children that they are going to be interviewing visitors about a particular topic, and that you want them to use what they have learned about different kinds of questions to plan the interview. Highlight key points: What do we want to get from the interview? How should we treat the visitors? What would be a good way to start? To ﬁnish? Prompt children to start by identifying exactly what they want to ﬁnd out. As they plan, encourage them to anticipate the answer a question is likely to get, to consider the order of questions and ways of wording them. They will also need to decide how to share the questioning round the group. Monitor groups as they plan. Check that children are framing a range of different questions and considering the likely responses. Listen for accurate use of terminology and for contributions that show understanding of the range of question types and their effects, e.g. We can’t start with a question. We have to welcome them. He’s a guest – we shouldn’t ask a challenging question like that. It would be good to start with an open question because… The next question will depend on how she answers this one. We could ask a question that gives more detail. If we ask it like that, she can just say yes or no.

Part 4 (40 minutes) Groups take turns to interview the visitors while the rest of the class listen and make notes about questions and answers. Listen for: • a range of question types; • evidence that the order of questions has been considered and that children are listening and responding to the interviewee’s answers.

Part 5 Reﬂect (15 minutes) Ask each group to report back brieﬂy on how they think their interview went. Ask those who formed the audience for their observations and comments. Prompt children to focus on key issues: What question types did you use? Which questions worked well/not so well? Why? Did anything about how the questions were answered surprise you? Were the questions in a good order? What would you change if you had a chance to carry out the interview again? Look for evidence that children are considering the interview in the light of what they have learned about question types and their effects, and more generally about effective questioning, e.g. Maybe we asked too many open questions – we never found out what we wanted to know about… We started asking closed questions to get more details. You have to listen hard. It’s no good just going through the list of questions. Yes, we’d planned a question about… but I couldn’t ask it because he had already talked about that. I think you started well but then it seemed to get disorganised. I liked it when you just said ‘That’s interesting. Could you say a bit more about that?’

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Handout 3.4 Year 2 term 1 Listening
Objective 14: to listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions e.g. listening to and questioning instructions for devising a game. Listen and play Overview: Children invent a game in PE, using simple equipment and then explain it to the rest of the class. They: • plan their explanation; • listen to another group’s explanation and then play their game; • reﬂect on successful explanations and good listening behaviours. Language features: Children learn how to use language to give instructions. When listening, they use questions to check or clarify their understanding, repeat or rephrase instructions in their own words and ask for repetition or advice when they don’t understand. Previous experience: In Year 1 term 2, children have worked on listen and play. The quality of work in this unit will be improved if the class are experienced at working in groups in PE and are used to talking about their activities. Resources: A variety of small games equipment and sufficient space for the games to be played. Curriculum link: PE scheme of work for Key Stages 1 and 2, ‘Games activities’ Unit 2.

Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Put children into groups of three or four. Give each group one or two pieces of PE equipment, e.g. small balls, hoops and bean bags, which they have used in recent lessons. Model the vocabulary of the topic: game, instructions, rules, points, score and the names of the pieces of equipment required. Allow 10 minutes for the groups to plan a game, think of its rules and practise playing it. Give time warnings throughout the 20 minutes, reminding them of the tasks which have to be achieved. Choose some groups to demonstrate their game to the class and talk about whether the game worked successfully.

Language features

Part 2 (20–30 minutes) If this is a separate lesson, allow children to play the game again. Explain that in this session they are going to learn how to play some of the games invented by other groups. Discuss what everyone will need to know before they can play, e.g. the point of the game, equipment, starting point, sequence of actions, how it is scored and ﬁnished, etc. List some prompts to support the groups’ independent work, e.g. Agree a starting point. Give time for groups to plan their instructions. Encourage them to rehearse their explanations within their groups.

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Handout 3.4 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 3 (30 minutes) Bring the class together to emphasise the importance of listening to instructions. Discuss good listening strategies, e.g. asking questions, recapping or reviewing what has been said, expressing uncertainty, forming a mental picture of the activity. Ask one group to present their game instructions to the class. Model some of the good listening strategies by asking questions. Prompt the rest of the class to clarify their understanding, e.g. Does anyone not understand any part of the instruction? Do you have any questions for the game inventors? List helpful questions, and so on. Allow the class to gather the necessary equipment and begin to play the game. Ask the inventors to circulate to help the groups play the game successfully, by answering any further questions, demonstrating. Give adequate time for the game to be played.

Language features

Stop the game and ask each group to reﬂect on how well they played the game and to identify one instruction that was easy or difficult to follow. Take feedback from the class, e.g. What advice would you give to the next group who will teach you to play a game?

Part 4 and subsequent sessions (30 minutes depending on the number of groups) Repeat the sequence of Part 3, giving time if necessary for the groups to recall and replay their games before explaining them. Remind the game-inventors of the information they need to give and how to give it. Remind the class of how to listen. Draw on the ideas expressed previously to provide examples of what needs to be done. Ensure that after each game is played children are given the opportunity to reﬂect on the instructions given. Vary the feedback that is taken, e.g. asking the class to identify what was successful about an aspect of the instruction giving. List valuable behaviours, e.g. rephrasing an instruction, which helps good listening.

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Handout 3.5 Year 2 term 1 Listening
Objective 14: to listen to others in class, ask relevant questions and follow instructions e.g. listening to and questioning instructions for devising a game. Listen and play Overview: Children invent a game in PE, using simple equipment and then explain it to the rest of the class. They: • plan their explanation; • listen to another group’s explanation and then play their game; • reﬂect on successful explanations and good listening behaviours. Language features: Children learn how to use language to give instructions. When listening, they use questions to check or clarify their understanding, repeat or rephrase instructions in their own words and ask for repetition or advice when they don’t understand. Previous experience: In Year 1 term 2, children have worked on following instructions. The quality of work in this unit will be improved if the class are experienced at working in groups in PE and are used to talking about their activities. Resources: A variety of small games equipment and sufficient space for the games to be played. Curriculum link: PE scheme of work for Key Stages 1 and 2, ‘Games activities’, Unit 2.

Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Put children into groups of three or four. Give each group one or two pieces of PE equipment, e.g. small balls, hoops and bean bags, which they have used in recent lessons. Model the vocabulary of the topic: game, instructions, rules, points, score and the names of the pieces of equipment required. Allow 10 minutes for the groups to plan a game, think of its rules and practise playing it. Give time warnings throughout the 20 minutes, reminding them of the tasks which have to be achieved. Choose some groups to demonstrate their game to the class and talk about whether the game worked successfully.

Language features

Look for examples of children listening actively, e.g. asking for further information or clariﬁcation.

Part 2 (20–30 minutes) If this is a separate lesson, allow children to play the game again. Explain that in this session they are going to learn how to play some of the games invented by other groups. Discuss what everyone will need to know before they can play, e.g. the point of the game, equipment, starting point, sequence of actions, how it is scored and ﬁnished, etc. List some prompts to support the groups’ independent work, e.g. Agree a starting point. Give time for groups to plan their instructions. Encourage them to rehearse their explanations within their groups. Listen for use of speciﬁc vocabulary related to the topic. Listen for the language of instruction and order, e.g. First you..., Next…, The game ends when… Monitor groups’ ability to work constructively together. Listen for questioning about possible techniques and strategies: What happens if…? Can we…?

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Handout 3.5 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 3 (30 minutes) Bring the class together to emphasise the importance of listening to instructions. Discuss good listening strategies, e.g. asking questions, recapping or reviewing what has been said, expressing uncertainty, forming a mental picture of the activity. Ask one group to present their game instructions to the class. Model some of the good listening strategies by asking questions. Prompt the rest of the class to clarify their understanding, e.g. ask: Does anyone not understand any part of the instruction? Do you have any questions for the game inventors? List helpful questions, and so on. Allow the class to gather the necessary equipment and begin to play the game. Ask the inventors to circulate to help the groups play the game successfully, by answering any further questions, demonstrating. Give adequate time for the game to be played. Check for good listening strategies: • questions to conﬁrm understanding: Do you mean that? But what if…? • recap or review: So we have to throw the ball ﬁrst… • asking for repetition or further advice: I don’t understand how… Stop the game and ask each group to reﬂect on how well they played the game and to identify one instruction that was easy or difficult to follow. Take feedback from the class, e.g. ask: What advice would you give to the next group who will teach you to play a game? Look for examples of groups following the instructions and playing the game successfully. Look for groups where they follow the instructions accurately but still have difficulties. Monitor the interaction between the inventors and the groups, listen for examples of questioning and further explanations. Listen for the language of evaluation, e.g. It is better if the instructions are quite short…

Language features

Part 4 and subsequent sessions (30 minutes depending on the number of groups) Repeat the sequence of Part 3, giving time if necessary for the groups to recall and replay their games before explaining them. Remind the game-inventors of the information they need to give and how to give it. Remind the class of how to listen. Draw on the ideas expressed previously to provide examples of what needs to be done. Ensure that after each game is played children are given the opportunity to reﬂect on the instructions given. Vary the feedback that is taken, e.g. asking the class to identify what was successful about an aspect of the instruction giving. List valuable behaviours, e.g. rephrasing an instruction, which helps good listening.

Listen for better explanations as the class become more familiar with the task and how talk supports it, e.g. fewer and briefer instructions, instructions more focused on the task, more use of demonstration, asking listeners if they understand. Look for good listening behaviours, e.g. asking relevant questions, using who, where, what and how question stems.

Expect listeners to draw increasingly on their experience of explaining and playing the games, e.g. making suggestions for improvement of the game and for the way it was explained.

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Handout 3.6 The role of the teacher
Teacher behaviours exhibited in video sequence Year 4 term 1 Speaking: ‘Celts and Romans’ Teacher: • • • • • • • • • • • • • models appropriate speaking and listening; models and encourages sensitive interactions; establishes that speaking and listening involves ‘working hard’; makes objectives explicit along with clear, and where appropriate, differentiated criteria for success; listens carefully and responsively and respects the children’s ideas; creates time and opportunities for children to sustain talk effectively; asks open-ended questions and follow-up questions which challenge children’s thinking; gives visual and linguistic prompts; lets the children express and discuss their understanding; avoids rephrasing or repeating the children’s responses (as this is not necessary for this particular class)6; does not give automatic praise; expects collaborative talk; uses ‘teacher in role’ to extend use of language.

