General Introduction

This blog is part of my Differentiation and Adaptive Teaching Knowledge Base.

I use the terms differentiation and adaptive teaching synonymously. To me, they are the same, as genuine differentiation has always involved adapting your planning and your teaching to meet the needs of the learners in front of you.

For me, differentiation is all the practical strategies, activities and techniques teachers use to personalise learning.

For ease, we can break that down into my five categories of differentiation: Activities, Questioning, Words and Writing, Things the Teacher Can Do and Things You Can Ask Learners to Do or Use.

This blog falls into the category of words and writing.

Keyword Discussions

We’ll start with how you can use discussion to help learners access, assimilate and make sense of keywords.

For more on the benefits of discussion, see my Talk, Discussion and Oracy Knowledge Base.

Here, we’ll focus on five strategies you can use with your learners.

Keyword Paired Discussion

Introduce learners to one or more new words.

Explain the meaning of the words and give examples of their use.

Having done this, invite learners to discuss the keywords in pairs and to come up with three sentences demonstrating their correct use.

Encourage learners to practise and refine these sentences in their pairs.

Finally, draw the whole class back together and ask different groups to share their sentences.

These should be checked for accuracy by the whole class, in a teacher-led discussion.

Vary the activity by asking pairs to stand up and find another pair in a different part of the room, with whom to swap sentences.

Extend the activity by asking learners to:

• Come up with three sentences that are completely different from each other.
• Create a single sentence including all the keywords you have shared.
• Construct three sentences that use the same keyword, but in three different ways.

Keyword Group Discussion

Divide learners into groups of three.

Give each group a handout containing the keywords, their definitions and examples of their use.

Display the following questions on the board:

• Have you come across the word before and if so, where?
• Why might this word be particularly useful?
• In what circumstances might this word be used and who would use it?
• What does the example tell you about the meaning of the word?
• Can you give a further example of how to use the word in a sentence or paragraph?

Invite groups to work through the keywords, answering the questions.

You might like to choose a member of each group to be a scribe.

They would then write down the answers their fellow group members come up with.

(If you go down this route, a pro-forma can be useful, in which the scribe captures the discussion points.)

You can conclude the activity with a whole-class discussion, with brief presentations from a select number of groups, or by asking envoys to share answers with other groups.

Keyword Research Discussion

Divide the class into groups.

Assign a keyword to each group.

Explain that the aim of the activity is for groups to research their keyword and to be ready to present their findings to the rest of the class.

Provide various research materials for learners to use, like encyclopaedias, dictionaries, thesauruses, internet access and textbooks.

You might also like to display a set of success criteria or a series of questions on the board – either of which can be used by learners to structure their work and their final presentations.

Keyword Drama Discussion

Divide the class into groups.

Give each group a keyword (this could be different for each group, the same for everyone, or involve a small number that are repeated) and ask them to create a dramatic presentation of that keyword.

After sufficient time has passed, invite different groups to come up to the front and showcase their performances.

If learners struggle to conceive of how they might dramatize their keyword, provide them with a list of options like the following:

• Create a role-play showing someone using the keyword in real life
• Create a role-play showing what the keyword refers to
• Create a freeze-frame showing your keyword and its relationship to a group of people
• Create a physical model of your keyword
• Create a freeze-frame showing two different meanings of your keyword

In my experience, this technique is a lot of fun and can create some memorable experiences, helping to fix new words in learners’ minds.

Match-Group-Rank New Keywords

Match-Group-Rank is one of my favourite activities.

I’ve written about it elsewhere and you can find it as a tag in the blog if you want to read more.

Share a set of new keywords with learners.

Between six and twelve is ideal.

Ask learners to work in groups to match the keywords, pairing them up.

Then ask learners to group the keywords. You can provide the groups, or you can let learners decide on them.

Finally, ask learners to rank the keywords according to some set of criteria.

With new keywords, learners will need to look up definitions to successfully complete the activity.

