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Language Supportive Teaching and Textbooks in Tanzania

Course for textbook writers, editors and illustrators

John Clegg, July 2013

Parts 1-3 are in separate document

Part 4: Biology book lesson structure and topic content

Part 5: Biology activity types

LSTT

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Contents Part 4: Biology book lesson structure and topic content............................................................ 3

Part 5: Biology activities ............................................................................................................ 6

5.1 Teacher presentation activities ......................................................................................... 6

5.2 Reading/listening support activities............................................................................. 7

5.2.1 Fill gaps ..................................................................................................................... 7

5.2.2 Match ........................................................................................................................ 9

5.2.3 Fill in a chart ........................................................................................................... 10

5.2.4 Label/draw a visual ................................................................................................. 11

5.2.5 Make notes .............................................................................................................. 12

5.2.6 Sequence ................................................................................................................. 12

5.2.7 Sort cards ................................................................................................................ 14

5.2.8 Questions................................................................................................................. 15

5.3 Speaking/writing support activities ........................................................................... 19

5.3.1 Words/phrases ......................................................................................................... 19

5.3.2 Gap-filling ............................................................................................................... 19

5.3.3 Sentence starters...................................................................................................... 20

5.3.4 Writing/speaking frame .......................................................................................... 20

5.3.5 Visual ...................................................................................................................... 21

5.3.6 Chart ........................................................................................................................ 22

5.3.7 Dialogue .................................................................................................................. 23

5.3.8 Substitution table .................................................................................................... 23

5.4 Vocabulary support activities ........................................................................................ 25

5.4.1 Classify words ......................................................................................................... 25

5.4.2 Label a diagram....................................................................................................... 26

5.4.3 Match ...................................................................................................................... 27

5.4.4 Gap filling ............................................................................................................... 28

5.4.5 Crossword ............................................................................................................... 29

5.4.6 Wordsearch ............................................................................................................. 30

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Part 4: Biology book lesson structure and topic content Task 1: Agree a lesson structure. This is a suggestion.

Section 1: Teacher presentation

Presentation activity using a

visual

Learners listen and respond to teacher

Section 2: Reading about the topic

a) Reading activity Learners read

b) Post-reading activity Learners focus on comprehension

Section 3: Vocabulary of the topic

Vocabulary activity Learners learn vocabulary from the text

Section 4: Talk/write about the topic

Talking/writing activity Learners discuss and/or write about the topic

Section 5: Experiments (if appropriate)

a) Intro Learners read objectives and instructions

b) Perform experiments Learners carry out the experiment and record results

c) Conclusions Learners draw conclusions

Section 6: Writing about the topic

Summary activity Learners write a short summary text

Number of units: 20? about 6 pages each?

Total number of pages: 150 pages?

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Task 2: Agree roughly the contents of the units. Refer to the subject syllabus. Fill in the

table.

Units Main contents

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

5

17

18

19

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Task 3: Choose one unit and write a draft. Follow these steps, but not necessarily in this

order.

Step

1. Reading text

decide on the contents and list the main

ideas

write a draft Refer to Part 2 pp 16 onwards

check your draft in the light of Part 2 Refer to Part 2 pp 16 onwards

2. Visuals

decide which parts of the text require

illustration

Refer to Part 3 pp 27 onwards

Write artwork briefs

3. Reading support activities

construct reading support activities to

help the reader understand the text

Refer to Part 5, pp 6 onwards

4. Presentation

construct a presentation activity for the

teacher to use to present the new

concepts

Refer to Part 5, p 5

5. Vocabulary

construct a vocabulary activity Refer to Part 5, pp 23 onwards

6. Talking activity

construct a talking activity for learners

to do in pairs/groups

Refer to Part 5, pp 17 onwards

7. Experiments

If appropriate, construct an experiment

If necessary, write an artwork brief for

any illustration to accompany the

experiment

8. Writing

Construct a writing activity to help

learners summarise the unit

Refer to Part 5, pp 17 onwards

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Part 5: Biology activities

5.1 Teacher presentation activities

Start off each unit with a visual which the teacher can use to support his/her presentation of

the main concepts.

