majz4-mixed ability class

8/16/2019 Majz4-Mixed Ability Class

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MIXED-ABILITYMIXED-ABILITY

CLASSCLASSHow to teachHow to teach

heterogeneousheterogeneousgroupsgroups


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HETEROGENEOUS/MIXED- ABILITY CLASS:

It is a group in which children ofvaried abilities are taught together

rather than being set apart in groups

according to level.


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ADAPTING MATERIALS FOR

MIXED-ABILITY CLASSES CAN

TAKE DIFFERENT FORMS:

Rewrite reading textsand grade the language

accordingly for different levels.

However it is extremelytime consumingandnot many teachers can actually go to this lenght

to adapt materials.

Adanger thatchildren will instantlyrealise

thatthey have been labelledas a weak or

strong student.


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READING

Stronger students:

-rewrite a part of the textin a different

tense/person

- write their personal

opinion/a summary of

the text

- write question about the

text - write new vocabulary up

on the board with

definitions

Weaker students:

-if there are gaps, givestudents the answers in

a jumbled order

- break the text into

chunks and give the

opinion of only reading

some of the texts

- pre-teach difficultvocabulary and leave it

written on the board for

students to refer to


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LISTENING

Stronger:

- focus on the accents or of

the speakers and get

students to copy chunks

- if it́s a true/false

activity, follow on by

asking why/why not?

- give out the tape script

and look up trickywords/expressions in a

dictionary to then

explain to the group

Weaker:

-pre-teach vocabulary, use

visual if possible

- give them time to discuss

answers before feeding

back to the class

- give them the tape script

on second listening

- if it́s a gap fill, supplythe words with a few

extras


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WRITINGStronger:-give creative tasks thatstudents can do at their

own level

- increase the word limit- indicate where they could

use more interesting ways

of saying something

- indicate mistakes using

correction code to givestudents a chance to self

correct

Weaker:-reduce the word limit

- encourage use of

dictionaries

- correct the draft togetherbefore students copy up it

- pair or group weaker

students with stronger

students


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SPEAKING

Stronger:

-ask students to justify/defend their

opinions

- ban easy words like „nice“ to

push their vocabulary to a

higher level

- get students to record

themselves and self-correct- pair students of higher level

together so they really go

for it

Weaker:

-give them time torehearse their ideasbefore a role play or

discussion- pair weak and strongtogether

- let them make notesbefore the speaking

- give them more listeningand thinking time beforecalling on them toanswer questions


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TIPS FOR GOOD

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

WITH M-A GROUPS:GROUPING:

-depending on the task and the class dynamics

- there are usually opportunities for both types ofgrouping

- to experiment with mixing up the strong and

weak students


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GIVING INSTRUCTIONS:

- giving clear instructions

- use hand gestures as well as words to explain the tasks

- use stronger students to check back the instructions


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ERROR CORRECTION:

-dońt over correct weak students

- encourage students to correct one another


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SETTING GOALS:

- it will help to focus the students

- the goals can be different for each student and

depending on their level


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SOME STRATEGIES:

DISCUSSION AND NEEDS ANALYSIS:

-have an open class discussion about the classroomsituation

-to ensure the best for everyone

-to agree how to deal with it

-it is the best to stage and structure the discussion

-

to prompt the students to reflect upon theirlearning style, learning strategies, languageneeds, enjoyment, motivation, language strenghtand weaknesses


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QUESTIONS:What kinds of class activities do you enjoy/benefit

from?

Which language skills do you most wish to

develop?

Do you prefer working individually or with a

partner?

Would you rather sit and listen to the teacher all

lesson or participate in group work?


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STUDENT SELF-AWARENESS:

- encourage students to develop an awareness of their

own language abilities and learning needs


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RANGE OF TASKS:

-this involves creating or providing tasks for different

levels


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EXTRA WORK/HOMEWORK:

-give different students different homework

-for weaker students HW which really does consolidate

the class work

-for stronger students work that will widen theirknowledge or put it to the test a little more – they need

the feedback

-writing tasks are great for HW


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ERROR CORRECTION:

-have different expectation of the language the different

students produce

-it can push stronger students if you correct them

heavily, although be sensitive about it!-for weaker students, be more selective in your error

correction


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WORK GROUPINGS:

You may consider dividing your class

into groups by level for the wholelesson, enabling you to give a

different level or number of tasks to

each group


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-PAIR WORK:strong with strong, weak with weak orstrong with weak – variety in the pairings is the key

-GROUP WORK:groups could be of mixed levels or

similar ones

-WHOLE CLASS-MINGLES:is afavouredstrategy. Involves students talking/interacting with

many different members of the class in a short period

of time in order to achieve a task ->this supports the

weaker students and provides opportunities forthe stronger ones


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THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION

majz4-mixed ability class

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