Camtree Digital Library (Univ. of Cambridge)
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Reading 4 ur Life
Get PDFContext: In Oxapampa, Peru, a teacher working with 5th-grade students preparing for an intensive reading exam (Paper 1 of the Cambridge PET) observed that students struggled with reading comprehension despite instruction in various strategies. Students often failed to understand texts or complete the test within the time limit. The teacher sought to evaluate and improve their approach.
Aims: The study aimed to identify effective reading strategies for Paper 1 and assess students' attitudes toward these strategies. The teacher focused on understanding the specific issues students found challenging, their perceptions of time constraints, and how his instruction could better support students to use reading and examination strategies.
Methods: The teacher employed a reflective journal, a questionnaire, and peer observations. The questionnaire gauged students' strategy use and difficulties with Paper 1, while a peer observer provided insights into classroom dynamics, especially around the teacher's strategy instruction. Journal entries tracked the teacher's observations and reflections on his practices and students' progress.
Findings: Data showed that although the teacher promoted a range of strategies, students were not using them effectively. The questionnaire and peer observation revealed that students often lacked understanding of how to apply these strategies. Students cited grammar complexity and the need for more time as barriers to completing the test. After implementing targeted strategy sessions with clear instructions and modelling, students showed increased confidence in using techniques like highlighting, inferring, and narrowing down answer options. Students' exam performance improved, as did their understanding of strategy application.
Implications: This study highlights the importance of modelling strategy use and explicitly teaching application techniques, offering insights for teachers preparing students for reading-intensive exams
Promoting effective use of mobile phones through a class contract
Get PDFContext: In a public secondary school in Santa Anita, Lima, Peru, a teacher worked with a fifth-grade class struggling with engagement and motivation in English lessons. Noticing that students were frequently distracted by their mobile phones, despite the school's prohibition, the teacher decided to explore the potential of using mobile phones constructively in the classroom.
Aims: The study aimed to understand students' current phone use in class, their attitudes toward the prohibition, and to develop a strategy to integrate mobile phones as educational tools. By establishing a class contract, the teacher sought to transform mobile phone use from a distraction into a support for learning activities, focusing particularly on English language skills.
Methods: Three data collection methods were used: a peer observation of student and teacher activities, a student survey on phone use and attitudes, and a teacher journal documenting reflections on students' engagement and mobile phone usage. Data collected helped the teacher understand the patterns of mobile phone use, students' views on its prohibition, and the dynamics of class engagement.
Findings: The data revealed that students primarily used mobile phones for social media, messaging, and occasionally as learning aids for translation and internet searches. Six students were the most frequent users, but the small classroom meant their phone use impacted others around them. The peer observation indicated that reminders about phone rules were infrequent, and students expressed a preference for using phones for specific learning activities. Following these findings, the teacher established a class contract regulating phone use for structured activities like voice recording and messaging for English practice.
Implications: This study suggests that establishing a structured agreement on mobile phone use can foster a sense of responsibility and enhance engagement, turning potential distractions into tools for learning. Through self-correction and shared activities like voice recording, students gained confidence and motivation in English. The experience suggests that similar strategies could benefit teachers seeking to integrate personal devices constructively in the classroom
Team Heroes at Holy Trinity and St Silas Primary
Get PDFAim:
The main aim of Team Heroes at Holy Trinity and St Silas Primary is to provide children with essential life skills such as communication, team work, leadership and resilience to help them realise their full potential and break negative cycles.
Methods:
The participants are Year 5 and 6 children who are trained as Team Heroes and buddy younger children, supported by the PSHE co-ordinator and Humanutopia. Team Heroes attend training from Humanutopia to learn essential life skills, then work closely with younger children as positive role models. Weekly meetings and monthly mentoring sessions are held, with resources from humanutopia and developed by the school.
Findings:
Children have a sense of purpose about being at school because of their responsibility for their younger buddies and the input they have into decision making. Behaviour has improved and children understand how negative behaviours can impact on their learning.
