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  • Support for early career teachers
  • Teach First
  • Year 1: Second half-term: how to design a coherent curriculum
    • Summer week 4

    Mentor materials

    Discussion - identifying common misconceptions in a scheme of work, and developing teaching strategies to help pupils master important concepts, knowledge and skills

    Practice focus

    Interaction:

    Discussion

    Outcome:

    • To have identified common misconceptions in a scheme of work
    • To have developed teaching strategies to help pupils to master important concepts, knowledge and skills

    Stimulus

    In the online study materials, your teacher was asked to review the concepts in your sequence of work and reflect on the following questions:

    • What common misconceptions are pupils likely to have?
    • What would help pupils to develop their thinking and to master the concepts?
    • Can you identify any analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations or demonstrations that could help?

    Review and discuss their responses.

    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

    Select an identified analogy, illustration, example, explanation or demonstration and practise developing its effectiveness for developing pupil understanding.

    N.B. Teachers were asked to reflect on any need for subject knowledge development to effectively develop this scheme of work. If your teacher has identified a need for subject knowledge development, discuss the best steps to address it.

    Key questions and talking points

    1. Why are pupils likely to have the misconceptions identified?
    2. What teaching strategies would help pupils to develop their thinking i.e. analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations or demonstrations? Why?
    3. Are there experienced colleagues who could help to identify or refine powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations or demonstrations?
    4. Are their existing resources or materials which could provide or help develop, powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations or demonstrations?

    Additional resources:

    Deans for Impact’s report on the science of learning