PROJECT THE BEATLES
FOR INDEPENDENT CONTRACT WORK with REFLECTION and PEER-EVALUATION
Dear colleague
The Worksheets contains an extra photocopiable supplement for independent work. We recommend trying out these alternative Extra Worksheets because we are convinced that they offer opportunities for task-oriented autonomous learning and teamwork, in which your students learn
- to time and process their work,
- to cooperate with other students,
- to take leadership,
- to be responsible for assignments,
- to communicate what they have learned to the members of their team,
- to use ICT tools (like online dictionaries) and materials that they chose themselves.
And this within a strict time limit.
By means of standard reflection sheets your students learn to reflect on their own learning process, the way in which they worked together, the efficiency of their communication and assess the results of each other’s work.
We invite you to try out a new and challenging way of teaching. You could have a taste of this refreshing methodology at this stage, discover its advantages and drawbacks and then continue at your own pace, depending on the motivation of your students and on the subjects you wish to teach.
Please send your feedback to Francisca Sabbe , Dirk Blomme or Johan Delbaere .
Good luck!
Part 1: independent learning
1. rationale
2. the teacher’s role
3. the resource centre
4. ICT-resources
5. evaluation
6. grading
Part 2: instructions with the Extra Student’s Worksheets
All tasks involve writing
skill / task number / taskvocabulary / 1 / word chart
listening / 2 / discussing songs
reading / 3 / reading an article
reading / 4 / describing a website
looking up information/reading / 5 / computer scrapbook project
speaking / 6 / class talk
reflection
Part 1: independent learning
1. Rationale
“Independent Learning is that learning in which the learner can make the decisions necessary to meet the learner's own learning needs."
(KESTEN C., Independent Learning, Saskatchewan Education, 1987)
· Independent learning is fostered by creating the opportunities and experiences which encourage student motivation, curiosity, self-confidence and self-reliance; it is based on student understanding of their own interests and a valuing of learning for its own sake. It is essential for schools to reduce students' total dependence on teachers for their learning and increase students' capability to set and meet their own learning goals.
· Independent learning involves the teacher and learner in an interactive process that encourages students' intellectual development and their capacity for independent and reflective judgment.
· Independent learning cannot be achieved in isolation. Learning is an interactive process among students and between teacher and students.
· Independent learning is encouraged by a school environment which is sensitive, flexible, democratic and responsive to the needs of students.
· Independent learning has implications for responsible decision making, as individuals are expected to analyse problems, divide work, reflect, make decisions and take purposeful actions.
· As most aspects of our daily lives are likely to undergo profound changes, independent learning will enable individuals to respond to the changing demands of work, family and society. For example, changes in work life will require retraining, job change and life-long learning, and technological change will demand the values, attitudes and skills associated with independent learning.
2. The teacher's role
Learning environment
It is important to create a learning environment which furthers the process of independence, and enables students to consciously accept responsibility for and make decisions about their own learning. The teacher plays an important role in providing a supportive environment that encourages students' motivation, self-confidence, curiosity and desire to learn.
In a school system based to a great extent upon competition and grades, it is particularly important to encourage students' intrinsic interest in learning - learning for its own sake, not as a means to an end.
Relationship between teacher and student
The relationship between teacher and learner should promote increasing learner responsibility. As students grow in maturity and understanding, they are able to take on greater responsibility for their own learning. As this happens, teachers need to relinquish control of decision making. This transfer of control is best supported by a school environment that is organized to encourage and support a continued, increasingly mature and comprehensive acceptance of responsibilities for one's own learning.
Teachers assist students in mastering the decision making processes as instructors, guides and facilitators.
3. Resource centre
The resources are found in a resource centre or library with dictionaries, grammars, a number of computers (a few with headphones), a CD-player, a tape recorder, English magazines or papers, games, readers, encyclopaedias, guides, databases, journals, archives, scripts, history books, fact files, quizzes, tests, maps to consult, films, telephones, CDs, a video camcorder, a video player, overhead projectors, ... The centre should allow students to work on their own and in pairs or groups of four.
