Last year I was given responsibility for improving literacy and oracy within the department, and as a history teacher it was clear than improving the literacy of our students would be beneficial to the department both in the long and short term. However, as a teacher I firmly believe that literacy isn't just the responsibility of the English department and that it isn't just important for improving grades (that is a plus) but that it is a bedrock for students and sets then in good stead for the future.
As literacy coordinator, I set about discussing with my team what areas we wanted to improve and why, ending with two literacy targets, believing that it was better to focus on two and get these secure before we moved on. Last years were about improving the understanding and use of key words and trying to get them to speak like Historians as felt that many students wrote how the spoke. Once our targets were decided I set out producing some ideas and activities that could be shared with the department to trial out and give back feedback.
Ideas:
1. Speak Like a Historian
One of our biggest problems we felt as a department was that students were writing like they speak, which made their writing clunky and we wanted them in the classroom to speak like historians, with the message that they should sound like professionals in their subject. We wanted them to be exposed to a range of phrases and words which could be used whilst speaking and writing. One of the best activities we have tried out has been the "Speak like a historian" starter, students work with the person next to them and use the words in the grid to answer the question verbally. Students score points for certain words and loose points for using banned words. The addition of scores helps add that competitive element but also reminds students how often the used the banned words. I added in a literacy column to embed particular phrases we wanted to see more in their writing. The main aim of this starter is to get students to "speak like a historian" and build up oracy in the classroom, and hopefully have this translate into their writing. I would then choose a few students to have a go in front of the class and correct any misconceptions and through questioning get them to expand as well as getting students modelling good answers.
2. Key Words Box
Another idea that we have trialled out and as a department have really seen its impact was the introduction of a key words box on every slide. The key words included are relevant lesson topic, this helps reminds students about the key words they should be able to define at the end of every lesson and should be using when answering questions. Activities can be built around the key word box, in my classroom we have regular competitions between students about who can define the most key words at the end of the lesson, which eventually draws in all students. However, we also found that it was useful to teachers, as it reminded us to ask questions around these key words to gage understanding and also remind us what we wanted students to know as they left the class. A few members of staff were skeptical of this but were soon won around after trying it themselves.
3. Key Word Cards
Every topic for our GCSE has a set of these key word cards, every set has every key word they need to know with a picture attached to help prompt students with definitions. These have had the biggest impact on the students that struggle with remembering the definitions, I give some students 10 cards each week that they are tasked to define and at the end of the lesson are tested on these. The words that are successfully defined are taken back and replaced with new ones, the incorrect ones are kept. Slowly over time these students have seen an improved understanding of key words. Whilst I understand some reading this may be thinking that these students will be embarrassed about being "singled out" but it all depends on the way that its approached and the relationship you have with your classes.
4. Revision Quilts
Another activity that we have stolen to help with understanding key words is the revision quilt. An idea that we have highlighted in our T&L Times and Karen Knight has blogged about for us check them out to read about the idea in a bit more detail. The idea involves creating a grid of key words for a unit/topic, with students then being given categories to sort them into. Students then spend the time deciding which key words go in which category, this helps students recall what the words mean and understand what topics/questions they should use each key word for, so when they see a particular word in an exam question they know what they can talk about. This can be expanded with some questions they have to answer using the key words they have just categorised and through monitoring you can check their understanding.
For a revision homework students can be given a blank quilt with a topic heading students then have to fill it with key words and statistics. Many students ended up sticking these up on the wall when they were entering revision and testing themselves.
Hopefully these are some ideas you may be able to use or adapt for your own lessons or you may have your own ideas about improving literacy. This will be the focus of Sunday's #Slowchat6, so join us to continue the conversation about improving literacy and oracy.
Questions for Sunday's #Slowchat6:
1. What ideas and activities do use in your classroom to improve literacy?
2. How do you improve oracy in your classroom?
3. What success stories do you have about improving literacy and oracy?
4. What could you/your department do this year to improve literacy?
5. What whole school policies have been introduced to improve literacy and oracy?
