Plenaries in MFL - Weebly



The National Key Stage 3 Strategy promotes the use of clear learning objectives and a clearly structured three part lesson: starter activity, main teaching activity and a plenary session.

This document contains some suggestions for starter and plenary activities. You may feel that some of these activities are unsuitable for some of your groups, but we hope that you could make use of at least some.

Happy teaching!

Starters in MFL

Why do we need a starter?

o Starter activities help students to settle quickly and to start thinking in the target language

o Starter activities are good for consolidating and recalling language learnt in previous lessons

o Starter activities are good for engaging and motivating students

o Starter activities promote progression from lesson to lesson

Here are some ideas for starter activities. Space has been left at the end for you to add any more.

o Through the keyhole/Windows. A flash card is hidden behind a keyhole or window, which only shows part of the picture. Pupils have to guess what the picture is to recap vocabulary. You may wish to use a series of keyholes of decreasing size to make this more challenging.

o Contradictions. Display a text on the OHP or on individual worksheets which contains illogical statements, such as the short, tall lady or an only child going to town with his brother. Pupils have to find the contradictions and correct them.

o Find your partner. Pupils are given a card that contains half of a word or phrase. The aim is for the pupils to all find their partners. As an extension to this, pupils continue the phrase or add more to it to make a short paragraph.

o Think of a word. Pupils have to guess the word that the teacher is describing in the target language.

o Teacher vs. pupil. Both the teacher and the pupils have a certain number of lives. The teacher poses questions to the group. If the pupils get it right, the teacher loses a life. If the pupils get it wrong, they lose a life.

o Pass the bag. The pupils pass round a bag letters in it. At certain points (when the teacher says, or when music stops) the pupil with the bag has to take a letter and say a word that starts with that letter. Alternatively, conversation questions could be put in the bag.

o Memory. The teacher reads a list of vocabulary slowly to the class. Pupils must not write these down. The pupils then have to write down a certain amount of the words from memory. The number of words they have to write can be chosen according to the ability of the group. The first to write the words, wins.

o Questions from answers. The teacher reads out the answer to a question and the pupils have to guess the question.

o Memorise a picture. A picture is put on the OHP and the pupils are given a certain amount of time to memorise it. The pupils then have to say as much as they remember. This can also be done with a text or made more difficult by posing more specific questions.

o Odd one out. Pupils are given a mini-whiteboard and they write words or phrases on them – one of which is an odd one out. They then pass the whiteboard to someone else who indicates the odd one out and why.

o Match the topic. The teacher writes the heading of a topic on the board. In pairs, pupils have to construct a sentence related to the topic.

o Heads down thumbs up. Three pupils are given flashcards from a prior lesson and come to the front of the class. The rest of the class put their heads on the desk with their eyes closed and their thumbs up. The pupils with the flashcards go round and press the thumbs of different people in the group. When each of the three pupils have returned to the front, the people who had their thumbs pressed stand up and indicate the person they think pressed their thumbs by saying the vocabulary from the flashcard.

o Point and shout. Vocabulary from a prior lesson is written on the board and each pupil has to choose one item from the list. The teacher points at a pupil who has to stand up and shout the item they have chosen. All the other pupils who have chosen the same item stand up and repeat the vocabulary.

o Drawing game. Pupils are divided into two teams. The team members are given a number. The teacher gives a number and an item of vocabulary. The team members with the number that was called, run to the board and have to draw the word or phrase. Points are rewarded for the best drawing.

o Circles on the blackboard. About 20 words in the target language are written on an OHP or on the board. Two pupils come to the front. The teacher says one of the words in English and the first to circle the correct word wins. This game can be made easier by having fewer words, or by saying the words in the target language. Alternatively, this can be made more challenging by reading out a description in the target language of the words.

o Categories. The teacher writes the headings of a few topics on the board along with words or phrases that are linked to the headings. Pupils have to sort the vocabulary into the headings.

Plenaries in MFL

Why do we need a plenary?

o The plenary refocuses pupils on the objectives of the lesson

o The plenary provides a focus to plan forward and to relate back to previous learning

o The plenary helps the teacher assess pupils’ understanding and learning to inform future planning

o The plenary creates a sense of achievement for pupils

There is no set format for a plenary and this list given as a guide only. The starter activities should also provide good ideas for plenaries.

Written Response Plenaries

o Mind-map. Pupils write a mind-map to summarise what they have learnt.

o Questionnaire. Pupils complete a questionnaire designed by the teacher to illicit their understanding. This is particularly good for checking understanding of grammar.

o Gimme 5. Pupils write down 5 words or phrases that they have learnt in the lesson. These can then be shared with the group. Alternatively these can be written on post-it notes and stuck on the door. Pupils can check what they have forgotten.

o Golden rules. Pupils write down rules for completing the exercise or for understanding a grammar point. These can then help future groups doing the topic.

o Supersätze. Pupils work together on completing sentences containing certain types of words. The sentences are presented to the class and are scored. Scoring might be for conjunctions, adjective endings and correct tense use.

o Alternatively, pupils work on writing sentences using the vocabulary learnt in the lesson. They then share these with other members of the group.

o Expanding sentences. Start with a word or a simple statement and pupils have to add to the sentence. This could be made more challenging by giving pupils a minimum number of words to add to the phrase each time.

Verbal response Plenaries

o Hot seat. A pupil acts as expert and is asked questions about the lesson. To make pupils feel more comfortable, they have the option of “freeze frame” where they can ask another pupil to answer questions or to take over.

o The same activity can be given a different slant by telling 2 pupils at the start of the lesson that they will be giving the feedback at the end by acting as experts and taking the place of the teacher.

o Teacher-pupil questioning. The teacher asks questions to gauge the level of understanding.

o Pupils respond to pictures (on the OHP or flashcards)to show understanding.

o Le bac. The teacher puts 4 letters on the board and pupils have to think of 4 words beginning with that letter from a given topic.

o OXO. Flashcards or OHT pictures are displayed on the board and pupils work in teams to get a row of 3 by naming the picture displayed.

o Peer questions. Everyone in the class thinks of a question relating to the lesson objective. Pupils then ask the questions to test the rest of the group.

Physical response Plenaries

o Pupils respond to a quiz, which tests the content of the lesson. Pupils make their response by making different signs. True or false could be tested by standing up for true or sitting down for false. Gender could be tested by raising the left hand for feminine and the right hand for masculine. Both hands could be raised for neuter (or plural).

o Loop cards. Pupils are all given cards that follow on like dominoes with the target language on one half and the English for something else on the other side. When a pupil hears the target language for the English that they have on their card, they stand up and read out the target language phrase. This continues until everyone has had a turn.

o Word search. A word search with vocabulary from the lesson is put on the OHP. Pupils find the words and point to them on the board.

o Match up. Pronouns and verbs are written on separate pieces of card. Pupils match up the correct pairs. This can also be done with vocabulary and pictures.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download