Developing Oracy in the Remote Classroom
Tips from Nicola Spencer
DET Oracy Lead
Oracy and online learning
As we are getting more used to the technology (and the glitches) I would like to share some oracy tips for improving speaking and listening in live lessons.
An EEF report on distance learning during the last lockdown found that "providing opportunities for students to interact with their peers during remote learning increases motivation and improves outcomes".
I have attached a Talking Point slide which I have used with my low attainment GCSE English class. They had to watch YouTube clips about World War I in preparation for studying a Wilfred Owen poem. I gave them the talking point at the beginning of the next live lesson. This could easily be adapted for any subject/year group and used as a starter or longer activity.
It worked really well as this particular class refuse to turn on their cameras but I wanted to know that they were listening to each other and expressing their ideas in a formal and full way. By modelling what I was saying when I set up the task (Remember, you need to speak loudly and clearly - use expression in your voice as we can't see your facial expressions) and going through the prompts on the slides, the quality of their responses was much higher.
Task to Try
How to use an opinion line for a Talking Point online
As we are getting more used to the technology (and the glitches) I would like to share some oracy tips for improving speaking and listening in live lessons.
An EEF report on distance learning during the last lockdown found that "providing opportunities for students to interact with their peers during remote learning increases motivation and improves outcomes".
I have attached a Talking Point slide which I have used with my low attainment GCSE English class. They had to watch YouTube clips about World War I in preparation for studying a Wilfred Owen poem. I gave them the talking point at the beginning of the next live lesson. This could easily be adapted for any subject/year group and used as a starter or longer activity.
It worked really well as this particular class refuse to turn on their cameras but I wanted to know that they were listening to each other and expressing their ideas in a formal and full way. By modelling what I was saying when I set up the task (Remember, you need to speak loudly and clearly - use expression in your voice as we can't see your facial expressions) and going through the prompts on the slides, the quality of their responses was much higher.
Task to Try
How to use an opinion line for a Talking Point online
- Create a statement which can be explored and is relevant to your topic
- Get everyone involved at the start of the lesson by creating a poll with numbers 1-5 (from strongly disagree to strongly agree)
- Use results to ask probing questions - e.g. why did so many strongly agree? why is the vote so evenly distributed? etc
- Alternatively, get everyone to type a number into the chat bar - press enter simultaneously. Then call on a '5' and get them to put forward their argument - call on another '5' to Agree - perhaps a '4' to Build - then a '1' to Challenge etc.