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Carlisle and North East Cumbria Regional Support Group |
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Regular sessions are held around Carlisle and North East Cumbria. Date: 17/10/07 The first session of this year returned to a familiar theme, linking languages to different curriculum areas, but used new examples of how this can be done. Participants were taken in detail through one example of how the study of music and German can be combined by investigating the life and music of Johann Strauss II. Links to both music objectives and also KS2 Framework objectives were made explicit. Following that we looked at examples of using a language in PE warm-up activities (with audience participation!) and looked at a few resources aimed specifically at this area. We also looked at the examples of teaching the planets which can be found on the Training Zone. At a couple of points during the session we stopped for discussion about a) the value of cross-curricular work and b) suggestions for areas for development. The date clearly clashed with other primary events and many people unable to attend registered an interest. Subject to finding a date, it may be repeated. Date: 05/12/2007 Storytelling usually draws a lively crowd of enthusiasts and this session was no exception. Despite the stormy weather conditions and the competition with Ofsted and nativity plays, over 20 people came to listen to suggestions for stories to use when the Hungry Caterpillar, who has featured in a number of previous sessions, has served its purpose during the life cycle of a class. We looked first at how you could exploit traditional stories using authentic children's books, but supplementing the story with activities on the IWB linked to the KS2 framework. The second major focus of the presentation focussed on using 'Pixibücher' in German, a great source of stories for under a Euro each! One such book contains a short, humorous poem for each month of the year and has been used to exploit links with literacy and develop an awareness of German phonics amongst other things. Bearing in mind the season, participants were given suggestions of Christmas stories and other activities too. Date: 23/01/08 Sue started the session by asking how many teachers enjoyed assessment and then told us that she loves it! She then proceeded to reassure us that assessing our pupils is something we do in every minute of every lesson and gave us specific examples of how we can enable children to reflect on their progress in MFL and thus become more active learners. We received practical examples of how to make clear the learning intentions and success criteria, but also strategies for involving every child and not just those whose hands shoot up readily as soon as a question has been asked. By the end of the session even those participants whose faces had been politely sceptical when asked if they enjoyed assessment seemed reassured that assessment needn't be a threatening process and many left with the intention of using the very positive idea of 'Two stars and a wish' as part of peer assessment: two things I can do well and a wish for something I still need to work on. Date: 05/03/2008 The 4th session took the oracy strand of the KS2 Framework as its focus. As participants varied from those already very familiar with the Framework to those who have yet to acquire a copy, there was a brief but useful introduction to the five strands. We then looked at an overview of all the oracy objectives before concentrating on one from each year and looking at examples of activities to ensure progression from one year to the next. Colleagues were first encouraged to join in singing or simply responding with actions to 'Ils sont dix dans le lit' to show how this would fit a Y3 objective. Further examples were illustrated by a combination of thought-provoking clips from the Primary Languages website and some activities that had worked well locally, including memorising, reciting and explaining the meaning of humorous 4-line poems in German. To end the session we looked at how progress could be recorded with reference to Language Ladder descriptors and ideas given in the previous session on AfL. Date: 11/06/08 This session was organised in response to requests on evaluations from previous sessions for help in building confidence in language skills. French, German, Italian and Spanish native speakers were enlisted to come along and lead workshops on their own language. In the event the Spanish native speaker was replaced by a non-native teacher due to illness, but he did a fine job. The idea was that participants would come along with any question about the language at any level in an atmosphere where no problem was too trivial. Considering the interest expressed in holding such a session, the turn-out was smaller than hoped for, but on the positive side those who did attend got much more personalised attention ,as reflected in glowing evaluations. Some participants' language skills were already advanced and so they quizzed the French nationals about aspects of culture that they were unsure of, e.g. the nature of a primary school day in France, and went away with many ideas for future lessons.
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Coordinator:
Helen Kent, Trinity School, Strand Road, Carlisle CA1 1JB