Pause for thoughtMr Bajwa developed a mathematical activity where students were actively involved in listening to English as they made a resource for learning. He started by establishing rules to ensure classroom management during the activity. He repeated his instructions in different ways. The visual aid of the flexagon reinforced all the language learning.Identify the English language that Mr Bajwa used that was: mathematicalinstructional and about sequencinggeneral to classroom management.What did he repeat, and why?Which words and phrases have similar meanings? Can you identify what Mr Bajwa wanted students to learn in the flexagon lesson about mathematics and in English? These were: Mathematics: To develop and use mathematical vocabulary accurately in a practical context – ‘centimetre’, ‘rectangle’, ‘edge’, ‘diagonal’, ‘three-dimensional’, ‘prism’, ‘triangular’.English: To follow a set of instructions in English; to understand and use sequential language (‘first’, ‘second’, ‘next’, ‘then’, ‘finally’); and to hear and respond to imperatives.Are there other learning aims you could identify in the lesson for other subjects or for the students’ general development?What do you think of Mr Bajwa’s strategy for distributing resources? How would you do it differently?Can all the students in the class take part in this activity? Why or why not? |