Date
25 March 2024

Support participation and build confidence

Suggestion for implementing the strategy ‘Using whole-class strategies to support students with speech, language and communication needs in years 9–13’

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Support friendships

Support friendships

Professor Gina Conti-Ramsden suggests facilitating the development of friendships by building on students’ interests and talents.

Video hosted on Youtube http://youtu.be/59dSpP17VsA

Utilise group and pair-based activities

Utilise group and pair-based activities

Provide opportunities for students to work with others.

Group or pair-based activities need careful organisation to achieve productive interaction and learning.

  • Set up a small group activity on speaking and conversational skills.

  • Ask students to rehearse ways to start and close a conversation, to keep the conversation flowing.

  • Assign roles such as speaker, listener, and note-taker to the group members.

  • Monitor the discussions to ensure that all students understand the task and have opportunities to participate.

  • Talk about how we use different sorts of language when we are talking to our friends, our teacher, or our grandparents.

Foster class discussion

Foster class discussion

Deliberately create opportunities where students can practise agreeing, disagreeing, extending an idea and clarifying meaning.

11322 [Students-discussing-work-in-a-quiet-environment.jpg]

Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Source:
Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga

Encourage sustained participation

Encourage sustained participation

Discuss with students what will support their participation and motivation.

Build these suggestions into your teaching practice.

  • Establish clear classroom routines.
  • Teach strategies to help students them when they get stuck.
  • Break work into short manageable chunks.
  • Give positive, timely feedback.
  • Brief students about changes to routine.
  • When changing classroom layout, provide a plan of new layout and when it will happen.
  • Provide easy access to quiet spaces for working or winding down.
  • Schedule brain breaks.
  • Notice avoidance tactics or increasing anxiety, implement supports quickly.
  • Offer leadership opportunities based on knowledge of student's expertise and interests.
  • Connect learning to student's interests.
  • Foster tuakana-teina relationships where students support each other.

Next steps

More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Helpful classroom strategies years 9-13”:

Return to the guide “Speech, language and communica­tion needs ”

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