Teaching & Learning English
This is for my current G7 ELL class but welcome anybody else to join in too. We are studying World War I poetry and the link below will take you to a poem by Siegfried Sassoon that is a little too long to study in class. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57220/counter-attack
Grade 8 ELL are about to embark on an interesting project about how English language is used by people outside the main English speaking countries. It will help them a great deal if you could add your voice to this discussion by answering one or more of the following questions: How does it feel to … Read more
Since three of my classes are studying poetry this unit, I supposed it would be prudent to set up a discussion page where students can share their analyses. First, here is a useful glossary of poetic devices that I put together: Poetic Devices Glossary Below is a list of the poems we are studying (I’ll … Read more
Another cohort of my students are preparing to complete the Penny Dreadfuls historical fiction writing project (here are examples from last year’s project). The purpose of this page is to provide a space where students can share their developing characters via the comments section below…
We have been lucky enough to have two successful student authors share their work on Mushroom. The two books below were winners in a school book writing competition. Read The Apocalypse here 🙂 Read A Rip in Mythology: Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
My grade 6 students are writing a speech drawing on our analysis of some of Shakespeare’s famous speeches. Here is my example: Is Shakespeare relevant in the world today? I might just as well ask if you prick Shylock, doth he not bleed? Doth a bear not poop in the woods? In short, you do … Read more
This page provides space for my current English Language and Literature students (and anybody else who might want to join in) to discuss their studies of Shakespeare. Think of it as an online Student-Led Seminar 🙂 Welcome to this online Shakespeare Discussion Corner! 🎭 Hello, fellow Shakespeare enthusiasts! 🌟 Whether you’re diving into the enchanting world … Read more
This article reports on the addition of two further columns to the Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) instrument: Columns L and M as shown in the screenshot below. I have been using the DSA to assess my IB MYP English Language and Literature (ELL) students during student-led seminar discussions in class. My previous research (Clark & … Read more
This page introduces my work on the development of the Discussion Skills Assessment (DSA) instrument and its current status at the time of writing. Historical Development and Rationale The student-led seminar approach I have been pioneering in different educational contexts was first inspired by a student-led seminar activity that formed part of the University of … Read more
The e-book below was put together by my Grade 6 English Language and Literature class as a warm up for our current unit Do you believe in magic? They are a very productive class – this work only took them half an hour, including the research 🙂
The British Empire was very big. At its peak, it included a quarter of the world’s population. What was it like for children who lived in the British Empire? This page shares some interesting facts about the terrible jobs children did in those days. The following pages are from Sir Tony Robinson’s book The … Read more