Modelling in an expanded or grammatically correct form is an appropriate type of scaffolding for some children, e.g. those learning English as an additional language and children with speech and language difficulties.
6

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Handout 3.7

Making it work in the classroom

Teacher talk
As a starting point, compare these ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ with your normal practice in the classroom and identify what might make the biggest difference. Then choose two or three of these and try to use them in the classroom. A colleague observing in the classroom can offer useful feedback.
DO • choose questions and topics that are likely to challenge children cognitively • expect children to provide extended answers which will interest others in the class • give children time to formulate their ideas and views • provide models of the patterns of language and the subject vocabulary to be used • expect children to speak for all to hear • vary your responses to what children say; debate with children; tell and ask them things in order to extend the dialogue • signal whether you want children to offer to answer (hands up) or to prepare an answer in case you invite them to speak • when children give wrong answers ask them to explain their thinking and then resolve misunderstandings DON’T • merely ask children to guess what you are thinking or to recall simple and predictable facts • tolerate limited, short answers which are of little interest to other children • hope for high quality answers without offering preparation or thinking time • expect children to formulate well thought out answers without the language to do so • routinely repeat or reformulate what children have said • just ask questions

• habitually use the competitive ‘hands up’ model of question and answer work • praise every answer whether it is right or wrong

Talk about talk
During the teaching of speaking and listening, remember to: • give children linguistic prompts to support their talk, especially in more formal presentations; • discuss and demonstrate how to go about a task, for example the language useful to take turns, summarise or conduct an interview; • extend children’s vocabulary through activities which focus on words, alternative choices and different ways of saying the ‘same’ thing in English and other languages; • introduce and teach appropriate terminology for discussing speaking and listening, for example, accent, audience, consensus, context, dialect, dialogue, diction, discuss, emphasis, expression, formal, gesture, informal, interview, narrator, negotiate, open and closed questions, standard and non-standard English, take turns, tone (see Glossary on pages 35–37); • teach and use language to reﬂect on spoken language activities, for example reﬂecting on working in role and performance in drama activities.

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Handout 3.8

The teacher might scaffold listening by:
• using visual prompts (pictures, diagrams, objects, signs and symbols); • clearly signalling any changes of focus or topic (The next section is about…); • pre-teaching any vocabulary that the children might not understand; • providing key points on cards; • having any children who are bilingual learners listen to and discuss the text in their ﬁrst language before they are given it in English.

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Module 4: Organising and managing speaking and listening

❚❙❘

Organising and managing speaking and listening

Objective
• To develop a range of strategies for resolving management and organisational issues during speaking and listening activities

Summary of module
Part 1: Trying out a technique for promoting group discussion and interaction. Part 2: Staff meeting. Part 3: Trying out a lesson with the assistance of an additional adult to encourage and foster appropriate talk for group activities.

Resources
• • • Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0623-2003 G) Handout 4.1 Teaching sequence: Year 4 term 1 Group discussion and interaction Video sequence: Year 4 term 1 Group discussion and interaction on DVD

❚❙❘ Part 1
• Colleagues try out a technique for promoting group discussion and interaction in their classrooms and consider the management and organisational challenges encountered (See the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction – making it work in the classroom (DfES 0624-2003)). Colleagues read handout 4.1.

•

❚❙❘ Part 2 Staff meeting
Outline of the meeting
Management and organisational challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Video and discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Addressing challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 minutes

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Management and organisational challenges (20 minutes)
■

In groups of four, ask colleagues to list the management and organisational challenges encountered when using the selected speaking and listening technique in their teaching in Part 1. Here are some of the challenges colleagues may suggest. – – – – – – – – – – When the children were asked to move around the classroom they became silly and wasted time. Two quiet girls in the group did not contribute at all. They just sat and said nothing. The group was dominated by one child who did all the talking and no one else could get a word in. Children learning English as an additional language said little, though they seemed to want to contribute. When the children were in mixed gender groups, the boys did all the talking and the girls were just content to sit and listen and let the boys get on with it. The group soon dried up and had nothing to say. They got embarrassed and said they could not think of anything to say. The children did not have the language to engage in group discussion. They seemed to have limited vocabulary and did not know how to take turns and listen to each other. The classroom layout was not helpful. The children were all talking and the teacher was concerned about the noise level because there is no sound-prooﬁng. The open-plan layout made this really difficult.

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Categorise the challenges under the following topics: • • • • • • • Group size. Group composition. Lack of established routine. Insufficient visual and linguistic prompts. Behaviour management. Lack of experience of structured talk or how to work together in groups. Lack of knowledge of appropriate interactive language including questioning.

Video and discussion (20 minutes)
■

View the Year 4 term 1 Group discussion and interaction video sequence on DVD and focus on the organisational factors that inﬂuenced the success of the group discussion. After watching the video, ask colleagues to list the organisation factors and discuss. Many of the factors are listed below, for reference. • • • • • • • • • • • Roles are allocated and therefore group organisation is established. There is recapping about roles to reinforce group organisation. Groups are pre-arranged and consideration is given to size of the group and group composition. There is explicit pre-teaching and reinforcement of the behaviours needed for the particular activity. There is explicit teaching of the language of interaction. Peer modelling of group work is shown. Reﬂection leading to improvement and development is encouraged. The task is made clear. Outcomes are designed to encourage collaboration and expectations are made clear. Routines are well established and familiar. Linguistic and visual prompts are provided to support learning.

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Addressing challenges (20 minutes)
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In the light of the video, revisit challenges identiﬁed earlier. Consider solutions or alternative strategies. Referring to the leaﬂet Group discussion and interaction – making it work in the classroom, reach a group consensus about a key strategy for a perceived problem from each category. Consider the role of additional adults during speaking and listening sessions.

■

❚❙❘ Part 3
If appropriate, colleagues plan additional adult participation for the next time they teach a speaking and listening objective. They consider how the additional adult can provide support with the management of the class and also in supporting speciﬁc groups of children. For instance, the additional adult could provide visual and linguistic prompts, assist in behaviour management, and provide models of structured talk and the roles in groups. For further information see: • • • • Supporting pupils with SEN in the literacy hour (DfEE 0101/2000 – ﬁle, DfEE 0101/2000V – video); Including all children in the literacy hour and daily mathematics lesson (DfES 0465/2002); Supporting pupils learning English as an additional language (DfES 0239/2002); Teaching assistants in Year 6 (DfES 0823/2003).

