Download - Win £1,500 of taking part No Pens Day Wednesdaythe Hello campaign, the national year of communication. The initiative is backed by Jean Gross, Communication Champion, and has strong

Teachers’ Activity Pack

Your guide to runningNo Pens Day Wednesday

Win £1,500 of resources by taking part

No Pens Day Wednesday

Welcome to your No Pens Day Wednesday activity packNo Pens Day Wednesday is about encouraging schools to spend one day focusing on speaking and listening activities. Thank you for signing up and getting involved.

ContentsAll about No Pens Day Wednesday _____________ page 3

How to make classroom talk more effective _____ page 5

Getting ready for the day _____________________ page 9

How to run your No Pens Day Wednesday ______ page 10

Outcomes _________________________________ page 15

Spread the word ____________________________ page 16

Next steps _________________________________ page 18

No Pens Day Wednesday 28 September

2011

Teachers’ Activity PackNo Pens Day Wednesday 28 September

2011

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All about No Pens Day Wednesday

No Pens Day Wednesday is a national speaking and listening event from the Hello campaign, encouraging schools to organise a day where learning and assessment takes place through speaking and listening activities, rather than writing.

Ofsted are increasingly highlighting the importance of speaking and listening for good teaching and attainment and as a common denominator in the most successful schools...

No Pens Day Wednesday is being organised by The Communication Trust as part of the Hello campaign, the national year of communication. The initiative is backed by Jean Gross, Communication Champion, and has strong support from curriculum experts including Sir Jim Rose, Andrew Pollard and Mick Waters.

The aim of the day is to see a positive impact on all pupils and enable speaking and listening to be used as a vehicle for learning across the curriculum.

Just a note... If Wednesday 28 September doesn’t work for your school, you can run your No Pens Day Wednesday at another time that suits.

‘A common feature of the most successful schools in the survey was the attention they gave to

developing speaking and listening’ Ofsted Removing Barriers to

Literacy, 2010

Hello is the 2011 national year of communication – a campaign to increase understanding of how important it is for all children and young people to develop good communication skills.

It’s estimated that over a million children have some form of speech, language and communication need that requires them to have extra help to communicate. This can affect them severely and for life.

Hello is helping to make children’s communication a priority in homes and schools across the country by providing information on typical communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go for help and support.

Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out more about the campaign and to sign up for regular updates.


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‘Where inspectors saw links between oral language, reading and

writing in lessons with secondary school students, standards at GCSE

English language were higher’ Excellence in English

Ofsted May 2011

What is the Hello campaign?

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Talk is at the heart of education - teachers use talk as the main tool of their trade. The amount and quality of talk that children experience in the early years is a good predictor of how well they’ll do in school. And we now know that teaching children and young people how to use talk to think together can improve their commitment to learning and to their educational attainment.

No Pens Day Wednesday will enable teachers to give pupils opportunities throughout the day to develop their communication skills and use them to support their learning.

We know from a range of research that pupils are more likely to get enthusiastically involved in their education, and learn best from it, when teachers support and enable effective use of speaking and listening to support learning.

We have therefore suggested the following ten key principles for effective use of speaking and listening. >>

How to make classroom talk more effective

‘Open and challenging questions extend pupils’ reasoning and vocabulary and help them to become enthusiastic and self-motivated learners, eager to

contribute and share their ideas. At its very best, such teaching generates an infectious

enthusiasm for learning’ Ofsted Annual report 2009/2010

...‘recent research shows that the average length of a pupil’s

contribution to a class discussion is just four words’

National Literacy Trust, 2011

and yet...

1. Allow pupils time to think about information given, refine what they want to say, express their thoughts and reveal their misunderstandings

2. Give opportunities for pupils to talk to a partner or in a group, to encourage pupils to test understanding, put new knowledge into their own words and/or to clarify thoughts before they’re asked to produce a piece of writing

3. Support vocabulary development by using strategies to explicitly teach the meaning and use of key words for learning (words like compare, analyse and define) and for subject specific vocabulary

4. Model ways of using language so that children learn by example, use language that enables collaborative working, discussion, rational argument and negotiation. For example “I see your point, though let’s try this way too and we can decide which works best”

5. Encourage thinking by asking open questions to explore pupils’ ideas, supporting pupils to elaborate and justify their views, for example “How did you know that?”

