A workshop of ideas to use games to engage students in writing and learning activities - Jenny Burgham (Lincoln HS).
These bullet points can all be argued against.
Creating Ideas
- roll the dice and create a story from the learning grids (UK based)
- variations - study grids (film terms) - they can also create their own
Sentence types
- sentence randomiser games - roll the game, identify the sentence type
- also use for vocab, language features
- use whiteboards cos then not permanent in their books
- use the dice, have to write the sentences the dice identifies
Kahoot
- language terms
- identifying features
Relay Races - writing to describe - teams, post its, each person in the team has to complete a different sentence
Round 1 - describe your favourite place
- hear
- metaphor
No Red Ink - free, anyone can enter, but class has to be loaded
- individualised language tasks
- can do a lot of diagnostic of language skills
Cantamath - proof reading, Cantamaths style, gets them up and moving, and they like the competitive element
- capital letters, full stops, spelling
- one person walks, only one up at a time
- approved, you're get the next sheet
- all take turns being the walker - 30 secs penalty
- walker must wear badge
TIPS - colour page for each group, have an answer page
Workshop 2 - preparing for University English
Dr Nicholas Wright
Why do students value English?
What does Level 8 of the curriculum look and sound like? How do we create critical thinkers?
The liberal humanist mode of teaching English - there are more than one way of reading any text?
Think about the image of 'good' teachers in Hollywood 'movies' ? Most are the 'liberal humanist' depiction of teachers and teaching.
What aspects of English do kids find difficult? Generally it's the writing?
You're not actually thinking until you're writing?
Situated in the context of the here and now ?
Liberal Humanism
- Skeptisicm about thinking critically - do we read enough into anything?
- literature can teach us about the world, but is that all that it should do? Assumption that there are essential truths in all literature that we have to 'crack ' the code of.
- a discourse that suggests that the value of a text is like the value of an individual?
Timelessness 'empties' the text of what it means in a changing time ?
Looking at texts from a cultural; racial; social; economic; gender view point changes perspective, for example - how can you study a text in isolation from its time and place?
Beyond the close reading of a text:
- adopt a differ enrolled position
- whose voice is not heard? that's critical literacy!!
- Memories back to my MastEd @ Waikato Uni - when I analysed Anthony Horowitz's Storm Rider novels from a critical feminist viewpoint
- critical sale awareness through an academic voice - where does your voice fit into the voice of others
- everything is inter-textual
- how do language and representation - counteract the liberal humanist approach
- discussion is vital - everyone's reading is different from each other's - a community of scholars - this is how you augment your learning
- the way you process or decipher the texts is what's important - that's critical?
- what's weird about this text? What's missing? What's the problem?
Imagine if Gatsby had Facebook! We're all Gatsby's because of Facebook!
What do you gain by looking at something from a different perspective?
Workshop 3 - Teaching English and Media - mgh@papanui.school.nz
- teaching English in a Media context
- Eng and Media standards
- all writing authentic media contexts
No Media Studies taught at Papanui HS - students choose this or straight English
- production standard get progressively harder from L1 to 3
Check out Papanui HS YouTube site.
