Academic Controversy: A. What Is It?

1.
ACADEMIC CONTROVERSY
(Bennett, B., Rolheiser, C., Stevahn, L. (1991) Co-operative Learning, Where Heart Meets Mind,
Educational Connections, Ontario)
For Speaking and listening
a. What is it?
A co-operative learning form of debate in which students consider alternative sides of
an issue before reaching consensus.
b. What is its purpose?

 To involve all students in co-operatively speaking, listening and thinking about an issue.
 To focus on social skill development such as active listening, disagreeing agreeably, turn taking.
 For students to consider more than one perspective on an issue, before adopting a position on
that issue.
 As an excellent activity to prepare students for writing arguments.
c. How do I do it ?
 Form class into groups of two pairs ( AA, BB)
 All groups are given the topic phrased as a statement such as 'No advertising should be allowed
on television', 'John Marsden's Tomorrow series shows a world without hope', 'Jane Austen is a
better writer than Stephen King,'
 AA team takes the positive position, BB takes the negative position.
 Each pair has a set time ( 5-10 minutes) to construct an argument for their position.
 AA presents their argument to BB who listen but may not interrupt or question.
 BB presents their argument to AA who listen but may not interrupt or question..
 Each pair adopts the opposing position and has a set time to prepare new arguments for that
position. ( they may not use arguments already contributed by the other pair.)
 AA presents as before, followed by BB.
 Working together AA and BB review the arguments and achieve a consensus position in
relation to the topic.
d. How can I adapt it?

Where the class does not divide evenly into multiples of four, some students might take on roles
such as timekeeper, encourager, peer assessor, etc.
 Students could keep notes for a related written task.
 Useful for exploring themes, aspects of character in literature texts.
 Students reflect on the discussion and construct a text which puts their personal point of view
on the issue.
e. How can it be used to evaluate students' language learning?
Using a checklist or reformat with a pre-organized set of criteria, students could

conduct self and peer assessments in relation to cooperation, speaking and listening,
social skills
dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 1

2. ASKING QUESTIONS
(Wilson, J and Wing Jan, L (1993) Thinking for Themselves: Developing Strategies for Reflective
Learning, Eleanor Curtain Publishing, Armadale. Asking Better Questions)
Effective English classrooms are full of interesting questions posed by teachers and
students. Questions arise most often around texts being studied. English teachers,
through their knowledge of texts, their familiarity with the valued discourses and
activities of the English learning area, and their awareness of competing perspectives
and ideas within this field, ask many different types of questions.
Research shows that teachers ask lots of questions (between 300-400 per day). The
majority of teacher questions are short, direct, closed and require a short, direct,
uncomplicated answer. Students ask many fewer questions than teachers (about
15%). The older students get, the fewer questions they ask.
a. A "good" question possesses three features:

1. it requires more than recall or reproduction of a skill;
2. it has an educative component; that is, the student will learn from attempting to
answer it and the teacher will learn about the student from the attempt;
3. it is, to some extent, open; that is, there may be several acceptable answers.
The questions English teachers ask relate to their teaching intention at a particular
time or the requirements of a syllabus. (cultural heritage, personal growth, functional,
critical literacy) that underpin their teaching at a particular time. An understanding of
these perspectives helps teachers identify clear purposes for the questions they ask.
In the past, teachers of English operated mainly from personal growth and cultural
heritage perspectives. In recent times, they have incorporated functional and critical
literacy perspectives into their practice. The perspectives on English teaching are
evident in the English statement and profile, TASSAB syllabuses and contemporary
tertiary English courses.
b. Questions Derived from the Different Perspectives on English teaching
Below are some questions teachers could ask when studying James Maloney's A
Bridge to Wiseman's Cove:
c. Questions from a personal growth perspective
* In your opinion, what is Carl's problem?
* If faced with Carl's difficulties, how differently might you have acted?
* What do you feel and think about the way Carl and Harley are treated by Aunt Beryl?
* What are the funniest and saddest parts of the novel?
* Which character in the novel do you believe had most to forgive?
* At the end of the novel, what questions are important for you?
* To what extent do you think the novel accurately describes the life of teenagers in
the 1990s?

d. Questions from a cultural heritage perspective
What are the main ideas and values expressed in the novel?
How do you judge Maloney's use of style, form, tone and point of view?
What is the purpose of the symbols found in the title, places, animals, etc. in the
novel?
What is the connection between Carl and the osprey in the novel?
Do you see a link to the Christian ideal of redemption in the way Carl worked so
hard to save the barge in order to make up for what his grandfather had done in the
past?
How does Maloney's creation of setting contribute to the development of the novel's
themes? How do you compare the effectiveness of the novel with other books you
have read that express similar ideas?
e. Questions from a functional perspective

Most novels do not start with a prelude - what is the purpose of the prelude in this
novel?
What are the main features of the narrative genre as evident in the novel?
How does the structure of the novel contribute to your understanding of it?
What structures and features would you need to incorporate into a post script of the
novel? What are the structures and features of advertisements that appear on
popular radio? Incorporate these into the creation of an advertisement that Carl
might have written for the local radio station advertising the ferry service.
If you were making a film of the novel, what would you need to adapt to meet the
requirements of the film genre?
How would you change the cover of the novel if you were aiming it at an adult
audience?
f. Questions from a critical literacy perspective
How are we positioned to respond to the different characters in the novel?
How are different social groups represented in the novel?
From this text, what do you think are Maloney's beliefs about young people in
Australia today?
If this novel were set in the sixties, how different would it be?
If all adults were like those presented in the novel, what would Australian society
be like?
If Carl were a girl, how differently might the story be told?
In practice, teachers ask questions from more than one perspective. The
Teaching Units, Beaut Ideas and Choosing and Using Texts sections in this site
are full of interesting questions to ask about texts. You will also find good
questions in recent Department publications such as Lively Lines. As you look at
these resources, focus closely on the questions and consider whether or not they
represent a balance of perspectives on English teaching.

g. Questions derived from Bloom's Taxonomy
There are a number of frameworks teachers can use to help them to ask better
questions. Probably the best known of these is Bloom's Taxonomy of thinking
skills. Bloom differentiates between lower-order and higher-order questions.
Lower-order questions ask for knowledge, comprehension and application, the
first three categories of Bloom's taxonomy which defines these as less
demanding, less complex and thus lower' levels of thinking.
Below are some questions teachers could ask when working with Let's Eat!,
written by Ana Zamorano and illustrated by Julie Vivas.
1. Knowledge Who are the different people we find at the lunch table?
2. Comprehension What do we call families like this?
3. Application Do you know of families like this one?
4. Analysis Why do you think Mama likes everyone to eat together?
Higher order questions ask for analysis, synthesis or
evaluation, the last three categories of Bloom's
Taxonomy which define these as demanding more
complex and thus 'higher' levels of thinking. For example:
What would happen if the family stopped eating together
5. Synthesis
at lunch time?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in
6. Evaluation
an extended family?
Of course, there are many more questions we could ask about this story.
However, most people agree that the English classroom is more interesting
when teachers ask more higher-order questions.
h. Questions based on the Three Level Guide

This framework is an adaptation of Bloom's Taxonomy. Teachers and students
find this framework easy to use in developing a range of questions in relation
to texts. Explain to students that there are different types or levels of
comprehension. An explicit understanding of these levels will help you and
your students develop your questioning techniques, and give you a greater
awareness of how to comprehend the full range of texts.
i. Questions based on the Taxonomy of Personal Engagement

The Taxonomy of Personal Engagement (Morgan and Saxton, 1988) shows
different stages of student involvement in learning. It is different from Bloom's
Taxonomy in that it incorporates both thought and feeling. This taxonomy is a
useful framework to help you plan key questions to ask during a lesson or unit
of work.
1. Interest being curious about what is presented

2. Engaging wanting to be, and being involved in the task

3. Committing developing a sense of responsibility towards the task
merging objective concepts (the task or what is to be learned) with
4.
subjective experience (what is already owned) resulting in
Internalising
understanding and therefore ownership of new ideas
5. Interpreting wanting and needing to communicate that understanding to others
6. Evaluating wanting and willing to put that understanding to the test
When English teachers use the Taxonomy of Personal Engagement as a

guide for inviting and sustaining students' engagement with texts, they ask
themselves the following:
1. What questions will I ask which will attract their attention? (Interest)
2. What questions will I ask which will draw them into active involvement, where
their ideas become an important part of the process? (Engaging)
3. What questions will I ask which will invite them to take on responsibility for the
inquiry? (Committing)
4. What questions will I ask which will create an environment in which they will
have opportunities to reflect upon their personal thoughts, feelings, attitudes,
points of view, experiences and values in relation to the text? (Internalising)
5. What questions will I ask which will invite them to express their new
understanding to others and further adapt their ideas in light of the feedback
they receive? (Interpreting)
6. What questions will I ask which will provide them with opportunities to test their
new thinking in different ways? What opportunities will I provide which will
enable them to formulate new questions which arise from their new
understanding? (Evaluating)
Asking Better Questions is an excellent resource for teachers with lots of

advice and examples relevant to the English classroom.
Questions based on a Creative thinking Framework

In Thinking for Themselves, Jeni Wilson and Lesley Wing Jan provide a useful
range of strategies to develop creative thinking: The best questions are born of
genuine curiosity. Students are more likely to ask questions when the English
classroom is set up as a language workshop which encourages discussion,
debate, cooperative learning, self- and peer-assessment and incorporates the key
learning processes of negotiation, collaboration and reflection. The interviews with
teachers in Teachers Talk Teaching section of the site are excellent examples of
how Tasmanian teachers establish an environment that encourages student
questions. In an environment where students feel secure in their ability to discuss
important issues and where differing viewpoints are valued, the English teacher
can adopt a range of questioning strategies to support student questioning.
Dillon (1988) sets out three things a teacher can do to foster student
questions:

1. Provide for student questions
• make systematic room for them by asking fewer questions yourself
• invite them in by the way we plan for and respond to them
• wait patiently for them by helping students see silent reflection as acceptable
2. Welcome the question

• communicate this through what you say and how you act
• model active listening
3. Sustain the asking

• don't automatically answer the question
• help students clarify their question - the spoken question is often not the
question in mind
• reinforce and reward the experience of perplexity and the expression of
inquiry
• restate the question with praise or interest
• bring other students into the discussion
j. Other strategies to support student questions

 establish an agreed set of guidelines for asking questions in the classroom
 develop a list of questions to be used for self- and peer-assessment
 Incorporate learning logs or dialogues journals into your program; stop the activity of the lesson at
strategic times and ask students to reflect and ask questions of the text they are studying
 allocate time at the end of the lesson for student questions
 have a 'stop and ask' time where you ask to pose a question that comes to mind
 provide opportunities for students to share their questions about texts with each other and the whole
class
 role play interviews with a character from a text
 model self-talk when working with a text
 praise students questions - 'that's an interesting question', 'I hadn't though of that', etc.
 keep a record of interesting questions students ask and take time to deconstruct them with students,
focusing on what makes them interesting
 ask a couple of students to keep a record of questions asked during a discussion and identify the
proportion of 'on the line', 'between the lines' and 'beyond the lines' questions
 as you read a shared text (or after reading), ask students to come up with a list of questions to ask about
the text; use some of these in an assessment task
 after studying a text, have students play a game of twenty questions, for example, to guess an important
symbol in film
 present students with an answer and ask them to provide the questions - for example, give them a short
extract from a text you are studying and ask them to think of a question or questions for which the extract
might be the answer
 in pairs, have students read each other's work and ask a question about it
There are lots of strategies that you can use to encourage student questions.
However, the most important thing is to establish a supportive classroom

environment in which students can express their ideas and feelings in an atmosphere
of mutual support and respect.
3. BOOK DISCUSSION GROUPS
(Hancock, J. & Leaver, C., (1994) Major Strategies for Teaching English, Australian Reading
Association, Victoria)
For Speaking and listening, reading
a. What is it?
Book discussion groups are small groups that meet to read, discuss and respond to a book.

