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Guidance

Curriculum andStandards

Heads of historyDepartments andteachers of historyStatus: Recommended

Date of issue: 10-2004

Ref: DfES 0670-2004 G

Key Stage 3National Strategy

Literacy and learningin history

Key Stage 3National Strategy

Literacy and learningLiteracy and learning in history

Disclaimer

The Department for Education and Skills wishes to make it clear that the Department andits agents accept no responsibility for the actual content of any materials suggested asinformation sources in this document, whether these are in the form of printed publicationsor on a website.

In these materials icons, logos, software products and websites are used for contextualand practical reasons. Their use should not be interpreted as an endorsement of particularcompanies or their products.

The websites referred to in these materials existed at the time of going to print. Tutorsshould check all website references carefully to see if they have changed and substituteother references where appropriate.

© Crown copyright 2004DfES 0670-2004

2 Literacy and learning in historyKey Stage 3 National Strategy

Contents

Introduction 5

1 Introduction to literacy and learning 7

A framework for literacy and learning 7

Understanding the framework 10

The three main areas of the framework 10

2 Implementing literacy and learning in history 13

The role of the subject leader 13

Reviewing schemes of work 13

Developing the department 13

Monitoring and evaluation 15

3 Explaining and exemplifying the objectives 17

4 Observing effective literacy teaching 71

Prompts for subject leaders 71

5 Contents of the Literacy and learning DVD 75

1 Leading cross-curricular change: literacy 75

2 Literacy and learning: key teaching approaches 75

3 Key teaching approaches index 76





Introduction

This CD-ROM is for subject leaders to help them implement literacy and learning in theirsubject area as part of a whole-school initiative designed to improve teaching and learningand raise standards.

Section 1 introduces the ideas behind the literacy and learning initiative and contains theframework of cross-curricular objectives that is at its heart.

Section 2 outlines ways of working with teachers in the department in order to implementthe scheme.

Section 3 explains and exemplifies the cross-curricular objectives in the context of history.

Section 4 contains prompts to assist in the monitoring and evaluation of literacy teaching.

Section 5 is an index of material on the Literacy and learning DVD.







Introduction to literacy and learning

Most subject departments have already made good progress in making aspects of literacypart of their teaching. The literacy and learning initiative seeks to take the process a stepfurther by:

■ connecting the work of separate departments so that more impact is made onpupils;

■ linking literacy explicitly to learning, which is the core business of every teacher.

It does this through setting up a framework of cross-curricular objectives and requiringdifferent subjects to incorporate some of the most appropriate objectives into theirteaching (see pages 8 and 9).

A framework for literacy and learning

The relationship between good learning and good literacy is complex. On the one hand,literacy skills give pupils access to some very important modes of learning. On the otherhand, exercising literacy skills constructively in the context of learning will boost the level ofthose skills. The framework for literacy and learning is a tool to help schools developliteracy and learning across all departments in a systematic way. It is based on objectivestaken from the Framework for teaching English: Years 7, 8 and 9 (DfEE 0019/2001).

The framework identifies three main areas for development:

■ Learning through talk.

■ Learning from text.

■ Learning through writing.

The framework is based on the following assumptions:

■ Literacy skills need to be taught systematically and consistently.

■ Pupils should be given regular opportunities to consolidate their literacy skills byusing them purposefully in order to learn.

■ All teachers in a school must share the responsibility for developing literacy andlearning ‘hand in hand’.

■ Certain subject areas are better placed to develop certain literacy skills thanothers.

1



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9

Understanding the framework

Each area of the framework divides into three strands:

Learning through talk Using talk to clarify and present ideas

Active listening to understand

Talking and thinking together

Learning from text Developing research and study skills

Reading for meaning

Understanding how texts work

Learning through writing Using writing as a tool for thought

Structuring and organising writing

Developing clear and appropriate expression

Each strand has a single objective for each of Years 7, 8 and 9 (see the framework tableon page 8). These objectives should be a focus for teaching across the curriculum in eachgiven year and should be linked into departmental schemes of work. The responsibility forteaching the different strands is shared out among the subject areas. See the ‘literacyskills pie’ on page 9, which shows a suggested way of sharing out the objectives.

Of course, all the strands are potentially relevant to learning in all subject areas but the piemodel has the advantage of defining which subject areas are best placed to developcertain skills. Also, while ensuring that skills are not taught by one department in isolation,it reduces the overall load for departments because they are not expected to incorporateall of the objectives into their teaching plans. The objectives for history are explained andexemplified in section 3 of this text.

It is important to say that both the framework of cross-curricular objectives and the‘literacy skills pie’ are offered as suggested models. Through a thorough process of self-review, schools could identify their own sets of objectives or literacy targets linked toidentified weaknesses in each year group, and allocate the teaching of these to separatedepartments. If your school has decided to modify the framework, your literacycoordinator will consult with you on those changes, as it is important that all departmentswork consistently to the same model so that all objectives are covered and are reinforcedfor pupils in a number of subjects across the curriculum.

The three main areas of the framework

Learning through talk

‘As pupils use talk purposefully in their learning, they become more competentcommunicators, more aware of, and knowledgeable about, the medium they areusing.’

Hilary Kemeny, Ed., Learning together through talk, Key Stages 3 and 4, Hodderand Stoughton, 1993



Speaking and listening (talk) takes place in classrooms in a range of contexts and for arange of purposes. Sometimes the emphasis is on presentation. Here, one or more peopleare the presenters and the role of the others is to listen and perhaps respond at an agreedtime. At other times, there is an expectation that there will be a constant interchangebetween speakers and listeners, such as when groups of pupils are discussing thesolution to a problem which they have been set.

Talk can contribute to learning in three main ways:

■ Through purposeful speaking and listening, pupils come to understand newinformation by connecting it with what they already know.

■ The process of striving to express ideas in words, or striving to grasp the spokenideas of another, helps to clarify and confirm understanding.

■ Talking together in discussion is an interactive process, which allows an individual’sunderstanding to be extended, challenged and enriched.

Learning from text

‘When reading for learning, the actual process can be thought of as comprisingfive phases: decoding, making sense of what is said, comparing this with whatone knows already, making judgements about this material and, finally, revisingone’s ideas. … But all too often the process stops at the second phase …’

Lunzer and Gardner, Learning from the written word, Longman 1984

Because of advances in technology, today’s pupils have greater access to more text inmore forms than ever before. Moreover, recent international surveys have shown Englishpupils to be amongst the best readers in the world. Yet, paradoxically, teachers’expectations of the extent to which pupils can learn from text are sometimes low. This canlead to:

■ a reluctance to ask pupils to read;

■ an increase in workload as teachers seek to mediate all new information to theirpupils in other ways;

■ a decrease in the ability and willingness of pupils to engage independently withtext.

A consistent approach to promoting active and independent reading will, however, bringbenefits to all subject areas as pupils begin to learn more effectively from text by:

■ developing strategies for identifying texts that contains relevant information, andthen using that information for a purpose;

■ close reading of text for understanding – not merely decoding but making sense ofwhat is written and connecting it with what is known already;

■ understanding the overall purposes and structures of texts.

Learning through writing

‘… it (writing) gives us time and opportunity for reflection. The words are not goneas soon as spoken, but are before us on the page for consideration, and thisenables us to deal with more complex ideas and the relationships between them.’

Andrew Wilkinson, Ed., The writing of writing, OUP, 1986



Whenever writing takes place, there is always a purpose and an intended reader.Sometimes we write for ourselves and, in this case:

■ writing helps in the capture and development of thoughts and ideas, because itleaves a record that can be returned to, considered and modified.

At other times, we write with the intention of communicating to others, which contributesto learning because:

■ communicating in writing clarifies, confirms, even transforms understandingthrough a complex process of:

– linking ideas and pieces of information and organising them logically;

– ‘wrestling’ with words to form clear, meaningful sentences.

Recording is an important purpose for writing, but high-quality writing tasks will bedesigned to have a learning outcome as well. A consistent approach to teaching writingacross the school will boost the quality of both pupils’ learning and writing.



Implementing literacy and learning in history

The aims of the literacy and learning initiative are to:

■ raise standards of literacy across the school;

■ improve the quality of learning across the school;

■ extend, sustain or revive previous work on literacy across the curriculum.

The role of the subject leader

Literacy and learning is a whole-school improvement initiative. Once the scheme has beenintroduced to the school’s staff, it must be taken forward in subject departments. The roleof the subject leader or head of department is crucial and includes:

■ reviewing schemes of work to incorporate the literacy objectives;

■ contributing to the professional development of members of the department byidentifying relevant training and/or facilitating coaching arrangements to ensurethat subject teachers have a good understanding of the objectives and areconfident about teaching them;

■ participating in monitoring and evaluation activity.

Subject leaders can best fulfil these roles in partnership with senior leaders, the schoolliteracy coordinator and departmental colleagues.

Reviewing schemes of work

The literacy and learning framework should not have any implications for the content of thedepartment’s scheme of work, but it may well have implications relating to teachingapproaches. The main aim of the review is, therefore, to identify areas of work that lendthemselves to the incorporation of a literacy objective alongside the subject objectives.The aim is to improve learning in the subject and literacy ‘hand in hand’. It would behelpful to approach the review in four steps:

1 Identify the objectives assigned to your subject by using the framework and the‘literacy skills pie’.

2 Become familiar with these objectives by looking at the exemplification in section 3 ofthis text.

3 Identify areas of the scheme of work where the objectives fit best.

4 Identify any changes of teaching approach that may be required for the aim ofimproving learning and developing literacy. Section 3 of this Literacy and learningCD-ROM includes ideas for a range of teaching approaches linked to the objectives.

Developing the department

During the process of identifying objectives and reviewing schemes of work – a processthat will undoubtedly involve consultation with members of the department – aspects ofliteracy teaching may be identified as problematic for some or all colleagues. It may be thatcertain objectives are not well understood, or that individual teachers are not confidentwith particular teaching approaches. It may be that inexperienced colleagues requiretraining on an aspect of literacy, or that more-experienced colleagues feel they need anupdate. Whatever the situation, the subject leader should identify the training needs in thedepartment. Ultimately, the impact on pupils’ literacy and learning in the subject willdepend on the quality of the teaching, so it is important that provision is made to ensure

2



that all colleagues have the opportunity to fill any gaps in their professional knowledge andunderstanding.

The Literacy and learning pack provides a wealth of training resources that can be used tosupport the professional development either of the whole department or of particularindividuals within it. The table below lists these resources showing where they can befound and how they may best be of use.

Resource Where to find it Recommended uses

Literacy and learning DVD

Contains video examples of literacy teaching (see page 76 of this CD-ROM for a full index of the DVD)



The school has one copywhich will be with eitherthe Key Stage 3 Strategymanager or the literacycoordinator.

The DVD may contain anexample of teaching whichthe whole departmentcould discuss, or,alternatively, it could beviewed by one or twocolleagues for whom it isparticularly relevant.

This Literacy and learningin history CD-ROM

Contains the full textincluding exemplificationof all relevant objectives.

Also contains text andvideo of Literacy in history(for school-based use andself-study), which covers:

■ planning forpurposeful speakingand listening;

■ approaches toactive reading;

■ teaching writingsystematically.

Literacy in history (for in-school use and self-study) is a useful resourcefor any teachers who wereunable to benefit from theliteracy in history trainingprovided recently by LEAs.

For example, it canprovide material for adepartmental meeting witha focus on active-readingstrategies.

It is particularly useful forindividual teachers to useas a study aid to fill aparticular knowledge gap.

The Literacy and learningin history booklet.

Guidance for subjectleaders – an abridgedversion of this text.

In the Literacy andlearning resource pack.

There are also other resources and strategies which subject leaders can use to supportthe professional development of their departmental colleagues. A full index of Key Stage 3Strategy resources relating to literacy is available in Appendix 3 of Literacy and learning:Guidance for senior leaders. Many of these publications are already in school or they canbe ordered from DfES Publications or downloaded from the Key Stage 3 Strategy website(www.standards.dfes.gov.uk).

Although publications are very useful for updating knowledge and understanding, researchsuggests that it is important for teachers to receive support when applying any newteaching approaches in their lessons. Subject leaders may be able to offer help in thisrespect by demonstrating aspects of teaching, by team teaching, or by observing teachingand giving feedback. LEA consultants and colleagues in school may be able to offersupport of this type as well. Another strategy is coaching, where pairs of teachers worktogether to improve an aspect of practice. This is described in the Key Stage 3 Strategypublication called Sustaining improvement, a suite of modules on Coaching, Runningnetworks and Building capacity (DfES 0565–2003 G).

Monitoring and evaluation

Improvements in pupils’ learning and their literacy skills will only be secured and sustainedif subject leaders monitor and evaluate the planning and teaching in their department.Senior leaders also have a role to play in monitoring and evaluating the impact of thewhole-school initiative, so the two processes should be coordinated.

The particular role of the subject leader is to:

■ monitor that any changes incorporated into the department’s planning are beingimplemented in classrooms;

■ judge the effectiveness of the implementation in both planning and teaching;

■ offer support to bring about improvement, where appropriate.

An aid to judging the effectiveness of the teaching of cross-curricular literacy objectivescan be found in section 4 of this text. This is a series of prompts, which help to focus theprocess of observation and feedback.

The Literacy and learning in history CD-ROM provides helpful materials for supportingcolleagues. Other useful sources of ideas are:

■ the Literacy and learning DVD which is in school (see section 5 of this text);

■ other material previously published by the Key Stage 3 Strategy (see the guide inAppendix 3 of Literacy and learning: Guidance for senior leaders);

■ Sustaining improvement, a suite of modules on Coaching, Running networks andBuilding capacity (DfES 0565–2003 G).





Explaining and exemplifying the objectives

This section of the text contains an entry for each cross-curricular literacy objective that isassigned to history.

The cross-curricular objectives exemplified for history are:

Learning through talk Using talk to clarify and present ideasActive listening to understandTalking and thinking together

Learning from text Developing research and study skillsReading for meaningUnderstanding how texts work

Learning through writing Using writing as a tool for thoughtStructuring and organising writing

Each entry has three sections:

■ About this objective – which explains in general terms what is meant.

■ What to teach – which explains key points that will need to be taught if theobjective is to be met.

■ Teaching approaches – where the teaching of the objective is exemplified withideas that can be applied directly to classroom teaching.

The objectives are organised by Year and by aspect.