Throughout the task, learners are actively engaged with the keywords, manipulating them in increasingly sophisticated ways (grouping is more challenging than matching, and ranking is more challenging than both).

At the start of a science unit of work looking at cell biology, we might give learners 12 keywords they will learn and use through the upcoming lessons.

Then we display the following on the board, underneath the keywords:

• Use the textbook to find the definitions of each word.
• Match the words into six pairs. Once you know the definitions, which words do you think go together?
• Start again and put the words into three groups: Common to all cells; Common to plant cells; Common to animal cells.
• Finally, rank the keywords from most to least important, in your opinion, when learning about cell biology.

What you’ll notice is that this activity isn’t about learners knowing everything and getting everything right.

This is the start of the first lesson, after all.

Rather, it’s about getting learners actively engaged with the keywords from the off.

A method that compels learners to extensively analyse and manipulate the keywords in a short space of time.

If learners get their matching or grouping wrong, the teacher is on hand to talk to them about their mistakes and misconceptions, as they can circulate through the room while the task is happening.

When it comes to the ranking, the teacher can ask learners to store these and then come back to them midway through the unit of work, and at the end.

On both occasions, learners can assess whether their thinking has changed, now they know more.

How does discussing keywords help you to differentiate?

Talking about things is an effective prelude to writing about them.

Using discussion to introduce keywords helps learners to use them in their written work.

Discussion is accessible to all.

Speech comes before writing and most learners are more skilled in the former than the latter.

Therefore, using discussion is a way of playing to everyone’s strengths, helping facilitate progress.

Speech is instantly editable, and mistakes are not recorded.

It is therefore a good medium through which to engage with new ideas and concepts.

Learners will be less likely to experience failure or frustration in their early encounters with keywords.

This means they will be more motivated, more engaged with the topic and more likely to make progress.

Discussion includes verbal rehearsal.

This means learners are practising using and applying the keywords, aiding memorisation and subsequent recall.

Keyword Context

Our next strategy for speeding up learners’ acquisition of keywords is providing context.

This gives learners something to grab hold of, allowing them to situate the terms within a wider framework.

Context creates purchase.

It is often concrete, whereas words themselves are abstract (they might refer to something concrete, but words on their own are arbitrary, abstract signifiers).

And context gives meaning, which tends to aid recall and memorisation for all.

Here are five strategies you can use to contextualise keywords for your learners.

Keyword Context Strategy One: Give Examples

Examples are specific cases that provide evidence, proof and demonstration.

When explaining keywords to learners, examples help them to contextualise new terms.

It is a way of indicating that the meaning of a keyword is shown through a certain thing.

By extension, this means that the meaning is not shown through a whole range of other things.

It is like sticking a pin in a map – you are signalling the place through the point of the pin, but you are also signalling that everywhere else is not what you are interested in.

Giving two or three examples helps learners triangulate, further reinforcing the specific meaning of the keyword in question.

Keyword Context Strategy Two: Learners’ Prior Experience

Imagine a learner knows X, Y and Z. You introduce them to new thing A.

They have never heard of it and, as far as they are aware, do not have any experience of it.

Therefore, if they are to assimilate and understand it, they will need to do so in a way that is abstract, at least to begin.

Imagine now that you show them how A connects to X.

Suddenly, the new information makes more sense to the learner – they can fit it into their existing understanding and the conceptual framework on which their thinking is built.

This is the great benefit that stems from using learners’ prior experience to contextualise new keywords.

It is a form of scaffolding.

You are scaffolding what is new (the keyword) in the context of what the learner already knows (their prior knowledge and experience), making it more accessible in the process.

Keyword Context Strategy Three: Use of Media

Another way in which to provide context to keywords is by using media.

For example:

• A video showing a new keyword in action
• A newspaper article in which the keyword is used
• A podcast about the keyword
• An image depicting the keyword
• A song that is about the keyword

In all these examples, we use the media source to help learners better understand the keyword and fix its meaning in their minds.

The media is the context, demonstrating usage and meaning.

Keyword Context Strategy Four: Narrative

Stories are a good way of providing context and can be called on in three distinct forms.