All students have the chance to express their responses to a text. By sharing their discussions, they
begin to recognize that different readers can interpret a text differently. They also gain richer
understandings of the text and opportunities to use literary language to explore feelings and justify
opinions.
c. How do I do it?
In the time leading up to the book discussion groups, the teacher models way
• of using a range of comments and questions; and
• accepting and inviting different points of view.
 This is done through reading aloud and using student and class conferences.
 Sets of books are chosen that will be appropriate for students' interests and reading abilities.
 Students are allocated to groups. The teacher may make the placements or students may
choose among the books available. (In this case, the teacher gives a Çtaster' of each book or
makes books available for preliminary browsing.)
 Regular times are established for groups to meet (at least two sessions of 30 minutes each per
week.)
 Less experienced readers will need to have an adult leader, more capable readers will be able
to choose a leader from within the group or take turns with this role.
 Groups are introduced to the text at the first session and begin to read
 Students discuss aspects of the text as they go.
 At the end of each session, students decide how much of the book they will have read by next
time, as well as questions/discussion points to raise.
 As groups finish their book, they can evaluate the discussions and negotiate with the teacher a
book-related activity that emerged from the discussion.
Students could summarise some of their discussion and list a series of questions to be used as a model
for other discussion groups. Students could jointly-construct a T-chart on what makes a Good Book
Discussion to develop their discussion skills. Instead of using different books for different groups, this
approach could also be used with

Book discussions are useful for peer and self-assessments by students. Teachers can observe during
the discussions and gather information by checklist or for anecdotal records. The book-related activities
can be analysed for content and structure
4. BOOK RAPS
For Reading, writing, speaking and listening
a. What is it?
A Book Rap is a moderated book discussion conducted via electronic mail. Individual
students or groups of students across Australia (or the world) join the Rap to discuss
a nominated book.

Students have the opportunity to share their ideas about a scheduled book with peers
in other schools. By addressing the Rap questions and engaging in conversations
with others, they come to understand that people appreciate and interpret texts in
different ways. They engage in increasingly critical conversations with their peers and
also with Book Rap guests, including authors, illustrators, teachers, publishers and
reviewers. Book Raps are notable for the enthusiastic on-line friendships that develop
among students over time. Book Raps work effectively with groups of students
involved in a shared reading and are a great way for quiet or shy students to
participate actively in a conversation. They can be carried out at home or
incorporated into the classroom program and provide a wonderful stimulus for
reflective writing in journals and discussion. They can also form part of the supported
wide reading program. They are manageable for teachers and students because they
last for a pre-determined period of time (often about a month) and can take place
independent of the teacher. One of the great things about Book Raps is that the
teacher has access to archives of all email discussions that take place and can
monitor student progress, intervene if necessary and use the Rap material for
assessment.
c. How do I do it?
Join an organised Book Rap or start one yourself. There will be several Book Raps
running simultaneously that your students can join. Oz-Teacher Net Projects co-
ordinate Book Raps led by teachers and teacher librarians throughout Australia.
Check out the Book Rap Calendar for details of past, current and future Book Raps.
Oz-Projects is always on the lookout for new co-ordinators - if you are interested, get
in touch with the Book Rap Manager for 1999. Check out also the Book Rap Archives
to get a feeling for how a Rap operates. Share some entries with your students to
help them get started.
We hope to trial some Tasmanian-based Book Raps for primary, secondary and
senior students via the English Web site in 1999. We will keep you posted on this.
If you want to set up your own Book Rap within your own school or with a partner
school, ask your school I.T. expert for help. The process is not complicated.

Alternatively, you can use the resources of a site such as oz-Projects to find partners
and e-mail your partner school directly.
d. How to Participate
Participation is straightforward. Below are some directions for teachers and students
suggested by oz-Projects.
e. Directions for teachers

1. Join the e-mail list for teachers; this enables you to seek support and share
ideas with other teachers.
2. Join the book list for the book you are discussing; this is where the student
mail will be sent.
3. Check the Book Rap Calendar for titles and dates.
4. Send a message of introduction with the name of the school, location and a
little about the students.
5. Find a blank map of Australia and copy it for the Book Rappers; when you start
reading the introductory messages, have them make the others schools on the
Rap Map.
6. Read the book.
7. Wait for the first Rap Point; share you ideas with others via the list.
8. Email comments about other students' responses to the Rap Point.
f. Directions for Students

1. Join the list for the current book.
2. Read the book and talk about it with your friends.
3. Check the e-mail on the advertised date for the first Rap Point message.
4. Read the Rap Point and prepare a response.
5. E-mail your response to list.
6. Check the mail daily and read other Rappers' responses.
7. Respond to other Rappers via the list.
8. Look out for more rap points on the advertised dates.
9. Look for the Rap Rap Wrap Up to find follow up ideas.
g. How Can I Adapt it?

In addition to novels, you could try some Raps about films, picture books, tv series
h. How Can it be Used to Evaluate Students' Language Learning?

There are many possibilities for assessment, including:
 reading and viewing
 writing
 speaking and listening
 linguistic structures and features
 contextual understanding
 critical thinking

 TLOs
 cooperative learning
5. BOOK SHARE
(Hancock, J. & Leaver, C., ( 1994) Major Strategies for Teaching English, Australian Reading
Association, Victoria)
For Speaking and listening, reading
a. What is it?
Students provide the class with an oral report based on a text they have read.

It provides experience for students in:
 Speaking in an organised, sequential manner
 Providing information to a known audience
 Expressing a range of opinions
 Developing positive attitudes towards reading
 Sharing a range of texts which others are encouraged to read
c. How can I do it?

Students will need to engage in a reading program whereby they are encouraged to select from wide
ranging texts of their own choice- with an enthusiastic and well informed mentor as a guide. (teacher,
librarian, peer, parent, etc.) Time is allocated in class for reading and approaches to book reports are
modelled and practised in discussions and reading conferences. All students negotiate a suitable time to
present their oral report, and individual assistance is provided where needed to plan the content of the
Book Share. Students bring the text and present their ideas plus a reading from the text if they choose
to. The teacher responds by providing positive feedback on those aspects of the report that have been
tackled well. In terms of assessment, a card system, which provides brief, anecdotal feedback, would be
useful to the student and the teacher.

Regular recommendations of texts at the end of Sustained Silent Reading are a useful adaptation.
Particular genres may be visited. The teacher presents a Book Share to model a range of approaches
and to provide positive feedback about reading.
A book share which focuses on
 The structure of texts
 Dominant reading of texts
 Texts that don't work

There is a range of possible assessment outcomes in using Book Share including understanding of the
following:
 Linguistic structures and features

 Contextual Understanding
 Genres/Text types
 Speaking and Listening skills
6. CLOZE
(Assessing As You Go: Primary English, (1997) Curriculum Corporation, Victoria)
For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing, writing
a. What is it?
The teacher prepares a text for cloze by deleting some carefully selected words.
Students, usually working together, read the text and supply appropriate words to fill
the gaps.

Cloze is useful for drawing attention to particular features of texts in order to help
students to understand how texts can be interpreted or constructed.
c. How do I do it?
Select a passage text of appropriate level that is relevant to the topic/unit of work on
which students are working. This text can be reproduced in written form so that
students have their own copies, or it can be a common text in the form of, for
example, a big book or an overhead. Choose the particular language feature(s) you
wish to focus on, and delete words accordingly. Either individually or in groups,
students choose words to fill in these gaps so that the text makes sense.

Cloze can be used to teach and assess a range of skills and understandings. For
example, teachers can use cloze to decide the extent to which students:
 understand the structure of the text;
 understand language features including grammar;
 identify and use context cues;
 use a range of listening strategies;
 use a range of reading strategies; and
 use a range of spelling strategies.
Cloze can be used in poetry and prose to highlight the author's word choices.
Deleting title, adjectives or verbs for students to replace can lead to intense and
valuable discussions about layers of meaning, and the connotations of particular
words.

During the task, teachers can conduct informal discussions with students about word
choice and writing strategies as well as observe the strategies students use to spell

words and check structure of text. If students are doing written cloze, the work
samples can be analysed after the task is completed.
7. CONFERENCING
(John Collerson (ed.) (1988) Writing for Life Primary English Teaching Association)
For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing, writing
a. What is it?
Conferencing is about purposeful talking and listening. It may be one to one or in
small groups, and the participants may be teacher and student(s), teacher, parent(s)
and student or students and students. It is about supporting and collaborating,
guiding and monitoring and commenting and reflecting on student progress. It may be
used to foster students’ learning in any of the language modes, but most often
reading and writing. It can be a highly structured process in which the student and the
teacher keep a written record over time, or it may be an informal process applied
incidentally as required. It may occur before, during or after reading/viewing,
speaking/listening, or writing.

