1 hard-to-reach language learners.Motivating hard-to-reach language learners.

2 Plan for this session. Why am I here?Languages at The Roseland Community College. The potential impact of your curriculum model. Who are hard-to-reach language learners? How can we motivate and inspire hard-to-reach language learners?-ideas and activities.

3 Jenni Oddy! The Roseland Community College. (An Academy as of April 2011!) Bishop Fox’s School -Taunton. My current roles and responsibilities. Sole teacher of Spanish since 2009 SCITT Learning Detectives – a student voice project. G + T initiative Acting Head of Department

4 Our current curriculum model.Year 7: all study French for 4 hours a fortnight, in mixed ability groups. In theory, with some prior knowledge from primary. Years 8 + 9: SET 1: Study 3 hours of French and 3 of Spanish a fortnight. SET 2: Study 6 hours of French a fortnight. SET 3: study 4 hours of Spanish a fortnight and 2 hours of literacy. (Literacy with HLTA) Years : choose to study either or both languages for 5 hours a fortnight or to drop them. KS4 students have option subjects days. Teachers see the same class 2/3 times in a day. English Baccalaureate ROLL OVER.

5 Your current curriculum model. What is your curriculum model?What are the pros and cons? How does it support or not support your language learners? How could your curriculum model for languages be improved in order to support your learners better?

6 hard-to-reach language learners.Motivating hard-to-reach language learners.

7 Why are they hard to reach? languages more relevant?Who is hard to reach? Why are they hard to reach? What can we do to make languages more relevant?

8 Who is hard to reach? Probably the exact same students who are hard to reach everywhere. I don’t believe that our subject is different. The groups I have found hardest to motivate and to get to enjoy my lessons are SEN students and middle set boys! (The ideas and activities today concentrate on these 2 areas, but there is no reason why the activities can’t be adapted to motivate any other students.)

9 Why are they hard to reach?Relevance (surfers, farmers etc, in my case) Everyone speaks English – ‘What’s the point?’ ‘I am never going to go to…’ ‘My parents don’t think I should have to do a language.’ “I can’t read or write in English”

10 What can we do to make languages relevant?We could… appeal to their interests… explain and present how great languages are, how many famous people have learnt them and how they can help with future careers. However… do we actually need to spend time making it relevant and explaining why learning a language is so important? We all aim for our lessons to be “Fun”, motivational, enjoyable a places to be, able to take risks and see their success. If we can do this then they will learn and they will enjoy. (Who knows, as an added bonus, they may be able to chat someone up on holiday or at least order a beer!)

11 What can we do to make languages rewarding and motivating?The key is getting students to enjoy and want to come to the lesson. Students need to be able to do something they couldn’t do before. The feeling of success is a powerful tool. Students need to be able to see their progress.

12 Why should we bother? Because they are probably hard to reach everywhere Because it’s our job to encourage and motivate It makes our lives so much easier (as well as rewarding)! We need to find what fires them up and what makes them enjoy being in a lesson. Ask them (in a specific and meaningful way).

13 SEN When I arrived at The Roseland, set 3 studied French.We trialled moving to Spanish - 2 year period. Reasoning - Spanish is Phonetic. A chance to succeed at something new. Instant sense of achievement. Support literacy skills. Outcome - Good language learners Enjoy lessons. Improved behaviour. Links to literacy. Improved essential knowledge (months, telling the time)

14 SEN Helped understanding of parts of speech in English.Lower ability students cover exactly the same topics as higher ability, more input and take longer to understand the concepts. My yr 9 students are currently learning how to conjugate verbs in the present tense. Learnt the parts of speech. How to conjugate. That irregular verbs exist. Helped understanding of parts of speech in English. English is difficult, as is how our language is made up. We had a long discussion about how I am, I was, could come from the same verb! They have recently written a story in Spanish using this work and are really proud of their efforts, as they should be!

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16 Snakes and Ladders Making any games: Great revision/reinforcement.Useful resources for us later! Links to other subjects. (DT/ELT/ART) Playing any games: Helps recall of vocabulary. Practising pronunciation and reading. Understanding key grammar concepts (word order, agreements etc) Develop understanding of how to move from word level to sentence level PLTS- team work, effective participation, creative thinkers. Something that is “fun” and motivational but that doesn’t take any massive preparation from us, yet can challenge students and ensure progress.