6. Listen as well as talk by holding back demonstrations or explanations until the ideas of some students have been heard, by allowing pupils’ comments to shift the direction of a discussion (and even, perhaps, of a lesson!)

7. Set the context by using whole class discussions to help pupils see where their study of a topic is coming from and where it’s going, for example, using a learning journey model

8. Support independent learning by asking pupils to think ‘how am I going to remember this?’ Give them opportunities to practise with a partner

9. Use ground rules of dialogue for class or group discussions to support thinking and learning. A typical set of such ground rules might include:• Discuss things together• Ask everyone for their opinion• Ask for reasons why • Listen to people• Be prepared to change your mind• Think before you speak• Respect other people’s ideas –

don’t just use your own• Share all the ideas and

information you have• Make sure the group agrees after

talking

10. Encourage children and young people to say when they’ve not understood – acknowledge the importance of making mistakes and of seeking clarification when unsure

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10 key principles of effective talk

Use the 10 second rule – wait around 10

seconds after asking a question before prompting

pupils for an answer


2011

Following through with the ten principles overleaf may not be easy, so do prepare yourself for challenges along the way. As any teacher will testify, if you try asking open questions, or waiting for extended answers with a class who have had only a very traditional experience of classroom talk, you’ll probably only hear (at best) a suspicious silence. It all depends on the teacher establishing the right classroom climate for talk, and that takes time.

Some teachers are naturally brilliant at doing this. Their students come to appreciate the educational value of talk themselves, and will not feel embarrassed to express tentative ideas or reasonable disagreements.

Teachers need to be good models for children and young people on how to use talk for thinking.

Research has shown that when children are helped to understand talk as a problem-solving and learning tool, and given guidance in developing skills in using it, the quality of their talk and group work improves and so do the individual learning outcomes.

For children whose out-of-school lives give them little exposure to reasoned discussion, this can be a life-changing experience.

‘Teaching pupils speaking and listening for learning has not

just been of benefit to the standards of literacy but for the whole

curriculum.’ Jan Baynham, Literacy Adviser, South Wales


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Win up to £1,500 of resourcesTeachers’ Activity Pack


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Schools taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday could win up to £1,500 of resources to help embed speaking and listening activities.

3 prizes of £500 are available and all participating schools will be eligible to win one or more of the following categories:

1. Best lesson

2. Best activity

3. Best way of recording learning

To enter the competition, email [email protected] and include the name of the prize category you’re entering in the subject header.

Then, in 500 words or less, tell us all about what you did and include any pictures, podcasts, film, links or anything else you feel shows off what you achieved on the day. You’ll need to send a separate e-mail for each category you’re entering and all participating schools can enter in all categories. Entrants can win more than one of the prizes on offer.

Each prize will be £500 towards the cost of developing speaking and listening activities for your school. This could be in the form of ICT equipment, topic boxes, story bags, staff training or even consultancy from a speech and language expert. The Communication Trust will work with the winning school or schools to create prize packages that meet their needs.

All entries must be received by Friday 21 October 2011 and the winners will be notified by Friday 2 December 2011. The names of winning schools will be promoted on the No Pens Day Wednesday pages of the Hello website, where you can find full terms and conditions of entry.

Here’s some information to help you prepare for No Pens Day Wednesday or Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday if another day suits you better!

Staff meeting

You may find it useful to have a brief staff meeting with your colleagues to share information about No Pens Day Wednesday and to provide an opportunity for staff to discuss what they see as the language and communication issues for pupils in your school.

We’ve provided some slides to support this discussion, which can be used in its entirety or adapted for your own use.

