“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.�
Sarah Chambers & Emily Lewis
-Benjamin Franklin
FOLENS
1.
NCCA JUNIOR CYCLE ENGLISH
‘…as their mastery of language grows, so too will the opportunities to enjoy their world and give of their best to society now, and in the future. They will fully appreciate their success in language when pleasure and growth in it continue in their lives long after school is done.’ Specification for New Junior Cycle English, NCCA, October 2013
1
How can we help? We have spent a long time building an intimate relationship with the new Junior Cycle English specification and there have been many lessons along the way. Having taught the previous syllabus for several years, our main concern is, ‘How do we make the adjustment in our day-to-day teaching? – ‘What do we need to do differently?’ – ‘What can we keep the same?’ While there is some trepidation in advance of such changes, there is also excitement – the new specification offers opportunities for a more fulfilling teaching and learning experience for all involved. This booklet simply outlines the key (not all!) concerns we, and other teachers we have talked to, have had in the run-up to the JC change. We hope our journey can provide you with some shortcuts to transitioning to the new syllabus.
Okay, first things first… What doesn’t change from the previous syllabus? n n n n n
ICT is still a tool and to be used at the teacher’s discretion. Reading and Writing are still at the core of the English curriculum. English remains a mandatory subject available at both Higher and Ordinary Level. There is still a final exam that is marked externally. Teachers will still have text choice.
What are the key differences? n There is a greater emphasis on oral Literacy to include oral classwork, the study of
oral texts and an oral presentation as part of the coursework. n Coursework will comprise 40% of the student’s English Junior Cycle mark. n Teachers will have to choose two novels and one full play from a prescribed list. n All students will undertake one final exam at the end of Third Year (a change from
two papers at Higher Level). n 39 learning outcomes, equally divided between Oral Language, Reading and Writing
will inform teaching and learning in the English classroom.
2
JUNIOR CYCLE 2017 TIMELINE
Content 1st Year
n No prescribed list of texts n 1 studied novel n On-going, sustained reading of novels throughout the year n A variety of drama extracts n A variety of non-literary texts, including texts in oral format n A number of short stories n 10 poems (minimum)
Skills n Skill building, incorporating the 22 First Year specific learning outcomes focusing on the transition between primary and secondary school English
1st Year
2014
2nd Year 2014/2015
Assessment n No coursework for Junior Cycle assessment
3
2nd Year
1st Year
1st Year
2.
Assessment n Second Year: Oral Assessment (15% of Junior Cycle grade)
n 2 novels from the prescribed list n 1 full play from the prescribed list n 1 or more additional drama extracts or full dramas (Shakespearean drama must be studied at Higher Level) n Non-literary texts n Oral texts n A film from the prescribed list or a biography or travel text or documentary n 16 poems (minimum) n Short stories
2nd & 3rd Year
2nd & 3rd Year
Content
Skills n Continued skill-building, incorporating the 22 First Year-specific learning outcomes plus 17 additional learning outcomes (39 learning outcomes in total) n Collecting and developing written work for Junior Cycle coursework component
3rd Year
3rd Year
2015/2016
2016/2017
Assessment n Collection of student’s coursework to be submitted for summative assessment (25% of Junior Cycle grade) n Final exam, Higher or Ordinary Level: one 2-hour paper
4
2017
3.
FAQs ABOUT THE NEW CURRICULUM
What about the digital portfolio? There is in no requirement in the new specification for a digital portfolio. The specification states, ‘The student’s created texts may be presented in a wide range of formats – handwritten, digital, multi-modal, and so on’.
So how much ICT do I have to use? The new specification encourages the incorporation of ICT in the teaching and learning of English; however, there are no minimum ICT requirements. Step Up! frequently references digital texts such as Apps and YouTube clips while also encouraging students to draw on their ICT skills in response to texts. PowerPoint presentations support lessons in the textbooks with lists of supporting websites.
?
How does continuous assessment affect me? There is no assessment or coursework in First Year. Step Up! uses First Year to build the skills students require for the assessment tasks of Second and Third Year. The introduction of TAG and SEES in all lessons encourages students to plan, edit and critically appraise the merits and demerits of their own work, and the work of others. The use of checklists allows students an opportunity to assess their own work before submitting it to the teacher. This will make students active participants in their own learning and rebalance the burden of editing coursework for the teacher in preparation for Second and Third Year.
How will I prepare my students for the coursework and the final exam? Step Up! and Make Your Mark! Level Up tasks facilitate a multitude of opportunities to assess students’ capacity for critical appreciation of texts, while the Bonus Level tasks are wide-ranging and offer a variety of engaging assessment opportunities. Both task types can be used in the production of coursework and in preparation for the final Third Year exam. The textbooks have been specifically written to address the demands of the new specification and comprehensively cover the learning outcomes.