17 Los adjetivos ? delgado feos negro blanca gorda tonto bueno roja59 85 100 ? 99 98 97 delgado 96 95 feos 94 93 92 negro 91 81 82 83 84 blanca 86 87 88 89 90 80 gorda 79 78 tonto 77 76 75 74 bueno 73 72 71 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 roja 60 gracioso 58 57 56 amable 55 54 baja 53 52 51 41 42 43 44 45 46 pequeño 47 48 49 50 40 39 38 37 36 bajo 35 34 33 32 31 21 22 23 24 25 amarillo 26 27 28 29 30 20 19 18 alto 17 16 15 14 13 grande 12 11 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 azul 10

18 Syllables cards Key vocabulary broken down into the different syllables. Fun/challenging/kinaesthetic task. Helps to reinforce spelling and understanding of syllables in both languages. Practise pronunciation. Uses reading skills. Reinforces key vocabulary. Pair work/listening to each other. (Spanish sounds not group work.) Can be reflected and used in any other subject (A known safe activity makes another place instantly positive)

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20 Extended writing One of the most daunting tasks for lower ability.No reason they can’t do it! Doesn’t always need to ‘look’ extended: carton strips mobiles booklets dice games worksheet 2. Proving to them they can write longer pieces is really motivating. Use above to help.

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22 Draw the answer! Opportunity to think. Practises reading skills.Vary reading activities. Reading and writing are two really daunting activities for lower ability. Give students a passage, highlight key features and draw what the passage is talking about. At the end, ask students to explain what the passage is all about and what the key vocabulary is – they can always do it in detail. Opportunity to think. Practises reading skills. Appeals to their interests. Independence in identifying key words. Pronunciation and listening skills in explaining key vocabulary.

23 Mi casa ideal sería muy grandeMi casa ideal sería muy grande. Habría un jardín delante con flores y vegetales. También habría un jardín detrás con una piscina enorme y un tabogán largo. Al interior tendría un salón con un télé grande, una cocina y un comedor. También habría un aseo y un despacho con un ordenador nuevo. En la primera planta habría un dormitorio para mí, con una cama doble, un télé, un ordenador portable y una lámpara azul. También Tendría un cuarto de baño con un baño gigante. Afuera habría un garaje para mis coches y una piscina cubierta con un jacuzzi. Finalmente habría un cine para mis amigos y yo con una discoteca grande y un parque de monopatín. Help! Un tobogán largo-a long slide Al interior-inside ordenador nuevo-new computer una piscina cubierta-indoor pool mí-me coches-cars un cine-a cinema un parque de monopatín-skate park

24 Find the words! Have a picture of a scene. In it have x amount of words beginning with the same letter. Students have to find the words as quickly as they can. Students practise dictionary skills. Reading skills. Co-operation skills if done in pairs. Pronunciation skills (as they read out their findings). Great activity to get them to do and very useful resources for us too!

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26 What works at your school?Any ideas to use? Reminded you of anything you had forgotten about?

27 Middle set boys... The challenge we often face here is to overcome apathy, total disengagement and poor behaviour. I believe the key is, again, in the activities that we plan into the lessons. ‘Getting them on board’. Ensuring good challenge and progress. The subject.

28 Odd one out Teaches students to recognise characteristics of words and to see differences and similarities between words. Teaches them how to justify answers. Very easy for us to do and pupils can create their own. Mystery An engaging and challenging activity. The amount of TL may be reduced, but may be small price to pay if a thinking skills type activity brings about increased engagement and enjoyment for pupils. They don’t realise how much language they are understanding.

29 Logic problems. Brilliant way to get students thinking in a different way and challenging them. Any logic problem can be translated in a simple way. Using/understanding a lot of vocabulary without realising. Using logic skills (not always associated with languages). Pair work, if done together. Reading skills. Dictionary skills.

