A to A*Focus the Mind

(Richard Charlesworth)

Raise student awareness of what is required to get the top grades.

• The following activities were all designed to develop consciously deeper thinking about a subject before writing about them with any authority,

• Using functional English enables students to share conceptual understanding as a class. As a learning community they develop the terminology to understand and explain key terms in a way that they are all happy with. This is fundamental to deeper thinking and can impact upon reading and writing skills equally

• Odd one out is a way of forcing students to evaluate and explain their thought process using contextual knowledge. Using a taxonomy approach enables students to engage where they feel capable with the task. However, the true A* student should be able to use their own contextual knowledge to recognise one or more possible odd one outs. The game can be played just as easily with dates or key terms. The ultimate goal is to generate discussions in class which encourage deeper thinking and the skills of evaluation.

• Using hexagons or other shaped tiles to make connections is another way to achieve the goal of deeper thinking. The more associations that can be made then the more likely that an A/A* answer can be produced. The activity works best if the hexagons are cut up to allow movement. This way multiple associations can be established quickly and in a kinaesthetic way the student can evaluate the strength or importance of those connections. This contributes to higher quality evaluation between factors or key concepts.

• The final activity I presented once again concentrated upon the written skills of the student. By using sentence starters then it is possible to extend an already good piece of writing into an outstanding one. The example demonstrates this very well and there are suggestions about other options for starter sentences suitable for a number of subjects. As with all of the activities I have mentioned the best way to judge them is to give them a go with one of your classes. They are all engaging for the students and the results you get will pretty soon speak for themselves.

Functional

English

Thing being defined

Verbor

process

Groups to which the

thing belongs

Information which gives the thing its

meaning

Law

Order

Thing being defined

Verbor

process

Groups to which the

thing belongs

Information which gives the thing its

meaning

Law is a set of rules enforced by the government to

dictate what people can and

cannot do

Order

Thing being defined

Verbor

process

Groups to which the

thing belongs

Information which gives the thing its

meaning

Law is a set of rules needed for society to function, acknowledged

and enforced by thegovernment which

everyone must follow or there will be

consequences

Order

Thing being defined

Verbor

process

Groups to which the

thing belongs

Information which gives the thing its

meaning

Law is a set of rules designed to protect people in a safe

environment and enforced by the

government which everyone must follow

otherwise there will be consequences

Order is a structure which enables the government to uphold

the law

ODD ONE

OUT

Learning outcomes show unconnected

information, no organisation.

Learning outcomes show simple connections but importance not noted.Label Match

Define Identify Do simple procedure

Learning outcomes show connections are made, but significance to overall meaning is missing.

Outline Describe List Combine

Learning outcomes show full connections made, and synthesis of parts to the overall meaning.

Sequence Classify Compare/contrastExplain causes / effects Analyse-part/whole

Relate Analogy ApplyOrganise Distinguish Formulate questions

Learning outcomes go beyond subject and makes links to other concepts –generalises

Evaluate Theorise Generalise Predict Prioritise Create Imagine Hypothesise Reflect Justify

1. George Donner 2. Brigham Young 3. Mattie Oblinger

Relational: Make linksBetween two or more.

Uni/Multi-structural: Providesome facts about one or more

Extended abstract: Explain which one is the Odd One Out

4. James Marshall

1. Mattie Oblinger 2. Joseph Glidden 3. John Halliday 4. Grenville Dodge

CONNECTIONS

Lack of wood

New

inventions

Natural

Hazards

Lack of water

New crops

Growing a

surplus

Harsh weather

conditions

Hard work and

adaptability

New farming

methods

Tough land

SOLO Hexagons

Uni/Multistructural – describe one

or more hexagons

Relational – connect two hexagons

and explain the connection between

the two. Try to make a line of

hexagons (maybe in chronological

order).

Extended abstract – connect three

(or more) hexagons in a tessellation

and make a generalisation about

them.

Homesteaders: problems/solutions

Improving Explanation

Uni/multistructural – describe one or more hexagons separately

• The …… allows me to explain……

• ……….helped homesteaders because….

• ………was a problem for homesteaders because……

• ……… meant that ………

• One reason the homesteaders found it difficult was……….This was because………

Relational – explain connection between two or more hexagons

• ………… and ………… are linked because ……….

• ……which supports that…..

• ……. and …….. are connected because……

• ……….This meant that…………

Extended abstract –connect 3 hexagons to make a generalisation about them

………links to………which also connects to………. This leads me to believe………

Crafting beautiful sentences

• Farm animals give off large amounts of

methane. Explain the effects of adding

large amounts of methane to the

atmosphere.

• Would the response be more

sophisticated if we asked pupils to

begin their response with ‘Considering

that …’?

Write a sentence describing the picture

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Pieter Bruegel

One sentence

•‘We are all just small

pieces of a greater

world; we shouldn’t

overemphasise our

importance in it.’

Now, start the sentence with the phrase, “At

first glance…”

Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, Pieter Bruegel

At first glance ……• Before:

• ‘We are all just small pieces of a greater

world; we shouldn’t overemphasise our

importance in it.’

• After:

• ‘It appears that the scene depicts a

peaceful seaside afternoon, but a closer

analysis reveals that Brueghel is actually

commenting upon how one poor decision

can keep a person from enjoying the simple

pleasures of life’

Now, start the sentence with the phrase, “At

first glance…”

Other starters ……

• Despite my initial hypothesis ……

• In the light of all of the evidence ……

• Throughout the source/ poem/ programme……

• To begin with ……

• In comparison to ……