Download the content for the staff meeting at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Lesson plans and activitytemplates

No Pens Day Wednesday lesson plans and activity templates have been created by specialist teachers and speech and language therapists and quality assured by practising mainstream teachers.

Lesson plans – these were developed by taking example plans for September from one school’s planning as a starting point. As all schools will be covering different topics and have different ways of planning, the lesson plans provide an example for schools to adapt.

Plans are available for Key Stage 1 and 2 curriculum, across the year groups. For secondary schools, lesson plans are available for year 7 across all subject areas; this is not to limit your No Pens Day Wednesday to year 7 only, but to provide an example across all subject areas, which you can use and adapt for different year groups.

Lesson plans are divided into primary and secondary and are available as a separate download to this pack for you to use on the day.

Activity templates – in addition to lesson plans, we’ve provided activity templates, which are more generic and can be adapted to any lesson. There are a range of activities with information about each, including how it can be implemented, highlighting any resources / links that might be useful to support that activity. These activities can be used within any element of a lesson - as a starter activity, main activity, plenary or as methods of recording learning.

Download the plans and templates at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Getting ready for the dayTeachers’ Activity Pack


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How to run your No Pens Day WednesdayTeachers’ Activity Pack


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Confirm who’ll lead on plans for the day

Book in a staff meeting to inform other teachers about the No Pens Day Wednesday

Download the activity pack and other supporting documents at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday (Primary Lesson Plans and Templates if you work in a Primary School, Secondary Lesson Plans and Templates if you work in a Secondary School)

Familiarise yourself with the documents and consider whether you want to use or adapt the lesson plans provided or plan your own lessons using the ideas on the templates

Decide on who’ll run the assembly for pupils

Consider entering our competition for:

• The best lesson

• The best activity

• The best way of recording learning, for example best posters, podcasts, slideshows etc.

Consider whether you’ll have competitions / presentations in school for best activities, ways of recording etc

Plan in your local media activity to promote what you’re doing – No Pens Day Wednesday press templates are available and you can find media advice in the Hello Bring the Noise toolkit available from www.hello.org.uk/resources

Decide if you want to invite press along on the day, and if so which part of the day will be best for you to accommodate press and photographers

Check if you have permissions from parents for children and young people to be photographed. If not, plan this in

Identify your ‘spokesperson’ for No Pens Day Wednesday. This is the person who’ll be quoted in the press releases and who’d speak on the day to any media

Plan in reflection after the day / lessons learned / next steps

Three weeks before your No Pens Day Wednesday:


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Ensure all teachers have discussed with their pupils the plans to participate in No Pens Day Wednesday, including seeking their views on taking part and asking their ideas on how the day should be run

Ensure all staff are aware of the day

Identify ‘a budding photographer’ in your school or community who can take pictures of your No Pens Day Wednesday activity

Send a letter to parents – use the template provided on page 16; you may decide to invite parents into the school assembly or to see what’s happening in the classrooms or the ways in which pupils have recorded their work

Share with other local contacts your plans for No Pens Day Wednesday and send out your No Pens Day Wednesday photo-call to your local newspaper and radio

Prepare your own certificates for the day (if using)

Plan the lessons you’ll run using the examples provided, ensure any additional resources you need are prepared

Call / email your local newspaper and radio to follow up on your photo-call notice and see if they’re interested in covering your day. Be prepared to send your information over again

Put information in your newsletter for parents and in the news section of your website

Consider ideas and options for recording learning, suggestions are available on www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Plan where and when you’ll gather pupil views on the day; see our suggestions on how to do this on page 15

Two weeks before your No Pens Day Wednesday: One week before your No Pens Day Wednesday:


Begin with the assembly explaining to pupils what will happen on the day; you can download this from www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Use the materials provided to run a day of lessons with a focus on speaking and listening

If the press are coming, have one person, who leads on liaising with local media, speak to them about what they need. For example, they may want to set up a specific photo with staff and children or talk to a child / teacher / parent about their views on the day