 It allows teachers and students to talk about the texts that are being read or
crafted in a constructive manner
 It provides immediate feedback on refining and extending work
 It is an invaluable source of information in monitoring student progress over
time
 It can identify gaps in understanding
 It provides positive feedback for student successes.
 It establishes a supportive framework for problem solving by students and their
peers
 It can be used for information sharing
 The teacher can use it for direct intervention and explicit teaching of aspects of
a process
 It is a vehicle for explicit teaching and modelling of active listening skills
 It caters for and supports the range of abilities within a classroom
c. How do I do it?
1) Reading conference
 individual or small group
 regular and timetabled or incidental
 attends to a range of purposes such as skills based instruction,
recommendations for further reading, opportunities to talk about and celebrate

particular texts/genres, and evaluation of individual progress, with the aim of
setting further goals
 Uses a range of questioning techniques
 Shares and values a range of viewpoints and readings of texts
 Uses a range of record keeping by the teacher and/or the student
In Read On: A Conference Approach to Reading, David Hornsby and others has
some very useful suggestions to prepare students who are new to the conferencing
process:
 Complete a written comment to bring to the conference
 Draw a picture of the main character or the setting
 Bring a list of important characters
 Bring their books with bookmarks inserted, indicating a part they want to share
 Discuss the appropriateness of chapter headings
 Comment on the use of illustrations
 Bring a list of major events and the settings in which they occurred.
2) Writing conference
 Focuses on the student’s own writing
 Values the process of writing
 Can happen before, during or after the writing process
 May be individual or small group
 May be for one piece of writing or a portfolio of writing
 Is explicit in identifying strengths and weaknesses of the writing and how
improvements can be made, taking into consideration the form, purpose and
audience of the text
 By talking, teachers give students the tools and the language to reflect on their
own and other students’ writing:
Is there enough detail provided to make time and place settings clear?
Is it clear who the participants are, and what their relationships are to each
other?
Is the sequence of events clear?
Is it clear what the research topic is about?
Is there enough information in the text?
How are you going to organize the information?
(from Writing for Life, p93)
 reinforces the processes of planning, drafting, editing and publishing writing
3) Peer conference
 By placing the responsibility of the process in the hands of the students there
are a number of benefits such as engagement of the students in their own
learning, freeing up the teacher to attend to those writers most in need,
generating ideas for the conference partners for their own writing, creating a
climate of a writing community
 Students require explicit teaching on how to conference each other
Rules for conferences

1. The writer may read the piece aloud, or give it to the partner to read,
whichever the writer prefers.
2. When the partner has heard or read the piece, s/he must
 ask at least one question
 make at least one comment
A good conference partner tries to help the writer decide on the focus or key
idea of the piece.
1. The writer has the right to choose not to answer questions.
2. If a piece is being prepared for a teacher conference, both the partner and the
writer must fill in and sign the conference slip.
4) Three-Way Conference
An ideal way to use conferencing is in the assessment and reporting process.
Students own this process by being given joint control over the ‘parent/teacher’
interview:
5) A snapshot of the three-way conferencing process

1. The teacher and students prepare for the forthcoming conferences. This
includes building rapport with parents, sharing evidence of learning, and
sharing students’ reflections about their work.
2. The teacher helps parents prepare for the conference by sending home letters
that outline the conference format.
3. Before each conference, the student and parents spend time reviewing the
child’s collection of work and viewing the different learning areas in the
classroom.
4. The students, parents, and teacher then meet in the classroom conference
area. The student leads the discussion about what he or she has learned,
what areas he or she needs to improve upon, and what his or her learning
goals are for next term.
5. Learning goals, proposed by the student in cooperation with his or her teacher,
are agreed upon. The child states what he or she is going to do to achieve
each goal, and both the teacher and parents commit to providing specific
support.
6. The teacher keeps a record of the discussion during the conference and
ensures that the conference runs smoothly by helping the student address all
the relevant issues and by helping to answer parent questions.

8. CONSENSUS 1 - 3 - 6
(Murdoch, K. (1998) Classroom Connections : Strategies for Integrated Learning,
Eleanor Curtain Publishing)
a. What is it?
A process that helps students to construct group understandings about issues
(Process adapted from the one provided in the source listed below)

 For students to clarify their attitudes and values
 For students to reach agreement about the relative importance of ideas and
issues
c. How do I do it?
 Students make individual lists of ideas about the topic. Give them a time limit
to complete the task.
 Students work in groups of three to combine their ideas into one list.
 Ideas are discussed, modified, justified, included or rejected until a list is
agreed upon.
 A limit on time and the number of items might make the task easier to manage.
 Two groups repeat the process.
 Final lists might be displayed on butchers' paper for discussion by the whole
class.

 Use 1 - 2 - 4 groupings for younger students or those who have had few
cooperatives learning experiences.
 Compare consensus statements with those made at the beginning.
 Ask each group to prioritise its ideas
 Continue with the process until a class consensus is reached.
 Ask each student to explain and justify his or her personal view in relation to
the class consensus

 Students could use self and peer assessment lists to evaluate their speaking
and listening performances.
 Students could create texts which reveal the reflective processes they
undertook and the arguments they used to justify their position.
9. DICTOGLOSS
(Jennings, C and Shepherd, J.(1998) Literacy and the Key Learning Areas: Successful Classroom
Strategies, Eleanor Curtain Publishing)
For Speaking, listening, reading, writing
a. What is it?
Students work in cooperative groups to recreate a text that has been read aloud to the class. (Process
adapted from the one provided in the source listed below)
 To introduce key words at the beginning of a work sequence
 To encourage students to focus on meaning when listening to a text
 To develop effective listening strategies
 To develop proof reading and editing strategies
 To provide an authentic opportunity for cooperative learning
 To assist NESB students and others who need a lot of support with reading and writing activities
c. How do I do it?
 Find a suitable text - usually one that is short and cohesive
 Divide the class into groups.
 Ask students to write down the key words as the text is read. (Teachers might need to read the
text more than once.)
 Have students work in cooperative groups to recreate the text.
 Groups proof read and edit their texts before presenting them to the class in spoken or written
form.
 Students compare their texts with the original, attempting to justify the differences between
them.
 Students might be given title of the topic and asked to predict the key words
 Some (or all) of the groups could be given copies of (some or all) key words before the text is
read.
 Ask groups to work out definitions of the key words

Teachers and students might be able to collect information about each student's ability to:
 recognise key words in a piece of extended prose
 retell word meanings and definitions
 use effective speaking and listening skills
 work cooperatively
 share information with a group or the whole class
 create a written retelling and compare it with the original
 extend proof reading and editing skills
10. DIRECTED READING THINKING ACTIVITY (DRTA)
(Jennings, C and Shepherd, J (1998) Literacy and the Key Learning Areas: Successful Classroom
Strategies, Eleanor Curtain Publishing)
For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing
a. What is it?
A way of teaching students to read closely and purposefully. A text is revealed to students in
instalments. As each is introduced, the students are asked to make predictions, reach conclusions,
consider the structures and features as supporting evidence from the text. (Process adapted from the
one provided in the source listed below)
 To encourage readers to be more aware of the strategies they use to interpret texts
 To help students understand more about the reading process
 To develop prediction skills
 To stimulate thinking and develop hypotheses about texts which aid interpretation and
comprehension
 To increase understanding of the purposes and effects of the structures and features of
particular texts
 To increase curiosity about particular texts and text types
 Encourage students to listen to the opinions of others and modify their own in the light of
additional information
c. How do I do it?
 Predict using the title. Illustrations may also be used if desired.
 Read, view or listen to the first installment.
 Ask students to discuss - what they know - how they know - what they think will happen next
 Read, view or listen to the next installment. Ask the same types of questions - confirming and
disproving predictions.
 Continue with this sequence asking students to explain and justify predictions.
 Have students work in groups and present their findings after each installment.
 Have students write down their predictions

Students' work might demonstrate their ability to:
 use the context as an aid to prediction
 draw conclusions and predict outcomes
 locate information
 identify supporting information
 respond to texts through feelings or ideas
 explore issues or ideas beyond the text
 discuss the effects of linguistic structures and features
11. GUIDED WRITING
(Keys to Life: Teaching Writers, (1998) Longman, Victoria)
For Writing
a. What is it?
This is a teaching strategy that can be used to extend and develop text written during independent
writing. It involves a teacher: guiding a small group of students in their attempts to create individual
written texts; responding to students' attempts; and extending students' thinking during the process.

Guided writing is useful for a range of teaching purposes. It allows students to consider audience,
purpose, topic, selection of text type, etc, when planning their writing. It allows writers to focus on
conventions such as spelling, punctuation, standard usage and handwriting. It also may be used to
encourage students to revise and edit their writing.
c. How do I do it?
1. The teacher chooses a writing focus based on the needs of a group of students. (Alternatively,
the students may have identified the focus for themselves.)
2. The teacher then conducts a mini-lesson of approximately 10 minutes duration that addresses
the identified writing focus.
3. The students are then encouraged to begin to write. The topic can be chosen by them, or by the
teacher. It can be a new piece, or a continuation of work begun previously.
4. When the students are writing, the teacher moves among them, giving assistance and guidance
as required. This time also provides opportunities to extend students' thinking in the process of
composing, recording and revising, as well as giving them individual feedback.
The focus for each session is chosen to meet particular students' needs. It could be a convention focus,
such as reinforcing strategies for spelling, use of specific kinds of punctuation, or capitalization. The
focus could be on one of the 'authorial' aspects of writing, such as clarifying and extending ideas or
organizing and planning the structure of a text.
In the report of the guided writing project, Targeting Text, there are details of specific lessons using
focuses such as writing descriptive sentences, developing plot, and strengthening sentence structure.

There are also guided writing strategies for teaching students to write narratives, reports, recounts,
expositions and procedures.
Students' writing can be evaluated during the guided writing process as the teacher moves around the
group. The products can also be analyzed more closely afterwards and used as work samples in
portfolios or records of development.
12. GUIDED READING

Lountas, I. & Pinnell, G., Guided Reading, Heinneman. Hammond, A., 'Using Guided Reading in the
Classroom', Scholastic Australia Pty Ltd
For Listening and speaking, reading and viewing
a. What is it?
Students are put into groups according to their perceived needs in the same area of reading. Teachers
make planning decisions about the participants to be in each teaching group and the appropriate
reading material to be used based on the following information:
 observation of what the student can or cannot do to construct meaning and to respond to texts;
 knowledge of the level of supports and challenges offered to the reader by available texts; and
 consideration of students' interests. Each student has a copy of the text.

Through guided reading students come to develop positive attitudes to reading as they:
 develop strategies enabling them to make sense of what they read;
 explore language and literary features of texts; and
 respond critically to the ideas and concepts in texts.
c. How do I do it?
1. Students are told the purpose of the session and each child is given a copy of the text. Possible teaching foci
could include:
 developing the use of cueing systems;
 developing concepts about print;
 reading silently for a sustained period;
 identifying literary features; and/or
 observing and recording students' progress in reading.
2. During the session, the teacher instigates discussion that provides appropriate support structures for students
when they read independently. (This should not be a question and answer session.)
3. Students then read independently at their own pace, while the teacher makes reading assessment
observations. (There is no 'round-robin' reading.)
4. After all the students have finished reading, they are invited to share their responses with the group.

