27/04/2016
Active Learning in English
Session 2
Helen Morgan
27-29 April 2016
South Africa
Helen Morgan
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Education Consultant
11 Years as secondary Senior Leader and Headteacher
Local Authority English and Literacy Consultant
MEd. in English Education: Language and Literature
Experienced teacher of English and Literacy
Trainer for Cambridge International Examinations.
Icebreaker
Active learners in English…
So…
ABC
You walk into an English lesson and active
learning is taking place. Describe what you
see.
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Ask
Activate
Build
Consolidate
Challenge
Construct
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27/04/2016
Barriers to active learning
‘The limits of my
language are the
limits of my world.’
Ludwig Wittgenstein
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Skills
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Language
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Inspiration
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Motivation
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Support
Questioning to activate learning
Questioning to activate learning
Who would make the best Headteacher of Hogwarts?
Harry
Ron
Loyal and selfless but
can be impulsive.
Brave in the face of
danger. Guided by his
conscience.
Harry’s sidekick.
Brave yet insecure.
Knows the wizarding
world inside out. A
real strategist.
Hermione
Intelligent and cool
under pressure, a
highly talented wizard.
Incredibly sensible and
reluctant to break rules.
Thunks
Odd one out?
If Prospero was a season,
which season would he be?
Look at the following image and in
groups:
• See
• Think
• Wonder
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27/04/2016
The Socratic Method
Application
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• Clarify-what did you mean when you described Shylock as a villain?
• Challenge assumptions-does this mean that you think he is always a
villain or can he be perceived as a victim?
• Probe for evidence and reasons-what examples from the text show he
is a villain?
• Consider different viewpoints and perspectives-Do you think other
characters view him as a villain? Might perceptions of Shylock in 2015
be different?
• Consider implications and consequences-What if Shylock had not
demanded his pound of flesh and shown mercy?
• Question the question-Would you still describe Shylock as a villain?
Clarify
Challenge assumptions
Probe for evidence and reasons
Consider different viewpoints and
perspectives
• Consider implications and consequences
• Question the question
The skin cracks like a pod.
There never is enough water.
Zooming
Blessing
‘The skin cracks like a pod.
There never is enough
water.’
Reflect and share
Imagine the drip of it,
the small splash, echo
in a tin mug,
the voice of a kindly god.
Sometimes, the sudden rush
of fortune. The municipal pipe bursts,
silver crashes to the ground
and the flow has found
a roar of tongues. From the huts
a congregation : every man woman
child for streets around
butts in, with pots,
brass, copper, aluminium,
plastic buckets,
frantic hands,
and naked children
screaming in the liquid sun,
their highlights polished to perfection,
flashing light,
as the blessing sings
over their small bones
‘Blessing’
by Imtiaz Dharker
Active Learning in English
Cambridge Schools Conference
How do you create opportunities for active
learning in your lessons?
Session 3
Helen Morgan
27-29 April 2016
South Africa
How might you develop active learning
approaches in future?
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27/04/2016
In six words…
Six word stories
Summarise what you understand by active
learning so far.
For sale:
baby shoes,
never worn
Six word stories?
In groups of three or four:
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• Read the six words stories. Which story do
you think is the most effective and why?
Painfully, he changed ‘is’ to ‘was’.
She merely smiled. His world stopped.
“Sorry soldier, shoes sold in pairs.”
“Goodbye mission control. Thanks for trying.”
Knife hidden, he rings the doorbell.
Reflection
• What do you notice about the different ways
that the stories are written?
• Choose one story and explore what you
think it could be about?
Now it’s your turn…
• What did I do to contribute to the discussion?
• How did I help to facilitate the discussion?
• How purposeful was the discussion?
• How were ideas shared?
• Was active learning taking place?
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27/04/2016
Why six word stories
Key ideas:
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engaging and motivational
achievable and provide stretch/challenge
control
use language precisely and concisely
variety of punctuation
introduce genre and sub-genre
accurate use of dialogue and direct speech
adaptable
In six words…
• Review your six word summary of active
learning in English, would you change
anything?
building confidence and increasing engagement
making the implicit explicit
moving from dependence to independence
concentrating on ‘how’ rather that ‘what’
developing ‘learning’ rather than ‘doing’
valuing the process as much as the outcome
developing transferable skills and understanding
Let’s have some fun…
Choose a text that you teach and summarise it
in six words.
Challenge: use a full stop and one other
punctuation mark.
Super challenge: include direct speech.
Slow writing
What is slow writing?
Slow writing is an approach to teaching writing
that slows the writing process down and
demands that students give care and attention
to each word, sentence and paragraph.
Students use double spacing so that they can
edit and refine their writing.
• Your first sentence must start with
an adverb .
• Your second sentence must
contain only three words.
• Your third sentence must contain a
semi-colon.
• Your fourth sentence must be a
rhetorical question.
• Your fifth sentence will start with
an –ing word.
• Your sixth sentence will contain a
simile or metaphor.
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27/04/2016
Angrily, I stared at the wedding photo,
our faces scratched out. It was over.
In sickness and in health; he didn’t
mean a single word of it. How could
he do this to me, to us, to our
children? Trembling, I ripped the
photograph in two and threw it in the
bin, our marriage now no more
than a piece of litter, discarded and
unimportant.
The piece of paper
Imagine that the woman in the picture is doing
the washing, she finds a piece of paper in her
husband’s trouser pocket.
How does the design of activities help
learning?
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Interest
Competence
Autonomy
Supportiveness
Building ideas
Reflection
• Your first sentence will be only one
word.
• Your second sentence will contain
a colour.
• Your third sentence will use
alliteration.
• Your next sentence will contain a
twist.
….and so on.
In pairs:
• Discuss what the piece of paper could be
• Explore who it might be to and from
• Talk about what it might look like e.g. old,
neatly folded, crumpled
Next…
• Work together to write the text that might be
on the piece of paper and prepare a dramatic
reading of it.
Reflection
How could the activities we have undertaken
this afternoon be improved to further promote
active learning?
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27/04/2016
If an observer was watching learning in
your lessons and active learning was
taking place …
How does active learning promote the
Cambridge Learner attributes?
… what phrases would you want to find in
each observer’s feedback?
The Cambridge learner
Thank you
Engaged
Confident
Responsible
Innovative
Reflective
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