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Feedback is the buzz-word and, as with most things, it is not being reinvented, but constantly readapted. In recent years, we see more formal national approach. One can become overwhelmed with the copious elements that need to be considered when feeding back to learners.
The key is to be clear a on what exactly you are feeding back on and how the ultimate goal will improve the individual child's learning. Feedback provides students with an evaluation of their work, either written or oral. It can be descriptive, but needs a clear layout in order to channel learners to focus on specific areas. It is important for students to establish clear goals in order to feed forward (use these evaluations to inform next steps). Feed forward gives learners a clearer idea of areas in need of development, which is crucial in goal setting. This is central to successful learning.
The attached template provides a useful tool for use with students to create an individualised learning chart. It includes visuals to understanding, important for EAL learners. The student is able to see areas that have improved and the learning goals to be worked on.
Many of us have learnt to spell as a child without being specifically taught the sounds. In the past, the teaching of phonics was discouraged in schools, however, we learnt a lot through sounding out words independently. At a recent course on voice production, the importance of vowel sounds was emphasised as central to pronunciation. They were also emphasised as central to sounding out to help with spelling. Chunking (breaking up words into syllables) also helps to sound out and spell longer more challenging words.
The Sentence Analyser was piloted by the children and staff in the EAL Hub at Lea Forest Academy in the autumn term of 2018. Over the following two terms, the children and staff used it in a variety of ways to support a widening of the children's vocabulary. The EAL Hub children's morphology skills were tracked, alongside a control group.
What did the data show? What did the staff think? Was the resource beneficial enough to become embedded? Let's find out!
Everyone recognises the importance of staying safe online - but it's not always straightforward. For many of us, computing - including social media, information technology and cybersecurity - is a whole new world, with its own conventions and language. Now consider the added element of dealing with all of this quite literally in a different language! That's the situation our EAL learners find themselves in. Having arrived in a new country, they need to learn English as quickly as possible, for social as well as academic reasons.