Today I worked with my focus students to practise using our LS2 oral language framework in context. This is the process we followed:
- Write a question on the board that linked directly to the strategy of long multiplication that we have been learning this week.
- Students then answer the question using the known strategy on whiteboards to give them a visual reference for sharing time.
- Use the LS2 oral language framework to explain the steps they followed to find their answer.
- Reflect on which question/s we found most useful and unpack thinking.
- Share what we found 'hard'.
- Repeat the process
One student shared that they weren't able to share their strategy confidently because they didn't have the maths words to explain the steps they followed, so after some quick thinking on my part, I wrote a list of the maths words on the board. (Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of this.) The image below is an example of what we did. The focus here was on the strategy, not on identifying the maths in a written question.
With the vocabulary list visible the students felt their conversations became more detailed. Afterwards we discussed the difference between the information shared without the vocabulary scaffold and with the vocabulary scaffold. 8/8 students felt they were able to make stronger connections to their partner's strategy.
Student G83 shared that she 'felt more confident when it was my time to share as I had the words that I was missing before. This time I kind of knew what to say.'
The next change to my practice will be to co-construct a strategy specific vocabulary list during my guided teaching sessions.
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