Year 7 Learning from text








3





Year 7

Learning through talk: using talk to clarify and present ideas

Year 7 objective: Use talk as a tool for clarifying ideas, e.g. by articulatingproblems or asking pertinent questions.

About this objective

This objective develops the use of talk as a tool for developing thinking. It is likely to betaught in the context of problem solving, planning a project or discussing an issue. Itneeds to be taught in a range of contexts and is clearly a cross-curricular objective. Theobjective requires pupils to listen closely and contribute effectively to talk through buildingupon, questioning and challenging the points made by others.

What to teach

■ How to begin by defining the task, e.g. ‘Right, so what have we got to do?’.Specific difficulties should be outlined before and during the task, e.g. ‘We don’tunderstand the bit where/when …’.

■ That talk will be more tentative and less formal than a presentation, but that pupilsneed to listen actively to the views of others and reflect on what has been saidbefore responding. They will need to be taught to be sensitive and open to newways of thinking, and not be influenced by preconceived ideas.

■ Pupils may need to be reminded about how to take turns, how to ensureresponses are appropriately timed and how to avoid being personal whenresponding.

■ That questions such as ‘What do you think this bit means …?’ or ‘What did youthink s/he meant when s/he said …?’ are useful to arrive at a commonunderstanding of stimulus material.

■ That sentence starters such as ‘Another way of looking at it …’, ‘I understandwhat you are saying, but could it be that …?’, ‘Yes, but on the other hand …’ willintroduce an opposing point of view without causing offence.

■ Useful prompts which support a point of view, such as ‘That’s brilliant!’, ‘That’sright’, ‘Of course that’s what it means’.

■ Some prompts which seek support for a point of view or additional ideas, such as‘There’s an example here in paragraph 2’, ‘I think s/he said that when s/he wastalking about …’, ‘We did that last week and we said …’.

■ How to bring ideas together and prioritise, e.g. ‘Isn’t the main point that …’, ‘Rightwe’ve agreed that …’, ‘Now we need to …’.

Teaching approaches

■ Ensure that there are opportunities to explore ideas through talk. Tasks can beopen-ended, such as ‘Where is the best location to build a castle?’. Provide mapsand information about attacking and defending a castle, and specific informationabout the important strategic points which would need protecting in that particularlocality, so that pupils can consider the implications of siting a castle in differentlocations. Put pupils into groups of four. Explain that each pupil must have a sayand that, after someone has said something, the next pupil must sum up what theprevious pupil has just said, or identify the most important reason that they gave.The second pupil then has to say what they feel was good about the previousview and what they disagreed with. The last person to speak must sum up what



Y7

they feel the different arguments have been for each site. Support pupils’discussion by providing talking stems which help pupils to explore ideas. Forexample:

– ‘So if I heard you correctly, you said that you wanted to locate the castle …’;

– ‘The most important reason why you feel this is …’;

– ‘I agree/disagree because …’;

– ‘While I can see your point, I think your location can be challenged because …’;

– To sum up, therefore, the group seems to favour … and the main reasonsinfluencing our decision are …’.

■ In lesson planning, include activities which require pupils to listen, take turns andbuild on the argument of someone else. For instance, use cards to reinforce aprocess and relevant terminology related to why the church was at the centre ofvillage life. Pupils should take turns to talk about the prompt on their card whileothers listen and then add further information or ask questions.

■ Provide opportunities for pupils to identify collaboratively with the teacher theground rules for effective group discussion. Analyse an extract from a TV historicaldebate which will allow pupils to draw up a list of the conventions of discussionand debate. Ask pupils to note down the words and phrases that signal theperson’s argument, plus any evidence selected to support that argument. Also askpupils to note phrases which indicate how the person arguing prioritises theevidence to support their argument. Pupils could be asked to consider the effectof offensive or personalised comments on the feelings of individuals and whythese can inhibit discussion.

■ Use guided talk to ask specific questions to move pupils’ discussion forward.Model this process. For example, ‘So you think the evidence that you can trustwith the greatest degree of certainty is …? Could you give two clear reasons forthis? Has anyone come up with an alternative? Can anyone suggest anyweaknesses in this argument?’.

■ To enhance the pace and maintain focus on the task, periodically sum up thediscussion so far, model key points or sticking points and suggest ways forward.For example, ‘So we think that the best heir to the throne was Harold Hardradabut we have only thought of two of the criteria that you identified as importantwhen deciding who should be a medieval monarch … What if we now considerthe question of the value that medieval people placed on promises made on thebones of a holy saint?’.



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Year 7

Learning through talk: active listening to understand

Year 7 objective: Listen for and recall the main points of a talk, reading ortelevision programme, reflecting on what has been heard to ask searchingquestions, make comments or challenge the views expressed.


This objective requires sustained listening and response in a variety of contexts. Theobjective is a good cross-curricular focus, requiring pupils to develop listening skills usingcommon techniques. It links closely with note-making skills and the ability to retain orrecord relevant information. Providing note-making grids can support pupils by giving moredetailed prompts for those who need them. The Literacy across the curriculum (DfEE0235/2001) training file provides strategies to support note making (module 8: Listening,and module 9: Making notes).

What to teach

■ How to recognise the main organisational features of different types of spokentexts. For example, a television documentary or news programme may start withan explanation of its purpose or summary, then raise a series of points, and finallyend with an overview which possibly raises further questions. Knowing about thestructure of the material in advance will help pupils to listen out for relevantinformation.

■ There may be specific phrases which signal to the listener that a key point is aboutto be made, e.g. ‘Another point …’, ‘Furthermore …’, ‘So …’, ‘To sum up …’.Knowledge of these oral markers will help pupils to recognise when key points areabout to be made.

■ How to prepare in advance for a listening task, e.g. preparing questions that youwant the answers to, making notes based on prior knowledge, anticipating keypoints or identifying a specific piece of information to listen out for.

■ How to use a range of note-making skills to record relevant information, ideas andquestions for later use. Note making is not just about recording key points; a well-prepared note-making task can ensure that pupils reflect on, ask questions aboutor challenge information which they have heard.

Teaching approaches

■ Ensure that there are opportunities to analyse different types of spoken texts,because this supports pupils’ active listening and note-making skills, and helpsthem to clarify and evaluate the key ideas presented. Pupils could listen to twocontrasting historical presentations, such as a historical documentary on the causeof the Black Death and a historical reconstruction of the Black Death in a film.They should then compare and contrast the main organisational features of thetwo genres.

■ Include strategies to support listening. For example, as a starter activity, pupilscould listen to a medieval song which reflects socio-economic issues that theyhave to identify. Then analyse the tone and style of the language used by askingpupils to annotate the words.

■ Consider the implications for the listener. If you are about to read an article from ahistorical magazine, explain that it is likely that it will have a very clear structuresupported by sub-headings, with an introduction and a concluding summary.



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Make these explicit to pupils so that they can hook into the reading more readily.This can be done by reading out a source and shouting out words which expressa particular emotion to draw pupils’ attention to the patterns in the emotivelanguage chosen by the author of the source.

■ Prepare pupils, in advance, for a listening task by focusing their attention on whatto listen out for. For example, ask them to reflect on what they already know andwhat they need to know about that topic, and then to pose questions to whichthey hope to gain an answer. Alternatively, you could suggest that the text or videowill give them a number of specific pieces of information that they have to listenout for.

■ Use KWL and QUADS grids to exemplify for pupils that making notes is not justabout recording details but also allows them to record relevant ideas andquestions generated by the video as well as relevant information.



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Year 7

Learning through talk: talking and thinking together

Year 7 objective: Identify and report the main points emerging from discussion,e.g. to agree a course of action including responsibilities and deadlines.


This objective requires pupils to report the main points from discussion in a variety ofways, e.g. to another group, to the teacher or to the class. Speaking frames or sentence-starter oral prompts could be given to support pupils in structuring their report back.Pupils will probably need to make notes of key points as an aide-memoire. Teachermodelling or note-making frames may provide useful support. Teachers could also usepupils primed for the task to model reporting back key points for the rest of the class.

What to teach

Identifying main points

■ Adjectives to convey importance, e.g. main, key, significant, important, crucial.

■ Adverbs to convey intensity of feeling, e.g. strongly, firmly, surely.

■ Adverbials at the start of sentences to gain attention or establish control, e.g.‘Right …’, ‘So …’.

■ Connectives to signal opposing views, e.g. but, conversely, alternatively.

■ Connectives to summarise views, e.g. therefore, so.

■ Connectives to indicate a sequence of ideas, e.g. firstly, secondly, thirdly, next,then, also.

Reporting main points

■ Orientating the audience by giving the context of the discussion, e.g. ‘Our groupwas discussing …’.

■ Itemising the main points using the first person plural, e.g. ‘First of all we agreedthat …’ and giving reasons ‘This was because …’.

■ Signalling movement to the next point, using an introductory sentence stem orconnective, e.g. ‘Our second point was …’, ‘Secondly…’, ‘Next …’.

■ Concluding the report clearly, e.g. ‘Thus, our view is …’ or ‘Therefore, we felt …’.

■ How to make brief notes to support oral feedback.



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Language associated with roles adopted

Phases of Chairperson Group membersdiscussion

Initiate discussion ‘Right, we need to ‘I think we need to … decide …’ because …’

Generate ideas ‘Does anyone have any ‘What about …?’ideas about …?’

Express support for ‘Go on …’, ‘Yes, I agree others because …’, ‘What then …?’

Discuss different ‘I feel strongly because …’, viewpoints ‘But don’t you think we need

to … because …?’, ‘But surely we also want to include …?’, ‘What about Jane’s alternative?’, ‘But surely that was more important because …?’

Check understanding ‘Do you see what I mean?’

Identify main ideas ‘Right, we need to agree on ‘Surely one of our main the main points … Would points was …?’ anyone like to suggest …?’ ‘Several people felt

strongly that …’

Establish ‘Okay, so we need to ‘I would like to …’responsibilities and decide who is going to do deadlines what …’

‘Right, who would like to …?’

‘John, do you think you could get that done by …?’

‘Right, let’s summarise our decisions … Shall I sum up what we’ve agreed?’

‘The group decided that …’ ‘Let’s run through the main points we’ve agreed …’

Teaching approaches

■ Plan opportunities for pupils to work in a variety of group structures, and to reportto other groups and to the class. Provide speaking frames or sentence starters inthe planning, to enable pupils to structure their reports. For example, use a jigsawactivity to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of different historicalinterpretations of a medieval ruler, in order to help pupils to reach conclusionsabout their own interpretation. In ‘home’ groups of four, each pupil should beallocated a different interpretation (e.g. a ruler who was unlucky, a ruler who hadexcellent kingship qualities, and a ruler who lacked kingship qualities), and shouldthen regroup to form an ‘expert’ group which will work together on that particular



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interpretation of the king. Pupils will then return to their home groups to reportback on their findings and use that information to reach their conclusion. Providesentence starters such as:

– ‘The interpretation of the king I studied was …’;

– ‘The criteria for what makes a good medieval ruler that this interpretation restson is …’;

– ‘The evidence to support this interpretation is first … This shows him as a goodruler because … Next … Finally …’;

– ‘The main ways that people criticise this interpretation are … but the counterargument to criticise this is …’.

■ Model a whole-class discussion. This could centre on reasons for choosing to livein the period of the industrial revolution rather than in the medieval or civil wareras. You could open the discussion by setting the context, for example, ‘Ourgroup decided if we had a choice we would prefer to live during the industrialrevolution. We chose this period for five main reasons. These are …’. Point out theuse of the first person plural. Then model the way to give reasons and theimportance of using contrast connectives when comparing things, e.g. ‘The first ofthese is to do with the expanding leisure opportunities. We found compared to thecivil war and medieval times …’. Establish the importance of linking phrases toexplain how the evidence presented supports the group’s decision (‘We thereforefelt …’). ‘The second main reason was …’. Point out that this signals a move to asecond point. Then indicate how the group prioritised the reasons, e.g. ‘Perhapsthe most important reason for our choice was …’. End with a concludingcomment, such as ‘Therefore, for the reasons given, we felt that the best era tolive in was…’.

■ Allocate roles in group work, including the role of the observer. For instance, an‘envoy’ activity could involve pupils working in small groups of three to classifycards about the the Renaissance under the headings of ‘cause’ and ‘effect’. Onegroup member would then move to a new group to explain and justify theirclassification, and to find out how the new group classified their cards. Followingthis, the ‘envoy’ would return to the original group to feed back. In both groups,the observer could feed back on successful strategies used by the envoys instructuring their report to the group.



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Year 7

Learning from text: developing research and study skills

Year 7 objective: Use appropriate reading strategies to extract particularinformation, e.g. highlighting, scanning.


Pupils need to be taught how to use the full range of reading strategies in order to accesssubjects across the curriculum. Teaching needs to include opportunities for pupils toexperiment with ways of reading for different purposes. Close attention is needed on howto extract specific information from texts. Pupils must be provided with opportunities tohone skills such as skimming, scanning and close reading, both in English and in othersubjects. Note-making skills should be modelled and practised. Note-making formatsshould be used.

What to teach

■ The main reading strategies:

– Continuous reading – uninterrupted reading of an extended piece of text, forexample, a piece of travel writing on a region, for enjoyment or overallimpression.

– Close reading – careful reading with pausing for thought, to look back andexamine detail.

– Skimming – glancing quickly through a text to get the gist of it, for example,looking at the sub-headings of a chapter of a book, or at a newspaper to see ifit is worth a closer read.

– Scanning – searching for a particular piece of information, for example, lookingin an index for a specific topic, or through a piece of text for a relevant fact.

Teaching approaches

■ Ask pupils to read continuous text from a medieval chronicler before writing apostcard in the role of a traveller to the area. This would encourage pupils to gainan overall impression of the area which would then be shared with others.

■ Ask pupils to undertake close reading of a section of a textbook when looking atthe sequence of events that led to the Peasants Revolt, to answer the question‘How far do you agree that if the peasants had not had their leader, Wat Tyler, theRevolt would probably not have happened?’ This could be structured by using aseries of prompts – perhaps a QUADS grid to guide the research.