If this objective can be taught across two parallel classes at different times with the same additional adult, a valuable discussion can take place after each session.

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Handout 4.1 Year 4 term 1 Group discussion and interaction
Objective 39: to take different roles in groups and use language appropriate to them, including roles of leader, reporter, scribe, mentor e.g. sustaining different roles when carrying out a decision-making task. Designing a pantomime set Overview: the children discuss in groups, taking different roles, in order to plan the staging of a pantomime. They: • observe a group modelling different roles within a group discussion; • work in groups to discuss ideas about different pantomime scenes; • report back on their ideas; • reﬂect on how the different roles contributed to the success of the group. Language features: Children learn how to use the language associated with various group roles. They practise summarising their ideas, reaching agreement and presenting ideas to an audience, ensuring their ideas are understandable to someone outside the group. Previous experience: In Year 3, children have used talk to organise roles for themselves as they work in groups. Resources: A script for the pantomime, a planning sheet which includes a sketch of the stage with ﬁxed items marked, an activity for the demonstration group to work on.

Teaching sequence
Part 1 (20 minutes) Remind the class of their previous experience of working in different roles in groups. Clarify the main tasks of roles: chair, scribe, reporter, mentor and the language demands these roles make. Allocate a topic and speciﬁc roles to children and ask them to demonstrate a group discussion to the class. The topic should relate to the one that the whole class will discuss later, e.g. to agree a material for the costume of a pantomime cow. Encourage feedback on how the demonstration group fulﬁlled their roles and completed their task. Ask, for example: What did the chair do? How did the mentor talk to others? Reinforce observations which highlight successful group work.

Language features

Throughout the unit look for children using the language of their roles: • chair – language to introduce, organise, prompt, and summarise; • scribe – language to summarise and check, for example, the accuracy of their notes; • reporter – language to summarise, present, clarify and follow up, for example, questions from others; • mentor – language to prompt, rephrase, question, clarify. Listen for contributions which focus on particular roles, how the child taking that role helped the group complete its task, and on the language used, e.g. I noticed when the mentor reminded the chair that not everyone had had the chance to give their ideas.

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Handout 4.1 cont.
Teaching sequence
Part 2 (30 minutes) Give each group a scene from the pantomime and ask them to make recommendations about its staging. Allocate roles, or allow children to decide for themselves, depending on their experience. Support their discussion with resources, e.g. an outline of the stage, a copy of the script. Allow 10 minutes for the discussion. Explain that reporters will feed back on their group’s ideas and decisions. Give the groups another 5 minutes to help the reporter prepare to feed back. Remind them to use the scribe’s notes. Take reporters and scribes from one or two groups to report back to the class. Take brief additional comments from other reporters about the decisions made in their groups. Summarise the children’s ideas about how the pantomime scenes should be staged.

Language features
Check that groups are able to function effectively and that everyone contributes. Listen for children beginning to use the language associated with their role, e.g. the chair asking whether an idea had been agreed, the scribe checking the wording for his/her notes. Listen for all children contributing ideas to the discussion. Listen for groups reaching an agreement on what should be reported back, e.g. So we’ve decided that we can’t have a piano on stage as it would be too heavy to move on and off. Listen for reporters summarising ideas, recognising signiﬁcant contributions, noting difficulties and answering questions.

Part 3 (30 minutes) Reorganise the class into role groups of children who have been chairs, scribes, etc. Use those who had no speciﬁc role in the previous activity to act as chair, scribe, etc, in the new groups, to organise and record the discussions. Ask these new groups to reﬂect on the previous activity. Provide them with prompts, e.g. Were you pleased with the way you worked as (chair)? Why? Were any parts of your role difficult? Encourage them to discuss how they contributed to the success of the group and the language they used in their role. As a plenary, take feedback from groups about their roles, the language used and how their role contributed to the success of the group discussion. Prompt for extended answers with further questions. Check that children who have taken on organising or reporting roles are able to use the language associated with the role. Listen for the language of reﬂection, e.g. The hardest part of being chair is not butting in with your own ideas all the time! Look for children who are able to extend their answers and give detail about how they worked in the group role. Ensure that those who have just worked in particular roles in the last activity also have the chance to reﬂect on what they have done.

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Module 5: Speaking and listening: drama

❚❙❘

Speaking and listening: drama

Objectives
• • • To become familiar with the drama element of the speaking and listening framework and speciﬁcally the improvisation and working in role strand To consider the value of teaching drama To be introduced to a number of drama-teaching strategies

Summary of module
Part 1: Personal reading and reﬂection. Part 2: Staff meeting. Part 3: Trying out a drama technique in a lesson.

Resources
• • • • • • • • Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 school pack (DfES 0623-2003 G) OHTs 1–4 Video sequence: Year 1 term 2, ‘Anancy’, on DVD Video sequence: Year 6 term 2, ‘Escape!’ on DVD Handout 5.1 Some drama techniques or conventions Handout 5.2 Objectives from the improvisation and working in role strand Handout 5.3 Progression in the improvisation and working in role strand Handout 5.4 Extracts about life on the Titanic

❚❙❘ Part 1
• • Colleagues read drama objectives in Speaking, Listening, Learning: working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2, Teaching objectives and classroom activities. Colleagues read the leaﬂet Drama – making it work in the classroom (DfES 0624-2003) and handout 5.1, Some drama techniques or conventions.