Useful visuals would be:

A diagram

A chart/table

A graph

A photograph or drawing

For example, a diagram to help a teacher present ‘food chains’ might be like this:

A chart to help a teacher present ‘life processess’ might be like this:

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5.2 Reading/listening support activities

5.2.1 Fill gaps

Make gaps in a text at points which will allow the reader to guess the meaning of the missing

item. Get a colleague to do the activity to check whether the gaps are too easy or difficult. If

necessary, the missing words can be given in a list in the wrong order, as in Fig. 2.

Fig.1 Fill the gaps: Animals eat plants and other (1) ... . Plants make their own food. This happens in their (2) ... . The process is called (3) ... . To make their food they need carbon dioxide, water, light and a green chemical called (4) ... . This chemical is found in leaves.

Fig. 2

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5.2.2 Match

Make a list of paired items (word and definition, word and word, word and visual, beginnings

and ends of sentences etc). Scramble one list. Learners match the items.

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Match the sentence beginnings and endings and write the correct number in the box.

1. Plants move a) make their own food in their leaves

2. Plants need food b) by excretion

3. Plants c) laying eggs, or having babies

4. Animals get food for d) by growing

5. Living things get energy from food e) their lungs and kidneys

6. Living things remove waste from their bodies

f) in old leaves, which fall in the autumn

7. Animals excrete through g) by eating plants and other animals

8. Animals also excrete through h) grow into new plants

9. Plants store waste i) energy, growth, and repair

10. Animals reproduce by j) by a process called respiration

11. Plants reproduce through their seeds which

k) their skin when they sweat

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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5.2.3 Fill in a chart

Find a text whose contents have cognitive structure, which can be represented in a chart (e.g.

matrix, tree-diagram, flow-chart). Create the chart. Learners read and fill it in.

Fig. 5

The female crocodile lays her eggs in a hole in the sand of the river bank. She covers the eggs with sand and guards them for about 13 weeks. The eggs are large and the shells are soft like skin. They are not hard, like chickens’ eggs. The female fish lays her eggs in the water. Most fish lay thousands of very small eggs. The eggs have a soft shell. Many fish leave their eggs when they have laid them. Hens lay about 6-10 eggs. The eggs have a hard shell and are about 5 cm long. The hen lays them in a nest in a safe place. She sits on them and keeps them warm. After about three weeks, the baby chickens hatch.

fish crocodiles chickens

Where are the eggs laid?

Are the eggs big or small?

What do the eggs have round them?

How do the parents take care of the eggs?

Fig. 6 Read the text and make notes in the chart.

animals plants

growth

nutrition

respiration

excretion

reproduction

sensitivity

movement

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5.2.4 Label/draw a visual

Find a text whose contents can be conveyed by a visual (picture, diagram, map etc). Create a

diagram of the contents. If necessary, insert blank labels and arrows connecting the labels to

the relevant parts of the diagram. Learners read and write the labels. Alternatively learners

read the text and draw the diagram themselves.

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

Read the text and label the diagram.

Animals eat plants or other animals for food. Sheep, for example, eat grass and are eaten by humans. Humans also eat vegetables, such as cabbage. Plants make their own food. To do this they use light energy and carbon dioxide from the air; and they take water and minerals through their roots.

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5.2.5 Make notes

Find a text whose contents can be represented in note form. This could mean linear notes or a

spidergram as in fig.9. Create the notes and leave blanks. Learners fill in the blanks.

Fig. 9

Complete this spidergram.

5.2.6 Sequence

Find a text which describes steps in a process. Write out the steps, scramble them and number

them, as in figs 10 and 11. Learners re-order the steps. Learners can also sequence a set of

visuals or even the words in a scrambled sentence.

Fig. 10

Write these sentences in the correct order a) The larvae change into pupae. b) Small white animals come out of the eggs; they are larvae.

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c) The pupae break open and new flies come out of the pupae. d) The male and female fruit flies mate. e) The larvae eat the fruit and grow bigger. f) The female fruit-flies lay eggs in fruit

Fig. 11

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5.2.7 Sort cards Find a text which contains pieces of information which display a certain structure, e.g. a

flow-chart, a tree-diagram, a matrix. Print cards showing this information structure in the

teacher’s book as in fig.12. The teacher can photocopy and cut out the cards. Groups can sort

the cards. This activity type pre-supposes that teachers have access to photocopying and can

make enough cards for their groups. That may not be the case and it may restrict the use of

this activity type in many schools.

