Observe a lesson and write a commentary on planning and timings

For the observation task this week I observed a year eleven set three group and I will be referring to section four (‘plan and teach well structured lessons’) in the Teachers' Standards, specifically, 4.a, 4.c and 4.d. The class are preparing for their English Language exam in November and are taking the foundation paper. The learning outcomes for the lesson were: “to understand what inference is and be able to use it in your responses; to be able to explain and evaluate how writers use linguistic, structural  and presentational techniques to achieve effects; to be able to support comments with quotations.”

At the start of the lesson (9:10) Mrs F gave feedback to the group for the work they had completed in the previous lesson; they had attempted to answer questions 1.a, 1.b and 2. During the exam the pupils should spend roughly thirty-five minutes to complete these questions so Mrs F emphasised to those who hadn’t completed their answers they must be aware of the time restraints in the exam. One issue Mrs F found with the work was that they were not making enough inferences in their answers. Mrs F asked members of the class to give a definition and they made notes in their exercise books. This process related to 4.d in the TS: “reflect systematically on the effectiveness of lessons and approaches to teaching.” After assessing the quality and quantity of work from the previous lesson Mrs F made the class aware of what they needed to improve on.

At 9:20, using purple pens, the group had to identify and make improvements to their answers from the previous lesson. Mrs F had to warn the group about low level disruption; the exam is on the 5th November so it is imperative that they are aware of the time restraint. Mrs F also spoke to the pupils who, in the previous lesson, had wasted time and had not completed enough work further enforcing the importance of time management. After another ten minute period Mrs F put example inferences up on the board and with the purple pens the class added any inferences they had missed. 

 

At 9:40 the class moved onto exam timing which was broken down in a diagram on the board and Mrs F emphasised the importance of streamlining planning and writing time in the exam. At 9:45 the class read the source together and underlined sections. Question three is a language question and they should spend around eighteen minutes. The class were given five minutes to do this and they worked in silence of their own accord presumably because Mrs F had mentioned time management several times. At 9:50 the group discussed their ideas and made inferences. Mrs F let the class know that they would be given a question from a past paper as homework next lesson. This linked to 4.c in the TS: “set homework and plan other out-of-class activities to consolidate and extend the knowledge and understanding pupils have acquired.”

It was evident that extensive planning had gone into the lesson and that Mrs F was aware of the fifty minute time period. Breaking the lesson up into ten minute segments worked well as the class is susceptible to low level disruption; this relates to 4.a in the TS as Mrs F did “impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time.” By breaking the lesson up in ten minute blocks she kept them focussed and from my observation it was apparent that all pupils made progress with their inferences.

Observe a lesson and explain clearly how a specific element of the appropriate POS for that key stage is met.

I observed a year ten set four group and for my observation I have chosen to concentrate on section 2.2 from the KS4 POS. The class comprises of twelve boys and it is apparent that there is mutual respect between pupils and staff alike as they are both proactive and polite. The group have been working through Of Mice and Men and in the previous lesson they were introduced to the ideas of foreshadowing and symbolism in relation to the novella. The learning outcomes for the lesson were “to recap what is meant by foreshadowing and symbolism; to be able to find examples of the techniques in chapter three; understand how Curley’s wife is presented in chapter three.”

For the starter Mr B chose an extract from chapter three and asked the class to discuss in table groups what the reader learns about George’s feelings towards women. This starter related to 2.2.a in the POS which states that students should be able to “analyse and evaluate information, events and ideas from texts.” Although I am concentrating on 2.2 from the KS4 POS I think it is worth noting that the task also encompassed section 2.1.j which states students should be able to “work purposefully in groups, negotiating and building on the contributions of others to complete tasks or reach consensus” and the table groups kept on task without requiring any intervention from Mr B or myself.

After this task Mr B recapped the symbolism that surrounds Curley’s wife and what the reader can infer about her life from her introductory description. The class discussed the various perceptions of Curley’s wife which linked to 2.2.h in the POS: “[students] recognise and evaluate the ways in which texts may be interpreted differently according to the perspective of the reader.” Mr B put an AFL ‘reading skills ladder’ on the board so that the class could identify the grade of their verbal analysis. By doing this the group identified not only where their verbal analysis fell on the grading ladder but also what they needed to do to achieve an even higher grade.

After the starter the class continued reading chapter three using the ‘popcorn’ method and Mr B gave positive feedback to readers for fluency and voice projection. After reading about the dream and Candy’s proposition to join George and Lennie the class began to look at foreshadowing and symbolism in this section. Four questions were put up on the board (i.e. 1. Why is the story of what happened in Weed important? 2. What happens to Candy’s dog? 3. Why is it significant that the dog is killed? 4. What do you think the dog symbolises?) Mr B asked the class to complete three bullet points for each question. The task related to 2.2.d in the KS4 POS as the students could “develop and sustain independent interpretations of what they read.” After completion the class shared their ideas and were given the AFL ‘purple pens of progress’ to add points that they may have overlooked promoting peer learning.

For the plenary Mr B asked the class why Candy wants to be a part of George and Lennie’s dream. The class discussed this as a group and, having looked at the ‘reading skills ladder’ earlier in the lesson, they seemed even more inclined to make points and find applicable quotations. This related to 2.2.e in the POS as the pupils could “select, compare, summarise and synthesise information from different texts and use it to form their own ideas, arguments and opinions.” At the end of the lesson Mr B introduced the learning outcomes for their next lesson: “summarise the content of the dream; explore and explain the content of the dream.” 2.2.k states that pupils should be able to “identify the purposes of texts, analysing and evaluating how writers structure and organise ideas to shape meaning for particular audiences and readers” and so the proceeding lesson will also encompass sections of 2.2 from the KS4 POS as well.

Comparing the POS for KS3 and 4

I've been reading through the POS for KS4 and have found it really useful having the KS3 POS at hand as a point of comparison. You will note that each subsection of the KS4 POS has been directly developed from the KS3 POS. For instance, KS3 POS 1.1.a. states a pupil’s competence should be noted by them “being clear, coherent and accurate in spoken and written communication.” This statement has been developed in the KS4 POS to “expressing complex ideas and information clearly, precisely and accurately in spoken and written communication.” So, between the two key-stages, pupils should progress from being “clear, coherent and accurate” both in verbal and written work and should be able to express complex ideas “clearly, precisely and accurately.”

You may have already taken note of this in the two POSs. If you haven’t I would say it is useful to sit for ten minutes and make a comparative note of development between the subsections of the POSs for the two key stages.

My first attempt at 'blogging'

This is week three of my School Direct English PGCE course. Week one and two were induction weeks the first at the school and the second at Staffordshire University. I will be adding material as the course progresses and reflecting on my experiences as a trainee teacher.