The focus for each session is chosen to meet particular students' needs. The same text can be used for a variety
of teaching purposes. A range of text types can be used. Have a look at Guided Reading at Lindisfarne North to
see how two teachers implement Guided Reading in their classroom.

Students' reading can be evaluated at any stage of the process. While the students are reading, the teacher is
able to observe the application of the planned teaching focus. The small number of students allows the teacher to
move around the group to briefly hear each child read and to make note of the strategies used.
13. IMAGINATIVE RE-CREATION

Adams, P., "Imaginative Re-creation of Literature: A Critical Examination from the Perspective of the
90s" in Sawyer, W., Watson, K., and Gold, E. (eds.) (1998) Re-Viewing English, St Clair Press,
Sydney.
For Reading, Writing
a. What is it?
Imaginative recreation is re-creating a literature text or part of a text in a way that
helps students to both deepen their understanding and appreciation of a text and
express a considered response to it. When students retell part of a text from the point
of view of a minor character, or change the time or setting, for example, they are
engaging in imaginative recreation. Originally presented by Leslie Stratta, John
Dickens and Andrew Wilkinson in England in 1973, it has been developed by
Australian educators such as Peter Adams, Wayne Sawyer and Ken Watson.

Engaging in imaginative recreation helps students to explore many aspects of a text
in some depth. It assists them in working through a response to a text. It also
supports them in constructing their own imaginative texts.
c. How do I do it?
The first choice teachers make is to decide what form or forms the imaginative
recreation is to take, depending on what is appropriate as a development of the
original text. Teachers choose forms that are plausible and that lead to a deeper
understanding of the text. The following examples show how students can use
imaginative recreation to explore and express their responses to texts.
 retelling a short story or a picture book as a poem - helps students to interpret
themes, to focus closely on word choice, to develop their understanding of the
features of both literary forms
 changing a newspaper report into a short story or a short story into a television
news item - helps students to investigate how genre helps to determine
emphasis

 preparing a script based on an incident in a novel - helps students to develop
interpretation of characters and their relationships, to investigate differences
between spoken and written language
 changing the narrative point of view of the printed text of a picture book - helps
students to explore the interplay between written and visual text.
 retelling a scene from a film as narrative fiction or creating a video drama from
an incident in a novel - helps students' to develop their understanding of
elements such as mood, setting and point of view.
 creating a map of the setting of a text - helps students to read or listen to or
view the text in a close and purposeful way.
Teachers explain clearly to their students what the purpose of the chosen re-creation
is. All of these possibilities have a range of benefits for students and they all help
students to move toward analysis of texts, but a clear explanation will help students
to understand what their focus is in working with the text.
To demonstrate how imaginative re-creation works, the teacher can prepare a re-
creation to share with the students, based on a text shared previously, or work on a
short re-creation together with the whole class.
Students work on their re-creations individually, in pairs or small groups. The re-
creations are shared with other students or groups. Collections of re-creations make
excellent group or class publications to share more widely.

Students can imaginatively recreate:
 using a particular medium - television, radio, newspaper
 with a different literary genre - poetry, drama script, monologue, diary, letter
 with a different setting - time, place
 using a combination of genres - as in The Jolly Postman, but based on the
same text from the point of view of a minor character

Imaginative recreation can help students to explore and demonstrate their contextual
understanding, and their knowledge of particular linguistic structures and features.
Imaginative recreation is itself a strategy for interpreting layers of meaning in texts,
involving close re-reading or re-viewing of texts. The student's text and the student's
explanation of choices made to produce the text both provide opportunities for
evaluation.

14. JOINT CONSTRUCTION
For Writing, Speaking and listening, Reading
a. What is it?
Joint construction is a collaborative writing process involving the students and the
teacher in constructing a text, individually, in small groups, or as a whole class.

It is an effective tool in teaching students about;
 The process of writing
 The forms of writing
 The conventions, skills and behaviours of writing
c. How do I do it?
 The teacher selects a particular genre/text type which she or he wishes to
explore and demonstrate using the contributions of the class
 The teacher takes on the role as a guide asking questions, confirming
responses and offering necessary explanations about the purpose of the text,
the form of the texts and the writing conventions required from the text
 The teacher with input from students constructs an example of the text form or
genre. During the process the teacher ‘thinks-aloud’ about the decisions and
reasoning behind those decisions ,modelling and explaining the processes
involved in researching the topic, sharing and putting ideas together, and
scaffolding the students’ understanding of the structure of the genre or text
type, whether it be for example, narrative, report, letters, or poems
 The joint construction is published and share with the students
 It may then become a model for independent construction
 use similar process for teaching specific learning strategies for revising and
drafting, spelling or proofreading, beginning with an appropriately constructed
text in progress

 an excellent strategy for teaching older students how to write literary essays
and reviews of the type which might be expected in Year Twelve TCE courses
e. How can it be used to evaluate students’ language learning?
The joint construction process supports ongoing monitoring and assessment of

students’ writing processes and use of specific strategies.
15. JOURNALS
For Writing
Bands A,B,C,D
a. What are they?

Journals come in many forms and teachers should choose their own way of using
them in the classroom. In journals, students undertake an important form of writing in
the English classroom - writing to learn. When they write to learn, students attempt to
make personal sense of their experience as well as build connections between what
they know and new ideas they encounter. This type of writing helps students to
construct their own knowledge, develop their thinking and reflect on their learning. It
is part of the process by which understanding can be communicated to others in a
range of written and oral genres.
Journals range from informal personal journals in which students express their private
thoughts to structured learning logs in which students record thoughts, questions and
comments about their learning and make plans for future work.
b. What is their purpose?

This depends on the type of journal the student is using. However, teachers find that
using journals are useful in that they
 encourage students to think and articulate their thoughts
 make their learning personal
 support self-exploration and self-discovery
 focus student attention on values, attitudes and ethical issues
 support the key learning processes of negotiation, collaboration and reflection
 improve writing
Journals are useful in assessing student progress against the TLOS for writing and
addressing particular writing criteria in TASSAB syllabuses.
If journals are to work in your classroom, you must be clear about your educational
purposes for using them. Be sure to share these intentions with your students. All
writers need to see a value and purpose for writing. Broadly speaking, there are five

types of journal used in English. Often, teachers incorporate features of these
different types into one journal that suits their needs and those of their students.
1. Personal journals:
Students write regularly on whatever they wish, sometimes in response to a prompt
or topic suggested by the teacher. Students record events in their lives, explore
ideas, questions, fears, concerns and other thoughts, often not related to school.
Entries can include sketches, diagrams, doodles, cartoons, etc. These journals are
usually shared only with the teacher and close friends. If you are using journals for
the first time, the personal journal is probably the easiest to begin with. However,
because they tend to be unstructured and open-ended, personal journals do not
appeal to all students.
2. Dialogue journals (Written conversations):

These can be similar to personal journal; however, in dialogue journals, the teacher
writes a response to what students have written. Over a period of time, the student
and teacher carry on a written conversation, most often related to school work, but
sometimes related to personal thoughts and feelings. The dialogue journal is a good
place for compliments on student behavior and performance. The dialogue journal is
an excellent way of scaffolding students' learning. You can model correct usage,
correct spelling and different ways of responding; you can use your responses to
develop students' thinking. Dialogues journals help develop reading skills because
students are usually motivated to communicate with you.
Dialogue journals are an excellent way for you to come to know your students in
different ways, especially those quiet and reserved students who are often not
prepared to ask questions and participate in discussion in class. It is very important in
dialogue journals that you respond directly to what students say and avoid
generalized statements such as "well done" or "very interesting to read". Sometimes,
a question at the end of your response will help students to make a new entry, but
avoid asking too many questions. It is more important for students to ask questions.
Where possible, avoid writing more than your students do and try to make your
response interesting to read.
A problem with dialogue journals is that they can take up an enormous amount of
time. Even writing a few words in response to a student is time consuming, especially
in secondary schools where the teacher may have a number of English classes.
Therefore, it is important to have strategies to cope with the demands of dialogue
journals. Some of these are:
 collect a small number of journals each day in which to respond;
 write responses during journal writing time;
 ask students to star entries to which they would particularly like you to respond
 incorporate a dialogue journal into a learning log and respond at important
times two or three times per term (for example near the beginning or towards
the end of a unit of work);
 make the dialogue journal optional;

 use dialogue journals with small groups of students over a limited period of
time (6 weeks for example) ensuring that every student keeps one at some
stage during the year.
3. Learning Logs:
These are a form of journal that focuses on work that students are doing in the
classroom and generally does not include comments about personal matters.
Learning logs work best if teachers respond regularly to what students write, but they
require fewer responses than dialogue journals. You should negotiate agreed
protocols and structures for the dialogue journal. Insist that students bring the
learning log to every lesson and let them know that you will be using their logs as an
important method of assessment. Learning logs can be used at various times during
lesson or unit of work. For example, you could show the opening credits of a film and
ask students make predictions in their learning logs about the events that will occur.
At different times during the screening of the film, you could stop and ask students to
reflect on what they have viewed and predict future action. At the end, you could ask
them to evaluate the film. At various stages during a unit, you could ask students to
discuss key questions, reflect on their learning and negotiate new goals. From time to
time, you can ask students to swap their learning logs and comment on each others'
reflections. The notes students make in their logs can form the basis of an essay they
write. Learning logs are an excellent support for class and group discussion. By
asking students to reflect on a key question in writing before engaging in discussion,
you give all students the opportunity to think carefully before making a response. In
this way, more students become involved in the discussion and the discussion tends
to be richer.
Encourage students to use their learning logs to explore questions other than
those you have set. Again, if they know that you will be using the learning log as an
assessment tool, they will often be more likely to take it seriously. Encourage
students, especially struggling writers, to use mind maps, sketches and diagrams as
well as narrative. High school teachers often find it is possible to collect and respond
to learning logs two or three times per term. When they do this, the learning log
becomes an adapted form of the dialogue journal.
Some teachers prefer to use a double page learning log. Students use the left
hand page of the journal to make notes and record their observations, analysis,
predictions and reflections, often on texts they are studying. They use the right hand
side of the page to reflect upon and evaluate their learning and to ask questions.
Teachers usually make their comments on the right hand page.
Teachers who use learning logs find they provide excellent insight into their
students' thinking and learning. As with other types of journals, you need to prepare
students by modelling a range of entries. Often, you can use entries made by
students from the previous year. It is good idea to keep a learning log yourself and
demonstrate how you make your entries.
4. Reading Logs