First, the teacher can tell learners a story in which one or more keywords are exemplified, used or made plain.

Second, a piece of media can be used that tells a story centring on the keyword.

Third, a story written about an individual (like from a newspaper or magazine), and in which one or more keywords feature or are relevant, can be read, analysed and explored by learners and the teacher.

For example, a Year 4 teacher doing a unit of work on community might tie this up with a class reader in which the idea of community is central to the story.

This then provides context for learners, helping them to pin down the meaning of the word, and its correct usage.

Keyword Context Strategy Five: Case Studies

These provide concrete, real-world demonstrations of keywords in action.

For example, in a geography lesson the teacher might introduce learners to erosion, as well as to other associated key terms.

This would then be followed up by a case study concerned with the gradual erosion of a coastal area in which people live.

Such an example would provide graphic, and possibly emotional, contextualisation of the key terms – making it easier for learners to understand them and, subsequently, to recall and use them.

How does contextualising keywords help you to differentiate?

Contextualising keywords gives learners something concrete to grab hold of.

This makes new terms more accessible as not all learners find processing abstract information straightforward.

All the methods outlined above give learners something that is memorable – a multimedia experience or a story for example.

These act as aids to recollection, making it easier for learners to store and recall key terms.

Contextualising keywords combines thinking that is abstract (linguistic) and concrete (contextualised).

This helps all learners in the class to make progress and to develop their understanding of the topic on both levels of thought.

Unlocking Keywords Through Scaffolds

We’ll now look at some general methods you can use to speed up keyword acquisition; all centred around the provision of scaffolds.

Here are three strategies for you to consider, all of which will no doubt be familiar, but which are worth reflecting on in the context of effective differentiation.

Provide learners with a keyword glossary

You can give this to all learners, or just to those who need it most.

It could be a ready-made sheet that has already been completed by the teacher, or it could contain some incomplete elements that learners then have to fill in.

Another alternative is to ask learners to construct a glossary in the back of their books.

They can add new words to this as time progresses – either at their own behest or on the teacher’s instruction

Provide learners with a list of keywords and definitions appropriate to the lesson

There will be some days when this is necessary, other days when it would be pointless.

Examples of when it is likely to prove useful include at the beginning of a unit of work, during the introduction to a topic, and in revision sessions.

You might choose to hand such a list out to all learners, or you might decide that it is only appropriate for certain learners.

Provide a list of keywords supplemented by examples of how these are used in sentences

The advantage of such an approach is that it contextualises language and provides a model that learners can follow – they can mimic or recreate the examples in their own work.

In addition, the examples provide learners with an extra opportunity to understand the meaning of the keywords (they will be making sense of them in context, rather than in the more abstract manner involved in learning definitions).

How can unlocking keywords help you to differentiate?

Giving learners extra support in understanding keywords helps them to access the higher-order learning that takes place in the lesson.

Learners will be better placed to follow what is going on and to process ideas and information if they first have a grasp of the language of the topic.

Demonstrating how keywords are used in sentences helps learners to understand their meaning and purpose.

If learners can grasp this, they are better placed to make progress with their work.

Learners who are less-able in a subject often have lower literacy levels than their peers.

Providing them with extra support linked to understanding and using keywords helps bridge the gap.

All the above examples are literacy scaffolds that you can encourage learners to use when they are reading, writing, speaking and listening.

Having keywords available frees up space in learners’ working memory, making it easier for them to apply the keywords in their work, and to identify them when they are being used by others.

Creating Useful Keyword Displays

Our final area of consideration is keyword displays.

The aim is to create displays that are thinking tools.

That means learners can use the displays to do more than they can manage on their own.

The displays become scaffolds in the learner’s environment (the classroom) that they can use to improve the quality of their speech and writing.

Here are five examples of displays you can create.

Keyword Washing Line

Hang a piece of string so that it runs from one side of your classroom to the other.

Buy some clothes pegs and laminate sheets of paper with keywords written on them.