Do I have to change my textbook, or even use a textbook at all? You don’t have to use a textbook, but it will make things a lot easier if you do. You can adapt your current textbook to the current specification, but not without a lot of extra work from you, the teacher. Just like you can eat cereal with a knife but not without a lot of work! A new tool built to support new demands will make your life easier. Step Up! has been specifically created for the new specification: to build the skills for coursework, to develop oral skills and to incorporate the learning outcomes that are now the English teacher’s focus.
5
!
How will I grade my students? The NCCA will provide schools with access to an Assessment and Moderation Toolkit that guides teachers in assessing their students.
How will I cope with Oral Assessment? The Step Up! Teacher’s Resource Book contains an Oral Assessment sheet for teachers and students mirroring the NCCA assessment criteria. Oral texts and tasks are included throughout Step Up! It also contains a chapter called ‘How To…’ This teaches students about good oral presentation skills, while the inclusion of checklists facilitates student self-assessment, encouraging independent learning. Oral Assessment sheets are also contained in the TRB to support the grading of these assessments.
3
What new methodologies should I employ? The new specification places a special emphasis on collaborative learning in small and large groups. Step Up! uses Heads Together (pair work) and Double Up (group work) throughout the text. Collaborative learning is addressed in Chapter 1 and is threaded throughout the text for the course of Junior Cycle. The textbook uses pair work and group work as part of every lesson, ensuring students become familiar with sharing their ideas and learning from their peers. The habitual use of Heads Together (pair work) and Double Up (group work) normalises this methodology, making it a part of standard class practice. To aid good collaborative learning, Chapter 1 in Step Up! explicitly teaches appropriate classroom behaviour and active listening discussions. Step Up! and Make Your Mark! develop these skills over the course of the Junior Cycle.
6
3. !
FAQs ABOUT THE NEW CURRICULUM
Teach a man to fish... The learning outcomes are skills, not content. They are the foundation on which the new Junior Cycle is based. Through practice and continual development, students are expected to have honed these skills by the end of the three-year Junior Cycle. Step Up! and Make Your Mark! have been specifically designed to introduce and develop these skills in a consistent manner across a broad range of texts throughout the Junior Cycle. The new Junior Cycle English specification is based around 39 learning outcomes. To facilitate a successful transition from primary to secondary school English, 22 learning outcomes have been chosen that connect the primary curriculum with the new specification. These 22 learning outcomes are therefore the central focus of First Year English. The learning outcomes are equally divided into three strands (Oral Language, Reading and Writing). The numbering of learning outcomes is not suggestive of a hierarchy. As with all skills, there is some overlap and repetition. Again, as with all skills, they cannot be taught by transmission. Consistent practice and reinforcement is required across a broad range of content.
New Junior Cycle Specification Learning Outcomes The 22 learning outcomes that are pertinent to First Year English are highlighted in purple. In accordance with the new specification, the learning outcomes being focused on in First Year will not have been ‘completed’ at the end of that year. The 39 learning outcomes represent outcomes for students at the end of their three years of study. The textbooks have been specifically designed to introduce and develop these skills in a consistent manner across a broad range of texts throughout the three-year Junior Cycle.
7
NEW JUNIOR CYCLE SPECIFICATION
4.
COMPLETE LIST OF JUNIOR CYCLE LEARNING OUTCOMES
STRAND: ORAL LANGUAGE ELEMENT: Communicating as a listener, speaker, reader, writer
Engaging with oral language students should be able to:
1. Know and use the conventions of oral language interaction, in a variety of contexts, including class groups, for a range of purposes, such as asking for information, stating an opinion, listening to others, informing, explaining, arguing, persuading, criticising, commentating, narrating, imagining, speculating 2. Engage actively and responsively within class groups in order to listen to or recount experiences and to express feelings and ideas 3. Engage in extended and constructive discussion of their own and other students’ work 4. Listen actively in order to get the gist of an account or presentation, noting its main points and purpose 5. Deliver a short oral text, alone and/or in collaboration with others, using appropriate language, style and visual content for specific audiences and chosen purposes 6. Learn from and evaluate models of oral language use to enrich their own oral language production 7. Choose appropriate language, style and visual content for specific audiences and chosen purposes: persuading, informing, narrating, describing a process
ELEMENT: Exploring and using language
8. Listen actively in order to interpret meaning, compare, evaluate effectiveness of, and respond to drama, poetry, media broadcasts, digital media, noting key ideas, style, tone, content and overall impact in a systematic way 9. Apply what they have learned about the effectiveness of spoken texts to their own use of oral language 10. Collaborate with others in order to explore and discuss understandings of spoken texts by recording, analysing, interpreting and comparing their opinions 11. Engage with the world of oral language use as a pleasurable and purposeful activity
ELEMENT: Understanding the content and structure of language
12. Demonstrate how register, including grammar, text structure and word choice, varies with context and purpose in spoken texts 13. Develop their spoken language proficiency by experimenting with word choice, being creative with syntax, being precise, stimulating appropriate responses relative to context and purpose
First Year
2nd & 3rd year
8
NEW JUNIOR CYCLE SPECIFICATION
5.
