Tag Archives: Lower Secondary

Test writing at A2 level for Lower Secondary

Posted on by
Reply

Since coming back after the break, I have been tasked with briefing some unit and progress tests for an A2 Lower Secondary course for 11-14 year olds. I’m currently writing the progress and end-of-year tests, so I am working with my Cambridge English KET Handbook close to hand. I am cheered by the news that I may have found a writer for our unit tests as we are asking for someone to start as soon as possible and our first choices were booked up.

Advertisement

YLs Teacher Training Course – Session 8 Process versus Product

Posted on by
Reply

As most UK and some overseas schools return after the winter half term break, here is the eighth session of my 10-week Teacher Training course for teachers of Young Learners.

Session 8 examines the different reasons that underlie activities in children’s and teenagers’ lessons. Trainees explore how the students’ motivation for doing an activity can vary widely from the teacher’s aim. They analyse recently published YL course materials or the course materials that they use with their YL classes to discover each side’s motivation for doing the activities.

I hope you find these materials useful and relevant to your teaching context. Do please let me know if you have any feedback or questions.

YLs TT course – Session 8 – Process versus Product

YLs Teacher Training course Session 4 Instructions

Posted on by
Reply

After a break of more than three weeks, I am back with the next instalment of my training course.

This is session 4 of my 10-week Teacher Training course for teachers of Young Learners. It is written with NQTs or newly qualified teachers in mind and it looks at how to make instructions clear to children’s classes to ensure successful learning takes place. The session includes a demonstration of how not to give instructions, followed by a step-by-step guide on how to make a greetings card with a children’s class. Trainees are set homework to observe each other and see how they can improve their teaching practice.

I hope you find these materials useful and relevant to your teaching context. Do please let me know if you have any feedback or questions.

Session 4_YL Teacher Training course

 

YLs Teacher Training course Session 3 Rules and Boundaries

Posted on by
Reply

It’s now almost half term in UK schools and it is time to look at what happens when the ‘Happy Honeymoon’ many teachers experience at the start of a school year starts to wear off.

This is session 3 of my 10-week Teacher Training course for teachers of Young Learners. It is written with NQTs or newly qualified teachers in mind and it builds on the work done on classroom management in session 2 of this course. Trainees are required to take part in a ‘maze’ activity originally published by International House experts David Spencer and David Vaughan in IATEFL’s YL SIG magazine CATs.

I hope you find these materials thought-provoking and relevant to your teaching context. Do please let me know if you have any feedback or questions.

Session 3 Rules and Boundaries

Content editing

Posted on by
Reply

Feeling pleased with myself after meeting a looming deadline for a content edit of a Lower Secondary course. It was really interesting work and the writer had done a good job of revising the draft so it was mainly a case of formatting the text and fleshing out the art and photo briefs. Now back at the grindstone doing some content mapping of a Primary course against YL can-do descriptors.