The essay outlines several learning activities to encourage, and motivate students to read and write in Secondary Schools. Part of the IB Curriculum is to foster an appreciation for communicating effectively with other students, through literacy. In most international schools teachers will be faced with challenges where English is not the students' mother tongue, making provision for them in the classroom, and using differentiated tasks and strategies to keep the students engaged, involved, and curious about learning is essential. Although this lesson planning essentially focuses on the subject of music, it can be applicable to any other subject in your own classroom, with an emphasis on secondary education.
Abstract
The following essay recommended strategies on how to promote reading and writing in secondary schools, focusing on literature, and allowing students to extend their vocabulary, knowledge, and understanding of a particular subject. In this case, music is highlighted with several instructional approaches teachers can use to promote collaboration, and cooperative learning in the classroom.
Making use of differentiation is suggested to enhance the reading abilities of students where English is an additional language. Planning is essential to allow the students the opportunities to flourish and reach their full potential within International Schools. Understanding your student's educational needs and what action plans should be placed across the school to support your staff collectively to overcome the educational challenges they might face with students in their own classrooms could get students ready and more comfortable in their mindsets to want to start reading and writing, especially in Secondary schools.
Keywords: Differentiation, Education, English, Literature, Planning.
Introduction
The essay will outline several learning activities to encourage, and motivate students to read and write in Secondary Schools. Part of the IB Curriculum is to foster an appreciation for communicating effectively with other students, through literacy. In most international schools teachers will be faced with the challenges where English is not the student's mother tongue, making provision for them in the classroom, and using differentiated tasks and strategies to keep the students engaged, involved, and curious about learning is essential. Although this lesson planning essentially focuses on the subject of music, it can be applicable to any other subject in your own classroom, with an emphasis on secondary education.
A brief explanation of the content area, grade level, and topic
In most international schools, especially in Secondary schools, teachers have to plan accordingly, explore seating arrangements, and use different instructional approaches to stimulate and encourage students to be highly involved in the classroom. Getting the students to read and write can be a challenging, and daunting task for most teachers, where EAL (English as an Additional Language) is the norm, especially in Secondary Schools, where one would expect the students to have a good understanding of basic vocabulary. Students experience challenges in motivation and understanding of the keywords and terminologies as expressed in the different subject disciplines.
In the context of this particular lesson based on the music curriculum, the students are currently working on a group project understanding the History of Music and researching the Baroque composers, focusing on Handel, Bach, Purcell, and Corelli. They have to understand the characteristics of this period through actively listening to music, researching the composers, and understanding the analysis of set works through exploring the Baroque period in much detail. The Year 11 Grade students have to understand the set works of Brandenburg Concerto in D Major (3rd Movement) - Bach, and Music for a While - Purcell, as part of the General Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE) with the examination syllabus for Edexcel. Understanding the Baroque period will involve students having to use their various Approaches to Teaching Learning (ATL) Skills, which involve “thinking”, “communication”, “self-management”, “social” and “critical” skills as outlined by being “risk-takers” as suggested by IBO (n.d., 2018, p. 1).
A brief description of a fiction or nonfiction supplemental text you would assign for this topic, including the reason for choosing this text
Students will read texts related to fiction and nonfiction supplementary material, which focuses on the genre, Baroque through the suggested readings. It is important to encourage and motivate the students who want to read and explore this genre of music by having a good foundation for the characteristics of the Baroque period. The teacher will introduce a video exploring the Baroque period focusing on the architecture, and style of music focussing on ornamentations, which are the decorations used in music. Here a good topic to explore is Harmony for students to understand modulations when composers use different tonalities and modulate. For example, if a composition is written in C major the composer will usually modulate to the dominant key, which in this instance would be G major or the relative minor, in which case would probably likely to e minor with the key signature of (no sharps or flats) and the added d sharp, which is the seventh degree of the WRITE scale is raised and the D note becomes D sharp. Through a group project, they will present a presentation highlighting the characteristics, which involve them using technology to promote collaboration as outlined by Ullman (2015); Teaching Channel (2018). Students will ask questions, highlight texts they are unfamiliar with and summarise paragraphs. Students will actively engage in classroom discussion and will be pushed further to extend their knowledge and understanding of Baroque music (Cutler, 2014; Ullman, 2015).
A thorough description of the activity you would use to teach this text, including teacher process (how will the teacher teach this activity and prep the students) and student process (what will the students do and how long they will have to do it)
Students, will actively engage in classroom discussions, by analysing the material shared. They will underline the texts and words that are unfamiliar to them, research their meaning and rewrite and describe them in their own words, creating sentences. They will share these with their peers, promoting cooperative learning as outlined by Zook (2018). Once they have a clear understanding of the new words, they will extend their vocabulary and add these to their notebooks as part of glossaries. As part of the module, students will research and summarise the key areas or characteristics of Baroque music. They would have researched the composer's Bach, Corelli, Handel and Purcell. By concluding a group assignment by using technology and accessing Google Slides they will conclude a presentation and share it with their peers. For the group assignment, they will be given two weeks to contribute their research to their peers. They will have to understand to meet deadlines and accept accountability for their actions which are encouraged by IBO (2018).
They will share and reflect on their learning through means of group discussion and receive constructive feedback to improve in the areas of concern.
A thorough description of a writing activity that you would assign for this topic (either essay or creative writing), including teacher process (how will the teacher teach this activity and prep the students) and student process (what will the students actually do and how long they will have to do it)
Students, will be creative and write a short essay based on the research they have concluded. The teacher will prep the students with informative information shared and plan accordingly as suggested by Morrison-Porter (2021). Concluding, the writing activity will allow students to explore the characteristics of Baroque music focusing on the history of Baroque music, the timelines, and the associated composers, emphasising the works and related literature linked to Bach, Handel, Purcell and Corelli. The instructional activities will involve students having debates defending their research conducted around composers with their peers.
Instructional approaches that can impact students reading abilities
Understanding differentiated instruction is based on the promise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students. In international schools these are the norms and how diverse can one get when you have a complement of students from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds.
According to Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003, as cited in Access Centre (n.d.) that confirms that:
Differentiated instruction, also called differentiation, is a process through which teachers enhance learning by matching student characteristics to instruction and assessment. Differentiated instruction allows all students to access the same classroom curriculum by providing entry points, learning tasks, and outcomes that are tailored to students' needs (p.1).
It is important to use differentiation in your planning from the beginning to help students understand, content, and process. In most situations in the classroom differentiation can refer to a change in the material being altered being learned by a student for their specific educational needs. An example could include where students have to describe the keywords or unfamiliar words known to them in their own words and then elaborate in which context they would use the new extended vocabulary in the English language. How would a teacher and educator implement these strategies in the classroom by putting emphasis on the following:
- The importance of using diagnostic assessment to determine the student's readiness, most of these assessments could be formal or informal. Having a better understanding of their prior knowledge using the KWL strategy (Know what the students want to know, and what they have learned about the topic).
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- Citation du texte
- Mario Maxwell Müller (Auteur), 2022, Promoting Reading and Writing in Secondary Schools, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1281362
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