OER 3 Language and gender: learning and equality in participation

4.1 Teachers – Activity 1

Ways of checking student understanding

Checking students’ understanding is a part of every lesson and you can do it by using stimulating ways to get their attention and keeping them involved.

Try out these activities and observe student responses and participation.

When you plan the activities, think about how you will arrange the classroom to ensure equal participation of girls and boys.

1. Questions for the lesson:

   • Tell your students about the topic of tomorrow’s lesson. Have them each prepare two questions about the lesson. On the day of the lesson, have students look for the answers to their questions. Ask them if their questions were answered in the lesson. Was the lesson what they expected? What questions do they still have?

     For a large class, have pairs or groups of students prepare two or three questions each.

     OR

     You prepare a list of questions about the lesson. Write the questions on the board and have students answer the questions at the end of the lesson.

2. ‘What I know’:

   • Tell students about the lesson’s content and objectives. Draw a chart on the board and ask students to tell you: what they know, and what they think they know, and what they need to know. This helps you to find out about their prior knowledge and their learning needs.

3. ‘Spot the mistakes’:

   • After your lesson, give a written task or explain the topic again but include some errors or wrong information. See if your students understood the lesson and are paying attention!

4. What we learned:

   • After a lesson, have students work in pairs or groups of three to tell each other what they learned. Have them write together what they learned – this can be in the form of a story or a dialogue. You can have girls and boys work separately or together. You can have students from the same language group work together.