Spring week 2

Induction tutor materials

Training session - structuring lessons for progress

Duration: 60 minutes

Session objectives

Learn that:

• 4.2. Effective teachers introduce new material in steps, explicitly linking new ideas to what has been previously studied and learned.
• 4.3. Modelling helps pupils understand new processes and ideas, good models make abstract ideas concrete and accessible.

Learn how to plan effective lessons by:

• 4a. Using modelling, explanations and scaffolds, acknowledging that novices need more structure early in a domain.

Learn how to stimulate pupil thinking and check for understanding, by:

• 4l. Planning activities around what you want pupils to think hard about.

How to prepare for the session

Read the ECT’s self-study materials for this topic

Session structure

Introduction to the session (5 minutes)

Welcome participants. Explain that they’re going to focus on the 11 ECF statements.

The importance of learning intentions (30 minutes)

Share the following with the ECTs which could be done in a number of ways:

• on a slide
• read out the information
• place on tables

How to structure lessons for progress and plan effectively

Focus on what pupils will be trying to learn in a lesson and what you intend them to make progress in.

Use lesson objectives to support teacher planning and help focus the teaching on what students are intended to learn.

Also use lesson objectives to help pupils understand what they should be making progress in and to connect a lesson with previous, and sometimes, future lessons.

Ensure learning outcomes are ambitious and state what pupils are expected to have achieved by the end of a lesson.

Using success criteria enables teachers and their pupils to explain the features of a high-quality outcome.

Success criteria also help pupils understand how to evaluate the quality of their work and to improve it.

Examplar lesson plan

Share an exemplar lesson plan which clearly shows learning intentions linked to activities.

You could use one from your own setting, or adapt this for any subject or phase.

Class: Year 5

Date: 15 January

Teacher: CCM

Subject: Rivers

Learning objectives

• to identify river system features from a map
• to describe these features

Students have already learned about erosional and depositional features related to rivers and valleys in previous lessons.

Learning outcome

To have located and described the River Ribble and its features on an Ordnance Survey (OS) map.

Success criteria

I can identify and name some key river features from the map.

I can locate them using 4 and 6 figure grid references (learned in previous lesson).

I can describe what these features are like using geographical vocabulary.

I can state whether features are found on the upper, middle, or lower course of the river.

Lesson structure

Connect the learning (5 mins)

The teacher recaps the main features of a river system, supported by slides with photographs, mini-video clips and key vocabulary such as:

• source
• stream
• river
• floodplain
• confluence
• tributary
• meander
• mouth
• waterfall
• lake
• v-shaped valley
• upper course
• middle course
• lower course

Do now (5 minutes)

Key questions

1. How do rivers form?
2. What is the route that a river takes called?
3. What is it called where a tributary joins a river?
4. Describe the main difference between different sections of a river with your partner using key vocabulary.

Main learning episode and scaffolds (25 minutes)

Task: to match river system vocabulary with descriptions and labelled diagrams with points on the OS map.

The teacher models the locating key features of a river system on an enlarged digital OS map of the River Ribble catchment area on the screen for one river feature - a tributary.

Modelling includes:

• other key geographical vocabulary
• place names for the map
• narrating the thought process (thinking aloud) of how they’ve identified features from the map
• 6 figure grid references (recently taught)

Follow this model up with a class discussion to ensure understanding and clear up misconceptions. Re-model if necessary.

Check understanding by asking pupils to identify grid references of selected features using their mini-whiteboards.

Pupils work in groups of 4, using their OS maps covering the catchment area of the River Ribble to locate different features and give 4 or 6 figure grid references. The teacher encourages the use of key vocabulary and the success criteria modelled.

Plenary (10 minutes)

Stop the bus

Stand up and talk to your partner about what you have learned in the lesson.

Use the success criteria to guide the discussion.

When the teacher calls ‘stop the bus’ sit down as quickly as possible.

The last pair standing explain what they have been discussing.

The teacher clears up any misconceptions and probes pupils’ responses using class questioning.

Question: What makes this lesson plan effective?

In small groups of 2 or 3 pupils, ask ECTs to write a list of learning outcomes and success criteria for a lesson with the following learning objectives:

• to be able to define descriptive writing
• to be able to identify elements of descriptive writing
• to be able to compose a paragraph using descriptive writing

Using modelling to support pupil progress (20 minutes)

Ask the ECTs to: Describe the city at night. Write the first 3 lines of description.

Share the ‘what a good one looks like’ example

Hanway Street was empty, forsaken; a narrow, dark road, little more than an alleyway, filled with gloomy record shops and restaurants, their darkened windows like empty staring eyes on either side of him. Dim light was escaping from under secretive doorways or spilling out from windows on the upper floors of buildings. Richard walked along, his steps echoing and the sense of being watched increasing.

No wonder he hadn’t noticed the street before: it was scarcely more than a narrow gap between houses, lit by a spluttering, flickering gas-jet. He walked down the alley to the end. Nothing. No one. Just a metal dustbin, and beside it something that might have been a pile of rags. What makes this ‘what a good one looks like’?

• Lexical field to build mood and atmosphere.
• Use of similes to add suspense.
• Use of adjective loading - sputtering, flickering.
• Use of metaphor - light being held captive.
• Sentence variety.
• Delayed action - action delayed until second paragraph.
• Punctuation to mimic his footsteps.
• Different sentence openers.

Facilitate a discussion using the following questions

What are the benefits of modelling?

The ‘city at night’ might be an abstract idea for some pupils, especially younger ones or those who do not live in a city.

Modelling provides the pupils with guidance on what good looks like.

Does modelling present any challenges?

We need to make sure that pupils are applying what they learn from a model rather than just copying it.

How could you use the modelling process in your context?

Why do pupils need varying levels of modelling at different times?

When starting something new (a topic of skill), pupils need more support and therefore our modelling is likely to be more prescriptive and structured.

As pupils develop their knowledge and skills modelling should be reduced so that pupils can move towards independence.

Planning for action (5 minutes)

Following this session, what will you do differently in your practice? What will you put into action in your lessons?

This could be facilitated in a variety of ways, for example a think, pair, share, sticky notes or if virtually using the chat function.