Implications:
The Team Heroes program has had a lasting impact on the school community, with improved behaviour, better relationships, increased confidence, and a stronger sense of community. Children have high aspirations for their future and a belief that they can achieve them
Improving writing skills through scaffolding and collaborative writing activities
Get PDFContext: At a university in Tacna, Peru, a language instructor observed that students struggled with cohesion, organization, and specificity in their essay writing. Many essays lacked discourse markers, coherence, and logical flow, often incorporating text copied from the internet. Recognizing the need to strengthen students' foundational writing skills, the teacher designed a project to support improved essay-writing through scaffolded and collaborative approaches.
Aims: The project aimed to explore the teacher's instructional goals for essay writing, identify how students felt about these activities, and evaluate the effectiveness of support activities for students' writing skills. The teacher focused on enhancing students' ability to develop cohesive arguments, organize ideas logically, and participate actively in the writing process.
Methods: The teacher used a rubric to clarify instructional objectives, noting key elements like logical organization, appropriate use of discourse markers, and supporting details. Data collection involved analysing lesson plans, conducting student surveys on writing activities, and reviewing journal notes to evaluate the effectiveness of collaborative writing strategies, such as group mind mapping, peer feedback, and role-based writing assignments.
Findings: The analysis revealed that students found group writing activities and vocabulary mind maps particularly useful, with many students feeling less anxious and more supported when working collaboratively. Students reported difficulty, however, in drafting and revising essays independently, often feeling stressed and expressing a need for clearer instructions and additional support. Group writing, especially using roles and structured templates, enabled students to collaborate effectively, helping them to organize ideas and communicate arguments more clearly.
Implications: The study suggests that structured, collaborative writing activities like mind mapping and role-based group work may ease student stress and foster more confident participation in writing tasks. Scaffolding techniques and roles within group writing activities offered students a supportive framework for learning to write cohesively and cohesively, and this may be useful for teachers aiming to enhance writing skills through collaboration and structured guidance
“Pronounced Empowerment?”: An analysis of the impact of an explicit multi sensory phonics teaching intervention on the pronunciation skills and motivation levels of KS4 pupils of French
No full textNumerous recent studies have found that UK secondary school pupils of French typically have poor ability in “decoding” this language. That is, they struggle to correctly pronounce the language when seen in its written form. It has been contended that pupil lack of confidence in this area may be contributing to low levels of motivation for the subject. A common support strategy for pupils experiencing difficulties with spelling-sound links in their first language is the use of multisensory teaching activities. This study outlines and analyses an intervention trialling multisensory teaching of French phonics with a class of KS4 pupils. The findings suggest that multisensory teaching could well be effective in improving pupils’ foreign language decoding ability. There is some evidence that explicit spelling-sound link teaching can empower pupils to feel more in control of decoding processes generally. However, this appears to have little impact on wider levels of subject motivatio
Happiness Project – Christ Church NW3
No full textAim:
The Happiness Project aimed to promote positive mental health and wellbeing for the school community by exploring the 10 Keys to Happier Living.
Methods:
The participants of the Happiness Project were 191 children, 24 staff members, and all the parents of the school community. We used activities, lesson ideas, and resources based on Action for Happiness' '10 Keys to Happier Living' to explore one theme per week with the whole school community. We also did an introduction and review week.
Findings:
Children were able to regulate their emotions and use terminology such as 'bounce back ability', 'resilience' and 'mindfulness'. Parents also gave positive feedback.
Implications:
The findings suggest that the project had a positive impact on the emotional well-being and resilience of the school community, with children being able to regulate their emotions and use terminology related to happiness
‘Should we accept Syrian refugees? ’Developing Year 8 students’ understandings of place with reference to the European refugee crisis
No full textThis paper describes an attempt to develop Year 8 students’ understandings of place over a short lesson sequence about the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe and the Middle East. Conceptually, it aimed to move students beyond a static view of place - as manifested in populist anti-immigration stances - and towards a relational understanding of place informed by the theories of Doreen Massey (2004). Students’ thinking was tracked across five lessons framed around an enquiry question: ‘should the UK accept Syrian refugees?’ The paper documents how students’ understandings developed in multiple, complex, and at times contradictory ways. This is important as pedagogical research on migration – in education studies generally and school-based geography in particular – is severely lacking.Moreover, the shift in some students’ views from anti-refugee to pro-refugee demonstrates the potential of geography teaching to engage with controversial issues and guard young people against indoctrination
Developing students' super writing skills
Get PDFContext: In Arequipa, Peru, an English teacher observed that secondary students, aged 14 to 15, faced significant challenges with writing. Students often struggled with generating ideas, grammar, and vocabulary and displayed a lack of confidence and motivation toward writing tasks. The teacher sought to enhance students' engagement and proficiency in writing by addressing these areas.