Students use reading logs to record what they have read, respond personally to and
analyse texts. As such, reading logs are a useful way for teachers' to monitor student
reading.
As with all journals, the reading log requires clear guidelines and regular
opportunities to make entries during class time. In its simplest form, the reading log is
used for students to keep track of what they have read. In addition, students can write
responses to literature, mass media and everyday texts as they read, often making
entries after a certain number of pages or events. It is a good idea to present
students with a range of ideas to use for making entries in their reading logs:
 write character reports in which they report on what they know about different
characters at different stages of their reading
 adopt a character where they work in groups focusing on particular characters
and build up an in depth profile including extracts from the text
 create a diary in which they make an imaginary diary by one of the characters
at various key stages of the novel
 construct a plot profile, often in graphic form, in which they record the key
events of a novel. Students can do this in pairs and share their profile with
others in the class. In addition, students can develop excitement charts in
which where important events are given an excitement rating. Plot profiles can
be combined with excitement charts and plotted on a chart. The events form
the horizontal line; the excitement rating forms the vertical scale
 make reflective comments where they refer back to the text to identify
developments and changes in action and characterisation
 construct flow charts and relationship charts (literary sociograms) in which
students note key moments and relationships among characters at important
points in the novel
 write a poem using favourite descriptive words or phrases from a novel
 redesign the cover of a novel with a particular audience in mind
 list the ten most important things about the novel they are reading
 draft a letter to the author or one of the main characters
 complete a number of statements, for example: what I most wanted to happen
was; what I really liked was; what surprised me was; what I most admired
about the main character was, etc.
 create a story board for a dramatic scene in the text
 draft an advertisement aimed at a particular audience for the book you are
reading
While many students enjoy keeping a record of their reading, others say it takes away
from their enjoyment of reading. As with all types of journals, you need to adapt what
you do to meet the requirements of individual students. Having students work in pairs
or small groups at different times often helps those who have difficulty making entries
in their reading journal.
5. Writer's Notebook
Most authors keep a writers' notebook of some kind in which they jot down their
observations thoughts and feelings, stick in interesting bits from newspapers and

magazines, write down snippets of conversation they have heard, all of which provide
a stimulus for writing. Students can do the same thing. Ask visiting authors to bring
along their writers' notebook to share with students.
Many authors use their writer's notebook to engage in free writing. Free writing
enables them to engage in the act of writing and lets thoughts and feelings flow.
Although they may not immediately use the free writing, they can go back to it for
inspiration at another time.
Suggest that students keep their notebook handy and record the date of each entry.
In time, students will build up a treasury of ideas and experiences to use later. Like
professional writers, they can pick things out, change them around, adapt them and
polish them for publishing. As with all journals, writer's notebooks work best when
you model their use with students.
16. KEY LEARNING PROCESSES
Three key learning processes :

 Reflection
 Negotiation
 Collaboration
Three key learning processes

 Three processes are central to learning in English. They are: reflection,
negotiation and collaboration. When students are able to use the three
processes, they not only learn much more effectively, but they also gain
valuable thinking and communication skills that will stand them in good stead
in their lives outside school.
 The processes work well together. When students negotiate, they reflect on
their learning: when they collaborate, they negotiate with other students. A
learning program that gets students actively using all three processes is likely
to work best.
 Teachers who have focused on the three learning processes with their
students say that teaching the necessary skills takes time, deliberate planning
and possibly some rethinking of their own roles. They also say that once the
processes become part of classroom life, the pay-offs in terms of students'
engagement and the quality of their learning are dramatic.
A. Reflection
What is reflection?
Why is it important?
How does reflection fit into the learning program?

Teaching students to reflect
1. What is reflection?
Reflection is thinking about and making sense of experience and possibilities. It
incorporates self-assessment, goal-setting, and planning. Reflective learners are
mindful and purposeful learners. Teaching students to reflect ensures that they are
learning from their experience, and making connections between their new
understandings and their existing knowledge.
2. Why is it important?
It is really only reflection that enables us to benefit from our learning. When you
think about it, it is hard to be sure there is any worthwhile learning without reflection.
No matter how exciting and inspirational a learning program is, without some
opportunities to reflect, a lot of its potential for learning can be missed. For teachers
with a constructivist view of learning, reflection is vital because it helps students to
build on and develop their existing understandings.
Reflection enables students to make explicit all learning outcomes, intended and
unintended. In a rich English program, students have opportunities for learning that is
beyond the scope of the current focus outcomes. Teachers recognise this when they
pick up on incidental teaching opportunities and notice students' additional
achievements. Sometimes this incidental learning is critically important to students
and reflection helps them to make the most of it.
3. The place of reflection in the learning program

a. Reflection influences and becomes part of the classroom climate.
By teaching students to reflect and organising time and processes to facilitate
reflection, teachers help students to develop commitment to their learning.
When there is a culture of reflection established in the classroom, students
know that their thoughts and ideas are valued. As teachers model reflection for
students, they show that learners play a key role in monitoring their own
progress and setting new goals. They can also demonstrate that actions
planned as a result of reflection are more focused and effective, relating
directly to learners' goals.
b. Reflection leads to action and understanding.

Sometimes students get impatient with reflection because they don't see the
connection between reflection and purposeful action or better understanding.
When teachers work with students to reflect, they can draw students' attention
to the important difference that reflection has made.
c. Reflection is a habit of mind. It can come before, during and after learning
experiences for students.

Reflection before learning activities helps students to tune into their
existing knowledge and understanding, to plan and to set goals. By thinking
about past experiences and successes, students can gain confidence in
tackling new tasks. By remembering past obstacles, students can make
sure their planning is realistic.
Classroom example:
Early in the year with her grade 8 class, Jane asks her students to draw a map showing where they
have come from as readers. She demonstrates on the board with a map of her own journey from
sharing books with parents to independently reading, discovering favourite authors, sharing books with
friends and starting to read non-fiction. She includes the new kinds of reading she has been doing
lately, and shows non-fiction as well as fiction, cookery books as well as novels. Using her map, she
discusses her broad aims for the wide reading program - that students read regularly for enjoyment,
read an increasing range of material and tackle some more challenging material to extend their
comfort zones. She sets her first personal goal for reading: to read a new science fiction book, a genre
she does not usually consider. The students then complete and share their own maps and set realistic
goals in negotiation with Jane.
Reflection during activities helps students to monitor their progress.

Sometimes a detailed reflection is useful, sometimes a brief and simple
strategy works well.
Classroom examples:
Heather's grade 3 students are working on a sequencing activity in cooperative groups. She
reminds them to reflect on the social goal for the activity: "Let's check how you are going with
your goal of making sure everyone contributes to the discussion. Give me a thumbs up if it's
going OK, thumbs down if it's not going so well at the moment."
Ross's grade 9 students are part-way through a negotiated unit on television current affairs.
He asks each student to do a force-field analysis. They draw a vertical line on a page. On one
side they list the factors that are helping them with their work, on the other they list the factors
that are making it difficult. Then in their groups they share their results and list ways of
boosting the positive factors and overcoming the negatives.
Reflection after activities helps students to process what they have learned
and set new goals. Sometimes individual reflection is most useful, but small
group and whole class reflection have a place too.
Classroom examples:
Karen's grade 5/6 students have just completed a unit of work on television advertising. Much
of the work was completed in small groups. She asks the groups to work together to produce
a mind-map showing what they have learned.
Tony's grade 12 students have just completed some work on analysing a set text using a
negotiated inquiry question. After working in pairs to negotiate and investigate a question,
they planned, drafted and revised essays that explored the topic. The completed essays were
compiled into a class booklet which was distributed to all students. After the students have
had the opportunity to read the essay collection, Tony asks them to complete a journal entry
comparing their current understanding of the text with the initial impressions recorded in an

earlier entry.
4. Teaching students to reflect

Since reflection is a habit of mind that teachers want students to adopt, one of
the best ways to teach it is to model it. Below are some other techniques teachers
use to help students to reflect.
 Making explicit what the learning is about, by explaining learning goals,

giving overviews or using other organisers. Y charts or mind-maps can be
developed and then used to reflect on the learning. For example, if a focus is
active listening, students could use Y-charts to set out what active listening
looks like, feels like and sounds like. They can then use their charts to
evaluate their listening skills and set goals for listening.
 Exploring different ways of thinking about issues. De Bono's Six Thinking
Hats and PMI strategy are examples of strategies that help students to use a
range of different perspectives and prevent them from getting locked into one
way of reflecting.
 Helping students to understand the purpose of reflection by linking it to
planning and goal-setting. For example, when students draw up a chart
showing the skills they used well in an activity, and the skills they did not use
well, the next step might be to choose specific skills to focus on next time.
 Involving students in planning and reflecting on the classroom program.
Towards the end of an activity or a unit of work, cooperative groups can be
asked to consider what worked well, what didn't work well, and what changes
they could suggest for future work.
 Using talk to reflect. Students can learn to interview each other as reflection
partners. Teachers can demonstrate how to reflect by interviewing a student
and making notes of the discussion with them to help them plan and set goals
for future work.
 Varying the form that reflection takes. Extended prose in a learning log or
journal is one possibility, but not the only one. Some students are able to
reflect much more capably if they can do it through graphic organisers or with
the help of some clear structures. Particularly if students are resistant to the
idea of reflection, it helps to give them an energising, enjoyable way to reflect.
Some possibilities are:
o a mind map
o a letter to the teacher describing what the student has learned
o a chart listing what is great about a project and what needs more work
o sentence completion... 'the most interesting thing about studying tv news
so far has been...' 'the biggest challenge now is...' 'I will know our video has
worked when...' 'the most important task ahead is...' 'What I would like to
work on in my writing is...' 'I would like more help with...'

o a pictorial representation
o a cartoon
 response to a simile ....'How is the story you are writing like a Bass Strait ferry
(Sunday, a barbecue) ...?' 'If John Marsden's Letters from the inside was a
sport, what would it be and why?' 'Is the main character in the book you are
reading more like Cathy Freeman or Shane Warne at the moment and why?'
 a list of questions about the topic...'Write down five questions you have now
about television news'
Using learning logs or journals. Learning logs are places for students to
record thoughts, questions and comments about their learning and to make
plans for future work. They can also be used to communicate with the teacher
and get feedback. A learning log is a powerful tool when used well, but it can
get tedious for students if the purpose is not clear and the method used is
always the same. To give it the best chances of success, teachers:
• make the purpose clear, stressing its support for learning and action
• model the use of a log by keeping one themselves for a particular activity
• vary the time the log is used (sometimes before a learning activity - to plan
and predict, sometimes after - to evaluate , sometimes during - to refocus)
• vary the kind of input so it is not always continuous prose, but includes the
other forms of reflection listed above.
• vary the scope of the entry from reflecting on a term's work or unit of
learning, to reflecting on how the student participated in a single discussion
• respond to students' comments, queries and concerns by writing back to
them in their logs if appropriate, by talking with individuals, by discussing
common responses with the class.
B. Negotiation
What is negotiation?
Why is it important?
How does it fit into the learning program?
A note about negotiation and TCE syllabuses
1. What is negotiation?
Negotiation is involving students in decisions about their learning. When
teachers negotiate with their students, they share their intentions with them and make
it clear what the constraints and non-negotiable elements of the program are. Then
they enable the students to make their own contributions to planning the learning
program. As in adult negotiations, this does not mean handing over control to one
party or the other, but it does mean working towards outcomes that are acceptable to
all.
A basic principle of negotiation is that students have access to all the
information needed to make decisions. This means that teachers are explicit about
aims, resources, constraints and non-negotiable outcomes.

