The WAM Whole School materials
Our research has shown that students who worked with the materials were more likely to identify as being multilingual. This is important, because students who feel their identity is valued by their peers, the teacher and the school are likely to have increased confidence and interest in their learning, with the potential for positive impact on their academic achievement.
Structure
This is a set of free-standing units of work. One set of units of work each takes about 60 minutes, depending on how much discussion you have. Then there are 12 shorter units of around 15-20 minutes.
Unit Titles:
1. Languages in our school
2. Languages in our community
3. Being multilingual
4. Recipes for language & culture
5. You are what you speak
6. Why being multilingual
is good for you!
Who is it for?
The activities were developed in detail for use with any year group.
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Form teachers can use the materials in bite-sized chunks over a series of weeks.
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Teachers can use them in
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They could form the basis for a series of assemblies
What does the pack include?
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Six 60 minute lesson PowerPoints including audio and video clips
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10 short lesson (15-20 minute) PowerPoints including audio and video clips
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accompanying Teachers’ notes with suggested classroom language, timings, and pupil tasks
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student worksheets / templates
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examples of students’ completed tasks
How do I use it?
Timetabling. The lessons can be taught either as a short series of 6 hours in a one-off or dispersed over the course of a school year.
Differentiation. The PowerPoints are devised to help teachers achieve the aims set out above through tasks trialled in a number of classrooms. Teachers again should adapt as appropriate.
How do I use the teachers’ notes? The pack includes a set of very detailed notes to accompany the presentations, with suggested classroom language, timings, and pupil tasks.
A dialogic approach. We take a dialogic approach to the work. This means we ask learners to discuss what being multilingual means to them, their family, their community. By the end of the units of work most pupils will understand that it is possible to say ‘I am multilingual’ even if they are not fluent. Sign up for WAM Whole School Materials here.