Empowering Story Tellers through Collaborative Approaches stuart.scott@collaborativelearning

1. Empowering Story Tellers through Collaborative Approaches stuart.scott@collaborativelearning.org judith.evans@collaborativelearning.org Links to everything you see today will be on this webpage! www.collaborativelearning.org/mechelen.html

2. Stories • Story telling is a vital part of human existence • The beginning of empowered language users • Move from transactional to narrative

3. “Learning Floats on a Sea of Talk” Douglas Barnes

4. Collaborative Learning is a teacher network which develops and disseminates curriculum based ‘talk for learning’ teaching activities. It was funded by the Inner London Education Authority from 1983 – 1989 and is now spread worldwide.

5. Collaborative Learning evolved in multilingual mainstream classrooms in London. It helps to produce a language friendly classroom. It helps to make teachers language conscious because they listen more to their children and respond appropriately.

6. Neuro-science • Research into language acquisition and brain development.

7. Brain research • Up to age of 11 brain is 150% more active in acquiring language. • The act of talking and thinking increases the number of connections and cells that build the brain. • Talk fuels brain development. Research summed up in Robin Alexander’s “Towards Dialogic Teaching; Rethinking Classroom Talk”

8. In the last ten years progress in neuroscience has confirmed our earlier guesses that exploratory talk creates synapses and fuels brain development which of course makes you more intelligent …

9. Victoria Murphy Victoria has highlighted two key strategies to improve additional language acquisition: • Increasing quality of verbal interaction • Improving subject specific vocabulary (both words and phrases)

10. When children learn to tell stories they begin to ‘own’ bits of language and culture • Stories offer unique opportunities to extend range of vocabulary and phrasing • There is a transformational space when learners learn together out loud.

11. The transformations that take place somewhere between pupils talking through ideas together and then presenting them to others are brain empowering, but need to be scaffolded.. Scaffolding is good for all pupils, but vital for pupils learning a new language while they are learning.

12. Collaborative learning and stories • Structured, scaffolded activities designed to both embed stories and allow for transformational interaction.

13. Maintenance of First Language enhances Development of Second Language A graphic organiser/key visual representation of the relationship between first and second (or third) languages

14. Collaborative Classroom Practice • Build on prior knowledge • Move from concrete to abstract • Ensure everyone works with everyone else • Extend social language into curriculum language • Provide motivating ways to go over the same thing more than once

15. We strongly recommend that you plan collaborative activities collaboratively!

16. Different kinds of activities

17. Introduce me An introduction to a collaborative approach.

18. You are going to receive a card with some information about a character. • Read it and memorise the main points. Rehearse them to yourself under your breath without looking at your card.

19. Find ONE OTHER PERSON who has the same letter card as you. Then put the card away.

20. ..In turn, introduce the topic on your card to the other person. If you get stuck, glance at your card but try not to just read it. Try to present your main points without looking at the card all the time.

21. When you have both done this go to find the other two people who have your letter Now you are a four.

22. Now pairs take turns to introduce EACH OTHER’S character to the other pair.

23. You can stop here, and work in your new groups or add two fours and make an eight. Keep going as long as you like.

24. Let me Introduce. How does it work? • Pupils read a role card and try to become card independent by memorising some information. • Pupils find one person with the same colour card. • Each one introduces themselves “I am…..” • The pair then finds another pair – now they introduce their partner so it is no longer “I am” but has become “This is …… they….” in pupils’ own words.

25. Let Me Introduce How could you use his technique?

26. Let Me Introduce Why does it work? • Opportunities to deliver curriculum content • Practice in reading >. • Process of listen>understand/think> construct speech in own words. • Communication and interaction is integral. • Opportunity to work with many others. • Possible application across many topics/subjects at all ages from Y1 up.

27. Sorting Cards onto a Graphic Organiser • Opportunities to explore vocabulary. • Practice in explaining ideas. • Opportunities to expand mental models. • Visual organisers structure thinking. • You can reinforce the organisers with games.

28. Simple examples • Venn diagrams • Matching games • Sequencing events onto timelines • Dominoes

29. Connect 4 • Why does it work? • Opportunities to deliver curriculum content • Practice in reading > reading aloud. • Need for language of reasoning, justifying, explaining. • Communication and interaction is integral. • Reinforces classification and sorting. • Possible application across many topics/subjects.

30. Barrier Games • Barrier games are games where one person (or pair) has half the information and the other person (or pair) has the other half. • Complete information sets can be obtained by asking questions or by passing on information. Familiar informal examples would be battleships. The deduction game “20 questions” is also related.

31. Barrier Games Why do they work? • Opportunities to deliver curriculum content • Practice in reading or interpreting data. • Practice in questioning. • Communication and interaction is integral. • All must participate • Possible application across many topics/subjects.

32. How are activities planned?1 Learning • What do we want the children to know or understand? • What kinds of thinking do we hope they will practice?

33. How are activities planned?2 Language • What kinds of language do they need? Necessary language and potential language? • What key visuals best produce the thinking and the language?

34. How are activities planned?3 Enjoyment • How can we make our activity sociable and fun?

35. Kapiti plain You need to divide up and become 6 groups Each group will get a number

36. Cloud • Grass • Cows/herd • Ki-pat • Feather/bird • Arrow/stick

37. What did you learn? • Key language (vocabulary and phrases) • How the story is structured. • Now you can retell it yourself

39. Making an Language Conscious Activity • Provide pictures and labels. • Provide a sorting grid to organise ideas. • Add in a game element to re-inforce and practice. • Connect 4 • Snap • Bingo • Track games • Collection games

40. A list of different kinds of thinking demands Classifying-Comparing-Contrasting-Defining-Describing-Estimating-Evaluating-Explaining-Formulating hypotheses-Generalising-Inferring-Interpreting data-Judging-Justifying opinions-Labelling-Measuring-Noting a process-Ordering chronologically-Ordering spatially-Predicting-Problem solving-Rank ordering-Recommending-Testing hypotheses-Understanding and applying cause and effect-Understanding and applying rules and strategies Too many to help planning but they can be reduced to…….

41. Reduced to six key thinking skills. Classifying Justifying an opinion Reasoning Describing Decision making Sequencing Planning on this grid can ensure that your lessons include different kinds of thinking and consequently a range of language structures.

42. Everything you have seen today can be found on this dedicated webpage. www.collaborativelearning.org/mechelen.html