Teachers negotiate with students as individuals or in groups: students also
negotiate with each other as individuals or within or between groups. Any aspect of
the learning program can be negotiated but the teacher always retains responsibility
for ensuring that the program is worthwhile and well-designed.
2. Why is it important?
There are many reasons for incorporating negotiation in English programs:
 Negotiating with students recognises their vital role in their own learning. It
enables them to take responsibility for learning, and to make sure that the
program connects with their own interests and needs.
 Negotiation enables students and teachers to create tailor-made learning
programs. A class may be working on the same text or topic, but individuals or
groups of students can negotiate to explore it in different ways.
 Negotiation is empowering. When students have been involved in making
decisions about learning programs and have had a chance to ensure their
needs and interests are catered for, they are much more likely to be committed
and engaged learners.
 Negotiation within an English program helps students to develop the
communication skills needed to get things done - such as active listening,
questioning, and discussion skills.
3. How does negotiation fit into the English program?

Negotiation is one of the variables that goes into planning every unit of work,
alongside others such as student grouping. Usually there will be plenty of room for
negotiation, occasionally it may only be appropriate to negotiate in a small way, to
determine the sequence of activities or a deadline. Since negotiation is a key learning
process for all year groups, and is a requirement in all 11 - 12 TCE English
syllabuses, there are few occasions where much broader negotiation is not possible.
How much is negotiated depends to a large extent on the experience of the
teacher and the students. When teachers first learn to negotiate with students, or
when they are teaching students with little experience of negotiation, they usually find
it easiest to start in a small way. These are just some of the things that can be
negotiated in an English program:
 the particular learning topic chosen
 the activities that enable students to explore a topic
 personal or group learning goals
 the choice of texts
 questions an inquiry might investigate
 group roles
 classroom or group guidelines for discussions
 the form a presentation could take - visual, written, dramatic...
 deadlines for assignments
 the sequence of learning activities
 the criteria or outcomes that might be assessed
 the form that reflection might take

 seating arrangements
 allocation and organisation of resources
 time organisation
 organisation of classroom routines
 group membership
As students and teacher become more experienced at negotiation, the scope
becomes broader.
17. LITERARY SOCIOGRAMS

Terry D. Johnson and Daphne R. Louis, (1987) Literacy through Literature, Methuen.
For Reading, viewing, writing, speaking and listening
Bands A,B,C,D
a. What is it?
A literary sociogram is a graphic organiser that represents the relationships among
characters in a literary text.

It helps students to think more deeply about the literary texts they read or view.
Johnson and Louis (1987) described the construction of sociograms as the most
valuable literature teaching technique they had encountered.
c. How do I do it?
There are many variations, but this is a simple explanation based on that given by
Johnson and Louis. In a sociogram, the central character is placed at the centre of
the page and the other characters are placed around it. Arrows are used to show the
direction of the relationship and a brief description of the nature of the relationship is
placed alongside each arrow. (Students manipulate pieces of paper with the names
of characters, until they feel they have arranged them in the best way to reflect their
understanding of the text. Then the names can be attached to a piece of paper and
the rest of the sociogram devised.) A number of conventions may be useful in
developing sociograms:

 Place the central character/s at the centre of the diagram
 Let the physical distance between characters reflect the perceived
psychological distance between characters.
 Let the size of the shape representing a character vary with (a) the
importance, or (b) the power of the character.
 Show the direction of a relationship by an arrow, and its nature by a brief label.
 Represent substantiated relationships by a solid line and inferred relationships
by a broken line.
 Circle active characters with a solid line. Circle significantly absent characters
with a broken line.
 Place the characters who support the main character on one side of a dividing
line, and antagonistic characters on the other (goodies vs baddies).
When working with simple stories, one sociogram may be enough to capture the
relationships. With longer or more complex stories, a series of diagrams will help to
capture the changing relationships. A chapter could be a reasonable unit to handle
with a novel. Johnson and Louis suggest constructing a sociogram once the central
conflict of the story has been encountered, and again shortly before the climax.
Students need demonstrations of the construction of different kinds of sociograms
before they can work independently but Johnson and Louis caution against trying to
create a sociogram based on the combined reflections of the whole class. It may be
more effective for teachers to use information from the class to develop a
demonstration sociogram that reflects their own coherent interpretation of the story.

 Younger students can use pictures of characters and word cards to construct
their sociograms.
 Software such as Inspiration or MindMan could be used.
 Students can work independently and then share their sociograms or small
groups of students can work collaboratively.
 Sociograms can be used to help explore power relationships implied in non-
fiction texts such as newspaper reports and feature articles, aiding in the
development of critical literacy skills.

Listening carefully to students’ explanations of their sociograms helps to provide
insight into their comprehension and their ability to make inferences from texts.

18. PLOT PROFILE OR PLOT LINE
Robert McGregor, (1989) Working Together: The Cooperative English Classroom, Nelson.
Terry D. Johnson and Daphne R. Louis, (1987) Literacy through Literature, Methuen.
For Reading, viewing, writing, speaking and listening
Bands A,B,C,D
a. What is it?
A plot profile or plot line is a combination of a timeline and an excitement rating chart.

It helps students to gain a deeper understanding of the whole structure of the text they are reading or viewing,
and to explore their own responses to it.
c. How do I do it?
It’s best to demonstrate first with a relatively well-known text such as Cinderella. First the students work out the
main plot events, such as:
1. The household receives invitations to the ball.
2. The stepmother refuses to let Cinderella go.
3. The fairy stepmother arrives and transforms Cinderella.
4. Cinderella goes to the ball and meets the prince.
5. The clock strikes 12 and Cinderella flees the ball. …and so on.
Students can be provided with a simple graph to use. They graph the plot with the horizontal axis showing time
and the sequence of events, and the vertical axis giving an excitement rating. Each event is positioned on the
graph according to when it takes place and how exciting or significant it is. When lines are drawn between the
events, it is easy for students to see how the structure of the story works. More sophisticated texts can result in
much more complex plot profiles. The process of developing a profile helps students to gain a clear overview of
the text and its complexities.

Students can work in groups to develop plot profiles, or can develop individual profiles which they then compare
with others. Either approach enables students to share and justify their own interpretations.
 Other types of changes throughout a text can be plotted along the vertical axis. Examples include: the
closeness of two characters in a relationship; the happiness or despair of a main character; the degree
of confidence a character shows.
 In complex texts incidents related to particular sub-plots can be linked with different colours. When
students do this for a text such as a TV soapie or a nineteenth century novel, they gain an appreciation
of the ways in which the narrative as a whole is shaped.
 Students can compare plot profiles of similar texts in a particular genre to see what kinds of frameworks
are typically used.
 Students can use plot profiles on their own texts to help them check how their plot holds up and how it
fits with the framework typical of a particular genre.
Plot profiles provide valuable insights into students’ analytical skills. As students develop profiles in groups or
compare individual profiles in groups, they demonstrate their ability to justify particular interpretations of texts.
19. PMI
Cort Thinking Progam Guide, (1994), Edward de Bono, Hawker Brownlow.
For Speaking And Listening, Writing
a. What is it?
PMI, Plus/Minus/Interesting, is a lateral and creative thinking strategy used in de
Bono's CoRT Thinking program.

PMI helps students learn to:
 see both sides of an argument
 view things from a different point of view
 think broadly about an issue
 suspend judgement
 make informed decisions
 work as individuals, in pairs or as members of a group
c. How can I do it?

This strategy can be used within a range of classroom activities such as analysing
texts or examining issues. Students are provided with a format for recording:
Plus Minus Interesting

Individually, in pairs or small groups, they apply three questions to a statement /task
provided by the teacher:
 What are the positive ideas about this?

 What are the negative ideas about this?
 What is interesting about this?
Within a specified time limit, students brainstorm their responses, having appointed a
recorder and a reporter. At the end of the designated time, students report back on
their most original/creative ideas from each of the categories.
It is useful to model the activity first, using a statement such as: ËIn the future,
everyone will carry around personal mobile phones like wristwatchesÓ or a recently
shared text or experience as the topic.

In Developing Thinking Skills Using Children's Literature, Ann and Johnny Baker use
the example of the text Terrible Tuesday as it uses PMI as a structural feature. The
ideas presented are defined in terms of negative, positive and interesting elements.
Teachers could have students apply a PMI process as they read the text to promote
understanding and analysis.

There is a range of possible assessment outcomes in using PMI including:
 Understands and interprets the task
 Uses strategies to assist or facilitate brain storming
 Contributes to discussion
 Comprehends and explains opinions and information
 Evaluates range of viewpoints and can distinguish from own
 Applies process of PMI to a range of situations

20. READERS THEATRE
Hill, Susan (1992) Readers Theatre: performing the text, Eleanor Curtain Publishing, Armadale.
For Reading, Speaking and Listening
a. What is it?
Readers theatre is a joint dramatic reading from a text, usually with no memorisation, no movement
and a minimum of props.

It enables students to bring a text to life and together create a powerful interpretation. It offers less
confident readers support from peers and provides a genuine social purpose for attentive reading. It
also provides students with models for creating 'the voice behind the page' in their own silent reading.
Readers theatre can be used to introduce longer texts that students may then go on to read. In the
same way that a television adaptation can push book sales through the roof, readers theatre can take
students into the world of a text and entice them into enthusiastic reading.
c. How do I do it?
First an appropriate text is selected. Many narrative texts can be adapted for readers
theatre. Picture books are often ideal and fun to use. For longer texts, several narrators can
be allocated, characters can be assigned to students who read their speech, and longer
descriptive passages that do not suit dramatic reading can be omitted. Alternatively, scripts
are sometimes prepared specifically for readers theatre.
Susan Hill and Joelie Hancock suggest starting by demonstrating with repetitive picture
books such as Hattie and the Fox by Mem Fox or Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen. The
teacher can start by reading the text through and then getting the students to join in with the
dialogue or for alternate sentences to create a dramatic reading.

