This is a differentiated Speaking / Writing exercise that I tend to use every half-term to encourage spontaneous speaking / writing. It is a variation of a trap door exercise that can be adapted for every topic as only topic specific vocabulary changes (not connectives / frequencies / opinions). This particular mat is to speak / write on the topic of (Future) Jobs / Employment plans. Enjoy!

This is a template that I prepared for my higher year 8 students and early KS4 in relation to answering a Writing Foundation Questions 2 and 4 // Higher Tier Question 1. The topic of this example is celebrations / festivals. Students begin by translating the short text into English and coaching each other if stuck at the same time assessing each other’s work. Then they revise some grammar by playing tarsia game (see template in the end of the presentation). Consequently they get on with reading the question and what is required from them and discussing the what they could include in their answer (both content and grammar structures). Then they make a break and play a dice game (can be prepared prior to the lesson or during the same - see template in the end of the presentation) and a learning grid to revise verb tenses. They then get back to the task and work in pairs to plan their answers. Finally they complete the task individually, discuss the success criteria and the marking scheme with the teacher and peer / self assess their work. Please let me know if there are any problems / ideas!

This is a lesson on TV shows for an early GCSE Spanish class which can be used with a higher year 8 students. The lesson starter is a differentiated reading / writing / grammar task based on the review of a famous cartoon - Secret Life of Pets. Students read the overview of the cartoon and complete the tasks. Then they check the answers followed by phonics practice (resiting tongue twister!). Then I included a mini-test to recap / check whether students remember how to conjugate ‘tener’ in present tense. Consequently they play the Speaking Cube - 6 sides of the cube are completed with the topic questions for the half-term. Students roll a cube (you can either ask them to glue them together or you can make them yourself). I figured 6 cubes per year for each year group is an easy enough task to continue repeating the questions of all half-terms for the whole school year. The template is in the end of the lesson in case you need to change the questions (colours correspond to the difficulty of the question (core- blue, extension is green, violet is killer and pink is super killer). Then they get to revise verb 1 + verb 2 structure and complete a writing task. Before writing I tried to give them some ideas by showing them the Spanish trailer of the cartoon mentioned in the starter activity (they loved it!). The trailer is from Youtube. Finally they self/peer -assess their work by way of analising the success criteria and play a vocabulary game as a reward. The younger students might be allowed to use a dictionary or to think of any word. In any case, feel free to change the rules! Please let me know if there are any problems / ideas! Enjoy!

Assessment e-Feedback - blank template if anyone finds it useful. I used for Spanish GCSE classes but it can be adapted for French or KS3. Have a look and let me know what you think!

Hi everyone! I realised that some things disappear from Youtube, including trailers which are very useful to engage students. I have therefore downloaded this trailer to use for educational purposes only.