ICT
4. Selected ICT-resources
1. Online dictionaries. Tell your students to open an online dictionary in a New Window whenever they start computer research. These are useful dictionaries for your students:
Merriam-Webster online: http://www.m-w.com/
· Merriam-Webster's dictionary, collegiate version on intermediate level with a thesaurus, no subscription needed.
Interglot: http://www.interglot.com/
· Excellent translation dictionary with thesaurus and conjugations.
2. Online grammar
· The Education Resources: http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/subidx.cfm
Short and well developed. From the education resources website. Includes a placement test.
5. Evaluation and reflection
Our own action research on Independent Learning methodologies yielded the following:
- Students appreciate independent work and group work. They like the variety of the tasks and the freedom they get to organize their work.
- Students find it pleasant to work independently and in small groups. They work with more concentration and with more motivation.
- Some students had problems with assimilating the vocabulary and contents of the articles if someone else had done the research for them. Apparently it is not easy for students to communicate what they have looked up to the other group members. The students should carefully draw up an action plan and discuss how they will do the research and study work.
- Many advocates of Independent Learning methodologies claim that Independent Learning is process work which should not be assessed by means of tests or grades so that students can relax while doing the work and focus on reflecting on how efficiently they work in a group. It is true that, in tune with Independent Learning aims, the students’ actual knowledge of the vocabulary, grammar and content of the magazine’s articles is secondary to the acquisition of new skills like working in a team, working independently, skimming and scanning resources and developing a critical approach towards information in the media. With most students internal motivation provides enough incentive for hard work. However, we believe that grades often help when students lack internal motivation and feel too relaxed. The choice is up to the teacher and largely depends on the type of students/classes involved.
6. Grading
Suggestions:
a) grade each task in the Extra Student’s Worksheets on 10 (accuracy, fluency, level and completeness). Add up all the marks and have the group decide how to divide the grand total among its members, depending on how well they did their tasks, how much responsibility they took, how efficient they taught the others.
b) use the test materials that your students wrote as an optional task and have them do a test in class.
Part 2: instructions with the Extra Student’s Worksheets
- First discuss the aims and rationale of Independent Learning in your class. Underscore the fact that the work process is as important as the result of their work.
- Present the resources that students can rely on. Encourage them to bring their own resources like articles, videos, CDs, reviews, posters, ads, albums, ... for task work. Tell them to hand in all their material with the finished task sheets.
ICT
- Take five minutes to discuss the ICT-resources and tell them to open an online dictionary whenever they use the computer.
- Make groups of four students, working around one table in your language centre or school library. Choose the members of the groups yourself.
- Minimally provide enough tables for group-work, 6 to 10 computers (preferably with headphones) depending on the number of students, dictionaries.
- Students will need approximately 4 lessons of 50 minutes for their work. The first twenty minutes will be spent on discussing the organisation of the work and on attributing tasks to group members. The students then read the articles and do the tasks on their Extra Student’s Worksheets. When they have finished, do the reflection exercise(s) and tell them the total score on 60 which they should divide among themselves.
Timing
Lesson 1:
§ Explain what ‘independent learning’ means
§ Present the resources, including the ICT-resources
§ Make groups of 4
§ Ask students to divide the work
§ Ask students to fill in the action plan
§ Ask students to decide on which extra materials to bring next lesson
Lessons 2, 3 and 4:
§ Students do their assignments while you coach them
§ Students hand in their finished work at the end of class hour 4
Lesson 5:
§ Students get back reviewed assignments
§ They evaluate the product and the process of their work.
§ Tests.
Action Plan
Consider to copy a team contract for each team as an alternative for the Action Plan.
Team contract
The aim:
The aim of this task is for you
· to plan some group work
· to help you to keep to your goals
· to help you evaluate your work and the work of your partners
Instructions:
Fill out the contract below. If you like you can discuss it with your teacher.