■ Set pupils the task of understanding how much freedom was experienced by differentgroups of people at different periods. Give pupils several core history textbookscovering a range of historical eras. Ask them to brainstorm criteria for understandinghow much freedom people have. From this brainstorm identify key words that wouldbe useful to look up in an index page or contents page. Point out that pupils will needto look for these words in headings and sub-headings. Remind them that picturescan also give clues about the amount of freedom that people had. Give pupils 5minutes to identify where the key information is located. Tell them to record in a chartthe page number and a key word to remind them which aspect of freedom theinformation on a particular page covers. Then give them an opportunity to close readthe relevant aspect of the text. This task could be done in groups to encourage pupilsto organise themselves to collect the relevant information efficiently. If appropriate,pupils could highlight key points and record their findings on a KWL chart.



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■ During a unit of work looking at the impact of the Norman invasion, and as part ofan enquiry into the question ‘Did life change significantly for the Saxon earls afterthe Norman Invasion?’, pupils should scan a Domesday database to spot patternsin changes to land ownership. They should then draw graphs to represent thechanges and describe the patterns that they have observed. Model for pupils thelanguage used to describe pattern, in particular examine the language ofsignificance, e.g. ‘There was a major difference in land ownership’, ‘There was aconsiderable decline …’, ‘There was a slight rise/increase’, ‘The amount of landowned by … declined by 50% or by half’.



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Year 7

Learning from text: reading for meaning

Year 7 objective: Infer and deduce meanings using evidence in the text,identifying where and how meanings are implied.


The ability to infer and deduce meanings is a key marker for level 4 and, by Year 7, mostpupils should be able to do this. As this is an area where pupils’ ability never ceases togrow, it is important that throughout Year 7 pupils are given the opportunity to identifywhere meanings are implied and to extend their explanations of their understanding inspeech and writing. Some connotations may be culture-specific. It is an opportunity toreinforce the difference between explicit and implicit meaning, and tasks should involve arange of active-reading strategies.

What to teach

■ The definition of inference – interpretation which goes beyond the literalinformation given.

■ The definition of deduction – understanding based on the evidence in the text.

■ How to use a range of strategies to extract, infer and explain meaning.

■ How to refer to and quote from a text, modelling inference and deduction.

■ How to make links across a text.

Teaching approaches

■ The sequence in which you use a layers-of-inference diagram influences the extentto which pupils are motivated. Ways of doing this are to:

– begin with a story to hook pupils;

– read pupils a source and say that you are going to read any words that suggestthat the person did not like someone in a loud and angry voice. Ask pupils toread to each other in this way;

– ask pupils to devise the questions that they want to ask for a historical enquiryinto the narrative account. Give pupils a selection of sources.

■ Revise inference and deduction. Offer a statement such as Medieval peoplebelieved that bad smells caused the plague on a card and model searching forevidence from the textbook that supports this statement. Annotate the text on anOHT, highlighting phrases to show any confirming evidence.

■ Provide pupils with sources about William the Conqueror and ask them tohighlight all the emotive words in one colour and all the factual information inanother. Group feedback should reveal how the emotional impact or ambiguity ofwords can influence the reader more than any facts.

■ As part of an enquiry into how similar medieval Islamic and European civilisationswere, give pupils, in groups, a picture to read as a starter or as initial stimulusmaterial. Give the groups a minute to ‘read’ the text and ask them to reflect onwhat sorts of things in a source lead them to make an inference. Draw out ofpupils answers about time, place, mood, etc.



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Year 7

Learning from text: understanding how texts work

Year 7 objective: Identify, using appropriate terminology, the way writers of non-fiction match language and organisation to their intentions, e.g. in campaignmaterial.


This objective is concerned with teaching how writers use language and layout to conveytheir intentions and affect the reader. Pupils need to be able to use appropriateterminology to describe these effects, so they can discuss and comment on themeffectively. By identifying these features in what they read, pupils will be helped to writebetter themselves, matching their own language and organisation to their purpose.

What to teach

■ The ways in which features such as headings, sub-headings, bullet points,pictures and the use of different fonts guide the reader through the text.

■ The way in which aspects of layout may further the writer’s purpose. The use ofpictures, tables, charts, different fonts, colour and the amount of white space onthe page may all be important in contributing to the effect.

■ How writers choose specific pictures for their effect, e.g. to arouse our interest,sympathy or anger.

■ How sentence structure is varied for certain reasons, e.g. use of the passive voiceto suggest objectivity, use of short sentences to give emphasis.

■ The way in which vocabulary is chosen to influence the reader, e.g. emotivewords, technical vocabulary, modal verbs (should, must, etc.) to expresscompulsion, probability or possibility.

■ The ways in which writers use rhetorical devices like rhetorical questions,repetition, contrast and three-part lists to contribute to the intended effect.

Teaching approaches

■ Give pupils 3 or 4 pages of a historian’s text, so they can learn to identify ahistorian’s use of emotive language in a persuasive account and also understandhow literary devices (relating to emotive language) are used to convey aninterpretation of an historical figure. Choose a persuasive text where the historianis demolishing another historian’s interpretation. Choose a lively text where there isan interesting use of emotive language and analytical writing, and where thehistorian skilfully uses the literary devices highlighted above.

In pairs, ask pupils to skim the account and choose two adjectives. The first mustsummarise their impressions of the historian’s writing style (e.g. balanced,discursive, confident, etc.). You might want to give pupils a selection of adjectivesto choose from. The second should represent the writer’s interpretation of thehistorical figure.

Ask pupils to reflect on and underline those words and phrases which helpedthem to form an impression of the historian’s interpretation. Pupils will probablyhighlight examples of emotive language. Make explicit what emotive language isand how emotive language can persuade the reader to think in a certain way. Askpupils if anyone interpreted the words differently and ask them to justify theirresponse. Highlight that different readers will interpret texts differently.



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■ Ask pupils to annotate a text to show the literary devices used.

■ Set a writing task which is closely connected to the reading tasks above. Forexample, choose two sentences to rewrite. Use a selection of the literary devicesto create:

– the opposite impression to that conveyed by the historian, i.e. using eithernegative or positive emotive language;

– a neutral impression.

■ Then ask pupils to explain:

– which literary devices they have used to change the impression which the readerwill gain from the text;

– why they feel these devices have been effective in changing the impression ofthe historical figure.

■ Explain to pupils they are going to examine an account written by a historian.Check that pupils understand the text-level conventions of discursive andpersuasive writing, but explain that the focus of this level is the sentence- andword-level aspects of discursive writing. Use the analogy in discursive writing ofthe historian ‘sitting on the fence’ until the final conclusion, versus the line ofargument developed in persuasive writing. Draw out that in discursive writinghistorians will examine different lines of argument but will not reach a judgementuntil the end of the writing.

Ask pupils to scan 2 or 3 pages of a balanced account (discursive) written by ahistorian. Ask them to decide whether the account is discursive or persuasive andto note down words and phrases which signal the genre of the writing. Ask pupilsto discuss their thinking with their partner. ‘Hot seat’ a pupil to justify their decision.

Make a class list of literary devices and draw out how each device will affect thereader. This will probably include:

– the integration of historians’ comments with quotations;

– contrast connectives and phrases, e.g. ‘on the one hand …’, ‘on the other hand…’, ‘similarly …’;

– additive connectives in the conclusion, e.g. furthermore, in addition;

– speculative language and modal verbs to show that the historian is careful not tooverstate his or her claim, e.g. ‘This would seem to suggest …’, ‘It seemsprobable, therefore, that ...’;

– the use of the active voice when it is appropriate to tell the reader whoperformed the action, balanced against the passive voice when the writer wantsto convince the reader of their neutrality, e.g. ‘It has been argued …’ or ‘Inconclusion, it would therefore appear that …’, rather than ‘I think that …’.



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Year 7

Learning through writing: using writing as a tool for thought

Year 7 objective: Use writing to explore and develop ideas, e.g. journals,brainstorming techniques and mental-mapping activities.


This objective recognises that:

■ writing can record ideas so that they are not forgotten and can be returned to forreference, further thought and development;

■ the process of recording a thought in writing often clarifies or strengthens it oreven exposes it as less coherent than it seemed when first thought or spoken.

This kind of writing is not generally meant to communicate to a wider audience; it is morelikely to be part of notes, jottings or plans that could underpin another piece of writing, aspoken presentation, the solution to a problem or a practical task. It may, however, not bewritten for just the writer to read if, for example, it is in the context of a group task. Thepurpose of writing like this is to capture ideas and possibilities and to develop them byclustering, making links, deciding on sequences, ranking for importance, and makingsome additions and deletions. The ideas are also captured so that they can be questionedand evaluated.

What to teach

■ That sometimes writing must be ephemeral and exploratory. If exercise books arealways seen as neat books, with crossings out as wrong, it will be difficult tocultivate writing to explore and develop ideas.

■ A range of techniques for jotting down ideas for further work and evaluation, sopupils can begin to select those that suit them and the task best.

■ How to use ‘brainstorms’, mind maps and other ways of capturing thoughts andideas, and how to change and cluster these ideas to develop them further.

■ How to use hierarchical notes, such as pyramids, so that pupils learn how tobegin to structure ideas in priority order.

■ How to modify notes in the light of discussion and experience.

■ Encourage pupils to suggest formats for jotting down ideas, and share theseapproaches with the rest of the class.

■ How to use part of the exercise book as a journal, and how to write regularly torecord, question and reflect on learning.

Teaching approaches

■ Explore with pupils the common problems with the notes they make. Some pupilssee note making as reproducing a text rather than analysing it. They tend:

– not to prioritise the most important points;

– not to make inferences from the text;

– to comment on the things that the text does include but not what it doesn’t;

– to make overlong notes;

– to record content rather than abstract concepts.

■ Model for pupils how to make notes using key words and symbols. Make yourchoice of words and symbols explicit. Next, read a story to pupils and ask them to



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record the story using key words and symbols. Ask pupils to explain the storyback to their partner and also explain their choice of symbols. Finally, debriefpupils by asking them to reflect on the following:

– Whether any ideas were difficult to represent and why this was so. Draw out thedifference between concrete and abstract ideas.

– Whether anyone managed to represent something that was abstract. If so,explore the strategies that they used.

– How this technique could be useful for revising for a history exam.

– Whether anyone changed their diagram after listening to their partner and why.

■ Divide the class into three groups. A third should take linear notes, a third shoulddraw a spider diagram and select 4 or 5 categories which will allow the ideascontained in the diagram to be clustered together, and a third should use a layers-of-inference diagram (place a source in the middle of an A3 sheet of paper andadd concentric boxes around it. The inner boxes should contain concretequestions; the further from the centre each box is, the more inferential thequestions should be.). Finally, ask pupils to reflect on the advantages anddisadvantages of the different note-making strategies and when they think eachstrategy would be useful.

■ With all note-making activities, model for pupils how to use notes for an actualwriting task. Some pupils are good at note-making activities but fall down in theirwriting because they need to see a ‘good writer’ modelling the use of their notes.This is particularly the case for the explanation part of the paragraph, where pupilsoften fail to transfer their ability to analyse in thinking-skills tasks to the writingtask. For example, model for pupils how spider diagrams are useful for identifyingthe small and big points that will eventually be developed into longer writing. Drawout the following learning points:

– The process of clustering ideas provides pupils with possible topic sentences orbig points for their writing.

– The layers-of-inference diagram makes pupils analyse the text. This analysis willbe useful for the ‘Explanation’ part of their paragraphs (P, E, E). Point out thatanalysis and explanation require them to do more than just copy notes, and thatlinear notes are not always helpful for doing this. The layers-of-inference notemaking makes pupils ask questions about the text and begin the thinkingprocess. In other words, help pupils to see the big picture of how note making isabout thinking and the importance of recording thinking and not just facts.

■ Ask pupils to scan a text and write in no more than 30 words the key points of thetext. Alternatively, ask pupils to produce three bullet points summing up the mainpoints.



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Year 7

Learning through writing: structuring and organising writing

Year 7 objective: Organise texts in ways appropriate to their content, e.g. bychronology, priority, comparison, and signpost this clearly to the reader.


This objective focuses on the overall structure of texts. It requires pupils to understandhow different text-types are structured according to audience and purpose, and to use avariety of techniques in planning their own writing, for example, highlighting or numberingnotes, using planning formats such as paragraph boxes, categorising information andorganising writing under topic sentences. Pupils need to be taught this objective as part ofthe sequence for writing, by analysing model texts, teacher modelling and in shared andguided writing. Some pupils would benefit from the more-structured support of a writingframe.

What to teach

■ How to:

– explore texts to discover how they have been organised and notice thesignposts of particular sorts of organisation;

– plan writing in a variety of ways;

– match the styles of planning to content and purpose;

– use a range of organisational signposts.

Teaching approaches

■ In the Year 7 scheme of work, plan opportunities for pupils to use a variety of text-types. The main text-types in history include: instruction, explanation, information,persuasion, discursive writing, analysis and evaluation. In each case, it is importantto make explicit through teacher modelling or demonstration how the text-type isstructured, who the audience is and its purpose. See the Literacy across thecurriculum (DfES 0235/2001) folder for more information on text-types.

■ Plan starters involving text-types. For example, provide samples of writingorganised in a variety of ways for pupils to match to descriptions of the kind oftext-type or organisation employed (e.g. chronological, priority, comparison, andenquiry). Pupils could respond by showing cards. Take feedback on how thedecisions were made.

■ Help pupils to organise their ideas or notes in a variety of appropriate ways,depending on the nature of the task, e.g. storyboarding (ideal for sequencing aseries of events), brainstorming and then numbering in order of priority. Also usegraphic organisers to help to organise notes.

■ Display ‘connectives’ in the classroom and ask pupils to select the appropriateconnectives for the task. For example, signposts for cause and effect couldinclude because, so, therefore, thus, consequently.

■ Model by annotating a text with a particular structure on an OHT to show how ithas been organised, and highlight the organisational signposts. Provide pupils withthe topic sentences from a given text and ask them to provide development andexemplification of their own to complete the paragraphs. For example, There areseveral reasons why the Roman army was successful.



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■ Use card sorts to sequence text. When pupils have sequenced the cards askthem to give each one a title. Next present the titles as a flow diagram and askpupils to write in the links between the paragraphs along the arrows in thediagram.

■ Provide pupils with two pieces of information, two explanations or twodescriptions and use a shared-writing session to write a comparison. Highlight theconnectives that facilitate comparative comments, e.g. whereas, unlike.



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Year 8


Year 8 objective: Provide an explanation or commentary which links words withactions or images, e.g. a sports commentary or talking to a sequence of images.