❚❙❘ Part 2 Staff meeting
Outline of the meeting
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Progression in the improvisation and working in role strand of drama Strategies for teaching drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Practical exploration of a drama convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 minutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 minutes

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Introduction (15 minutes)
■

Begin by asking colleagues, in pairs, to tell each other brieﬂy about their journey to work this morning. Afterwards make the point that unless something unexpected had happened on the way, their recount was likely to be fairly ordinary and unremarkable. Now, ask colleagues to describe their journey to each other again but this time speaking in role as a fairytale character. Of course, the explanation can be as ﬁctitious as they like! The partner is to try and guess who the character is. Give a moment or two of thinking time and then ask one partner to begin. Give about 3 minutes and then ask partners to swap roles. When both partners have completed the explanation, comment on any obvious features, e.g. laughter, gesticulation, noise level. Then ask the pairs to discuss the ways in which talking in role extended the simple recount activity they started the session with. Take feedback and then display OHT 1.

■

■

■

If you would prefer to demonstrate this before your colleagues do it, here is an example (the answer is Rumplestiltskin). Let me tell you about how I got here today. I left my house at about 7 o’clock. Even though I live in a place which is quite off the map, and quite impossible to ﬁnd, the traffic seems to get worse each day. I passed a couple of ﬁelds full of straw bales; my ﬁngers began to twitch but I resisted the temptation. On I went down the road, singing a little rhyme to myself – it’s funny how verses get stuck in your head. I drove past the palace – I’m sure I’ll be visiting there again soon – and then into a police checkpoint. They seemed to be checking licences; they asked my name but there was no way I was going to tell them that! I just quietly disappeared. The journey ended quite dully; someone held the door open for me so there was no chance for any party tricks! So here I am. You’d like to know my name? Oh, I’ll tell you later.

OHT 1
Drama activities: • provide different and often highly motivational contexts for learning • allow learners to explore situations, ideas or issues by engaging with them as if they are real • require learners to use language in ways that are consistent with the role and situation and hence outside their ordinary, everyday registers • provide ‘ﬁrst-hand’ experiences of action and language use which can be reviewed and discussed after the drama in order to extend understanding • allow teachers to work in different ways, e.g. in role as different characters, to stimulate, model, give examples, deepen and challenge

■

Emphasise that it is because of these opportunities for extending and exploring understanding and language use that drama is such a valuable teaching approach across many subjects of the primary curriculum.

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Module 5: Speaking and listening: drama

Progression in the improvisation and working in role strand (15 minutes)

OHT 2
Drama in the National Curriculum • • • Improvisation and working in role Writing and performing scripts Responding to and evaluating performances

■

Remind colleagues of the drama strands in the National Curriculum using OHT 2, and explain that this staff meeting focuses upon the improvisation and working in role strand. This next activity allows colleagues to explore the progression within the objectives in the strand. Ask colleagues to work in mixed pairs of Foundation and Key Stage 1/2 teachers. Give them handout 5.2, which lists Year 2 and Year 5 objectives from the improvisation and working in role strand of Speaking, Listening, Learning: Working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2, Teaching objectives and classroom activities. Ask them to: • • consider what is required of the children, and hence the teacher, to fulﬁl these objectives; speculate on what teaching and learning is required to enable children to make progress up to, between and beyond these objectives.

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■

Provide handout 5.3, which gives the complete improvisation and working in role strand. Ask colleagues to identify the nature of the progression and the challenges it implies. Give reading and discussion time and take feedback which will include: • progression in this strand involves children becoming increasingly able to: – work in drama, using different techniques and skills; – use these different techniques to explore and communicate ideas; • challenges facing teachers and schools include: – time implications; – children starting at a low level of understanding and therefore not ﬁnding it easy to access the objective appropriate for their year group; – lack of teacher knowledge and conﬁdence.

■

Explain that the Speaking, Listening, Learning: Working with children in Key Stages 1 and 2 Handbook gives advice about ﬁnding time for speaking and listening and acknowledging that starting points may be below those implied in the objectives. This staff meeting now focuses on the range of drama strategies children can use to explore their ideas.

Strategies for teaching drama (20 minutes)
■

Explain that one reason this staff meeting focuses upon improvisation and working in role is that for many teachers this is the most challenging element of the drama curriculum. Anxieties about control of the class and doubts about the quality of what children do in drama have tended to devalue the place of exploratory drama in the curriculum. One approach to overcoming such concerns is to focus on the teacher’s role in organising, sustaining and enhancing the quality of work done in drama. Instead of simply asking children to work in groups to make up a play on a particular issue, or to ‘be a tree’ in a large-scale, potentially formless drama, a teacher can use one or more of a variety of teaching strategies or conventions to structure children’s ideas and create

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a way of working which is both stimulating and organised. These conventions, drawn from a variety of theatrical, media and real-life sources, provide a range of potentially stimulating and interesting ways of working.
■

Explain that conventions can be used for different purposes, depending on the learning objective and the particular stage of the drama, as well as the teacher’s conﬁdence and the children’s experience. More speciﬁcally, these conventions or strategies are used to organise and improve the quality of children’s work in drama. Using OHT 3, remind colleagues of the leaﬂet Drama – making it work in the classroom and the handout that they have read and ask them to describe in pairs their experiences of using any of these conventions.

OHT 3
Use drama conventions to: • • • • structure the ﬂow of action deepen children’s understanding of a situation shape children’s responses allow children to take on different roles and experiment with the language of the role focus on the important issues within a narrative

•

■

Introduce the background to the video extracts you are going to show. There are extracts from a Year 1 lesson where the teacher uses a freeze-frame technique to explore the text Anancy and a Year 6 lesson where the class use a conscience (or decision) alley to learn more about the challenges facing a character from the novel Marianne Dreams, by Catherine Storr. As they watch, ask colleagues to focus on the way that the teachers use the conventions to structure, control and extend learning, for example, of children’s understanding of the text or their use of language. After viewing, ask colleagues to work in a key-stage-speciﬁc pair to discuss the use of one of the conventions to structure learning and extend language use. After a few minutes ask them to report to another pair of colleagues who have been focusing on the alternate key stage and convention. Underline that these conventions are not ends in themselves nor a set of disconnected activities. The teacher will need to apply the conventions appropriately in order to fulﬁl the objective of the lesson.