Fig. 12 Work in groups. Arrange these cards according to the headings.

Animals

Plants

Movement

Walk, crawl, swim,

fly etc

Shoots grow up, roots grow down

Sensitivity

See, hear, smell,

taste, feel

Respond to light,

water

Growth

Get bigger

Get bigger

Respiration

Get energy from food and oxygen

Get energy from food and oxygen

Nutrition

Eat plants and

animals

Make food from photosynthesis

Excretion

Remove waste in urine, faeces and

sweat

Store waste in fallen leaves

Reproduction

Have babies, lay

eggs

Produce seeds

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5.2.8 Questions

Scanning Learners can be used to ask the learner to scan a text without reading the whole of it: learners

look quickly for one or two specific pieces of information, as in fig. 13. They do not read

carefully along the lines.

Fig. 13

Scan the text and find what chlorophyll is and where it is found.

You are a living thing. Grass, whales, and bats are living things too. But stones and rain are non-living things. Living things are different from non-living things in the ways shown below. Animals walk, or run, or hop, or crawl, or swim, or fly. They find their way using sense organs. These are eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, skin, and insect feelers called antennae. Plants move by growing, like these beans growing up bean poles. They don't have sense organs but they can still respond to things. Roots grow down in response to gravity, and to find water. Shoots grow up towards light. Living things feed They need food for energy, growth, and repair.

Plants make their own food in their leaves. This is called photosynthesis. It needs light, water, carbon dioxide, and a green chemical called chlorophyll which is found in leaves.

Reading for detail Questions can also require the learner to read the text in more detail, as in fig.14.

Fig. 14

Read the text and find out: a) how animals move b) how they respond to their environment c) how plants make their own food

You are a living thing. Grass, whales, and bats are living things too. But stones and rain are non-living things. Living things are different from non-living things in the ways shown below. Animals walk, or run, or hop, or crawl, or swim, or fly. They find their way using sense

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organs. These are eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, skin, and insect feelers called antennae. Plants move by growing, like these beans growing up bean poles. They don't have sense organs but they can still respond to things. Roots grow down in response to gravity, and to find water. Shoots grow up towards light. Living things feed They need food for energy, growth, and repair.

Plants make their own food in their leaves. This is called photosynthesis. It needs light, water, carbon dioxide, and a green chemical called chlorophyll which is found in leaves.

Long answer questions Questions can be divided into long-answer or short-answer types. Long-answer questions

require the learner to speak or write an answer which might be a sentence or more in length.

Short-answer questions require the reader to produce a response of perhaps one or two words

only. Fig 15 shows a long-answer question.

Fig. 15

Read the text and find out how animals move

You are a living thing. Grass, whales, and bats are living things too. But stones and rain are non-living things. Living things are different from non-living things in the ways shown below. Animals walk, or run, or hop, or crawl, or swim, or fly. They find their way using sense organs. These are eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, skin, and insect feelers called antennae. Plants move by growing, like these beans growing up bean poles. They don't have sense organs but they can still respond to things. Roots grow down in response to gravity, and to find water. Shoots grow up towards light.

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Short-answer questions Fig. 16 shows a short answer question: yes or no.

Fig. 16

Read the text and answer the question: do plants respond to their environment?

You are a living thing. Grass, whales, and bats are living things too. But stones and rain are non-living things. Living things are different from non-living things in the ways shown below. Animals walk, or run, or hop, or crawl, or swim, or fly. They find their way using sense organs. These are eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, skin, and insect feelers called antennae. Plants move by growing, like these beans growing up bean poles. They don't have sense organs but they can still respond to things. Roots grow down in response to gravity, and to find water. Shoots grow up towards light.

Multiple choice, true/false, yes/no questions

Fig. 17 Read the text and answer the question.

You are a living thing. Grass, whales, and bats are living things too. But stones and rain are non-living things. Living things are different from non-living things in the ways shown below. Animals walk, or run, or hop, or crawl, or swim, or fly. They find their way using sense organs. These are eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, skin, and insect feelers called antennae. Plants move by growing, like these beans growing up bean poles. They don't have sense organs but they can still respond to things. Roots grow down in response to gravity, and to find water. Shoots grow up towards light. Living things feed They need food for energy, growth, and repair.

