TEACHING APPROACHES AND CREATING RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES.pptx

Teachers training materials

1. IGCSE/CHECKPOINT TEACHING STRATEGIES AND GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS

2. USEFUL AND ADAPTABLE TEACHING STRATEGIES The following are useful and adaptable teaching strategies that can assist you to deliver interesting , engaging and varied lessons. The strategies can be used at different stages of the lesson. These teaching strategies have been organised according to the following stages — Warm-up , Main Lesson and Wrap-up

3. WARM - UP

4. Warm up This section helps you begin your lesson with a variety of teaching ideas. For example, to start off a new lesson, you are provided with teaching ideas to engage your students using the Lesson Opener, which includes Subject Watch and Questions.

5. Warm up Teaching strategy Type of activity Purpose How to use? Resources and preparation Open-ended questions Class discussion   Open-ended questions promote higher-level thinking in students. This will deepen their understanding in a concept.   Open-ended questions provide a good opportunity to explore the knowledge learnt in previous lessons or assess prior knowledge at the beginning of a chapter from students. 1. Pose an open-ended question For example: “How are we ab le to see objects?” 2. Allow students to have some time to think before choosing a student to answer the question. 3. Pick a student to share his or her answer. It does not matter if he or she says something that is different to what you expected; this is the idea of an open- ended questions. Praise the student for the answer. 4. Encourage other students to add on to the answer if applicable. 5. It is important to evaluate the students’ answers and improve the answers by constantly asking the students to improve on the previous answer to make the most out of the question. 6. After questioning, ask students to write their own answers to the question to check their understanding and how they have followed the discussion. Careful preparation of the open-ended question is necessary to allow students enough freedom to think carefully about their answers. It is vital the question does not have just one ‘correct answer.   Pre-reading and planning are vital for the teacher. In order to facilitate a smooth discussion after the question is posed, teachers are advised to pre- empty the different possible answers from students. They can then think about how to lead students to the expected answer.

6. Warm up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use Resources & Preparation Think pair share Discussion task: individual, pairs then whole class Think Pair Share allows students time to reflect on their own responses to a discussion question before sharing them with a classmate. This increases the quality of the response and allows a more meaningful and in-depth discussion when the whole class are brought together.   This strategy allows students, who are shy, to share their responses more easily with another classmate.   It also allows less confident learners to check their responses with only one other classmate before having to answer in a whole class setting.   Think Pair Share is a helpful tool to gauge prior knowledge when starting a new topic. The strategy can also be used to encourage critical thinking and evaluation. For example, before students undertake a practical ask them to come up with a hypothesis of what will happen and why. Explain to students the method — first they will work on their own, then they will explore their responses with a classmate before sharing the ideas with the class . Present a question or a discussion point to the students — ask them to think of a response for one to three minutes. You can encourage students to write down their responses. Divide students into pairs to share their individual responses Initially. It can be useful to provide further prompt questions that the pairs can ask each other to facilitate the discussion. Allow students to discuss for five minutes. Bring the whole class together for a discussion. Ask some pairs of students to share their responses . Prepare an engaging question — this must be an open-ended question to allow students to come up with different answers. Prepare several prompt questions for the pairs of students to facilitate and guide their discussions.   It can be useful to have a power point slide with stimulus pictures and/or questions to help students.

7. Warm up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Card sorting Analysis task: pair or group work This strategy is useful if students are learning about classification. It is particularly valuable when classifying matter where students need to understand the properties of different materials.   This strategy can also be used to start a lesson about cause and effect or the reasons behind different phenomena.   This strategy is used to assess prior knowledge or revise previous lessons quickly. You can facilitate discussions to determine the levels of understanding within each group. 1 . Prepare the cards for the lesson. 2. Divide students into pairs and groups. 3. Give students time to sort their cards. 4. Ask some pairs or groups to share how they have sorted the cards. 5. Encourage other students to comment on the sorting.   Print out the cards for the students to sort.   Teachers are advised to laminate the cards to use in the future.   Challenge students to add more cards into their piles by providing them with blank cards and asking them to write their own responses.

