Oracy
At Brownmead, we believe that pupils should be taught to talk and listen to one another effectively. Pupils use talk to articulate their own feelings and using the taught skills, can enhance their own learning effectively. This process we call Oracy.
Oracy forms the basis of all we do here at Brownmead. Not only do teachers incorporate Oracy into daily lessons, but it is also taught explicitly in stand alone lessons. There are many tools available to aid the implementation of Oracy. Below is just a sample of the range of tools we use:
Talk Tactics
Students adopt specific roles during discussions within class. This will help to deepen the quality of the discussion taking place.
It’s important that these are effectively modelled, and that specific praise is directed at students for using talk tactics. It may be the case that students are focusing on a specific talk task within a lesson to build that skill; however, it’s important that students have opportunity to experience the full range of talk tactics.
Sentence Stems
Provide pupils with sentence stems to support them in articulating their learning.
Modelling the use of sentence stems, as well as ensuring that sentence stems are used during feedback is vital in ensuring this is embedded for the pupils. Teachers find opportunities to explicitly praise the use of sentence stems.
Vocabulary Banks
One challenge with teaching vocabulary is moving new words from pupils’ receptive vocabulary to expressive vocabulary. Finding opportunities for pupils to talk using subject specific vocabulary makes it more likely that they will then utilise the terms in written work.
According to research, new vocabulary needs to be used 10-15 times before it becomes familiar.
This is often done prior to a writing task- where pupils are then be encouraged to write a response, incorporating the key aspects of vocabulary.
Pupils can be given a checklist and are encouraged to listen out for specific vocabulary and ‘check’ it off when they hear it. Pupils could provide feedback to one another about the inclusion of vocabulary, giving them the opportunity for another go whilst incorporating more vocabulary.
Discussion Guidelines
Ensuring that each class has clearly agreed discussion guidelines is vital in ensuring that talk is focused and purposeful.
Having these clearly displayed and referred to before, during and after talk tasks helps to cement these expectations and reinforce their significance.
Discussion guidelines are often more effective when the class have agreed bespoke guidelines themselves as this provides the class with ownership over the guidelines. Reminding or quizzing pupils on these guidelines is vital to ensure they become naturally embedded.
I see, I think, I wonder
Pupils are provided with an image or multiple images and encouraged to decode what they can see using the sentence stems ‘I see, I think, I wonder’. This can then be used as a springboard for whole class discussion.
This can be useful as an introduction before new knowledge- as a way of assessing pupils’ prior knowledge. It can also be used to help structure carpet time.
Odd One Out
Several images are shown on the board along with vocabulary and sentence stems. Pupils articulate, using their prior knowledge, which the odd one out is. This works best when there is no right or wrong answer.
This can be adapted so that there is a specific one that is wrong, whereby students are applying the vocabulary to distinguish those that fit and those that do not. This can be used to help students to understand the nuance of specific concepts or abstract ideas.
Studies have shown that pupils who are more able to articulate their thoughts and feelings effectively, not only achieve higher academic success but also have a reduced likelihood of experiencing conflict with peers. At Brownmead Academy, we firmly believe that good Oracy skills prepare our students for the next stage of their lives and whatever that might bring.