This objective focuses on the way that the spoken word is often linked to actions orimages in a range of contexts. For example:

■ the demonstration of a practical skill where the commentary is designed to explainand inform;

■ a documentary film where the voice-over communicates the meaning in parallelwith the visual images;

■ communicating information to an audience using pictures or slides;

■ speaking stimulated by a series of still images, as in telling the story or explainingthe process portrayed by a series of pictures in a book.

Pupils need to develop their ability to explain in words the actions which they are takingwhen involved in practical activities, in order to demonstrate their understanding and theirability to reflect on and evaluate their work. There is also an important link with mediaobjectives, because it is important for pupils to be able to read images and comment onthem. Linking words with visual images is also an effective way of making a presentationto an audience. This objective builds on the Year 7 objectives, because explaining andcommentating develop the skills of summarising and reporting. It involves pupilsunderstanding the ways in which words can support and explain pictures, summarise thecontent and/or interpret pictures to influence the audience.

What to teach

■ How to provide a spoken commentary on a sequence of your own actions, inorder to inform, explain, or evaluate.

■ How to make a commentary coherent by considering the sequence of points andhow they can be linked.

■ How to select images that will best enhance a presentation.

■ How to draw attention to particular aspects of the images that are of mostsignificance.

■ How to consider the needs of the audience (e.g. their likely prior knowledge) sothat the commentary will be clear and informative.

■ How to listen to a commentary and compare it with the visual image that they arewatching.

■ How to use short clear sentences for maximum effect, and at what point to saythem when the image is moving.

■ How to match tone of voice to the images and the purpose of the commentary,e.g. sympathetic or enthusiastic.

■ How, when demonstrating an activity or making a presentation, to use gesture andfacial expression to enhance the impact of the spoken commentary.



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Teaching approaches

■ When studying images of industrial Britain, use a variety of visual sources forpupils to select and use to describe the place studied effectively. Sort and classifythem into positive, neutral and negative images. This activity could be supportedby the use of a living graph. Discuss whether the whole of a picture should beshown and if there are particular features that are good examples of things thatare more important to show than others. Annotate the images using notation toencourage pupils to look closely at the material provided. Then ask pupils toprovide a spoken commentary on the images selected.

■ Demonstrate the use of storyboards to capture the series of images in adocumentary on a historical figure such as Oliver Cromwell. Note key points madein the commentary and how adjectives are used to describe the person and theevents. Produce alternative short, clear sentences for each image, following adiscussion of what to say and when and how to say it.

■ Provide pupils with a silent digitised video clip and explain that they are going todevise a commentary in the style of the time in which the clip was produced.Watch two other clips from the same time which contain a narration. Work withthe class to draw out the conventions of this type of commentary and record themin a chart or table. Then, ask pupils to record a commentary using the highlightedstylistic conventions.

■ Give pupils an opportunity to look at a recent documentary clip where the style ofthe commentary is revisionist. Tell pupils to record in a chart the stylisticconventions of this type of commentary. Draw their attention to how the narratoruses literary devices to champion an alternative interpretation and challenge earlierassumptions. Pupils should then produce an alternative commentary replicatingthe style of revisionist interpretations.

■ Give pupils a limited selection of images and ask them to produce a presentation.This could be a digital presentation using software such as PowerPoint. Model forpupils a good presentation and get them to record the words and phrases usedby the presenter. For example:

– phrases used to flag up analysis and how the evidence links back to the bigpoint, e.g. ‘This shows clearly…’;

– the use of speculative language used by historians in their analysis;

– the use of phrases and words which help historians to convey the partial natureof historical conclusions, e.g. ‘This would partially explain…’, ‘An exception tothis is…’, ‘Broadly speaking, therefore …’, ‘Whilst explaining how the nobles felt,this does not apply to …’.

■ Provide pupils with a model of ‘how not to do a slide show’. You could drawattention to the dangers of:

– too many slides;

– too many distracting special effects;

– too little analysis and too much description;

– too much writing on the slide, particularly analysis;

– not using headings and sub-headings to flag up big points;

– not prioritising the main points for the audience.

Year 8


Year 8 objective: Listen for a specific purpose, paying sustained attention andselecting for comment or question that which is relevant to the agreed focus.


This objective requires pupils to listen with a purpose, selecting relevant information. ByYear 9, pupils are being asked to listen for implied meaning. In Year 8 they are expected tolisten for a detailed understanding of content, and to focus on specific areas for comment.Focused, sustained listening is a skill that many pupils need to develop. The objective is agood cross-curricular focus, requiring pupils to develop listening skills in a range ofcontexts, using common techniques. It links closely with note-making skills and the abilityto retain or record relevant information. Note-making grids can support pupils by providingmore detailed prompts for those who need them.

What to teach

■ How we listen in different ways for different purposes. When listening to thefootball results on the car radio, we may be very focused – waiting for a mentionof a particular team’s results. Listening to friends talking about what they did at theweekend will be different – picking up the general drift of what several people did.Pupils also need to know that in school lessons they should listen in different waysfor different purposes, such as listening out for specific information (e.g. the namesof the key Chartist leaders in the nineteenth century), or listening carefully in orderto carry out a follow-up task (e.g. writing an informative magazine article about thesignificance of the Luddites after watching a television programme).

■ How to spot the clues which indicate that relevant information is about to beprovided that needs recording. A historian narrating a documentary will useadverbs and other signals for the sequence of events. Show how music can oftensignal the significance of an event in the eyes of the documentary maker. Modelhow to listen for the words and phrases which signal the significance that thedocumentary maker places on a particular cause or effect. Identify the signals forcriticising an argument.

■ How to listen out for and select relevant information, making use of key words andphrases.

■ How to use note-making skills to record key points quickly and efficiently. Forexample:

– use bullet points or leave a space between points;

– use abbreviations;

– note key words and phrases;

– underline important points;

– use diagrams and flow charts.

■ How to comment on or question the material they are listening to.

Teaching approaches

■ Before an important listening task, ensure that pupils know exactly what theyshould be focusing on, what they should be doing while listening and what they willdo with the information afterwards. When watching a video, give different groups ofpupils different things to listen out for. Also make use of KWL and QUADS grids.



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Share with them, using the OHP, whiteboard or a task sheet, that they are going tolisten to and watch a 20-minute video sequence about life in a cotton mill in thenineteenth century. Relate this to the lesson objectives and to the follow-up writingtask on the importance of children working in the factories in the nineteenthcentury.

■ When possible, provide pupils with a preview of how the material is structured. Forexample, in relation to the above activity, provide pupils with a list of the peoplefeatured in the video in the order in which they appear. In addition, note on theOHP, whiteboard or task sheet the different sections of the video and how they aresignalled.

■ Be explicit about specific sentence- and word-level features that will help pupils tomonitor the different stages of a talk, reading or television programme and helpthem to identify relevant material. For example, before an argument is presentedon an issue such as the causes of the Civil War, give pupils a short time to notelikely words and phrases and those that might signal the development of theargument. Take feedback and note the most helpful on the whiteboard. Leavethem there during the listening.

■ Revise note-making skills, such as the use of abbreviation, by modelling importantskills on the whiteboard or an OHT. For example, ask a pupil to read out theirdescription of Queen Elizabeth I and model the noting of key points. Talk aboutthe decisions you are making and the techniques you are using as you go.Alternatively, do the same with a short extract from Samuel Pepys’ diary of theGreat Fire of London.

■ Show pupils examples of different types of notes, such as pyramiding, treediagrams and timelines. Ask them to identify when each would be useful.Demonstrate their use then ask pupils to try different techniques before looking atsome pupil examples on an OHT, and giving feedback on how to make notesmore effectively.

■ During listening, stop the programme, reading or talk and ask for oral commentsand questions. Give a couple of minutes for pair talk and noting of points, thentake comments. This will help you to monitor pupils’ understanding and will allowpupils to give their views or seek clarification. Do the same at the end.

■ Develop whole-class debating skills during an enquiry such as ‘Which group wasworse off in the last years of the eighteenth century: British workers or slaves inthe West Indies?’. See the article by Ian Luff in Teaching history issue 105 formore detail.

■ Encourage explicit pupil comment or questioning by providing a grid. For example:

Key point made in the historical What I think drama Roots on the middle passage

What I already know What I want to know What I have learnt about about the French about the French the causes of the French Revolution Revolution Revolution from the video

Year 8


Year 8 objective: Use talk to question, hypothesise, speculate, evaluate, solveproblems and develop thinking about complex issues and ideas.


This objective develops the use of talk as a tool for developing thinking. It needs to betaught in a range of contexts and lends itself additionally to cross-curricular work. Teachermodelling or other examples of this use of talk support pupils to understand how theprocess works. Pupils need both specific support with linguistic structures for hypothesisand speculation and also help with managing their contributions to group work.

What to teach

Questioning

■ How to use questions to open up a discussion, such as ‘What about …?’ (offeringa suggestion) or ‘So what do you think, Sam?’ (drawing in someone else).

■ How to use questions to probe/challenge, e.g. ‘And what about …?’, ‘What if…?’, ‘Do you agree, irrespective of …?’, ‘So why do you think that …?’, ‘Afterwhat Sara has just said, do you still believe …?’, ‘Do you really feel that …?’,‘What about the opposing view that …?’.

Hypothesis and speculation

■ How to use talk in a tentative way. Explore the use of:

– adverbials, e.g. ‘Probably …’, ‘Possibly …’, ‘Maybe …’, ‘Perhaps …’,‘Presumably …’;

– modal verbs (can, may, might, should, will ), e.g. ‘It may be …’, ‘Should we …?’,‘Could we …?’;

– other tentative/speculative verbs, e.g. ‘I think …’, ‘This suggests …’, ‘I wonder …’, ‘I guess …’, ‘I suppose …’, ‘I doubt …’;

– questions, e.g. ‘What if …?’ or ‘What about …?’.

Evaluation

■ How to offer statements of opinion, judgement, likes and dislikes, e.g. ‘In myopinion …’, ‘It seems …’, ‘I think …’, ‘I would rather …’.

■ How to use:

– comparative/contrasting connectives, e.g. compared with, similarly, likewise,alternatively, whereas, on the other hand, despite;

– causal connectives, e.g. because, therefore, so, in that case, still, even though,as a result, consequently;

– adjectives (including comparative and superlative forms), e.g. better, best, morethan, most;

– verbs to indicate value judgements, e.g. prefer, would rather, like/dislike.

Solving problems and thinking about complex issues and ideas

■ How to use the language of cooperation and negotiation, e.g. ‘Should we …?’,‘Would it be a good idea if …?’, ‘I propose that …’.



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■ How using absolutes, such as never or always, can close down opportunities fornegotiation and compromise.

■ How to use summative comments to offer a solution, e.g. ‘Well, I think we should …’, ‘What about if we …’, ‘Therefore …’, ‘Consequently …’, ‘As acompromise …’.

■ How to express multifaceted, or more complex, views, e.g. ‘I don’t like it, but I can understand why …’ or ‘Although I wouldn’t, I can see why some peoplewould …’.

■ How to echo others’ ideas in giving a response, e.g. ‘So you think that …’, ‘Does that mean …?’.

■ How to develop others’ ideas, e.g. ‘Yes, we could …’ or ‘What about if we then …?’.

■ The effect of affirming or positive body language to encourage discussion, such asnodding, eye contact (but not solidly staring at someone), seating position (forexample, leaning forward slightly, with ‘open’ body, body turned towards thespeaker), arms should not be crossed, voices level.

■ The value of verbal ‘fillers’, such as ‘mmm’, ‘yes’, while nodding to keep thediscussion going.

Teaching approaches

■ Generate ground rules collaboratively to encourage speculative talk.

■ Ask pupils to generate sentence stems for the language of co-operation:

– ‘I hear what you are saying; I agree that today we would think that watchinga public execution of a king was a horrific event, but do you think people at thattime shared our attitudes towards public executions? … but even in those daysit was not every day that a king was executed’.

– ‘Yes, it does depend on who was being executed…’.

– ‘That’s a good point… I hadn’t thought of comparing his execution to that of apoor person’.

– ‘I partially agree with you but, looking at the expressions on their faces, thecrowd does not seem to be very shocked at this sight’.

Place these on display with any other word banks or sentence stems generated,on a whiteboard or flipchart.

■ Initiate exploratory or hypothetical talk by using tentative language, rather than byasking questions. Begin a discussion by wondering out loud or offering ahypothetical statement of your own. Draw pupils’ attention to the words andphrases that create hypothetical talk. For example, when launching a discussionabout what would have happened if the Romans had applied the use of steam touses other than a toy, say ‘I think that the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenthcentury might have begun during Roman times if this discovery had been appliedto other uses than as a toy.’ Pupils could then mind map their own thinking.

■ Explore examples of complex issues or ideas with a range of possible solutions,preferably using stimulus materials such as a class text, a video documentary,historical film or newspaper article. Role play activities which encourage problemsolving.

■ Watch a television programme that has panellists exemplifying speculating,hypothesising or problem solving. For example, during a lesson where you arefocusing on inferring from archaeological evidence, watch a TV programme basedaround a dig. Alternatively, listen to radio programmes debating a historical issue.As a class, discuss features of language used and note the process by which



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participants work towards a solution. Draw up a collaborative checklist to use forinvestigative work. Pupils could be asked to present a radio debate which modelsthe process, using the language of investigation.

■ Divide pupils into groups to discuss a problem. Allocate specific roles to groupmembers, including a facilitator (to ensure that everyone is involved, to open upthe discussion, and to move the group towards negotiation/compromise) and arecorder/observer. Discuss the observations and language used. When learningabout nineteenth-century attitudes towards the conditions in the mines, pupilscould be given different roles when trying to resolve whether something should bedone to reform the working conditions. Show pupils quite lengthy primary extractsthat allow them to have access to the arguments of the time. Some extractsshould be quite neutral in their use of language, such as rules of working, andothers should be more emotive. Model for pupils how to extract the argumentsput forward at the time and also the use of contemporary language to persuadethe audience. Then model for pupils how to debate and speak in period role,showing how to stand back from twenty-first-century values.

