Teaching Strategies

Skills Flow - Task Explanation

Purpose of the task: This task is designed so students use all four modalities of language: listening, speaking, writing and reading. One skill flows on to the next with this task.

Preparing the task:

1. Select a key text for the students to summarise using their own words.
2. Break the text down into nine main points that tell the story of the text. The complexity of these points will depend on the language abilities of the learners.
3. In a 3 x 3 grid, the teacher places nine pictures. Each picture represents one of the nine main points written in the shortened text.
   1. The pictures should be placed out of order in the grid.
   2. Number one should be either labeled already or done with the students to be sure they begin in the correct place.

Procedure for the task:
Listening

1. The students are given the grid sheet with the nine pictures.
2. Explain that this is a listening task and that the students will need to match what they hear with one picture in the grid.
3. Read the first main point and give the students time to find the picture that matches what they said.
4. Ask one student to tell him or her where the first picture is located in the grid. This gives students an opportunity to practise using directional vocabulary.

   		1

5. Continue to read the rest of the main points, giving time for the students to locate the corresponding picture.
6. Ask the class to clarify that they have all the pictures labeled in the correct order. Doing this ensures that the students will not be afraid to speak because they may not have their numbers in order.

   2	9	4
   8	6	5
   7	3	1

Procedure for the task continued:
Speaking

7. Call on individuals to describe the main points depicted by each picture aloud to the class. Choose those students who are more able to describe the more difficult points.
8. The students retell the main points in pairs.

Writing

9. The students write their own description of what happens in each picture. If students need to work together, they may write the summary in pairs. This gives further opportunities for meaningful output.

Reading

10. Ask for volunteers to read their versions of the story aloud to the class. This can be done picture by picture or for the whole text. This can also be accomplished in small groups with the teacher circulating the room the listen to each group.

Contributed by Summer Stice during the ESOL Online Workshop 'Language and Learning in Secondary Science'.