Aims: The project aimed to understand students' attitudes towards writing, the specific difficulties they encountered, and the strategies they applied. Additionally, the teacher sought to improve her approach by implementing structured support to aid students in developing clear, structured paragraphs.
Methods: Data collection methods included a questionnaire on students' attitudes and challenges, a peer observation, and a video-recorded lesson to reflect on instructional methods. The teacher documented student behaviour in a reflective journal and encouraged feedback to identify students' preferences and difficulties with writing activities.
Findings: Analysis revealed that students participated actively in brainstorming and were receptive to writing templates and structured feedback. However, they struggled to remember vocabulary and grammar taught in class and frequently asked for clarification on task instructions. The peer observation highlighted that instructions were often unclear and that students avoided dictionaries. The teacher also observed that students had difficulty correcting their own work, relying heavily on the teacher's feedback instead. Following an action plan that included structured templates, bilingual resources, and error-correction codes, students became more confident and autonomous in writing. The teacher found that strategies like instruction-checking questions and modelling activities were effective in enhancing student comprehension and participation.
Implications: This experience suggests that incorporating visual aids and structured templates may benefit students facing similar challenges with writing skills, supporting a more independent and confident approach
Overcoming barriers for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorders in Modern Foreign Languages : a critical evaluation of the impact of ASD strategies on the attainment and engagement of learners in a Year 7 class
No full textThe increasing presence of pupils with special educational needs in the mainstream classroom is heightening the requirement for teachers to differentiate their practice for the expanding range of needs. This study focusses on one special educational need, Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in the Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) classroom: a largely unexplored area of research. Focussing on one Year 7 French class, including 2 learners with ASD, in a British comprehensive secondary school, this paper seeks to look at the impact of suggested strategies for facilitating the learning of pupils with ASD in the MFL classroom. A scheme of work was developed, and differences in engagement and attainment were measured throughout. Findings suggest that the benefits on attainment are significant, both for learners with ASD and ‘neurotypical’ learners. Engagement of the class also improved over the intervention.The study opens up possibilities for future research, including the potential benefit of MFL learning for pupils with ASD, and it highlights the need for a set of comprehensive guidelines for ASD in the MFL classroom
Boosting students' speaking
No full textContext: In Lima, Peru, a teacher at the Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano (ICPNA) faced challenges with Basic-level students who struggled to speak English fluently in class. The students, aged 14 to 20, were often reluctant to communicate beyond single words, revealing limited confidence in expressing themselves in English. Recognizing the students' difficulty and hesitation, the teacher embarked on a project to increase their speaking engagement and confidence.
Aims: The project aimed to explore students' use of English in class, assess their feelings about speaking in English, and identify activities that might boost their engagement. Specifically, the teacher sought to encourage more spontaneous language use and create a supportive classroom environment that would reduce students' anxiety and reluctance to speak.
Methods: Data collection methods included classroom observations, a questionnaire, and a colleague observation. The teacher used these tools to track language use during lessons, noting instances of English and Spanish use among students. A questionnaire captured students' attitudes towards different speaking activities and their comfort levels with speaking English. A peer observer also provided feedback on the teacher's activity structure and student participation.
Findings: Observations indicated that while students used English with the teacher, they defaulted to Spanish when speaking among themselves. Questionnaire results showed a clear preference for interactive activities like pair work and group discussions over individual presentations, which most students found intimidating. Additionally, half of the students reported nervousness due to limited vocabulary and fear of making mistakes. The teacher implemented a 'small talk' leaflet with fixed expressions to support vocabulary and conversational skills, which was positively received. After its introduction, students reported increased confidence, and observations noted a reduction in Spanish use.
Implications: This study highlights the potential for structured support tools, such as a vocabulary leaflet, to empower students and foster a more collaborative environment in language learning. Teachers facing similar challenges with student participation in language classes could benefit from introducing interactive speaking frameworks and resources that emphasize practical language use, promoting confidence and engagement