Note the impact on pupils’ engagement and learning

Ask pupils’ views during the day; discuss the benefits of not using pens, alternative activities used and places where it would be useful to write things down

Plan a follow up assembly / sharing pupils’ work – you might chose to do this on another day / invite parents etc

Present results / certificates at end of week in an assembly or relevant alternative

Use a staff meeting to reflect on the best and most challenging elements of the day; see our suggestions on how to do this on page 15

Share pupils’ views

Decide on what you’ll continue with

Send a press release with a couple of the best pictures (if you have them) to your local media and any other important contacts. It would be really helpful if you could also send it to us at [email protected] as it will help us keep track of the media activity

Share your story / experiences / anecdotes with Hello by uploading your story onto the website at www.hello.org.uk/yourstories

Visit the Hello website at www.hello.org.uk for further suggestions on how to support speaking and listening in schools

On the day: After the day :


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No Pens Day Wednesday AssemblyTeachers’ Activity Pack


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It’s obviously important that pupils understand what to expect from No Pens Day Wednesday and know why the school has decided to take part. We’ve included two options for assemblies so you can choose which you feel is best suited to your pupils and the way in which you carry out your assemblies.

This example gives role play activities and the second option provides a simple Powerpoint with optional role play activities, one aimed at primary and one at secondary pupils, available at www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Introduction

Each pupil is given a pen as they enter the room before sitting down.

Assembly leaderCheck if anyone knows what’s going to be different about the day i.e. No Pens Day Wednesday = no pens will be used. If no-one answers, explain pens won’t be used all day in the school and get pupils to get rid of their pen somehow e.g. pass a bin / bag along each row for pupils to put their pens into.

So what will happen instead?Ask what pupils think they’ll do in lessons today (instead of writing) to help their learning and express their thoughts and ideas.

(Pupils may say ‘drawing’. Acknowledge that this is one other way of expressing thoughts but this still involves a pen/pencil which they’ll not have today).

Role-play 1 (assembly leader and teacher)

• Have a silent written conversation for two or three turns

• Ask the pupils if this is how we usually talk to each other?

• Explain or reiterate that one main way of learning and expressing our thoughts and ideas is through talking to each other (depending on whether a pupil has already come up with this suggestion or not)

Role-play 2 (assembly leader and pupil 1)

• Pick a pupil to have a conversation with

• Ask them to tell you about something that they could talk about for a long time e.g. about their family, what t hey did yesterday at school (pick a child who you’re aware would cope with this)

• As they’re doing this, show poor listening skills such as looking away, fidgeting, turning your back to them, yawning, and interrupting them

• Open it up to the pupils to give feedback and ask if they think you were communicating and listening well

• How much do they think you learned about what the pupil was telling you?


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Role-play 3 (assembly leader and pupil 2)

• Do the same as role-play two, and correct your listening behaviour in light of the feedback and discussion about your poor listening skills, for example face the pupil, look interested, nod etc. This time however show poor talking skills such as responding to what they say on a non-related topic and speaking really fast and then too quietly and don’t let them have a turn

• Again, open it up to the pupils to give feedback and highlight that you may have been showing good listening behaviours but you weren’t showing good talking behaviours

• What do they think would be the impact on what you learned from the pupil?

Role-play 4 (assembly leader to pupil 3)

• Then do one more role-play with another child and have a conversation, showing good listening and speaking

• Check if that was OK with the pupils and why

• Ask if they think you would have learned more this way?

How did it feel?Ask the three pupils involved how they felt when you were having a conversation with them to highlight the impact it can have when a person doesn’t listen, take turns or speak clearly.

SummaryRecap the skills you had to put into practice to make your conversation work well and for you to listen and learn and remember what your partner was telling you. Explain that writing is an important skill but that speaking and listening are also really important, for helping you think things through, to learn about other people as well as for making friends and working together. No Pens Day Wednesday is a chance to listen and speak to each other and put these skills into practice.