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■

■

Practical exploration of a drama convention (20 minutes)
At this point in the staff meeting you are going to enable colleagues to gain some practical experience of drama conventions. Below are activities related to the two conventions seen on the video, freeze-frame and conscience (or decision) alley. You will probably only have time to explore one convention. Choose which to focus on based on the needs and expertise of the group.
■

Introduce the topic of the work – the sinking of the Titanic. Ask the group what they know about this famous event and list some key points. Explain that the story of the Titanic might be explored from many different points of view and in many different ways, depending on your objectives and teaching intentions.

Freeze-frames ■ Ask colleagues to get into small groups of three or four. Explain that you will read extracts about life on the Titanic as it sailed on its maiden voyage. In their groups they are to illustrate the extract through a freeze-frame, which is rather like a photograph or tableau. Everyone has to be involved in the freezeframe, so they are free to invent extra characters if they need to. You will give them some planning time before asking them to freeze into their shape.

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Module 5: Speaking and listening: drama

■

Read one of the extracts from handout 5.4. Give 1 or 2 minutes only as planning time and then ask all groups to freeze – you might want to use a signal, for example, clapping hands. Repeat the activity with the second and third extracts. As groups become more conﬁdent you might extend the work by asking groups to: • • • • explain their picture; answer questions in role as characters; decide upon their own topic for a freeze-frame; bring the photograph to life, e.g. by playing the next 10 seconds of action after the frame had been frozen. (In this case do not allow planning time!)

■

Give time afterwards for congratulation and discussion. Ask when colleagues might use this strategy with children. Take feedback and emphasise that freeze-frames are helpful for: • • • • • ﬁnding out what a group already knows about a topic; ensuring a focus on key moments, e.g. in a narrative; easing less conﬁdent children into role; extending the range of talk, e.g. talk to plan, talking in role; identifying which of various alternative plot outlines might be interesting to explore.

Conscience (or decision) alley ■ Explain to the group how, in 1985, a marine biologist named Robert D Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic, some 21/2 miles beneath the surface of North Atlantic, using a small submarine. Some of his pictures of the wreck are very well known. Ballard realised quickly that raising the Titanic would not be possible, but he also took the decision that his team would take no artefacts or objects away from the wreck, although this was technically well within his capability.
■

Explain that you are going to use the ‘conscience (or decision) alley’ technique to explore this decision of Ballard’s. Knowing that the ship was magniﬁcently equipped and that many very wealthy passengers were on board must have made the decision to leave the wreck intact a difficult one. His reputation as the locater of the wreck would have been secured had he had artefacts from the liner to show. Ask the group to make two lines, facing each other, about 10 metres apart. Explain that they are to be Ballard’s thoughts or conscience as he debates the rights and wrongs of taking artefacts from the wrecked liner. How might his thinking ﬂuctuate? For example, he might feel at one moment that the wreck was a grave which should not be violated, and at another feel an archaeologist’s desire to unearth the past. Yet again, he might be attracted to the riches of what he has discovered. Ask the group to decide on a sentence or two which expresses one of Ballard’s thoughts as he faces this decision. Then ask one of the group to act as Ballard, or take the role yourself. Explain that as ‘Ballard’ walks down the gap or alley, everyone in turn is to say their idea aloud. You may need to repeat the activity in order to improve the quality of what is done. Variations would include: • • discussing what, on the basis of the thoughts running through his mind, Ballard would have decided; setting up the lines of the alley so that one side represents the temptations Ballard faced to take the treasure from the wreck, and the other side represents his sense that the wreck was a grave and should be left alone; asking those in the alley giving their thoughts to add actions as well as words; limiting the ‘thought-speakers’ to a single word only and ask them to say it aloud once and then repeat it continuously as a whisper.

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• •
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Explain that many other issues suggested by this topic could be usefully examined through the conscience (or decision) alley technique, for example the following. • The builder of the ship, Thomas Andrews, sailed on the maiden voyage. Why did he build a liner without enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew? What pressures did he face?

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• •

Consider the ship’s captain, Edward Smith. Should he stay with his stricken boat? Think of the ship’s radio operators, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips, who stayed at their post sending out SOS messages until they heard water gurgling outside the radio room door. What conﬂicting thoughts would they have had?

Can colleagues suggest some alternative issues?
■

Give time for colleagues to discuss where in the school curriculum the conscience (or decision) alley technique might be used and for what purposes, for example: • • • to explore moments of crisis or decisions facing a character in a narrative; to examine the consequences of decisions or alternative courses of action in history, e.g. whether a President should have risked astronauts’ lives by sending them into space; to humanise and personalise conﬂicts and issues in geography, history or RE.

Summary (5 minutes)
■

Use OHT 4 to reiterate the key points from the staff meeting.

OHT 4
Drama is an important element of speaking and listening within the National Curriculum for English, as well as being a motivating teaching methodology appropriate to many subject areas. Progression in improvisation and work in role involves children becoming increasingly aware of a range of ways of acting out in order to create, explore and communicate ideas about situations, characters, ideas and emotions. By enacting and acting out, children are placed in a position where ideas can be investigated and where they have to use language in ways that are different and interesting. Drama lessons can be given shape and focus by the use of a variety of teaching conventions or strategies. They are a means of organising action and deepening children’s understanding of its implications.

