PPLI Spotlight on Schools Galway - Flipbook - Page 3
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Spotlight on Schools, Differentiation and Inclusion in the MFL Classroom
How did you plan for it and organise it?
Firstly, it was important to recognise what kind of need existed among the students in our class, to establish the
learning outcomes we wished to achieve. Thinking about differences encouraged us to devise individualised tasks
which aligned with the specific language level of each student and the topic in question. However, we still had to
consider the class as a whole. In order to foster a sense of unity in such a diverse group, it is worth using different
strategies, for example to plan work in small groups as part of a joint project, incorporate elements of education
through movement, singing together and of course mediation.
At the initial stage of the activity, after the topic, learning outcomes and key words have been introduced (Photo 1),
it is important to spark student's curiosity about the task and the prospect of a common goal. This can be done, for
example, by delivering the general idea of the lesson in the form of an email (or letter in the bottle) to the class from
the hero of the lesson (in this case an email from ‘Autumn Lady’).
(Photo 1)
The text should be designed in such a way that each student is able to read a section aloud, e.g. beginners read
greetings, simple sentences, while more advanced students are responsible for more complex sentences. In the
context of more difficult sentences, heritage TL learners can be involved in the mediation process by translating or
describing.
Common listening to the song (Photo 2) provides an opportunity to differentiate and include. While beginners
concentrate on repeating and memorising new vocabulary, more advanced learners focus on reproducing the text
by selecting appropriate pictures linked to the content of the song (Photos: 3, 4, 6) or looking for specific descriptive
words. At the same time, the sense of group unity is strengthened, especially if singing is introduced at the next
stage of the lesson or (even better) when elements of education through movement are implemented in the task.
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