Adapt for different agesAdapt the assembly to make it more age-appropriate – for example, when having the conversation role-plays, start looking at a mobile phone to indicate poor listening skills. Discuss how the internet and mobile phones are an important part of learning but mean we forget to interact, look at each other and listen to what other people are saying.

OutcomesTeachers’ Activity Pack


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One of the most important parts of the day is the reflection it will prompt, from both pupils and teachers, about what worked for them and what didn’t.

For pupils, we suggest opportunities are built into the day to ask their views about different lessons and activities.

You could use the questions here for discussion of the day, to evaluate practice and to enter our competition for best activities, lesson plans and learning on No Pens Day Wednesday.

Pupil Voice

1. Which were the best activities during No Pens Day and why? You could use examples and traffic lights/smiley faces to encourage pupils to judge which were best.

2. Which were the best lessons...and why?

3. Were there times when you wanted to write things down? If so when would that have been useful?

4. What do you think of this way of learning? Would you like your teachers to do more activities like this or less? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

For teaching staff, we suggest some time is given after the day to work through the following questions, both to evaluate and support positive practice and to determine next steps for supporting speaking and listening in school.

Reflections on the day1. What were the most challenging

elements of the day?

2. What worked well – what activities, principles, lessons?

3. What were pupils’ views on the day?

4. What was the impact on learning?

5. Did the day give you any new insights into particular pupils?

6. Any surprises?

Choose elements of the day you’ll use again, for example

1. Try one new activity from the activity templates per half term until it’s embedded in your teaching

2. Support colleagues to do the same

3. Include discussion on ‘speaking and listening’ across the curriculum in staff meetings to maintain momentum

Spread the wordTeachers’ Activity Pack


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You may wish to share with parents that your school is participating in No Pens Day Wednesday.

If so, you can download a template letter to let them know what’s happening from www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

Alternatively, you may want to send out a newsletter to parents and other local contacts.

Dear Parent/Carer,

(YOUR SCHOOL NAME) is taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday, an initiative to help support children’s speech, language and communication development. No Pens Day Wednesday is being run by the Hello campaign as part of the national year of communication. Find out more at www.hello.org.uk So what is No Pens Day Wednesday? The aim of the day is to encourage and develop speaking and listening skills, which is a part of the national curriculum. For one day, pupils in the school will put down their pens and all lessons will focus on speaking and listening rather than writing. Teachers will assess what children in their class have learnt and listen to what pupils say about learning through speaking and listening.

Why are we taking part? Reading and writing are very important and valuable skills but people are often not aware of how important speaking and listening skills are. Schools that include speaking and listening in a planned and structured way for children in their lessons see improvement in their standards. Ofsted inspectors (who check standards in all schools in the country) are noticing more and more that speaking and listening is a really important factor for good teaching and learning in successful schools. How will your child benefit? No Pens Day Wednesday gives your child a chance to practise their speaking and listening skills for a whole day. It also provides their teachers with new skills, confidence and ideas for how to include speaking and listening in their lesson plans. The day will allow all pupils in your child’s class to become involved in a whole school event, and to contribute to class activities, getting a chance to talk. The school will be able to continue what we learn from this day throughout the school year If you want to know more about this day, then speak to your child’s class teacher or form tutor.

Yours sincerely,


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Read all about itWe hope you’ll join our efforts in getting media interest in your No Pens Day Wednesday. Here’s a template photo-call and press release you can download to send to local press from www.hello.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday

For more advice on local media work including how to talk to journalists, tips on emailing them and how to take great pictures – download the Hello Bring the Noise toolkit available from www.hello.org.uk/resources

PHOTOCALL NOTICE For Immediate Release – (Insert date)

NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) (insert number) children/young people (delete as applicable) from (insert name of school/college/group) in (insert town/city) are taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday – a day where all children in the school will put down their pens and all lessons will focus on speaking and listening, rather than writing. (insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: 'Please come along and join us as we take part in No Pens Day Wednesday in support of the Hello campaign. Reading and writing are very important skills but people are often not aware of the vital importance of speaking and listening skills. They underpin everything. We are looking forwards to spending a day highlighting them to our pupils (amend as needed), their parents and are the sure school staff will learn a great deal too.'