❚❙❘ Part 3
Colleagues consider a lesson they have taught recently (in English or another subject) and, using the list of conventions on handout 5.1 or in Drama – making it work in the classroom, identify an appropriate convention they might have used in the lesson and what additional learning might have resulted from its use. Colleagues could think ahead to a similar type of lesson which would beneﬁt from the use of a drama technique and plan accordingly.

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OHT 1

Drama activities:
• provide different and often highly motivational contexts for learning • allow learners to explore situations, ideas or issues by engaging with them as if they are real • require learners to use language in ways that are consistent with the role and situation and hence outside their ordinary, everyday registers • provide ‘ﬁrst-hand’ experiences of action and language use which can be reviewed and discussed after the drama in order to extend understanding • allow teachers to work in different ways, e.g. in role as different characters, to stimulate, model, give examples, deepen and challenge

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OHT 2

Drama in the National Curriculum
• Improvisation and working in role • Writing and performing scripts • Responding to and evaluating performances

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OHT 3

Use drama conventions to:
• structure the ﬂow of action • deepen children’s understanding of a situation • shape children’s responses • allow children to take on different roles and experiment with the language of the role • focus on the important issues within a narrative

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OHT 4

Drama is an important element of speaking and listening within the National Curriculum for English, as well as being a motivating teaching methodology appropriate to many subject areas. Progression in improvisation and work in role involves children becoming increasingly aware of a range of ways of acting out in order to create, explore and communicate ideas about situations, characters, ideas and emotions. By enacting and acting out, children are placed in a position where ideas can be investigated and where they have to use language in ways that are different and interesting. Drama lessons can be given shape and focus by the use of a variety of teaching conventions or strategies. They are a means of organising action and deepening children’s understanding of its implications.

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Handout 5.1 Some drama techniques or conventions Freeze-frames
These are still images or silent tableaux used to illustrate a speciﬁc incident or event. Individual children or groups are asked to represent the characters at a signiﬁcant moment. The freeze-frame can be improvised or planned brieﬂy. Sequential frames can be used to represent the key events as a narrative progresses. Freeze-frames can also be brought to life through improvisation or used as the basis for thought tracking. Freeze-frames are useful for enabling close scrutiny of an incident or situation. Positioning and body shape have to be considered carefully in order to represent ideas or emotions. Freeze-frames also help establish roles by giving children thinking time.

Conscience (or decision) alley
The class create two lines facing each other. One child in role as a particular character walks down the ‘alley’ between the lines. The class voice the character’s thoughts, both for and against a particular decision or action which the character is facing, acting as his or her conscience. The child in role listens to his or her conscience before making a decision about the course of action to take. Conscience (or decision) alley is a means of exploring a character’s mind at a moment of crisis and of investigating the complexity of the decision he or she is facing.

Thought tracking
Focusing on the characters in a freeze-frame, or those from an ongoing drama where the action has been frozen, thought tracking involves the rest of the class in contributing ideas as if they were speaking the thoughts of one of the characters. These can support or contrast with the words that the characters actually say. The class can make a circle around the character and say their thoughts one at a time, or individual children can stand next to the frozen character and speak their ‘thoughts’ aloud. This is a good technique for creating and then examining the private thoughts of characters at particularly tense moments of a narrative.

Mime
Children work with actions rather than words to convey elements of a character or their emotions. The mime might be realistic or be slowed down to accentuate aspects of the movement. This is a good strategy for establishing whole-group drama and for building an appropriate atmosphere for the work. It gives children time to think about their roles and the kinds of language they might use.

Hot-seating
Hot-seating involves the class in asking questions of someone in role as a character, who sits on the ‘hotseat’. The questions can be prepared or improvised. Obviously this works best if both the role player and the questioners are familiar with the character and the narrative. Hot-seating focuses closely on a character and enables motivation to be explored. It is also a good way of exploring the gaps in a character’s story.

Forum theatre
A small group act out a scene while the rest of the class watch them. The class work as directors of the group in role, for example, asking them to act or speak in a different way, suggesting that a character might behave differently, questioning the characters in role, or suggesting an alternative interpretation of what is happening. Forum theatre allows an incident or event to be seen from different points of view. The opportunity to investigate different perspectives makes this a very useful strategy for examining alternative ideas.

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Handout 5.1 cont. Telephone conversations
This involves pairs of children improvising a telephone dialogue between two characters at a problematic moment in the narrative. Variations might include the teacher speaking as one character while the rest of the class, in turn or when ready, speak as the other character. Telephone conversations are a simple way of focusing on important dialogue so that the whole group are aware of how two characters are communicating. Once the conversation has been held it can not only be discussed but also fed back into a drama to inﬂuence subsequent events.

Role on the wall
One or more characters are selected from a story and their outlines drawn on large sheets of paper. The space around the outline can be ﬁlled with comments made by other characters (children in role) and the space inside the ﬁgure can used to capture the character’s own feelings at signiﬁcant moments in the text. This can be used to create a focus on the difference between external views of a character and the way that he or she sees him- or herself.

Meetings
The teacher in role, for example, as an official, can call a meeting for the whole class to attend in order for a decision to be made. Meetings enable information to be shared with the whole group and allow a group decision to be made about a situation facing them. They allow children to adopt a collective role, for example, as villagers, which can help less-conﬁdent children. Meetings used at the start of a drama can be an efficient way of creating roles or focusing on a problem.

Paired improvisation
Pairs are given roles or agree them for themselves. They begin a dialogue on a signal, making the conversation up as they go along. Use this strategy to get children into a drama quickly.