30 En la calle Bécquer…. En la calle Bécquer…. En la calle Bécquer…..La Señorita Pérez tiene un perro. .La mujer que vive en el número12 tiene dos animales - una tortuga y un conejo. .La persona que tiene un perro bebe cerveza. .La Señora García está casada. .El Señor Sánchez es viudo; su vecina está divorciada. .La mujer casada lee novelas de suspense. .La mujer que bebe café no tiene animales en casa. .Hay cinco animales en esta calle: un gato, un perro, un pájaro, un conejo y una tortuga. .Al soltero le gustan las novelas históricas. .El Señor Sánchez no sabe leer. Le gusta ver la televisión. .El viudo y la soltera beben cerveza. .La Señora Duarte lee las novelas de Gabriel García Márquez. .La persona que bebe whisky tiene un pájaro. .La persona que tiene un perro vive al lado del soltero, y le gustan las novelas románticas. .El Señor Callano vive entre la Señorita Pérez y la Señora Duarte. .La mujer casada bebe vino. .Hay un perro en el número 14. .El Señor Sánchez vive en el número 20. . La persona que tiene un perro y la persona que tiene un gato no son vecinos. .La Señorita Pérez tiene un perro. .La mujer que vive en el número12 tiene dos animales - una tortuga y un conejo. .La persona que tiene un perro bebe cerveza. .La Señora García está casada. .El Señor Sánchez es viudo; su vecina está divorciada. .La mujer casada lee novelas de suspense. .La mujer que bebe café no tiene animales en casa. .Hay cinco animales en esta calle: un gato, un perro, un pájaro, un conejo y una tortuga. .Al soltero le gustan las novelas históricas. .El Señor Sánchez no sabe leer. Le gusta ver la televisión. .El viudo y la soltera beben cerveza. .La Señora Duarte lee las novelas de Gabriel García Márquez. .La persona que bebe whisky tiene un pájaro. .La persona que tiene un perro vive al lado del soltero, y le gustan las novelas románticas. .El Señor Callano vive entre la Señorita Pérez y la Señora Duarte. .La mujer casada bebe vino. .Hay un perro en el número 14. .El Señor Sánchez vive en el número 20. . La persona que tiene un perro y la persona que tiene un gato no son vecinos. .La Señorita Pérez tiene un perro. .La mujer que vive en el número12 tiene dos animales - una tortuga y un conejo. .La persona que tiene un perro bebe cerveza. .La Señora García está casada. .El Señor Sánchez es viudo; su vecina está divorciada. .La mujer casada lee novelas de suspense. .La mujer que bebe café no tiene animales en casa. .Hay cinco animales en esta calle: un gato, un perro, un pájaro, un conejo y una tortuga. .Al soltero le gustan las novelas históricas. .El Señor Sánchez no sabe leer. Le gusta ver la televisión. .El viudo y la soltera beben cerveza. .La Señora Duarte lee las novelas de Gabriel García Márquez. .La persona que bebe whisky tiene un pájaro. .La persona que tiene un perro vive al lado del soltero, y le gustan las novelas románticas. .El Señor Callano vive entre la Señorita Pérez y la Señora Duarte. .La mujer casada bebe vino. .Hay un perro en el número 14. .El Señor Sánchez vive en el número 20. . La persona que tiene un perro y la persona que tiene un gato no son vecinos.

31 Pass the parcel. Put words, sentences, grammar concepts, objects into a bag/poly pocket. Students can work in groups/whole class. As the music plays, pass the parcel. When it stops, translate, put into a sentence, explain a concept… If the student is correct, they keep it. If it they are wrong, it goes back into the bag. The student with the most wins (If no time to prepare, give out several items to a class and whoever has an item when the music stops can answer your question!) Practising skills Focussing on key vocabulary, extending sentences, showing understanding of grammar. Imagination

32 Consequences. Telling a story through folding a piece of paper!Practises reading and writing skills. At the end, look at corrections that are needed. Focus on key language points. Practises speaking through reading out favourite sentence. Listening if translate sentence. Use to prepare a learning homework (their key words). Use to prepare a starter!

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34 Thunks, dingbats and the rest!Do activities that engage and ‘get’ learners on board have to be language based? Thunks – great for getting them thinking and instantly involved! Rubrics – gets the mind working, thinking in different ways, fun Stealing ideas from other departments! – Break one/two etc. (music) The silent game (Maths)

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36 What works at your school?Any ideas to use? Reminded you of anything you had forgotten about?

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