Plants make their own food in their leaves. This is called photosynthesis. It needs light, water, carbon dioxide, and a green chemical called chlorophyll which is found in leaves.

Question (3 alternative question types) Choose the correct answer:

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a) Animals respond to their environment, but plants do not. b) Both animals and plants respond to their environment c) Plants respond to their environment by using sense organs d) Animals do not respond to their environment. True or false? Animals respond to their environment, but plants do not. Yes or no? Do plants respond to their environment?

Question only You can use a question-only activity.

Fig. 18

Which sports can people with disabilities do? Choose the correct answer. a) Football, basketball, swimming, cycling, scuba diving. b) Tennis, skiing, kayaking, volleyball. c) All of the above sports.

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5.3 Speaking/writing support activities

This section contains task types for supporting productive skills, namely speaking and

writing.

5.3.1 Words/phrases

Provide a list of words/phrases (subject-specific, academic etc). Learners make sentences in

speech or writing. The words can be listed in any way. In fig. the words are divided up into

verbs and nouns.

Fig. 19

Describe the process of photosynthesis. These words will help you. make take combine leaf light energy carbon dioxide water sunlight chlorophyll glucose oxygen

5.3.2 Gap-filling

Fig. 19

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5.3.3 Sentence starters

Provide a list of sentence starters. Write out the sentences you want the learners to make.

Then cut them down to starters. Learners complete the sentences in speech or writing.

Fig. 20

Complete these sentences. Plants make their own food, using... Inside the leaf is a substance called... Chlorophyll takes energy from... The leaf takes in carbon dioxide from... The plant takes in water through... The light energy makes the water and carbon dioxide combine to make... The plant feeds on...

5.3.4 Writing/speaking frame Provide a frame giving support at the level of headings, sentence starters and words. Learners

produce a written text or an oral presentation. Writing frames are often used towards the end

of a lesson and assume that learners know the topic – as is the case in fig 21.

Fig. 21

Write about the characteristics of living things.

Nutrition Animals get food by... Plants use the sun to... Respiration Animals and plants combine... Excretion Animals excrete through... Plants store waste products in... Reproduction Animals ...eggs or have.... Plants produce... Movement Fish... Snakes... Birds... Mammals...

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Plants cannot move but their roots...and their stems... Growth When they are adults, animals ... Plants do not stop... Sensitivity Animals use sense organs such as... Plants can respond to...

5.3.5 Visual Provide a visual (picture, diagram, map, graph etc). The visual will support learners to some

extent in writing/speaking. Further support can be provided by a word list (see a)), sentence

starters (see c)) or a substitution table (see h)). In fig. 22, sentence starters provide further

support.

Fig. 22

Plants make their own food, using energy from... Inside the leaf is a substance called... Chlorophyll takes energy from... The leaf takes in carbon dioxide from... The plant takes in water from the soil through... The light energy makes the water and carbon dioxide combine to make... The plant feeds on... Oxygen is given off into...

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5.3.6 Chart Provide a chart with information. Learners use it to write a text or make an oral presentation.

A chart is a particularly useful form of support for talking and writing. In fig. 23 the chart

shown as support for reading in fig. 6 is used, when completed. Having read and made notes,

learners can now write and talk about the topic.

Fig. 23

Talk with your partner about the characteristics of animals and plants.

Animals Plants

Growth get bigger get bigger

Nutrition eat plants and animals make food from photosynthesis

Respiration get energy from food and oxygen get energy from food and oxygen

Excretion remove waste in urine, faeces and sweat

store waste in fallen leaves

Reproduction have babies, lay eggs produce seeds

Sensitivity see, hear, smell, taste, feel respond to light, water

Movement walk, crawl, swim, fly etc shoots grow up, roots grow down

Fig. 24

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5.3.7 Dialogue

Devise a set of questions with yes/no answers.

Fig. 25

5.3.8 Substitution table

Provide a substitution table. Substitution tables can be used when learners need to say/write

something which requires one or two sentence structures, substituting different words in the

sentence. This is shown in fig. 26 which enables a pair of learners to engage in an oral

dialogue.

Fig. 26

Talk in pairs. Ask and answer questions.