The degree of preparation depends on the expertise of the readers and the specific
purpose of the reading. Some students like to include costume suggestions, music and other
props.

The whole class can work on the same text, or cooperative groups can work on different
parts of a text. An alternative is to invite groups to select their own texts to present, from a
collection of picture books or short stories. The performance can be just for the class or for
other classes or audiences.
When using readers theatre to tune students into reading and studying a set text, a gripping
segment from any part of the book can be chosen to work on, with a brief introduction by the
teacher to set the scene.

The teacher can observe students at work in preparing and presenting readers theatre to
help them make assessments about how students:
 use linguistic structures and features of spoken text such as pause and emphasis
 adjust their speaking and listening to the demands of different situations
 interpret shades of meaning in written texts
 communicate with others in purposeful groups
21. READING ALOUD

Murdoch, Kath (1998) Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning, Eleanor Curtain,
Melbourne.
Hancock J., Leaver C. (1994) Major Teaching Strategies for English, Australian Reading Association,
Victoria.
For Listening, Reading
What is it?
The teacher or an experienced reader chooses to read to students
What is its purpose?
 To introduce the pleasures of literature to students.
 To provide a common text for sharing.
 To expose students to texts they might not choose to read on their own
 To increase students' knowledge of vocabulary, characterisation, intonation,
pace, pause rhythm and sentence structure.
 To increase students' knowledge of the concepts and conventions of print.
How do I do it?
 Think about what you want the students to know and be able to do because of
the strategy.
 Talk to the students about the strategy - why you use it and what you want
them to gain from it.
 Decide whether any pre-reading activity would assist
 Rehearse
 Model with your own reading

 Choose a text which flows easily, is challenging and enjoyable to students
 Arrange the class so that they are not distracted
How can I adapt it?
 Reading picture books. This opens up comparing the written and visual
aspects.
 Students could choose to read aloud after rehearsing
 Students could read aloud to each other in small groups
How can it be used to evaluate students' learning?
 For speaking and listening during discussion
Where can I find out more?
More information about reading aloud is presented in Shared Texts
22. RETELLING
Assessing As You Go: Primary English (1997). Curriculum Corporation, Melbourne.
Brown, H. & Cambourne, B.(1998). Read and Retell, Nelson, Melbourne.
For Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, Writing
a. What is it?
This is sometimes called Read and Retell. It involves students reading, viewing or hearing a
text and then retelling it, using any of the language modes. The approach described here was
developed by Brian Cambourne and Hazel Brown, trialled by a state-wide research team of
Tasmanian teachers, and endorsed by the Department of Education as a highly
recommended strategy for teaching and assessment in the late 1980s.

This strategy concentrates on interpretation of the content and the structure of the particular
text. Because it can involve all of the language modes, retelling can be used to teach and to
assess a wide range of students' skills and understandings.
c. How do I do it?
Before students are asked to do a retelling, they need to have been immersed in the
particular text genre so that they are familiar with its structures and features.
1. The teacher shows the title of a text to students and asks them to predict words/ideas
that the title suggests.
2. In small groups, students share their predictions and comment on each other's
suggestions.

3. Students are then presented with the text that they hear, read or view.
4. Students are given explicit instructions about what is expected of them when retelling.
For example, to retell an explanatory text so that someone else can understand how
to program a video recorder.
5. Without referring to the original text, students retell it in the particular language mode
that they have been asked to use.
6. In groups, students then share their retellings, comparing additions, omissions,
differences in vocabulary and phrasing.
7. Students share some of their discussions, commenting on their appropriateness and
similarity to the original text.
The texts that are used for retelling can be written, visual or oral. Retellings can also be in
any of these forms. So, for example, a written text can be retold in a visual form, orally or as
another written text. Teachers can read the text as students follow, using their own copies.
Alternatively, teachers can listen while the teacher reads aloud, or read the text silently.

Depending on the purposes for the retelling, a range of things can be evaluated. During the
retelling, students' speaking and listening skills can be assessed through discussions and
conferences. After the task has been completed, the students' texts can be analysed for, for
example, content and structure.
23. SCAMPER
Bob Eberle (1990) Scamper On Hawker Brownlow
Contact Stephen Fagg, State Coordinator (Gifted Education) 62337281
For Reading, Viewing, Writing, Speaking and Listening
a. What is it ?
SCAMPER is a strategy that can be used to assist students to generate new or alternative ideas. It is a
tool to support creative, divergent thinking. SCAMPER is an acronym for: substitute, combine, adapt,
modify/magnify/minify, put to other uses, eliminate, reverse/rearrange.
b. What is its purpose ?

SCAMPER helps students ask questions that require them to think "beyond the lines" of a text. As
such, it helps develop their critical thinking skills and supports them in constructing their own
imaginative texts. It is a useful cooperative learning tool and a great stimulus for role play.
c. How do I do it?
The strategy is often best used after students have spent some time studying a text. Explain the
purpose of the strategy to the students, encouraging them to open up their minds to a range of creative
possibilities. The following example shows how SCAMPER can be used to generate interesting
questions when working with Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

S: Substitute (a person, place, time or situation)
What do you think would have happened if there had been a Crazy Scientist Bear instead
of Father Bear?
C: Combine (bring together assorted ideas and situations)
What would have happened if the three bears were returning from a reunion with relatives
who had escaped from a zoo where they had been badly treated by the zookeepers?
A: Adapt (or adjust to suit a purpose)
How might the story have changed if Goldilocks had had a leg in plaster and was using
crutches?
M: Modify (for example, by changing the physical size or personality traits of some
characters or changing the setting)
What would have happened if the bears had been cubs and much smaller than
Goldilocks?
P: Put to other uses (for example, put a different slant on the plot)
What if Goldilocks was only pretending to be lost and was really looking for an excuse to
break into other people’s houses?
E: Eliminate a feature of the story
How might the story change if there were no Father Bear?
R: Rearrange or reverse the sequence of the story
What if Baby Bear had returned home before the others?
It is not necessary to use all the steps in SCAMPER. Steps can be selected and combined in a variety
of ways to match your teaching intentions.
SCAMPER can be used to assess listening, speaking, reading, viewing and writing. It can help
students explore and demonstrate their contextual understanding and their knowledge of the
structures and features of texts.
24. SEQUENCE CHART
James Bellanca (1991)The Cooperative Think Tank: Practical Techniques to Teach Thinking in the
Cooperative Classroom Hawker Brownlow Education.
For Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing
a. What is it?
A cooperative activity in which students learn how to create a sequence of events or
ideas to solve a particular problem and arrange them in a logical way using a graphic
organiser.
 To involve all students in cooperatively speaking, listening and thinking about
an issue.
 To provide students with opportunities to plan and think logically.
c. How do I do it?
 Explain how a sequence of actions is required to solve problems or achieve a
desired outcome.
 Provide examples appropriate to the age group of students e.g.
- To make a cup of tea

- To assemble a Kinder Surprise toy
- To find a book in the library
- To recount the story of a TV program
 Show the sequence chart:
 Have the students use sticky notes to brainstorm steps or ideas. Write one on
each note.
 You might like to write the items for very young children.
 Ask the class to help you put the sticky notes in the sequence boxes, one note
per box.
Divide the class into groups to try their own sequence chart using these steps:
 Identify the problem.
 Brain storm possible steps that might lead to a solution using sticky notes.
 Use the sequence chart to order these. Write no more than 2 or 3 words in
each box
 Select other texts such as news articles, magazine stories, TV shows,
biographies, historic events.
 Provide students with sequence charts to use with reading a novel.
 For younger students cut up comics from a newspaper and mix up the frames.
Have students glue them to the sequence chart.
Will check TLOs and Profile Outcomes ...Pam.
25. SIX THINKING HATS
the de Bono Institute
For Speaking and Listening, Reading, Writing
a. What is it?
Six Thinking Hats is a strategy devised by Edward de Bono which requires students (and teachers), to
extend their way of thinking about a topic by wearing a range of different ’thinking‘ hats:
White hat thinking focuses on the information available and needed.
Black hat thinking examines the difficulties and problems associated with a topic.
Yellow hat thinking focuses on benefits and values.
Red hat thinking looks at a topic from the point of view of emotions, feelings and hunches.
Green hat thinking requires imaginative, creative and lateral thinking about a topic.
Blue hat thinking focuses on reflection, metacognition (thinking about the thinking that is
required), and the need to manage the thinking process.
The colours help students to visualise six separate modes of thinking and to convey
something of the meaning of that thinking, for example, red as pertaining to matters of the
heart, white as neutral and objective.

Students learn to reflect on their thinking and to recognise that different thinking is required in different
learning situations.

c. How do I do it?
Consider an issue or topic which you would like your students to explore, for example, in Band C, the
influence of JJJ on its listening audience, or, in Band A, the influence of a particular cartoon show on a
young audience. Explain what thinking is required for each of the hats. Have students working in small
groups to ask themselves a range of questions:
White hat - what are the facts about the radio station JJJ?
Black hat - what are some of the negatives about JJJ?
Yellow hat - what do people gain from listening to JJJ?
Red hat - how does listening to JJJ make us feel?
Green hat - what could be changed to make the station more accessible or more appealing?
Blue hat - how do the mass media in general affect our youth culture?
Groups report back to the whole class about the types of ideas generated using the six hats. The
teacher points to the breadth of views and thoughts, and explains that this is as a result of making
ourselves apply a range of different types of ’thinking‘.

Six Hat Thinking can be applied to many situations in which brainstorming, problem solving,
creative and lateral thinking are required. This strategy can be a very useful tool in reviewing
a range of texts or even creating a character profile.

There is a range of possible assessment outcomes in using Six Hat Thinking including:
 Understands and interprets the task
 Uses strategies to assist or facilitate discussion
 Contributes to discussion
 Comprehends and applies the six ways of thinking
26. SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION
Bennett, B., Rolheiser, C., Stevahn, L. (1991) Co-operative Learning, Where Heart Meets Mind,
Educational Connections, Ontario.

a. What is it ?
Arrangement of students into small groups to participate in a range of activities to
develop thinking or to complete practical tasks. Participation or otherwise in
discussion activities can be culturally determined. Some groups do not value open
discussion of ideas and issues.