■ To develop speculation and divergent thinking, ask pupils to work in groups of fiveto complete a de Bono ‘thinking hats’ activity. The groups should be given asituation, such as ‘How far should we improve the slum areas of Birmingham?’.Again pupils should be given a range of nineteenth-century roles. Each groupshould then respond to that situation in a manner appropriate to the colour of thehat they have been given. The colours of the hats, and the attitudes which theyrepresent, are: white – neutral and objective, red – anger, black – cautious andcareful, yellow – positive and optimistic, green – creative and environmentallyaware. Once the groups have discussed their thoughts, they should be ‘jigsawed’to create new groups where the blue hat thinking should take place (blue – cool,controlled, overview thinking) and a decision is reached.

■ Having spent some time studying the attitudes of a range of different people to theslave trade, place a highly emotive statement about why the slave trade should beabolished at one end of the classroom. At the other end of the room place ahighly emotive statement about why the slave trade should be maintained. Askeach pupil to pick a role from an envelope. Then line the class up and say thatthey can only talk to the pupil standing next to them. Explain that they need todiscuss with that pupil where they would place their role on the attitudecontinuum. Model for pupils the thinking and the sorts of language that theyshould use. Next, ask pupils to speculate on what evidence could be used to shifttheir role’s attitude.

Year 8


Year 8 objective: Make notes in different ways, choosing a form which suits thepurpose, e.g. diagrammatic notes, making notes during a video, abbreviating forspeed and ease of retrieval.


In this objective pupils need to be taught formats for recording what they read and hear sothey can use them for later recall or re-formatting. Pupils need a real reason to make thenotes and a clear idea of what they should then do with them: are they an aide-mémoirefor personal revision or later recall, or are they preparation for a speaking and listening orwriting task? Note making is not just about recording key points; a well-prepared note-making task can ensure that pupils reflect on, ask questions about or challengeinformation which they have heard. It is important that pupils are shown good techniquesfor making notes and, crucially, are given opportunities to practise these. Theseopportunities should be linked to important learning and be designed to establish notemaking as part of a habitual repertoire of writing skills.

What to teach

■ How to make notes in various ways:

– Diagrammatic notes – possibly using colours, pictures and symbols, capitals,underlining and other techniques to help make the notes clear and memorable.

– Notes in two columns – where information is recorded in one column andthoughts, feelings, questions and other responses are recorded alongside them.

– Traditional notes – with effective use of bullet points, abbreviations and so on.

■ How to recognise the main organisational features of a text. For example, atelevision documentary may start with an explanation of its purpose, raise a seriesof points and end with an overview that possibly raises further questions. Knowingabout the structure in advance will help pupils to listen out for relevant information.In written texts they should be made aware of the way in which headings, sub-headings, topic sentences and other features can help them to identify keypoints.

■ Specific phrases which signal to the reader that a key point is about to be made,e.g. ‘Another point is …’, ‘Furthermore …’, ‘So …’, ‘To sum up …’. Knowledge ofthese markers will help pupils to recognise when key points are about to be made.

■ How to note down questions and uncertainties for seeking later clarification orfurther information.

Teaching approaches

■ Encourage pupils to experiment and then adopt the note-making format withwhich they are most comfortable. Ask pupils to reflect on their experience of notemaking and share their positive ideas.

■ When asked to take notes from video, pupils often find it difficult to transferinformation presented in one genre into notes to be used for constructing anothergenre. For example, showing a video of a narrative account and expecting pupilsto use this to construct their own explanatory or analytical piece of writing. So,give pupils a KWL grid (What do we Know already? What do we Want to learn?Where will we Find the information? What have we Learned?). Select a narrativeaccount. Check that pupils understand the text-level conventions of a narrative



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account, e.g. setting, characters, intriguing event, problem, resolution, moral.Explain that historians often use narrative accounts to construct other types ofwriting (genres), e.g. causal explanations. In order to do this historians have tomake inferences from the narrative account about causes. Play a short clip of anarrative historical reconstruction. Model for pupils how to make an inference fromthis one person’s account to the wider picture of causation. Then ask pupils if theycan make further inferences and get them to fill in the KWF part of the grid beforethey watch the video. Finally, pupils should complete the L part of their grid.

■ Use the same approach with a written text.

■ Explain to pupils that making good notes is as much about thinking before youwatch the video as it is about watching the video. Emphasise that what theyshould not do when they are taking notes is record every detail contained in thevideo; they must be selective. However, being selective needs them to come upwith good questions that they want to know the answers to.

■ Listen to a short section of a video documentary. Explain to pupils that they mustwrite down the words and phrases that give them clues about how important acause or an effect was considered to be by the producer of the documentary.Give pupils an intriguing question to focus their note making, e.g. ‘How far are youconvinced by the documentary interpretation of …’. Give pupils a QUADS grid.This includes the Question, the Answer, more Detailed information, and the Sourceof the information. Explain the big question which pupils are going to use thedocumentary to answer. Then ask them to come up with a list of questions whichthey think they need to answer in relation to the big question and which might beprovided by the video. Next, pupils should fill in their questions on the QUADS gridand watch the video. Finally, they should complete their grids.

■ Tell pupils that some people prefer to make notes whilst listening and others preferto pause. Ask pupils to experiment with both methods and give them time toreflect on which suits them best.



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Year 8


Year 8 objective: Recognise bias and objectivity, distinguishing facts fromhypotheses, theories or opinions.


Pupils need to know that while some texts seek to present facts from an objective point ofview, other texts present facts selectively or in a way that promotes a particular viewpointwith which not everyone agrees. Through selective choice of facts and evidence, images,vocabulary and structure, writers may deliberately aim to influence the reader’s opinions,emotions and/or attitudes. Bias can also sometimes be unintentional and simply reflect thewriter’s narrow personal perspective and understanding. Pupils need to be able todistinguish established facts from opinions and how factual information can be presentedin a non-objective way through the use of images and words. Pupils need to considerimplied as well as literal meanings and the connotations of particular words. They need toquestion the intentions of authors, considering why they are offering ideas, opinions andhypotheses rather than facts or certainties.

What to teach

■ How to recognise the purpose of a text, e.g. to explain, inform, discuss orpersuade.

■ How to distinguish facts from opinions.

■ How to find and evaluate any support that writers or speakers give for their pointof view. Are these expressed as direct quotations, figures, or more vaguely, e.g.‘As it can be said that …’ or ‘Many people think that …?’.

■ How to take account of modal verbs such as could or might as opposed to mustor will.

■ How to recognise and evaluate the impact of emotional images and vocabulary.

■ How to recognise cultural implications in texts.

■ How to make inferences or deductions in order to detect bias in a text.

■ How to trace ideas through a text and look for inconsistencies and omissions.

■ How to refer to other texts written by the same or other writers which can helpwith the interpretation of the original text.

Teaching approaches

■ At the beginning of a unit, select a visual source which from a modern-dayviewpoint will probably lead pupils to make a range of assumptions. Place thesource in the middle of an A3 piece of paper and put cloud bubbles or text boxesaround the left-hand side of the paper. Put 4 or 5 pieces of contextual informationabout the source into text boxes on the right-hand side of the paper. This mightinclude contemporary sources and more recent historians’ interpretations. Putsticky notes over the text boxes and ask pupils not to look at the informationbeneath the sticky notes. At the bottom of the page, put a text box large enoughfor pupils to record 3 or 4 sentences. Ask pairs of pupils to annotate the cloudbubbles with their first impressions of the picture. Next, tell the pairs to remove thesticky notes and explain to them what contextual information means and that it isalways important when interpreting a source to interpret it with backgroundinformation. Ask pupils to discuss with their partner whether this information leads



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them to challenge their first impressions. Finally, pupils should record in the textbox at the bottom of the page ways in which the contextual information has ledthem to change their views, and also reflect in a plenary what they have learntabout judging a source from modern-day assumptions and values.

■ Give pupils a primary text. Ask them to highlight facts and opinions andsubstantiated judgements in different colours. Next, draw out from pupils how theymade their decisions about whether something was a fact, opinion orsubstantiated judgement. Highlight the use of:

– quotes;

– emotive language;

– the nature of what is being discussed, e.g. feelings versus events that definitelyhappened;

– balanced writing to weigh up the reliability of a source before reaching ajudgement;

– signals to show the writer is cross-referencing their statements, e.g. ‘This issupported by…’.

■ Introduce the concept of subjective and objective. Ask pupils to consider whetherbeing objective means historians should not express their views.

Year 8


Year 8 objective: Analyse the overall structure of a text to identify how key ideasare developed, e.g. through the organisation of the content and the patterns oflanguage used.


This objective builds on the Year 7 analysis of word choice and sentence structure. Itteaches pupils how to analyse the overall structure of a text and not only supports theirreading of a text but also supports their own writing, because they can employ thetechniques used by other writers.

What to teach

■ How the genre/form of a text can relate to the structure, e.g. explanation, poster,leaflet, letter.

■ How themes can be conveyed through a text.

■ How to analyse the structure and impact of key parts of a text, e.g. opening, mainpoints, conclusion, heading, sub-heading.

■ How writers can use a variety of structural techniques, e.g. flashback,juxtaposition, bullet points, tables.

Teaching approaches

■ Demonstrate to pupils how understanding the way in which a text is structuredcan help them to gain information from it quickly. Use the textbook as an example,pointing out the different sections and subsections and any other organisationaldevices. Follow this up with another shorter text, e.g. a description of a Romansoldier’s uniform and equipment. Ask pupils to identify the main purpose of thetext and how it is organised and then to reflect on how this would help them tounderstand it and identify the main ideas in order to make notes.

■ Look at a range of short texts that might be used as source material, e.g. a rangeof documents related to the issue of slavery. Ask pupils to work in pairs to identifythe type of each text and say what kind of information/evidence they would expectto get from such a text.

■ Select a key historical text which is short enough to go on an OHT but is quitechallenging. Annotate the text for pupils, drawing attention to its structure, e.g. bylabelling each paragraph. Having given pupils this way into the text, ask them toread it again for themselves and summarise the key ideas in a number of bulletpoints.

■ Give pupils a text where the writer has used a language pattern, e.g. repetitionand/or other kinds of structural devices, such as lists, charts, tables andeyewitness statements in italic print. Ask them to annotate their texts byhighlighting these features. In a plenary session, ask pupils to comment on howthe patterns and structures which they have identified helped them to understandthe text.



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Year 8

Learning through writing: using writing as a tool for thought

Year 8 objective: Use writing for thinking and learning by recording ideas as theydevelop to aid reflection and problem solving.


This objective builds on the Year 7 objective: use writing to explore and develop ideas. Itfocuses on two important qualities of writing:

■ Writing can record ideas so that they are not forgotten and can be returned to forreference, further thought and development.

■ The process of recording a thought in writing often clarifies or strengthens it, oreven exposes it as less coherent than it seemed when first thought or spoken.

This kind of writing is not generally meant to communicate to a wider audience; it is morelikely to be part of notes, jottings or plans that could underpin another piece of writing, aspoken presentation, the solution to a problem or a practical task. It may, however, not bewritten for just the writer to read if, for example, it is in the context of a group task. Thepurpose of writing like this is to capture ideas and possibilities and to develop them byclustering, making links, deciding on sequences, ranking for importance, and makingsome additions and deletions. The ideas are also captured so that they can be questionedand evaluated.

What to teach

■ The contexts in which this kind of writing is useful.

■ A range of styles/formats for this kind of writing (e.g. bullet points, spiderdiagrams, tables), demonstrating to pupils that it is important for them to representtheir ideas in the way that best suits the way they think.

■ How to work with a set of initial ideas on paper to develop them further, e.g. byclustering or prioritising them.

■ How to take minutes or notes from discussion and then place pupils in role to doit independently.

Teaching approaches

■ Use concept mapping to teach pupils about the importance of negotiating themeaning of substantive historical concepts, such as the medieval Church,democracy, empire and freedom. This can be done at the beginning of a unit toestablish pupils’ existing understanding and any misconceptions, but could alsobe used at the end of a unit to allow pupils and teachers to assess changes inpupils’ understanding. At the beginning of a unit, select a fundamental substantiveconcept, such as the medieval Church, and put it in a text box in the middle of anA3 sheet of paper. On separate pieces of card, give pupils 8 or 9 othersubstantive concepts which are connected to the concept of the medievalChurch, e.g. control, fear, hell, land, feudal system, king, Pope, chain of being,wealth. Model for pupils how a concept map works.

■ Model for pupils how to produce a spidergram to support decisions on orderingand selecting information to include in a piece of extended writing:

– Identify 5 or 6 big points that will form the topic sentences for the essay.

– Discuss out loud which big point you feel happened first and label this



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number 1. Then describe the sequential consequences of this and label thecause or consequence that emerged from it as number 2.

– Ask pupils to work out the ordering of the other big points according tochronology.

– Highlight any disagreements and point out that history is not neat and it is notalways possible to order events exactly according to time.

– Highlight for pupils that chronology is not the only way that historians orderinformation.

■ Show pupils an example of a historical text and ask them to work out what theythink the historian was thinking when he or she made decisions on how to orderthe information. For example, highlight the use of the underlying cause as amechanism for ordering information.

■ After noting the big points for a topic, ask pupils to brainstorm the small pointsthat they are going to use as evidence or logic to support each big point. Thesmall points should be linked with the big points using branches.

■ After pupils have made written notes, explain that when planning we sometimeshave too much or too little evidence. Therefore, say that they are going to have tojustify their choice of small points to their partner. The partner has to listen andrespond about whether they have too much or too little evidence and whether theevidence will successfully develop their line of argument.



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Year 8


Year 8 objective: Develop different ways of linking paragraphs, using a range ofstrategies to improve cohesion and coherence, e.g. choice of connectives,reference back, linking phrases.


This objective focuses on the organisation of a text beyond the level of a single paragraph.It is about showing young writers how to signal explicitly to the reader the logicalconnections between their paragraphs, thus improving the logic and clarity of their writing.In Year 7, pupils learn when to start a new paragraph and how to introduce it effectivelywith a topic sentence. Here they learn about a higher level of organisation; sequencingand linking paragraphs in order to fulfil the purpose of their text. This aspect of writing isconnected with learning because it is about representing an understanding of howdifferent aspects of the topic are linked.

What to teach

■ A range of connectives that will link paragraphs in different ways, e.g. moreover(adding information), consequently (cause and effect), next (sequencing), however(qualifying), in the same way (comparing), on the other hand (contrasting).

■ Linking phrases, e.g. ‘The ideas that were described in the previous paragraph …’or ‘My conclusion that follows from the facts above is …’.