8. Warm up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Mini white-boards Assessment and feedback — individual response This strategy allows you to quickly assess the level of understanding of the students.   Prior knowledge of the students can also be analysed to plan the subsequent lessons.   Students who have misconceptions or have not fully understood the concepts will be quickly identified so that more support can be given. 1. Present students with a question — verbally or through a power point projected onto a screen. 2. Ask each student to write his or her answer on the mini whiteboard. 3. Allow students an adequate amount of time to respond. Ask students to show their answers. 4. Encourage one or two students to give more details on their responses. 5. Inform students of the correct answer if most are correct. Allow more time for discussion If most are incorrect. 6. Give the correct answer after the discussion. Prepare mini-whiteboards and marker pens — one per student.   Questions to ask the students – these can be multiple-choice questions, short-answer questions or structured questions.

9. Warm up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Speed dating Analysis — pair work This strategy allows students to extract the key points quickly and develop language and communication skills at the same time.   This strategy is used when there are different chunks of information that need to be collated. 1. Present each student with a card with information on the topic. 2. Give students some time to think about how they will explain the concept to another student quickly. 3. Divide students into pairs. 4. Explain to students that they will be given a very short time to convey the information on the card to another student. After that, he or she has to listen and understand the information from the other student’s card. Ensure that the time is short to allow students to convey only the key points to each other. 5. Ask the students to change partners. Repeat steps 4 and 5 a few times. 6. Get students to write down what they have learnt on a piece of paper. 7. Have a questioning session at the end of the activity to ensure students retain the information they have heard throughout the activity. Small cards of information on a topic – one for each student or only 1 or 2 repeats of cards.   Timer – ideally an online timer to project onto the board or a physical alarm so students can hear the time moving on.

10. Warm up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Picture puzzle Completing a picture puzzle related to the concept —group work followed by class discussion This strategy is engaging and encourages critical thinking.   The activity ensures everyone in the class has the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. 1. Randomly distribute the pieces of cut out of a picture to each student. 2. Ask students to find the rest of their group by moving around the room and describing what is on their piece of cut out. 3. Once students have found their groupmates, ask them to sit as a group. 4. Ask each group to describe the picture and relate the picture to the concept. 5. Encourage a student of each group to present the picture to the rest of the class. Cut outs of different pictures related to the concept

11. MAIN LESSON

12. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Artist and Communicator Analysis of a diagram or process — pair work followed by class discussion This strategy allows students to evaluate and explore diagrams in detail. It helps students to improve their communication skills.   It is useful for introducing a complicated, new process or diagram that the students need to understand. The strategy allows students to form their own ideas and deepen their understanding. Students can become better at explaining the diagram or process. 1. Divide students into pairs. One student will be the artist and the other student will be the communicator. 2. Provide each artist with a piece of plain paper and a pencil. 3. Show the communicators the diagram that they need to describe to the artist. Do not give the communicators any background to what is being drawn. 4. Ask each pair to sit down with their back facing each other. 5. Ask the communicators to verbally communicate the diagram to the artist. The artist is allowed to ask questions about the diagram such as the positioning, shapes etc. Labels should also be communicated. The aim is for the communicator to tell the artist about the diagram in a way the artist can draw and replicate it as good as possible! 6. Give the students five minutes, to complete the task. 7. Collect the diagrams drawn by all the artists. Ask students to discuss the drawings — what does it show? 8. Encourage students to swop roles. A printout of a large diagram to show the communicator   A plain paper and pencil for the communicator

13. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Student Teachers Research and knowledge activity — group work There is a saying ‘you do not know something until you teach it yourself.’ This strategy allows students to hone their research skills and find out more about a topic. They can then work collaboratively to teach one another and gain a deeper understanding on the topic. This strategy also provides opportunities for students to hone their communication skills. It also allows students to take ownership of their studies. 1. Divide students into groups. Each group is required to do some research on a topic. 2. Encourage each group to create leaflets, posters, PowerPoints, videos or models etc. to showcase their research findings to the class. 3. Ask students to form new groups where each new group consists of a member from each research group. 4. Allocate students some time (e.g. ten minutes) to present their research findings. It is useful to remind students when their time for presentation is coming to an end so that the time for this activity is not exceeded. 5. Encourage students to take notes during the presentations. Decide on the research topic for each group.   Prepare the resources to make leaflets, models, posters etc.

14. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Decision making activity Discussion and critical evaluation —group work This strategy promotes higher level thinking and encourages students to look at an issue from different viewpoints.   The strategist is suitable for a discussion on social or ethical issues for example the use of nuclear energy. 1 . Divide the students into groups. 2. Decide on a motion to be debated — for example, “The use of nuclear energy should be banned.” There should be different characters that would have different views on this motion. For example, for motion on nuclear energy, there can a research scientist, an environmental activist, the general public and a politician. 3. Assign a character to each group. Ask each group to come up with the views that the character may have that are for or against the motion. 4. Give the groups some time to research on the motion and discuss their ideas. Guide students to include facts and figures to support their ideas. Encourage students to find out more about the alternative views in their research. 5. Ask a representative from each group to present the ideas. 6. Encourage the students from other groups to ask questions and probe further after each student has presented. 7. Once all groups have spoken hold a vote to choose a group who presented the strongest argument — remind students that they may not agree with the ideas presented by the group .   Prepare a motion to be debated. Research on the different views that the different characters may have.

15. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Stop motion videos Consolidation task — group work This strategy provides an opportunity for students to be creative in explaining a topic by creating a video. It helps students consolidate their knowledge on a process such as transfer of thermal energy.   This strategy allows students to explore the process in 3D and helps them gain a better picture of the process.   Conducting a peer-assessment at the end of the task ensures that the videos are checked for content and students are encouraged to be reflective on the scientific explanations as well as the quality of the videos.   After watching the video, students are encouraged to reflect on their learning. This allows them to identify any gaps in their understanding. Outline the objectives of the video. Highlight the key words and concepts you want to portray in the video. Divide students into groups to create their videos. Ask each group to showcase Encourage each group to comment on the another group’s video.   Students can work online together to produce their own video. Ensure each group has access to the equipment to make a video.   Prepare modeling materials such as string, beads, modelling clay, coloured paper and coloured pencils that students may need in their videos.

16. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Hot seating - research task Research and knowledge acquisition — individual followed by class consolidation This strategy is best used when there is content that the students may need to revise or have not learnt. For example, to introduce how a star is formed. It allows students to collate and process information rapidly. It encourages students to learn independently and to use their time efficiently.   The strategy allows you to collect feedback on a task while also ensuring other students are engaged and proactive in their learning. It also helps in improving communication skills . 1. Ask students to research and learn more about a chosen topic. Encourage them to spend more time to understand the aspects of the topic they are not familiar with or have not yet learnt. 2. Coach students to take down key points and key words instead of copying huge chunks of information. 3. Encourage a student to volunteer to start the hot seating. 4. Give the student one minute to talk about the topic he or she has researched — they can say anything they like about the topic. Ask the other students to take note of what is said and if he or she makes any mistakes. 5. Once the time is up, ask another student to continue talking about the topic for another minute. However, the student cannot repeat anything said by the previous student. 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for about three times Prepare the topic for the hot seating.

17. Main Lesson Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Carousels Discussion and analysis – group work This strategy allows students to discuss different questions and contribute their responses in a short period of time.   If diagrams are used, the strategy also allows students to critically examine the diagram.   This strategy can be used to summarize the key ideas as well as introduce new concepts and assess prior knowledge of the students. Working in groups encourages all students to contribute to the lesson. Encouraging students to build on or correct the ideas of others ensures students are supported as they do not have to worry about writing wrong concepts.   Reviewing the ideas of others also provides everyone with an opportunity to reflect on their learning. They can evaluate their understanding and determine their strengths and weaknesses. 1. Write a question on the middle of a large piece of paper. 2. Divide students into groups. 3. Provide each group with a coloured pen. Each group should have a different colored pen. 4. Ask students to answer the question by writing as much as they can on the piece of paper. 5. After a short period of time (shorter time will increase the pace and challenge student), ask each group to move to another piece of paper and add their answers. 6. Remind students they should not add anything that has already been written. 7. Repeat the activity until all groups have seen each piece of paper. 8. After writing on the last piece of paper, the groups should summarize and present to the class the answers to the question. 9. Increase the level of competition by determining which group has contributed most to the questions. Large (A1) pieces of paper.   Write a question or add a diagram in the middle of each piece of paper.   Felt tips pens or board pens.

