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Summer week 1

Mentor materials

Discussion - developing pupils’ vocabulary

Practice focus

Interaction:

Discussion

N.B: the following session has been split into:

  • Early Years
  • Primary and Secondary

Early years

Outcome:

To have planned for and practised Sustained Shared Thinking

Stimulus

In the online study materials, your teacher was asked to improve a teacher’s interaction with a pupil building a tower, using the following elements of Sustained Shared Thinking:

  • clarifying ideas
  • using encouragement to extend pupils thinking
  • suggesting ideas
  • asking open questions
  • encourage pupils to respond in full sentences (although not included in Sustained Shared Thinking, this is a good way to develop pupils’ language)

Ask them to share this with you and review and discuss their response. The feedback in the online study materials might support you with this.

Praise, probe and set precise actions

The following practise should be focused around the outcomes of the probe and precise actions, so that it is specific to your teacher’s developmental needs. However, below are some practise ideas based on the online study content to support you if needed.

Plan and practice ideas

With your teacher, use elements of Sustained Shared Thinking to improve the dialogue from their online study materials, or plan a new dialogue that they might use during an upcoming activity. The following elements of Sustained Shared Thinking that you might include are:

  • tuning in
  • showing genuine interest
  • asking children to elaborate
  • recapping
  • giving their own experience
  • clarifying ideas
  • using encouragement to extend thinking
  • suggesting
  • reminding
  • asking open questions
  • encourage pupils to respond in full sentences (although not included in Sustained Shared Thinking’, this is a good way to develop pupils language)

Primary and Secondary

Outcome:

To have planned for and practised teaching Tier 2 and/or Tier 3 vocabulary

Stimulus

During the online study material, your teacher was asked to identify Tier 2 and/or Tier 3 vocabulary that they think they should teach in an upcoming lesson. Review these words with your teacher, asking probing questions about their choices (see key questions/talking points column).

Praise, probe and set precise actions

The following practise should be focused around the outcomes of the probe and precise actions, so that it is specific to your teacher’s developmental needs. However, below are some practise ideas based on the online study content to support you if needed.

Plan and practice ideas

With your teacher, discuss the words they have chosen and amend or improve where necessary. Then plan how they will implicitly and explicitly teach these to pupils. You may want to consider using:

  • morphology
  • etymology
  • encouraging pupils to respond in full sentences

Key questions and talking points

Early Years:

  1. What’s the difference between talking at and talking with pupils?
  2. What are some of the key features of Sustained Shared Thinking?
  3. Why is it important to develop pupil’s early literacy skills?

Primary/Secondary:

  1. Why is it important to develop pupil’s literacy skills in any subject or phase?
  2. What’s the difference between Tier 1, 2 & 3 vocabulary and why is there an emphasis on teaching Tiers 2 & 3?
  3. Which words might be important to teach and why?
  4. How will teaching these words support pupils to access the curriculum?
  5. How will you teach this to pupils in a meaningful way?
  6. How will you support pupils to remember it over time?

Additional resources:

Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendations to support improving early language and literacy

Education Endowment Foundation’s improving literacy in key stage 1 guidance

Education Endowment Foundation’s improving literacy in key stage 2 guidance

Education Endowment Foundation’s improving literacy in secondary schools guidance