■ How to create clear and unambiguous reference chains, e.g. If a paragraph begins‘Moreover, these people …’ will the reader be clear about who is being referred toby the phrase ‘these people’?

Teaching approaches

■ Good writers of persuasive writing use their logical line of argument to guide themin decisions about how to organise information in a piece of extended writing. Thetopic sentences are used to signal to the reader how this paragraph links into theirline of argument. Likewise, the concluding points of paragraphs are sometimesused to analyse what the evidence highlighted in the body of the paragraphindicates about the strength of their line of argument and the weaknesses in theopposition’s line of argument. The aim for the teacher is to get all pupils using aline of argument so that the puzzle of how to organise information becomesclearer to all pupils.

One learning block to achieving this objective is that pupils do not understand thebig picture of how a logical line of argument informs the writer about how toorganise information in a persuasive piece of writing.

In persuasive writing where pupils are experiencing this learning block, you will findthat:

– the argument does not build up throughout the piece;

– each paragraph tends to be self-contained and any explanatory commentrelates to the topic sentence of the paragraph, rather than linking back to a lineof argument;

– the introduction does not contain an outline of a logical way of proving theauthor’s point of view;



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– it is not clear that the pupil understands what a logical historical argument mightlook like. In particular they are unclear about the importance of developingcriteria for judging something and do not include this in their discussion;

– pupils, despite being confident about doing thinking-skills tasks which are aimedat helping them analyse, do not transfer this ability to analyse to the explanationsections of their paragraphs. This is because they do not understand how thesethinking-skills tasks relate to their longer-term task of producing a piece ofextended writing;

– the word- and sentence-level analysis of the work of such pupils shows little useof linking words and phrases which would signal to the reader the building up ofthe argument.

Building up a line of argument is an abstract concept. The following exampletackles this learning block by using analogy and a visual image. This providespupils with a concrete image building up a line of argument in a persuasive pieceof extended writing. Provide pupils with an intriguing question that lends itself topersuasive argument, e.g. How far do you agree that King John was a bad king?Use a visual image of a brick wall. Explain that good pieces of persuasive writingcontain a line of argument which is introduced in the introduction and is built uponthroughout the essay. On a whiteboard, project a completed model essay of Howfar do you agree that King John was a bad king? In the margin next to theintroduction, show the foundations of the wall. Similarly, in the second paragraph,place a layer of bricks. In paragraph three, add a third layer. For the conclusion,have a complete brick wall in the margin. Explain that:

– the brick wall represents a logical line of argument to persuade your audiencethat King John, rather than being a bad king, was an unlucky king who had allthe qualities of a good ruler;

– the foundations of the brick wall represent the introduction where you introducethe line of argument to the reader;

– as you move through the essay you build up your line of argument. This isrepresented by the wall getting bigger in each paragraph. In each paragraph,therefore, the explanation part of the paragraph should include an explanation ofhow the selected evidence supports your logical argument.

– the cement which ensures that the wall stands up is like the words and phraseswhich the writer uses to link from the evidence back to the line of argument.Give examples such as This adds further support to the argument that …, Thiswould seem to suggest that …, This confirms the view that … .

In the main body of the essay, leave a space for pupils to write their commentsabout what the purpose of the paragraph is in building up the writer’s line ofargument. Provide the following two sentence starters for pupils to complete as acommentary on the logic of how the writer selected and organised information togo into the paragraph:

– This paragraph helps build up the writer’s line of argument by …

– The writer has therefore selected information about …

■ Direct pupils to write a commentary on the paragraphs in their own words.Alternatively, ask them to pair up, swap their books and work out the logic behindeach other’s selection and organisation of material. Use the sentence starter Mypartner has chosen to select information about … for this paragraph because s/hewants to show … .

■ The writing of logical connections between paragraphs can be blocked by pupilsnot having a developed line of argument. One component of reasoning in manycausation essays is the expansion of a point about inevitability. Provide pupils withan opportunity to look at a short-term event to explore the extent to which they



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feel the event was inevitable or down to chance, and the ways in which the short-term event links up with the long-term context. To do this, plan to ask speculative‘What if …?’ questions. Draw out from the learning that this could be a line ofargument developed throughout their essay. Ask pupils to reflect on the topicsentences that they might use if they were going to develop this line of argument.

■ Analyse at a sentence and word level the ways in which writers develop their lineof argument and how this requires paragraphs to be linked. Focus on the‘Explanation’ and ‘Point’ section of a paragraph. Draw out the use of linkingphrases such as:

– To analyse whether … was an important factor it is important to look at …

– This gives support to the argument that …

– This is clearly further evidence of …

– If the war was inevitable you would expect that there would be evidence of …

– However, evidence suggests …

– Despite this …

– Similarly …

Provide pupils with a technical language for describing these different connectives,e.g. additive connectives, comparative connectives, sequential connectives,cause-and-effect connectives.

■ Photocopy a pupil’s essay and distribute it to the class. Ask pupils to rewrite oneparagraph to improve its cohesion to the rest of the essay by using a range ofconnectives.



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Year 9


Year 9 objective: Use standard English to explain, explore or justify an idea.


The use of standard English should be related to purpose and audience. It is important tobe clearly understood when conveying ideas to an audience. Pupils need to practiseexplaining ideas in formal contexts and need to move beyond tentative, exploratory talkinto more incisive comments. Pupils should be aware of differences between spoken andwritten standard English. Although in formal spoken English full sentences are not alwaysused, pupils may make use of more formal devices, such as subordinate clauses, passivevoice and connectives, to show the relationship between ideas. At word level, vocabularyneeds to be understood by all, with both vagueness and jargon avoided. Pupils might self-correct as they speak, to ensure that the use of standard English is maintained.

What to teach

■ That there are choices to be made about the use of standard English in bothwritten and oral work.

■ The importance of spoken standard English; some people have very strong viewsand expectations about its use and some situations demand it, such as debatesor job interviews. Attitudes may change over time but it is empowering to have agood grasp of when standard English is appropriate and to develop confident useof its features as part of a spoken-language repertoire.

■ That the use of standard English is determined by audience, purpose and context,and that it can vary in its degree of formality.

■ The specific features of standard English and how it differs from dialectalvariations, e.g. subject/verb agreement, past tense, adverbs, negatives, pronouns,prepositions.

■ When standard English is likely to be required in the classroom, e.g. preparedpresentations, whole-class discussion. Point out when very formal standardEnglish may be inappropriate, e.g. planning a warm up in pairs.

■ That standard English can be spoken in any accent.

Explain

■ How to start by orientating listeners, including a logical sequence of points whichneeds signalling to the audience, e.g. ‘In this talk, I am going to ...’, ‘First of all, Iwould like to ...’, ‘Now I am going to explain how ...’, ‘Finally ...’.

■ How to use the first person and present tense to explain ideas about texts orissues, e.g. ‘I think this happened because …’.

■ How to illuminate points by examples or evidence, e.g. ‘An example of this can beseen in the final paragraph of the article …’.

■ How to monitor audience understanding by questions during or after theexplanation, e.g. ‘Does everyone understand what I mean by ... ?’, ‘Before Iconclude, are there any questions ...?’.

■ How to conclude explanations by phrases such as, ‘I hope everyone now has abetter grasp of my point of view on this issue’.



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Explore

■ How to signal tentativeness by incorporating tentative words or phrases such as‘Perhaps …’, ‘Maybe …’, ‘It may be ...’.

■ How to establish an exploratory tone at the outset by a statement of intent, e.g. ‘I would like to consider what would happen if ...’.

■ How to use theoretical questions to draw in the audience, e.g. ‘What could thispossibly mean?’, ‘Have you ever wondered why …?’.

■ How to link ideas to ensure that listeners follow the speaker’s thinking, e.g.‘Another issue raised by the article is ...’, ‘An alternative interpretation is …’.

■ How to explore the implications of ideas through constructions such as ‘If ... then’,e.g. ‘If this is the case, then it is likely that ...’.

■ How to justify ideas by evidence of some kind such as data, quotations orillustrative examples. The common pattern for justifying an idea is: explain it,provide supportive evidence, confirm your point.

■ How to use formal orienting phrases, such as ‘I shall now explain why I ...’ or‘Support for my view is provided by that bit of video when …’.

■ How to introduce specific evidence by using phrases such as ‘For instance’ andto justify an idea with reasons using ‘because’.

■ Different factors may be itemised, e.g. ‘Firstly ...’, ‘Another reason is ...’, ‘Finally ...’.

■ Earlier points by other contributors may be countered by using formal phrasessuch as, ‘Unlike the previous speaker, I believe … because …’.

Teaching approaches

■ Model talking to a friend about how two people might reminisce about the reasonswhy they joined up to fight in the Second World War and then, talking on thesame topic, to a formal gathering such as the local Historical Association. Askpupils to identify the differences and record them on a two-column grid.

■ Use a role play to explore the impact of inappropriate language in formal contexts,e.g. the use of slang by the presenter of a documentary on the bombing ofHiroshima.

■ Analyse the features of a transcript of a more-formal spoken text, e.g. aparliamentary speech on the Prime Minister’s reasons for a particular policy. Readit together, then ask pupils to highlight and annotate the features of the text beforediscussing it.

■ As preparation for giving a formal talk about the extent to which the long-termcauses were more important than the short-term causes of the Second WorldWar, provide a video transcript from a TV documentary on this topic. This does nothave to be the whole programme but enough for pupils to be able to brainstormthe features of the more-formal talk in the transcript. This could be done in smallgroups. Take feedback and display the agreed features in the classroom beforecompleting formal talk tasks.



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Year 9


Year 9 objective: Identify the underlying themes, implications and issues raised bya talk, reading or programme.


Pupils should be able to listen carefully, to select particular information for comment, andto identify how messages are conveyed. They need to interpret what they hear,recognising what is implied and detecting bias. This involves being aware of audience andpurpose, recognising connotations at word level, stylistic conventions at sentence level,and organisational implications at text level. While some pupils recognise implications andissues immediately, others will need support to explore beyond the surface. The objectiveis likely to be taught alongside other objectives clustered around persuasive texts, bothspoken and written.

What to teach

■ Listening for different purposes to:

– identify the main points made;

– understand the main points and formulate own responses, e.g. own views orquestions;

– identify key points and recognise how they are being made, explicitly or not;

– identify what significant issues are raised and why.

■ How different types of spoken texts may be organised, and particularly whattechniques may be used. For example, at text level, a prepared talk designed topersuade the audience of a particular point of view may be carefully structured,with an introduction which orientates the listener followed by a series of linkedpoints and a concluding overview. At sentence and word level, the speaker maydeploy rhetorical questions, irony, emotive language, imagery and repetition.

■ What is meant by theme. In a talk, it means an idea or topic which is expandedupon, for example, a pupil speaker may explore the theme of friendship andloyalty among teenagers.

■ What is meant by implication – something that is not directly stated but suggestedor hinted at. Listeners need to hear between the lines. A particular meaning maybe implied by:

– a rhetorical question, e.g. ‘Would you like personal information about you to bemade public?’;

– an invitation to the listeners to work out something for themselves, e.g. ‘Thinkabout it’;

– emphasis given to a particular word or phrase, e.g. ‘Yes, it seems like aconvincing argument’;

– apparent denial, e.g. ‘I wouldn’t go so far as to say he was an out and out liar’;

– connotation, an association or idea suggested by a word or phrase, e.g. printedconnotes more important than written.

■ How to detect bias in different types of material. Pupils need to ask searchingquestions about the underpinning beliefs of the speaker, writer or televisionprogramme maker/presenter. They need to be able to detect illogical thought,unsubstantiated arguments and distortion of data. They need to recognise emotivelanguage that seeks to persuade the listener against his or her good judgement.



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■ How a talk, reading or programme may set out to deal with an explicitly identifiedissue, or how it may unintentionally raise issues for the listener. Effective listenersneed to be able to identify:

– important points of interest raised by the material;

– their own views on these points.

Teaching approaches

■ Focus pupils’ attention on the idea that writers, speakers and programme makershave a specific purpose which readers, listeners and viewers need to recognise toavoid being hoodwinked. In a unit where pupils are investigating ‘What were thetrenches really like?’ provide a list of different examples and ask pupils, in pairs, tosuggest the purpose of each one:

– a twentieth-century television documentary about life in the trenches.

– a contemporary campaign leaflet for joining up.

– a First World War veteran interviewed 40 years after the war.

Discuss the questions: ‘Who produced it? Why was it produced? When was itproduced? What type of source is it? What type of language does the sourcecontain? How typical is the source for different groups of people?’. Ask pupils:

– ‘Why is it important to talk about all of these questions before deciding to whatextent the sources can be trusted to give a typical impression of life in thetrenches?’

– ‘What might happen if you don’t ask these questions before reaching asubstantiated judgement about life in the trenches?’

■ Analyse key features of a text before pupils listen to more demanding material. Forexample, provide an outline of the structure of a television documentary:introduction, the case for and the case against. Provide pupils with a list of keywords or phrases to be on the alert for when listening. For example, a transcript ofa documentary debating the historical significance of the dropping of theHiroshima bomb could be used to identify and highlight key words or phrasesbefore listening and watching the programme.

■ Explain listening tasks precisely. Provide guidance on what the class should dowhile listening and what will happen afterwards. Provide a handout which will helpthem to complete the task effectively. For example, an outline of the televisionprogramme with space for notes under each heading, or a specifically designednote-making template. A concept map or mind map with key ideas identified fornote making will help to start the process of making links and developing ideas ina structured way. For example, when explaining the key people and events thathave led to democracy in the UK today, a visual organiser helps to locate themand to make links between them. The notes made can then be structured moreeasily into a piece of extended writing.



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■ Model how speakers make implications and discuss the features of such talk withthe class. Then ask a pair of pupils to role play a conversation in which eachspeaker implies points but is never explicit. Pause at the first example and ask therest of the class to work out what is being implied before taking comments andagreeing on the likely meaning. In an activity where pupils are analysing how farthe twentieth century should be remembered as an era of war, demonstrate howto note the points in a grid:

Explicit points Implied points

1.There were many conflicts in the 1. Imply that the twentieth century was atwentieth century, for example… time of conflict by showing a range of

paintings with symbols of war such as Picasso’s Guernica.

2. Statistics about the number of conflicts 2. Play a song such as the Farm’s ‘All since the beginning of the twentieth together now’, which is about people century. coming together to fight in the First World

War.