18. WRAP - UP

19. Wrap - up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Flash cards Revision/Summary task — individual then pair work This strategy summarizes the lesson. It is particularly useful for non-native English speakers to take note of key words taught in the lessons.   This strategy ensures students deepen their understanding of key words and concepts. It helps students consolidate key concepts.   This strategy provides an opportunity for peer assessment and correct any misconceptions or errors.   By allowing students to access to other students’ flash cards, the students will take note of any details they might have missed. 1. Ask students to create a flash card by writing a key word or a key concept on one side of the card. 2. On the reverse side of the card, write the definition of the word and/or a diagram to represent the key word or key concept. 3. Once each student has created their own flash cards, divide the students into pairs. 4. One person in the pair goes first. He or she needs to show the key word or the key concept. His or her partner has to respond with the correct definition or key word to match what has been shown. 5. Swop the roles.   Students can use free online resources to make virtual flash cards and then test each other in breakout rooms during online lessons. Virtual flash cards could also be projected on a screen.   Encourage students to use their flash cards at home ask their family to test them on the content. Provide students with small index cards and coloured pens to make their flash cards.

20. Wrap - up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Concept maps Consolidation — individual, group work or class discussion This strategy is used to consolidate knowledge on all the chapters in the Student’s Book. 1. Guide students on how to create an effective concept map. Use the concept maps in Let’s Map in the Student’s Book as examples. 2. Ask students to compile the key words in the lesson. 3. Ask students to look for links between the key words and start to draw their concept maps. 4. Encourage students to add diagrams to their concept maps.   Students can use online tools to construct the concept maps. Prepare pieces of paper and coloured pens to draw concept maps.   Prepare access to online tools for constructing concept maps.

21. Wrap - up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Heads and tails Summary task — class or pair work This strategy allows for a quick evaluation of understanding of key concepts and key words in the lesson. It allows misconceptions of students to be quickly identified.   This strategy encourages students to contribute actively and summarize the lesson. It is very helpful when a lesson has a lot of content with a lot of new key terms being introduced. In Pairs: One person says a key word from the lesson. The other person has to define the key word. Then he or she says another key word and the other person has to define the key word. Repeat for steps 1 and 2 until the key words in the lesson have been covered.   Whole class: Ask one student to say a key word. Encourage another student to define the key word. Then ask student to state another key word. Continue asking students to state and define keys words until the key words in the lesson have been covered.   Encourage quieter students or students who have not contributed in the lesson to participate to assess their levels of understanding.   Students can use online meeting tools for the activity. Prepare a list of key words covered in the lesson.

22. Wrap - up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Give me five Summary task — whole class This strategy is useful for you to assess the level of understanding of the students when there is time constraint at the end of the lesson.   Alternatively, teachers could ask students to give them 5 facts or reasons for something instead of just key terms. 1. Ask students to give five key words or key concepts on a topic. For example, “Give me 5 key words on characteristics of waves.” Or “Give me five facts about radioactivity”. Or “Give me 5 reasons why electromagnetic waves are useful.” 2. Give students sufficient time to respond. 3. Encourage different students to participate. 4. Extend the activity by asking students to define words, justify their answers or elaborate on their answers. Prepare questions that have five different responses.   Prepare some hints to support students if they are struggling to think of the answers.

23. Wrap - up Teaching Strategy Type of Activity Purpose How to use? Resources & Preparation Hot seating Creative analysis task — class activity This strategy allows students to be challenged and gain a deeper level of understanding. Students are required to critically evaluate the concept and answer the questions posed.   This strategy shows how well students have followed the lesson. It summarizes concepts explored over a series of lessons before wrapping up or moving onto a new concept . 1. Encourage a student to volunteer and sit on the ‘hot seat’ (the student can be seated or standing in front of the class). 2. Present the scenario that the student will have to answer questions on. For example, you are an astronaut in a space craft that has just landed on the Moon. 3. Give the student some time to think about the scenario. Ask the student to some easy questions. For example, “How does it feel when you are walking on the Moon compared to when you are walking on Earth? 4. After asking a few questions, invite the class to ask the student in the hot seat other questions. Encourage students to ask more difficult questions as the activity progresses. 5. Initiate a discussion to discuss how answers could be improved. Alternatively, ask another student to go into the ‘hot seat’.   If the student in the hot seat is unable to answer the question, encourage other students to answer the question. Prepare questions to ask the students in the ‘hot seat’.