 To encourage participation in a non threatening environment
 To maximise success
 To develop collegial practices
 To arrive at shared understanding
 To share knowledge
 To allow for focussed teaching

c. How do I do it?
 Groups should be arranged according to the purpose - friendship groups, skill
groups, interest groups, outcome groups
 Organise furniture to facilitate movement and interaction
 Assign roles within the groups: this can be done as numbered heads, roles
(recorder, reporter, discussion monitor etc) DeBono's hats
 Make the group work purposeful and with clear outcomes for each of the
participants
 Share findings or results with the whole group at the end
 Very adaptable - can be used for a variety of purposes
 consider applying cooperative learning principles and using cooperative
learning structures such as jigsaw to overcome drawbacks of traditional small
groups such as unequal division of labour, lack of participation by all members.
For more information about this, see Collaboration.
e. How can it be used to evaluate students' learning?
By observing groups at work and involving students in self and peer assessment, you
can gain information about students:
 social skills
 ability to contribute ideas
 explanations of opinions and information
 speaking and listening skills
27. JIGSAW
For Speaking and Listening, Reading and Viewing, Writing
a. What is it?
Jigsaw is a co-operative learning structure that promotes the sharing and
understanding of ideas or texts.

Jigsaw facilitates learning in two areas; the social skills of positive interdependence
and equal participation and the academic skill of acquiring knowledge and
understanding. Expert group members share that information with home team
members so that each member of that team puts a piece of the ‘jigsaw’ together,
forming the basis of holistic understanding of a topic.
c. How do I do it?
 Organise the class into co-operative home groups of, say, three and hand out
three different sets of information which relate to a particular topic for example,
rules for language usage, structure of a novel (page one, two and three)

 Organise the class into co-operative expert groups by teaming up students
with like materials. For example, all page one students in the class together,
page two, and so on. This group reads the materials and discusses the best
methods of sharing their acquired knowledge and understanding with their co-
operative home group.
 Organise the expert groups to return to their home groups. Each student
presents their understanding of their part of the topic and the home group must
then demonstrate understanding of the whole topic. For example how the
conventions of a capital letter, a full stop and a comma is used in a sentence,
or how the setting, plot and characters, work together in the structure of a
novel. The demonstration of that understanding may be a written or an oral
activity

There are limitless ways of adapting the jigsaw structure in terms of the size of the
groups, the range of topics and the demonstration of mastery of those topics.

Assign each group with a perform that identifies criteria for assessment and ask them
to conduct peer and self assessment.
28. VENN DIAGRAMS

Reading and Viewing, Writing
a. What is it?
A graphic organiser using two ( or more) interlocking circles to sort information, comparing
similarities and differences.

 To assist students to make comparisons (for example between texts on similar
themes, or texts of different genres).

 An excellent pre-writing or speaking activity when students need to be able to
compare and contrast information .
c. How do I do it?
 Select two texts or a topic in which there are contrasting and similar pieces of
information ( e.g. different eyewitness accounts of an event, two different newspapers'
stories on the same incident, telephone calls and letters)
 Prepare a sheet with two interlocking circles.
 Students( singly, in pairs or in groups) enter data onto appropriate sectors of the Venn
diagram.
 Compare and discuss selection in pairs/ small group /whole class , justifying
selections.

 Three circles for three texts or three ideas gives greater number of matches of
information.
 Use to brainstorm characteristics of main characters in preparation for writing a
fictional narrative .
 Use to record main ideas within a single text or character in literature.
 Focus on ideas explored in texts or structure of texts.
 Use hoops to form the Venn diagram and pieces of card or paper to list the similarities
and differences when students are working together.
Observing students at work gives insight into the language strategies they use, including
their ability to:
 use planning tools and strategies for text creation.
 identify main ideas in texts
 compare ideas in texts.
29. CHORAL SPEAKING
Hancock, J. & Leaver, C., ( 1994) Major Strategies for Teaching English, Australian Reading
Association, Victoria
McFarlane, P and Harris, R (1988) A Book to Perform Poems By, AATE, Adelaide.
For Speaking And Listening, Reading
a. What is it?
Choral Speaking enables groups to present oral presentations of poems and other texts.

Students enjoy working collaboratively to:
 understand the way texts are constructed
 perform texts
 broaden understanding of themes, rhythms and ideas
c. How do I do it?

Choose a poem or poems that students will find enjoyable
Model reading it with expression.
Encourage students in a joint reading.
Talk about conveying meaning by:
 emphasising particular lines/phrases/words,
 using a range of voices, eg. one or two voices,
 assigning different sections to different speakers,
 varying pace, voices, volume,
 including possible gestures or actions
Have whole class participate in reading.
Choose another poem and have class make suggestions on ways of presenting it.
Provide a range of poems suitable for small group presentation.
Divide class into groups who work on small group presentations including possible variations
on voice, actions and props.
The groups present their poems to a range of audiences.

Students learn words off by heart.
Students select their own texts, such as song lyrics, raps and other texts.
Big books or charts containing suitable texts can be used.
e. How can I use it to evaluate students' language learning?

Many aspects of co-operative learning and speaking and listening components of language
learning may be assessed during a choral speaking activity:
 Participates appropriately in small group situations
 Displays confidence in speaking and listening in small group situations
 Delivery of presentation- spoke clearly, projected voice, spoke confidently, gave eye
contact, varied tone, and gained interest of the audience
 Content of presentation- appropriate interpretation of meaning
30. DEBATING
This strategy is based on one outlined
by John Marsden at the 1998 TATE/ALEA conference
For Speaking and Listening
A. What is it?
Debating is a structured way of exploring the range of views over an issue
 To promote collaboration
 To develop research skills
 To assist in the development of argument.
 To develop understanding of a basic principle of democracy - that opposing
arguments should be presented in order to develop understanding of an issue

 To develop contextual understanding by exploring a variety of views
c. How do I do it?
There are many ways of doing this. This is one way that works.
 Brain storm topics and get the students to present them as statements with a
strong and clear point of view. For example:
If introduced, capital punishment would solve the crime problem
Jobs are more important than the environment
 Divide the class into teams of 6, 3 for the motion, 3 against. Spare students
can take on the roles of time keeper, adjudicator, chairperson.
 Allow sufficient preparation time
 Set the room up appropriately. Below is one way this can be done:
AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE
1 1
2 2
3 3
Audience
 The debate is introduced in a formal way by the chairperson. Affirmative 1

speaks first, Negative 1 second, affirmative 2 third until the final speaker
negative 3.
 To start it is best if the students debate their own point of view
 As the group gets more experienced it is worth negotiating many of the 'rules'.
 Each speaker talks for an agreed time - this would vary according to
experience and age.
For each team:

Speaker 1 Introduce topic, team's argument and team. Speaker 1 in negative can rebut also.
Speaker 2 Rebuttal and continue team's case
Speaker 3 Rebuttal and summary of team's case
 Judging - equally divided between:
Matter The content /10

Manner How they said it /10
Method How well they worked as a team /10

 Peer adjudication
 Inter -class competition

 Use brief, three minute debates to practise the skills with less experienced or
reluctant students. Students work in groups of four for each topic. Each side
has one presenter and one coach to assist in preparation. Preparation time is
brief, a maximum of five minutes to start with. One side presents an argument
followed by the other side and then the class votes on the winning argument
through a show of hands.
e. How can it be used to evaluate students' learning?
The following can be assessed through debating:

 Social skills in working with others
 Contextual understanding
 Speaking and listening
 Research skills

31.
32.
Aim: For students to be able to identify and name different text types
Target Audience: Students
Relevance to SfL: Reading Entry 1-3
Organisation: Individual students, pairs or small groups and whole class
Materials needed: Sample reading papers; a variety of real text types to include a
selection from (depending on level): emails, classroom texts
(written by students), letters (formal and informal), invitations,
advertisements, articles, notes, postcards, calendars, labels,
instructions (NB: You could ask students to bring in the text
types); word cards: each card to have the name of a different
text type from the selection you have

1. Begin by asking students in pairs to make a list of all the different text types
they can think of (give them a few examples to get them going).
2. Discuss their lists as a class and write the text types on the board. Ask
students to explain and describe the text types as you write them up. Ensure
you discuss :·
 purpose of text type

 where you would expect to see/find it
 what the text looks like (size, shape, visuals etc.)
 the words you would expect to see on the text
 the register you would expect.
Next, put the word cards you have prepared (which have the name of one text type
on each) around the room – preferably one on each table. Then distribute the text
types you have brought in – ensuring that each student has a few. Then ask the
students to walk around the room and put their texts on the appropriate table (with
the name of the text type). When the students have finished, ask them if there are
any texts they think have been put on the wrong tables or whether there are any they
are unsure about – discuss these and explain as necessary. Next, ask students to
write the numbers 1 – 10 on a piece of paper. Tell them you are going to give them
descriptions of different text types and that they must listen and write the name of
each text type. For example, “Number one, this is something you receive when a
friend wants to ask you to her party.” Learners write the text type – ‘invitation.’ Check
the answers. Then ask students to do a similar activity, but this time in pairs or small
groups. One student describes and the others write down the name of the text types.
Finally, ask students in pairs to look through a sample paper and find as many
examples of different text types as they can (within a set time limit).


Academic Controversy: A. What Is It?

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1.

For Speaking and listening

b. What is its purpose?

d. How can I adapt it?

Using a checklist or reformat with a pre-organized set of criteria, students could

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 1

a. A "good" question possesses three features:

b. Questions Derived from the Different Perspectives on English teaching

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 2

e. Questions from a functional perspective

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 3

h. Questions based on the Three Level Guide

i. Questions based on the Taxonomy of Personal Engagement

1. Interest being curious about what is presented

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 4

When English teachers use the Taxonomy of Personal Engagement as a

Asking Better Questions is an excellent resource for teachers with lots of

Questions based on a Creative thinking Framework

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 5

2. Welcome the question

3. Sustain the asking

j. Other strategies to support student questions

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 6

For Speaking and listening, reading

b. What is its purpose?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 7

For Reading, writing, speaking and listening

b. What is its purpose?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 8

e. Directions for teachers

f. Directions for Students

g. How Can I Adapt it?

h. How Can it be Used to Evaluate Students' Language Learning?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 9

For Speaking and listening, reading

b. What is its purpose?

c. How can I do it?

d. How can I adapt it?

e. How can it be used to evaluate students' language learning?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 10

For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing, writing

b. What is its purpose?

d. How can I adapt it?

e. How can it be used to evaluate students' language learning?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 11

For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing, writing

b. What is its purpose?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 12

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 13

5) A snapshot of the three-way conferencing process

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 14

For Speaking and listening

b. What is its purpose?

d. How can I adapt it?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 15

For Speaking, listening, reading, writing

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 16

For Speaking and listening, reading and viewing

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 17

b. What is its purpose?

d. How can I adapt it?

dirman-file-english teaching strategies-copyright ® 2009 18