During subsequent listening, ask pupils to note further key points. Afterwards,discuss points from both columns.



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Year 9


Year 9 objective: Discuss and evaluate conflicting evidence to arrive at aconsidered viewpoint.


Through discussion of conflicting evidence, pupils should become more aware that viewscan be diametrically opposed or simply differ slightly on certain points. They need to clarifytheir understanding of what is being said, be attentive to details and read between thelines to identify any subtext. In evaluating evidence, pupils should consider bias, flawedarguments, inaccuracy and extreme views. They also need to be aware of how their ownopinions or assumed stance influences the consensus which they reach. They need todevelop their ability to work together to avoid polarisation in the group. Contributions willoften respond directly to what has just been said, acknowledging the views of others. Inreaching a considered viewpoint, pupils will justify and modify details of their own views.They could be required to explain their considered viewpoint to others.

What to teach

■ How to give evidence, reasons, anecdotes or illustrations to support views. Forexample, ‘To support this …’, ‘Evidence demonstrates …’, ‘Research proves …’,‘The facts show …’.

■ How to use adverbs to temper one’s views, such as sometimes, often, always,occasionally.

■ How to make interjections, accompanied by a shift in views, such as ‘Oh, I see …’or ‘Oh, I understand now …’.

■ How to offer statements of opinion or judgement, such as ‘In my opinion …’, ‘Ithink …’, ‘I believe …’, ‘I prefer …’, ‘I would rather …’.

■ How to evaluate evidence using:

– comparative/contrasting connectives, e.g. compared with, similarly, likewise,alternatively, whereas, on the other hand, despite;

– causal connectives, e.g. because, therefore, so, in that case, still, even though,as a result, consequently;

– verbs to indicate judgements, e.g. believe, think, prefer, would rather, trust.

Teaching approaches

■ Through discussion with pupils, clarify the process involved in reaching asubstantiated judgement. This could be structured using a questioning frame, likea QUADS grid, and be used when doing an enquiry looking at two differingviewpoints. The process might be as follows:

– Listen to or read and then discuss the two sides of the argument about thesignificance of the Cuban Missile Crisis. This could be organised as pair work,which is then shared in a group discussion.

– Ask questions to clarify understanding using a QUADS grid on one side of theargument.



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QUestion Answer Details Source

Tell pupils to consider the following:

– Be attentive to detail and read between the lines to identify subtexts.

– When evaluating the views of others, be aware of one-sidedness, inaccuracies,flawed reasoning, extreme views. When sharing your pair’s findings with othersidentify/check for clues that indicate a one-sided argument.

– Be aware of your own one-sidedness and views. Include what YOU think.

– Be willing to modify your views in the light of new evidence or good argument.Editing your views in the light of others’ views might be the last step in theprocess when you are asked to reach a substantiated judgement about thesignificance of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

– Aim to be objective when discussing the merits of different situations orarguments.

■ Set up various simulations of historical decision making, e.g. pupils have to re-enact the meeting of the leaders for the Treaty of Versailles. Provide pupils withconflicting evidence and suggestions about the context for each leader, regardingthe different groups of people he had to keep happy. Ask pupils to work in groupsto discuss the evidence and the advantages and disadvantages of each optionand decide what action they would take. Each member of the group should adopta role and the group should then discuss their given situation in role. After thegroup discussion, the group should reach a decision about the evidence andmake their recommendations.

■ Watch a documentary programme covering the Civil Rights movement focusingaround the enquiry question: ‘How far was the Montgomery Bus Boycott a turningpoint in the history of Civil Rights in America?’. Stop the video to discuss theevidence at various points in the programme. Ask pupils to discuss and justifytheir views in groups, and then to give their group’s decision at that stage of theevidence. Ask pupils to reflect on whether watching more of the video has ledthem to change their views and, if so, to reflect on their reasons for this.

Year 9


Year 9 objective: Synthesise information from a range of sources, shapingmaterial to meet readers’ needs.


Pupils are expected to find and extract information independently, although these skills willneed to be consolidated and made explicit in any information-gathering exercise. Inaddition, they will need to apply their knowledge of how texts work, including ICT texts.The objective expects pupils to be selective and discriminating when gatheringinformation. They need to be clear about what they need to research and the perspectivesto be covered. Once appropriate information is selected, pupils need to be able tocombine and organise it into a coherent whole, according to audience and purpose.

What to teach

■ How to assess texts for relevance, referring back to task, audience and purpose.

■ To discriminate between fact and opinion in carrying out accurate research.

■ To use appropriate planning grids/formats, systematically acknowledging sources.

■ How to use notes in order to shape information from a range of sources into acoherent plan.

Teaching approaches

■ Use a shared writing session or starter activity to show pupils how to marshal andcategorise information under headings, and to organise and shape it into acoherent plan. This could be a ‘mystery’ exercise where pupils are asked toconsider ‘Why did X’s family cotton workshop go bust in the nineteenth centurywhen it had been a successful business in his family for centuries?’. Provide setsof cards with diverse information about the British Empire, slavery, the cottonplantation system in America, and the laws imposed on India forbidding theproduction of manufactured cotton goods. Ask pupils to come up with anexplanation for this question. However, before completing their explanation thegroups should discuss how they grouped the information, selected what they feltto be relevant and how they prioritised the most important aspect of theirexplanation.

■ Model the process of establishing if something is a fact or an opinion, againthrough a sorting activity where statements can be sorted, such as the causesand effects of the Cold War. For example, ‘If I can put “I think …” in front of astatement, there is a high chance that it will be an opinion, while a fact issomething that is true and can be proven’.

■ For a higher level of challenge, provide two newspaper reports on the samesubject and explain that the task is to find and highlight the facts behind thestories.

■ Provide groups of pupils with two extracts from adult encyclopaedias on the samehistorical topic. Their challenge is to create an entry for an encyclopaedia aimed atseven-year-olds. Model the process of reshaping it by highlighting key points,simplifying the language as you reflect upon what the reader can cope with, andusing bullet points to break down the text into manageable chunks. Differentiateby adding in the further challenge of, for example, an 80 word limit.



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■ Introduce a QUADS grid as a means of planning and guiding detailed research.

QUestion Answer Details Source

Model using the headings to structure the recording process, encouraging pupilsto record a brief summary in the Answer column and more detailed notes in thenext column. For example, ‘My question was, “What reasons did people at thetime give for joining the army in the First World War?”. I have found from thisnewspaper article that the newspapers at the time gave the impression thatpeople joined up because they were patriotic. I’ve made a note of it in the Sourcecolumn but now I need to find out what more personal sources suggest aboutwhy people joined up, to see whether there were other reasons that wouldprobably not be recorded in a newspaper. I also wanted to answer the questionwhy different groups of people joined up and I am not sure that I can generalisefrom this newspaper article about why people from Commonwealth countriesjoined up to fight. I need now to look at sources which give information about whypeople from the Commonwealth might have joined up …’.

■ Encourage pupils to be critical and evaluative. Create with the class a checklist ofquestions to ask about research or enquiry tasks, e.g. Is that a fact or opinion?,Are those your ideas?, Can you explain that more simply?, Is that appropriate toyour audience?, Is that relevant to the task?, Have you acknowledged thesource?, How reliable is that source? Could it be biased?. Pupils can use thechecklist individually or with response partners.

■ As part of a task to establish which facts contained in 5 or 6 sources they can besufficiently sure of to establish a narrative about the life of an evacuee, ask pupilsto highlight in different colours the similarities and differences between thesources. Make a class list of the main points of agreement. Ask pupils to try toformulate a phrase which summarises the sources. Emphasise that they must notsay things which cannot be supported by the evidence. Discuss the devices andtechniques that can be used to achieve this, e.g. tentative language by usingmodal verbs, the integration of quotes and the use of phrases which do notoverstate the situation (e.g. would suggest; some sources say).

Year 9


Year 9 objective: Compare the presentation of ideas, values or emotions inrelated and contrasting texts.


Pupils need to be able to recognise how ideas, values and emotions are different to facts,and how different writers convey a particular idea, value or emotion. They need to be ableto explore the nature of these presentations in texts which are similar and contrasting, andbe able to discuss how the writers achieve their effects. Texts could be from the same orcontrasting periods, forms or genres, and may focus on one or more authors. Pupils needto be directed to specific aspects of the texts.

What to teach

■ How to recognise and describe an idea, value and emotion.

■ The difference between fact and opinion.

■ How to recognise bias.

■ How to explain a writer’s viewpoint.

■ How ideas, values and emotions can be expressed through the text-type chosen,audience addressed and structure and vocabulary choice.

■ How to use appropriate terminology when comparing texts.

■ How to read across different texts, noting the way ideas, values and emotions arepresented, and synthesise this information into a coherent critical comparison.

Teaching approaches

■ Look at two, very different, eyewitness accounts. Agree on the main differencesand then discuss the extent to which the different writers’ viewpoints have led tothe variation.

■ During the shared reading of the opening of a newspaper article about prisonreform in the nineteenth century or women getting the vote, teach how values andemotions are conveyed. As you annotate on enlarged text or OHT, think aloud,asking questions like ‘How does this word/phrase make us feel?’, ‘How would youfeel if this phrase/word was used instead?’, ‘What predictions do you have for therest of this text and where do these expectations come from? You may considerthe genre, context and language’. Ask pupils to discuss their responses for a fewminutes with a partner, and then draw out the sense of a more critical stanceexpected at Year 9.

■ Give all pupils a different quotation from a shared text, e.g. a personal statementof belief. Give them a minute to read the quotation then another minute to explainthe ideas, values and emotions it conveys to a response partner. Differentiate theactivity through different-coloured cards. Draw out the importance of articulatingcritical responses to texts.

■ Teach in shared reading how texts can contrast by showing, for example, how apre-1900 text could convey different values towards, for example, women’s rolesto those of a contemporary text.



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Year 9


Year 9 objective: Analyse how an author’s standpoint can affect meaning in non-literary as well as literary texts.


Any author has a point of view about his or her subject matter. This standpoint may seekto be impartial and objective, or it may be influenced by ideology, attitudes, emotions orpersonal preferences. Pupils should be taught to take this into account when reading:looking beyond what is stated, asking why the writer has chosen to present the material inthis way and how this might affect their response to the material. An extreme case ofwhere the author’s standpoint influences meaning is the use of irony, where an authorstates the opposite of the intended meaning. In non-literary texts, an example wherestandpoint could affect meaning might be a factsheet about healthy food written by avegetarian.

What to teach

■ How to ask questions of a text which go beyond ‘What is this information?’ or‘What is this author’s main point?’ For example, ‘Why would someone write this?’,‘What is the author’s attitude to the subject matter and to me the reader?’, ‘Howfar can I trust the information in this text?’, ‘Am I being given all the facts or justone side of the story?’.

■ How to find evidence in a text to answer these questions, e.g. by looking foremotive and persuasive language.

Teaching approaches

■ Provide pupils with a piece of propaganda, historical character, cartoon or writtentext. Ask pupils to produce a layers-of-inference diagram. Ask questions such as:

– ‘What can I see?’

– ‘What do I know about the person who produced the source?’

– ‘How has the person/event been represented?’

– ‘How might this influence how they represent a historical event or person?’

– ‘What clues are there in the language used that this source or that this accountmight be one sided?’.

■ Give pupils a potted history of 3 or 4 historical eras. This should highlight keyvalues of that time towards, for example, empire, religion, democracy, the rights ofdifferent groups of people, beliefs about what government should be like, criteriafor judging a good leader. Put the summaries of the different eras on four differentpieces of card. Next, select a historical character and four historical accounts.Provide pupils with the provenance of the source and some information about howthe historian/person writing the source has formed their opinion. Put the accountsonto four pieces of card. Also add any information about the historian’s ideology.In pairs, ask pupils to match the historical interpretations to the eras and toproduce an explanation for one of the accounts about the factors which couldhave influenced the historian in reaching this interpretation about this historicalevent or person.



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■ Share with pupils some key ways in which an author’s standpoint might affect themeaning of what they write. For example:

– refer to the method used by the historian to research the past (e.g. did they usestatistics, eyewitness accounts, etc.);

– talk about the language used to refer to the person or event concerned;

– make references to what is known about the era in which the historian is writing,and use linking connectives to show the consequences of this (e.g. ‘Becausethe Victorians admired the idea of empire, they looked at other historical eraswhere empires were built-up as admirable.’);

– talk about evidence that has emerged with hindsight;

– discuss the author’s own life experiences or their ideology.

Year 9

Learning though writing: using writing as a tool for thought

Year 9 objective: Record, develop and evaluate ideas through writing, e.g. essays,journals.


This objective builds on the Year 8 objective: use writing for thinking and learning …. It refers to writing that has the development of learning as its core purpose, thusdistinguishing itself from writing to demonstrate learning in a specific context, e.g. forsummative assessment. Writing set in the context of this objective will have as its mainpurpose the development and securing of understanding. This can be done by askingpupils to:

■ collect information together in a certain way;

■ devise questions;

■ explain;

■ reflect on and evaluate material;

■ transform material by representing it in a different way;

■ express feelings about a topic or issue;

■ speculate on possibilities;

■ analyse and comment.

As such, this kind of writing can take many forms. Journals and learning logs lendthemselves well to questions, reflections, evaluations, speculations and the expression offeelings. Reports and essays are well-suited to the collation of information, commentaryand analysis. Pupils can be asked to transform materials by being asked to produceinstructions, letters, newspaper reports, leaflets and a whole range of text forms.

Writing of this kind may have an element of recording (e.g. for future revision) but this willnot be its main purpose.

What to teach

■ Pupils will need, above all, to understand the underlying purpose of this type ofwriting. They will also need to be taught:

– the language of questioning, reflecting, evaluating, speculating, analysing andcommenting;

– the conventions of the forms of writing required of them, e.g. essays, newspaperreports;

– subject-specific vocabulary and spelling.

Teaching approaches

■ Build into an independent research project the idea of a journal. Explore the ideaof what writing in a journal might look like and how the purpose of writing a journalis to enable pupils to be able to write better evaluations of their research.

■ Show pupils examples of two learning journals:

– The first learning journal should show a very detailed, almost daily, account of apupil’s research. It should mainly consist of recounting each detail of what theresearcher did. It might have some evidence of evaluation but it tends to be step



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by step. There will be little evidence of speculative thinking, reformulating orrefining the initial question, the exploration of ideas, or the analysis of findingsand how this influenced the next stage in the research.