STRAND: READING ELEMENT: Communicating as a listener, speaker, reader, writer
Engaging in reading students should be able to:
1. Read texts with fluency, understanding and competence, decoding groups of words/ phrases and not just single words 2. Read for a variety of purposes: learning, pleasure, research, comparison 3. Use a wide range of reading comprehension strategies appropriate to texts, including digital texts: to retrieve information; to link to previous knowledge, follow a process or argument, summarise, link main ideas; to monitor their own understanding; to question, analyse, synthesise and evaluate 4. Use an appropriate critical vocabulary while responding to literary texts
ELEMENT: Exploring and using language
5. Engage in sustained private reading as a pleasurable and purposeful activity, applying what they have learned about the effectiveness of spoken and written texts to their own experience of reading 6. Read their texts for understanding and appreciation of character, setting, story and action: to explore how and why characters develop, and to recognise the importance of setting and plot structure 7. Select key moments from their texts and give thoughtful value judgements on the main character, a key scene, a favourite image from a film, a poem, a chapter, a media or web-based event 8. Read their texts to understand and appreciate language enrichment by examining an author’s choice of words, the use and effect of simple figurative language, vocabulary and language patterns, and images, as appropriate to the text 9. Identify, appreciate and compare the ways in which different literary, digital and visual genres and sub-genres shape texts and shape the reader’s experience of them
ELEMENT: Understanding the content and structure of language
10. Know how to use language resources (e.g. dictionary, thesaurus and online resources) in order to assist their vocabulary development 11. Identify and comment on features of English at word and sentence level using appropriate terminology, showing how such features contribute to overall effect 12. Understand how word choice, syntax, grammar and text structure may vary with context and purpose 13. Appreciate a variety of registers and understand their use in the written context
First Year
2nd & 3rd Year
9
STRAND: Writing ELEMENT: Communicating as a listener, speaker, reader, writer
Engaging in writing students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate their understanding that there is a clear purpose for all writing activities and be able to plan, draft, re-draft, and edit their own writing as appropriate 2. Discuss their own and other students’ written work constructively and with clear purpose 3. Write for a variety of purposes, for example to analyse, evaluate, imagine, explore, engage, amuse, narrate, inform, explain, argue, persuade, criticise, comment on what they have heard, viewed and read 4. Write competently in a range of text forms, for example letter, report, multi-modal text, review, blog, using appropriate vocabulary, tone and a variety of styles to achieve a chosen purpose for different audiences
ELEMENT: Exploring and using language
5. Engage with and learn from models of oral and written language use to enrich their own written work 6. Use editing skills continuously during the writing process to enhance meaning and impact: select vocabulary, reorder words, phrases and clauses, correct punctuation and spelling, reorder paragraphs, remodel, manage content 7. Respond imaginatively in writing to their texts, showing a critical appreciation of language, style and content, choice of words, language patterns, tone, images 8. Write about the effectiveness of key moments from their texts, commenting on characters, key scenes, favourite images from a film, a poem, a chapter, a media or web-based event 9. Engage in the writing process as a private, pleasurable and purposeful activity, using a personal voice as their individual style is thoughtfully developed over the years
ELEMENT: Understanding the content and structure of language
10. Use and apply their knowledge of language structures, for example sentence structure, paragraphing, grammar, to make their writing a richer experience for themselves and the reader 11. Use language conventions appropriately, especially punctuation and spelling, to aid meaning and presentation and to enhance the reader’s experience 12. Demonstrate an understanding of how syntax, grammar, text structure and word choice may vary with context and purpose 13. Evaluate their own writing proficiency and seek remedies for those aspects of their writing that they need to improve First Year
2nd & 3rd Year
10
WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? NEXT STEPS n Each English teacher will have one full day’s in-service in 2014, 2015 and 2016. n Each English department will be allocated 2 hours for meetings in 2014 to plan
for the new Junior Cycle beginning in 2014. n Plan for First Year 2014/2015.
(Step Up! Teacher Resource Book has sample yearly plans to help you do this) n Get Step Up! n Familiarise yourself with its layout and the methodologies.
STEP UP!
Step Up! is a First Year English programme written for the 2014 Junior Cycle English specification. It addresses the requirements of Junior Cycle English in an innovative way that will develop students’ appreciation of English and lay the groundwork for Second and Third Year assessment.
To register your interest in receiving an evaluation copy of Step Up!, please log onto folens.ie/stepup
2014 n Step Up! 1st Year book n Step Up! Teacher’s Resource Book n Online eBook and digital resources for teachers on folenonsline.ie 2015 n Make Your Mark! 2nd/3rd Year book n Make Y our Mark! Teacher’s Resource Book n Online eBook and digital resources for teachers on folenonsline.ie Sarah Chambers and Emily Lewis are English teachers based in Cork.
FOLENS