Speaking,
listening, reading, writing
Bands A+, B, C, D
What
is it?
Students
work in cooperative groups to recreate a text that has been
read aloud to the class. (Process adapted from the one provided
in the source listed below)
What
is its purpose?
- To introduce
key words at the beginning of a work sequence
- To encourage
students to focus on meaning when listening to a text
- To develop
effective listening strategies
- To develop
proof reading and editing strategies
- To provide
an authentic opportunity for cooperative learning
- To assist
NESB students and others who need a lot of support with
reading and writing activities
How
do I do it?
- Find a
suitable text - usually one that is short and cohesive
- Divide
the class into groups.
- Ask students
to write down the key words as the text is read. (Teachers
might need to read the text more than once.)
- Have students
work in cooperative groups to recreate the text.
- Groups
proof read and edit their texts before presenting them
to the class in spoken or written form.
- Students
compare their texts with the original, attempting to
justify the differences between them.
How
can I adapt it?
- Students
might be given title of the topic and asked to predict
the key words
- Some (or
all) of the groups could be given copies of (some or
all) key words before the text is read.
- Ask groups
to work out definitions of the key words
How
can it be used to evaluate students' language learning?
Teachers and students might be able to collect information
about each student's ability to:
- recognise
key words in a piece of extended prose
- retell
word meanings and definitions
- use effective
speaking and listening skills
- work cooperatively
- share information
with a group or the whole class
- create
a written retelling and compare it with the original
- extend
proof reading and editing skills
Where
can I find out more?
Jennings, C and Shepherd, J.(1998) Literacy and the Key
Learning Areas: Successful Classroom Strategies, Eleanor
Curtain Publishing.
Retelling