2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of Communication known as the Hello campaign. Our ability to communicate is fundamental, yet in the UK today over 1 million children and young people struggle with some form of speech, language and communication need.

Speaking, listening and understanding skills are the bedrock skills needed for success at school. No Pens Day Wednesday encourages schools to place a strong emphasis on explicit and structured speaking and listening approaches. Evidence recognises these skills as key in supporting children’s thinking, learning and wellbeing. Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a priority during 2011 and beyond. The campaign is providing information on typical communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go for help and support.

Hello is run by The Communication Trust, a consortium of over 40 voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership with the Communication Champion, Jean Gross [www.hello.org.uk]. For more information, please contact (Insert Name) at (Insert name of school/college/group) on (Insert number and/or email address). For information on Hello, please contact Laura Smith at The Communication Trust via [email protected] or 020 7843 2519. -Ends-

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release – (Insert date)

NO PENS FOR (Insert school name) On 28th Wednesday September (amend date if necessary), children/young people (delete as applicable) aged (insert ages) from (insert school/college/group) in (insert region) took part in No Pens Day Wednesday; a national speaking and listening event organised by The Communication Trust as part of the Hello campaign (National Year of Communication) to encourage schools to put down their pens and pick up their language.

By taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday, (insert school/college/group) have successfully organised a day for (insert number) pupils where all lessons focused on speaking and listening rather than writing. (Insert name/job title) from (insert school/college/group) says: “We were delighted to take part in No Pens Day Wednesday in support of the Hello campaign. Reading and writing are very important skills but people are often not aware of the vital importance of speaking and listening skills. They underpin everything. Not only have the children/young people (delete as applicable) loved it, teachers and parents have also benefitted as well.”

Jean Gross, the Government’s Communication Champion – who is backing No Pens Day Wednesday – says: "2011 is a special year as it is the National Year of Communication known as the Hello campaign. The ability to communicate is fundamental and we would like to thank (insert school name) for taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday. It is important that we recognise speaking, listening and understanding as bedrock skills for success at school. In the UK today, over 1 million children and young people struggle with some sort of speech, language and communication need."

Hello exists to make children and young people’s communication development a priority during 2011 and beyond. The campaign is providing information on typical communication development, how to spot if children are struggling and where to go for help and support.

Hello is run by The Communication Trust, a consortium of over 40 voluntary organisations with expertise in speech, language and communication, in partnership with Jean Gross, Communication Champion. Visit www.hello.org.uk to find out more and for free resources.

-‐Ends-‐

Next stepsTeachers’ Activity Pack


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Tell us about your No Pens Day Wednesday!

Thank you for taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday, we hope your pupils and colleagues enjoyed taking part and will plan lots more similar days. We’d love to hear how No Pens Day Wednesday worked in your school.

Please send any comments to [email protected]. And don’t forget to enter our No Pens Day Wednesday competition.

Make this a core part of learning in your school

To help with permanently embedding speaking and listening activities into the curriculum, The Communication Trust is collating a range of good practice examples, which will be available from the end of September and further developed and extended throughout the academic year.

We would value your thoughts, suggestions and contributions on this. Please email [email protected]

Universally Speaking is a series of booklets for anyone who works with children and young people. The booklets show where children should be with their communication skills at any given age.You can use the booklets to find out whether the children you work with are on the right track, what helps them learn to talk and listen and what to do if you have concerns about any of their communication abilities.

Available for those who work with 5-11 year olds and 11-18 year olds, you can order your free copy from www.hello.org.uk/resources*

* When ordering Universally Speaking 5-11 please quote reference number US1 * When ordering Universally Speaking 11-18 please quote reference number US2 Orders will be sent within 10 working days

Universally Speaking was produced by The Communication Trust, for the Hello campaign (the national year of communication), with the support of Pearson Assessment.

Order your free copy of Universally Speaking

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