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Making Meaning with Manipulatives through free play and structured opportunities
Mark Williams shares his experiences from a Key Stage One classroom
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by Tudor Grange Research School
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Rebekah Edwards is the Lead Advisor for Primary Curriculum at the Tudor Grange Academies Trust and the Deputy Director of the Tudor Grange Research School.
Speaking to children about their learning is always interesting. Nothing beats a child’s eye view of the classroom!
I recently gathered pupil’s opinions about the new approach to vocabulary development that is being implemented at one of the Tudor Grange primary schools. Teachers at Tudor Grange Primary Academy Hockley Heath had carefully mapped the vocabulary that they wanted to teach, ensuring progression across the year groups and representation of tier two and three vocabulary. Using the Vocabulary in Action guide and the Early Years Communication and Language guidance from the EEF, they had introduced explicit teaching of vocabulary in foundation subject lessons. Louise Porter, principal, was keen for a fresh pair of eyes to check impact as she considered next steps.
It was quickly apparent that the children were familiar with the process of learning new words:
‘We sound out the words, clap the syllables and talk about what the word means.’
‘Our teacher gives us a definition.’
‘We use the word in sentences.’
They could remember and use many of the ambitious words that the teachers had taught. Could they remember every word? Well, no! When talking about the way that they had folded card whilst making bridges in Design Technology, the children could not recall the term ‘concertina’. However, they did know that there was a word for what they were describing. There was a place holder, a marker that made them search their memories for a more precise term. When, together, we retrieved it, there was a look of recognition and then confident use of the word.
I asked them why it was that they were able to remember certain words more easily. They were unequivocal: ‘Our teacher uses them lots through the lesson. She reminds us of them in the next lesson.’ My thoughts turned immediately to the Vocabulary in Action guidance strategy – Repetition, Repetition, Repetition!
TG Hockley Heath’s push for rich vocabulary development is ongoing. The teachers will continue to fine tune their approach. They will turn again to the EEF guidance for support. There are many excellent RSN blogs addressing vocabulary development (I’ll definitely be signposting them to Matthew Western’s blog Explicit Vocabulary Teaching: What Now?). But they will also continue to ask their children. Nothing beats a child’s eye view of the classroom!
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Mark Williams shares his experiences from a Key Stage One classroom
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