Attach the sheets to the washing line using the clothes pegs.

You might like to invite learners to put new words on the washing line – this could be a reward or could form part of a game (with learners having to correctly explain the meaning of a word before they are allowed to attach it to the washing line).

Another option is to let learners take keywords off the washing line.

For example, a less-able learner might take a couple of keywords off the washing line and have them on their desk as a prompt while they do some writing.

Extend the use of the washing line by making the laminated keywords into flashcards.

Do this by having the keyword on one side and then a definition and/or picture on the other side.

This means you can take the keywords down and use them for practice testing, with individuals, groups or the whole class.

Keyword Display Board

Fill a display board with keywords that are common to a subject, a topic you are teaching, or which form an important part of general writing (for example, connectives like ‘and’, ‘however’ and ‘therefore’).

If you have multiple display boards, you might like to have a different category of keywords on each one.

If you do not have display boards, pieces of paper with keywords printed on them can be stuck to the wall.

A display area can be formed by making a border of coloured paper around the keywords.

Use the display board while you are teaching.

This means you can model word usage and signpost learners to the board, encouraging them to use it when they are writing.

You can also bring in a competitive element.

For example, you might set a writing task and explain that there is a prize for the learner who uses the most words from the keyword display (without resorting to lists).

Another option is to challenge more-able learners to find synonyms for as many words on your display as they can.

Finally, a third option is to ask learners to rank the keywords against some sort of criteria.

For example, most to least useful if you had to write an essay.

Or most to least important in understanding the topic.

(Your criteria will be driven by theme that connects the keywords.)

Definitions Display

Create a display that consists of keywords next to their definitions.

This is like a glossary set out on your classroom wall.

You might like to supplement the definitions with appropriate images.

This will further help learners to access the meaning of the keywords.

Using images as visual cues is beneficial for different groups of learners.

Particularly those who are less-able, and those for whom English is an additional language.

As with the above examples, refer to the display when you are teaching and model how to use it.

The goal is to get learners using it themselves, as a tool to scaffold their writing (and, possibly, their speaking), taking it to a higher standard than would otherwise be the case.

Create-a-Display

Plan a task in which you and your class create the keyword display together.

You could do this at the beginning of a topic as a way of introducing learners to some or all of the key vocabulary they will have to learn over the forthcoming weeks.

Divide learners into groups and give each group a selection of keywords for which they must create a display segment.

You might like to provide success criteria like:

• Include an image for each keyword
• Make sure you double-check your definitions
• Create a display section that is eye-catching and easy to read

This gives the class structure, helps learners target their efforts effectively and helps create a degree of uniformity across the display as a whole.

I have found this technique to be particularly effective with primary classes and with A Level groups.

For both, it creates a sense of ownership over key vocabulary, calls on the benefits of collaborative learning, and can be referred to in future lessons.

Work-In-Progress Keyword Display

Create an empty display area in your classroom.

Explain to learners that, as the topic progresses, you and they will be developing the display until it is complete.

This will involve one of two things.

On the one hand, you might choose to devote a little section of each lesson to display work, with all learners in the class producing work based on the words they have learned.

On the other hand, you might like to select a different group each lesson to create the keyword display work.

In this second case, the idea is that, by the end of the topic, all members of the class will have contributed to the creation of the display.

A nice added technique you can use here is to take photos of the display as it grows, and to place these alongside it.

You can then look at these with learners and use the images to help them reflect on how their knowledge and understanding of the topic has grown from the first lesson to the last.

It’s a good way of visualising progress for learners.

Something they often struggle to do independently.

How can keyword displays help you to differentiate?

Displaying keywords around the room helps learners to learn, memorise and use these terms.

Displaying keywords around the room means that learners have prompts available that they can use if they get stuck.

Having learners take part in the creation of keyword displays is a good way to get them thinking about and engaging with key terms.

The activities mentioned above are concrete and easy-to-access.

This means that all learners will have the opportunity of contextualising and understanding keywords that, in other settings, might prove more difficult to assimilate.