Ceremonies
Ceremonies in drama are ritualised movements or activities accompanied by appropriate language, which are developed into a pattern, used to mark a notable event. They give a dignity to action and are useful to establish a notion of a culture, which a drama might subsequently explore, or to give a satisfying conclusion to a piece of work. They often help children deepen their commitment to the drama.

Flashbacks and ‘ﬂash forwards’
These stop the dramatic action being explored through improvisation, and require the children to refocus on something that happened before (which perhaps caused a particular event) or later (perhaps as a consequence of the action). You might use other strategies, for example, freeze-frames, to create the ﬂashback person by person. These strategies are effective for getting children to focus on the consequences of action rather than on the action itself. They help avoid the full-scale battle scene, for example! They encourage reﬂection and discussion.

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Handout 5.1 cont. Teaching in role
This involves the teacher taking on some attributes of a character, in particular the language used by a character in the situation or setting being explored in the drama. It can be used alongside a number of other teaching strategies, for example, hot-seating, meetings, etc. The role can be simply established and signalled by use of an artefact, for example, a scarf to suggest a pirate, or by different language use. You may need to demonstrate a role more than once, stepping out of role to reﬂect upon it, in order to get children to take the work seriously. The advantage of working in role is that it allows the teacher to model appropriate language, challenge children’s ideas and move a drama on, without necessarily stopping the drama.

Use of drama conventions
Use drama conventions to: • structure the ﬂow of action: asking children to represent a narrative like Little Red Riding Hood in a certain number of freeze-frames or photographs ensures a focus on the key events. Using the approach of thought tracking with the freezeframe allows the characters’ thoughts, as well as their words, to be explored; • deepen children’s understanding of a situation: investigating Guy Fawkes’ motivation for wanting to destroy the Houses of Parliament by questioning a child or the teacher on the ‘hot-seat’ as though they were the conspirator helps children to understand that there may be alternative or unexpected explanations for behaviour; • shape children’s responses: when watching a pair in role as the miller and his daughter from Rumplestiltskin, as they talk about the miller’s foolish boasts, other children can use forum theatre techniques to help them articulate their ideas about the characters and have an immediate effect upon the action; • allow children to take on different roles and experiment with the language of the role: adopting roles as villagers facing danger from a giant who lives nearby requires young children to consider their actions and language choices. The teacher can act as an angry giant, but step out of role to emphasise the importance of not shouting at the giant if the villagers want him to leave them in peace. By re-enacting the scene, with the teacher again in role as the giant, the children can try an alternative approach of persuasion; • focus on the important issues within a narrative: by using the conscience (or decision) alley technique, a group of Year 6 pupils can investigate the choices faced by Macbeth as he approached the room where King Duncan lay asleep.

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Handout 5.2 Objectives from the improvisation and working in role strand
Year 2 objective 16. Drama to adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action e.g. developing a plot and characters from a text, image or artefact.

Year 5 objective 54. Drama to reﬂect on how working in role helps to explore complex issues e.g. sustaining work in role to explore issues from different social, cultural or historical perspectives.

What is required of children in each year to meet the relevant objective? What teaching and learning is required to enable children to make progress: • • • up to between beyond

these objectives?

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Handout 5.3 Progression in the improvisation and working in role strand
Year 1 4. Drama to explore familiar themes and characters through improvisation and role-play e.g. using story boxes and bags of props to create characters. Link with NLS Text level 7. Year 2 16. Drama to adopt appropriate roles in small or large groups and consider alternative courses of action e.g. developing a plot and characters from a text, image or artefact. 36. Drama to use some drama strategies to explore stories or issues e.g. working with different techniques to explore key aspects of relationships or situations 47. Drama to create roles showing how behaviour can be interpreted from different viewpoints e.g. presenting familiar characters as they might see themselves, then as others see them. 54. Drama to reﬂect on how working in role helps to explore complex issues e.g. sustaining work in role to explore issues from different social, cultural or historical perspectives. 64. Drama to improvise using a range of drama strategies and conventions, to explore themes such as hopes, fears, desires e.g. drawing on shared text to explore emotional tension at key moments in a story.

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

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Handout 5.4 Extracts about life on the Titanic
This elegant foyer stood below the wrought iron and glass dome over the ﬁrst-class staircase. On the ﬁrst-class Promenade Deck a six-year-old boy spins his top while his father and two other passengers watch. 17-year-old Jack Thayer from Philadelphia was trying out the soft mattress on the large bed of his cabin. The ﬁrst-class rooms his family had reserved for themselves and their maids had thick carpets, carved wooden panels on the walls, and marble sinks. Elsewhere on board, passengers relaxed on deck chairs, reading or taking naps. Some played cards, some wrote letters, while others chattered with friends. As it was Sunday, church services had been held in the morning. The deck of the forecastle area of the ship held the giant anchor chains and the large round bollards to which ropes were tied when the ship was in port … Stokers worked day and night shovelling coal into boilers that created the steam that drove the giant reciprocating engines. The command of this great ocean liner was given to the senior captain of the White Star line, Captain Edward J Smith. This proud, white-bearded man was a natural leader and was popular with both crew members and passengers. At the age of 59, Captain Smith was going to retire after this last trip, a perfect ﬁnal tribute to a long and successful career.

These extracts are taken from Exploring the Titanic by Robert D Ballard (Madison Press, 1988). Most are captions to photographs or illustrations.

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Copies of this document may be available from: DfES Publications Tel: 0845 60 222 60 Fax: 0845 60 333 60 Textphone: 0845 60 555 60 e-mail: dfes@prolog.uk.com Ref: DfES 0163-2004 © Crown copyright 2004 Produced by the Department for Education and Skills www.dfes.gov.uk If this is not available in hard copy it can be downloaded from: www.standards.dfes.gov.uk

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