Tag Archives: cross-curricular

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and Modern Languages Options: What is it and What is the point?⤴

from @ My Languages

The EPQ is not a new qualification but discussing it with Nick Brown, Head of Languages at Lincoln Castle Academy, I started to understand its real potential to promote languages…

I first came across the EPQ at my previous school. Like in many schools, it was used as a way to enrich the curriculum in the VI Form. As such, it is a way to get learners to get a Level 3 qualification as well as develop their research skills and engage with content that is within and beyond the curriculum.

Full details about the qualification can be found here and the Future Ready website but the main feature of the qualification is that, following their own in-depth study, students are asked to produce a project with ONE of the following outcomes:

  •         A dissertation
  •         An investigation or a field study
  •        A performance
  •        An artefact

The work submitted for assessment must be produced in English but-and this is VERY important for language teachers-the research and supporting notes can be in ANY language, which would naturally occur by listening, speaking, reading and note-taking in the language.

If the project is used to complement A Level teaching and learning, the topics can be inspired by some of the A Level work, provided it does not replicate their Independent Research Project (IRP).

The project can also allow students to explore their cultural heritage or the cultural heritage of other people in the community as well as offer them an opportunity to pursue an interest outside of the curriculum. This could be of particular interest for EAL students, as a way to celebrate their cultural heritage, enhance their literacy in English as well as gain a recognised Level 3 qualification. 

Examples of projects for MFL could include:

Has French cinema been a major influence on the world stage? (dissertation-extension from A Level film study)

Is Colombian Spanish a better dialect than other forms? (dissertation)

What trends can be seen in the use of slang words by modern day German teenagers? (investigation/field study)

Interpretation/Performance of a play

Short film in the style of a specific director (artefact)

Self-published book of new translations of poems (artefact)

If you would like to register your interest in the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or find out more information about MFL-focused titles, click here.  

And there is more…. 

The EPQ is also available for KS4 pupils as a Higher Project Qualification (HPQ, Level 2 qualification) and a Foundation Project Qualification (FPQ, Level 1 qualification). Like the EPQ these qualifications aim to develop learner’s transferable skills and preparing them to the world of work by making them more organised and independent.  More details here. 

Clicker 8 is here!⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

Clicker 8 on the Cricksoft website.

What’s new in Clicker 8

This latest iteration of Clicker is a huge step forward in accessibility and interoperability across platforms. So, where teachers still use PCs in class while pupils use Chromebooks in school and possibly iPads at home there are now no barriers between these tools.

The individual apps for Chrome and iPad left many unsure about what specific app they needed at any given time. Clicker 8 overcomes this by including all the apps as well as a range of other features (old and new) all within the umbrella package.

In addition to the writing and associated support tools for pupils, Crick has added a fantastic automated picture attachment tool (Picturize) for most text; resurrected and included an application from a few years ago that allows for the creation of Cloze passages; and there is also a comprehensive analytics system built into the software to help teachers tracking, reporting, and planning.

ComicLife3 for Chrome⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

Today plasq announced the official release of Comic Life 3 for Chromebook! The app is now available in the form of a compatible Android app.

Comic Life 3 for Chromebook has all the favourite features you have come to love from the other versions. To find out more, please check out the dedicated Comic Life 3 for Chromebook site.

Comic Life 3 is available from the Google Play store and requires a relatively recent Chromebook to function. (If you’ve installed Android apps on your Chromebook you’re ready for Comic Life).

Comic Life 3 on Chromebooks is US$2.49 and can be purchased and downloaded from the Google Play Store here.

Literacy Activities using Book Creator⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

All of us at ATSS are fans and long time advocates of Book Creator – it’s so easy to use and yet so powerful for myriad projects across the curriculum.

Here, the guys at Book Creator asked Kurt Klynen to make a book full of ideas for Literacy across the curriculum. It’s well worth a look.†

Read the book here.

Click here for many more reads from the Book Creator Library.

DocsPlus for Chrome gets an Exam Upgrade⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

Secondary Literacy Support

DocsPlus for Chromebook – use in exams Read more here.

It’s great to see that the excellent DocsPlus Chromebook app has been updated to incorporate the DocReader and customisable ‘Exam Mode’ settings introduced earlier in the Windows and Mac versions of the software. These exciting additions will facilitate the use of the app in exams for those students who qualify for additional access arrangements.

If you are already using the app, then it will automatically be updated. If you don’t yet have the app and would like a free copy, please email us at info@cricksoft.com.

DocsPlus for Chromebook trial success

The ASN team at Cathkin High School, a mainstream secondary school in South Lanarkshire, supports students with a wide range of needs. including learners with dyslexia, ADHD and autism. The team has been trialling the DocsPlus Chromebook app.

Lorna Jensen, Principal Teacher of ASN, describes the difference that DocsPlus has made to the students’ literacy output in a short space of time:

“There’s no doubt that DocsPlus had a massive impact on the pupils during our trial. It improved their self-esteem, confidence and motivation with writing tasks. Certainly in the English department we found that their level of writing improved significantly. The letters the pupils wrote were comfortably at level three – before this, these pupils would have been producing work at an early level two, so there was definitely a tangible improvement in the quality of their written work.”

There were some lovely comments from the students too:

“The spellchecker really helped. It helped me believe in myself, and gave me confidence with my writing.” You can learn more about the trial here.

Text to Speech with ClaroRead for Chrome⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

Delighted to be updating this post today after returning to Claro in the first time for a couple of months. On a visit to a local secondary school today we were discussing tools for predictive text and I checked this over before referencing it. I was quite critical of the prediction offering in my original post- it simply didn’t work!! – but it does now.

If you’re needing to offer your students simple, free text to speech to support their reading of web pages or PDFs – or any other digital text for that matter – ClaroRead is a really good tool. It’s unobtrusive, and, once it’s set up for your student, it doesn’t require much attention.

You can download the extension from the Chrome Web Store and once installed this icon will show at the top of your screen.  

Clicking it will open the discreet Control Panel which allow you to configure the tool to suit yourself or your student.

e.g. If you tick the settings like this your student can simply highlight text to hear it read aloud.

CR click & play

Experiment with the settings to suit your user – e.g. switching on Click and play will change the control panel accordingly. Watch a demo video here.

Using ClaroRead text to speech to support writing.

e.g. Students can also hear what they’re writing as they type.

CR Writing

As mentioned above the prediction window is now functioning well. It’s not a full-feature predictor but it’s good for core vocabulary in everyday, general writing.

There’s also a full Help Guide to making use of the extension here.

Book Creator – Significant Update⤴

from @ Alan Stewart's AT Blog

We at ATSS have always loved Book Creator and have suggested its use and trained numerous folks to use it and embed it into all sorts of curricular areas over a number of years. Book Creator has continuously developed over time onto different platforms and to offer additional tools and features.

This most recent development opens up an new world of possibilities for teachers to create interactive resources for their students while providing pupils with a fantastic work space in which they can showcase their work no matter (almost) what format it exists in.