– The second learning journal should take a more thematic approach and showevidence of the pupil synthesising their understanding of their initial research,addressing the strengths and weaknesses of their sources and providingevidence of speculation, e.g. a discussion of what they might expect if aparticular cause was evident.

– Show pupils a model of a good learning journal. Give them highlighters and askthem to highlight in different colours sections in the learning journal where thewriter has described what they have done, reviewed how it went, andcommented on what they have learnt about how to do a project so that theycan apply it next time.

■ Give pupils a substantial narrative account and then draw out the stylistic featuresof such accounts. Pupils will already have studied narrative accounts in primaryschool and found out that they tend to have details about the setting and thepeople involved, a problem or conflict, a build up of events (often beginning withsomething to grab the reader’s attention), followed by a build up of tension andevents ending with a climax, a resolution to an event, a reflection or a morallearning from the story. Explain that historians use narrative accounts but that theyhave to transform the information into a different style of writing: the historicalexplanation. Tell pupils they are going to read the narrative account just given tothem and make notes on what this account tells them about what the causes of ahistorical event might have been. To do this, model for pupils how historians makeinferences from a narrative account about what the story suggests about thecause(s) of an event, e.g. to do this you might have to speak aloud about thebackground of the person who has written an account and point out that, if he orshe felt like this, perhaps other people in their position might have felt like this too.

■ It is also possible to do this task the other way round and to get pupils totransform a causal account into a narrative account for an individual. For aninteresting account of how to do this, see Teaching history, issue 111, DavidWaters.

Year 9


Year 9 objective: Integrate diverse information into a coherent andcomprehensive account.


This objective requires pupils to make notes in appropriate detail, to organise them so thatthe writing is clearly structured with ideas logically linked, and to express points conciselyand avoid repetition. Pupils also need to make decisions about what is relevant to include.They need to pay attention to the ordering of paragraphs and making cohesive links, andto frequently re-read as they write. As part of the drafting process, they should look forgaps in information and a consistency in tone and level of detail.

What to teach

■ How to:

– plan effectively and how to avoid or eradicate repetition;

– organise notes so that points are grouped logically into paragraphs and linkedeffectively;

– express points in such a way that there is a consistent style throughout the finalaccount;

– structure sentences so that several points may be made succinctly in onesentence, e.g. by using complex sentences and lists;

– check that all necessary points have been included;

– redraft work, to include substantial improvements;

– edit work to improve fluency and economy.

Teaching approaches

■ Plan opportunities for pupils to make notes from a variety of sources, e.g. atextbook account, a contemporary source, some statistics.

■ Model the process of planning a piece of writing by deciding which information toinclude and which to discard. Think out loud to make the reasons for your choicesexplicit. Then model the next step of ordering and structuring the material youhave selected into a sequence of paragraphs, each focusing on one main point.

■ Allow time to practise avoiding repetition and irrelevance. As a starter, give pairs ofpupils a topic upon which to collect notes based on three short sources ofinformation, labelled A, B and C. Pupils should read all three sources and crossout anything irrelevant in A, then cross out anything irrelevant in B (and anythingalready mentioned in A), and finally cross out anything irrelevant in C (or alreadymentioned in A or B). Then they should compare what remains with other pairs.

■ Plan starters that help pupils to sort information. Give pupils one or two cards withindividual points on them which could be included in a piece of analytical writing.Explain that their task is to place them, as quickly as possible, on sheets of paper(distributed around the room) which represent paragraphs within the analysis. Theyshould then give reasons for placing their ‘point cards’ in their chosen positions.



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■ Starters can also be used to focus on linking paragraphs. Domino cards supportthis process. On the right-hand side of the card write the beginning of aparagraph, and on the left-hand side, write the ending of another paragraph. Pairsof pupils should play dominoes with the cards or work together to arrange all thedominoes in the best order.

– To prepare for a piece of writing, ask pupils to sort the notes they have madefrom different sources under headings. For example, if they are writing about animportant person, they might sort under Strengths and Weaknesses. If they arewriting about an event, they might sort under Before, During and After.



Bibliography

Training materials for foundation subjects Module 12: Thinking together (DfES 0350/2002)

Training materials for the foundation subjects Module 11: Principles for teaching thinkingand Module 12: Thinking together (DfES 0350/2002)

Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools Unit 7: Group Work DfES

Literacy across the curriculum, Module 8: Listening and Module 9: Making notes (DfEE0235/2001)

Access and engagement in History: teaching pupils for whom English is a secondlanguage (DfES 0656/2002)

Literacy in History (DfES 0048/2002)

Thinking through History, D. Fisher et al, Chris Kington Publishing

‘Working with sources: scepticism or cynicism? Putting the story back together again’,Jamie Byrom, Teaching History, issue 91

‘Beyond “I speak, you listen, boy!” Exploring diversity of attitudes and experiences throughspeaking and listening’, Ian Luff, Teaching History, issue 105

For further information on how to get pupils to transform a causal account into a narrativeaccount for an individual (see page 66) please refer to Teaching History, issue 111, DavidWaters.



Observing effective literacy teaching

Prompts for subject leaders


■ Did the lesson exploit opportunities for pupils to learn through talk, or were theremissed opportunities?

■ Did the teacher make clear the intended outcome for any speaking and listeningactivity and set clear time targets to encourage pace and application?

Where pupils were asked to use talk to clarify and present ideas:

■ did their response suggest that the teacher needed to model the kind ofpresentation required?

■ was an appropriate context created for the activity? For example, was theresufficient thinking time? Did less-confident pupils have the chance to talk with apartner before presenting to a wider audience?

■ did the teacher give clear feedback to pupils, not only on the content of theirpresentation but also on the effectiveness of the communication? Did thefeedback include clear advice on how to improve?

■ did the teacher promote the use of standard English as the form of languageappropriate for presentations in class?

Where pupils were required to listen for a sustained period:

■ was the subject matter and style of presentation well matched to the pupils?

■ was sufficient consideration given to the range of ability in the pupil group?

■ was the talk/programme contextualised for pupils in such a way as to activatetheir prior knowledge?

■ were they clear in advance about what they were listening for and how they mighthave to respond to what they had heard?

■ was the listening scaffolded in any way, for instance, with a structured note sheetor some prompt questions?

Where pupils were required to talk together in pairs or groups:

■ was the grouping of the pupils appropriate for the task and its purpose?

■ were they clear about the expectations for their behaviour during the activity or didthey need the support of some ‘ground-rules’?

■ were they clear about the type of speaking and listening required of them duringthe activity, e.g. speculating, evaluating, sharing ideas to solve a problem? Did thisneed clarifying or demonstrating by the teacher?

■ were they clear about the particular roles they needed to fulfil in the pair/group,e.g. chairing, reporting, recording? Was there evidence that this needed clarifyingor demonstrating by the teacher?

■ were any reporting back activities organised to maximise participation whileavoiding tedious repetition?

■ were the groups supported by the teacher to ensure that most, if not all, reacheda satisfactory outcome in the time allowed?



4



Learning from text

■ Did the lesson exploit opportunities for pupils to learn from text, or was thereevidence of the ‘retreat from the written word’?

■ Did the teacher always read for the class or was there an expectation that pupilscould and should engage with text for themselves?

■ Were texts well chosen, both in terms of content and reading difficulty? Did theteacher take account of the fact that more-challenging texts can be used in thecontext of shared reading than when pupils are asked to read independently?

■ Where a textbook was used, were pupils familiar with its conventions (e.g. pagelayout, symbols, structure), or did this need to be clarified for them?

Where pupils were required to undertake research:

■ did they demonstrate a range of appropriate reading strategies for the task (e.g.skimming, scanning), or did they need reminding of these?

■ did they have effective ways of recording information to fulfil the purpose of thetask, or did they need guidance/support with making notes?

Where pupils were required to read closely for meaning:

■ were they given a way into the text that would encourage close reading and helpthem overcome initial difficulties?

■ was the activity set up to encourage active reading and inference and deduction,e.g. through the use of techniques such as sequencing, annotation, cloze?

■ when questions were set on the text, were they likely to promote understanding orjust the simple retrieval of information?

■ were less-able or less-willing readers supported in the task?

■ were they encouraged to question the text and consider it in relation to its degreeof objectivity and the writer’s intentions?

Where pupils were reading a text as an example for their own writing:

■ did the teacher help them to identify the features of the text that allowed it to fulfilits purpose, e.g. its structure and use of language?

■ did the teacher encourage the use of the correct terms when referring to thesefeatures, e.g. topic sentence?

■ did the teacher exploit effective strategies such as annotation during sharedreading in order to show pupils how a particular type of text works?


■ Did the teacher clearly establish both the purpose and intended readership of thewriting?

■ Was enough done to ensure that the pupils had something to say in their writing?

■ Were pupils clear about what writing strategies were appropriate for the task, e.g.collaboration with a partner, drafting, proofreading?

■ Did pupils have access to reference materials to support their writing?

■ Did the teacher use steps from the teaching sequence for writing as appropriate?(see Literacy and learning: Guidance for senior leaders Appendix 4, pages 45.)

■ Was there evidence that pupils receive clear feedback on their strengths and onways to improve, both during and after writing?



Where pupils were using writing to capture and develop thoughts and ideas:

■ did they use an approach to writing that suited this purpose, allowing foradaptation, reflection and evaluation?

■ did they have a repertoire of formats for this kind of writing, or did they need moresupport from the teacher through demonstration?

■ were they able to use the outcomes of this kind of writing to support a furthertask, e.g. a spoken presentation or a more-formal piece of writing?

Where pupils were required to write a longer piece:

■ did they know how to organise that particular type of writing or did this need to betaught explicitly, e.g. using the teaching sequence for writing?

■ did the teacher make explicit reference to paragraphs and how they can belinked?

■ were they supported with the process of selecting, prioritising and orderingmaterial when they needed to incorporate information from a range of sources?

■ were there strategies for supporting weaker writers with the task, e.g. a writingframe?

When helping pupils to develop clear and appropriate expression:

■ did the teacher use strategies to encourage pupils to reflect on the clarity of theirwriting and alter it as necessary?

■ were they encouraged to rehearse sentences orally before writing?

■ were they encouraged to think about and engage in the choices which a writermust make in terms of vocabulary and sentence structure, e.g. through sharedwriting?

■ were the constraints for making choices as a writer made explicit, e.g. theappropriate degree of formality?





Contents of the Literacy and learning DVD

1 Leading cross-curricular change: literacy

The DVD features a 13-minute film shot in 2004 at Haybridge School in Worcestershirewhich is meant to stimulate discussion about implementing literacy as a whole-schoolinitiative, and can be used in the context of a meeting of subject leaders. In the film, thedeputy head and other staff from the school reflect on the process by which they havealready made progress in implementing literacy across the curriculum and consider howthe literacy and learning materials will allow to continue the process of embedding andsustaining literacy as a focus for whole-school improvement. The film includes brief visitsto three lessons: science, art and religious education.

2 Literacy and learning: key teaching approaches

Included on the DVD along with Leading cross-curricular change: literacy are examples ofkey teaching approaches for speaking and listening, reading and writing. The approachesare:

■ teacher modelling;

■ small-group discussion;

■ active-reading strategies;

■ shared reading;

■ guided reading;

■ shared writing;

■ guided writing.

Subject-specific examples of most of these approaches are contained on this CD-ROM,but this additional material can be useful to subject leaders to inform their work as:

■ evaluators of teaching and learning;

■ curriculum leaders.

These examples can be shared with other staff in training sessions or in the context ofprofessional development generally. It is meant for use where subject leaders wish topromote a particular teaching approach with an individual teacher or more widely withinthe department or faculty.

Shared and guided reading and writing are exemplified here only in the context of English,where they are best known, but these approaches can be useful in all subjects.

Shared reading is important because it allows the teacher to work with the whole classon a text that would be too challenging for independent work. Enlarging the text using anOHP or data projector allows the use of a range of interactive strategies to involve pupilsdirectly, and is more powerful than using individual copies because the attention of thepupils can be focused by the teacher on particular parts of the text. Shared reading makes‘the invisible process of reading, visible’.

Shared writing is a teacher-led activity that engages the whole class in the act of writing.Working at the whiteboard or OHP, the teacher firstly demonstrates the process ofcomposition, explaining out loud why certain choices are being made. Next, pupilscontribute their ideas for continuing the writing, which are sifted and refined before beingwritten up by the teacher. Shared writing shows pupils the kinds of choices which writers

5



have to make, and allows them to take part in the enjoyable process of compositionwithout the additional burden of spelling and handwriting.

Guided work (reading and writing) is where the teacher works for about 20 minutes witha selected group of around six pupils, while the others work independently. It is a powerfulway of teaching to the specific needs of an identified group within the class and is a wayof building a bridge between teacher-led and independent work.

3 Key teaching approaches index

Literacy and Literacy and Teaching Example on DVDlearning aspect learning strand approach

Learning through Using talk to clarify Teacher modelling Sequence 1 talk and present ideas English

Pupil Sequence 1 presentations English

Talking and Small-group Sequence 2thinking together discussion science

Learning from text Developing Active-reading Sequence 3 research and strategies sciencestudy skills

Reading for Guided reading Sequence 4meaning English

Understanding Shared reading Sequence 5how texts work English

Learning through Using writing as a Teacher modelling Sequence 6writing tool for thought history

Small-group Sequence 7discussion mathematics

Structuring and Shared writing Sequence 8organising writing English

Developing clear Guided writing Sequence 9and appropriate Englishexpression

OU

P 1

0 20

04

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DfES PublicationsTel: 0845 60 222 60Fax: 0845 60 333 60Textphone: 0845 60 555 60e-mail: [email protected]

Ref: DfES 0670-2004 G

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Produced by theDepartment for Education and Skills

www.dfes.gov.uk

If this is not available in hard copy it can bedownloaded from:

www.standards.dfes.gov.uk

The content of this publication may be reproducedfree of charge by schools, ITT providers and local education authorities provided that the material isacknowledged as Crown copyright, the publicationtitle is specified, it is reproduced accurately and notused in a misleading context. Anyone else wishingto reuse part or all of the content of this publicationshould apply to HMSO for a core licence.

The permission to reproduce Crown copyrightprotected material does not extend to anymaterial in this publication which is identifiedas being the copyright of a third party.

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