They

get energy from food and oxygen grow all their lives move to the light eat plants and other animals store waste products in their leaves smell, see, feel, taste swim, walk, fly and crawl excrete waste products make their stems and roots longer make their own food through photosynthesis have babies and lay eggs stop growing when they are adults

How do

animals plants

feed? get energy? get rid of waste? reproduce ? move? grow? respond to their environment?

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In fig. 27, the substitution table contains a fairly large number of sentences, divided into two

after the verb.

Fig. 27

Animals Plants

lay have store eat make

plants or animals waste in dead leaves babies their own food eggs

grow respond get energy move feel stop growing excrete

from respiration when they are adults through their lungs, kidneys and skin by using their senses all their lives by running, happing, flying etc to light and water

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5.4 Vocabulary support activities

This section shows examples of task types which can be used specifically for supporting

learners in understanding and learning the vocabulary of a subject topic.

5.4.1 Classify words

Create a mind map of some key words in a topic. Omit some or all of the words and list them

in scrambled form. Learners write the words under the correct headings in the mind map, as

in fig. 28.

Fig. 28

Write the words from the list below in the mind map.

babies, photosynthesis, crawl, sweat, seeds, glucose, size, eating, fly, respond, breathing, oxygen, eggs, grow, swim. kidneys, walk, waste

Fig. 28

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5.4.2 Label a diagram

Provide a diagram which can be labelled. Either leave the learners to write their own labels,

or provide a list of labels. The items can be numbered in boxes as in fig. or boxes can be

joined to the diagram with arrows. A box can be provided for learners to match numbered

items with labels as in fig. 29.

Fig. 29

Fig. 30

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5.4.3 Match

Provide a list of terms (words/phrases) and a list of definitions. Scramble one of them. A box

can also be provided to enable learners to match items more easily, as in fig. 32.

Fig. 31

Fig. 32

Label the diagram. Write the label number in the correct box. a) Oxygen is given out. b) Carbon dioxide is taken from the air c) Light energy comes from the sun d) Water is taken in from the soil by the plant’s roots e) Glucose made in the leaves is taken to all parts of the

plant

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

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Fig. 33

Match the words with the meanings.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Living things need to... This is called...

1. feed a) excretion

2. get energy b) sensitivity

3. get rid of waste c) movement

4. produce young d) reproduction

5. move e) respiration

6. grow f) growth

7. respond to their environment g) nutrition

5.4.4 Gap filling

Provide a gap-filling activity as in Figs. 1 and 2, and 34.

Fig. 34

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5.4.5 Crossword Provide a crossword. Several websites offer means of making them. E.g.

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/CrissCrossSetupForm.asp

Fig. 35

Across 2. to get bigger 4. a change of position 7. the green substance in plants that allows them to use the energy from the sun 8. their own food 10. out of 13. what plants and animals do to get rid of waste materials 14. the power that plants and animals have to be active 15. the way plants and animals respond to their environment 16. useless material Down 1. to make young animals and plants 3. the process of breathing air in and out 5. the way plants combine carbon dioxide and water, using energy from light, to 6. something that animals eat, or plants take in, to keep them alive 9. a small object produced by a female bird, insect, frog, snake etc, that a young animal 11. very young animal 12. a flat thin green part of a tree or plant that grows on a branch or stem

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5.4.6 Wordsearch

Several websites provide ways of making wordsearches easily, e.g.

http://www.superkids.com/aweb/tools/words/search/

Fig. 36

Find these words in the wordsearch: grow, reproduction, excretion, waste, energy, respiration, photosynthesis, leaf, sensitivity, movement, egg, baby, chlorophyll, food, oxygen, light, eat, animal, plant, respond, seed S T S E F T T O I G A R R Y W N

L T W S N M H I E P R E M J A V

M T E E A E J E E H E O E C S W

T L N L P O R X O O S N W T T M

O R I R T M S G I T P P T E E V

V E E G C I A O Y O I L E R I E

E A X D H I E G G S R A C S B X

I D C F L T B O P Y A N I M A L

U Q R M O V E M E N T T R A B S

X R E P R O D U C T I O N N Y I

S E T N O C D S D H O X Y G E N

B S I T P S N S F E N W E G S M

T P O X H C E A T S E E D K M S

Q O N I Y S E N S I T I V I T Y

C N E E L L F M X S O I T W K S

S D L O L O P M E K S M Y C H C