Extending listening sticks

Extending listening sticks

Last month I shared my simple resource of “Listening Sticks” and how these could be used to encourage children to practise listening and responding for key information.

Here's the link to my original blog Listening sticks 

You will need a master copy for all the activities where you are the speaker 

Here's a simple colours and numbers listening stick for one child

Since my first simple blog about listening sticks  I have been able to put together a sequence of activities that  help children to progress in their ability to listen and respond and that can be used along the way be as a simple device to create activities to track progress and to assess individual children’s developing skills .

Moving on and listening for specific words and phrases ……from the very simple activity described in my previous blog , I have explored using these sticks to listen for specific words and phrases – so for example if the objects (for examples the numbers on the listening stick) are printed in different colours – then we can ask the children to listen for two items – a number and a colour . You could not wave your stick if the colour of the number on your stick did not correspond to the information they heard.

Creating a recall listening stick …..Why not ask the children to create their own listening sticks to challenge children to recall language from prior learning during the year

Listening for key information in longer or more detailed texts  and identifying key language . This activity uses the same simple listening stick bit this time look at the stick below ….when would you wave your stick if this was the  text you heard ?

"Hello , I am called Paul Green and I am 7  years old.I have one brother and he is 9 years old .He has black hair and blue eyes and loves animals . We have 7 cats and dogs in our house and 1 rabbit ……"

Making a listening stick a writing stick!

Why not encourage the children to write a series of sentences themselves  to create a text which has to include each of the items on their listening stick !

Performance as a vehicle to support Transition between Stages of language learning

Performance as a vehicle to support Transition between Stages of language learning

Language learning seems to me to be a stage by stage process. 

As a learner we like the familiar to build upon when we are first learning a language and we enjoy exploring how versatile a small amount of language knowledge can be.Throughout the JLN KS2 SOW there are opportunities to take part in performance, to use performance to demonstrate understanding of a written text and to add character to a sketch or text by adding character, attitude and voice .Sometimes it’s just about adding English stage directions with early learners who don’t have sufficient language knowledge to do this in the target language .This activity in itself links well with Literacy at KS2 and developing dialogues and play scripts.

Performance therefore seems a bridge in my opinion between KS2 and KS3 that the children can take forward into their secondary school language learning and see this as natural progresson .

Working with a secondary school and its cluster primary schools I asked the Secondary HOD to commit to revisiting and using plays and sketches with Y7 in Autumn term that all the children in the cluster schools had practised with their own Y6 class teachers during the Summer term .Most of the children in the cluster schools worked in French and some of the children worked in Spanish.  The children we decided would not necessarily all want to stand up and perform comedy sketches based on simple core language in front of their new perhaps unfamiliar peers. They would however be happy to revisit and perform in groups the sketches – giving the secondary teachers an opportunity for some valuable AfL : pronunciation, recall and with a few additional phrases how well children could understand and cope with unfamiliar language .

It’s worked so well , that the Y6 teachers want to spend time working on the sketches .The children are delighted that their work has been valued and taken seriously and the HOD reports that his staff found it an invaluable learning opportunity . By this he means what his staff learned about the new Y7 language learners .The best bit of it all is probably the value the secondary language  department put on the learning as they invited the children to volunteer to take part in performances of their sketches plus additional language etc at the Y6 Open Evening in early October!

And this year?

Well that’s why I am writing this blog page….because we are at the point in the Y6 learning year where we will begin to prepare them for future language learning in our schools. We review and revisit their knowledge , create presentation and after Easter the Y6 teachers will weave the sketches through their language learning .The teachers may also celebrate the end of a stage in language learning by selecting some groups' sketches for the End of Year Y6 Farewell Assembly .They facilitate this learning knowing that it is valued by the local High School . The HOD wants to showcase the sketches again this year and to develop further the AfL opportunities .

Having their work valued means that the primary school teachers themselves are very happy to sit down with myself and the MFL department this March and share more of their children's learning. A mutual respect is developing between colleagues who will use a learning activity as vehicle by which to move the children from one stage to the next in their learning.

I started the blog by saying that language learning is a "stage by stage process"and in my opinion here is an ideal vehicle by which to prepare children in KS3 , 4 and 5 to explore authentic texts,films and plays in the target language and it all starts so simply …… in KS2!

  

Stepping Stones to Grammar : The Child's Voice

Stepping Stones to Grammar : The Child's Voice 

This week I have been busy in all sorts of ways discussing with colleagues KS2 and progression 
One thorny issue which has been cropping up is grammar at KS2. 

Within my network we have been trialling approaches to grammar and ways to engage the learner and support specialist and non-specialist teachers at KS2. Something we keep reminding ourselves about is ,that is primary language learning and that we are working with young children who want a structured and creative programme of learning that allows them as children to explore and grow in confidence as young language learners. They are not frightened by structure and grammar , they just need to have time to enjoy exploring it and playing with it like its code or a puzzle or a pattern!

I have been watching, observing and listening  to the children themselves! And I have come to the conclusion that we need to take small steps and let children stay on a stepping stone to explore before rushing them to the next level . We need to help them to stand up and feel confident on that stepping stone and then hold their hand as they make their way to the next stepping stone and we need to let them think about and connect grammar in a new language to structures they are already investigating in Literacy.

Here are three PDFs with their children's voice to guide us , laid out as in "stepping stones" starting from the child , explaining how they progress as language learners that are  not frightened but excited by new learning , how they become inquisitive and  interested in structure  and maybe intrepid explorers..... ready for secondary languages and the care and attention of linguists at KS3.

If we listen to the voice of the learner and we acknowledge their stages of development as young language learners then in my opinion we will progress with the children and not try to force  progression

The subtitle of the PDFs is simple" from a beginner to an interested and "want to know more young language learner" and that's what I hope I will create by planning for progression using the voice I can hear on these stepping stones . 


Stepping Stones Grammar Nouns Child Voice 

Stepping Stones Grammar Verbs Child Voice

Stepping Stones Grammar Adjectives Child Voice