The contract:
Group members:What each group member is going to do:
Name: / Task number(s):
We would like to share the results of our work with other class members in this way:
We would like to share our work with the class on (date).
These are our criteria for evaluation:
We are going to finish on (date).
Signed by the group: Signed by the teacher:
Students draw up a plan for their work and discuss who will do what and how much time they will need. It’s important that they decide on their criteria for later evaluation: how can you get a higher grade? (e.g. by bringing extra materials, by obtaining high grades on their subtasks, by organising…)
Task 1: word chart
Aims
- scanning texts for unknown words
- working with dictionaries
- enlarging specific and customized vocabulary
Instructions
- Tell your students to choose words from the article on page 6 or from an article they found. They should select the words which they find useful and which they wish to remember.
- Their choices should be challenging, if students choose very easy words, they cannot expect high grades for this task.
- Students should not fill in all the columns:
1. the pronunciation column only when there is a pronunciation difficulty.
2. in the symbol column, they can draw or visualize by means of a symbol. It is sometimes impossible to add a symbol here, but tell pupils to be creative in this.
3. the column with related words is important: they should fill in words which belong to the same lexical field or are connected by association. They should look up the related words in dictionaries. Tell them to use online thesauruses in order to find synonyms, antonyms and related words.
4. the data for the columns parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, article, pronoun) and model sentence or chunk can be found in dictionaries too.
Task 2: discussing songs
Aims
- linking the lyrics of a song to a specific theme
- learning new vocabulary
- paying attention to rhymes and images
Procedure
The students should be able to find a song from The Beatles and listen to it in their group.
ICT
They should find the lyrics on the Internet but make sure they choose different songs. You could ask your students to present one song per team to the class afterwards; have them prepare a printed version of the lyrics of the song and the various links with the fashion/style theme.
ICT
Task 3: reading an article
Students can use an article that they brought to class or found on the Internet on some aspect of The Sixties. They can, of course, do this task on the article on page 6.
Aims
- anticipating the general idea of a news article
- summarising the general lines of an article
- correcting one’s views
- practising contextual vocabulary
- learning new words and expressions
ICT
Task 4: describing a website
Aims
- researching websites concerning form, contents and language.
ICT
Task 5: looking up information on the Net
This task looks like a small-scale Webquest. Use the links below to learn all about The Sixties.
The Psychedelic ‘60s
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/sixties/
The Sixties Pop Diary
http://www.sixtiespop.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm
Oldies Central (Hear the 60’s music.)
http://www.OldiesCentral.com/
Oldies Music
http://www.oldiesmusic.com/
Nick at Nite and TV Land Online
http://www.nick-at-nite.com/
Academy Awards 1960-1969
http://www.filmsite.org/oscars60.html
The Hippy Ring of Peace
http://www.rdescape.com/Hippyring/
The Sixties
http://www.slip.net/~scmetro/sixties.htm
American Cultural History 1960’s
http://www.nhmccd.edu/contracts/lrc/kc/decade60.html
American History 1960’s (Liberty University)
http://www.nhmccd.edu/contracts/lrc/kc/decade60.html
Baby Boomer Headquarters
http://www.bbhq.com/sixties2.htm
The Smithsonian- A Visual Journey- The 1960’s
http://americanhistory.si.edu/lisalaw/1.htm
Civil Rights Movement
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/civilrights/
14 Days In October- The Cuban Missile Crisis
http://library.thinkquest.org/11046/index.html
Chicago 1968 Democratic Convention
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1553/
Hippie History
http://club.netdoor.com/~greenlee/hiphistory.htm
President John F. Kennedy Memorial Site
http://members.aol.com/JFKin61/jfk.html
Apollo Moon Landing 1969
http://www.msnbc.com/news/289739.asp
Sixties Radio Dot. Com (Real Audio)
http://www2.sixtiesradio.com/sixtiesradio/
1969 The Summer of Love
http://www.summeroflove.org/
Vietnam War Internet Project
http://www.lbjlib.utexas.edu/shwv/vwiphome.html